After hours of trying to shake off Wei Xiang from his legs, Han Zhiyun gave up and opted to drag his feet with the disciple still clinging at his trousers.
"Master don't gooooooooo–you can't go, absolutely not, no, no, over Yin Jun's dead body!"
As Han Zhiyun focus on dragging his feet, he quickly recited every buddhist prayers inside his head. Ever since he was 4, he was thought how to control his anger. Though he was reluctant as a kid, he did manage to learn it and take it to heart (of course his grandfather had to drag him out and beat him with his cane so he wouldn't run away.)
And Han Zhiyun was thankful for that. If it weren't for his grandfather's teachings then he would have set fire to the whole Murim Alliance, spat at their elders faces and gave them a middle finger as he watched them suffer.
Of course Han Zhiyun wouldn't do that, he was a very calm and very righteou-
'Didn't they already banish my title though so that means-'
He slapped his forehead, the skin around the area reddened and Wei Xiang who was whining stopped as he looked at his master with a bewildred look.
'Happy thoughts, happy thoughts...'
Han Zhiyun bagan to massage his temples. He already stopped dragging his feet and the two of them were awkwardly positioned on the corridor.
"Uh, master are you alright?"
Without even realizing it Wei Xiang has already stopped clutching his legs and was now hovering him with a worried expression.
'Stop thinking about it–that's right think about how you first met Wei Xiang!'
The first time they met, Han Zhiyun was in a terrible mood. Yin Jun and Jing Chen was a troublesome pair and he managed to slip out to take in some fresh air, when he suddenly saw an injured boy sitting by the tree. That was the first time he met the 'injured' Wei Xiang.
He quickly brought the boy to a nearby village (of course he wouldn't bring him to his estate, he fears that his trouble would triple that way.) The village doctor informed him that the boy's injury was severe and life threatening which confused him.
'He only has a broken elbow though.'
He wanted to retort, but the doctor was faster, shushing him before giving him a list of medical herbs to give Wei Xiang. After that they were swiftly kicked out of the infirmary.
"We're closed."
"It's the middle of the day."
"I have a doctor's appointment after lunch."
"Aren't you a doctor?"
"...that–remeber to give the lor–I mean the boy's medicine, bye!"
"..."
In the end, he had to take the 'injured' Wei Xiang home. Yin Jun and Jing Chen surprisingly stopped fighting, instead, the two of them cooperated to hate on Wei Xiang. It was at this time that Han Zhiyun confirmed that the 'injured' boy was actually the young lord of the demonic sect. He also heard something about some prophecy, but the other would always laugh in his sleep whenever he gets to that part.
This 'injured' act continued for about two months before it was dropped, but even then Wei Xiang continued to stay. Only when Xianmei joined, did he learn that Wei Xiang was already his third disciple.
He was still confused what the demonic sect wanted with him, going as far as sending their precious lord as a spy. As far as he knew, he never crossed swords with them once. If anything, he should probably join forces with them and destroy those Murim alliance bastard-
'Happy thought..happy thoughts...HAPPY THOUGHTS.'
Wei Xiang flinched as Han Zhiyun stared directly at him. He called for him several times but the other was really focus on staring at him. Unknowingly Wei Xiang gulped as cold sweat began to form on his back.
'Did master finally realize it?!'
His mind was in an uproar and it didn't help that Han Zhiyun's normal stare suddenly turned into a frown.
'He realized!!! What should I do? Oh shit. The elders are gonna kill me! My sect is gonna kill me! What kind of leader fails his sect?! Should I die–no maybe I should bluff my way out. That's right, they don't have any evidence that I'm from the demonic sect. This could still work! I only need to act dumb and tell them I learned it from a beggar who I happened to help. Hahahahahaha I'm so smart! No wonder the gods chose me to handle the prophecy!'
Six years ago, the demonic sect received a prophecy from above. A rightous man vanished from the central plains would destroy both the Murim Alliance and the Demonic Sect. The news was shocking as it was welcomed.
It didn't take too long for the demonic sect to figure out Han Zhiyun's identity. The elders debated to kill Han Zhiyun, but Wei Xiang proposed an idea.
"Instead of killing him, let's use him! If he destroyed the Murim Alliance then he must hate them as much as he hates our demonic sect. Then we only need to turn all the hate to the Murim Alliance, we'll bask at their defeat and we can rule the entire central plains!"
His speech was applauded and they made the plan of the century: Get The Youngest Martial Master as an Ally and Kill Those Murim Alliance Fuckers!
Han Zhiyun's frown deepened as he stared at Wei Xiang's bullet sweat face. The boy's mouth was slightly smiling as his eyes were scared and face worried.
'Is it another kind of demonic cultivation thing?'
His third disciple was undoubtedly a demonic cultivator. Of course everyone knew. With the way Wei Xiang acted and the fact that he doesn't even conceal his demonic prowess–even a kid would figure him out.
You can say that everyone, apart from Wei Xiang probably knows that everyone knows that he's a demonic cultivator. And no one ever points him out, why?
Han Zhiyun also doesn't know. The reason why he doesn't point out Wei Xiang's identity is because he poses no threat to him and he was quite curious about the demonic sects motive.
The same can't be said with the disciple though. When he was caught staring at Wei Xiang beefing with Jing Chen and Yu Xinyi, Xianmei only laughed and patted his back.
"A-Zhi you think too much. Just think of it as having a punching bag as a best friend. The two of you might form close bonds but a punching bag is still a punching bag that's made to be punched."
"...please properly adress me as master"
Han Zhiyun didn't really get that metaphor, but it did remind him of that accident.
It was the day of his supposed to be supriae inspection. Unknowingly Wei Xiang had spotted him early morning as he inspected Yin Jun's room.
In a haste, he knocked at his brothers and sisters room and begged them for help to tidy his room. Of course, all of them shut their doors at Wei Xiang's face but he 'threatened them' as Xiamei worded so they had no choice but to comply.
While cleaning the mountain of garbage inside We Xiang's room Yu Xinyi noticed a black dot wiggling from the distance. Jing Chen, the ever so observant disciple of his managed to catch it quick.
"Tsk. You're room is no better than a compose pit."
"Hey! Less talking more cleaning!"
Wei Xiang for most of his part was only relaxing on the side, reading a novel. Annoyed, Jing Chen threw him the black dot he caught which turned out to be a cockroach. What followed next was chaos.
Wei Xiang let out a shriek, black qi began to envelop his body as multiple spikes were thrown to kill the cockroach. The disciples luckily deflected the attack and instead the black spikes pierced the wall.
When Han Zhiyun arrived at the scene, the room was an utter mess. Forget about the garbage that was still sprawled all over the room, the room itself can't even be called a room anymore!
"What, just what-"
The disciples winced as they heard their master grind his teeth. Han Zhiyun was thankful that Yin Jun was supporting him (albeit blushing) or else he would have fainted from stress already.
"Wei Xiang, my disciple. Tell this master what you and your martial siblings did for this-this to happen!"
Han Zhiyun set his sight at Wei Xiang and the other could only try make himself small as possible. Any normal person in this situation would lie and that was what Wei Xiang did. The only problem was 'he sucks at it' as Jing Chen said.
"Ah, uh..master...uh you I-There was a demonic cultivator that suddenly barged into my room and filled it with garbage! I saw you inspec-I, I mean I quickly called the others so we can capture that probably good looking demonic cultivator, b-but then...THAT DAMN COCKROACH APPEARED! I thought that it was a spy implanted by the demonic sect which is probably not and I went mad. In the moment of anger I suddenly used uncle's-I mean that uncle from the slums technique that he thought me! FORTUNATELY, brothers and sisters were there to deflect the attack so it would PIERCE the wall instead!"
The disciples eyed Wei Xiang like he was a dead man, maybe he was, considering what happened to him afterwards. Nevertheless they were all given punishments, much to Wei Xiang's delight after being punched by his fellow disciples. Yin Jun could only feel pity towards his youngest martial siblings.
Back to the present, Wei Xiang was still over thinking, they've been staring at each other for more than a couple of minutes and he's starting to feel nervous.
He wanted to say something, anything, just to finally break the silence, but who knows what might happen next. Praying to the gods that gave him the prophecy, Wei Xiang prayed for someone, something or anything to get him out of this situation.
As if the gods had actually received his prayers, he heard footsteps rapidly approaching them. Soon after, Xiamei was in full view, running towards them.
Han Zhiyun quickly diverted his attention away as he looked nervously at the approaching Xiamei. Though all his disciples were troublesome, Xiamei would probably take first place if it was ranked.
The girl's oversized green outer robe dragged at the floor and her usual high ponytail was slightly in disarray. Han Zhiyun and Wei Xiang frowned in concern.
"Xiamei wha-"
"A-Zhi is it true?!"
"Huh?"
"You, Jing Chen said that you're going to visit the central plains, is it true?!"
Suddenly Han Zhiyun felt two pair of eyes staring intently at him. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Wei Xiang's puppy eyes and in front, he saw Xiamei's curious ones.
With a sigh, he answered a simple "No."
He could feel Wei Xiang vibrating beside him–probably from happiness. Xiamei just nodded and smiled. She patted his shoulder, like how a mother would to his son and Han Zhiyun was about to remind her of proper conduct, when Xiamei beat him first.
"That's a shame. I guess Jing Chen and Sister Yu fought for nothing."
"Huh?" Han Zhiyun mumbled mindlessly. His head quickly snapped towards Xiamei and prompted her to continue.
"Jing Chen came in earlier and said that A-Zhi will be going to the central plains. Sister Yu disagreed and the two fought, but don't worry A-Zhi before the two of them can destroy another wall, this humble disciple of yours used sleeping powder and knocked them out!"
"..."
"They're currently passed out in the main hall. Anyways Li Jie made dinner, so let's eat!"
Suddenly, the quiet Wei Xiang butted in, unsuprisingly.
"Hey! I already prepared master his dinner!"
"You mean that hell incarnate soup? The one I passed by, scattered through the floor?"
"Eh, that."
Wei xiang tried to argue, but it was futile and Xiamei gave him one last smile before turning her head towards Han Zhiyun.
"Let's go A-Zhi, you mustn't skip a meal!"
Grabbing his hand, Han Zhiyun let himself get dragged by his 2nd youngest disciple. Wei Xiang was following behind them and the two continued their bickering.
This day was really an unlucky one. His alone time ruined, wall ruined, sleep ruined, free time ruined and there's probably more ruined things he needed to fix–growl–but for now he needed to eat.
Afterall, it isn't wise to work with an empty stomach.