Night had once again fallen on Zhenmi Peak.
And Min Hoo was still suffering from insomnia as well. Although the reason wasn't just that. The system. He had been waiting all day for this unknown being to punish him for OOC because of last night. He had literally smiled at the main character! The real Mo Chou would never do such a thing.
He didn't dare ask the System about it. If it didn't punish him, why would it remind him of that? But it was still strange.
The man stared at the top of the bed with a pensive look. The white-colored baladachin fluttered slightly over the bed due to the light breeze entering the room from the ajar bedroom window.
"System," Min Hoo called out in a muffled voice.
There was no response.
"...System?"
And again, no response.
Min Hoo waited for a few minutes, but there was still no response. Looks like his guess was right...The system probably doesn't work at night. But she didn't mention it. Then is that really the case? He got up from the bed and went outside again in his underclothes.
Min Hoo headed to the same place where he was last night. And of course he heard a certain tapping sound again. Xue Yang was practicing at the same place. Such a diligent student..
The man tapped his feet on the grass until he abruptly stopped. "Xue Yang," he said and his golden eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.
Xue Yang spun around, his sword poised like a dog ready to pounce. Relief washed over his features when he spotted Min Hoo.
"Teacher!" he exclaimed, lowering his weapon. "You startled me."
Min Hoo crossed his arms, a smirk dancing on his lips. "Startled? You're training with a sword, not petting a puppy. Keep your guard up."
Xue Yang rubbed the back of his neck, sheepish. "I thought I was doing well..."
"Sure," Min Hoo replied, rolling his eyes dramatically. "You were doing great at making the grass feel very uncomfortable."
A flicker of indignation crossed Xue Yang's face before it morphed into laughter. "I'll take that as motivation."
"Good." Min Hoo nodded, pleased with himself. Maybe he could coax out more smiles from this boy if he kept this up. "Now let's see if you can actually hit something other than the ground." He unsheathed his own blade with an elegant flick of the wrist and stepped forward.
Xue Yang squared his shoulders, determination flooding back in place of embarrassment. "I'm ready, Teacher!"
"Are you?" Min Hoo asked, arching an eyebrow and lowering into a fighting stance. "Let's find out."
With a battle cry that echoed off the mountainside—at least he hoped it sounded impressive—Xue Yang lunged forward. His movements were eager but lacked finesse; Min Hoo sidestepped easily, catching Xue Yang off balance.
"Focus! You're fighting against me, not the wind," Min Hoo said with mock seriousness.
Xue Yang stumbled but recovered quickly. His eyes sparkled with defiance as he charged again.
Min Hoo feigned surprise at Xue Yang's sudden confidence but couldn't help but admire the boy's tenacity. This time, Xue Yang managed to graze Min Hoo's arm.
"Aha!" Xue Yang grinned triumphantly.
"Congratulations! You've discovered my most vulnerable spot—the ego," Min Hoo deadpanned.
With renewed enthusiasm, Xue Yang continued attacking with newfound vigor, each swing more determined than the last.
"Don't forget to breathe," Min Hoo added playfully as he parried another strike.
"I know how to breathe!" Xue Yang shot back between breaths, panting heavily from exertion.
"Just checking; some students forget."
Of course, Ming Hu was succumbing to Xue Yang. Although he had recently picked up the sword himself, but with Mo Chou's experienced body and the help of the System, he would be able to reach the approximate level of the original Mo Chou in another 2 or 3 years. That's great!
The man smiled faintly and made a turn with his body, easily knocking the sword out of his disciple's hand, causing it to fall to the ground with a clang. How beautiful were those moments when the system wasn't following him.
Xue Yang's eyes widened in surprise and his face stretched out slightly before he clenched his hands into fists and slightly pinched his lower lip looking truly offended.
"Teacher...you could at least give in to this student." The protagonist grumbled as he looked at Mo Chou, who calmly put his blade back into its scabbard.
"Hm? I was already giving in to you. I think my disciple needs more training." He said it in jest, but he didn't expect the following reaction.
Xue Yang's violet eyes lit up with fierce determination, so much so that Min Hoo almost squinted his eyes.
"Yes, Teacher! If I train hard enough, I can stand next to Teacher!" Xue Yang smirked and picked up his blade from the ground, clutching it tightly with his hands.
"..." The main character doesn't seem to take jokes. But young people should be able to take it well.
He forgot for a while that he was in ancient China.
"I'm only joking, don't overdo it. You've been training hard enough, your head needs a rest too." Min Hoo said crossing his arms on his chest and looking down at Xue Yang.
But Xue Yang didn't even seem to hear his teacher's words, he was determined to achieve his goal.
How can this child in the future go crazy and destroy this world? It's a pity for him.
________
"The rift demons have been on a rampage lately." A deep, masculine voice came from a tall figure sitting at the end of a long table.
Actually, rift demons and 'ordinary' demons were different. Over five thousand years ago, there was a war between humans and demons. Although it's probably better to say between spellcasters and demons, since ordinary humans are not equal to demons.
So, then all the demons divided into two groups. One went completely against humans, the other was in favor of humans. You can guess the outcome of this war. 'Good' demons and spellcasters sealed many demons in the rifts and now they have not come to the surface for five thousand years.
But the spellcasters and ordinary demons could not stay in truce for long, so after three thousand years, humans and demons became enemies again. But there was no more war as strong as in the past.
The person who spoke and sat at the head of the table was the head of the Hanqin Shen Wu School.
"There's no telling when some rifts will reopen, so I want you to send at least one of your personal disciples to keep an eye on certain rifts that are marked on the map."
In front of each Elder was a small map with red dots marking those places.
Shen Wu pondered for a while, and then took the scroll in his hands and said again. "We have also accumulated quite a few tasks sent from the people of the cities and villages, so you should also send your disciples to fulfill them. Experience and practice are also important."
The school head's gaze then fell on the white-haired man who was sitting calmly in his chair, staring at a map on the table.
"Elder Mo, you might want to accept one of the assignments, I heard that you've accepted a few new students this year. I think this is the right time for them to start practicing." Shen Wu said.
Mo Chou blinked and his golden eyes fell on the head of the school. Before System could say anything to Min Hoo, he had already replied.
"I think we can."
System: "..." why do you speak faster than you think?! Are you not afraid of punishment at all?
After he said those words, some of the Elders' faces stretched out in surprise, just like Shen Wu's. After all...Mo Chou almost never performed 'low-ranking' tasks. Could it be that he had hit his head and his brain had fallen into place?
Is it definitely Mo Chou?
The head of the school handed the scroll to a servant who walked over to where Mo Chou was sitting and fearfully, with both hands, handed the scroll to Elder Mo. Min Hoo opened the scroll and quickly ran his eyes over the brief information about the task. While he was absorbing it, the voice of Head Shen was heard again.
"Hm...I don't really want to bring this up, but Elder Mo, it's been 40 years since you took your position...shouldn't you already be accepting your personal disciples?" asked the head, smiling good-naturedly. Many of the Elders knew how many times Head Shen had tried to persuade Mo Chou to accept his personal disciples, but it was all to no avail. And it seemed that this time, he had decided to try his luck again.
Min Hoo seemed to understand what was going on, so his answer didn't wait long. "No." he replied succinctly, frowning his eyebrows and pressing the corners of his lips together, trying to match the face that Mo Chou would make.
"...." the Head of School's smile froze.
No, it was still the same Mo Chou.
After two hours, the meeting came to an end and Min Hoo, in Mo Chou's body, quietly stood up, putting the scroll given to him by the Head Shen into his Hanfu sleeve.
In fact, Min Hoo almost fell asleep at this meeting...Even in his previous life as a professor, he had been reluctant to attend meetings. So now Min Hoo's task was to find out the names of the other Elders. He only knew the name of the Head of Hanqin School, and that was not enough.
The man breathed in the pleasant mountain air that was wafting throughout Hanqin School. Even though the smell was good, he was more accustomed to the smell of his apartment, which smelled like dust and the coffee he drank every day.
Speaking of coffee, there's none here. It's just fucking tea. As a coffee fanatic, it's torture for him.
Abruptly, a strong hand fell on Mo Chou's shoulder, making Mo Chou himself wince.
"Ha ha, old fox, I know you're up to something since you agreed to accept this task from the head. Have those cockroaches finally escaped from your head? Or have you gone crazy because of loneliness? Or no...maybe some demon has possessed you..." a mocking voice sounded right next to Mo Chou's ear, and clearly the owner of this voice was not on good terms with the real Mo Chou.
"?" Min Hoo remained silent, but his body instinctively tensed up. His gaze fell on the man who had put his hand on his shoulder without respecting his privacy at all.
He was the same height as Mo Chou, but his musculature was clearly larger, and he was wearing a bright orange Hanfu. To Min Hoo, this man seemed like some kind of gangster, and if he wasn't a gangster, he was clearly some kind of hooligan....
"Hey, why are you silent? Where are your sarcastic words? Or was I right?" the man's smile stretched even wider, and the hand on Mo Chou's shoulder clenched even tighter.
Min Hoo was still silent, processing what would be the best way to reply in Mo Chou's style. But the only thing that came to his mind was this. - "Remind me of your name." In fact, Min Hoo really thought that this would be the way to find out this person's name, but...
The orange-robed man's smile froze and he slowly removed his hand from Mo Chou's shoulder. "No. You're still the same person." Abruptly,he pulled a sword out of thin air and quickly pointed the tip of the sword directly at Mo Chou's chest.
Min Hoo's eyes widened slightly and quickly pulled out the umbrella that was hanging on his belt, revealing it to stop this unknown person's strike. He definitely couldn't fight with any Elder right now, otherwise he would definitely lose.
But this person didn't stop and tried to attack Min Hoo in Mo Chou's body once again.
"Stop it already." a woman's voice sounded from a little further away. That woman frowned her thin black eyebrows, and her bright red lips spat out the following words. "Li Zhen, you are once again attacking Elder Mo for no reason. Your apothecary hands are not made for battles with this person. Don't come to me again asking me to repair your sword."
"Sh-shijie!?" the person who attacked Mo Chou, named Li Zhen, immediately lowered his sword, now looking like a sad puppy that had been scolded by its mistress.
"..." Min Hoo thought he saw something he shouldn't have seen.
The woman with red lips hummed and headed in the other direction away from Li Zhen, and Li Zhen quickly followed her, disappearing from Min Hoo's sight.
So, apparently Li Zhen is the head of Medicine Peak. Well...now he has some information.