When Wu Min Huan arrived at his Master’s place, the palace was left empty. It seemed his Master hadn’t yet returned? He didn’t know where he had settled Yu Jin so he could only return to his own house and continue cultivating.

Meanwhile, Yuchi Bing Xia was facing one of his hardest challenges thus far. He smiled and motioned at the courtyard where a plum tree was standing, blossoming beautifully. "Do you like it?"

Yu Jin looked at the tree when he pointed over but retracted his gaze just as fast. He didn’t say anything and Yuchi Bing Xia wasn’t sure if he had nodded either. His brows twitched. Which disciple wouldn’t feel honored when they were presented with a courtyard on the Sect Master’s peak? Sure, his Yun Zou Sect wasn’t at the height of its power anymore but they still counted as a first-tier sect! The houses on his peak were also especially good. Couldn’t Yu Jin show at least a bit of pleasant surprise?

In the end, he could only sigh. Well, the child had just lost his Master. He probably shouldn’t expect too much. Yu Jin would be able to see the beauty of this place as soon as his mood got better.

The Sect Master gave him another moment to look around before he motioned back inside. "We’ve traveled quite far. You’re probably tired. Maybe you want to rest for a while?"

Yu Jin looked at him, his gaze unreadable. In the end, he turned to go inside though, entering one of the rooms at random. He didn’t sit down or do anything else, his gaze only flitted across the room once before he stood there, seemingly waiting what Yuchi Bing Xia would do.

The Sect Master’s helplessness grew even further. Could he really leave this child alone? Obviously, his Master’s sudden death had traumatized him. Maybe he wasn’t even in the right state of mind to live on his own. Would it have been better to take him into his palace? He looked at Yu Jin but couldn’t find an answer either. The youth didn’t talk, didn’t react, didn’t do anything. How should he know what the right thing to do was? He didn’t know anything about him or his Master either. How close had they been? How had his Master treated him? He didn’t know. And without knowing anything, he could hardly gauge what to think of this situation.

He entered the room after Yu Jin and glanced around. Thankfully, there were some outer sect disciples keeping the unused houses clean to gain some merits, otherwise, it would have been difficult to settle him this fast. Now, he at least didn’t need to worry that Yu Jin would lack anything. Everything was clean and tidy and all necessities should be there.

He still gave him a smile and waved. "If there’s anything you need, you can come and tell me. It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is. I’ll be there."

Yu Jin just looked at him. His gaze seemed open but not overly thankful. In fact, he didn’t seem touched at all. He didn’t seem to feel anything.

Yuchi Bing Xia rubbed his temple. This boy would probably give him a handful of headaches in the future. He froze in the motion and awkwardly turned away. What was he thinking? In the future? It wasn’t even sure if Yu Jin would stay in the Yun Zou Sect. Even if he did, now was definitely not the right time to bring it up or even entertain the thought. He had only just lost his Master. He wouldn’t be able to think of the future yet.

And as his Elder, he shouldn’t try to take advantage of Yu Jin’s situation. Yuchi Bing Xia awkwardly motioned to the door. "Can I leave you alone?"

For a moment, it seemed as if Yu Jin would just look at him like he always did but, finally, he at least nodded his head once.

Yuchi Bing Xia heaved a relieved sigh. That was at least something. If he hadn’t gotten a real answer to this question, he might have worried the whole time. He patted Yu Jin’s shoulder and stepped back. "Then … We’ll see each other soon. I’ll come to visit you. If you need something …" He looked around, not sure what he should say. Even though he had taken Yu Jin back, he still hadn’t told him who he was. Since the first time they had seen each other, he was still wearing the robes of an outer sect disciple. How could he tell him now to just tell any of the disciples that he wanted to see the Sect Master?

And if he did that, then he would also need to inform the disciples that they had to take care of Yu Jin. But knowing how things were in the younger generation, he couldn’t do that. Wouldn’t they assume that Yu Jin was related to him in some way? Then they’d try to curry favor with him and bother him but he was supposed to rest his mind and body. In the end, Yuchi Bing Xia just shook his head. "I guess you don’t like being around people anyway. How about you take this?" He took out a paper crane and held it in front of Yu Jin.

The youth looked at it with a dazed expression but finally accepted it, turning it around in his hands.

Yuchi Bing Xia smiled with satisfaction. These paper cranes were the best way of communication they had. Instead of bothering other people, one could just write down a message with either ink or spiritual energy and sent it over. This method was fast and clean. Was there any better way for Yu Jin to contact him?

Well, they didn’t have too many paper cranes as they were not that easy to manufacture but it was worth it. Aiding the youths when they fell on hard times … wasn’t that their task as elders? Ah, he was certainly doing the right thing! This had nothing to do with any investments in his own future. No, he definitely wasn’t doing this just because he wanted Yu Jin as his own disciple.

He gave the youth another smile and turned away, leaving the house and walking back up to his own palace. Ah, he could only hope that Yu Jin would remember what he had done for him in this hard time when he felt better sometime in the future.