Without hesitation, he dashed towards the entrance. His figure became a blur and left behind a light gust at the sudden burst of speed.

Yang Zishan yelped in surprise and darted after him.

“Hey! I thought you said we need to be cautious!”

"No time!” Xiao Songfen spat out through gritted teeth. “My disciple is inside.”

“Ah?!” Yang Zishan whispered loudly in disbelief, nearly colliding into Xiao Songfen, as the person lurched to a stop right in front of Sanchuan Bazaar's main double doors.

Unsheathing Yaoye, Xiao Songfen sliced cleanly through the enchanted padlock with deadly accurate qi control. The lock had been enchanted to severely dampen the qi presence of the products in their warehouses, but that also meant it muffled the qi presence of the living too. He froze as the previously undetectable presence of people started to appear on his radar one by one.

(One….three…seven…fifteen…)

Under Xiao Songfen’s hypersensitive perception, their presence remained unmoving, like single torches lighting a dark winding road. Unlike the usual qi that ebbed and flowed dynamically, theirs felt static and muted. Like he was seeing them through a screen of muddy stagnant water.

“Woo…there’s quite a few.” Whistled Yang Zishan, peering around Xiao Songfen's shoulder. “Xiao Huan, what should we do?”

Xiao Songfen knitted his eyebrows together in deep thought.

There was no time to consider the risks.

His disciple could be in the middle of a fatal altercation this very minute. Xiao Songfen resolutely kicked open the double doors. As moonlight behind them trickled in, the previously pitch-dark bazaar lobby interior was illuminated clearly.

In no particular pattern, unconscious bodies were strewn all over the ground.

Men and women. Young and old in appearance.

There were no uniforms or any accessories to hide their faces. Their weapons and clothes came in all sorts of various designs and types. A few of them Xiao Songfen recognized as Sanchuan Bazaar clerks and night watch security. It looked like twenty random people had just been snatched off the street and placed in the lobby.

Were they victims? There was no evidence of a struggle. Not a single drop of blood in sight.

Were they the culprits then? Well, then they'd make an extremely ragtag band of thieves.

More importantly, there was no Bai Yiyan to be seen.

“Ai!” Yang Zishan wrinkled his nose. “Did we walk in on a massacre instead of a burglary?” 

He then leaned his torso forward to inspect the closest person. “I can still sense their qi. Not dead yet, but they've been affected by Gu poison. They'll be drinking Grandma Mengpo's tea soup¹"Meng Po is a goddess that lives in the realm of the dead. According to Chinese mythology, there exist several realms beneath the Earth. Meng Po serves in Diyu, the Chinese realm of the dead, in the 10th court. It is her task to ensure that souls who are ready to be reincarnated do not remember their previous life or their time in hell. To this end, she collects herbs from various earthly ponds and streams to make her Five Flavored Tea of Forgetfulness (迷魂汤;  lit. waters of oblivion). This is given to each soul to drink before they leave Diyu. The brew induces instant and permanent amnesia, and all memory of other lives is lost. Having been purged of all previous sins and knowledge, the dead spirit is sent to be reborn in a new earthly incarnation according to the karma accrued over their previous lifetimes, and the cycle begins again." (Wikipedia) soon without any intervention."

Xiao Songfen kneeled down next to him to inspect the same unconscious body. Putting two fingers under their nose, Xiao Songfen could feel the ever-so-slight air movement of laborious shallow breathing. The air around the bodies was tinged with a subtle hint of Gu poison.

He stood up quickly and put some distance between himself and the body, pulling Yang Zishan back along with him by the collar. He put a sleeve over his nose and directed the circulating qi in his body to focus on purification.

“Be careful not to get too close. They are currently comatose and not dangerous, but there is still some residual Gu poison in their breath." Xiao Songfen analyzed. Both being in the golden core formation stage, they were not as susceptible to such a light concentration of Gu poison, but one could never be completely certain.

This discovery made him more worried about the current whereabouts of his disciple. The involvement of Gu poison complicates things. Bai Yiyan’s residual trail of qi had been intermixed with a rusty metallic essence indicative of blood being spilled, but there were no signs of blood here. The possibility that the spilled blood being his disciple’s had increased and an open wound meant more vulnerability to the Gu poison in the air. Bai Yiyan was also still only in the middle foundation establishment stage with less resistance ability to Gu poison.

Xiao Songfen fretted internally, hoping that he wouldn't soon become a master whose disciple died less than a month under his watch.

(First things first, 1-1-9²China's emergency number to call the police/ambulance/etc.)

With a few quick motions of his hand, he quickly constructed multiple golden willow leaves from his qi.

“Ge, we have run into an unexpected situation. Bring reinforcements to Sanchuan Bazaar and an elder knowledgeable about Gu poison.” He recorded into the leaves before urgently sending them off to Xiao Xusong's residence on Central Peak along different paths. That way, if one was mysteriously intercepted, there would still be a few more to ensure his message was delivered. Knowing Xiao Xusong, he would definitely rush reinforcements as soon as possible.

After the leaves safely disappeared into the night sky, Xiao Songfen turned and threw the responsibility of further investigation to Yang Zishan.

“You figure out what exactly is affecting these people until reinforcements arrive.” He ordered curtly and walked ahead without sparing Yang Zishan a glance. Yang Zishan was the one who wanted to play detective after all, not him. “I need to go ensure my disciple’s safety first. It seems like there are only victims here, so keep your guard up for the real thieves."

“Wait, I don’t want- you're going to leave me here with all these half-dead-?!“ Yang Zishan began to protest, but Xiao Songfen had already disappeared in the direction of the bazaar warehouses ahead.

Keeping his senses sharp and on the lookout for any strange movements, he inspected each warehouse one by one, closely following the faint trail of his disciple's qi. It was barely noticeable, but after spending day and night in close proximity with Bai Yiyan, Xiao Songfen could recognize his disciple’s qi anywhere.

The trail ended right in front of the largest and innermost warehouse where large shipments were stored for next-day pick-up. Xiao Songfen stopped in front of the door that was slightly open and peered inside.

A few bodies were scattered about on the ground. But unlike the ones in the lobby, they were broken and bloodied.

Xiao Songfen knew immediately.

(Dead.)

Six bodies on the ground without any signs of life.

His gaze immediately zeroed in on his disciple sprawled on the ground in the far left corner. Right next to the youth was the Qingshan Sect's shipment of herbs, all accounted for. From a distance, Xiao Songfen could see that Bai Yiyan was covered head to toe in blood.

!!!

(If he is injured, then the person who did it may still be around or hidden among these bodies on the ground. I'm pretty sure they're all dead, but in this type of universe, one can never know...) 

Xiao Songfen did not immediately rush to his disciple’s side. Instead, he approached, giving a wide berth around the bodies, with Yaoye in his hand, poised and ready for the possible ambush of hidden assailants.

Reaching his disciple, Xiao Songfen knelt down, giving his disciple a quick once-over. A sense of deja vu overcame him. He thought his disciple looked very much like he did on the day he transmigrated. On the floor covered in half-dried blood. A very pitiful sight.

“Yaoye.” Xiao Songfen softly commanded as he let go of his sword and let it vigilantly float in the air next to him, guarding them. With his newly freed arm, he carefully gathered his disciple into his arms and used a sleeve to wipe some of the blood away from Bai Yiyan’s face. His disciple stirred in his arms, slowly opening his eyes.

“….Shizun?” Bai Yiyan’s stormy irises flashed in recognition.

"Don't talk." Xiao Songfen commanded simply. "Let me inspect your body first."

Bai Yiyan stiffened and refused. A hesitant hand reached up to push his master away. "But I am okay."

"What is okay?" Xiao Songfen said with a tone of exasperation. "Look at how much blood there is."

Bai Yiyan looked down and his face dawned with understanding. He stopped resisting and relaxed in his master's arms, allowing Xiao Songfen to efficiently scan his body for injuries.

"...it's not mine." Bai Yiyan tentatively clarified about the blood and nodded towards the bodies on the ground. "It's theirs."

Indeed, Bai Yiyan had no surface injuries.

"So it is." Xiao Songfen agreed. His arms firmly wrapped around Bai Yiyan relaxed.

"I am not injured." Bai Yiyan confirmed and smiled with a face full of exhaustion. "Just passed out a bit. I was a bit tired from fighting."

"So you are." Xiao Songfen replied again curtly.

He let go of his disciple and stood up in a bit of a huff. Now that his disciple was deemed safe, Xiao Songfen suddenly felt like he needed to be compensated for all the stress his disciple just put him through. The desire to give Bai Yiyan a good scolding welled up. With his current cultivation, he could easily live over two hundred years, but tonight had certainly shaved off a few decades.

What was his disciple thinking? Fighting these people without anything better than a weathered practice sword he used for morning training.

Seeing that his master's expression was not good, Bai Yiyan hurriedly explained himself while scrambling to stand up. Words quickly fell from Bai Yiyan's lips without pause.

"I was on my way back to Liushu Peak when I saw intruders breaking into Sanchuan Bazaar in passing. I followed after them a bit and was going to alert Shizun, but I was detected and forced to defend myself before I was able to send a message..."

Bai Yiyan's eyes turned downcast. "This disciple is very sorry for bringing trouble to Shizun. Please punish me as you see fit."

Looking at his disciple who currently resembled a pitiful stray dog, Xiao Songfen could only swallow down the severe scolding he had prepared on the tip of his tongue.

What could he say? What was done had already been done.

"You..." A myriad of expressions flitted across Xiao Songfen's face before he gave up and sighed. "Don't be so reckless next time."

"Mn...this disciple was wrong." Bai Yiyan agreed obediently.

Xiao Songfen looked over at the bodies and frowned. This was the first time he had seen a dead body since transmigrating. And not just one, but six bodies in one go. Though the bodies weren't horribly mutilated or disfigured, the sight of so many dead bodies still warm from recent death by his own disciple was just-

He shook his head, ridding himself of dark thoughts. This was no place to be acting delicate or preaching morals.

"Did you kill all of them?" He asked Bai Yiyan simply.

The dead cultivators were not weak. To break through Sanchuan Bazaar's defenses, they would have had to be at least peak foundation establishing stage³ Reference: Qi Condensation (凝气) --> Foundation Establishment (筑基) --> Core Formation (结丹 )--> Nascent (元婴). Then the stages are split into initial, lower, middle, upper, and peak.. Bai Yiyan, who was only in the middle foundation establishment stage, would have surely had a hard time defending himself against one, let alone six.

Bai Yiyan shook his head.

"I don't think so. I only managed to defeat two. The others dropped dead immediately after as if their lives had been bound together."

Xiao Songfen walked over to inspect the bodies. All were dead and shared very similar puncture wounds in their torso. He made a mental note to have people investigate the cause of the wounds later.

The closest body to them had a gaping hole in their chest. The hole was quite impressive, a clean stab wound indicative of an extremely sharp blade. It was not something the common practice sword in Bai Yiyan's possession could achieve.

Bai Yiyan seemed to guess what Xiao Songfen was thinking and added, "I used the sword from the first person I defeated to stab the second one." He pointed at an ominous-looking blade, designed for assassination purposes, a short distance away.

At this point, Xiao Songfen couldn't tell if his disciple was extremely skilled or extremely lucky to have not gotten murdered as collateral damage in a burglary attempt. He turned away from Bai Yiyan and rubbed his temples.

(Ah forget it, forget it. Let's just take care of the situation here first.)

"Shizun." Bai Yiyan called out.

"Mn."

"Will...will this bring trouble to Shizun?" Bai Yiyan asked quietly.

"Mn. It will." Xiao Songfen did not spare his disciple's feelings with his answer.

Bai Yiyan's imaginary dog ears drooped.

(Ai...his face...it is cheating. I cannot help but forgive...Ha...I already forgave him. )

"My brother will definitely be in tears tomorrow filling out all the paperwork required to document this incident. And then he will surely call me halfway through to whine about it. Troublesome indeed." Xiao Songfen explained with a light laugh and ruffled Bai Yiyan's hair. "You have been forgiven, so stop moping."

He then set about erecting a strong protection array formation around the unscathed shipment herbs. Sanchuan Bazaar's security was currently compromised. It wouldn't do to go through all this trouble only to have someone steal the shipment while they wait for the Qingshan Sect's reinforcements to arrive later.

He then moved to set up a flesh preservation array formation around the dead bodies to slow their rigor mortis. The preservation array was more complex and took some time to draw.

Bai Yiyan, feeling that he had pushed his master's limits enough today, quietly waited to the side.

The gentle hum of qi strands being woven into an array on the floor was all that could be heard.

While putting the finishing touches on the flesh preservation array, Xiao Songfen spoke.

"I'm nearly done. Let us return to the lobby after. Yang Zishan is waiting for support from the sect there."

"Shizun..." The small hoarse voice of his disciple answered him. So quiet, almost a whisper.

(Pft. He is still feeling guilty ah.)

"Mn." Xiao Songfen replied with a tone of indulgence.

"Something...something is..." Bai Yiyan's voice trailed off.

"Something is?"

"..."

Hearing no reply, Xiao Songfen looked back at his disciple in confusion.

?!!

Bai Yiyan's current state shocked him. All of Bai Yiyan's pores had begun to ooze a dark thick substance.

Cold sweat had soaked the collar of his robes. Bai Yiyan's body was shaking, fists clenched so hard it drew blood. He struggled to remain upright.

"...Shizun I think...I'm..." Bai Yiyan murmured before passing out and falling forward.

Xiao Songfen immediately dashed forward and caught him.

(Heart still beating. No open wounds or internal injuries, but his qi seems...excited?)

Xiao Songfen looked at his disciple's dirtied face. Bai Yiyan's face was currently scrunched up in pain as if he was experiencing a nightmare.

(Why is his qi circulation so erratic? Was it Gu poison?)

Xiao Songfen placed a palm on Bai Yiyan's chest to try and insert his own calming qi, but immediately retracted his palm in alarm. Bai Yiyan's body was rejecting any external interference. There were no signs of Gu poison, but the amount of qi in Bai Yiyan's body was too much. As if it was overflowing from a container that was too small. Forcefully inserting some of his qi at this point would put Bai Yiyan at risk for qi deviation.

There was no way to calm things down here. Bai Yiyan would have to ride through the torture on his own.

Just like...

!!!

Was Bai Yiyan in the middle of breaking through to the next cultivation stage right now? That would explain all these dark bloody impurities currently seeping out of the pores in his body.

But how was this possible?

How had Bai Yiyan managed to surpass the middle, high, and peak foundation establishment stages⁴Bai Yiyan was in previous chapters noted to be in the middle foundation establishment stage. Xiao Songfen himself is currently at the very peak of core formation stage. without anyone knowing in a mere ten days? It seems that his disciple has done some things that escaped his notice.

A dozen thoughts crossed his mind like a bullet screen⁵弹幕 dànmù -  barrage (military); "bullet screen", a function which allows viewers to post on-screen comments in videos, movies, etc in real-time; danmaku (definition courtesy of PurpleCulture, but as a person who worked well under pressure, he quickly pushed them to the side and determined that his priority right now was to ensure his disciple survived the breakthrough.

Xiao Songfen's mind raced to figure out next steps.

The area was not completely secure. He needed to move Bai Yiyan to a safer place. Thinking of safety in numbers, he remembered Yang Zishan was close by in the bazaar lobby. Xiao Songfen slipped both arms under Bai Yiyan’s body and carefully lifted his disciple, slowly shifting his weight so as not to disturb the current intense circulation of qi.

(Let's head back to the lobby and regroup with Yang Zishan. Then-)

A sudden movement in the background caused his pupils to immediately contract.

Squelch!

The sound of thick liquid bursting out could be heard as the vigilant Yaoye accurately pierced through a palm-sized Gu worm lunging towards them. The worm went slack and died on the spot, unable to withstand the intense purifying qi radiating from Yaoye's blade. Xiao Songfen looked blankly at the dead worm on the ground for a brief moment, resisting the urge to shiver in disgust.

Subtle movements in the shadows were detected in his peripheral vision. More Gu worms.

He would have to fight them off with both hands busy carrying Bai Yiyan.

(Fucking hell.)

At this time, Xiao Songfen really wanted to smack his disciple for choosing the most inconvenient time and place to be going through a cultivation breakthrough.

---------------

WHITE-EYED WOLF THEATER

Bai Yiyan: Have I brought a lot of trouble to you Shizun?

Xiao Songfen: Yes. You are trouble. Trouble is you.

Bai Yiyan: (꒦ິ ヘ꒦ິ )

Xiao Songfen: ...but you are my trouble.

[IF YOU ARE NOT READING THIS BY XIAOMANGISBUSY ON SCRIBBLEHUB AND WATTPAD, IT HAS BEEN STOLEN. PLEASE REPORT AND ONLY READ OFF SCRIBBLEHUB AND WATTPAD.]

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AUTHOR’S NOTE

The plot is thickening and this author’s pandemic body is widening as she indulges herself. Perhaps she is destined to become a circle with eyelashes.

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SONG OF THE DAY

A little late in the year for a song about fireflies, but it was too cute to not share.

 Withered Grass, Fireflies Fǔ cǎo wéi yíng 腐草為螢 by Shuāng Shēng & Páigǔ双笙&排骨

xiaomangisbusy

EVENT END. READER INTERACTION EVENT: Soon, we will have our very first special chapter that includes an exclusive mini-interview with our novel's main characters. Please submit any questions you may have for Xiao Songfen, Bai Yiyan, or any other character that has been introduced thus far via DM or comment in this chapter (only this chapter please). It can be anything from their favorite food to their greatest fear or how they feel about someone. They will answer as honestly as they can as long as it doesn't spoil the novel plot.

Update: Because I took an unexpected long break from writing, I will be extending this event. I will now take submissions until 2021.11.20 23:00 PT.

So sorry for trouble dear readers and thank you for waiting...