“Should I go right for the next one?”
His sweet voice was somewhat chilly. He was already considering the most interesting, non-dangerous hunting method he could think of that wouldn’t be too much for his body, and that was seeping into his voice. The red eyes were glinting with a dangerously playful light.
Shi Yue pulled the boy back by his collar. “No. You’re coming back to rest for the evening and learn some other things. You’re still getting a scolding.”
“But you already scolded me!”
“You don’t truly think that I will let you go with just a few words after a manoeuvre like this?”
Xie Yi winced and fiddled with his clothes. He hadn’t believed it, but he had hoped to get around the lecture. The field trip was more interesting if he could move as he please, but he also knew that Shi Yue was using this trip as a chance to teach him other things. He had already mentioned wanting to show his disciple how to make simple medication with some common herbs.
“Okay”, he sighed.
“We are going back then?”, Yao Ming asked lightly, happy to see that Xie Yi was going to get a scolding.
“Yes. For convenience, let’s fly back”, Shi Yue responded and pulled out his sword. It was the same spiritual one he usually wore, not his main weapon that had a spirit.
The sword hovered in the air with a low hum and lowered to just a bit above the ground. Shi Yue lightly stepped on it and made place for Xie Yi to join him. Yao Ming also pulled his weapon.
The sword gave an unhappy shiver when Xie Yi stepped on it but didn’t start to cry out as the lower-levelled ones did. Shi Yue still noticed the reaction with interest, but this wasn’t the moment to find out more about it.
With their weapons, even at Yao Ming’s lowered speed, they were back in half an hour. Xie Yi hopped down with a slow exhale. He wasn’t overly fond of flying on weapons, he was more used to using demonic beasts.
“Yao Ming”, Shi Yue said as soon as they were set down. The younger cultivator hurried closer, showing an amicable smile as he stood ready to hear what Shi Yue needed him for. “Make dinner with Xie Yi, won’t you? I will be out for two hours or three and check if I can find a suitable demonic beast somewhere nearby. After dinner, we will have a small lesson.”
Xie Yi’s fighting skills were suited to working against the more mischievous and crafty demonic beasts. He wanted to see how Xie Yi would fare against one, although he would interfere if the child showed any signs of trouble. He couldn’t risk letting a fight continue against a demonic beast, contrary to a normal one.
“I will”, Yao Ming agreed and seriously nodded.
“Behave while I’m not here”, Shi Yue warned, then was gone before Xie Yi could complain.
The child unhappily frowned. Couldn’t Yao Ming do that? Why did Shi Yue need to go? Moreover, Yao Ming’s meal was bound to taste terrible.
“Alright. I’ll show you how to make some simple roasted rabbit”, the older cultivator said quietly, his face expressionless.
In a matter of minutes, he had a rabbit that he was meticulously cleaning and preparing. Xie Yi stared at him incredulously for a while, then had an epiphany. Yao Ming couldn’t do anything while Shi Yue was around. Shi Yue was a Grandmaster and the person he adored. He had to act seriously. At most, the food wouldn’t be too tasty.
Xie Yi didn’t say a word but listened while Yao Ming monotonously explained what he was doing, slowing his movements just a tiny bit.
The rabbit smelled good over the fire, fat dripping down. Xie Yi stared and stared, watching the meat slowly turn darker and earn a crispy crust. When it looked like it was ready, he turned to stare at Yao Ming, who stood up and put his sword that he was cleaning aside.
His handsome face stiff and still as a rock, Yao Ming took the rabbit off the fire and put it to the side. “Get it yourself”, he just said.
Xie Yi waited until Yao Ming was back to cleaning his sword, this time with his back towards the boy. Then he quietly went forward and took the rabbit, slowly cutting off meat with his knife. It wasn’t an overly healthy meal but it was filling and quite standard for camping outside.
He ate half of it before stopping and leaving the rest for whoever wanted some. Sitting before the tent, he could do nothing but wait for Shi Yue to return.
A few minutes later, he felt sweat running down his back.
Actually, the person called Xie Yi had a body that was very easy to drug. He was likely to fall into states induced by herbs or get poisoned. In his last life, without truly understanding it, Xie Yi had tolerated it as the five elders spent over five years continuously building a resistance in his body. The state he was used to; the state where no poison that wasn’t legendary could hurt him, it was something that this life long hadn’t acquired yet.
For the childish Xie Yi who hadn’t been taken in by the demonic sect, just a simple drug was enough. The kind of drug that was so weak it didn't even leave behind a scent a normal human could notice.
Xie Yi debated drawing his sword or knife but the moment he had the thought, he already decided it was useless.
His hands quivered and refused to hold any strength and Yao Ming was several levels higher than him, older than him and most of all, not drugged.
“Shi Yue is returning soon”, Xie Yi managed to force out, scolding and screaming mentally. Alright, he had been stupid. Yao Ming, this ass, he even dared to hurt a Grandmaster’s disciple right under the cultivator's nose.
Yao Ming calmly put his sword back into its scabbard and stood up to straighten his robes. With his hands folded behind his back, he comfortably moved over, squatting down before Xie Yi.
He rested his chin on his hand, looking at Xie Yi like he was nothing more than the rabbit he had just caught.
“Not yet”, he just said calmly. “It’s not like a lot of time is needed. I went out to hunt, you were here. Were you aware that those boar-beasts hold grudges? When one of theirs is killed, they try to kill the murderer in return. How unfortunate. I wasn’t here to help you.”
Yao Ming sighed wistfully and shook his head. “Did you know? My great-grandfather is a Grandmaster. Master Li will definitely know that I set this up, he isn’t stupid. The sect will also know. But what can they do? Master Li isn’t planning on taking me as a disciple anyway, but like this, I will have gotten rid of an eyesore.”
Slowly, his face twisted into a happy smile, turning his eyes into slits. “But he doesn’t have a choice. Grandmasters fighting against each other has catastrophic results. Are they going to throw me out? Are they going to punish me? Punished for a mere child, because of a mistake. My dearest great-grandfather wouldn’t like hearing that.”
Yao Ming happily chuckled to himself and pulled out some kind of leather bag that he opened up. It must have been sealed by an array, because a soft scent seeped out only once it was opened. The powder scattered over Xie Yi and the boy coughed as it got into his lungs. Yao Ming continued talking to himself. “You see, Xie Yi, this world is all about power. Look at you little monster. Even in a situation like this, you aren’t even tense and just look at me like a killer. The sect would have gotten rid of you dangerous creature sooner or later - I guess I’m doing them a favour.”
Yao Ming stood up and stretched, at ease. He was humming to himself, stroking his sword and walking off, slowly vanishing into the woods.
Xie Yi coughed again and blinked.
You could crush beast cores and mix them with certain herbs to strongly enhance their scents. Most of the time, this was used to keep certain types of beasts away from your camp, but only idiots would use the cores of the beasts that held grudges.
Well. This was a bit troublesome, wasn’t it?
While Yao Ming expected Xie Yi to be killed, or maybe heavily injured, Xie Yi only thought 'it's a bit troublesome'. Though everything will be so if we compared to how he trained in his first life. What's unexpected is to see Yao Ming was the one who strikes first. Shi Yue was there after all. I was waiting for Yao Ming to have some kind of accident, to be honest. Too bad for Xie Yi, but since the mc himself is not anxious, I'll just see how he solve his problem.
Thanks for the chapter!
P/s: Maybe not a popular opinion, but let me say I do like Yao Ming a bit. He did know Shi Yue will know the truth, but still continue his plan. I guess I'm a little tired of reading stories with dumb antagonist.
Xie Yis biggest enemy is himself and his habits, you could say...
I think it's fine to like antagonists, they can still be interesting characters xD
Welcome back! I felt pretty neutral about YM before this, but now I'm disappointed in him lol. Even if Grandmasters don't fight each other isn't there ways around that? Can't YM have an 'accident' himself? Though that doesn't feel like something SL would do, or maybe XY's skewed perception of him is influencing me? I'm kind of curious how he'll react when he finds out.
The greatest problem isnt that Yao Ming is unkillable (altho he would be pretty darn hard to kill cause he has stuff), it's that it's a death sentence xD YM has ways to ensure that his greatgrandpa would know, just like XYs bracelet. And greatgrandpa would tear anyone apart for even just hurting YM, not caring about collateral damage. Theyd have to either hide it perfectly or create a situation where the greatgrandpa is robbed off his means to intervene
Hmm, now I do wonder whether I left plotholes in my plan on how to proceed with this after all.... If you notice them, please tell me so I can edit them out
~
@Owl I didn’t notice anything, but I when I really enjoy a story (like this one~) I tend to get really engrossed so I don’t always notice if there’s a plot hole or something seems off. If it makes sense to the characters it usually makes sense to me
@Mmem Still, if you doo notice~
but yeah, common phenomenon, stories are no fun if you question everything xD