Owl

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Xie Yi looked at his master who had a stern face with an upset feeling in his stomach. He couldn’t deal with the face Shi Yue was making. It was too familiar, even though it wasn’t directed at him.

Shi Yue, on the other hand, was trying to soothe the crease between his eyebrows and lower the cold aura around him. 

He was in a bad mood, which was actually very suitable for today, but his disciple looked quite horrified. Or, more horrified than he had ever looked before, which wasn’t that much, to be honest, but still.

He had eased up the tiniest bit when Shi Yue had forced a smile to look at him; maybe realizing that Shi Yue’s bad mood wasn't directed at him. Still, his disciple looked quite unwell with Shi Yue being unhappy.

He couldn’t quite tell why, of course. There was no reason for Xie Yi to show such a discomfited and tense look just because his master was displeased, especially since Shi Yue had never actually punished him before.

There was no reason to be uncomfortable.

Unless Xie Yi had a generally bad experience with people he liked displaying displeasure. A depressing thought, but quite likely.

Sadly, Xie Yi would have to endure it. It was, after all, the perfect mood to show to their visitors so he wasn’t willing to fully dispense it.

When they slowly stepped out - Xie Yi half a step behind Shi Yue, and behind them the rest of the teachers, the sect leader up front -, everyone quieted down instantly.

You could sense the shift in the mood at seeing a whole group of high levelled cultivators in a bad mood, two of them even Grandmasters.

The prepared array under their feet buzzed, elevating them a bit as if they were standing on a stage. Hundreds of eyes moved to them, watching closely.

Xie Yi took Master Chen’s advice and looked up at his master, only glancing into the crowd to where Xu Yan and Li Mei were standing.

He felt more than a few pairs of eyes focused on him again.

Xie Yi slowed his breathing and concentrated on Shi Yue.

The man was wearing a robe in royal purple and had his hair put up in a crown. His long sleeves covered his arms folded behind his back, but everyone who wanted to could sense the powerful amulets adorning his wrists.

On his right side, a sword hung. Shi  Yue was right-handed, so it wasn’t a sign of aggression, but still a warning to everyone¹If you are right-handed, you draw your sword from the left. Shi Yue is carrying his sword but not in a way that makes it easy to draw - this is actually a thing in history; showing wariness but still respect.

Xie Yi didn’t recognize it, but he was sure that this must be the sword that had a spirit. It had a presence on its own; subtle but still there.

It was quite lavishly decorated compared to Shi Yue’s style, but as the robe he was wearing was also more lavish than usual, it didn’t stand out.

Fine patterns and jingling ornaments covered it, making it look more like an ornamental sword than one that could be used in a fight at first glance. Xie Yi hadn’t seen Shi Yue fight with it in his last life, so either something happened to it or it was indeed not useful for fighting.

Xue Hua wasn’t around this time, as it could be taken as too much a provocation.

Mingtian sat close to his leg, leaning lightly on it to remind Xie Yi of his presence. With his unusual looks, he attracted some gazes as well.

Shi Yue let everyone stare at them for a while, satisfying their curiosity, then turned to the sect leader who stepped forward as if on cue.

He spoke in a normal voice, but it was transmitted over the plaza, allowing everyone to hear him clearly.

It wasn’t common to see sect leaders unless there was some kind of event, so everyone’s eyes moved over to him. He let his gaze wander over them all, causing a number of people to twitch back.

“I welcome you all to the Virtuous Sect. You have my thanks for attending on such short notice. I would prefer for today’s meeting to be of a more light-hearted topic, but sadly that isn’t the case.”

It was as everyone expected. The commoners in the far back shivered slightly, but the cultivators in front were fully focused on listening. These kinds of situations were important as they had to determine how to react.

They could stand on the sect’s side or against it, or keep out of the whole mess. Not only did they have to consider what kind of attitude they wanted to have towards the Virtuous Sect, they also had to weigh what kind of advantages their standing might result in.

For example, if they offered the Virtuous Sect their help, they might be able to work against someone they thought of as an eyesore anyway.

On the other hand, the matter might be linked with someone they wanted to support. That would be a more troublesome outcome.

“As you might be aware, it is Grandmaster Li who had a matter that he wishes to announce and it happens to concern his only disciple that he has accepted a year ago.” 

That sentence alone held three important facts. Number one, someone had pissed off a Grandmaster. Number two, they involved a very young disciple - coincidentally the disciple of said Grandmaster that he had newly taken in. Number three, it was that Grandmaster’s only disciple. 

The cultivators that rarely accepted disciples despite having the resources to teach more, usually did so because they had very high expectations. This child had passed Master Li’s test and was obviously now under his wing, but someone had messed with him.

Instantly, the faces of every representative from another sect fell.

Whatever the matter was, it would be hard to find good reasons to stand on the other side.

The sect leader stepped back and Shi Yue stepped forward. Xie Yi hesitated on stepping forward as well, but Mingtian increased the pressure on his leg and he stayed put.

When Shi Yue spoke, the icy air around him began to infect the whole surroundings. Even Xie Yi gave a small, uncomfortable shiver.

The cultivator looked at no one in particular and just let his eyes move constantly, never staying on anyone. It almost looked practised.

“Thank you for being here. As our sect leader has just mentioned, I have something to announce.” He paused then looked towards the disciples of his own sect. “It is possible that some of you have already heard about it due to our sect’s disciples talking about it, but my disciple has been in rehabilitation for the past three weeks, ever since he has returned from an outing.”

More silence. Gazes were shifting again, back to Xie Yi; he looked like a little child, but he was already strong enough to go on outings with his master.

“I had intended for it to be a hunting trip and practise for my disciple, so it had only been us two and another, senior disciple accompanying us.”

Some representatives raised their eyebrows and began to fidget.

“I left him in our camp to find a suitable beast target, and his fellow disciple went hunting for dinner. In the meantime, he was left alone at the camp.”

Shi Yue’s voice dropped by another few degrees, drawing full attention from everyone back.

“It was in this timeframe that someone drugged my disciple and intended to let him be killed by a beast stampede that they had set up.”

The silence that was now hovering over the plaza was of a different kind.

There were silences of people attentively listening, or of someone being distracted, or of annoyance. This was a silence full of tension and one united, mute scream.

Who in the world tries to kill a Grandmaster’s disciple right under their nose, ah?!

That really is one damn courageous idi... cultivator!

“I don't intend to let this matter pass. I will find the perpetrator and punish them for what they did - it is pure luck that my disciple managed to survive the situation.” Shi Yue showed a smile, but it was more of a snarl. “I hope everyone will support me in finding the culprit.”

The silence broke and mutterings could be heard. Supportive comments, shocked exclamations, shaking heads. The usual, fake reactions that were displayed almost out of habit while everyone’s thoughts were running.

Shi Yue waited for them to calm down and finish their thoughts before ending the farce.

“My disciple is still not well yet. I hope no one will take offence if we shall retreat now.” He made a perfunctory bow of his head.

Obviously no one would be able to deny him his request and no one did.

The sect leader took over the situation again, once again repeating their intention to find the one who had planned everything and giving them their lawful punishment.

Shi Yue stopped at Xie Yi’s side, his cold aura easing up.

With much softer eyes, he spoke in a gentle, comforting tone: “Let’s go. There is no need for you to participate in the mess that  comes after this.”

“Yes, Master”, Xie Yi said quietly, smiling up at the man in the purple robe while his eyes wandered back to the talking crowd they were leaving behind.

Somewhere farther back, a tall figure was standing with a smile pasted on his face that didn’t reach his eyes. When their eyes crossed, the figure nodded and showed his teeth in a grin.

On the day that Shi Yue had declared his intentions, Yao Ming had returned from his official leave.

Owl

Iiiif you want to support me, you can rate and review this story. You can also buy me a kofi - two kofis make an extra chapter and the money flows into a fun small dating sim game with our leads.

Gotta do that once in a while lol. On that note, if you want to see Xie Yi's lineart sprite, go take a look at my kofi! :3 It's uploaded there! (Hubby Shi Yue's is staying a secret lol)