>a loyal and strong friendship<

---

 

Mo Qing Tian cannot believe that Bai BingLu managed to romp him into this. Never once did he think of having a child much less raising one, no, two of them. But this cousin of his succeeded in dumping her two disciples for him to babysit while she dug through the archives to look for cultivation books. 

Now, he was stuck in a room with two children.

How….how to talk to children?

Especially when one looked emotionally constipated and the other one looked like he would sell him(MQT) for one corn chip. 

How…. How did he bond with other kids when he was one again?

A moment of lightbulb flickered in Mo Qing Tian’s mind. It was that! That thing! Those things even made him and Bai BingLu become friends in the first place. He could try that.

“As expected from a small branch, there wasn’t much cultivating- What are you doing?”

“I’m letting them read cultivation novels.”

Bai BingLu looked aghast. How could Mo QingTian let the two children read cultivation novels that were filled with betrayals, ridiculous cultivation techniques and unwarranted out of place sex scenes?! Though she and Mo Qing Tian read a lot of that content, it was purely due to amusement oh how ridiculous and dramatic the literature was. Children should not be allowed to consume it, how could they differentiate it from real life? What if they thought it to be a reality?

“They are children!”

Mo QingTian had a blank face.

“They went through more shits than normal adults, meimei.”

“Nooooo~! Children should not read those things! It will rot their brain!

“Hey, I have read those since childhood!”

“Exactly!”

The sight of supposedly close friends fighting each other was a humorous sight for Ji Shen. One day, he wanted someone to argue like that. 

So far the candidate was only Xiao YiJun, seeing how much he(XYJ) cared for him(JS). But the younger boy was too respectful to him, how can he get Xiao YiJun to call him stupid once in a while?

For a while then, Ji Shen realised that Xiao YiJun had stared at the book given by Mo Qing Tian for way too long without flipping the pages.

“Xiao-di, are you okay?”

“...I can’t read.”

And so, they discovered that Xiao YiJun cannot write or read. Mo Qing Tian took out his glasses and debuted as a teacher. Finally, his time to shine had arrived.

Ji Shen tried to escape the class, “Shizun, I know more than 2000 words!”

“Good! Now go and learn 2000 more from your shibo.”

Well, at least he tried. 

So long, nap times. You will be missed. 

Thus, for the two children, their daily schedule was set up. Body training during the morning, the evening is for reading and writing class with Mo QingTian and cultivation at night. 

 

---

 

“Now that I have free times-” Bai BingLu snapped into Mo Qing Tian’s direction. He had a bad feeling. 

“Gege~ Take me out~”

Ah, there it is.

“Where do you want to go?” Then Mo Qing Tian suddenly perked up, as if he just remembered something. 

“Wait, nah. Too dangerous right now.”

Bai BingLu pouted and puffed her cheeks, “Why?”

“There is someone from Tu Jia in town. Just arrived a few days after you.”

“Oh.” She quieted down but was a bit curious, “What’s their name?” 

Mo Qing Tian snickered, ““Tu Li He. His name is too easy to remember. He literally looks like his name. Standing around with flashy white clothes. Even whiter than what we wear.”

She joined in making fun, “Keke, I bet he has hundreds of those clothes. Blood is hard to remove after all.” 

As people who wore white and light-coloured clothes due to homage to their family, both of them sighed. Even the servants who were eavesdropping also sighed, they were the one in charge of cleaning after all. 

 

---

 

“Ji-xiong, is it really okay for us to do this?”

Xiao YiJun asked, his voice below whispers as the two disciples were sneaking around the kitchen. 

“We're supposed to cultivate our qi right now.”

His younger yet still more superior martial brother was scoping the area, trying to escape the eyes of the servant working nearby. He needs to plot the path they need to take to the backdoor without being spotted. Ji Shen saw a chance. He grabbed Xiao YiJun’s hand and made the dash towards the door.

As soon as they got out, the wind blew. Freedom felt refreshing, children need playtime after all. 

“What if we got lost?”

That was a legit worry for Xiao YiJun. He can stroll around woods without care but the city was a different story. Their footsteps barely left a mark on the hardened roads, how could they retrieve their steps later? 

“If we got lost, shizun and shibo can find us as long as we got this,” Ji Shen twirled the waist pendant. “Remember when shibo found you in the alley? People from Bai Jia have really strong noses, they can smell anything from far!”

“Like a dog?”

Ji Shen stiffened, “Yea-yeah.” He gave it a thought and said, “Upgrade that to wolf, xiao-di.”

“But wolves are intimidating.”

“....Are shizun and shibo not intimidating?”

“They get too excited during meal times. It reminds me of the hunting dogs at the village.”

“Oh.”

The conversation ended, and they strolled quietly until the moonlight was replaced with streetlight. Even during the night, the city was bustling with life and vigour. The children as if they were suddenly injected with chicken’s blood, grew excited and lively. No more being worried about being lost, and no more thinking of how disrespectful youth was these days. 

The two children, however, made a mistake. 

Two small figures walking in a parade of people, without anything to chain them together, became separated. Only when both turned their back that they realised each other were missing. 

Ji Shen quickly exited the road and into the side alley which still had a clear view of the crowd. As the elder, he was not panicked. All he needed was to get onto the higher ground and scoop the view from there. He was bound to find Xiao YiJun sooner or later, no need to become anxious. 

He walked down the dark alley and caught a hint of sandalwood. 

“XiangLan?” 

Ji Shen froze, goosebump decorated his pale arms. Cold sweats trickled down his neck, into his robes. 

Oh, how he hated that name. 

But the hatred cannot match the fear he had against the one who muttered the two words. 

“Ah, no. Was it Ji QingYu?”

Without even looking, Ji Shen could hear the mock within the man’s tone. Mocking the name that he had chosen for himself. The name that symbolised how precious he was to himself, of how much he loved himself to manage to stay alive despite what he had to do. Even though he had to adopt another name again, Ji QingYu would always be the only name he acknowledged. 

What right does this person have to mock him?   

Ji Shen turned around slowly and came face to face with his nightmare. 

“It is really you, XiangLan. Ah, you have become cute and lovely again.”

The man stood straight, nose up in the air. A lot of cultivators wore a disguise to conceal their aura but this man wanted to be seen. He wanted to be recognized. His silky white robes decorated with white embroidery of cranes just screamed money and power. 

It was unfair that man had the perfect face to go along with the luxurious clothing. If he was a bit uglier, Ji Shen could have at least mocked him for trying to compensate for something. Alas, with the exception of his heart, Tu Li He was a perfect gentleman. 

“You know how much shit I get when you run away?” 

Ji Shen took a step back, and Tu Li He took a step forward. An adult has a larger reach compared to a child, by the time Ji Shen realised he was completely alone with Tu Li He, the older man had already cornered him.

He grabbed Ji Shen’s small face. 

“Ah~ Baba would like it if I brought you back,” His eyes stared into the boy’s, “It won’t be nice for you though. Since you throw mud at our face.” 

Tu Li He saw the jade pendant hanging on his waist. 

“You actually found a rich man? Well, it’s not too hard with your face. How kinky is the guy? Is he better than my baba?” 

He chuckled and snatched the pendant, holding it up to be illuminated by the moonlight. As Tu Li He observed the white jade, his smirk began to slowly falter. 

His voice shook, “Your new master is a Bai?”

Ji Shen never wanted to tell him that for fear he would waltz into the Bai’s apothecary and expose his past. However, the strange look that Tu Li He gave him as if he was worried. 

“Oi, tell me. XiangLan, who is your master?!”

Before his nail could dig deeper, Tu Li He felt something hitting his arm. He turned his head and saw a boy slightly taller than Ji Shen.

“Let go of Ji-xiong!”

Instantly, his grasp loosened and Ji Shen quickly dashed to Xiao YiJun.He wanted for them to get away from the man as quickly as possible but Xiao YiJun did not budge. He stood his ground, staring daggers at Tu Li He.

“Xiao YiJun, let’s go!”

“Our shizun is Bai BingLu. If you dare harm us, our shizun won’t let you go!”

After staying with the Bai Jia for a while, Xiao YiJun had realised the influence that his shizun had. He saw the old men with clean and expensive clothes come and bow to her. They praised her family name, giving her luxurious gifts. She had quite the power thanks to her lineage. 

And as her disciples, Ji Shen and Xiao YiJun should be able to take some advantages as well.

The frown on Tu Li He’s face deepened. Then he let out a scoff as if he was tired of the world. 

“XiangLan, do you really think you can be safe with your shizun? After all, you have been through, you can’t pick a better thigh to hug? This would never end well for both of you.” 

Ji Shen had gathered enough courage, seeing how Tu Li He had lost all of his aggression. 

“If you dare hurt shizun, the whole Bai Jia would not forgive you.” He continued, “I could always run away again but you will never gain the respect you have wanted from the cultivation world.”

Tu Li He sighed, “The one hurting her will not be me. It will be you.”

That was bullshit, Ji Shen knew better not to bite the hand that fed him. One may argue that he had betrayed Tu Huo Long but their relationship was a mere ‘give and take’. It was a toxic and vile relationship that only hurts Ji Shen’s heart.  

“Xiao YiJun, I said let’s go.”

Xiao YiJun, with his larger build, walked behind Ji Shen to shelter his shixiong from the man behind. 

It was faint but Xiao YiJun could hear the man muttering, “What a small world…” 

The walk home was quiet, even when the man was no longer in their sight, their senses remained alert. 

“Please don’t tell shizun about this. I don’t want her to get worried. “That guy is very dangerous… I don’t think shizun can go against him.”

There was nothing Xiao YiJun could say. Just like him, Ji Shen had his own enemy that he cannot win against the current condition. 

To fully be free and be happy, they had to get stronger. 

Stronger than Tu Li He and Yu Yan.

The two small children held hands, weak as they were, they needed to depend on each other.

 

---

a/n: I wrote my drafts in google docs so I can access it at my interns' place but god, it lags so baddddddd