MOF Chapter 63

“Eat your black piece!”

“Master, it’s my turn to move, but you’ve already taken it.”

“Heh, Huai Feng, you’re still young, you mustn’t be impetuous. This string of beads is specially for training your ability to calm your mind.”

“Thank you, Master, but please move the white piece you secretly moved back just now.”

“……”

“Brother.” Nangong Ci stood for a while, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he had to interrupt the two of them, saying, “I’ve brought Xie Ci to see the Master.”

“Oh?” Nangong Fu held his piece still, stroking his beard, and said, “Huai Feng said he brought back a child with quite the Immortal Fate. Come, let me take a look.”

Xie Ci pursed his lips, wringing his hands together, glanced at Nangong Ci, and walked to the front of the immortal-like Master.

The person in front of him looked to be about fifty years old, with long white eyebrows, but a pair of bright and spirited eyes.

He looked Xie Ci up and down, a look of approval gradually appearing on his face. “Huai Feng, you’re not very old, but you have a good eye for talent.”

Nangong Yue’s tone was a bit more modest, “Master is too kind.”

“How old is this child, what’s his name, and where does he live?”

When Nangong Fu said this, although he was asking Nangong Yue, his gaze was fixed on Xie Ci.

Nangong Ci saw Xie Ci standing there like a dumb goose, not daring to raise his head or look at people, so he gently nudged him with his hand.

Xie Ci, prompted, reacted and quickly said, “Answering the Master, I… this disciple’s name is Xie Ci, I’m seven years old this year, and my home… I don’t have a home anymore. But before, I lived in Black-Clothes Lane in Ghost City.”

Nangong Fu paused for a moment and said, “In that case, then you should stay in Southern Return. However, the initial training time for this year’s new disciples has already passed, so you should follow Yiling first, and if you don’t understand anything, you can go to him.”

Who is Yiling?

Xie Ci was wondering in his heart, not knowing whether to ask or not, when he saw Nangong Ci beside him bowing and heard him say, “This disciple will certainly live up to the Master’s expectations,” then he understood in his heart that the “Yiling” in the Master’s mouth was Nangong Ci.

As if remembering something, Nangong Fu asked again, “Do you have a courtesy name yet?”

Xie Ci pursed his lips and gently shook his head.

“No hurry.” Nangong Fu smiled, his eyebrows also moving, and his face, which was already not stern, became a bit more amiable, “It’s not too late to take one after you’re familiar with Southern Return.”

After bidding farewell to the Master, Nangong Ci took Xie Ci to the new disciples’ residence for this year. Before they even entered the door, the two of them heard a burst of laughter from the courtyard.

Someone drawled, “Hey, isn’t he going to cry? I say, why don’t we just let it go? If it gets too big and is known by Gongzi Yue and the others, we’ll all be punished together.”

“How can we! This kid dared to be rude to Senior Brother Lu, he’s got too much nerve!”

“That’s right! Make him kneel down and apologize, and we’ll let him go!”

Xie Ci pursed his lips, and he secretly glanced at Nangong Ci, seeing his face suddenly turn cold.

Nangong Ci strode into the courtyard and said in a deep voice, “Brother told you to practice your skills properly, what are you doing here!”

The disciples, who were just laughing and joking, immediately fell silent upon hearing this, and stood in rows, straightening their backs. After they completed this action, they directly exposed the person who waspā – lying prone, hunched over on the ground.

Xie Ci saw that the person was squatting on the ground, hugging his head, his back looking a bit pitiful, so he couldn’t help but step forward, wanting to help him up.

“Are you okay?”

The person heard Xie Ci’s words, shook his head, and stood up with Xie Ci’s hand. Once he stood up, Xie Ci found that he was almost half a head taller than him.

Nangong Ci walked over, softened his voice, and asked, “What’s your name? What happened between you and them?”

“My name is Si Wumian, no, it’s nothing, just a misunderstanding.” Si Wumian didn’t dare to look Nangong Ci in the eyes, only lowered his head and said softly.

Xie Ci asked puzzledly, “Weren’t they bullying you? What misunderstanding is there?”

As soon as he said this, someone from the group of disciples immediately stood up and said, “Where did you come from, judge? When did you see us bullying him?”

Xie Ci pursed his lips and looked at Nangong Ci for help.

Nangong Ci looked at the disciple who had spoken, his gaze calm but making the group feel guilty.

“I clearly heard you bullying a fellow disciple outside the courtyard, and you still dare to argue,” Nangong Ci said, “Southern Return will not keep disciples who deceive and conceal from above. Zhu Zimo, considering that this is your first offense, this time I will punish you to sweep this entire courtyard, and there will be no next time.”

“And you,” Nangong Ci looked at the tallest disciple at the head of the group, “Lu Jinnian, did this matter start because of you? I hope you will tell the truth about what happened, otherwise, I can only report this matter to the Master.”

Xie Ci stood awkwardly beside Nangong Ci, listening to the person named Lu Jinnian, his face flushed red, stammering to explain.

The matter was nothing more than that this Si Wumian, like Xie Ci, was also a new disciple who had just arrived today. The difference was that he was sent to Southern Return by his family’s servants. Being new to the place, he inevitably didn’t know the way, and Si Wumian accidentally bumped into Lu Jinnian, who was fooling around with a group of people.

He apologized in time, but Lu Jinnian said he didn’t have eyes. Si Wumian, his voice trembling, explained that it was clearly Lu Jinnian who had bumped into him first, and the group started arguing like that.

Nangong Ci said, “Did they lay a hand on you?” This was naturally asking Si Wumian.

Si Wumian quickly glanced at Lu Jinnian’s group, seeing their eyes nervous and threatening, staring at him fiercely, subconsciously shrinking his neck, and shaking his head, “They only pushed me to the ground, cursed a few times, and kicked me, but didn’t lay a hand on me.”

Lu Jinnian’s expression immediately became a little unsightly upon hearing Si Wumian’s words.

Nangong Ci said sternly, “Everyone, go and copy the Southern Return Pavilion Teachings ten times, and hand them to me by noon tomorrow, do you remember?”

“Disciples remember!” The group replied hurriedly.

“All of you, go down.” As soon as Nangong Ci’s voice fell, Lu Jinnian lowered his head and hurriedly retreated. The disciple named “Zhu Zimo” just now and another person quickly followed.

After they left, Xie Ci also realized that Nangong Ci was different from ordinary disciples, so he looked at him and stammered, “Senior, Senior Brother.”

As soon as he called out, he saw Nangong Ci curving the corners of his mouth, “You’re calling me Senior Brother so quickly? I haven’t formally taken a master in Southern Return, so I’m not your Senior Brother.”

Xie Ci didn’t quite understand, but he didn’t ask much, only saying, “Then, what do they call you, I’ll call you that.”

Nangong Ci didn’t answer, changing the subject, “Let’s go choose a residence for you first.” He glanced at Si Wumian and said, “You come with us too.”

Si Wumian, upon hearing this, raised his head to look at the two of them, his eyes mixed with surprise and gratitude, “Thank you.”

The three of them went forward together, and after Si Wumian chose a residence, Nangong Ci had a slightly older disciple take him in, before answering Xie Ci’s previous words, “Most of the various Immortal Arts of Southern Return, I learned and practiced after reading the books and understanding them myself.”

“Although the elders in the pavilion have given me a lot of guidance, most of the time, I’m self-taught, so I haven’t formally taken a master, and I have very little interaction with the disciples in the pavilion. There are even quite a few disciples who don’t recognize me, after all, the big and small matters in the pavilion are all managed by brother.”

Speaking of this, he glanced at Xie Ci and said, “So, titles are not important. I’m ranked sixth in Southern Return, so why don’t you just call me…”

Xie Ci, hearing this, blurted out, “Sixth Brother?”

Nangong Ci silently took back the Sixth Senior Brother he had originally planned to say, “That’s fine too.”

“Then,” Xie Ci hesitated, “how should others call you?”

“Don’t know.” Nangong Ci said, “Anyway, they’re all unimportant things, they can call me whatever they want. Moreover, I rarely leave Fuguang Pavilion, and the disciples rarely see me, so don’t worry about these things.”

Seeing Xie Ci looking bewildered, he explained again, “Fuguang Pavilion is where I live.

Xie Ci nodded, because Nangong Ci had answered all his questions along the way, without showing the slightest impatience, and revealed a flattered smile.

Nangong Ci saw through his thoughts at a glance, but didn’t point it out, only smiling slightly, “If you don’t understand anything in the future, then come to Fuguang Pavilion, I’ll teach you.”

Xie Ci stole glances at Nangong Ci, his heart feeling a sense of stability because of his words, and the feeling of helplessness and rootlessness that had arisen from Yuquan Town disappeared completely at this moment.

He knew that he would take root in Southern Return from now on.

*

“Catch it! Catch it! Don’t let it escape!”

“Zhu Zimo, are you okay! It flew over there!”

“Just a little bit more, what are you afraid of, just pinch it, won’t you?”

Last night had just brought a spring rain as smooth as butter, and until the morning, the roofs of Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion still had slippery traces of rain. Several disciples wobbled as they stepped on the roofs, competing to catch a red-headed, green-feathered sparrow.

This sparrow had been basking in the sun and moon at Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion for many years, not only gaining spiritual awareness but also always flying into Southern Return to make trouble, tearing up the pavilion teachings that the disciples had copied into a pile of paper strips.

Si Wumian, holding the pavilion teachings that he had finished copying and hadn’t had time to give to Nangong Yue, wanted to cry but had no tears. His wrists were extremely sore, and yet this bird couldn’t be hit or killed, and even if caught, it could only be scolded verbally.

So, he was just standing below, watching Lu Jinnian and the others making a big show on the roof, catching the bird as if walking on thin ice.

After finishing his own, Si Wumian picked up the copy of the pavilion teachings that had fallen beside him. The handwriting on it was so sloppy that it looked as if the green-feathered sparrow had dipped its claws in ink and danced a Southern Return sword technique on the paper, making people dizzy and headache.

No need to guess, this copy was Senior Brother Xie’s.

Si Wumian had just bent down when the sound of wind breaking came from behind him, followed by a light force falling on his back.

“Senior Brother Xie!” Si Wumian straightened up suddenly, reaching behind his back, but fell short. He said to that dashing figure, “Did you use my back as a footstool again?!”

As soon as Xie Yiling appeared, Lu Jinnian’s expression changed extremely quickly. A normal bird-catching instantly turned into a competition between the two.

The surrounding disciples, seeing this familiar posture, quickly landed on the ground, leaving enough space for the two to fight.

The green-feathered sparrow still didn’t know what kind of terrible struggle it would face next, and without knowing whether to live or die, it flew in front of Lu Jinnian for a while, wagging its tail, and then flew in front of Xie Yiling, shaking its head, looking smug and proud.

“Didn’t copy enough of the pavilion teachings, did you, Xie Yiling.”

Lu Jinnian spoke first.

Eight years had passed in the blink of an eye, and the youth now had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, a tall and slender figure, and was already half a head taller than Si Wumian. Standing face to face with Lu Jinnian, it was difficult to tell who was taller. It was clearly a proper white pavilion uniform, but wearing it on him showed a bit of unrestrained and rebellious spirit.

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