“Shizun! You’re back!”
Gui Yin braced himself as the three children threw themselves at him. The laughter was cut midway by Shan Yu’s intense embrace. Qin Siyi squeezed herself in beside Shan Yu and Gui Linghuo stubbornly forced his way into the hug as well. Gui Yin sat on the ground, his arms around the three children as they snuggled up to him. He looked sheepishly at the servants who had followed to help Gui Yin move his belongings back before he turned to the children.
“How come you three get stickier and stickier each time I leave?” Gui Yin asked, amusement heard clearly in his voice. He gently rubbed Shan Yu’s cheek and glanced at Qin Siyi. “What’s this? Did you two get into a fight again?”
The girls averted their gazes. Gui Yin turned to Gui Linghuo with a questioning look.
“They got into a small argument,” Gui Linghuo said, rubbing the top of Qin Siyi’s head. “They resolved it though.”
“By fighting?” Gui Yin asked, unimpressed.
Gui Linghuo glanced at the two girls. “Shizun also knows what their arguments are like.”
Gui Yin let out a soft sigh. He pinched the cheeks of the two girls. “You two need to learn to talk out your problems! Don’t just jump to fighting with each other with every chance you get!”
“B-but sometimes Shijie is just unreasonable!” Shan Yu protested.
“I’m not unreasonable!” Qin Siyi said, raising her voice slightly. “It’s so hot! You can’t sleep next to me like that every night or else I’ll overheat!”
Shan Yu pouted. “How can someone overheat so easily? You just don’t want me to snuggle up next to you!”
“Th-that’s not true! It’s just really hot,” Qin Siyi said, her brows tightly furrowing as her face reddened.
Gui Yin shared a look with Gui Linghuo. “Alright, alright. Don’t argue anymore. If it’s really because it’s hot, I can think of a solution for you two.”
Shan Yu’s eyes sparkled. She pressed a big kiss on Gui Yin’s cheek. “Shizun is the best!”
At this, Shan Yu sprinted off happily, leaving Qin Siyi and Gui Linghuo behind.
Qin Siyi turned to Gui Yin with a sharp glare. “Shizun…”
“Then why don’t you want your shimei to share a bed with you?” Gui Yin asked helplessly.
“She! She…she gets too close,” Qin Siyi murmured. “It’s better if she stays away.”
Gui Yin gawked at Qin Siyi, but before he could ask any more questions, she stalked off, leaving Gui Yin with his adopted son. He turned to Gui Linghuo.
“What do you think?”
“Shan-shimei just enjoys being close to Qin-shimei, but Qin-shimei isn’t used to someone being so affectionate with her,” Gui Linghuo analyzed. “I think it’s good for Qin-shimei in the end. It’ll help her come out of her shell a little more.”
Gui Yin chuckled. He ruffled Gui Linghuo’s hair. “Then, what should we do about you? How do we get you to come out of your shell?”
Gui Linghuo’s cheeks flushed. “I don’t need help doing that…”
“You get shy over the smallest comments and you still think you don’t need help?” Gui Yin teased. “Next week, we’re going to Yin Hua Palace’s birthday banquet for the Young Palace Lord. There will be a lot of disciples around your age. Try to make a new friend or two, okay?”
Gui Linghuo glanced at Gui Yin. “I-I have enough friends.”
“It’s true that a lot of the disciples here look kindly upon you, but the only ones you really talk to are your shimei, isn’t that right?”
“I’ve been talking to Wei-shixiong and Pan-shijie,” Gui Linghuo said.
Suddenly remembering what Wei Ze’xi did a few weeks ago, Gui Yin shuddered. He looked at Gui Linghuo seriously. “But they hang around each other, don’t they?”
Gui Linghuo nodded.
“It’s good to diversify your friendships, so you can understand more about the world. It’s just one friend,” Gui Yin said, patting Gui Linghuo’s back. “You can do it. Or…”
“Or?”
“Or I can just introduce you to Li Fangyin. He’s a good kid too,” Gui Yin said. “I’m just afraid that you two might have trouble getting along, since he’s eight years your senior.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Gui Linghuo laughed sheepishly, rubbing his nose as he clung onto Gui Yin. “Shifu, this disciple just doesn’t want to leave your side. If I make more friends from other sects, wouldn’t I leave the sect more often?”
Gui Yin lightly knocked his fan against Gui Linghuo’s forehead. “Where did you learn to make excuses like this? From Ye-shishu?”
“How could that be?” Gui Linghuo grinned.
“You should be starting to leave the sect soon anyway. You need to travel with your older martial siblings as much as you can,” Gui Yin said.
“Can’t I just wait till I’m older and travel with my shimei?” Gui Linghuo asked.
“Then, who’s going to lead them? Are you willing to be twenty and drag around two little girls but not know what you’re doing?” Gui Yin raised a brow.
Gui Linghuo pressed his lips together. He averted his gaze. “Deng-shixiong isn’t even in the sect…”
Gui Yin glanced at Gui Linghuo. “Do you miss him?”
“It’s been almost two months,” Gui Linghuo said. “He hasn’t even sent a letter back.”
Gui Yin frowned slightly before pulling his lips up. He rubbed Gui Linghuo’s head. “Perhaps he sent a letter to Sect Master. I will ask him later when I go see him.”
Gui Linghuo nodded obediently and no longer dwelled on the subject.
As the person in charge of the barrier, Gui Yin had to report what had happened to Lin Cangyuan. After he freshened up, he headed over to Li Hua Peak, ready to gossip and rant about what he had been going through the past week while he was on foreign grounds.
Lin Cangyuan looked up as soon as Gui Yin approached. The door creaked open and Gui Yin entered with a somber expression on his face. He sat down in front of Lin Cangyuan and glared at him.
“…What is it this time?”
“You made my disciple sad.”
“…I haven’t seen your disciples in weeks,” Lin Cangyuan said, staring at Gui Yin incredulously.
Gui Yin scoffed and crossed one leg over the other, showing off the arrogance that was etched in his bones. “You think you can hurt someone only when you’re near them. As the sect master, you should realize even your littlest decisions can affect your sect’s disciples.”
Lin Cangyuan was speechless. He assessed Gui Yin for a half a day before determining that the man in front of him was just being overdramatic again. He sighed, put his brush down, and massaged his temple.
“Alright. Tell me how I made your disciple sad.”
“You sent away Linghuo’s favorite shixiong.”
“Who is his fa—you are not talking about this again.”
“I’m not here to ask you to call him back,” Gui Yin shifted, his arms resting eagerly on Lin Cangyuan’s desk. “I was just wondering if he’s been writing letters. Huo’er said he hasn’t gotten any letters from Yenuo, but I’m just assuming Yenuo didn’t think my kids would care that much.”
“He…well, he hasn’t written any letters back recently,” Lin Cangyuan said, his expression puckering. He sighed and rubbed his face. “That’s also something I’ve been worrying about. I might fly out to the lower realms to figure out what’s happening over there.”
Gui Yin’s brows furrowed. “He hasn’t even written to you recently? Not even reports?”
“There haven’t been reports either,” Lin Cangyuan said. He fell silent.
Gui Yin hadn’t gotten a good look at Lin Cangyuan when he first arrived, but now he realized just how wane the sect master had gotten. His face carried a yellowish pallor and it was clear that he hadn’t been getting enough sleep. The irritation he showed the past few times Gui Yin interacted with him suddenly made sense. Someone who was usually so patient had been worn down by his own worry.
“…You should just go visit. I can look after the sect while you’re gone.”
“What are you saying? You still have to go to Yin Hua Palace in two weeks,” Lin Cangyuan mumbled. “If there actually is something wrong in the lower realms, it’ll take more than two weeks to fix it.”
“There’s still Jiu-shimei, isn’t there?” Gui Yin said. He patted the back of Lin Cangyuan’s hand. “You’re lucky all your martial siblings are capable. Even if it was just Ye-shidi, you’d be fine for a few months.”
Lin Cangyuan let out a long sigh, his heavy eyes closing.
“No more hesitation,” Gui Yin said, standing. “I’ll go talk to Jiu-shimei and—”
“What about Kunlun? You still haven’t told me what happened,” Lin Cangyuan said, sleepily opening his eyes.
“Oh, right,” Gui Yin settled back down.
The more Lin Cangyuan listened to Gui Yin recount his adventures, the more tired he seemed. At the end of it, he sighed and nodded, his hand waving vaguely towards the door. “I understand. You may leave.”
Gui Yin stood, but hovered hesitantly. “About Yenuo…”
“I know. I regret it. You win. Now get out.”
Gui Yin opened his mouth to speak, but the words he wanted to say would not come out. He silently closed his mouth and departed with the image of a tired Lin Cangyuan etched into his mind. He pouted slightly as he scratched the back of his neck.
“I’ve never felt so bad about being right before,” Gui Yin murmured. “Is this…guilt?”
Gui Yin continued down the path and began to head for the Bridge of Clouds that connected Li Hua Peak to Lin Hua Peak.
Lin Hua Peak was much quieter than any of the other three peaks. With only one disciple and one peak lord, the environment was rather peaceful. The abode rested on a natural platform that jutted out from the side of the mountain, where a large waterfall streamed down. The buildings of Lin Hua Peak rested on a large lake. In total, there were only four facilities—Jiu Jingyi’s residence, the dorms where the disciples resided, a library that contained information on pill-making, and a facility with furnaces, embedded into the side of the mountain.
Gui Yin stepped off the clouds and walked through the winding bridge. His steps slowed when he spotted a figure, plucking lotus pods from the lake.
“Mengmeng?”
The girl, named Meng Meng, looked up immediately at the sound of her name. Her eyes brightened and she walked over, lifting her legs high as she trudged through the sludge. “Gui-shibó! How come you’re here?”
“I had something to say to your shizun. What are you…?”
“Shifu said that she wanted to eat some lotus seeds!” Meng Meng said cheerfully. She held out a lotus pod to Gui Yin. “Shibó, would you like one?”
“No, no I’m alright. Save them for your shifu,” Gui Yin said, waving his fan slightly.
Meng Meng giggled as she wiped the mud from her forehead to her already putrid disciple’s uniform. “Shibó, just doesn’t want to get mud on him, right?”
Gui Yin lightly cleared his throat. “Where’s your shizun?”
“She’s in the refinement rooms!” Meng Meng said, pointing towards the side of the mountain. “If Shibó waits here a moment, I can go get changed and unlock it for you.”
“Alright, thank you.”
Meng Meng grinned once more and excitedly left, her movements reminded Gui Yin of some weird swamp monster.
He let out a soft sigh as he fanned himself. He looked around the area and waved his hand to ward off the oncoming mosquitoes. He wasn’t sure why, but the climate on Lin Hua Peak was always warmer than the other peaks. Obviously, their sect resided in a place with moderate temperatures, but for some reason Lin Hua Peak always felt like the southern hemisphere.
“Shibó!” Meng Meng’s voice rang out to Gui Yin from up ahead.
He looked up and watched as the young woman sprinted over to her.
“I have the key! Let’s go,” Meng Meng said, jangling a key ring of more than a dozen keys.
Gui Yin looked over Meng Meng’s appearance. “Mengmeng, you can take a bath first. Shibó isn’t in a hurry.”
“There’s no need for that,” Meng Meng said. “I’m going to be going back into the lake again after this.”
Meng Meng turned, humming, as she began to lead Gui Yin to the refinement rooms. Gui Yin glanced at her mud matted hair and her dirtied pants legs. Should he say it was good to be young? Or should he say that Mengmeng was far too casual with her appearance?
“What did Shibó come to find Shifu for?” Meng Meng asked curiously.
“In two weeks, I’ll be going to Yin Hua Palace. I just spoke to Sect Master and he said he wanted to go to the lower realm to check on the barrier between us and the Ghost Realm,” Gui Yin said. “Since I can’t be left in charge, he sent me to ask your shifu to take care of the sect while we’re gone.”
“I see,” Meng Meng said, her eyes sparkling. She let out a short sigh. “But Shifu has been busy.”
“Busy? She just left seclusion though.”
“She did! But she said her stock of Phoenix Elixir, Tetra-color Pills, and Buddha Elixir are running low,” Meng Meng said. “Doesn’t Gui-shidi use the Phoenix Elixir? She said she only had a bottle left, so she wants to make a few more bottles just in case he has flareups.”
Gui Yin was surprised. He had completely forgotten that Gui Linghuo had such an expensive ailment. Although Phoenix Elixir was the main medicine Gui Linghuo used, it helped to rebuild and repair the cultivation base that had been tainted by the ghostly qi in Gui Linghuo’s childhood. While the most important thing for Gui Linghuo was to continued bathing in what Jiu Jingyi lazily called the “Detoxifying Concoction”, the Phoenix Elixir would be used once every three months to make sure the flareups that harmed Gui Linghuo’s mind and stirred up his heart demons didn’t happen.
Gui Yin lightly tapped his forehead. Not having the full picture of the place he transmigrated into truly was troublesome.
When they arrived at the refinement rooms, Gui Yin knowingly turned around and waited for the large metal doors to open. He could hear the gears grinding against each other as the door slowly pulled open. Once parted, they revealed a wide, circular room. In the room was a desk and behind the desk was a board with plaques. The plaques had numbers written on them, signifying each room. On either side of this circular room were two hallways with the second one splitting into another two hallways. These three hallways led to six rooms and these six rooms contained pill refining caldrons of various levels—beginner, intermediate, and master.
Once you pass the threshold of master, you would normally get your own caldron, so there were no designated refinement rooms for those levels. The reason Jiu Jingyi was in the refinement facility was because she had her own room where she refined pills or cultivated.
“Shifu is in her room,” Meng Meng said. “I’ll be heading out first then! I still need to make dinner.”
“Alright, thank you.”
“Does Shibó have any special requests?” Meng Meng said.
“I don’t think I’ll be staying for dinner,” Gui Yin said sheepishly.
“Oh,” Meng Meng pouted. “Alright! Then, I’ll see you later!”
Gui Yin nodded and watched Meng Meng leave before he headed for a door to the left that led to Jiu Jingyi’s room.
Without even opening the door, Gui Yin could already feel the heat radiating off its metal surface. He hesitated outside the door for a moment before politely knocking. Moments later, the door creaked open, revealing a flaming furnace and Jiu Jingyi on the other side.
“Gui-shixiong?” Jiu Jingyi raised a brow. “What are you doing here?”
“Sect Master-shixiong is going to the lower realms soon and I will be heading to Yin Hua Palace in two weeks,” Gui Yin said. “Sect Master-shixiong said you will be in charge while we’re away.”
“Oh.”
Jiu Jingyi shuffled awkwardly. “Do I have to be?”
“What do you mean?”
“I, well…I don’t know, I hate being in charge of the sect,” Jiu Jingyi said, pouting slightly. “I just want to stay here and do my own thing, you know?”
Gui Yin looked at Jiu Jingyi in amusement. “It’ll only be two weeks. You’ll be fine.”
Jiu Jingyi glanced at Gui Yin, her pout growing. She hugged Gui Yin’s arm as she had many times when she was younger and petulantly rubbed her face against his arm. “Shixiong, can’t you tell Ye-shidi to do it instead?”
“Your Ye-shidi is swamped with work of his own. This is an off season for you, so you should do it,” Gui Yin said, lightly knocking her head with his fan.
Jiu Jingyi clicked her tongue. “Can’t you see I’m making medicine for your precious disciple?”
“And I’m absolutely grateful, but you can at least make sure the sect doesn’t go up in flames when you’re done, can’t you? I’ve seen you make the pills you’re making before. It doesn’t take two weeks,” Gui Yin said. “And, once I come back, you can go back to making them.”
Jiu Jingyi glared at Gui Yin. “Can’t you ever let me win an argument?”
“I’ll let you win when it’s not important,” Gui Yin said, fondly patting Jiu Jingyi’s head.
Jiu Jingyi leaned her head against Gui Yin’s hand for a moment before swatting him away. “Whatever. I’ll do it if I have to, but I’m not happy about it.”
“Is this still the cultivation world’s mysterious beauty?” Gui Yin raised a brow.
“When have I ever been mysterious? Everyone always mocks me for being a tomboy,” Jiu Jingyi rolled her eyes. She sat back down beside her furnace. “Anyway, I’ll go find Sect Master-shixiong to talk about it later. You leave first.”
“You don’t want me here?”
“Don’t you hate the heat?” Jiu Jingyi rolled her eyes again.
Gui Yin grinned. “Shimei still knows me best.”
Gui Yin returned to his own peak a while later. He made it to his room, laid down on his bed, and closed his eyes for a good rest. He had nothing to do for two weeks. He should at least enjoy that first.
my heart is filled with warm fuzzies seeing all the cute disciples (๑˃ᴗ˂)
cutest little buns to warm your heart!!
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
thanks for reading 😀
…and cute masters! Hahahaha!
this chap was so cute!!
Thanks for the chapter!!!!1
I really love Gui Yin as a character, he’s so enjoyable to read about and I love his dynamics with other characters, even when he’s muttering under his breath to himself he’s hilarious. You did an absolute wonderful job making him feel so alive!
🥹 thank you!!!