The night is deep and not even a sound of a cricket can be heard. In the depth of silent night, several people gathered together for an emergency meeting.
Due to their lack of funds to have emergency meeting when they already did emergency meeting yesterday, the only drink served is hot water.
"Third brother, what makes you call for this meeting?" Huang Junya asks a second after pouring himself a cup of hot water.
Tang Yan clasped his hands together on the low stone table, expression solemn. "Our seventh junior brother is a monster."
"..."
Silence descends and Huang Junya straightens up with a solemn expression. "Is that so... it can't be helped then." He closed his eyes. "At the very least we're not the only ones with a secret now."
Tang Yan is waiting for them to question him and gets stumped when he hears Huang Junya's words. He looks at his fourth junior weirdly, a little taken back and speechless.
Before Tang Yan can hope to make sense of Huang Junya's words, Xuanyuan Yu tilts his head and joins the discussion lightly. "What kind of monster is he? Herbivore or carnivore? We can't raise a carnivore so we must wrong him if he is."
"It is what it is." Xia Mengzhu takes a sip of her water, unconcerned.
"That's not what I meant," Tang Yan denies quickly, his stern eyebrows twitch slightly. He then turns to Huang Junya with a dark face. "Fourth brother, you've read too many unserious books."
Huang Junya shrinks slightly after being scolded. "You started off the conversation that way, how else am I supposed to react?"
Xuanyuan Yu smiles cheerfully, enjoying the stupid banter and helplessness that radiated from his junior brothers. "Okay, okay, enough with the fighting."
Cai Qingyin sighs in relief, patting her chest. She genuinely thought Feng Xing is a monster from the way her senior brothers talked so seriously. "Then, what do you mean, third brother?" she asks.
Tang Yan calms down and redirects them back into the conversation. "Junior brother has a monstrous talent. This morning, he successfully broke through into first-level Qi Gathering stage."
"What?!" Cai Qingyin cries out and everyone turns solemn.
Tang Yan proceeds to narrate what happened this morning and everyone turns silent.
Xuanyuan Yu crosses his arms. "Let's be fair here, what did you tell him to make him gain an enlightenment?"
"Yes, third brother, why don't you tell me what you told him? Maybe I can get an enlightenment too," Huang Junya says.
Xuanyuan Yu bursts out laughing. "For years, what had to be said and what shouldn't be said has been conveyed to you, fourth brother." He leans down on the table, using his fist to prop up his chin as he sneers disdainfully at Huang Junya. "If words work on you at all, you'd be a saint by now. Instead, you just learn to be more eloquent to dodge faults."
"Eldest brother is biased."
"I agree, let's wrap this up." Xia Mengzhu flicks her sleeves to close the meeting.
"Master!" Five disciples cry out in exasperation.
"We haven't even come up with a solution, what are you agreeing with?!" Cai Qingyin exclaims desperately.
Feeling her disciples' pitiful gazes, Xia Mengzhu massages the bridge of her nose with a long sigh. "It is our fortune that Seventh has a good talent. What am I supposed to do with his good talent aside from feeling proud and gratified?"
Xiao Yue'er fiddles with her embroidery needle, piercing the cloth in her grip bit by bit. A picture of daffodils can be seen from her incomplete work. At this moment, she paused her nimble movement. "But... if he stays here, won't he be delayed?" she asked softly.
The others lower their heads thoughtfully. Cai Qingyin looks the saddest and most unwilling.
"Master, if Feng Xing has a good talent, then he will become even better in richer sects..."
"The correct and moral path is to let go. To love is to let go," Huang Junya says after a lot of thought. He sighs as if lamenting his inescapable destiny to be the youngest male in the entire peak.
They speak very righteously, showing their pure and good intention, but they make themselves sad. Xia Mengzhu looks at them like they are useless.
"Have we ever claimed to be moral?" Xia Mengzhu tilts her head. "I don't remember that."
Everyone exchanges a look. A beat passes before they wipe away their heartache and nod to each other. Since when have they claimed to be a good and moral sect?
"Feng Xing is already your junior brother." Xia Mengzhu says dignifiedly. "He's likely our key to getting out of debt if he's truly talented."
The debt is their current headache. Between wronging one junior brother and possibly losing their home, the choice is clear to everyone.
Xia Mengzhu stands up. "Alright, you all do your part well. Who knows, maybe Feng Xing's talent and mindset can rub off on you all, haha."
Hearing their master's flat laugh, their eyes twitch.
Fortunately, their master is beautiful and also has an equally beautiful voice, so they can bear hearing her nonsense.
After leaving their master's cave, the five people walk back in silence while using the dim moonlight as their guide to prevent tripping over a rock on the path. They've been poor all their lives, and they don't even want to use a torch to light up their path. Why waste resources when they have already memorized their way around the peak?
After a pregnant silence, Huang Junya speaks up. "I think this alone is not enough." He looks at his seniors, trying to express more worry through his voice, with the absence of lighting to see his expression. "Seventh brother is too talented, we can't always deceive him like this. We need a better plan. We need to be more active."
"There's a saying that when you're more active, you'll more likely reveal a flaw. Are you sure your brain is on the right track?" Xuanyuan Yu crosses his arms.
"Naturally, I know that, eldest brother. But if we're too passive and the seventh brother ended up being so monstrously talented and outgrew us, wouldn't he notice our lies sooner? Rather than wait until he notices, how about we show him that we knew more than him while he's still naïve and stupid?" Huang Junya said. "Just like what the third brother did."
"You mean to mislead him?" Xiao Yue'er's voice comes coldly and successfully makes Huang Junya jump. The second disciple has been the most softspoken amongst all of them, and no one likes it when the gentlest person becomes angry.
"That's right, fourth brother. We can't mislead him either! Feng Xing is talented, and we must support him. If anything happens to him because we mislead him, then we will get karma!" Cai Qingyin says anxiously.
"I didn't say misleading him, I'm just saying maybe we should 'teach' him something more believably." Huang Junya spreads his arms. "I don't want him to be led astray. I want him to see us and think of us as reliable and unfathomable."
"What is your description of unfathomable? Make it simple," Xuanyuan Yu orders.
Huang Junya points at Tang Yan. "Someone like the third brother? Quiet, reserved, don't talk much, detached-looking."
"You just said quiet five times." Tang Yan's face darkens.
Huang Junya raises his hands in surrender, his eyes squinted in helplessness.
"I think we should just stick with the plan of making whatever he expects a reality," Xuanyuan Yu says calmly. "As the ancients said, there's no sin in talking less."
Xiao Yue'er looks down thoughtfully. "Just like master. When she doesn't talk, she doesn't look real."
"When she talks, she destroys expectations." Xuanyuan Yu nods carelessly without the slightest hesitation.
"Actually, sometimes I can ignore her words too as long as I look at her face," Tang Yan remarks.
"I see... Using the power of vagueness to make up something out of nothing!" Huang Junya snaps his fingers. "We can implement this!"
"I... I don't think I can..." Cai Qingyin says timidly.
They all sigh when they sense their youngest junior sister's timidity. The girl has been raised sheltered and protected by them, and she is not used to lying or acting. Xiao Yue'er reaches forward and pats her head.
"You're his age, you don't need to pretend to be great."
The others nod. "Yes. Not all of us need to be high and mighty or else he might feel intimidated. You can be his equal companion, junior sister."
Faced with her seniors' indulgence, Cai Qingyin nods with relief. "Then I will tell him tomorrow that I'm not actually talented but his equal!"
.
.
The next day rolls around, and with new confidence, Feng Xing exits his little hut to bask in the sunlight and the fact that he has officially become a cultivator. Frankly speaking, he knows he's just a little Qi Gathering disciple, not even worth mentioning. But to him who had been reincarnated from a modern world without any spirituality or way of practice, this already feels like a realisation of a dream.
Today, he decides to explore the mountain. He has been busy practicing for the last few days, and he already feels quite rude for not showing his face more to his seniors. He needs to be more professional as the most junior brother, how does the most junior brother must act?
Of course, getting along with his senior brothers and sisters will not be like getting along with older co-workers. After all, if Feng Xing gets along well with his seniors, he might get their extra protection and boons. That alone is enough to motivate him to please them.
"Feng Xing!"
A call wakes Feng Xing up from his daze, and he smiles at the young girl in a pink robe. "Yes?"
"I heard you broke through yesterday," Cai Qingyin says immediately.
Feng Xing smiles brighter and nods. "Third brother's insight helped me a lot." He doesn't forget to credit his benefactor. He then looks at Cai Qingyin with expectation, thinking she must be here to impart something to him now that he has cultivated qi into his body. "What do you need, Qingyin?"
Cai Qingyin inhales deeply. "I'm the same as you."
Feng Xing: "???"
"I'm also just a Qi Gathering disciple, I'm not talented at all. So," Cai Qingyin pauses and grabs Feng Xing's hands with hers, clasping them together. Her hands are cold while Feng Xing's hands are warm; with the contact, both temperatures merge, warming her and cooling him. "Let's practice together and grow together. There's no one superior between us, okay?"
Feng Xing stares blankly, now convinced she won't give him a skill to learn. He tilts his head. "Qingyin, you're too humble." They might be on the same stage, but at different levels. Feng Xing is now first-level Qi Gathering stage. Cai Qingyin might be on the tenth level for all he knows.
Cai Qingyin shakes her head. "I'm serious!" She lets go of his hands, and Feng Xing sighs helplessly at her insistence.
"Okay. No one is superior between us." Feng Xing agrees. "But I'm still a beginner, so... do you have any suitable technique for me to learn?" he asks hopefully.
Cai Qingyin pauses and rolls her eyes thoughtfully. "But all I have is sword techniques. Do you use sword?" She asks in concern.
Feng Xing blinks, picking up a key information from Cai Qingyin's line. "Are sword techniques specially for you? Nobody else learn it?"
Cai Qingyin scratches her cheek and shakes her head. "Everyone has different preferences. I happen to be good with a sword. Second sister uses needles when she needs to, third brother sometimes uses daggers, fourth brother uses a saber*, not a sword. As for the eldest brother... I never saw him fight."
Feng Xing falls into deep thought. Cai Qingyin didn't lie at their first meeting. All of them have their own preference and nobody bothers each other. Should he jump into the trend and pick a different weapon too? In any case, Feng Xing doesn't have any preference currently, he's open to suggestions.
"What do you think I should choose?" Feng Xing asks.
"I don't know. You should find out yourself," Cai Qingyin says sincerely. "But if you want to learn sword first, I can help you practice."
Feng Xing nods with relief. It is better to have something than nothing. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Let's get you a practice sword and find a place to practice. It's better to find a shaded place."
"I also planned to explore the mountain more, so we might as well find a new training spot."
"Good idea!"
The pair of young boy and girl walk side by side, their chatters accompany each other. Once they fetch wooden swords from the storehouse, they explore the mountain and pick a clearing covered with wide tree eaves just over the slope of the mountain to train.
Cai Qingyin shows Feng Xing her basic technique, and then moves to the first movement of her sword technique, 'Gallant Fairy Dance', the movement is smooth, fluid, and emphasis a lot on the lightness of one's body.
Feng Xing tries it out. At first, he thought it would be easy to follow since Cai Qingyin did it so effortlessly, but he quickly found out that not everything he saw was easy. His movement is choppy, his turns are not smooth, and he only ends up like a monkey wielding a sword instead of a fairy.
They tried a few more times until the beautiful light coming from the eastern horizon became a hot headlight above their heads. Not even the tree shades can protect them from the piercing brightness of the sun after a long training. Feng Xing's new robe is drenched in sweat and sticks to his body, limiting his movement.
Cai Qingyin calls off the practice, and Feng Xing suggests heading to the river.
Once they arrive at the river, Feng Xing takes off his outer robe and jumps into it.
"Pwah! It's pretty cold!" he exclaims.
Cai Qingyin sits on a rock by the riverbed. "It's still spring, what do you expect?" She shakes her head. "If you are not a Qi Gathering cultivator, I wouldn't have let you swim."
Feng Xing smiles complacently. "Right. Teach me how to dry my clothes later. That would be so convenient."
"Of course," Cai Qingyin said smilingly. "I can do that much." She frowns.
Feng Xing splashes around the water and notices her silence. He swims closer and sits on the riverbank. "What's wrong? Did I annoy you?" he jokes with a smirk.
Cai Qingyin smiles and shakes her head. She pulls her hands to her lap and starts fiddling with her fingers. "I wasn't a good teacher, was I?" she sighs. "You didn't learn much today, and this is my fault."
Feng Xing blinks and laughs. "Qingyin, you think too much." He leaps back into the water and swims further. "Don't think too much nonsense!" he splashed her with water.
Cai Qingyin shields herself with her hand. "I'm telling the truth. I've never taught anyone before, so I wasted your time." She sighs again.
"You never taught anyone, this is normal," Feng Xing remarks calmly. Never once did he expect Cai Qingyin will be some sort of prodigy who also knows how to teach. She was the youngest junior sister before him, and even now, Feng Xing is still older than her by a few months. He just wants to see the technique and skills she has to see if he can learn it by copying it. It turns out he overestimated himself and underestimated the difficulty of learning a technique. "It's not your fault."
Cai Qingyin fiddles with her fingers. "If it's anyone else, I'm sure you can learn quicker."
"Perhaps..." Feng Xing rolls his eyes. In his head, 'anyone else' could only be the other seniors. If it is them... Feng Xing doesn't deny his seniors, whom he believes to be crouching tigers and hidden dragons, can likely do it. "But they're different. We shouldn't compare ourselves to our seniors. Like you said, our journey is just beginning, no?" he uses Cai Qingyin's words on her.
Cai Qingyin pauses, she looks at him with a complicated look as he swims away again. Suddenly, she raises her palms and slaps her face, sandwiching her face between her two palms. The sound attracts Feng Xing's attention, and he blinks in bewilderment.
"Huh! You're right! Let's build each other!" Cai Qingyin cheers herself up and stands up.
Feng Xing doesn't know what she's thinking, but the words she said are positive, so he nods and swims back to the bank. She reaches out to pull him up, and Feng Xing grabs her hand without hesitation.
"I'll teach you the drying technique," She informs him and imparts the simple technique to him by reciting it.
It takes a few tries for him to get it right, but his clothes are dry again in the end. He gasps. "It takes quite a lot of energy."
"The more you do it, the easier it gets. If you don't do it a lot, it will continue being exhausting to be used," Cai Qingyin remarks.
"Then, why do I still see fabrics being dried out in the sun at the peak?" Feng Xing asks curiously.
"Master likes the scent of the sun. Also, drying clothes with the technique too many times will make them stiff or shrink at a faster rate than just drying them in the sunlight," Cai Qingyin explains. "It draws water from your clothes forcefully, you should also feel warm while using the technique, right? Although the heat doesn't feel drastic, it overdraws a lot on fabric. At least that's what Second Sister told me."
Feng Xing nods again. "How many times do you think I can dry my clothes until they crumble?" He jokes. "I'll make sure to stop one number away."
Cai Qingyin giggles. "You should ask Second Sister. But if you planned to destroy the clothes she made just out of convenience, she might not make you any clothes again."
Feng Xing scratches his head and sighs. "Forget it. I value my life and the privilege of getting clothes from my senior sister. I'm cherishing it."
Cai Qingyin nods agreeingly. "Let's go back."
"Ah," Feng Xing stops her and grins. "I... want to repay third brother for his help in enlightening me. Do you know where I can find some common medicinal herbs third brother might want to stock?"
"Oh, you don't have to do that..." Cai Qingyin blurts out before she can think it through. Feng Xing already displayed his talent for cultivation. To her, he's already a very important existence and shouldn't waste his time with a labour job; she could do that herself if Tang Yan needs more medicinal herbs.
"Qingyin, the essence of gratitude is in the meaning," Feng Xing says while shaking his head. "Third brother may look down on common medicinal herbs, but I still need to show my sincerity."
"..." Cai Qingqyin tilts her head thoughtfully. "Okay. I'll help you get some medicinal herbs. Follow me."