It seemed that no extra new disciples had been gathered in the past day. This year, the only three new recruits were those Qiu Yunru had seen on his exam day: himself, Pan Fa, and that girl, Lei Ruolan. When Qiu Yunru and Pan Fa approached the group of Jade Clouds Sect disciples preparing to return to their sect mountain, Lei Ruolan shot him a cold look. Qiu Yunru balked. Really, what was her problem? Had they had a falling out in a past life? Did she just hate his face?
Their Shizun He Yongliang stood at the head of the group. His graceful presence was just as blinding as before. Jade robes swirled around him, and he fanned himself lightly with a slight smile. "Qiu Yunru, Pan Fa. Welcome. Was your stay in the city eventful?"
Qiu Yunru put on a straight face and bowed his head. "It was uneventful, but these disciples had a good time and have gotten closer." He Yongliang seemed to be satisfied at this, and Qiu Yunru let out a breath of relief. If word had gotten around to commoners about Li Fengguang's illness so quickly, a high and mighty master like this must have heard, too. He must absolutely not act suspicious (although who would suspect a sixteen-year-old kid with a gentle face of pulling that kind of thing off?).
Since there were with three new disciples who were not familiar with cultivation and sword-riding, they set out on horseback back to Li Hua Mountain. It was about a full day's ride away. Because they were in a large group, even as night fell, no monsters attacked them. The most that happened was this:
That male head disciple, Fang Hai, led his horse over to Qiu Yunru's and Pan Fa's. He narrowed his eyes at them, looking them up and down suspiciously. "You two get along well now."
Pan Fa's puppy eyes brightened, and he nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Qiu-shixiong has treated me very well and I admire him very much!" Then his face grew sheepish. "This shidi apologizes for being violent and not listening at the exam. I was really desperate to get into the sect..."
In real time, Qiu Yunru saw Fang Hai's suspicious demeanor waver under the effect of Pan Fa's cuteness. The head disciple cleared his throat, casting Qiu Yunru an approving glance. "Well. That's good to hear. Don't fight again, okay? This shixiong is in charge of basic discipline, and will make you run fifty laps if you ever get at each other's throats." Pan Fa nodded his head up and down hard. Qiu Yunru nodded once, respectfully. Fang Hai gave Qiu Yunru a long look.
"Qiu-shidi. Are you from a noble family? Your demeanor is..." He coughed. Having the image of a serious and snappy shixiong, Fang Hai didn't want to dole out compliments easily. But this kid...his eyes were undoubtedly intelligent, his expression refined, his demeanor practiced, and his face good-looking, too. He cleared his throat. "Your demeanor is...different."
Qiu Yunru shook his head. "This shidi is an orphan who had no prospects. This shidi is flattered that Fang-shixiong thinks so highly of my demeanor." Internally, he patted himself on the back. He was succeeding at racking up a good image without even trying too hard! Knowing how to properly hold oneself in a cultivation setting from thousands of hours of webnovel-reading truly was a great advantage. Meanwhile, Fang Hai was surprised. He couldn't help but look even more approvingly at this kid. He had come from such a difficult background, but held himself so well. What an admirable story!
Deep into the night, they arrived at the base of Li Hua Mountain. It was far too steep to climb in one night, so He Yongliang called for the new disciples to be flown up on swords with their shixiongs and shijies. Pan Fa was shuffled onto that beautiful shijie Fu Jia's sword. He nervously held onto her like a baby deer with pinks cheeks. Natually, Fu Jia was also charmed by his cute behavior, and pinched his cheeks on the way. Meanwhile, Qiu Yunru rode with Fang Hai. The whole way up, he was eerily aware of two icy eyes piercing the back of his neck. That girl, Lei Ruolan, was riding next to him with another shijie. Her eyes were like two cold knives stabbing him over and over again. Qiu Yunru could only hide his face by looking the other way. Seriously, what had he done to wrong this person?!
When they reached the mountain, their Shizun directed Fang Hai to give the three of them a tour of the sect premises. As Fang Hai fell over himself telling Fu Jia goodnight, however, someone tugged on Qiu Yunru's sleeve harshly. He turned around, and his face turned white. It was Lei Ruolan!
He shivered once again just at the sight of her. At sixteen or seventeen years old, her face still had some childish features, but her brows were arched with frigid beauty, and her lips held a scowl of utter contempt. She glared at him as though he'd killed her parents.
"You," She snapped.
Qiu Yunru flinched. "Me?"
"You." She looked him up and down, grabbing him casually by the collar as though ready to strangle him. "Why were you wearing my dead brother's old robes back on the examination day? My mother made those for him. Grey robes with blue embroidery--I would recognize them anywhere. Did you rob my mother? If so, I'll kill you."
Qiu Yunru's face went blank. He stared at her, and he almost couldn't help letting out a laugh of disbelief.
This girl was the sister of the dead son of that NPC he'd met all the way at the beginning--Qin Shan?!
Wasn't this...a little too interconnected for a story concocted on the spot by an AI? Internally, he cursed at the game menu. Give me a break! Let me have an easy plotline, stop throwing me into potholes left and right!