Ze Tian Ji

That person was well-built and his hands were huge. The bowl appeared relatively small in his hands and the image seemed a little silly. His right hand’s movement was awkward and he appeared to be handicapped. When he held the side of the bowl, his hand shook slightly which made people sympathize for him.

Luo Luo walked around the shellfish shop towards the back of the person. Confusingly, her face was filled anger. Chen Chang Sheng walked with her and saw the side of the person’s face. He was young. Chen Chang Sheng finally realized who that person was.

The dishwasher who was squatting in the corner washing dishes was the Yao youngster who got severely injured earlier in the Ivy Festival by Tian Hai Ya Er. His name is Xuan Yuan Po.

Xuan Yuan Po saw a shadow on the wall and turned his head to look. He saw the two and raised his eyebrows confusingly. He noticed that he didn’t know the pair and so, he lowered his head and continued to wash the dishes — even a easy task like dishwashing was now difficult for him. He didn’t have the time to care about other people.

“Leaving the Red River and arriving at the Human World despite the harsh journey and struggles. But at the end, you are washing dishes in the streets of the capital. Is this your goal in life?”

Xuan Yuan Po’s hand that held the bowl froze. He raised his head to glance at the cute young girl once more. A tsunami was rising in his heart. He thought, who is this girl? How does she know that I originated from the Red River and not from the human world?

Looking at his stumped face, Luo Luo got angrier for some reason. Her voice was cold, “If your clan saw you right now, would they regret saving money for your journey?”

Xuan Yuan Po may seem tall and well-built, but he was only thirteen years old. His eyes and traits were still young.

Hearing Luo Luo rebuking him harshly, his face got all red and he said angrily, “Who are you? You don’t need to care about me.”

Luo Luo was silent for a while and said, “I am Luo Luo, I am a student of the Tradition Academy.”

Xuan Yuan Po was stumped again. This time, the surprise overwhelmed him. His right hand could no longer hold the oily and slippery bowl.

Hearing a crash, the bowl in his hand dropped into the dirty water in the sink. Although it didn’t break, water spilled all over. The owner of the shellfish shop yelled, “You useless thing! As tall as you are and you can’t even wash dishes?”

The night market was extremely busy and masses of people walked around the place. The shop’s business was well and the owner was concentrated on his cooking. He skillfully flipped the food on the iron plate and didn’t have the time to care about anything else. Even when he was yelling, he didn’t bother to turn around and look at Xuan Yuan Po for even a second.

Xuan Yuan Po didn’t respond. It seemed that he was used to the owner’s yelling from his days working at the shellfish shop. He was just staring at Luo Luo who stood in front of him. Surprisingly, his clear eyes became welcoming and full of respect.

After he got severely injured by Tian Hai Ya Er in the Ivy Festival, he was taken back to the Starseeker Academy by his schoolmates to heal. He didn’t see what happened later on in the festival but he heard his schoolmates’ retelling the events. He learned that Tian Hai Ya Er was handicapped by another person……and that person was a little girl.

He heard that the girl was named Luo Luo and was a student of the Tradition Academy.

Xuan Yuan Po always wanted to see the little girl, not only because she avenged for him and he wanted to thank her, but also because the Yao Race respects the powerful and he wanted to see what the girl looked like and pay his respect.

“You are the one….”

Xuan Yuan Po rubbed his big hands on his old clothes. He was a little nervous, “Then whatever you call me is fine, it is fine.”

Luo Luo wanted to reignite the fighting spirit of this boy but she never thought he would react like this. She was a little helpless.

Chen Chang Sheng was thinking about another problem and was confused. He asked, “You….left the Starseeker Academy?”

He thought that even if this Yao youngster was handicapped by Tian Hai Ya Er and couldn’t even xiuxing anymore, much less regain his strength, at least he entered the Ivy Festival as a student of the Starseeker Academy. Would the school expel him just because he was handicapped? This was illogical.

Xuan Yuan Po didn’t know who this human youngster was and knew he misinterpreted from his expression. Xuan Yuan Po was a little nervous and quickly waved his two hands while explaining, “The school didn’t expel me, but…..I got injured like his and can’t xiuxing anymore. I don’t want to waste the school’s resources while not being able to do anything. Therefore I left.”

Seeing that Chen Chang Shang and Luo Luo did not believe him, he became a little worried. “It’s true, the principle and my instructor all advised me to not leave but I’m a little stubborn. I didn’t listen to them and left without notice. You can’t blame them.”

He sure was an innocent kid – Chen Chang Sheng and Luo Luo both thought. Whatever the reason for him to leave Starseeker Academy was or worrying about others misinterpreting the school’s action, these all proved that this Yao youngster had a pure soul.

Luo Luo relaxed a bit and asked, “Is that so? Then what are you doing to do in the future?”

Xuan Yuan Po smiled and said, “I’m trying to save up some money for the trip so I can return home. Since I can’t xiuxing anymore, I rather go home and help my family do some chores…..By the way, don’t blame the shop owner. Although he likes to yell a lot, he’s a nice person. I broke so many bowls and dishes recently but he didn’t let me repay him.”

The owner in front of the iron plate kept on flipping the food and didn’t even turn around, but he laughed and yelled something.

Looking at the Yao Youngster’s smile and not see a trace of sadness on his face, Luo Luo didn’t know why but she was melancholic. She looked at him and said, “So are you satisfied to return like this?”

Xuan Yuan Po was silent for a while and said, “Just like what you said before, I came to the capital to xiuxing. It’s not easy for my clan to save up the money and of course I don’t want to return like this……but the instructors in the school also said that the body structure of a Yao is different from a human. It’s hard to heal up a broken right arm. Then what can I do staying here?”

He continued, “my instructor was kind enough to offer me to stay in the Starseeker Academy and do some chore work. But I may feel worse just looking at my schoolmates progressing day by day while I’m unable to do anything.”

Luo Luo said, “If you stay in the capital, you may find a way. Why would you leave the Starseeker in such a hurry?”

Xuan Yuan Po answered, “The elders in my clan taught us when we were young to never accept any sympathy from anyone, especially from humans.”

Luo Luo quietly looked at his eyes and felt she that liked him even more, “Follow me.”

They were two simple words. It wasn’t a command but it felt unresistable. It couldn’t be denied.

Xuan Yuan Po felt a little odd, he stumped a little and didn’t know how to refuse. After telling the owner of the shop, he followed her onto the streets.

When they were about to exit the street and saw the well on the Hundred Blossom Street, Luo Luo remembered something and looked at Chen Chang Sheng embarrassingly.

Chen Chang Sheng smiled and didn’t say anything.

Whenever he did something, Luo Luo never opposed him. Then of course, when Luo Luo wanted to do something, he wouldn’t object either. He was never worried if Xuan Yuan Po would do anything because he knew Luo Luo’s people were always guarding her from afar and protecting her.

——————————————

The Tradition Academy was quiet as usual under the night sky. Due to the second night of the Ivy Festival, there were much less people watching over in the Hundred Blossom Street. It helped to relax Chen Chang Sheng’s mood. He never expected that Xuan Yuan Po would be more relaxed than him when it was his first time entering the Tradition Academy.

The Yao youngster’s hands were on his waist looking around the school. Sometimes, he touches the old broken sculptures and curiosity fills his eyes. Not a trace of nervousness was seen in him.

Taking out his keys and unlocking the door of the library, Chen Chang Sheng paused and didn’t enter. He looked at Luo Luo who wanted to say something but held her tongue, “What’s on your mind?”

Luo Luo pulled on his sleeves, a little embarrassed, “Master, can you help him, you know….. he is one of my race,”

Chen Chang Sheng answered, “It’s fine if I help him. I’m just curious, why are you so confident that I can heal a wound that even the instructors of the Starseeker Academy think would be impossible to heal?”

“Master is not an ordinary person like those people.”

Luo Luo widened her eyes and looked at him, “From the first day accepting you as my master, you just test my wrist and you know my problem. Then right away, you knew how to solve my problem. Compare to this, healing up his wound would be nothing.”

The young girl said so confidently as if there is nothing he couldn’t do in this world. Looking at her absolute-trusting eyes, Chen Chang Sheng felt an enormous pressure and scratched his head, “I’ll see first, but I can’t promise anything.”

Luo Luo happily agreed and strode towards the lake. She never believed anything less than promising from Chen Chang Sheng.

Chen Chang Sheng looked at her back and couldn’t help but shake his head.

Luo Luo ran to the lake and spoke with Xuan Yuan Po who was testing his strength on the big tree. Xuan Yuan Po was surprised and shook his head. It seemed that he couldn’t believe what he heard. Then Luo Luo said something else and Xuan Yuan Po was even more surprised. If Luo Luo didn’t hold him, he might even have knelt before her.

Xuan Yuan Po was still a little stunned after following her and walked to the library. It was clear that Luo Luo’s words brought much surprise to him and Chen Chang Sheng thought Luo Luo probably revealed her identity to his Yao Youngster. He gestured the two to follow him into the library. He lit the oil lamp and sat on the floor.

Xuan Yuan Po never looked at him and kept on staring at Luo Luo. He was both nervous and excited.

Luo Luo never looked at him and said to Chen Chang Sheng, “Thank you Master.”

Right now in Xuan Yuan Po’s mind, Luo Luo was more important than his family. She was more respectable than his clan elders. But she respected a human so much and this human recieved her respect so casually. He felt it was crazy and was angry because of this. Xuan Yuan Po wanted to rip this human into pieces.

Chen Chang Sheng looked at Xuan Yuan Po’s eyes, which seemed to be ignited in flames. Chen Chang Sheng was confused. He gestured to Xuan Yuan Po to extend his right arm.

Xuan Yuan Po was confused and spoke unkindly, “What do you want?”

Chen Chang Sheng explained, “Let me see your wound.”

“You? A human? How old are you?”

Xuan Yuan Po’s suspicion towards Chen Chang Sheng grew. He thought that Chen Chang Sheng was a scammer, or how else could he earn so much respect from his princess. He yelled angrily, “Don’t think everyone from my tribe is easy to fool, I saw dozens of scammers!”

Since they needed to bound together and fight against a common enemy, the Demon race, the Human and Yao are natural allies. In several thousand years, the strength of the alliance was tested countless times and the two sides communicated with each other very often. At least, when a Yao appears in the capital, the residents won’t be surprised.

But there were still some boundaries between Humans and Yao mainly due to their traits and life style. Humans always think Yaos are violent, simple, and beastlike. Yaos always think humans are cunning, fickle, and are no materials for friends.

From the point of view of Xuan Yuan Po, Chen Chang Sheng was an ordinary youngster and didn’t even reach the Purification Stage of Humans. If he dared to say he could heal the wound that his instructors couldn’t, if he’s not a scammer, then who is?

A loud slap was heard.

Luo Luo held the stick of discipline and yelled, “What is that attitude?”

The Tradition Academy has its own stick of discipline.

It was a straight tree branch that Chen Chang Sheng made.

The most important use of this stick was for Chen Chang Sheng to mentor Luo Luo’s xiuxing.

Now it seems that this Stick of Discipline was being used in the right way.

The Stick of Discipline is used to teach, to hit.

The stick was hard, so it hurts when it is used to hit a person’s forehead.

Xuan Yuan Po covered his forehead and his eyes were teary because it actually hurts. Of course, more importantly he felt grievance. He thought,her princess would hit him for a human?

“Extend your arm,” Chen Chang Sheng held in his laugh and said.

Xuan Yuan Po held his head high stubbornly and wouldn’t listen to him.

Luo Luo raised the stick of discipline in her hand and looked at him, “Extend your arm.”

Xuan Yuan Po lowered his head sadly and extended his arm.

Chen Chang Sheng stopped smiling and his fingers landed on his wrist. Then he closed his eyes.

Even if Luo Luo didn’t ask, he would try to heal the wound of his Yao youngster himself. On the first night of Ivy Festival when Tian Hai Ya Er was arrogantly insulting the Tradition Academy, everyone was silent except this Yao youngster. This youngster laughed out loud.

That laugh was a pursuit, a pursuit for fairness. This Yao youngster wanted to pursuit fairness of the Tradition Academy, then the Tradition Academy would pay him back.

Of course, all of this was built on his confidence to heal the wound of this Yao youngster.

Chen Chang Sheng’s master, Taoist Ji, may be unheard of in the xiuxingist world. But her skill in medication is one of the best in the continent. Chen Chang Sheng’s marriage vow with Xu You Rong started when Taoist Ji remedied a sickness of the Prime Minister that even the Pope couldn’t heal.

Chen Chang Sheng studied the Scrolls of the Way and learned medication when he was young with his master. But most importantly, he was also sick.

Although he couldn’t treat his own sickness, it doesn’t mean that he couldn’t treat other’s illness.

He really wanted to help Xuan Yuan Po to get well again.

Time slowly passed and the stars in the night sky twinkled above the cloud.

Nothing but silence filled the library.

Chen Chang Sheng opened his eyes once more after a long time.