Page 65: Like a morning
"Lady Yue? You should go and change your clothes. You're soaked with your own sweat. Look at yourself, please lady Yue.."
Helper Wu was reprimanding her lady when another helper's call coming from the outside of the room got their attention. It was an announcement of a visitor for Yue. Maid Wu looked at her lady if she knows about this but only to receive a negative reply. Since her lady Yue was not informed beforehand, she took the initiative to check the person outside the room.
Maid Wu left Yue inside the room who's sitting trying to cool down her body from training hard. She moved the sliding door and what greeted her was a joyful maid who accompanied a youthful man wearing an alchemist robe. The youth's facial features were ordinary to attract her attention but upon seeing the amulet on his waist, the two stars that represents his alchemy grade seemed to have shaped in her eyes. The prospect of getting an alchemist's attention shot up within these two maids at the moment. Since alchemists are known to be rich, their gold- digging instinct has revved up especially that the person was just a in his youth. Before maid Wu can ask a questions, Yue walked towards the door and peeked at the person who just came.
"Sister Wu, who was it? Just tell the..."
Yue stopped what she was about to say when she saw the person by the door. Immediately, she ran towards Long Bai and opened her arms wide open. Forgetting that she was just totally drenched with sweat and the fact that there are people around, she nonchalantly plunged herself on Long Bai's arms.
"Brother Baaaiii!!! "
For a fraction of a second, Long Bai's thoughts were in chaos about what he should do. Dodging her sister's hug would be easy but if he do that, he would appear to be rude. Ever since then, Yue has been doing such way of greeting him every time he comes back to them specially when they were still staying in that hidden cave at the mountains. Since Yue was complacent about any outside concerns, Long Bai decided to just catch her and reciprocate her hug.
Long Bai caught Yue who was still on the air after her reckless jump. Embraced tightly by Yue upon contact, Long Bai was for a moment distracted by the faint smell of subtle fragrance and sweat combined. She was fragrant like a morning when papayas are in bloom* and add the experience of a warm embrace coming from a sweet girl, it would definitely give the receiver a blanket of comfort to an extent. However not before long, the two who were together was distracted by some gasps from the side. Long Bai and Yue's eyes went toward that direction and saw the two maids with the same expression telling them that they are witnessing something extraordinary. Understanding their situation, both separated from contact and Yue followed with a casual greeting like nothing happened.
"It's nice seeing you too after a long time but maybe you should go and change before we try to catch up?"
Long Bai beamed a smile at her while trying to tell her in a modest way as possible about her sweaty situation. This is not a bother to him since they have been interacting the same way even when they were still on the slums however the maids that are beside them might be feeling uncomfortable for their lady. Yue was shocked by the sudden realization and swiftly ran towards her quarters without any reserve. Before maid Wu followed her lady, she ushered Long Bai in to the training courtyard.
One hour has passed before Long Bai's waiting has ended. Yue came in wearing a new blue dress which he never saw her wear since they met. Long Bai felt glad that Yue has been treated nicely in her new place. Remembering the living conditions they have from the past, what she is having now is way far better. Although he is thinking of such thoughts, it did not mean that their past situation was all bad. After the four met, it can be said that their life was luxurious in a sense since they were able to have enough food and place to stay.
"Sorry if I let brother Bai wait for too long. I'm really glad that you came to visit me despite being busy with your alchemy business."
Listening to Yue's change in her way of speaking, she might have received a scolding about her previous behavior. Amused with her difficulty in maintaining a modest face, Long Bai wasn't able to control himself from letting out a little laughter.
"Sister Yue, just speak like you always do. I won't allow you to do things that you are not fond with. By the way, may I request us to be alone for a while? I have something to give you personally and it might not be good to be seen by any other else."
"But lady Yue…"
The maid was about to say something but Yue stopped her and asked her to wait outside for further instructions.
Yue sat on the chair opposite Long Bai and thought that something serious must be going on. Seeing her brother Bai still smiling, she can't tell if he is just joking or really serious. She waited and stayed silent until Long Bai spoke.
"Relax. Before everything else, how are you? I'm curious about your situation here. I have just visited the other two a while ago and learned they were doing great. I want to hear about you this time."
Yue was stupefied by the flow. Hearing casual tone, she thought that her brother just came to check on her and catch up with anything new about her. This made her blush a bit since they never had such kind of conversation from the past. If there's something she feels right now, it was a bit awkward for her now that she thinks about it. Her face felt warm and her heart was beating faster and stronger than usual, she kept asking herself why such thing is happening. Lost in her thoughts, she was startled when she heard her name being called.
"Yue, are you alright? Is there some problem?" Long Bai's questioning look met with Yue's surprised look. Yue took a deep breathe and calmed herself.
"Ah, it's nothing. I just thought you were able to find this place easily. Haha." Yue lied. As of now, she can't think of anything that can shake off her current state.
"Hmm? Speaking of such, before reaching this place, I met a young lad. If I remember, he was the young master of the Chen household who was taken as the disciple of the sect leader same as you. I heard him saying something about you and the first disciple. Hmm. I forgot the rest."
"What? There's no such thing. Brother Bai, don't believe in any rumors. There's no way someone would replace you… Ah, just don't believe anything unless I say it. Got it?" Before she could say something very important, she was able to control herself and successfully kept her secret safely for now.
"Alright, alright. Brother Bai will always believe sister Yue. By the way, that lad was really weird." Long Bai started to narrate about his encounter with Chen Weimin.
*A few hours ago
"Stop! What are you doing in front of this place?" Weimin was about to go out when he saw Long Bai walking towards the entrance. Long Bai who was able to see a person to ask some directions smiled in reply.
"Good day, brother. I would like to ask how to reach Yue's place. I'm here to give her some things. I'm Long Bai by the way, a family of hers."
Upon hearing the name Long Bai, Chen Weimin remembered his senior first disciple tell him about it. That if he would encounter someone named long Bai, he should give him some hard time. With this in his mind, he planned to make things rough for him.
"Hah? Family? The only family Yue have right now is the sect elder and her brother disciples. You who wants to seek senior's lady, you must pass me first. Haa!"
Weimin did not give Long Bai to reply and immediately rushed for an attack. Long Bai on the other end was surprised not by the attack but by the flow of things. He was just seeking Yue's place and now he is being attacked. The bizarre flow of the situation was something he never experienced before. This would be less confusing if he did announce that he is going to ask Yue for a courtship but that wasn't the case. With no time to think, Long Bai dodged the attack on the last moment. Since he doesn't want to hurt anyone near Yue's place and make some more problem, he just maneuvered away from his original position.
"Hey! Wait for a moment. I'm not anybody. Listen first!" Long Bai's words seemed to have no effect on Weimin. The latter can't accept that his attack was dodged and instead of stopping, his building rage let him cast his palm skill.
Long Bai who was standing in front of a small building was thinking of dodging again but has thought of the damage the thoughtless attack of the young lad made. Instead, he also reciprocated the attack with his palm attack.
Counter!
The green palm met the fiery red palm and created a shockwave on the area. The palm skill that Weimin was proud of was incinerated and was erased after the collision. The remaining energy from the blazing palm continued its path towards Weimin and burned partly his clothes. Weimin rolled on the ground for a moment to kill the flames on his clothing and endured the pain of the attack as he stood back with both feet. Shocked with the situation, he can't believe that the intermediate success mastery of the
"Who are you and what do you need with sister Yue? Do you know the consequences of hurting the sect leader's disciple? You are courting death!" Clearly, Weimin was not listening to Long Bai's introduction a while ago. Since he was able to see the skill difference, what's left is to use his connection to scare the person in front of him.
Long Bai sighed with the young lad's behavior. Just because he realized that he can't bully someone, he resorted using this kind of scheme. To end such farce, he took out his alchemy amulet to show his standing. If it is a fight of standing, his grade 2 alchemy title is tantamount to a an elder in a sect. Flashing the 2 star amulet in front of Weimin, the reaction Long Bai thought just came in.
Chen Weimin knows the worth of alchemists in the city. Even a grade 1 alchemist can be considered an inner disciple. Seeing a grade 2 alchemist, Weimin staggered and became quiet for a moment. His situation was a bit awkward now that he offended an alchemist. Long Bai saw Weimin's surrendered expression and took the opportunity to ask some directions.
"Say, if you tell me where I can see sister Yue, I'll forget what happened here. Will you do that? Long Bai exchanged.
After the ordeal, Long Bai was able to reach a residence as he followed the directions he was told. There, he was met by a maid and the rest was history.
Yue hearing what happened brought out a loud laughter. It seemed that she was able to return to her previous self after hearing the story. Looking such development, Long Bai brought out a manual, the same manual he gave to the other two. Yue stopped laughing and asked what it was. After reading the first content, she reacted similar to how the other two did.
"Brother…where did you get this? This is something you can't find here in our city. Even master would be shocked by this if he'll see it."
"Sister Yue, this is just a gift. I already gave that same skill manual to the other two. You'll be participating in the qualifying fights this coming two months. I want everyone to pass it and go together forward. Treat this as my wish if you can't think otherwise."
Yue almost teared up but stopped herself from such appearance and hugged the manual on her chest tightly. In her thought, she was already counting how much help she was getting from his brother. Ranging from the pills that she used that was delivered by alchemist Mo and then this. She was overwhelmed in emotions that she again thoughtlessly hugged Long Bai.
"Yue… You don't need to do this…" Startled again by her actions, was about to pat her head but Yue was able to retract herself immediately afterwards.