Chapter Fourteen

Ling Da Chuanli stared at his master who remained tight-lipped, his handsome face pulls a frown making Wang Minglan unable to take it anymore. He slams his cup down and stopped avoiding his stubborn disciple's heavily blaming stare with a glare. "Enough! Stop looking at me with that face! Your elder brother has already tortured me enough with his blinding face since our younger years and after I almost recovered you are trying to blind me again?! If you want to know so badly then go suck up to your junior sister more!"

Grumbling under his breath after his outburst, Minglan was in a foul mood having been stared at so blatantly by his disciple who seemed to be blaming him for something. Never would he think he would see the day where this brat would actually learn how to care for others besides his older brother. At most he thought Da Chuanli would at least feel responsible for Biyu but now he was actually pestering him for his adopted daughter's sake, he felt that he was somewhat miscalculated. Da Chuanli was not a bad person, but he was unnaturally apathetic due to the environment he grew up in before his older brother brought him into the sect. He had a smile on his face but it was just an average aristocratic smile, it was false without much feeling or care in it but to people who did not know him it looked warm and intimate.

He and his junior sister were the complete opposite inside and out. Seeing his Master finally cracking, the teen eventually softens his approach as if trying to coax Minglan into spilling. "Master it's not that I do not want to become closer to Junior sister, but it is not appropriate for two people of opposite genders to be so close." Minglan snorts and gave his disciple the stink eye "For once a butterfly is not enticed by the sight of a flower." Da Chuanli ignores his master's childish comment and lowers his head slightly while using Minglan's own words against him.

"It was Master who told this disciple to take care of Junior sister." Minglan choked on his tea almost spraying out the mouthful he had just taken and he shot his student a bewildered look. But Da Chuanli remained purposely oblivious to his confounded expression quietly looking down at his lap like an obedient child. "You-!" Minglan's eyes grow wider as he raises a finger to point at him with red eyes, "You! Don't even think about coveting your junior sister!"

Da Chuanli gave his silly master a hopeless look but WangMinglan was now stuck in the delusion of his precious adopted daughter being taken away by this stubborn brat as well. I refuse! He thought to himself glaring at Da Chuanli like an enemy, pointing at Da Chuali with a fierce scowl he roars once more. "You cannot take away my precious daughter so easily!" "Master." Da Chuanli calls out firmly with a serious expression, his eyes showing his sobriety, hence forcing Minglan to bite his tongue and gloomily look down at Da Chuali from above. He understood his disciple didn't mean it that way...

Shedding his silly mask Minglan's expression of outrage became somber and stringent when he realized Da Chuanli was serious about his words just now. Though he wanted Da Chuanli to take care of Wang Lan Biyu it was only to the extent of hoping the teen would use a lighter hand when dealing with the aloof girl. He didn't expect or want anything more than Da Chuanli to be a bit more cautious when communicating with her in the future in case something happened to himself and the sect. Minglan although childish knew more than he let on, although Da Chuanli's words sounded romantic they were nothing more than words of pity for Lan Biyu. "Don't do that."

Da Chuanli looks at his master and saw the man staring at him with a calm expression yet his eyes held scorn towards Da Chuanli's attitude. His tone was soft and stern "Do not give your Junior sister such wanton and insincere care. Biyu is a prideful child, she would rather die than receive someone's half-hearted concerns and help. Even if I permit you to do as you please and tell her to let you into her circle it will end badly as that child does not like you." Minglan was well aware of both his disciple's temperaments and attitudes, he was even more clear on Da Chuanli's thoughts as the boy was one he had taken care of since he was a child for his senior brother.

What Da Chuanli felt right now was a momentary sense of guilt and duty towards his Biyu, he pities her and feels that she is someone who needs to be somewhat coddled because of her dark mysterious past. And his daughter is someone who hates those with pretenses and thinks of her the way he does, she doesn't want pity or protection. She especially doesn't want to be looked down upon by someone like Da Chuanli who was perfect in everything he does as to her it seems like he was mocking her and making fun of her imperfections. Though his Biyu was indeed someone who was to be envied and seems proud of herself on the surface, she was in truth extremely insecure about her achievements and is harsh with her self-evaluations. Biyu has an extreme case of inferiority complex, although he has guesses as to why she is the way she is, it was just a guess.

He would never be able to know the full truth. Da Chuanli still wasn't convinced and tried once more to insist, "Master I-" "Ling Da Chuanli, do you love your Junior sister?" Da Chuanli jerks back with surprise at the abrupt and random question, love? Minglan was looking down at him with gravity so he understood his master was not joking and wanted to hear his answer. Though the question was a surprise he was very clear on his feelings and was calm in his response. He did not love her. How could he? "Master...Do I have to love someone to care about their wellbeing?" Though it was brief, Da Chuanli caught a trace of sorrow, and if he wasn't mistaken even a small amount of sympathy flashed past his master's facial expression. Minglan sighs softly, his attitude and tone becoming less harsh as he continued speaking. "You do not. But you shouldn't interfere with your junior sister's problems any longer." Da Chuanli recalls the scene of Lan Biyu's off-looking gaze from before and for some reason, his heart felt pained thinking of leaving the girl alone like that. "But-" Minglan cuts him off again his order more resolute and firm.

"If you truly care about Biyu, the best thing you can do for her is leave her alone in this time of her life. I know you are worried but that worry will just burden her further, I am not saying that it is misplaced but it is better for that worry to never be seen again. Biyu is a proud girl, having your sympathy will just make her hate you more than she already does. Although I understand things happened during your travel to Golden Cloud city that have made you two become a bit closer than you were before, it is still not enough for the two of you to even be called acquaintances. I'm sure you are well aware of this yourself." Da Chuanli lowers his head allowing his hair to cover his frown and gritted teeth. He felt frustrated. 'You're wrong.' was what he wanted to tell him, he wanted to tell his master that he was wrong. He didn't pity her! It wasn't like that. He just wanted to...Lan Biyu's distant-looking expression with the lonely tint in her cloud-colored eyes flashes in his head again.

He just wanted to know how someone like her, someone who was already so talented and beautiful could torture herself to such drastic extents for power. Did she not like herself? Does she hate her body and talents? Does she find herself lacking? But why? No matter how much he thought about this it made no sense, out of all the disciples from their sect Lan Biyu was the most talented seedling there was. For someone her age to be able to surpass her seniors in less than a decade, it was already an extraordinary feat to cultivators all around the continent. Perhaps even further than that. Someone like this, where did she come from? Why is she the way she is?

Did someone force her to become this way? If he knew then maybe- "Even if you knew, what then? Will you pity her more and give her that same half-hearted concern? If you did, you are worse than a bystander." His disciple flinched after having his thoughts seen through, he wanted to sigh but held it in looking at his disciple sympathetically. "There will come times when you will meet even more unfortunate people in this world, countless people are suffering all around us that we can't see. People all around us we cannot save. Though it's understandable you are frustrated that someone you know is in pain, if you continue butting in when you don't need to what will happen when you are no longer there to solve their problems for them? What then?"

"-Will the world fall apart if you miss one person?" Da Chuanli rebuked him "Junior sister isn't just anybody though." Minglan scoffs flatly towards this response "If she were unrelated to this king and this king never introduced her to you, would you have cared to ask me these things? Would you have bothered to even give her more than two looks out of the kindness of your heart had this master never asked you?" "..." Da Chuanli could only purse his lips and lower his head again in silence confirming the man's sarcastic and harsh words.

Minglan wasn't sad or disappointed in the boy's response, he was cool-headed and methodical in teaching his disciple. "Ling Da Chuanli, in the years this one has lived in this world and experienced life unsheltered by the shadow of my master. I have seen many things. Many misfortunes are born from a single moment of sympathy and misunderstanding. In matters like this, it is even more so to happen if you take the wrong step." He pauses before adding solemnly "Though we do not share blood, she is indeed my daughter in heart and mind. This small 'interest' you hold towards her will only harm Biyu and push her farther away. So,"

The man went back to admiring the view from within his room with the noble indifference of a master of the Azure sect, clearly ending the conversation there. His warning as clear and concise as the first crack in a river once spring reared its head. "-as a father and as her master, I will warn you only one more time out of the bond we share as your master and mentor. Do not pity Wang Lan Biyu or attempt to get closer to her with that halfhearted recognition of yours. Be satisfied with the acknowledgment she has given you so far and do not pry for more when you are not sincere."