Chapter 9: Wanted 

The trio sat around the table, a solemn expression hung on the Lan Sect duo's faces as they listened to Wei Yong's long talk with their heads lowered. He had been lecturing the Lan Sect Disciples for eavesdropping on his conversation with Lin He for the past half an hour and finally, he let out a sigh after realizing how long-winded he was sounding.

Lin He, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear at the thought of the duo's facial expression when they were caught red-handed, especially Xuan Yi's failed attempt to hide her red face.

It was a refreshing sight from her usual angsty expressions.

Wei Yong snapped his fingers, drawing Lin He's attention back to him.

"Hey, are you listening to me Lin He?" He growled, his brows furrowed. "Teach your disciples proper things!"

Wei Yong cock an eyebrow after hearing the words that had just slipped off his tongue.

"No, wait. Since when did you have a Sect in the mortal realm?"

Lin He held up his palm swiftly. "Hold on, I don't have a Sect. Xiao Long just likes to call me Shifu."

Xiao Long cleared his throat and added softly, "I really want to be your disciple… that's why I've been calling you Shifu."

Wei Yong's eyes flickered between Xiao Long and Lin He. "Whatever it is, you can settle it internally amongst yourselves. But! No setting up of Sect for you, Lin He. It's against the rules for us to meddle around with the mortals. Hanging around them is already at the very limit."

Lin He poked Xiao Long's arm and whispered softly, "You heard him. He's the boss."

"On second note, what about this mute lady here?" Wei Yong's eyes landed on Xuan Yi who was sitting there quietly, still feeling embarrassed for being caught.

"Oh, her?" Lin He just smiled at his friend. "She's my creditor."

"What?!" Wei Yong yelled, causing the mirror to tremble again. "You were sent down here to get punished, not get into debts! How much do you owe her?"

Lin He stretched out two fingers to show his friend.

"2 demons. But to be frank, I'm not exactly indebted to her." Lin He said, his gaze sweeping between Xiao Long and Xuan Yi, a little hesitant to reveal more details. "Her prayer was assigned to me." He added softly, almost whispering.

"Prayer? What prayer?" Xuan Yi questioned immediately after hearing about the new information with her sharp ears.

Although she hadn't shown it as much as Xiao Long did, she was very curious about the world of the gods as well. She had prepared some questions in her head to ask Lin He but she was too shy to do so, so she would mostly hope that Xiao Long would ask the questions that she was dying to know instead.

A scroll appeared on Wei Yong's hand from thin air and he started reading off what was on the paper.

"Dear gods, please help me with my promotion exams! I just hope that some highly skilled master would come along and help me with this tough assignment so I can rank up and learn new skills. Also, to prove to that rat, Xiao Long, and his dogs that I'm worthy of being a Lan Sect disciple. Please!"

Xiao Long looked at Xuan Yi with his mouth wide open. "That rat, Xiao Long?!" He exclaimed, pointing to himself as he glared at her.

Xuan Yi tried to maintain her usual calm composure and pretended it was not a big deal while her red ears gave her away. She couldn't believe that something she had muttered to herself while she was at the temple was exposed like this. Even more so, she couldn't believe that the gods actually recorded it down.

Scrap the shyness, she's going to pester Lin He with questions from now on.

"I disapprove of this… this prayer! The promotional exam is a solo assignment, not teamwork!" Xiao Long said as he slammed the table, only to flinch when Wei Yong glared at him. "But… I guess, some help is fine… I got some help too…" Xiao Long whimpered softly before sinking back into his seat.

"Regardless, that was your prayer that you've asked for. Lin He, as part of his punishment, is here to help you with it. So, do cooperate with him and allow him to finish up quickly." Wei Yong said, forcing a smile at Xuan Yi as he rolled up the scroll. "I shall take my leave now. Oh and update me on your whereabouts whenever you can, Lin He. I'll come and visit you guys one day. In the meantime, keep your mouths sealed." He warned with a stern gaze on the Lan Sect disciples before he vanished into thin air.

Lin He swept a glance at the duo who were staring at him curiously. He let out a dry cough and quickly kept the bronze mirror back into his carrier before he tried to salvage the situation.

"He's a god as well, right?" Xiao Long started off asking, his eyes glistening as he looked at Lin He with his hands cupping his cheeks. "Does he want a disciple? I wouldn't mind having two Shifu."

Xuan Yi rolled her eyes at his words and nudged his elbow that was resting on the table, causing his hand to slip and almost crashed his face onto the table. Xiao Long shot a glare at her gimmicks, looking as if he was about to start arguing with her again when Lin He quickly jumped in.

"That's a god too, yes. He's my friend as well." He said, secretly hoping that this duo wouldn't start fighting again. "But he's not accepting any disciple."

Before Xiao Long could ask any further, Xuan Yi jumped in. "Your punishment is answering people's prayers?"

Lin He let out a deep sigh and nodded his head.

He didn't want them to know about this because who knows if they would start praying around him and cause him to be assigned to their prayers? That would be a huge grave that he would have dug for himself, right?

Of course, he wasn't going to divulge any more details about the prayers so he kept his mouth shut.

"Wait, so my binding spell was useless on you?" She questioned again. "Damn it, I wasted a talisman for nothing." She grumbled before crossing her arms.

Lin He just smiled at her and muttered under his breath quietly. "I'm sure it'll work if I leave that day…"

"Ahh, then your crime isn't that huge isn't it? I think answering prayers is an easy job." Xiao Long commented cheerily, grasping Lin He's attention away from her.

Lin He just smiled awkwardly and nodded his head along, pretending to agree with what he had said.

Forget it, forget it. He'll tell them eventually when the time fits. They'll forget about it eventually anyway.

=

It has been almost two weeks since they were staying in this town and they were feeling much better than before. Lin He decided that they should spend their last dinner at a small restaurant nearby that served really delicious noodles. The taste of the noodles reminded him of his hometown and he really wanted to try it one last time before they left.

"Ah! I forgot to bring my coin pouch. I'll go take it, wait for me Shifu!" Xiao Long quickly said before he ran off in a hurry.

Lin He wanted to stop him from returning back to the inn, which was quite a distance away, since they were already near the restaurant. He wanted to treat them to a meal, as a form of gratitude towards them for keeping his identity a secret. Though in the future, they wouldn't remember him when Wei Yong comes down to clean their memories. Regardless, Lin He felt that it's necessary to give them a treat.

Xuan Yi rubbed her chin, seemingly in a deep thought as they waited for Xiao Long's return. Suddenly, she let out a loud "Oh!" and turned to Lin He. "I've decided on a question!"

Not this again…

Like Xiao Long, Xuan Yi has been bombarding him with questions everyday ever since the meeting with Wei Yong. Applying the same rules he placed on Xiao Long, he permitted them to only ask one question per day. But going through a few days of their questioning, he was thinking of changing it to one question per day from the duo. He was fine with answering their questions, since they would eventually forget about them anyway, but he was getting annoyed by the way they were asking their questions.

"Ask away." Lin He said as he looked at her lazily before letting out a soft sigh.

Xuan Yi took a deep breath before continuing, "Where do the gods stay in Heaven and what do they eat and how do they answer our prayers daily and how old are you?"

That was her one question. Or rather, a few questions stringed into one sentence. Lin He had protested that it was multiple questions before but the Lan Sect smarties claimed that it was a question, since they didn't stop in between.

"We have an assigned palace and eating is optional for us and we answer prayers from above using our powers and…" Lin He paused to think for a while, counting in his head how many years has passed since he ascended as a god. "I think I'm 324 years old. I can't recall."

Just as he finished his sentence, Lin He noticed a group of tough-looking men walking through the crowds. Normally, he couldn't care less about these thugs as long as they were not disturbing people but he couldn't help but to fix his gaze on the striking portraits they held in their hands as they questioned people on the streets.

It was a portrait of Xuan Yi and him.

No, it was more of a wanted poster of the both of them.

Lin He quickly covered Xuan Yi's mouth before she could speak another word and dragged her to the dark alley beside the restaurant. He took a peek outside and the men were walking towards them.

Xuan Yi licked his hand and Lin He immediately yanked his hand away in disgust as he glared at the girl before him.

"Are you trying to silence me for asking a question?" She hissed as she crossed her arms.

"They are the ones silencing us if you don't keep your mouth shut." Lin He hissed softly as he pointed to the group of thugs who had walked past them.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed the poster's content in their hands and she turned to Lin He, pointing to one of the men.

"Isn't that Wen Xu? Mayor Jiu's butler? Shit, what shall we do?"

Indeed, amongst the muscle-filled men was a thin man dressed in high-end silk, walking with his head held high as he looked around the streets.

"Let's get back to the inn first and meet up with Xiao Long. We have to leave before they catch us." Lin He whispered as they stepped out of the dark alley.

And then, the most dramatic and attention-seeking thing happened.

"Oi, Shifu! Xuan Yi! There you are! The restaurant is over here!" Xiao Long's loud voice rang through the streets, earning multiple gazes in the duo's direction.

The pair turned and glared at the smiling Xiao Long waving at them, who clearly had no idea what troubles he had gotten them into. The group of thugs saw them immediately and Wen Xu immediately pointed at the pair.

"It's them! Get them!" He yelled as he started running towards them with the thugs.

Without a second thought, Lin He grabbed Xuan Yi's hand and ran in the opposite direction. They didn't have their swords on them now so they definitely couldn't fight back. Those thugs didn't look like they were about to let them go alive either so Lin He's only thought was to just run and hide.

"Where are we going?" Xuan Yi yelled as she ran behind him, her hands tightening around his.

"Hide!" He quickly yelled back and took a sharp turn at the end of the street.

They continued to run and Lin He noticed a small house at a corner of the town. Ignoring the sign on the door, he pulled her into the house and hid at a corner. He peeped through the small hole in between the wooden planks to observe if the thugs had caught up to them. Once he noticed that they had passed by them, he let out a breath of relief at the temporary end of the ordeal.

Xuan Yi stared at Lin He, who was panting heavily and for a moment, thought he looked really attractive from the way he saved the both of them just now. It wasn't the first time he had saved her, he did it once while they were fighting the Vine Demon a while ago. Their eyes met and she looked away quickly, a rush of warmth spreading across her cheeks at the thought of being caught staring.

Lin He realized how he was holding onto her hands tightly and quickly let go, fearing that he might have squeezed her too tightly from his nervousness. "Are you okay?" He asked out of concern as he panted.

She nodded her head and wiped the droplets of sweat on her face away. Lin He noticed how her face had turned into a shade of pink and he quickly placed his hand on her cheeks, checking her temperature.

"You looked red." He chuckled, amused by the sight of her flushed cheeks that made her look adorable. "You definitely need more physical training."

"I-I'm fine!" Xuan Yi quickly said as she swatted his hand away and cupped her cheeks with her own hands in an attempt to hide her face. "A-are they gone?" She stuttered as she jutted her chin in the direction of the hole in the wall.

Lin He gave a small nod and suddenly stood up with a hand over his nose. "I think we better go."

"Huh? They are still looking for us." She protested, a little worried that she smelled bad after seeing how Lin He looked like he wanted to throw up.

She swore she only didn't wash her hair for a day. It couldn't be that bad.

"You… can stay here if you want." Lin He said as he pointed behind Xuan Yi.

Xuan Yi turned behind and almost screamed at the being snorting at her face.

A pig.

They ran into someone's pigsty.

It was then her brain registered the stench of dung and mud in her mind as the smell wafted into her nose. She was too distracted earlier to even take a look at her surroundings.

At least, Lin He wasn't covering his nose because of her.