Chapter 42

"If you're eldest brother's… brother, why did he never mention you or tell us anything?" Wu Jinjing asked.

Kaijun began, "That's because—"

But Ming Yongnian cut in, "He's annoying."

"Nian you are damn cold!"

"It's pretty shocking that eldest brother has an older brother. " Lai Meihui mused. "But the two of you don't look alike."

Clearly Lai Meihui was trying to dig up information from Kaijun, but it was not something he and Ming Yongnian planned to keep a secret of. So Kaijun told them, "Yongnain's father adopted me. That's why we look nothing alike, and our personalities are worlds apart! If you're asking me which one of us brothers are better, I'll tell you that I'm the best!"

When it seemed like everything was turning out well for Kaijun, Feng Delun asked, "Where did you go this early morning?"

Instead of letting Kaijun answer, Ming Yongnian was the one to answer, "I sent him to cover up our visit to Dongfu, someone had most likely recognized us. He's useful in this kind of situation."

That was right, to lure out the Devil Venerable they did not wear a disguise when they visited Dongfu. Moreover, when they visited Dongfu, it was the coronation of the Zhen empire's new Emperor. All eyes are obviously invested at Dongfu. There should be spies lurking at every corner of the street, it wouldn't be impossible for one of those spies to recognize Ming Yongnian or even Feng Delun's face. If they don't recognize them, they could always recognize Mo Huijun.

"I had to ask some of my friends to help clean up those people. But I can't guarantee that everyone who had seen Nian with Xiaobao and or the Devil Venerable together was handled. There were too many people at Dongfu that day. Though the coronation may invite many eyes, they are also an excellent distraction."

"What about your 'friends'?" Wu Jinjing asked, with an underlying sharpness to her voice. If Kaijun's friend had helped him, then they should know of Ming Yongnian's visit.

Kaijun chuckled. "Don't worry, they used to work with me under emperor Zhen Lian. Naturally they know what to say, and what not to say. This wouldn't be the first time they kept their mouths shut."

Feng Delun massaged his forehead. "This just means the Zhen empire might know of eldest brother."

"I wouldn't worry too much in regards of the Zhen empire." Came Ming Yongnian's calm voice.

All of their sworn siblings shared a look, since Ming Yongnian had said as such, it should be alright.

"But you and your friends didn't kill these people, correct?" Luo Huifang questioned. Killing a spy was as good as stabbing oneself and their enemy on the foot. Because the dead had the ability to speak.

Waving his hand in dismissal, Kaijun said, "No I had them forget, if I kill every peeping tom the Zhen empire neighbor might start thinking my empire is up to something."

Now they could consider the case with Kaijun close, but there was still the matter of the Devil Venerable. "So what of the Devil Venerable, he was here and he left?" Lai Meihui asked.

"He probably went to meet with his people. Some of my friends bumped into his people." Kaijun said.

So they all had to wait for the man himself to return, and the Devil Venerable most likely than not would return. After all, his child was here.

Feng Delun's attention shifted. "Huifang, now it's your turn to explain why you brought a tiny ghost."

Ever since she stepped into the house Luo Huifang had been formulating on how to explain Tian Mengshen's sudden appearance. "His name is Tian Mengshen, he's quite a talented little ghost. I was planning to raise him as my ghost, but he unfortunately refused. But he was willing to be my disciple, of course I didn't want to turn such a good seedling away. So I made him my disciple, he'll be our sect's first disciple!"

"But his appearance… for such a young ghost he already has a physical form. He couldn't be an ordinary child or ghost." Li Jiayi had read enough books to know that this Tian Mengshen child was a potential danger.

"He'll need to have the willpower and grudge to serve as a catalyst to gain a physical body. Motivation and goal is important for a ghost." Kaijun commented.

"An extraordinary child with enough grudge a child should not have, don't you think this is a good background for a potential future badass villain in a book!" Jiang Xiaotong was excited at the thought.

"Although it sounded very much like a fantasy, I agree with Xiaotong. This little ghost probably has the potential to be the next Devil Venerable." Li Jiayi commented, not lifting his eyes away from the book he was immersing himself with.

Feng Delun studied Luo Huifang from the corner of his eyes. "You were expecting this when you brought him here, Huifang?"

Luo Huifang smiled and nodded. "I did, as a nascent soul cultivator all of us are somewhat aware — sensitive of the things, beings, that could affect the world on a large scale. But I was presented with many choices of leaving this child, killing this child, or ignoring and pretending he never existed. My pride got the best of me this time."

Jin Liwei began adjusting his abacus. "So we're raising one more child—"

"He's a ghost!" Lan Jianhong interrupted.

"I'll add that into our budget."

"Are you in charge of the budgeting?" Kaijun stood up from his chair and bounded for Jin Liwei. "You should erase the word 'budget' from now on, I'll be your golden father from now on!"

Feeling pissed, Jin Liwei's abacus rattled as it made hard contact with Kaijun's face. "Kaijun, you may be eldest brother's older brother, but it doesn't mean I would go easy on you."

Kaijun cradled his face in his hand, rubbing and massaging his nose. "That abacus, why is it so hard?"

Hearing Kaijun's question Lai Meihui laughed. "Liwei's abacus is his spiritual weapon."

"His spiritual weapon?!" Kaijun had never heard of an abacus being someone's spiritual weapon. A sword was an obvious choice, even something pointy was alright at this point. But an abacus as a spiritual weapon was something Kaijun couldn't wrap his head around. A spiritual weapon is meant to be a "weapon"!

Ignoring Kaijun's meltdown of his understandings of the concept known as "spiritual weapon", Feng Delun said to Luo Huifang, "No one seemed to be against having that ghost as your disciple, but to have a peace of mind we will still write up a contract for him to sign."

That was also Luo Huifang's idea all along when she had decided to take Tian Mengshen as her disciple. Since Tian Mengshen was indeed a good seedling — a good catastrophic seedling to be precise, to avoid being stabbed by the knife they sharpened, a binding contract was the most foolproof way of restraining him!

If only the universe were that easy…

***

Three women, eight men, and a baby surrounded the table, laid upon it was a blank parchment of paper with a complete set of writing utensils, such as an inkwell and a brush. Li Jiayi picked up the brush and looked left and right. "Whatever clause we write in this paper would most likely be used for contracts future disciples must sign."

Luo Huifang frowned. "Isn't this only for Tian Mengshen, why bring up future disciples?" They're writing up this contract because Tian Mengshen was a potential catastrophic seedling. It made no sense to her that future disciples must also sign a contract, unless they were another Tian Mengshen. Another catastrophic seedling, which was unlikely.

But who knows? Maybe one of them might find another catastrophic seedling. Luo Huifang gaze turned to Ming Yongnian's child. This child could be another catastrophic seedling. The babe was Mo Huijun's child, as much as she was Ming Yongnian's. And Ming Yongnian's morals does not line up with the Dao Cultivator's "straight righteousness". Jiang Xiaotong liked to categorize Ming Yongnian as morally grey.

"It's all about playing it fair, if the only disciple who signed a contract is Tian Mengshen, the little ghost may feel it is unfair. And unfairness causes distress and discontent, which could lead to chaos. Having a contract would also draw a clear line between what a disciple and a Shifu could, could not do, or need not to perform." Kaijun explained.

Nodding in agreement Feng Delun said, "And in a way it restrains both us as Shifus and them, the disciples."

"First we'll need to write basic clauses that all disciples and us must adhere to, then write specific clauses only for Tian Mengshen." Li Jiayi told them.

"There's no way we can finish this in one day!" Lan Jianhong groaned.

Jiang Xiaotong pointed towards the kitchen. "The little guy is also waiting for us to call him from the kitchen, he can't exactly come here."