NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 121: Fei Xiang’s First Disciple
“This is my daughter, Lian Bai.”
“Since when do you have a daughter?” Fei Xiang asked a courtesan as he looked down at the small girl standing beside her.
The courtesan's name was Baihe. She was someone who was once saved by Fei Xiang when she got caught up in a mission where ghouls were killing women from the town. It was nearly 20 years ago and Baihe was actually no longer a courtesan, she took over the entire shop of courtesans. The shop was a more erotic scene when she was young but now that she ran it, it was just a hub for entertainers. She was in her mid-thirties and was still very beautiful but she rarely performed, she preferred to leave the tips for the younger women to pick up.
“Since 10 years ago.” Baihe chuckled, patting Lian Bai’s shoulder so she would stop bowing.
“You haven’t been by in 15 so of course, you wouldn’t know.”
Fei Xiang was only at the shop to spend a few nights. He would’ve spent them anywhere else but he was in the area and Baihe was better company than his thoughts in times like this.
He studied Lian Bai as she came around to help her mother, curiously staring back when she could. She certainly did resemble Baihe, she was almost identical to the Baihe he saved 20 years ago.
–
“Sir cultivator?”
“Yes?” Fei Xiang turned to face Lian Bai as he polished his sword on the balcony of the shop. He usually didn’t care for entertaining children but he was curious. Lian Bai hadn’t spoken to him until then.
“Mother says you know a lot of things, Is that true?” Lian Bai asked, walking up to the balcony and placing her hands on the railing near where Fei Xiang was sitting.
“Yes, that is true.” Fei Xiang was amused, he knew Baihe would be the one to raise a child like this, she spoke and walked just like Baihe. From watching all the courtesans around the shop, he could tell that meant she had already learned to sing and dance. Her posture was in a permanent state of perfection like she was always ready to dance.
“Then do you know why the Moon turned Blue?”
Fei Xiang went silent, Quite the question. The number one question everyone in the world had right now.
Fei Xiang glanced up at the moon, it seemed to mock him.
“Because Azure Dragon is being born.”
“Gods are born?” Lian Bai asked
“Not usually but… the four are different from most gods.” Fei Xiang explained.
“They’re constantly being born and reborn in search of the incarnation that is right.”
“Why?” Lian Bai asked.
“…Because only the real one belongs in this world.” Fei Xiang struggled to speak.
“Then why wasn’t the real one born first?” Lian Bai asked, she was a very curious girl.
“That’s what I’m wondering as well.” Fei Xiang murmured.
Lian Bai was surprised that her question wasn’t answered but she just watched Fei Xiang for a while.
“Have you met Azure Dragon sir?” Lian Bai asked after a while.
“I have. But not the one that is being born now. I met the previous Azure Dragon. And the one before that.” Fei Xiang answered.
“Is he scary-looking?”
Fei Xiang was quiet for a while.
“Yes,” Fei Xiang murmured, he watched Lian Bai lean away in fright at the thought and then spoke again, “But not in the way you’re thinking.”
“What do you mean?”
“Azure Dragon has a human form as well, he’s not always a dragon.”
Lian Bai was surprised to hear that.
“But he’s scary?” Lian Bai asked, “Is he really big and tall like you?”
“Well, they usually are quite tall…but I think the scariest part about them is that they’re beautiful.”
“Beautiful? More beautiful than my mother?” Lian Bai asked, pointing into the shop where Baihe was speaking to customers.
“Yes, even more, beautiful than Baihe.” Fei Xiang Chuckled.
“Is that why you never married her? Because she’s not as beautiful as—-“
“What?” Fei Xiang was incredibly confused to hear this.
“My mother really likes you and everyone in the village talks about how she never settled down with anyone after she was saved by a handsome young cultivator. People even think you could be my father…are you?” Lian Bai raised an eyebrow and Fei Xiang shook his head very quickly, never in his hundreds of years of life had he been so surprised, especially by a child.
“I can assure you I am not your biological father….Your mother is far too young for me.” Fei Xiang murmured.
“Huh? I mean sure you’re a little older than her but what are you? 45? You’re still young!” Lian Bai spoke like she was one of the older ladies in the town trying to convince the older bachelors to confess their feelings to prospective wives.
“I’m 200 years old.”
“That’s not possible. Humans don’t live that long.” Lian Bai immediately waved it off.
Fei Xiang didn’t know if he should tell this impressionable child that he wasn’t fully human or if he should tell her that it was possible.
—
Lian Bai became Fei Xiang’s disciple on a whim. At least that’s how it seemed to Baihe, who was adamantly against it.
Fei Xiang knew that their conversation about the moon and Azure Dragon wasn’t actually why though. Even the temptation of immortality probably wasn’t enough to convince her to leave her mother but he wasn’t very sure what caused this though. And he also didn’t know how she convinced Baihe in the end.
—-
“Mother, why does Sir Cultivator pay for a room if he never uses it?” Lian Bai asked as she snuggled into her mother’s arms as they laid down for bed.
“It’s a cultivator thing…he would rather practice his sword than sleep,” Baihe murmured, she was very tired, and although she loved how curious Lian Bai was, she didn’t have the energy to listen.
“Cultivators must work very hard…” Lian Bai murmured.
She couldn’t sleep through the night and when she decided to move out to get some water to see if it would help, she heard a peculiar sound, one she couldn’t quite wrap her head around.
She went out and went out of the shop and to the back. The open space is used for dance practice and just as a yard for outdoor events. It was surrounded by forest but the moon was perfectly visible at this hour.
The blue of the vibrant moonlight illuminated Lian Bai’s sight and she saw the yard clearly.
She really had wondered if living for a long time was worth the hard work of being a cultivator but as she looked out into the yard she found a completely different thing that made being a cultivator seem like it was all worth it.
Fei Xiang’s blade, shining ethereally under the Blue moon, cut through the midnight air like a beam of light, wind sticking to it and creating a sound, unlike anything Lian Bai had ever heard.
Lian Bai knew all about music. The Guqin, the Pipa, the flute, everything. But never had she ever heard a sound like that, a whistle created by a blade.
It completely enthralled her, she rushed off so as to not interrupt Fei Xiang but the idea of wielding a blade and creating such a sound was stuck in her head.
She convinced her mother under the condition that she visits as many times as possible and never forget to write to her.
Truthfully Baihe knew Lian Bai was destined for more than that little shop but she didn’t think Fei Xiang of all people would be the one to draw out ambition from her.
She didn’t expect Fei Xiang to actually accept Lian Bai but Fei Xiang actually welcomed her to be his disciple without any questions.
“You’re fine with an inexperienced little girl being your disciple?” Baihe asked.
“She will do fine, I have to take on another disciple who is probably at her level anyway.” Fei Xiang shrugged.
He hadn’t had a student before but he had been on his way to the Xia family home to welcome Xia Guiren as his first disciple. He wasn’t too excited about it but he owed the Xia family for covering for his pact of sovereignty.
After his father died he needed to make another pact since his previous protection from the world and the world’s issues were expired now that he was in no way connected to his father, who did have a pact of sovereignty in his time. He didn’t realize this at first and an ancestor of the Xia family helped cover for a slight problem caused by him.
He thought it was odd how late the favor was being cashed in but he figured some new family head had just learned about the debt and decided to use it to their advantage.
—
Baihe regretted agreeing to let Lian Bai leave but she let it happen anyway.
Lian Bai did visit often and wrote to her all the time though. Baihe met Xia Guiren the first time Lian Bai came back and she thought he was a cute kid, much more hyper than one would expect from someone of his social standing though.
The person she really had a strong reaction to was Yue.
He was a tiny child that reached just above her knee but he spoke incredibly clearly, like an adult. In a way that even Lian Bai had never spoken at his age. He also knew everything. Just everything.
What was most peculiar was the round veiled bamboo hat he wore. He looked so out of place with it on and stood out very clearly.
Baihe did get to see his eyes though, Fei Xiang allowed it and Yue complied and took off his hat when the shop was empty and they were all having a meal.
Baihe was mesmerized by the beauty of his eyes but she was also a bit surprised, he didn’t look like Fei Xiang but somehow, they were very similar.
She almost became suspicious that this was Fei Xiang’s child. But Yue immediately cleared the thought from her head. She referred to him the same way she referred to Xia Guiren as if he was a standard rich young master and he quickly told her not to.
“I’m just an orphan, there’s no need to be so respectful, miss.”
Baihe asked Lian Bai about Yue and she told him all about how they first met and how the boy had suffered throughout his life so far. Baihe kind of stared at her as she listened. She had noticed this change when she first met Xia Guiren, now that Lian Bai was around people her age she seemed to have matured very quickly. She was very intuned with her newfound role as Xia Guiren and Yue’s older sister and despite his, she never fell behind them in any way.
“So… now you have three disciples. You sure multiplied quickly.” Baihe murmured to Fei Xiang, having a drink with them.
“Yes…I will probably also take in one more in the future.”
“...Why not just start a cultivation sect at this point?” Baihe laughed.
“I do not wish to be followed around by too many people. It gets dangerous too… if too many people know techniques that were meant to be secret.” Fei Xiang murmured.
“Three or Four is enough. I want each one of them to surpass me in some way.” Fei Xiang chuckled.
“Surpass you? What high expectations you have…” Baihe murmured.
“Lian Bai can do it.”
Baihe was a little surprised to hear this.
“She is already so close, She was born to wield a sword. And Xia Guiren is incredibly talented in Cultivation techniques and arts. And well Yue, Yue can do anything, I wouldn’t be surprised if he masters all of the 3 arts and defeats me one day…but even then…When It comes to swordsmanship, he will probably always fall short of Lian Bai’s talent…and trust me…Yue is incredibly talented.”
—
Fei Xiang was quite obviously right, Yue never beat Lian Bai in swordsmanship, actually ever since she learned all she could from Fei Xiang and started just practicing on her own…NO one had ever beaten Lian Bai in swordsmanship.
And of course, she wouldn’t have her streak be beaten now.
“Well…It’s beginning.”
“Yes…”
“Let’s get as far as we can before the 4 arrive, there will be a point when we won't be able to help.” Fei Xiang murmured, Lian Bai nodded and looked to their few allies, and simply waved her hand before starting off.
The moon wasn’t blue today but her sword still glowed an Azure Tone, a result of the gift she had been given from Fei Xiang. The swing of her blade carried a tune as she swept through Hundun forces in Thailand. The first sword skill she ever witnessed, one that only 10 people in history had ever learned…Azure Wind Slash.
Only those who had been approved by Azure Dragon could use it.