"Brother Song, were you headed somewhere earlier?" Aotian asked, curious, while Rihai listened beside him, equally interested.
"Ah? Ah! Yes, I was, junior brother," he replied, scratching his head, seemingly embarrassed.
In truth, Cang Song cringed at having to call others junior brothers. If it weren't disrespectful to the sect and his fellow inner disciples, he would certainly call an outer disciple 'senior brother' — he'd do it with relief and even joy.
In his mind, he couldn't stop imagining the junior brothers he called that way turning out to be terrifying cultivation monsters or gaining many opportunities, growing powerful and one day returning to kill him for underestimating them by calling them junior brothers.
Although Aotian knew that Cang Song was the typical discreet and cowardly cultivator who preferred to be a nobody in order to live longer rather than get involved in trouble, he loved provoking him by putting him in the spotlight. But even he hadn't imagined Cang Song could be this cowardly.
'Wuuuh… Elder Zheng Tao, why did you choose me to be an inner disciple when I didn't even want to participate?'
Cang Song lamented bitterly in his thoughts, remembering the outer elder of the punishment pavilion, Zheng Tao, who was responsible for the inner disciple competition. And despite his frustration, he couldn't help but want to fight for a better position at the memory.
'Please, promote me to a menial disciple... Ugh, no, then I'd have to deal with other disciples by serving them, which would both hinder my cultivation and possibly get me into trouble… no, the dream position of every cultivator is outer disciple. I have to do my best to reach that position,' he thought with determination.
Meanwhile, Aotian and Rihai were staring strangely at the disciple guiding them, who had suddenly frozen in place, staring off into the horizon. If they knew what he was thinking, they would definitely be looking at him even more strangely.
Sensing their stares, Cang Song quickly snapped back to himself.
"Ahem!" He coughed into his hand, embarrassed. "Sorry, junior brother and sister, I got lost in thought." He bowed politely, apologizing.
"Don't worry," Aotian waved it off with a smile, and Rihai nodded as well, unconcerned.
"Well, thank you for your understanding. Junior brother, you asked if I was going somewhere. Actually, I was planning to find one of the sect elders. I just returned from a mission and wanted to spend my contribution points, but I didn't know where to find an elder who could point me in the right direction, so I figured I'd ask one of the cranes to take me to one. They say that if you ask a crane to take you somewhere, they usually know where to go," Cang Song explained with a helpless tone.
If there was anything greater than his cowardice, it was his will to live longer. That's why, for techniques of the next realm, he was willing to leave the safe refuge of his cave and venture into this dangerous world called "outside the cave."
"Oh, I see. In that case, the cranes might not know exactly where they are, but Rihai and I do." Aotian smiled and looked at Rihai while taking her hand and holding it.
Rihai blushed slightly at the intimate gesture in front of someone else, but quickly adapted.
"Huh? You do? Could you tell me, junior brother and sister? I didn't manage to ask Elder Zhao before he just flew off after asking me to guide you," Cang Song said, surprised and pleased to learn they knew where the elders were, and asked humbly.
"Sure, they're currently in a meeting with the Bamboo Sword Sect, all gathered there. When it ends, maybe you won't even need to search for them." Aotian smiled.
"Oh! So that's it. Now it all makes sense. Thank you, junior brother, for letting me know." Cang Song cupped his hands and bowed again in gratitude.
"Uh… senior brother, you don't have to be so formal all the time," Aotian said, a bit helpless, but Cang Song just gave him an apologetic smile in return.
Not pushing the matter further, Aotian let it go and continued walking while chatting with Cang Song.
Rihai didn't say much. She was still observing how things worked in the sect and didn't have much to comment on, so she preferred to let Aotian lead the conversation.
They walked for a while until they saw an old man standing on the path, calmly cultivating with his eyes closed.
Rihai looked curiously at the elderly man, who appeared very aged and wrinkled.
'Aotian said his sect only started recruiting disciples recently, but with an age like that, he must be an elder, right? Maybe he's hiding his aura,' she pondered, intrigued.
But her thoughts were interrupted by Cang Song's next words.
"Junior brother Hui! What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised.
'Junior brother?! Ugh... I can understand that first white-haired disciple, since he still has some life left and can train a few more years, but isn't this one a little... too old? Aotian's sect keeps getting stranger and stranger.' Rihai was startled and had to hide her reaction so as not to offend the old disciple.
Not that she judged him for his age, but no sect would invest in a disciple so old and with such limited lifespan — his cultivation wouldn't go far. That made recruiting someone like that really strange, leaving her confused.
But the old disciple didn't seem to notice her surprised reaction and responded to Cang Song naturally.
"Oh! It's Senior Brother Cang. Senior brother, Elder Zhao asked me to assist the disciples in case they needed help with their cave mansions while he's away in a meeting. I'll earn some contribution points, so I didn't dare refuse. All my points went into buying a Foundation Establishment cultivation technique," Hui Lang explained kindly, smiling with his toothless grin.
"Junior brother and sister, allow me to introduce you: this is Senior Brother Hui Lang, currently the oldest disciple in our sect, at 99 years old. Senior Brother Hui, these are… err, ugh! Sorry, junior brother and sister, what a blunder — I completely forgot to ask your names," Cang Song began the introduction but became visibly embarrassed when he realized he didn't know their names.
"Hello, Senior Brother Hui and Senior Brother Cang. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Liu Rihai." Rihai, quickly recovering from her surprise, smiled gently, cupped her hands, and took the initiative to introduce herself.
"So, it's Junior Sister Liu." The two smiled and warmly greeted her, before turning their gaze to Aotian.
Aotian also cupped his hands and smiled, introducing himself.
"Senior brothers, I am Long Aotian!"
But the moment his words fell, both men froze and looked at him strangely.
The worst reaction, however, came from Cang Song, who began to sweat cold and tremble.
"S-Senior Brother Long, i-it's a pleasure. Senior B-Brother L-Long, Junior Brother Hui is in charge of the outer disciples' residences, so you're in good hands. Senior Long, please forgive this junior, but something has come up and I must go. Farewell!"
Sweating heavily and pale with fear, he immediately changed how he addressed Aotian, treating him as a senior brother. Without waiting for a response, he barely managed to gather the strength to run, but before leaving, he even increased Aotian's title to an older generation, calling him senior, and dashed off in a desperate sprint.
Aotian's eye couldn't help but twitch as he watched the pale, terrified white-haired man running as if his life depended on it, disappearing into the distance. He had no doubt that if Cang Song had stayed a few seconds longer, he would have started calling him ancestor.
Rihai and Hui Lang were also stunned by the scene. If Aotian understood something due to knowing a bit about Cang Song's personality, the two of them had absolutely no idea what had just happened.
"Um… Junior Brother Long, please don't be upset with Brother Cang, he must have his reasons." Hui Lang scratched his beard, confused, but still apologized to Aotian on his behalf.
He figured maybe Cang Song had found Aotian's flashy name too amusing and ran off to laugh without disrespecting this junior brother in front of him—and in his haste and panic, he accidentally called him senior. It was the only explanation he could think of.
As for himself, although he found the name a bit amusing, he didn't think much of it.
"Junior brother and sister, I haven't seen you two before. You must have been recruited while the disciples were away, correct?" he asked, smiling.
Aotian, already recovered from the exasperation with Cang Song, nodded to Hui Lang.
"That's right, senior brother. We'd like to ask for your help in finding a cave mansion for us. Elder Zhao sent us," Aotian replied respectfully, making sure to state that it was an order from Elder Zhao, so Hui Lang wouldn't worry.
"I see. Well then, come with me, junior brother and sister." He smiled at the two, stood up gently, turned, and began guiding them.
'Hui Lang is doing much better now that he broke through to Foundation Establishment in the past few days. More lively and hopeful, and I can feel that his loyalty and gratitude to the sect have grown a lot. But that's only natural—after all, the sect gave him a second life,' Aotian thought, smiling slightly as he discreetly observed the old disciple.
Walking a bit behind, Aotian approached Rihai.
"Hai'er, we'll still be living together, right?" he asked gently.
Rihai glanced at him from the side and gave a mischievous smile.
"Living together? Uhm… I don't know…" She tapped her white finger on her chin, pretending to ponder, teasing Aotian.
"Ugh… you never change, huh. I'll take that as a yes." Aotian rolled his eyes, used to Rihai's teasing.
"Are you sure it's a yes? I'm not feeling too convinced." Rihai raised an eyebrow at him and smiled, clearly waiting for more.
Aotian narrowed his eyes, sensing that Rihai was up to something.
"What are you planning?" he asked cautiously, eyeing her with suspicion. His instincts screamed he was about to get played.
"Hehe, I don't know… maybe I'd feel safer living with you if a certain bet were canceled." She smiled even more, her beautiful blue eyes sparkling with mischief.
Aotian's eyes widened.
"No, Rihai, you can't do this, that's unfair!" He shook his head firmly, looking at her in protest.
"No, no, no." She wagged her white finger in front of his face, amused. "I'm making a fair trade here. You can choose to keep the bet, and I'll pay what I owe, but then we'll live separately until the wedding… and maybe even postpone the wedding by another year. Or, you can choose to live with me now and cancel the bet." She winked playfully at him.
Aotian pointed a trembling finger at her, incredulous.
"Y-you… you're the devil?!" he widened his eyes and asked, shocked.
Rihai rolled her eyes at his theatrics, but inwardly, she was having a lot of fun.
"So, what will it be, Tian'er? Will you eat the bait to fill your belly, or be patient and fish until you catch the prize?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and looking at him pitifully.
Aotian couldn't help but gulp at her beauty and found himself in a very tough spot.
"Hai'er, don't pull that move—it's forbidden, now you're being twice as unfair," he complained helplessly.
"What move? This one?" she asked, smiling, and tucked another strand behind her ear again, looking at him pitifully with her blue eyes while lightly biting her lip.
"Devil. Definitely the devil." With a blank look, Aotian nodded to himself, convinced.
…
Meanwhile, far away, Cang Song was still running, drenched in cold sweat.
'Damn it, Elder Zhao, you're truly my enemy. How could you send me to guide someone named Long Aotian?! That guy must cause trouble wherever he goes and drag others into it, and with a name like that, he's definitely not ordinary. I can't let him think I underestimated him. Should I have called him ancestor instead?'
As he frantically pondered, he didn't slow down one bit.
'What kind of father is cruel enough to give such a cursed name to his own son?! Devil. Definitely the devil!'
His sprint likely wouldn't end anytime soon, and the outer disciple area would surely become a forbidden zone to him in the future.