"Even if Yun Ji isn't human, he's still my disciple! I... I won't let anyone hurt my disciple! No one!" Tian Buyi roared, his neck reddening with anger, as though someone had really come to bully his disciple.
He was worried about this, too.
It wasn't that he feared Luo Yunji had some dark past. After all, Luo Yunji had been found as a child and brought to Azure Cloud Mountain.
But if he really was from another race, Azure Clouds—one of the great orthodox sects—couldn't keep him. Not killing him would already be showing mercy. It wasn't that Azure Clouds couldn't tell right from wrong; rather, as a leader of the righteous path, it had to set an example. That was both an honor and a constraint.
Tian Buyi knew that with Luo Yunji's muddleheaded nature, if he left Azure Clouds, someone would surely kidnap and sell him!
While the husband and wife worried themselves sick over their little disciple's identity, the several senior and junior brothers were celebrating and making merry over their breakthroughs.
At dinner, the disciples around the table were still beaming, their faces radiant. Tian Buyi and Su Ru knew they were happy today, so they let them enjoy themselves.
"Our little junior brother's improved!" Sixth Senior Brother remarked as he watched Luo Yunji eating.
"Improved how?" Zhang Xiaofan looked from the little junior brother sitting beside Shiniang to Sixth Senior Brother Du Bishu and asked curiously.
"Right! He's much more self-aware!" Fifth Senior Brother, sitting beside Sixth Senior Brother, added with a sly grin.
"Before, the little junior brother used to sleep while eating. Look at him now—he's eating with his eyes open!" Fourth Senior Brother explained with a hearty laugh. After being stuck at the same cultivation bottleneck for years, He Dazhi had finally broken through. Rarely did he get the chance to tease his little junior brother, so he laughed to his heart's content.
Zhang Xiaofan was speechless. "Senior Brother, don't you think... your standards for the little junior brother are a bit low?" he whispered.
"That little monster is beyond even Master's control. What can we do? All we can do is watch in envy," Third Senior Brother said softly, leaning over.
Zhang Xiaofan thought about it and had to agree. From what he'd seen lately, this little junior brother really was unlike ordinary people.
Just as Zhang Xiaofan sank into thought, a chopstick smacked Sixth Senior Brother on the head.
"Ow! Who was that?" Du Bishu widened his eyes and glanced around at his fellow senior and junior brothers. They all had their heads lowered, dutifully shoveling rice into their mouths, as if they couldn't see the delicious dishes before them.
Sixth Senior Brother's heart gave a little thump. Then, with his neck stiff, he slowly turned toward the head of the table and saw Tian Buyi staring at him with narrowed eyes and a stern face.
"M-Master!" Du Bishu quickly sat up straight and looked ahead, waiting for Tian Buyi to lecture him.
"So that's how you address your little junior brother? Envious, are you? Do you want to follow his example and sleep all day, too? Hmm?" Under Tian Buyi's barrage of questions, Sixth Senior Brother's head slowly drooped until his chin rested against his chest.
Tian Buyi glanced at the other disciples. They were all shoveling rice into their mouths, looking like they wanted to laugh but didn't dare. "Just eat your food!"
"Yes, Master!" the disciples replied, and finally went back to eating normally.
"You've just broken through. Spend the next while consolidating your cultivation," Tian Buyi told his disciples after the meal.
"Yes, Master," they all replied.
"Xiaofan, you'll be in charge of the meals from now on." Tian Buyi looked at Zhang Xiaofan. "You know how to cook, right?"
"I... I do. I used to cook at home. I just... I just don't know if it'll suit your tastes, Master, Shiniang, and all the senior and junior brothers." Zhang Xiaofan looked at Tian Buyi nervously and hurried to answer.
"It's fine! Apart from your little junior brother, the rest of them aren't picky eaters. Just remember to make him some meat dishes." Tian Buyi waved his hand.
"Yes, Master!" Zhang Xiaofan answered earnestly.
After dinner, Sixth Senior Brother showed Zhang Xiaofan around the kitchen, then led him off to join the other senior brothers in a furtive huddle.
"Well?" Sixth Senior Brother asked, craning his neck to look at the others.
"Does Eldest Senior Brother really think we've forgotten something this important?" Wu Dayi still found it hard to believe.
"Everyone knows Eldest Senior Brother handled the little junior brother's baby teeth when they fell out. Now that we know how powerful those teeth are, how could he not have kept them?" Fourth Senior Brother analyzed with a confident smile.
"After dinner, Eldest Senior Brother took the little junior brother back to his room. He still hasn't come out. Do you think he's already gotten them?" Second Senior Brother stared at the little junior brother's room, eyes shining.
"I'd say so! As soon as Eldest Senior Brother comes out, we'll surround him. We'll make him hand them over!" Sixth Senior Brother's eyes lit up, too.
Zhang Xiaofan could see what was going on now. These senior brothers were plotting to get the teeth Eldest Senior Brother had collected when the little junior brother's baby teeth fell out. After everything he'd witnessed today, he was starting to get an idea of just how freakish the little junior brother was.
"He's coming out! He's coming out!" Sixth Senior Brother hurriedly whispered, his voice full of excitement.
They were just about to rush over when a short, stout figure suddenly appeared at Luo Yunji's doorway, stopping Song Daren. The figure said something to him, and Song Daren followed along with his head lowered.
"Master intercepted him?!" Sixth Senior Brother stared at the two figures disappearing into the central hall in disbelief, repeatedly tugging at Fourth Senior Brother's sleeve in alarm.
"Ah! We lost by one move," Second Senior Brother and Fifth Senior Brother sighed dejectedly against the wall.
"Not necessarily." Fourth Senior Brother rubbed his temple and thought for a moment. "Maybe Master just had something else to discuss with Eldest Senior Brother."
"Let's hope so!" Sixth Senior Brother grumbled glumly. "Come on, let's go back to bed."
In the central hall, a faint, hard-to-detect smile tugged at the corners of Tian Buyi's mouth as he looked at his eldest disciple.
"Hand them over."
"W-what?" Song Daren looked up at Tian Buyi in confusion.
"What do you think? Tell me, how many are there in all?" Tian Buyi patted his stomach and smiled at his eldest disciple. He felt rather pleased. So Eldest isn't entirely honest after all!
"M-Master! You want the little junior brother's teeth, too?" Song Daren looked at his master curiously.
Tian Buyi gave his eldest disciple a displeased look.
Song Daren felt a little uneasy under that gaze. He immediately and obediently took out all the teeth he'd collected from his robes and respectfully handed them over.
Tian Buyi took them, opened the little bundle, and looked at the tiny teeth inside, each gleaming like a pearl. He picked one up and examined it. Apart from its smooth, white luster, there was nothing special about it.
He squeezed it between his fingertips, but it remained completely intact! With his strength, even an iron ingot would have bent. Yet this tiny tooth had not suffered the slightest damage.
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