The Humble Gate Opens at Last (8)

In a side hall of Clear Parasol Hall on Misty Spirit Peak, afternoon sunlight poured through the open door. It cut a huge, dazzling patch across the flagstones, dividing the room into two distinct worlds of light and shadow.

Shen Yuxi sat upright in a sandalwood chair beside the door. His deep-blue disciple's robes were spotless, their dark color setting off his refined features and cool, pale skin. He wore his usual distant expression, eyes lowered and lips lightly pressed together, with an air that warned strangers to keep away.

Yet the Profound Heaven Sect's famously aloof second senior brother was not meditating. He was doing something entirely at odds with his bearing—looking after a child.

Curled up on the threshold by his feet was a boy of about ten.

The boy's soft black hair reached his neck. Most of it hung loose, with only a little tuft hastily tied at the back with gray string. A few unruly strands clung to his forehead.

He wore a short tunic and trousers in blue-gray mixed with ash-gray. The cloth was nothing expensive, but the fine cotton was soft and comfortable, freshly washed and carrying the clean scent of soap pods.

The clothes were plainly too big for him. His sleeves had been carefully folded back twice, yet still hung loose around two tender wrists as pale as lotus root.

He was old enough to know better, but his chubby cheeks and astonishingly bright eyes were full of an innocence the world had yet to touch. When he grinned, the gap left by a missing front tooth made him all the more endearing.

Anyone could see that his family had raised him with loving care and cherished him dearly.

"Big brother, what's this?" The little dumpling tipped his head back, holding a