Yun Che walked down the street with Feng Chu, occasionally using Divine Hand on a passerby.
Unfortunately, passersby were just passersby. Few were powerful martial artists, and the things he grabbed were all fairly ordinary.
Meanwhile, he was considering how to settle Feng Chu. Leaving her outside the academy was out of the question.
Not only was the third chief of the notorious Red Skull bandits due to arrive soon, greatly increasing the danger, but Yun Che rarely left the academy, which would make teaching her troublesome.
After thinking it over, Yun Che decided to bring Feng Chu into Falling Moon Academy as his disciple.
With his decision made, Yun Che stopped concealing his identity. He removed the owl mask from his face and explained the situation to the little girl.
Feng Chu stared dazedly at Yun Che's handsome face. I knew it. My master really is a handsome young man.
"So? Do you want to live at the academy with me?" Yun Che finally asked.
"Yes! I want to live with you, big brother master!" Feng Chu hurriedly answered.
"Big brother master?" Yun Che was bewildered by the strange form of address.
"No, I meant master," Feng Chu hastily corrected herself, her face flushing slightly.
Yun Che nodded and led the little girl straight toward Falling Moon Academy.
Along the way, Yun Che also made sure to buy her some clothes she liked.
But when they bought underwear, she became so embarrassed that even her ears and neck turned red.
Carrying a shopping bag containing twenty pieces of underwear, Feng Chu kept her head lowered the entire time, overwhelmed with embarrassment.
Yet when she recalled the commanding air her big brother master had displayed earlier, she also felt a sweet warmth and gratitude.
"Bring us a few sets of everything in your shop that would suit her."
"This one, this one, and this one too. Wrap them up!"
Yun Che looked relaxed, but inwardly, he was a little startled. He had never expected underwear to cost more than other clothes.
Twenty pieces of premium underwear had cost him forty silver coins.
A single silver coin was worth a thousand copper coins, enough for an ordinary person to live comfortably for quite some time.
Fortunately, he was fairly well-off now and had no bad habits. He did not keep birds, take snuff, drink, or attend dinner gatherings.
Most importantly, apart from the one gold coin Qin Keyi had given him, all his money had come free of charge. Spending it did not hurt in the slightest.
Inside Director Ding's office at Falling Moon Academy, Yun Che was registering Feng Chu's identity.
Ding Man stared at Yun Che in disbelief and almost burst out laughing. "You? Taking a disciple?"
Yun Che remained composed and said mildly, "That isn't something you need to concern yourself with, Director Ding. Please register her. I still need to take my disciple out to eat."
Ding Man shook his head with a smile, finding the whole thing absurd. A classroom instructor who had taught only one lesson, with barely any students listening, actually had the nerve to take a disciple. Wasn't he just leading the child astray?
Still, the man was the live-in son-in-law of the Qin Prince's Residence, so Ding Man had to show him some respect. He quickly registered the little girl named Feng Chu and handed over her identity card.
But when he looked at the girl, he found her staring fixedly at him with icy eyes, as though she wanted to devour him alive. Director Ding shuddered in fright, then felt embarrassed by his own cowardice.
After watching the pair leave, he gave himself a light slap. "Useless fool! You're the director of instruction, a proper early-stage acquired realm martial artist. How could you let a little girl who knows nothing scare you?"
As Yun Che left the office, he naturally had to take a grab at Director Ding, who enjoyed reading little storybooks, though he held little hope of getting anything worthwhile.
Ding! Successful grab. Congratulations! You have obtained the mid-grade cultivation art, Wind-Thunder Body Tempering Art.
Yun Che froze in astonishment. He had never imagined that the sanctimonious Director Ding had learned such a fine cultivation art.
Even so, Director Ding was well into his forties and had only just broken through to the early acquired realm. His martial aptitude was probably low-grade, wasting such an excellent cultivation art.
Back in his little courtyard, Amu was sweeping when he spotted the little girl returning with his young master and looked puzzled.
Yun Che introduced her. "Amu, this is my disciple, Feng Chu. Take her to the bathing room to wash up first."
Hearing this, Amu immediately grew solemn, his expression becoming more respectful.
"Miss Feng, please follow me."
Before long, Feng Chu emerged freshly washed. She had always been a beautiful girl, and now, dressed in a clean, neat dress, she looked all the more graceful, like a fresh, delicate little lily.
Yun Che nodded in satisfaction at Feng Chu's transformed appearance. He took her to the dining hall, intending to let her eat something first.
Inside the dining hall, students sat eating in groups of three or five, their cheerful voices and laughter filling the room. Yet their eyes quietly followed Yun Che and Feng Chu. They were clearly curious about why this new classroom instructor had brought along a little girl who did not belong to the academy.
Feng Chu seemed rather nervous. She clutched the hem of her clothes and glanced uneasily around.
Yun Che said gently, "Don't be nervous. Go buy whatever you want to eat."
Feng Chu nodded, gathered her courage, and walked toward a counter selling egg rolls.
When night fell, Yun Che settled Feng Chu into a guest room in his little courtyard, then gave her the Wind-Thunder Body Tempering Art and the Ten Illusions Sword Technique.
Why didn't he teach her the high-grade Soul Secret Manual? That would have been utterly ridiculous!
First, the Soul Secret Manual only worked during dual cultivation. Second, she was still a child. What sort of dual cultivation could she possibly practice?
Outside the academy, in that secluded little courtyard, a Red Skull captain wearing a one-star badge on his shoulder stared grimly at the two corpses on the ground.
His name was Pi Piya, and he was an early-stage innate realm expert. He had come to coordinate the mission, only to discover two Red Skull corpses inside. One of them had been their most important undercover agent.
"You two idiots! I told you over and over that the guest our third chief is entertaining this time is important, and you still fucking screwed it up!"
Enraged, Pi Piya stomped on the square-faced instructor's head, crushing it to vent his anger.
"You worthless bastard. You spent years undercover, only to screw up at the critical moment. Don't blame me for being ruthless."
With a vicious expression, Pi Piya headed toward the city. He was going to the square-faced instructor's home to seize his wife and children and turn them into merchandise for Red Skull.
The matter was so serious that Pi Piya dared not conceal anything. He reported everything truthfully to the third chief, who was taking a rose bath at an inn.
Surprisingly, the third chief of the notorious Red Skull bandits was a handsome scholar, though his appearance was much more effeminate than Yun Che's.
The third chief, Hong Mian, listened silently to Pi Piya's report and merely nodded. His face showed no sign of anger.
After a moment's thought, Hong Mian said, "Ask the vice principal to help. Our guest this time is someone important. The plan cannot be canceled."
"Yes. I'll notify the vice principal at once."
Shortly after Pi Piya left, Hong Mian grabbed the beautiful woman who had been massaging his shoulders and shoved her hard beneath the bathwater, drowning her.
Throughout the entire process, Hong Mian's delicate, handsome face remained expressionless, as though he were doing something utterly insignificant.
Clearly, he was not untroubled by the change in plans. He simply disliked showing his emotions on his face.
Before you continue