Little Schemer

In the Clear Wind Pavilion's kitchen, Qi Mo was busy at the stove. He had just put the cleaned fish into the pan when footsteps sounded outside, and Feng Shu and Feng Yi came in carrying ingredients.

Feng Shu's expression darkened at the sight of Qi Mo. "What are you doing here? Who gave you permission to enter the kitchen?"

Qi Mo kept his eyes on the fish in the pan and said only, "He wanted fish."

"He ate here with Master yesterday too," Feng Yi said quietly beside him.

Feng Shu remembered that Lin Qingyang had barely touched the dinner he had brought him yesterday. He had assumed the injury had spoiled his appetite, but it turned out he had eaten this demon slave's cooking instead. His expression grew even uglier.

"Get out!" Feng Shu snapped.

Qi Mo ignored him and continued adding seasonings to the pan.

This only angered Feng Shu further. He strode over, knocked the seasoning out of Qi Mo's hand, and dragged him out of the kitchen by the arm. A trace of jealousy mingled with the anger on his face. Master had never shared a table with anyone before, yet he treated this lowly demon slave differently.

"What do you think you are? As if you're worthy of cooking for Master!" Feng Shu cursed.

Qi Mo looked at him coldly, but the ears on top of his head twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Senior Brother, let it go," Feng Yi urged beside them.

Feng Shu paused, then flung Qi Mo's arm away. "Get back to your room. If I catch you pestering Master again, you'll pay for it!"

He was about to turn and go inside when he heard a disdainful snort. Feng Shu looked back.

Qi Mo stared at him provocatively. "And what if I don't?"

Feng Shu had not expected him to dare provoke him so openly. After a moment's stunned silence, his anger flared higher. He raised his hand and sent a burst of spiritual power at Qi Mo, knocking him flying and slamming him to the ground.

"You beast!" Feng Shu glared at him and cursed.

"Feng Shu!" Lin Qingyang's voice rang out at the same time.

Feng Shu froze. He looked up to find Lin Qingyang standing a short distance away, watching him coldly, and panic crossed his face.

"Master!" Feng Shu said nervously.

Lin Qingyang ignored him and went over to check on Qi Mo. Qi Mo kept his eyes lowered without looking at him and gave two light coughs.

"He was the one who-" Feng Shu began urgently, but the rest of his words caught in his throat when Lin Qingyang's gaze swept toward him.

Lin Qingyang helped Qi Mo up, then turned to Feng Yi. "You tell me!"

Singled out, Feng Yi grew flustered. He glanced at Feng Shu, then back at Lin Qingyang before saying quietly, "Senior Brother just told him not to pester you!"

"Was that all?" Lin Qingyang asked.

Beside him, Qi Mo suddenly spoke. "He said a beast like me wasn't worthy of cooking for you." Lin Qingyang frowned at that.

"He even dared to poison the Sect Leader! What if he tampers with the food?" Feng Shu argued.

Lin Qingyang looked at Feng Shu and said calmly, "The case involving the Sect Leader has yet to be settled, and I was the one who asked him to cook."

Feng Shu paused before saying, "But he bit you before!"

"That was a misunderstanding, and it has nothing to do with what happened today," Lin Qingyang said.

"Why do you always take his side?" Feng Shu demanded resentfully. Beside him, Feng Yi watched him with some nervousness.

"I'm merely stating the facts. How is that taking sides?" Lin Qingyang said.

"But you were never like this before!" Feng Shu cried. Lin Qingyang's unusual behavior lately had finally become a little too much for him to bear.

Lin Qingyang continued to regard him calmly. "What I was like before has nothing to do with today either! Feng Shu, I taught you cultivation, not how to bully the weak!"

Lin Qingyang's rebuke stunned Feng Shu, who hurriedly protested, "He's just a demon slave!"

"No matter who he is, that is no excuse for you to use your strength to bully the weak!" Lin Qingyang's voice rose as well. He stared at Feng Shu, his tone calm but stern. "And as far as I'm concerned, there's no difference between humans and demons!"

Qi Mo froze for a moment and raised his eyes to Lin Qingyang. Feng Shu and Feng Yi both stared at him in bewilderment. Demon slaves were merely lowly beasts. How could they be the same as humans?

"I don't like forcing anyone. If you cannot accept my rules, you are free to become someone else's disciples. I won't object," Lin Qingyang said.

Panic crossed Feng Shu's face. He immediately dropped to his knees with a thud and hastily said, "I would never wish to do that!"

Seeing this, Feng Yi knelt as well, although he had no idea what was going on.

Lin Qingyang looked at the two of them and said coldly, "In that case, go back and write a thousand-word self-reflection each. Explain exactly what you did wrong!"

Feng Shu and Feng Yi looked shocked once again. What Immortal Sect punished its disciples by making them write self-reflections?

"Do I have to write one too?" Feng Yi asked timidly.

"Any objections?" Lin Qingyang raised an eyebrow at him. Feng Shu dared not say anything more. He quickly answered yes, rose, and pulled Feng Yi away.

Still feeling wronged, Feng Yi said, "But I didn't hit him just now..." Before he could finish, Feng Shu covered his mouth and dragged him away, terrified that Lin Qingyang might get angry and actually expel them both.

Watching them leave, Lin Qingyang could not help grumbling inwardly. You two little menaces. He's the big bad villain, and you're a pair of cannon fodder. Why insist on crossing him?

A hint of pleasure entered Qi Mo's eyes as he watched the two flee. But when he turned and saw Lin Qingyang looking at him with a raised eyebrow, he immediately lowered his eyes, covered his chest, and coughed lightly again.

"Still pretending? Feng Shu barely hit you!" Lin Qingyang said irritably.

Qi Mo lowered his hand in embarrassment.

Lin Qingyang stepped forward and studied him. "With ears that sharp, you knew I was coming, didn't you? Who knew you were such a schemer!"

Qi Mo blinked guiltily and said nothing.

Lin Qingyang turned and went straight into the kitchen. Qi Mo peered after him, then followed him inside.

The fish was still simmering in the pan, and the spilled spices lay scattered across the floor. Qi Mo crouched down to clean them up.

"Where did the fish come from?" Lin Qingyang asked.

Qi Mo's hands paused. "I caught them in the water."

"Obviously. It's not as if you dug them out of the ground! I'm asking where you caught them!" Lin Qingyang said irritably.

"In the pond at Golden Spirit Court," Qi Mo said in a muffled voice, then quickly added, "You were the one who said you wanted fish."

"I didn't tell you to steal them. It's not as though the river on the Back Mountain has no fish," Lin Qingyang said, at a loss for words.

"But you ate the Spirit Bird yesterday too," Qi Mo said, sounding somewhat unconvinced.

"We found that one yesterday. At most, that counts as unjust enrichment. How is that the same as theft?" Lin Qingyang said helplessly.

Naturally, Qi Mo did not understand any of this, but he could tell Lin Qingyang was unhappy. In silence, he put the things he had gathered back on the stove, then turned and left without a word.

Lin Qingyang watched him with a frown. Does this Little Wolf Cub really have such a temper? A few words and he runs off? But before long, Qi Mo returned, carrying a rather thick stick and looking at him expressionlessly.

Lin Qingyang instinctively stepped back, then remembered he could beat him in a fight and immediately said in annoyance, "What? You want to fight just because I told you off?"

Without a word, Qi Mo held the stick horizontally and offered it to him. "Go ahead. Hit me," he said stiffly.

Lin Qingyang froze, then looked at him with a complicated expression. "When did I say I was going to hit you?" he asked helplessly.

Qi Mo raised his eyes to him in confusion.

Seeing him like this, Lin Qingyang could not bear to scold him further. He did not understand human rules, and he had taken the risk of catching fish for him. At that thought, his heart softened again. "Forget it. I wasn't clear enough this time either. Don't do this again. Stealing is wrong, and if someone catches you, you'll be in serious trouble."

Qi Mo nodded, stole a glance at Lin Qingyang, then looked at the fish in the pan. "Are you still going to eat the fish?" he asked quietly.

"Now that it's cooked, we can't waste it," Lin Qingyang said. After all, Jin Buhuan had swindled him out of eight hundred Spirit Stones, so eating a couple of his fish was only reasonable. "Bring it to my room when it's ready." With that, he gave Qi Mo another haughty look, then turned and left the kitchen.

Qi Mo looked at the stick in his hand, snapped it in two, and tossed it into the stove to burn as firewood. Watching the dancing flames, he could not help the corners of his mouth curling upward.