Chapter 6: Chenxiao Sect (Part 2)

Guo Shier felt a bitter smile inside. He knew he had no choice but to agree. Fortunately, he had no objections—learning skills from a master was a good thing for him. He said, “Master, um, you’re my second master.” He bowed respectfully to Kumu.
A faint smile appeared on Kumu’s face, as expressionless as iron. He didn’t care about Guo Shier’s words; as long as the boy acknowledged him as his master, everything would be fine. He nodded and said, “Good. We need to fly over there. Don’t move…”
He lifted the two of them off the platform and flew swiftly forward.
A moment later, Kumu landed them on the halfway up a mountain peak, where there was a small cluster of buildings. He said, “This is where the sect registers its disciples and where they receive missions. Let’s go in.”
Two inner sect disciples stood at the entrance. Seeing Kumu bring people in, they quickly bowed and said, “Greetings, Uncle Master.”
Kumu replied indifferently, “Who’s on duty today?”
One of the disciples said, “It’s Uncle Master Yanling. I’ll go inform him.”
Kumu said, “No need!” and led Guo Shier and Yingmo straight in.
The two disciples glanced at Guo Shier in confusion, clearly curious about this child dressed like a wildling and wondering why their uncle master had brought him here. One of them suddenly changed expression and whispered, “Oh no! This is trouble.”
Yanling was a middle-aged man wearing a silver-white robe covered in wine stains. He was lying half on the ground in a disheveled state, holding a large green gourd, drinking from it from time to time with his eyes closed, the scent of wine spreading everywhere. When Kumu entered, he couldn’t help but frown.
“Yanling!”
Yanling waved his hand and said drunkenly, “It’s fine… Don’t disturb me while I drink… Uh! Uh! Ah, so good…”
“Idiot!”
Kumu snapped his hand, delivering a virtual slap. The green gourd burst with a “pop,” spilling wine everywhere. Yanling jumped up abruptly and cursed, “Damn it… Who’s that… My wine…” When he opened his eyes and saw it was Kumu, he was stunned. He never expected his uncle master to come here; this place was usually the most quiet, while the mission hall next door was bustling.
“Hehe, it’s Uncle Master Kumu. Hehe, hehehe… Uh! This… is a disciple… Hehe, the disciple wasn’t careful… Hehe, cough cough…” He was at a loss, having cursed the most formidable person in the Chenxiao Sect.

Kumu sneered and said, “You’re on duty, not in a tavern! If you don’t want to do it, go back!”
Yan Ling was at a loss for words, cursing inwardly the two inner sect disciples guarding the entrance for not notifying him, causing him to suffer a great loss. He had no idea that since Kumu had forbidden them from reporting, those two disciples wouldn’t dare come in to inform him.
“Yes, yes… Uncle, it’s all the disciple’s fault. Hehe, I’ll definitely change, I promise… By the way, Uncle, why did you come here? Is there anything you need me to do?”
Kumu didn’t intend to pursue the matter further. He said, “Handle the procedures for me—take in a direct disciple, and also register one as an inner sect disciple.”
Yan Ling was shocked and asked in surprise, “Uncle, are you taking in a disciple?”
Kumu replied irritably, “What? Can’t I take in disciples?”
Yan Ling quickly said, “No, that’s not it. I just… hehe, congratulations, Uncle! Congratulations, and also to the junior disciple!” Although he had drunk too much, he was still sober enough to realize he had said the wrong thing and quickly changed his tone to offer congratulations, so as not to anger Kumu.
Kumu was known in the Chenxiao Sect for being picky and difficult, and to this day he remained alone. During a large-scale recruitment event, the sect had allowed him to choose disciples first, but after walking around, he simply said, “They’re all useless!” and left, infuriating all the high-ranking members to the point of vomiting blood.
It was unexpected that he would voluntarily take in a direct disciple—this was a major event. Kumu’s strength ranked among the top three in the Chenxiao Sect; even some of the sect’s ancient masters were not as strong as him, and he enjoyed extremely high prestige within the sect.
Yan Ling began to fill out the registration form. This was a necessary procedure involving the sect’s benefits, rights, and obligations. Direct disciples held a special status in the sect, higher than that of inner sect disciples. They hardly had to take on sect tasks and could hold some leisurely yet important positions. Yan Ling was a direct disciple.
“Uncle, if you take in a disciple, you must report it to the sect master and the elders, hehe.”
The procedure was simple—mainly asking for name and age, then leaving a physical token of one’s presence.
Yan Ling said, “Here, junior disciple. This is your identity token. Hang it around your waist and take good care of it. If it’s lost, you must replace it.” It was a small token, a light purple-red color, and looked like a beautiful trinket when hung on a belt.
Next, he made a token for Ying Mo as an inner sect disciple, specifying that he served Kumu. This was just under Kumu’s name; in reality, Ying Mo still followed Guo Shier.

Yan Ling said, “Someone will be here soon to take your measurements and bring you various items. You just need to sign for them when they arrive.”
Ku Mu asked, “Is it ready?”
Yan Ling was sweating profusely and said, “It’s almost ready, almost ready…” He gave some more instructions. He had to make sure everything was clear; if Guo Shier encountered anything unclear later and Ku Mu took it out on him, that would be troublesome.
After explaining everything, Yan Ling said, “Uncle, it’s done.”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Thank you, senior brother.”
Yan Ling felt flattered and kept saying, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing… Hehe, from now on we’re brothers. Let’s get closer, hehe.”
Ku Mu said indifferently, “Let’s go.”
After the three of them left, Yan Ling shouted, “You two little bastards, come in! Damn it… Are you itching for trouble? Daring to mess with me? Get in here! Damn it… You didn’t even tell Uncle when he arrived. Do you really want to see me get humiliated? Huh?”
The two inner court disciples rushed in scrambling. One of them had a sad face and said, “Uncle, it was Granduncle who stopped us from reporting. It’s not our fault…”
Yan Ling kicked him and cursed, “Can’t you speak louder so I can prepare too?”
The two disciples looked distressed and said, “Uncle, we’re sorry! It’s all our fault. Please be lenient and spare us.”
Yan Ling glanced at the broken green gourd and said, “Alright, do you prefer to take hits or face punishment?”
One disciple said nervously, “What if we choose to take hits… or face punishment? Let us… have a choice…”
“If you choose to take hits, I’ll beat you up. If you choose punishment, buy me two gourds of wine!”
The two inner court disciples immediately said, “Punishment! We choose punishment!” Of course they would choose punishment—taking hits would cost them half their lives. Buying two gourds of wine wasn’t too much of a expense.
Yan Ling smirked and said, “Good. My wine is Bi Guo wine.”
The two disciples’ faces turned pale. Bi Guo wine wasn’t cheap—it was one of the best wines in the Chenxiao Sect. But they didn’t dare refuse and could only agree with grim expressions.
…
Ku Mu took Guo Shier back to his residence. It was a small manor nestled against a mountain, which was his private property. There were few people in his manor, mostly ordinary folks. He lived alone, with no wife, children, or disciples. This small manor was his home.
Although the manor was small, it had quite a few houses—about a hundred in total—far less than Luo Jie’s large manor.

Kumu briefly introduced the people in the small manor: a butler, two cooks, two old gardeners, four servants, and nine ordinary people who managed the estate. It was clear that Kumu didn’t ask much about anything; the manor appeared dilapidated, with many houses in such poor condition that they were uninhabitable.

Kumu said, “Lao Yu, find some clean houses for the twelve to stay in.”

Lao Yu was Kumu’s butler, an ordinary man in his fifties with a steady demeanor. His name was Yu Jie, and he had been in charge of managing everything at the manor since his thirties, working extremely hard. Since Kumu was a hands-off owner who would only toss him some money when he remembered and ignore him otherwise, it was no easy task for him to keep the household running.

Yu Jie replied, “Yes, my lord.” A smile appeared on his face—finally, there was a young master. He said, “I’ll go prepare it right away, but… my lord…”

Kumu frowned and asked, “What is it? Speak up… Why are you hesitating?”

Yu Jie said, “We’re out of food at home. There’s only a little meat left…”

Kumu said, “If not, go buy some.”

Yu Jie smiled bitterly. “My lord, we have no money left…”

Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. He said, “Master, go rest. Leave this to me.”

Kumu looked embarrassed. He had never thought of these things before. He said, “Alright. From now on, Shier will be in charge of everything at home. Everyone, follow his orders.” Then he went into his room.

Yu Jie was stunned. To let a half-grown child manage the household—this master was really irresponsible.

Guo Shier took out a pouch of talismans and said, “Uncle Yu, call the others over.” Yu Jie was shocked. “Don’t call me uncle. Just call me Lao Yu or butler.”

Guo Shier laughed. “It doesn’t matter at home. Uncle Yu, call them over.”

Yu Jie gathered everyone in the manor. Guo Shier couldn’t help but smile bitterly—old people old, young people young. He took out a dozen bags of flour and plenty of meat, saying, “Take these and prepare dinner. These are the supplies I brought.”

Yu Jie was overjoyed. He was on the verge of poverty. He said, “Great, great! Thank you, young master.”

Everyone gathered in the courtyard. Guo Shier asked, “What do the talisman coins here look like?” He inwardly sighed: Would he have to support another family on his own?

Yu Jie smiled bitterly. “We’re out of talisman coins.”

Ying Mo shook his head. This Kumu really didn’t know how to manage a household, ending up in such a miserable situation.

Guo Shier sighed and said, “Alright, let’s do it this way for now. I’ll figure something out later.”
Yu Jie told everyone to carry away the grain and fresh meat, then whispered, “If the master doesn’t come back soon, we’ll go hungry.”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “Uncle Yu, don’t worry. I’ll take care of it from now on.”
Just then, there was a loud banging at the courtyard gate, and someone outside shouted, “Hey! Open the door!”