What About You?

6: breakfast

"Good morning," Wei Kuo yawned as he made his way inside the family dining area. The sect leader was there, who smiled at him, as well as his wife, who tutted.

"Good morning Wei Kuo, did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, it's actually kind of scary how well I slept," He chuckled as he plopped down next to Madame Yu, who looked surprised that he had the guts to do so. "How about you both?"

"I slept well, thank you for asking," Jiang Fengmian hummed.

"I slept as well as I could with two new brats under my roof," The Zi Zhizhu replied, causing her husband's eyes to narrow.

"Makes sense," The boy leaned back. "I mean, I did beat you so you had plenty to think and worry about. What if I got cocky and decided I wanted to steal from you cause I knew I could get away with it?"

"Then I suppose I should make sure you don't get too full of yourself," She smiled darkly as Zidian sparked to life. Wei Kuo just grinned at her cheekily, as if daring her to try and hit her.

"Good morning," A new voice called, causing their eyes to fall on the new arrival. It was a boy, definitely younger than Wei Kuo, and maybe close to the same age as Wei Ying. With that thought came the realization that Wei Kuo had no idea where he brother was, and since it was unfamiliar territory, Wei Ying wouldn't know where he was either.

"Hey, where's my brother?" He suddenly stood up, his gaze directed at the Jiang clan leader.

"He should be in his room, which was next to yours," The man replied before nodding to the boy that had just arrived. "Good morning A'Cheng."

"Then I'll be off," He said, jogging out the door with the new arrival watching after him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Father, mother, who was that?" He asked them as he came to sit with them.

"Your father's new charity case."

"My lady--"

"And a new friend for you," Madame Yu sighed, which brought a pleasantly surprised look to her husband's face. "So try to get along, alright?"

"Yes!" Her son nodded with an excited smile. However, that smile faded when the two newcomers returned, and the younger of the two was greeted warmly by his father. It made the young Jiang heir jealous, but then the one he had seen earlier sat down next to him.

"Hi, I'm Wei Zexian," He nodded to the boy with a smile. "Courtesy name Kuo. What's your name?"

"Jiang Cheng," He responded, nodding back to him.

"It's nice to meet you, Jiang Cheng," Wei Kuo hummed. "Please take care of my brother for me when I'm not here, will you?"

"Why would I need to do that?" He scoffed, making the older boy chuckle.

"He's had some pretty hard times lately," Wei Kuo sighed heavily, being a total fake, but only the adults could tell. Madame Yu rolled her eyes. "But I thought someone strong like you could help support him, but I guess that was asking too much..."

"W-well," Jiang Cheng seemed to be more open to the idea since he had been praised, which was exactly the older boy's plan as he surpressed his smirk. "I guess I could help out sometimes. What's your brother's name?"

"Why don't you go ask him yourself?" Wei Kuo questioned, smiling as he gestured him over to where Jiang Fengmian and Wei Ying were sitting. Thus, Madame Yu and Wei Kuo were left on one side of the room while the younger boys and the Jiang sect leader occupied the other. Soon, a young girl also joined them, sitting on the other side of Wei Kuo with a smile.

She introduced herself as Jiang Yanli, and immediately Wei Kuo felt like crying. She looked even prettier in real life, and yet the destiny awaiting her was pretty tragic...

Well, he supposed he'd just have to make it so such a fate doesn't occur.

"You're quite the charmer, Wei Kuo," She murmured as the servants brought in their breakfast and set it in front of them.

"One of my many talents," He winked at her as he corrected his sitting position into something more proper to eat with. "Thank you for the food."

During the rest of breakfast, it was mostly silent between the older participants while Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng seemed to have gotten on well, considering how lively and chatty they were being. Wei Kuo smiled as he watched them, they're adorable.

"Wei Kuo," Jiang Fengmian suddenly spoke up, gaining said person's attention. "I would like to begin your training today as well as your brother's. What do you think?"

"Sure," He nodded in agreement. "Wei Ying already has his core, so it should be pretty easy to integrate him into training. As for me, uh, I have no idea where I am in terms of level so it'll be up to you," He explained honestly, causing the Zi Zhizhu to scoff.

"You don't even know where you stand? How ludicrous," She narrowed her eyes at him.

"My lady," the clan leader murmured, trying to get her to settle down and not cause any more strife. "Wei Kuo," He directed his attention to the boy, whose eyebrows perked upwards. "For now, I'd like to start you and Wei Ying at the same level, just so you can be together and get a feel for your new environment. Does that sound alright?"

"Yes, I can work with that," He confirmed. So with the matter settled, breakfast ended and training began. Of course, it started off on the wrong foot as soon as a dog showed up.

"aH! Stay away! Don't bite me!" Wei Ying scrambled away from the furry animal as it barked.

"You're pathetic," Jiang Cheng folded his arms across his chest with contempt. "Are they that scary? Jasmine, Princess and Lovely are good dogs, they won't bite you."

"But I will!" Wei Kuo swooped in, causing the two to shriek and run away while laughing, completely forgetting about the previous issue of dogs as Jiang Fengmian quietly herded the dogs out of sight.

Of course, right before the older boy could catch either of his shidis (younger cultivators), Madame Yu came out of nowhere and got onto him about slacking in his training, and somehow, it ended up with her chasing Wei Kuo around the training round with Zidian as he laughed and dodged.

And thus began the tradition of the Zidian Chases.