Another Life

Chapter 3

Mo Yuan's intention had been to let Yu Lin stay a short while out of respect to her father. He had decided long ago that Seventeen was going to be his last disciple and that he wasn't going to take on any more. But if the butterfly spirit wished to observe and stay at Kunlunxu for a while they he didn't mind. He figured after a while she would get bored - it really was no place for a young girl - and leave of her own accord.

Since Seventeen was the only other girl living at Kunlunxu, it only made sense that they stay together so she assigned Xuan Nu's old rooms.

The first morning after Yu Lin came he was surprised to see her come in to serve him breakfast. His second disciple Chang Shan, who was normally responsible for it, followed after her sheepishly explaining that she had been waiting outside his room in the morning and had followed him about, not giving up until he said she could do it. And she had been keeping it up for over three months now. Chang Shan didn't even bother competing with her any more.

He didn't mind it so much. Yu Lin was much more cheerful and chattier than his second disciple, although what she was saying he couldn't remember much of. She was small and slender with a delicate pretty face and often responded to her own questions so he didn't need to say much.

"Do you know much about butterfly spirits?" For example she was asking him now. "I don't suppose you do, mother says we're not very common. Although I'm only half butterfly, so I can't maintain my form for very long. Would you like to see it?"

Mo Yuan sipped his tea and looked up at her.

"Probably not, you don't have time for that, look at me with all my silly questions." She said. "I asked sister Bai yesterday where the medicine room was - I was thinking I could help make your medicine soup - and she just walked straight past me without even responding. She must think I'm such a nuisance."

He frowned. He had heard from the others that Seventeen had not been in a good mood recently. Come to think of it he hadn't seen her for a few days, not since that day last week when she'd come to ask him something and left again in a hurry. Thinking about it now, it was very odd. He had been sitting at his desk in his study trying to make a dent in the mountain of congratulatory letters awaiting response. They were from immortals unable to come visit him in person - of which he was very grateful. Yu Lin had been grinding the ink stone. She'd stopped and said, "Sister Bai!"

Mo Yuan had looked up eagerly and seen Seventeen standing in the doorway with a frown on her face. A bamboo book dangled the left hand at her side.

"Is there something you need Seventeen?"

"No- I was only- I forgot something." She'd turned away without another word and disappeared. He'd only thought she went to retrieve something and spent the morning in half-anticipation of her return. He was disappointed when she didn't. Afterwards he'd heard she'd had a fight with Sixteen over something trivial and now she had been absent for three days and he'd seen Sixteen walking around with a black face, muttering to himself about mad women and never getting married.

"Was Seventeen at the medicine room yesterday?" He asked Yu Lin now. "She's returned to Kunlunxu?"

Yu Lin's face took on a strange, furtive expression as though she'd said something she didn't mean to. "Uh, yes. I think so. Shifu, does sister Bai always come and go as she wants? Isn't that somewhat disrespectful?"

"Seventeen is very busy." He said absently. Much too busy, come to think of it. It had been too long since he'd seen her unadulterated smile, heard her clear, frank voice giving him an opinion he might not like but which she thought he needed to hear. Before he knew what he was doing he had gotten up from his chair.