Demon for a Disciple

Chapter 004: Memories of My Dreams

In this world, the art of cultivation was taught as soon as a child entered school, being a part of the curriculum. In elementary school, children were taught how to meditate to gain spiritual power and strength and martial arts to keep discipline. 

Hence, most people achieved an at least basic level of cultivator abilities, known as the first level in the Nine Heavenly Stages; "Xingfa," or natural law. This is the lowest level and although you gain some spiritual power, one must still abide by the laws of man and earth, such as gravity and old age.

Having finished moving all her belongings back into the Xian family estate, Lingling sat at the head of the cherry-wood dining room table, aimlessly playing with a single branch of peach blossoms, which gave a minimalist decor as they stood in the middle of the table in a vase.

Zheng Yin was in the kitchen with Xiaohu, who was perched up upon the kitchen counter, orange striped tail swishing as he showed him how modern human appliances worked and could be turned on and heat controlled using only the lowest level of cultivation, rather than by gas or electricity. 

"And don't forget to make a salad!" Xiaohu pointed out with his paw, making Zheng Yin pause. 

"A saal • aad?" He repeated, stretching out the syllables. "What is a sal-ad?"

Xiaohu seemed to roll his green and blue eyes as he explained.

"A spirit animal, huh." Lingling thought aloud to no one in particular and she played with the peach blossoms and watched the two spirits instruct and cook dinner.

'If all spirits have names and classes I wonder what type Zheng Yin is.' She wondered to herself. Xiaohu hopped off the counter and pattered over to Lingling, pawing at her ankle which made her bend down and lift him up onto the table.

"If something the matter?" He mewed, his head tilting to the side.

Lingling shook her head. "Just thinking, that's all." She gave Xiaohu an evaluative look. "Xiaohu, how much do you know about other spirits?"

The cat lay down, curling his tail as he pondered a bit. "A fair amount." He surmised. "Is there something you wanted to know?"

"Would you know what sort of spirit Zheng Yin is exactly? All I know is that he died as a child."

Xiaohu's mix-matched eyes widened in surprise. "As a child?" He echoed, the surprise clear in his tone. "So he's a former-human?"

Xiaohu became quiet for a moment, thinking deeply. "I can't be certain unless he confirms it himself, but there's only one type that matches that description, though they're extremely rare." He gave a rub of his head.

"A yuān guǐ  would be my guess."

━━━━

"Master!~ Breakfast is ready!" Zheng Yin called happily, beaming with pleasure with how it had turned out. 

'All my practice paid off!' He thought to himself, nodding with approval at the laid out table, the background becoming pink and sparkly as he daydreamed about how impressed his master would be. 

"Ah. I'll be going out, actually." Xian Ling Ling spoke shortly coming down the stairs and walking by him, already dressed and holding her shoes in her hand.

The ghost-spirit visibly deflated in disappointment as his pink background became gloomy with dark lines. "Well, you should at least have something in the morning..." He tried to no avail as Ling Ling put on her shoes in the doorway.

"No need. I'll be back late." She addressed curtly, closing the door behind her.

Zheng Yin stood there, shoulders slumped at the absence of the cold, sharp-eyed girl as he wrapped his arms around his knees in his corner of woe to start growing mushrooms. Xiaohu watched the reed-clothed spirit from the couch from where he was spread out in the sunlight that streamed in through the window.

'I kinda feel sorry for the guy,' The cat-spirit shook his head at the miserable sight. 'And he practiced for so long too...'

Zheng Yin looked down at the floor, loose wisps of his hair falling over his golden eyes. "Master didn't eat anything before she left..." He muttered to himself. "She'll probably be hungry when she comes back... so I'll prepare lunch quickly!" He cheered instantly, his eyes burning with a new fervor as he flipped through a cookbook at lightning speed.

Xiaohu face-pawed at the sight. 'Never mind, I shouldn't feel sorry for idiots.'

━━━━

The small town where the Xian family lived wasn't really a full-fledged town although it seemed that way, since they were still technically a part of the larger metropolis Lingling was living in with her cousins. It was divided by a river and forest so it seemed as though it was separate.

The outer-edge suburban district had a public library which was located in the centre of the main square and was an proud building, though somewhat small compared to a larger inner city's library. It was quiet that day and a sharp dark-eyed girl sat in a corner flipping through a book on Chinese folklore and mythology.

Skimming over the alphabetically categorised book she found a few sections and chapters that interested her as she flipped through them, finally finding the page she was looking for specifically.

˂  Yuān guǐ [冤鬼]  ― are the spirits of persons who died wrongful deaths or in the rare occasion have died before their allotted or appointed time due to spiritual or heavenly influence. These spirits can neither rest in peace nor be reincarnated. Although they are not normally vengeful, they can bring about misfortune. ˃

'That's it?' Ling Ling frowned as she turned the page but couldn't find any more information on Yuān guǐ spirits.

Her dark eyes appeared sharper and colder than usual as she closed the book, only having two questions going through her mind as she stood up to return home.

Just who or what exactly was Zheng Yin? And why was he so instant on staying by her side and calling her 'Master'?

━━━━

Knocking smartly three times on the old manor's door, a salt and pepper haired man would quietly put the weekly mail in the mailbox before he usually walked away and someone would come and collect it.

Though he hadn't brought the mail over to the outback estate in nearly two years since the deaths of the previous owners, the post office had received a notice that the daughter had moved back in and mail would be received once more.

So there he was dropping the mail off and was about to be on his way when the door opened.

"Ah, hello there." The man smiled, pulling out a few envelopes from his bag. "Just brought the mail over." He tipped his hat. Looking up, however, he found no one at the door.

"Is no one home?" The middle-aged man rubbed the back of his neck.

Zheng Yin looked at the man and took the letter from him. "What is this?" He asked. Xiaohu, who had got up from his cat nap walked over and looked at what he was holding. "Oh, that's just the mail." He answered.

The poor mailman, however, only saw a letter hovering in midair and the letters were looked over by an unseen figure.

Looking back at the mailman, Zheng Yin gave a slight bow of gratitude. "I thank you for delivering my master's letters, then."

Screaming, the man ran off, yelling of "ghosts" and "help!"

The gold-eyed spirit blinked at the running figure. "Ah." He gave a little laugh of amusement as he closed the door and went back in. "I forgot, Master is the only human who can see me." 

Opening one of the larger sealed envelopes, Xiaohu yelped in surprise. "What are you doing? Only Lingling can open her own mail!"

"Why are you speaking so informally of the Master, hm?" Zheng Yin's aura became dark as he smiled tightly down at the cat. "You shall refer to her as Master as well." 

Though no threat was attached to the sentence, it was clear enough for the cat to laugh sheepishly and add, "...Mistress Lingling..."

Going back to the letter, the golden-eyed youth skimmed over the contents which seemed to be a notice from a school she was attending. "Butian High school..." He murmured. "Missing too many days of school?"