[天命为凰]

Untitled Part 9

009 - Don't bother me

The man lowered his head, turned back towards the wood, and began to cut it again with a kacha, kacha.

He wasn't the least bit concerned about leaving Lu Mingshu to deal with her luggage.

As she watched the steward lead Hui Niang and Ah Sheng further and further away, the only choice she had was to take the initiative to speak, "...Master?"

The man stood up when he heard her, then squinted his eyes to observe the thickness of the wood he'd cut, which had been cut into long strips. "My name is Liu Jizhen. I'm a fifteenth-generation disciple of the Nine Jade Palace, and am currently the Courtyard Leader of the Heavenly Ascension Pavilion. Since you've been placed under my name, you should be a sixteenth-generation disciple. I don't care what you do in the future, just don't bother me."

Lu Mingshu was stunned. Her grandfather had once told her that, to a martial practitioner, having a master for a day was akin to finding a father for a lifetime. Paying respects to a master held the same amount of honor as having a father, while a master and disciple relationship could be said to be even more important than the relationship between a father and his son. Before they'd come, Hui Niang had told her that once she had a Master, it would mean that she'd gained an honourable elder. However what sort of elder would say 'don't bother me' to their junior? In fact, this sort of master seemed to differ greatly from her imagination...

"Master, where do I live?" She timidly asked.

Liu Jizhen placed a piece of wood down in front of him, then swapped his saw for a plane*.

(E/N: A device for carving wood.)

"Since I oversee the Heavenly Ascension Pavilion, you'll naturally live with me at the Heavenly Ascension Pavilion."

Lu Mingshu glanced left and right, but only saw two crooked huts. "This...is this the Heavenly Ascension Pavilion?"

Liu Jizhen immediately stopped what he was doing and squinted at her. "Didn't you say that you were literate?"

Lu Mingshu quickly grew flustered beneath his glare, and hurriedly turned around, only to find three words engraved atop the cave behind her. She recognized the first word as 'Heavenly', while the latter two words appeared to be 'Ascension' and 'Pavilion'.

So, this cave is the 'Heavenly Ascension Pavilion'?

"There'll be a row of stone houses to your left when you enter. The first house is mine, so you can pick from the rest." After he said this, Liu Jizhen returned to his previous state of ignorance, and lowered his head as he began to shave the wood.

Lu Mingshu's only choice was to pick up her luggage and slowly walk into the cave.

With how wide and broad the cave appeared on the outside, it naturally wasn't small on the inside.

Even though it was completely dark deeper in, heavenly rays of sunlight lit up the cave's entrance. A slight chill permeated her bones like threads of silk as she entered, however she was too scared to take another look towards the deeper part of the cave. She quickly turned around and found the row of stone houses Liu Jizhen had mentioned.

The row of stone houses was situated near the left wall of the cave. Old, plain, cotton clothing hung from the first house's door, while the second house was empty and full of dust.

Lu Mingshu dragged her luggage into the second house.

The stone house was spacious, and it was fully furnished even though it shouldn't have been; it had a table, an accompanying set of chairs, a bed, and a cabinet.