It's not easy being a Master

66

When Shen Zhixian woke up, it was already bright.

The sun was scattered through the leaves, the lights shattering over his body. Shen Zhixian opened his eyes lazily and found that he was lying on the warm jade bed. There was no moon or flower in front of him, let alone the person who’d embrace him last night.

He laid still for a while, until a ray of sunlight fell into his eyes. He blinked uncomfortably and gathered his thoughts.

...Where did that person go?

Shen Zhixian turned and sat up. The peach tree Xiao Caoya had spawned was gone. He didn’t know if he was imagining it, but he could still smell a faint scent of peach.

“A’jin?” he called. He got off the bed and, not caring about his messy clothes, hurriedly pushed open the door into the house. He searched around, backed out, and looked around outside.

However, there was only a breeze on the edge of the cliff, and no one responded.

Shen Zhixian's footsteps gradually slowed down. He leaned on a tree and looked at the coldness in front of him. He suddenly laughed and shook his head with a sigh.

It turned out...to be a fantastical dream?

So that kiss that felt so real and so warm was but a fantasy in his dream?

There was no trace of Yan Jin anywhere here.

Shen Zhixian rubbed his eyebrows, cleared his mind, and used the sect’s communication method to call the junior disciple that he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Ming Yi’s morning class had just ended. He went back to his room for a meal and was preparing to practice his swordplay when he received a message. He choked, froze for a long time, and suddenly jumped up, causing his head to slam into his bed frame. He shouted in pain, startling the disciple next to him.

“Senior Brother Ming Yi? What’s going on?”

Ming Yi rubbed his head and scrambled to fix his crooked hairband. Then, he hurriedly opened the door and rushed out. “Elder Shen’s seclusion is over.”

Just like that, he was gone.

The disciple stared at the still-moving door with a stunned expression. After a short while, he responded. “Elder Shen’s out from his seclusion?!” Not even bothering to grab his sword, he ran out in a hurry.

When Ming Yi hurriedly reached the peak, Shen Zhixian had just finished smoothing down the folds of his robe. Unable to hide the joy on his face, Ming Yi respectfully saluted.

Shen Zhixian inclined his head, signaled that he need not be polite, and asked a few questions about the situation in the sect.

Ming Yi deliberately spoke the truth about the situation regarding Song Ming and Yan Jin. “Since you’ve gone into closed door seclusion, Senior Brother Yan went out to travel and hadn’t returned yet. Earlier, there were some bad rumors outside, saying Senior Brother Yan...has hurt many people, causing several small sects to come several times to make trouble.”

When the rumors had just started, Ming Yi was stunned. He didn’t believe that Senior Brother Yan would do such things. But the opponents were very fierce and even pulled out an illusion stone. All the evidence pointed steadily to Yan Jin, making it difficult to refute.

“Sect Leader Song visited Fifth Peak several times, but since you haven’t come out yet…”

Since Yan Jin had caused such a big problem and Shen Zhixian, who was his master, was in seclusion, Song Ming had no choice but to issue a warrant for Yan Jin’s quick return. At the same time, he also had to sooth the other sect’s anger, convince them to wait patiently, and promised to gather facts and give everyone an explanation.