33 Dirt, Bed, or Me?

Xu Jiyu rushes towards the bushes, yelling, "Fang Lei!"

Fang Lei and the crow freezes on the spot.

He is currently sitting cross-legged on the ground, covered in scratches and crow feathers. Meanwhile, the crow stops mid-peck, still perched on the crown of Fang Lei's head.

Xu Jiyu: "....."

Fang Lei: "....."

The crow: "....."

Before the crow could open its beak to caw, Xu Jiyu marches right over to two and chastises it with a point of a finger, "Don't you dare!!"

The crow, sensing as if its life might be in danger although it is immortal, closes its beak obediently, acting extremely docile towards Xu Jiyu.

Fang Lei notices this and makes a grumpy face. What's with the discrimination, ah?! Why did it listen to Xu Jiyu, but not him?! This is clearly blatant favoritism!

Fang Lei harrumphs and says, "Oh, so you listen to him but not me? Then go make yourself at home on his head, then! Get off of mine!"

But in fact, the crow doesn't move. Instead, it nestles itself even more comfortably on top of the poor youth's head, giving a low caw.

Xu Jiyu chuckles, amused at the scene before him. Seems like this crow was really something else besides annoying, ah. Could it be a spirit beast of some sort? It appears to be able to understand their language and words, so it must be some kind of intelligent being. And it always has the right timing, always knowing when to caw in the distance at the right moment… if that isn't strange enough, then what is?

Fang Lei lets out a sigh of resignation. No matter what he does, the crow just won't leave him alone. So he can only begrudgingly stand up, wiping the dirt and grime off of himself with an annoyed expression as he does so.

When he makes himself appear decent enough to have a proper conversation, Fang Lei finally turns his attention towards Xu Jiyu. "What is it? Did he agree to the deal?"

Xu Jiyu nods his head. "En, he actually agreed to it." He then lowers his voices, looking around, "But, ah, he told me to tell you that he has 'allowed' you to enter the premises, whatever that means. I think he knows you're a spirit!"

Fang Lei's face pales upon hearing the last sentence. "You, you think he knows? He even invited me in?!"

Xu Jiyu nods, "He told me to tell you that you're welcome in… if he knows you're a spirit, then he must've severed the spiritual array? Or he must have made it so that only you specifically could enter somehow? I'm not really sure, he's the Sect Leader, after all… they're really scary and powerful."

"...I really wonder if he means it, though?" Fang Lei murmurs, still trying to recover from his previous shock. "What if he didn't do anything to the spiritual array, and instead is trying to exorcise me? The moment I walk inside, I'm doomed…!!"

Xu Jiyu shakes his head and reaches his hand over to pat Fang Lei's back. "Don't worry, I'm sure he doesn't mean any harm. He may be a bit strange, but he's a good man. At least, that's what my intuition is telling me."

Although Fang Lei doesn't particularly like humans, he indulges himself with Xu Jiyu's comforting pat. It's not like he can't spend the night camping outside, but it would be much more preferable to sleep with a roof over his head, on a soft bed.

So, really, does he trust Xu Jiyu?

No, not really.

But does he want to sleep in the dirt, or in a bed?

...Anyone in their right mind would choose the latter!

"I'll… I'll go." He finally answers after making up his mind. He easily shrugs Xu Jiyu's hand off of his back, and straightens up. "I'll go inside, but if I get exorcised and disappear, tell Wen Po that he's an annoying old man, and I hope to see him in the spirit realm one day."

Xu Jiyu raises an eyebrow at his contradicting words, but he doesn't comment on it. By now, he's already realized what kind of personality Fang Lei has, so there's no need to bother to correct his companion. One day, Fang Lei will be more honest with himself, that's what Xu Jiyu firmly believes.

With a knowing smile upon his lips, Xu Jiyu says, "En, I'll make sure to let him know how much you lo—I mean, think he's annoying."

Fang Lei sends a deathly glare over at Xu Jiyu for his intentional slip-up, but huffs and quickly glances away. "Alright, fine, let's get going."

The crow on top of the youth's head caws in agreement.

"Okay," Xu Jiyu answers, and the pair of youths walk towards the Yun Sect once more.

---

When Fang Lei passes through the entrance with much reluctance, as well as coaxing from Xu Jiyu, he realizes he really hasn't been exorcised!

"So, that Sect Leader knows that I'm a…" Fang Lei mumbles underneath his breath, before he glances up to see a very angry-looking Wen Po.

"Elder brother Wen Po," Xu Jiyu greets, giving a nod of acknowledgment.

"Mmm." Wen Po nods back, showing that he had heard, but his eyes are trained on Fang Lei.

It is common courtesy to greet people, but Fang Lei has never once properly greeted Wen Po before, so he doesn't. Instead, he sighs and says, "There you are, old ma—I mean, Wen Po. I see you've managed to keep your end of the contract, so I'll keep mine—"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Wen Po interjects icily, not one for small talk at the moment.

Confused, Fang Lei tilts his head to the side. "What?"

"Why didn't you tell me," Wen Po repeats, expression seemingly calm, "that you were going to travel with Xu Jiyu to find Qin Jin's spiritual artifact sword?"

"Ah, that?" Fang Lei waves a nonchalant hand in the air. "I didn't think it was that important, so—"

At this point, Wen Po had already walked over to Fang Lei and easily captures his wrist with his hand. He tugs the shorter male closer to him, violet hues gleaming dangerously. "You realize how dangerous that is? No matter how powerful you are, do you really think you can protect yourself and Xu Jiyu? What if something happens to you?"

Fang Lei realizes that he's messed up somehow and had angered Wen Po. He tries to tug his hand back, but when comparing their build and strength…

It's obvious that Wen Po has much more body strength, so he's unable to remove himself from Wen Po's grasp.

Exasperated, Fang Lei tries to pacify the taller male: "Listen, Wen Po, you don't have to worry about me, because I can handle myself. As for Xu Jiyu, I'll manage somehow."

But Wen Po doesn't bother hearing any of it. Instead, he pulls Fang Lei towards the guest bedroom, "Let's go, we have a lot to discuss."

"Wait, wait, wait!! Stop, we can talk here!" As he's being tugged along, unable to break free, he looks back over his shoulder to see Xu Jiyu smiling at him.

"No." Wen Po replies, and continues towards his destination.

'Help me, you idiot!!' Fang Lei mouths, but Xu Jiyu only shakes his head and winks, giving him a thumbs up sign.

'Good luck!' Xu Jiyu mouths back, leaving Fang Lei completely baffled.

Good luck with what, ah?!

Good luck your mother!

Clearly nothing good is going to come from this, ahhhh!!!!

With this, even the crow finally flies over to Xu Jiyu and plops onto the youth's head.

...Why did even the crow abandon him in his time of need?!

This. Is. Blasphemy!!!