Important Discoveries

Qi Juan looked up at Juan Lu Li, smiling warily. Before he could open his mouth to respond, Jian Lu Li had already begun talking again:

"What, did you believe I'd let you off easy, just because you have to watch over him? Do you really think you guys can stay here and do nothing all day?" she asked amusedly, while pointing a slim finger at Ling Mingyu.

Her long, sharp fingernails were of the same eyecatching red as her full lips. Thin bracelets adorned with vermillion gemstones hung from her slender wrists, swinging to and fro as she folded her arms across her chest.

Qi Juan pressed his lips into a thin line. Alas, only having to accompany someone to play around on sect grounds was just too good of a task to be true.

"No master." he said dryly.

Jian Lu Li seemed very satisfied with his answer. She continued excitedly:

"Hehe, that's my boy! I knew you wouldn't be content with a simple job like that! So I asked Rong Zemin, that old geezer, to select an assignment that would be appropriate for you and his disciple to work together on! He advised me you guys should go pick some medicinal herbs at the foot of the mountain..."

Qi Juan and Ling Mingyu exhaled in relief.

"... and I generously informed him that it was a bullshit task that even a mortal could do, so I told him no! Why do all the guys from Lian Zi Jin Peak have to be so boring? All those fumes coming out of their cauldrons must have messed with their heads! Haaah, it's a shame. But anyway, there is one assignment that has caught my attention recently, and it is truly interesting."

The woman paused, obviously to create a dramatic effect, and Ling Mingyu had to resist rolling his eyes. Qi Juan on the other hand, had just calmed down, thinking that he would be let off easy by picking herbs. Hearing the rest of his master's sentence, he became nervous once more, the wary smile on his face morphing into a frown. She was toying with his emotions on purpose and enjoyed it!

'Don't think that I do not realized this, master!' he shouted inside his mind angrily. Well, it had always been that way. Jian Lu Li was truly a bully!

The woman sitting on the wide stone platform snickered. Judging by the look on her disciple's face, she could easily deduce what was going on in his head. Oh, how she loved teasing him! And it was completely one sided, too! Her plump lips stretched into a wide grin. For a few seconds, Jian Lu Li was lost in her own little world, much to the dismay of the disciples in front of her.

Mingyu's legs were starting to hurt. 'I know you are having fun, but you have a chair! We have been standing in place for at least ten minutes, waiting for you to get here, ah!'

Then, finally remembering the reason why she called the two young men in the first place, the elder's expression became stern instantly.

"Two weeks ago, the council of elders got a report from Jin Wu town. It is a small mortal settlement to the north. Apparently, some of its residents had disappeared overnight. The surrounding villages have also been impacted. There seems to be no obvious connection between the missing mortals, so it was hard for us to say what exactly is going on based on the reports... at the time, there were already over fifty people unaccounted for. We sent a team of three martial disciples to check out the situation. However, neither their masters nor their fellow martial brothers and sisters have heard from them since their arrival. Some fear for the worst. I want you two to find them and figure out what is going on around Jin Wu town. Do you think you can do this together?"

Qi Juan creased his forehead in contemplation. This task could indeed not be compared to something as trivial as picking herbs. He glanced at Ling Mingyu beside him. Could they handle an assignment like this together? Should he try to decline? He did not want to imagine the consequences of getting the young master of the Ling clan hurt.

Then again, knowing that some of his martial brothers or sisters had most likely fallen victim to this unknown danger, how could Qi Juan deny to accept this task? Truthfully, he was just as guilty of pestering the other disciples as his mischievous master was of annoying him. They were family and treated each other as such.

Mingyu was also lost in thought. He had been able to restore part of his new body's memories thanks to the help of Ling Bolin. They weren't all that dramatic or eye opening, but gave him a good insight into what the old Ling Mingyu's life in the sect was like. He recalled scenes of practicing swordplay, studying under his master Rong Zemin, memorizing alchemy and healing techniques, and, to his horror, mixing poisons for his blade and bullying weaker disciples. The old owner of the body had often gone to play around with his group of small followers. What the hell was with this cliche setting of being a narcissistic young master?! And now he had to take the blame!

Before, Mingyu had been wondering why it was so hard for the people around him to accept his help and goodwill these past two days. Without having his brother by his side, his charm would have long run out of energy. It was all thanks to the old Ling gongzi's black history! But of course, Ling Bolin had been delighted to be cared for by his brother. It became more and more evident just how skewed Bolin's view of him was. To him, Ling Mingyu was a little angel! The bro-con's belief had only strenghtened in the past few days.

Furthermore, he had made another great discovery. It was the reason for why he could easily master the seventh form of his breathing technique! The former Mingyu had indeed trained it obsessively. It was for one important reason: identifying poison by smell! Thanks to his practice, he could accurately tell apart toxins, even those that seemed tasteless or odorless on the surface. Based on this discovery, Mingyu made a conjecture that had yet to be proven. Maybe the reason the assassination attempt on Ling gongzi had failed was because of this heaven defying ability? According to his father, he had taken only a very small sip of the contaminated tea. It had contained an extremely rare and potent poison, one that even Rong Zemin had never seen. The memory itself, however, had yet to be recovered.

Mingyu's deliberations were interrupted by Qi Juan's firm and confident voice:

"Master, I will take on this assignment. I hope Ling gongzi doesn't mind accompanying me?"

He looked at Mingyu inquisitively. Mingyu felt his heart speed up at the sight of those amber eyes focusing on him. His hairs stood on end, but not because of fear. He could even feel his cheeks heating up slightly.

'What is this feeling?' he wondered as he looked at the other man. But now was no time to think about something like that! Mingyu took in a breath to steady himself and nodded.

"En."

Despite his mood, the young man's voice was calm. Having recieved a positive answer, Jian Lu Li clapped her hands together in delight.

"Excellent! It's decided then! You will set out tomorrow morning!"

With that, the meeting had concluded.