Newly Appointed Head Disciple - 2

"...." Fu Yating stared at the smiling ghost for a few moments, contemplating. It wasn't like Yixiao to make fun of his hopeless situation. Maybe heaven's officers could mock him saying, "only the dead would want to study under you" but Zhou Yixiao was himself a ghost. He couldn't possibly mean it as an insult.

"Ah, I'm not making fun of you." Zhou Yixiao explained. "Think about it this way. How much do you immortals really know about ghosts? Except for exorcism, your department doesn't even communicate with ghosts before forcing them to the next life."

As if the room shifted air and Zhou Yixiao stopped smiling; his eyes holding a challenging glint. Fu Yating even felt somewhat disappointed, if after all, he would have to exorcise this charming ghost away.

Fu Yating replied coldly. "It has worked for centuries."

"My Prince, trust me about this one thing. If I had wished to cause immense trouble throughout mortal realm like any other resentful dead soul, your officers wouldn't stand a chance against me." Zhou Yixiao replied in an equally serious tone. "I couldn't win in a fight against all of you, but you have no method to completely get rid of me like you do for most ghosts. There is a reason to that."

Fu Yating thoughtfully looked at Zhou Yixiao. The ghost made it clear that he wouldn't answer any important questions until Fu Yating let him have his way.

He sighed for the last time this morning. "Then so be it. Let me ask his Highness for permission, and you can start under me."

Zhou Yixiao immediately jumped up gleefully and started chatting endlessly. Fu Yating looked at his new disciple with hesitance. His biggest fear had been, to watch the disciple's future demise and become too afraid to guide them. But Zhou Yixiao was already dead. That means he should only receive a glimpse of the past, thus he wouldn't feel responsible for it.

Still hesitating, he reaches out one hand to touch Zhou Yixiao's shoulder.

He felt the contact on his fingertips and waited for the impact. He was ready for whatever horrid imagery he was about to receive. Nothing came up.

"My Prince, what are you doing?" Zhou Yixiao asked with his smile in place.

"...." Fu Yating's mind was rolling with confusion, but he managed to form a response. "...nothing... I- I think... Give me a second."

What was that supposed to mean? Had he lost this ability? That didn't seem about right; nothing special had happened recently. Had he already seen Zhou Yixiao's death before and forgotten about it? That didn't seem right either... It would mean they had met before and...

Headache. Fu Yating felt a piercing pain through his forehead.

He gasped and bent forward, clutching at whatever fabric his hands could find first and breathed out heavily.

'Stop thinking. Stop thinking. Stop thinking.'

He tried to empty his thoughts hoping the pain would go away.

After another few seconds, he looked up to see Zhou Yixiao's worried but unsurprised expression. "My Prince... what happened?" The question seemed as if he already knew the answer.

"Nothing much. I sometimes have a headache like this if I start thinking too hard."

"Then... what were you thinking so hard about?" The question itself seemed teasing, but Zhou Yixiao's tone was full of worry. "Don't think about it anymore."

Fu Yating nodded and realized he had been holding Zhou Yixiao's robes, not the bed sheet. He put his hand away and fake-coughed.

He got up from the bed and went over to his office desk. Zhou Yixiao followed behind. He then pulled out a scroll and spread it across the table. "Yixiao, grind ink." Fu Yating started forming a letter to the Heaven Emperor, asking for permission to take in a ghost as a disciple. Never in his long, long life, had he ever expected to write such a thing.

"I forgot to mention before, I may have stolen ingredients from the main kitchen." The invisible voice lingered and Fu Yating couldn't believe how childish the ghost could become.

"That's.... alright. Just try not to repeat it."

As if the Emperor had been waiting for his message, the yellow wagtail flew up to his shoulder and started shouting into his ear. "Have you gone mad? Have you gone mad?" The bird turned into a scroll and he read out the response.

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>> Senior Fu Yating has always been knowledgeable and far-sighted, yet today he seems to be making absurd requests. Perhaps you are feeling under the whether? I heard you had moved to the mountain's back office; if the whether is too chilly there, Senior should move back to the main building with everyone else.

I did however, think about the many benefits of having a strong ghost as your student, and how much information your department could gain. I still don't agree with such an absurd remark, and I won't grant you permission just yet. Perhaps, if your disciple proves useful in some time, then maybe I will change my mind. For now, I'm only granting a permit to have the ghost stay with you.

There is an upcoming conference where your opinions would be appreciated. An invitation for the same will be sent in due time, and you could bring the ghost child as an intern disciple.

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"That was very quick." Zhou Yixiao exclaimed, looking at the scroll over Fu Yating's shoulder. "Maybe the Emperor is very interested in your affairs, like the gossips say." That would be highly unlikely. Fu Yating only gained any attention recently, because such a strict edict passed and all eyes were on him now. The Emperor had nearly forgotten about him too, but he was reminded after many years, that the senior deity still hadn't been demolished from his position.

Fu Yating looked around to find Zhou Yixiao's visible form missing from the room. "I will be heading down to the main office. Will you be joining me?"

The bright eyed child appeared from behind the door, giggling and nodding at the same time. So Zhou Yixiao had returned to this form now. "The teleportation doesn't work on me unless I have a physical body to reside in. Will my Prince let me share his conscience?"

"Hmm, let's try it out. I'll let you know if it feels strange."

Zhou Yixiao walked up from behind him and Fu Yating felt a second of blankness in his mind. Almost like a sip of a strong wine, taking a moment to catch on, and by that moment, the ghost was already sharing his body. He heard his own thought playing Zhou Yixiao's voice, 'I can only hear your thought addressed to me.' and Fu Yating tested out replying with 'How convenient.'

Without further words, Fu Yating started fixing his robes, and hair. 'My Prince doesn't even have a mirror? If I had your face, I'd stare at it all day.' He hummed instead of a response, took the Emperor's recent scroll under his sleeve to show Luo Ming and drew the spell. 'I'll come out now.' Zhou Yixiao warned before Fu Yating felt the previous sensation again.

Fu Yating noticed how the ghost child had neat hair and was in clean robes now. The same black robes with a coral lining, (matching his own white and coral theme) it wasn't uncommon for disciples to wear similar colours to their masters. It was only because Fu Yating would be having a single disciple, it seemed somewhat strange to wear matching colours. Almost like foolish newlyweds trying to match their looks. But Zhou Yixiao's form was that of a child, maybe younger than 12? That wouldn't stop the strange looks they were receiving from passing grim reapers.

"Come, let us find Marshall. Don't play around with him too much, alright?" Fu Yating spoke with a straight face and Zhou Yixiao only smiled brighter.

"Greeting to Senior Spirit. I see, you haven't gotten rid of the ghost yet." Luo Ming glared at Zhou Yixiao.

"About that..." Fu Yating hesitated, knowing Luo Ming's temper. "His Highness had been suggesting me to take in disciples for some time. Then, Zhou Yixiao asked if he could try." Luo Ming's face made a terribly judgy expression. "So I thought about asking his Highness's opinion on the matter... and he sort of permitted it?"

"Senior Spirit! I especially asked you to not be swayed by what he says!!" Fu Yating awkwardly stared at the Marshall for some time, and the ghost continued irking him with his smile. "Sorry, I got swayed."

"That's- why are you apologizing?!" Luo Ming placed an angry hand on his forehead, contemplating what all was going on. "If you have made such a decision, then there must be more behind it. But it is too unorthodox, how did his Highness agree to such a thing?"

"He hasn't sealed a permanent contract yet, but he's given Zhou Yixiao an intern period. He will accompany me with work for some time, and we'll see how it turns out."

"Can we speak in private?" Luo Ming again eyed Zhou Yixiao, who was innocently eavesdropping their conversation. Technically, he was standing right in front of them so it couldn't be called eavesdropping, but Luo Ming would argue that the ghost had no right to even stand in the Senior Spirit's presence. Much to his surprise, Fu Yating gave one look to the ghost and he immediately walked away obediently.

Luo Ming could... perhaps work with that. Only so long as he was obedient with the Senior Spirit.

"Marshall," Fu Yating began his long awaited explanation. "I do understand your concerns, and I myself am worried about his case. His form is very permanent, thus his resentment is on an extreme level. If he would try to cause mayhem, it would become very difficult for us to get rid of him. And from a scholarly point of view, there is much to learn from a ghost that is completely willing to communicate, so many hidden factors that we overcome with force... could just be won over by persuasion." Luo Ming knew that kind side of the Senior Spirit. If he could find a way of winning without a fight, even at a disadvantage, he would choose that path. Defeated by all forms of logic, he sighed.

"Alright, you win. I have seen a hundred Spirits get kicked out of heaven in a single day, this isn't strange at all. Just a ghost as a deity's disciple." Luo Ming spoke eyeing Zhou Yixiao at the distance, who waved delightfully from afar.

"You need not worry so much, Marshall. Zhou Yixiao maybe mischievous, but he is a good child. All his pranks are harmless, and he's diligent if asked nicely." Fu Yating defended.

"Who stole vegetables from the main kitchen in the middle of the night and messed up the order of jars on every counter? The ones on cooking duty are still correcting it. Your great head disciple, with good intentions couldn't have done such a thing."

Fu Yating defended again, ".....he's learning to pace it down." He too would have to learn, new ways to defend actions, unjustifiable by any logic. He still looked forward to it.