85 True Culprit

As I entered the tent, a familiar cheeky voices resounded in my ear.

"And then, when that motherf**ker thought he almost succeeded, I activated my talisman and got rid of the marker, before handsomely flipping him off. I then gallantly dashed off, leaving him with a dumbfounded face as all his effort went down the drain!" a familiar frail young man boasted to a skinny young man, who I recognized to be Fatty, sitting next to him.

"Hahaha! That is wicked! I can't believe you did that just because you can't defeat him. But serves him right for daring to offend this young master. Yo, when we see him in the future, tell me and I will pummel him with you!" Fatty said excitedly.

"Hahaha! I will-" the frail young man responded, but suddenly froze as he looked in my direction.

His eyes widened before he suddenly hopped up in shock. He then pointed at me as he yelled, "It's you!?"

I smirked as the Fatty looked over as well before his eyes lit up. Seriously, Mr.Aura really did me a favor this time. I couldn't catch this b*st**d, but now he ends up right in front of me.

"Yo, Fatty Yun, this is the one that I was talking about! Help me pummel him now!" the frail young man told the Fatty while rolling up his sleeves.

"Yo, Fatty Yun, this guy here is a petty thief that framed me, almost getting me arrested. Help me capture him so I can figure out who is behind his scheme!" I told the Fatty as I cracked my knuckles.

"A-ah?" Fatty's eyes widened in shock as he looked back and forth between the frail man and me.

"What do you mean by petty thief framing you?! You're clearly the one that's petty for chasing me all day!" the frail young man yelled.

"Oi! Isn't this your fault? I'm just trying to enact justice here!" I replied.

"Pei! What justice?! You're the one in the wrong here!" the young man retorted.

"Like I said, I have no idea what you are talking about! But stealing others' stuff is already a crime, yet you even dare to frame me?! How the hell you suppose I forget that?!" I retorted.

"You-" the frail young man tried to retort, but was interrupted.

"Oi! Just hold on one moment! Perhaps there is a misunderstanding here?" the Fatty interjected with a confused look.

"Eh? Fatty, you know him?" both the frail young man and I asked at the same time.

"Oh right, let me introduce you two. Bro Chun, this is the one I told you about, the one who saved my life, Bro Pro. Bro Pro, this here is my other bro, Jia Chun. Although we aren't real bros, we grew up together as he is my master's disciple. I am clear on his personality, and I know he won't frame others for no reason as he is one that does good deeds his whole life," the Fatty introduced,

I stared at Jia Chun queerly as he stared back with mouth gaping. Only does good deeds? Then why did he frame me?

"Ah, it seems I made a blunder," Jia Chun stated while scratching his head.

"Ah? What do you mean?" the Fatty asked as I also directed my eyes towards him.

Jia Chun didn't respond but walked up to me. I vigilantly prepared to defend but he suddenly performed a deep bow towards me as he stated, "My apologies. It was my mistake for framing you. I originally was stealing from the culprit that I saw sneakily knocking out his team leader for his treasure bag. I planned to take the bag and return it, but I saw you. I thought you were the culprit who kidnapped Fatty as I saw the leader guy turn you in as one. Hence, I wanted to lock you up as punishment, so ..."

I frowned. Although I didn't get hurt and neither of us was the true culprit, but because of what he did, I did waste a whole day. However, when the Fatty glanced at me with a pleading look as he was stuck in between the two of us, I could only sigh before letting bygones be bygones.

"Urrg, fine, it was a misunderstanding. Neither of us was the true culprit, nor did I end up in any bad situation. We can just let this matter be over," I stated.

"I'm really sorry. If there is a chance, I will return this favor, even if I must give my life," Jia Chun claimed.

"Oi, you don't have to be so serious-" I replied, but was interrupted.

"No, it is a must. I swore an oath to heaven that I will only do good in this life, never to harm the innocent. Although in the end it did not harm you, it was still a nefarious deed on my part. I must atone for my sins or the karma that I have gathered will have been wasted, " Jia Chun stated seriously.

I could only look over to the Fatty who sighed before stating, "Don't mind him Bro Pro. Bro Chun's only doing it because he's a mommy's boy."

"Hey! Who's are you calling a mommy's boy!?" Jia Chun spun around and retorted.

"Heh, it's not like you can deny. We all know that you are filial, yet you can't stand the evil things your parents do. Although you decided to leave and become apprenticed under my grandpa at an early age, you still can't forget that mother of yours. Always sending gifts back with the money you earn. Not only that, you also chose such a deadly oath just to gather some karma in hopes of offsetting the evil karma that your mother has," the Fatty expounded with a sigh.

Jia Chun lowers his head in silence as if he agreed before he responded, "She is my mother after all."

Fatty strolled up to Jia Chun before patting him on the shoulder, "Yes, I know. I would probably be just as filial if my mother was still alive."

Both Fatty and Jia Chun sighed while I internally sighed along with them as we thought about our mothers, but our brief moment of nostalgia was interrupted by a cool voice.

"Young master, Eldest Disciple Chun, young man, it's about time we go to eat. Dinner has been prepared, and old master requested that everyone rests early today as we shall be heading back to the sect tomorrow," Uncle Pan stated with a smile.

Eh? Back to the sect? I saw the wry smiles on the Fatty and Jia Chun's face. I looked over at them with a questioning face. Uncle Pan seemed to have understood what I wanted to ask as he stated, "The old master said that young man shall come with us as he discovered that you had a constitution for cultivating. Since you were a life saver of young master's life, old master decided to make an exception and accept you as his disciple."

The f**k? When did I agree to be anyone's disciple?! I was about to retort, but the Fatty interjected, "Bro Pro, don't deny it just yet. Even if you don't want to become my grandpa's disciple, you can still come with us. Remember our promise to drink at Spring's Night?"

Ah. That was a thing wasn't it. Although promises usually don't mean much to me, but there are some that I will keep for eternity as they belong with the ones that are close to me. I could not agree as we headed off to chow. I stuffed myself full before heading to bed in the guest room. I reminisced all the harsh times that I had been through. I realize that I might actually have a brighter future now as I hooked onto a large thigh. I smiled as I let my consciousness fade out, allowing myself to rejuvenate for the probably uneventful trip tomorrow.