Chapter 23 - Qin Zuijia can cultivate?

Wei Xiao told Bai Chenle that he wanted to earn some money for the future. This wasn't really his idea, but Qin Zuijia refuses to give him any coins before he finds a place to earn. Wei Xiao has never tried working in another establishment, nor does he want to experience it. He asked Bai Chenle if he could let him join the sect.

"Are you sure you want that?" Bai Chenle was sitting by the table, sipping tea. Fu Yu was right beside him, itching to get away.

"Although we aren't short of money, it's still good to have a way to earn more." Wei Xiao recited what Qin Zuijia said.

Bai Chenle nodded with a sigh. "Disciples of the sect get a free meal and are paid monthly. Outer disciples usually earn around 2 gold coins and 100 silver coins a month. Inner disciples earn 5 gold coins, while we elders earn 20 gold coins. Your pay increases alongside your position in the sect." He tapped the table as if calculating. "I could help you become an inner disciple, but you have to take the test."

Wei Xiao nodded. He thought of something and added. "Qin Zuijia said that he wanted to take the test with me."

Bai Chenle's eyes widened. Mages have different tests than martial artists. Qin Zuijia was a mage, he should take a different test than Wei Xiao.

Wei Xiao saw his reaction and understood his query. "Qin Zuijia's soul was damaged when he returned to the clan, his meridians were sealed and his spirit force didn't allow him to make pills or attack, but recently, he was able to circulate his Qi. I didn't know what happened, but I think that something changed with him."

"His soul was damaged?" Fu Yu asked from the side.

Wei Xiao nodded. "Though we weren't able to properly check it, his mark was already gone. For a mage, the mark is very important."

Fu Yu raised his brows, but didn't answer back.

"If he was able to circulate his Qi, then he'd be able to cultivate again." Bai Chenle felt distressed. If Qin Zuijia was able to cultivate again, there's a chance that he might turn dark and kill once more.

"Don't worry. Qin Zuijia won't be like that again." Wei Xiao answered. He could see where Qin Zuijia's heart is now. He wanted to see Xiao Ling grow, he wouldn't ruin his future.

Fu Yu smiled at him. "Young master is correct. That Qin Zuijia then is different from the Qin Zuijia now."

Wei Xiao found that Fu Yu - who he hated for no reason- was siding with him. He knitted his brows and felt that Fu Yu was hiding a lot from them.

Fu Yu noticed his gaze and grinned.

"There will be an examination next month. You could wait for it or I could directly send you in much like how I did with Fu Yu." Bai Chenle explained. "Since you're a martial artist, you'd have to be sent to the first two peaks, but I doubt that the sect leader would take you in. And Qin Zuijia should be i -"

"He'll go with me." Wei Xiao said.

"I'll send you in directly, it's way easier that way." Bai Chenle said. "I can send you in directly to Vincent, he'd be more than glad to take you in, but you have to take the examination later. Fu Yu would be taking the exam as well, you don't have to worry much."

Fu Yu sneered. "Don't pull me down, young master."

Wei Xiao ignored him and bowed to Bai Chenle. He left afterwards to tell Qin Zuijia about the news.

_________________

Qin Zuijia was lying in bed with Xiao Ling huddled up in his arms. He had his eyes closed, and his breathing was even, obviously asleep.

Xiao Ling was deep in sleep as well. Inhaling the scent of water mixed with sandalwood in Qin Zuijia's skin, he felt rather at home. Although Qin Zuijia hasn't been home for 8 decades, he still has the same scent as the Qin family. It was a passed down feature of the Qin clan. It started with the first child born between a person and a demon beast. No one could explain what happened, and people just accepted the fact. This is why most courtesy names from the Qin Clan have meanings related to water.

Qin Xuan's courtesy name was Quishui. Wei Xiayu need not be explained.

Qin Zuijia was different though, his parents chose his name. His birth name was Fai. It was as if his family was telling a story with his names.

Xiao Ling huddled closer to Qin Zuijia and pressed his face on Qin Zuijia's chest. Qin Zuijia tightened his hold of the child as if afraid that the other would fall from the bed. This was all done even when they were asleep.

Wei Xiao found the two in perfect harmony. He, as Xiao Ling's uncle, can't even properly hold Xiao Ling. He thought that raising children was fun like how his brother always showed him, but as time passed, he noticed that he couldn't understand the child no matter how much he tried. Wei Xiao knew nothing of connecting to people, much less a child who still has a lot to learn. He felt envious that Qin Zuijia was able to act like a parent to Xiao Ling, but he was still grateful for the other.

Wei Xiao turned around and prepared himself a cup of tea. When he raised his eyes back, he found an annoying ghost sitting on the chair opposite to him.

Zhao Fu's eyes were twitching and around his neck was a collar. His arms were folded and his brows were furrowed.

Wei Xiao ignored him and continued to sip his tea.

"Help me kill Alexander." Zhao Fu said.

Wei Xiao remained unconcerned and unmoved. He refuses to acknowledge that there is a ghost in his new home.

"He has been tormenting me for days!" Zhao Fu cried. "I'm already dead, but he's just too much!!"

Wei Xiao placed his cup down and opened a book to read.

"I was planning on finding my arms once I get here, but then he dragged me to his meeting with that Scarlett person. On top of that! He put this f*cking collar on my neck!!!" He pulled on the collar and said with a pretty high note.

Wei Xiao turned the page of the book, reading the first line of a very interesting novel.

"I want f*ckin' chop his head off and deep-fry them and feed them to some wild animal. Then I'd shred his torso and scatter his organs in the back forest!" Zhao Fu planned. His eyes twitch and contract, on the verge of insanity. "I'll chop his legs off and sell them for ten gold coins!"

Wei Xiao lifted his cup again, sipping tea while his eyes focused on the letters on the book. The book tells of a story of a young woman who fell in love with a demon. They had a very beautiful beginning, but their harmonious life ended when the demon had to kill the girl's father. The girl vowed to avenge his father, forgetting her past affection for the demon and taking the demon's head as a price. Wei Xiao found it interesting since he rarely see a woman who would have such power to choose his family over a man she just met. She had her priorities set on straight and would be unstoppable.

As Zhao Fu blabber about wanting to kill Alexander. Fu Yu opened the door and let himself in.

Wei Xiao turned to him. He frowned and finally put the book down. "What are you doing here?"

"Where's M- The other guy?" Fu Yu said, unconcerned about the other's hostility towards him.

"What do you want from him?" Wei Xiao refused to tell him until he gets the answer he wanted.

"I'm going to check his soul." Fu Yu walked towards the bedroom, ignoring the fact that this was not his home.

"Who said you could just waltz in here and go straight to wherever you want?" Wei Xiao sneered. He really hated Fu Yu for no reason. He felt that the guy isn't trustworthy, he couldn't risk his family's life.

"I need to check his soul. You said he could cultivate again, I want to know to what extent can he cultivate." Fu Yu turns around and slides open the door. He saw the sleeping people on the bed and suddenly his head started running in weird directions. I want to sleep.

Fu Yu flicked Qin Zuijia's forehead and shouted in a very loud and annoying manner. "Wake up stupid head, time to face the ever changing life where nothing is good and everything you do would be used against you!"

Qin Zuijia side-eyed Fu Yu. He stretched his arms and carefully released the tight hold of the child from his lapels. He sat up on the bed, his eyes puffy, hair a mess, clothes disheveled, and gaze unfocused.

Fu Yu rapped his head and shouted. "Wake up! Time to face the whole f*ucking world!"

Qin Zuijia rubbed his eyes and turned to Fu Yu. "I will skin you."

Fu Yu sneered. "You're too lazy to do that." He threw a jade tablet on the bed. "Infuse Qi to that tablet so I could rate your strength."

Qin Zuijia was still half asleep when he infused his Qi. The jade tablet suddenly shattered, breaking into a powder on the bed.

Fu Yu scratches his head. "I should have taken a stronger tablet."

Qin Zuijia lay back down and wrapped his arms around Xiao Ling. His breathing evened out and he fell into a deep sleep.

Fu Yu cleaned the ashes on the bed and left the room. Wei Xiao's eyes were twitching when Fu Yu entered Qin Zuijia's room. He wanted to drag the other away, but knew that the other was just helping. When he heard the loud shattering of the tablet, he stood up ready to run to the room. Fu Yu slid the door open and met the ferocious look on Wei Xiao. Fu Yu grinned and walked on the other side.

Fu Yu sat next to Zhao Fu. He started looking through his brocade pouch for something.

Wei Xiao sat opposite the two. His eyes were furrowed and his gaze was cold. Zhao Fu felt his neck turn cold. He was already dead, but he felt like the man in front of him would snap his neck at any moment.

Wei Xiao regarded Zhao Fu as air. His killing intent was directed at Fu Yu who was ignoring him.

Fu Yu looked through his pouch and finally took out another jade tablet. It was different from the first one since this one had a golden frame and was used to measure the power of the souls of the most powerful people.

"Where did you get that?" Wei Xiao asked. He found that the jade tablet was a rare artifact in the whole Wolf Bane continent. Many people would risk their lives just to get one of that type of tablet, yet this boy was holding it as if it wasn't special.

Fu Yu didn't really think that this jade tablet was any special. He knew that it was rare, but since he's already holding it, it was just another nothing. "This isn't really mine. It was owned by my Mast- Former employer."

Wei Xiao raised his brows. "former?"

"I didn't steal it! Though I have all his things with me, I still plan to give this back to him once he wakes up!"

Wei Xiao could interpret his words a bit, but he didn't really know who this employer was and why he's asleep. He felt that it was yet another mystery of the boy.

"Who is this employer?" Wei Xiao couldn't help but ask.

"The guy who always gets his heart broken!" Fu Yu raised his voice. "His going to get his heart broken again now that there's a new stud roaming around him!"

Wei Xiao couldn't follow his train of thought. Fu Yu said that his employer was sleeping, why was he worried that this new person would make his employer fall in love if he's asleep. He could feel the worry in Fu Yu's voice, the anger and fear for the person he acknowledges as his employer. He could tell that Fu Yu really cares for that man to the point that he sounds as if he was in love with him.

"Do you like your employer?" Wei Xiao asked.

"Like? I f*cking love him. He's my family!" Fu Yu bit his nails and furrowed his brows. "He was the one who raised me. I can't see him so heartbroken!" His eyes misted in distress.

Wei Xiao didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth but no words came out.

Fu Yu looked at him and stood up. "Do you like Zuijia?"

Wei Xiao looked at him in confusion. How come the topic changed all of a sudden, and he's now the topic. He does like Qin Zuijia, but it was the same like he has for his family. He feels comfortable with Qin Zuijia, but not to the extent of wanting to be with him. He likes Qin Zuijia, but it wasn't like that Fu Yu meant.

"If you don't like him, then leave him to me." Fu Yu said. "He's an idiot I could tell. That's how my employer was when he was younger."

Wei Xiao frowned. He didn't want some random new guy to take Qin Zuijia-his supposed prisoner- away. He doesn't trust Fu Yu to have any good intentions to Qin Zuijia, he could feel that this guy was hiding something, even though his thought process was weird.

"He could train with teacher Bai with me, that way I could check on him from time to time." Fu Yu dismissed Wei Xiao from negating. "You just focus on your own." He poked Wei Xiao's forehead. He left after taking two pieces of biscuits on the table.

Zhao Fu was still dumbstruck by Fu Yu's shameless antics. He has never met a person who would force their way through someone's home and be nosy enough to ask about other people's love life. If he was in Wei Xiao's position, he'd want to decapitate him. "What was that about?"

Wei Xiao's brows were still furrowed. He couldn't tell what Fu Yu was planning, but in his mind it shouldn't be good. He stood up, wanting to follow, but Qin Zuijia came out of the bedroom still a bit muddle-headed. Xiao Ling was wrapping his arms around Qin Zuijia's legs, still half asleep. His mind relaxes and the thought of what happened with Fu Yu was thrown out the window.

"Was that Fu Yu?" Qin Zuijia rubbed his eyes. He turn and found a jade tablet in the table. It was one of those rare pieces found nowhere in Wolf Bane continent. "Where?"

Wei Xiao looked at where he was looking and found that Fu Yu left the jade tablet behind. He took the tablet and inspected it. "He must have planned to have you take the test. But he left after taking two biscuits."

Qin Zuijia walked slowly so as to not wake Xiao Ling up. "Me? Test?"

"I told them that you could cultivate again." Wei Xiao sat back down.

"Why? My soul mark is missing, how can I cultivate?" Qin Zuijia lifted Xiao Ling and carefully lay him on the sofa. "Even if I can sort of circulate my Qi, I can't do more than to heal myself."

Wei Xiao sipped his tea. "Do you not want to cultivate?"

Qin Zuijia knitted his brows and said in distress. "No! Isn't that what most people want?"

Wei Xiao turned his gaze away. He couldn't help but trust Qin Zuijia, he felt that the other wouldn't be as horrible as he was in the past. But he wouldn't be able to change other people's view of him, even Qin Zuijia knows that and is willing to just become a non-cultivator in order for other people to feel safe. Wei Xiao wouldn't be able to accept that, but he won't be able to do anything.

Wei Xiao sighed silently. "Then how do you plan to help in making money?"

Qin Zuijia smiled. He was happy that Wei Xiao understood what he was trying to say. He was happy that Wei Xiao trusted him enough to let him cultivate again, but he won't choose that path again so as to not endanger his most important people. "I plan to follow Bai Chenle's work. I think being an artisan is good for me. It's interesting."

Wei Xiao didn't refuse him, but then he remembered Fu Yu. "Did that surnamed Fu tell you to do that?"

Qin Zuijia shook his head, but then remembered something and nodded. "He just hinted. I think we could both learn from Bai Chenle." He smiled warmly with the thought of him being able to work with Fu Yu.

Wei Xiao felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured on him. He now wanted to refuse.

_____________

Mini theater......

Back at the little house.

Qin Zuijia: We need more money.

Wei Xiao: We have a lot already.

Qin Zuijia: *looks at Wei Xiao dead in the eye* We. Need. More. Money.

Wei Xiao: .... Okay.

_______________

Zhao Fu: Alexander has been tormenting me day and night!!

Lemon: TMI much?.

Wei Xiao: I don't care about your love life.

Qin Zuijia: Who are you again?

Zhao Fu: *sits in a corner, crying*.. I'm important too. He's not my lover.

________________

Fu Yu: Wake up and face reality

Qin Zuijia: F U.

Fu Yu: .... i hope no one does.

Lemon: I can give you a bf if you want.

Fu Yu:..... I was supposed to have a gf, now I hate people.. go away.

Lemon:.... Hehe.

Qin Zuijia: Shut up! I'm trying to sleep!!

_______________

The basement....

Dayan: you're writing a new story?

Lemon: I'm trying to get the badge.

Qin Muyang: That's a sh*t story you got there.

Wei Xiao: She published the prologue.

Dayan: It's a sht story.

Lemon: It's about you and your Araya.

Dayan:..... It's a wonderful, beautiful story. bless this author!!

Araya (somewhere): I'm marrying this guy???

_______

still the basement.

Wei Xiao: You haven't added more people in here.

Qin Muyang: No more food stock.

Lemon:..... F U guys, you ate all my chips...