White-masks are white-masks

Luo Lijuan smiled, but didn't stay for long nor did she give him an answer.

"Eh! Don't leave me behind!" Fu Jie was about to follow after her, but was stopped by Chen Qiao who pulled him back.

"Xia didi, where do you think you're going?" Chen Qiao smiled as he looked at Fu Jie.

[A/n: 'Didi' means Younger brother]

Fu Jie didn't bother giving a response as he shook the man off.

Chen Qiao, "Didi is quite feirce. Is this what all white-masks are like?"

"What do you mean white-masks?" Fu Jie questioned.

He had heard this term a lot but was still unaware of its meaning. It seemed that all these people were referring to a particular group of people and since Fu Jie was wearing this mask, he was also considered as a part of this so-called 'white-masks'.

"Aiya~ Is Didi not from around here?"

Fu Jie shook his head as he answered, "If I was from around here, do you think I would've asked this question?

Chen Qiao was silent for a second before he broke out laughing and nodded his head in agreement, "Sorry! Sorry! My mistake."

"Elder brother should just tell me."

Chen Qiao smiled brightly as he once again hooked his hand around Fu Jie's collar, "No need to worry. Since you aren't from here, this big brother would tell you all about it."

Fu Jie couldn't help but think that this man spouted more nonsense than Bai Ling.

Just get to the point already instead of talking in circles.

"The white-masks are people who wear the mask you are currently wearing. They don't belong to any sect and are powerful rogue cultivators so we didn't know what to call them and hence, the name white-mask came to be given to them. For the rest," He looked at Fu Jie with amusement as he continued, "Xia Didi should know better than me about what type of person you are."

"Type of person I am?" This mask was given to Fu Jie to help cover up his face that was pasted on the streets, labeled as a fugitive, so of course, he didn't know what this man was talking about. If it were some other white-mask who was really a white-mask, he would have understood it without having to say.

"Hmm... Mysterious."

"Eh?"

"All white-masks are mysterious. They are powerful and appear out of nowhere just for money and help the sects. Of course, they are mysterious and suspicious."

"... Is that so?"

Chen Qiao touched Fu Jie's mask and Fu Jie jolted as he immediately pushed the man's hand away and glared at him, "What are you trying to do?"

Chen Qiao smiled brightly as he rubbed his thumb and pointer finger together, "The material doesn't seem to be special but it's certainly amazing. I wonder if Xia Didi would tell me more about yourself."

"You can probably tell me more about myself than I can." Fu Jie scoffed.

"Hmm?" Chen Qiao was clearly confused as he heard this and it wasn't like Fu Jie was going to help clear his confusion.

"Forget it." Fu Jie shrugged it off, "The past is better to be left in the past. Why talk about such trivial things. I'm already a part of this sect, am I not?"

Chen Qiao nodded as he responded, "Xia Didi is right. Since you are already a part of our sect, you can no longer be considered a white-mask."

Inside his head, Chen Qiao seemed to be really curious to know more about this brother Xia but since Xia was a white-mask, he already knew that this man would not be willing to answer any questions about himself. That was the number one rule followed by all white-masks, to never tell the outside world about their origins or where they learned their techniques or attained their power from.

Since all the masks were identical to each other, it was clear that they all had something in common and since they weren't part of any sects, it could still be said that they all had the same teacher.

Chen Qiao thought this brother Xia wasn't talking about himself because of this rule and he thought maybe interacting more with this man would get him some answers since no man had lips that were iron sealed. He would surely slip out some secrets when his tongue tastes some good liquor. In order to invite him to have a few drinks, Chen Qiao needed to get closer to him and so he had to be as nice as possible to this brother who had appeared out of nowhere.

How was he to know that this white-mask was never going to leak any secrets about white-masks because he really was unaware of the secrets?

"Since you are no longer considered a white-mask," The smile on Chen Qiao's face deepened as he added, "Why are you still wearing it?"

His hand reached out once again to remove the mask but this time, Fu Jie ducked his head and avoided the hand that was caught by someone else.

"Junior brother Chen, are you trying to bully Junior brother Xia?" It was Zheng Qiang who had tried to save Fu Jie.

It seemed that this Zheng Qiang wasn't kidding when he promised Luo Lijuan that he would take care of Fu Jie and not let anyone bully him.

"Senior martial brother Zheng is mistaken," Chen Qiao responded innocently, "Why would I try to bully my dear didi?"

Fu Jie squinted at the man as he thought: This man was certainly trying to bully me! How dare he lie with such an honest face?

Zheng Qiang let the man's hand go as his lips curled upwards, "Is that so. Then I guess my eyes were mistaken."

Chen Qiao nodded as he added, "Since it's Senior brother Zheng, I dare not be offended."

Fu Jie couldn't help but feel as if the relationship between these two appeared a bit weird. On one hand, they seemed to not be on good terms with each other while on the other hand, they also seemed to know and understand the other better than anyone else, and even knowing what the other was going to say or do, they seemed to be telepathically communicating and it somehow irritated Fu Jie who wanted to know the soap opera going on.

"Aiya~ Senior brother Zheng and junior brother Chen are fighting again?"

Fu Jie glanced at the girl who had appeared and then looked back at the two and wondered how the hell the woman was able to say they were fighting when they were clearly being super polite to each other and smiling so brightly?

Chen Qiao, "Senior sister Yao, why do you think we are fighting? We are definitely not!"

Senior sister Yao chuckled as she heard this, "Is that so? Who started this fight first?"

Chen Qiao shook his head, "We are definitely not fighting."

Senior sister Yao grabbed him by the ear and asked again, "Are you sure you're not fighting him?"

When Zheng Qiang saw this, he looked to be annoyed as he sped up his pace and walked ahead of them before leaving a single comment, "Ridiculous."

Chen Qiao winced at the pain as he patted her hand, "Senior sister Yao, I didn't! I swear, it wasn't me who started it. It was him!" He blamed Zheng Qiang.

Senior Sister Yao let go of his ear and Chen Qiao immediately grabbed his ear that had turned red from the pinching.

Fu Jie suddenly wondered if all the girls in the maple passion pavilion were this fierce. This woman was also like Luo Lijuan and Fu Jie almost thought the two were sisters however they didn't look alike at all and so Fu Jie was sure the two weren't biologically connected to each other.

Senior sister Yao looked at Fu Jie and smiled as she tilted her head and asked, "You must be Junior brother Xia?"

"Ah...! Senior sister Yao knows me?" Fu Jie asked and the woman chuckled as she heard this.

"In this Maple passion pavilion, who wouldn't know you? Junior brother Xia, you are quite famous among the students."

Fu Jie couldn't help but feel that the reason he was famous among them wasn't something he would like to hear.

Senior sister Yao, "It made me curious as well."

"Curious about the white-mask?" Fu Jie asked.

Senior sister Yao shook her head as she responded, "Not that. I'm curious to know what relationship you have with Shizun."

Fu Jie choked on empty air as he heard this.

Damn it...!

He should've known.

"Are you really Elder Dayu's son?"

Fu Jie took a step back as he immediately shook his head and waved his hands around to deny it with all his might, "No way!"

Senior sister Yao chuckled, "Seeing such a strong response makes me wonder if it really is true."

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