Leave This To Me

The assembled disciples were speechless at this.

Nan Lingye went into full drama mode. "Was it easy to raise all of you from childhood? If not for your sakes, why else would I have left my lofty position in the heavens to preside over a gang of demon hunters? Everyone's always complaining, always looking for some fault in my actions. Is that the way anyone should treat their own grandmaster?"

The silence continued to hold.

Lingye saw that he was managing to scold some sense into them. Now that matters were back under control, it was time to dial it back a bit. He unrolled the scroll and cleared his throat. "Never mind. We've gotten a lot of requests this time around. When you've finished your jobs and brought back the reward money, I'll make sure you get a little more of it."

The mood in the hall remained tense and restless.

Pretending not to notice, Lingye went on. "Let's begin with some of our strongest disciples: Wu Shan, Zhe Huo, Chang Feng… There are seven high-level quests here for you to split amongst yourselves. For anyone familiar with aquatic operations, I've got a shark demon. Wasn't there someone who was whining for an excuse to head up north? Here's your big chance…"

So far, the grandmaster had only named the three most well-known disciples of Lavender Mountain. Everyone else was 'that guy' or 'a certain somebody' or 'you know who you are'.

It was just as well that the disciples had already grown accustomed to this. They were all able to tell whom he was referring to in each case, and in this manner, the quests were handed out to them. Hugging his own set of scrolls to his chest, Fei Zhao headed over to butter up Wu Shan and Zhe Huo. "Senior disciples, what sort of tasks have you taken up?"

Without even looking at his own, the first thing Wu Shan did was to grab the ones Zhe Huo was holding, and open them up for a look. He frowned as he read them. "Zhe Huo, I've heard of this ice demon on Frostsoul Peak before. It's not going to be a cakewalk. Let me take this one."

Anxiously, Zhe Huo snatched back the scroll and hugged it tight to her breast, pouting. "You're always like this, Wu Shan! I know you're worried about me, but if the grandmaster didn't think I was up to the job, why would he have assigned it to me?"

Fei Zhao muttered, "Considering the grandmaster's cavalier nature, it's astounding how much faith you have in him."

Zhe Huo glared with indignation. "I don't care! I'm taking all three of these quests!"

Wu Shan sighed, and turned aside to exchange a quest with Chang Feng instead, because one of Chang Feng's quests took place within the same region as Frostsoul Peak. This would allow him to be close by, in case Zhe Huo got into more trouble than she could handle.

On the way back, Fei Zhao lamented enviously, "Zhe Huo, I notice the places you're visiting this time are all famous locations. I'd like to go there too… can I come along with you?"

Without a hint of mercy, Zhe Huo replied, "Sure, as long as you don't get torn to shreds by demons."

The very notion of this caused Fei Zhao's shoulders to shrink. Shaking his head with agitation, he said, "I guess I'll continue with my training. Once I'm older and more capable, I'll accompany you guys on your quests!"

"Heh!"

Upon her return to her quarters, Zhe Huo decided to notify Luo Qinghan of her plans. However, despite searching everywhere inside the room and around the yard, she failed to find him. She muttered under her breath in annoyance, and set about packing for the journey, thinking that the boy must have gone out to play.