Selfless Character

"Greetings, Elder He!" Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly clasped his fists towards He Luoxuan.

"Where have you been?" He Luoxuan narrowed his eyes. "Why do you look like that?"

...What?

Zhao Yunxiao had expected the first question, but not the second.

It was only when he heard He Luoxuan's question that he finally realised the current state that he was in.

Having exerted himself in trying to replicate Cha's array of archaic characters, Zhao Yunxiao now looked quite a bit paler than usual.

Having flown through the sky of the Origin Lake Sect at his speed, the strong headwind had caused his hair to become dishevelled.

Having been held in a casing of water until just a few moments ago, he had yet to have the opportunity to dry his clothes that were still completely drenched.

To put it simply, he looked like a complete wreck right now!

Zhao Yunxiao had to consciously suppress a smile from surfacing.

This made for the perfect setting.

"Reporting to Elder He, my apologies for leaving the residence without permission," Zhao Yunxiao bowed deeply. "It's just that I came across something last night but did not have the chance to check it out properly because of time constraints. Since I had some time on hand, I thought that I would go back and give it a closer look. I'm lucky that it is indeed the same thing that I thought it is! Here, please accept what I found as a show of my appreciation, Elder He!"

With that, Zhao Yunxiao stretched out his two hands that were holding the flower of the Blue Jade Lotus.

"This is...?" He Luoxuan was slightly surprised by the sudden gift. "Blue Jade Lotus?"

As expected of the elder, he recognised it immediately!

It was fortunate that Zhao Yunxiao was facing the floor now that he had yet to recover from his deep bow. Otherwise, everyone else would see the smile spreading across his face.

"That is what I believe, Elder He!" Zhao Yunxiao raised his head in excitement. "I hope this can at least be of some use to your esteemed self!"

"It is indeed valuable, but how can I take something that you found?" He Luoxuan shook his head, though a smile was finally starting to show on his face. "Where did you find it?"

 "I heard that this is a spiritual herb that only grows in the Origin Lake Sect territory, so I have been on the lookout since I got here. Coincidentally, I sensed something strange when passing by a lake last night. Since Blue Jade Lotuses can grow in almost all environments, I had some suspicions that one could be growing in the lake and tried to take a look," Zhao Yunxiao answered. "Unfortunately, the lotus was too difficult to get to within the lake, so I was only able to confirm it just now."

"Mm," He Luoxuan nodded. "Blue Jade Lotuses can indeed grow almost everywhere. Not just that, but the germination of a new plant is entirely dependent on luck, making it impossible to specially plant one for cultivation purposes. Therefore, it is unlikely that this belongs to anyone in particular. You did well in finding it."

He Luoxuan would not have believed Zhao Yunxiao's story if this was any other spiritual herb.

However, Blue Jade Lotuses only grew in the Origin Lake Sect territory, and were exceptionally rare to boot.

It was rather unlikely that an outer disciple like Zhao Yunxiao would have it in his possession prior to coming on the trip.

In addition, Zhao Yunxiao's current messy state corroborated his story.

All things considered, He Luoxuan determined that it was most likely the truth.

At the same time, Hu Nan, Zheng Biru, and Yu Hang were completely confused by the sudden turn of events.

In such a short span of time, He Luoxuan had gone from his enraged state earlier to even praising Zhao Yunxiao!

"Please accept it, Elder He. It is not that I do not know the value of this flower, but something as valuable as this can only be put to great use in your hands," Zhao Yunxiao requested once again. "Unless you believe that it is of no use to you, then I will have no choice but to take back the gift."

"Well, since you are so sincere about it, I shall accept your filial heart," He Luoxuan nodded in satisfaction.

With a wave of his hand, the beautiful flower floated over from Zhao Yunxiao's hands and landed right into his.

Another flick of his wrist, and the flower was gone, likely stored away in a spatial item.

This was the first time that Zhao Yunxiao did not feel envious seeing someone use a spatial item. After all, he was now a proud owner of a spatial item as well!

"I appreciate your efforts, Yunxiao. But in any case, you should have at least told your fellow disciples about this matter. How can you just leave without a word?" He Luoxuan said with a sigh.

As expected, the gift might have been enough to temporarily appease He Luoxuan, but it was still insufficient to absolve him of his mistake.

"My apologies for the mistake, Elder He. But... I had my own reasons," Zhao Yunxiao said awkwardly before letting out a sigh of his own. "Since things have come to this, I guess I have no other choice."

He reached into his sleeves and pulled out four plain looking roots.

"What are these?" He Luoxuan asked.

It appeared that even the knowledgeable elder could only identify the flower of the Blue Jade Lotus and not the roots.

"These are roots of the Blue Jade Lotus. They might not be as valuable as the flower, but I heard that they also possess great vitality that can be useful in alchemy and elixir making," Zhao Yunxiao answered with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "I had wanted to give one to each fellow disciple as a surprise at the end of the trip, but it seems that the surprise is ruined now..."

"This..." He Luoxuan glanced over at Hu Nan and the two other outer disciples.

In response, the three of them could only awkwardly avoid his gaze.

At the same time, they felt their cheeks quickly turning red.

They had reported the matter to He Luoxuan after finding out that Zhao Yunxiao had gone missing for two nights in a row. In the process, Hu Nan was even quite vocal in suggesting that they had to punish Zhao Yunxiao to set an example.

When questioned, Zheng Biru and Yu Hang had indirectly added to the fire by expressing their disappointment at how irresponsible Zhao Yunxiao actually was in this regard.

Who would have thought that the reason Zhao Yunxiao disappeared without a word was to secretly gather gifts for them?

Now that they knew the real reason, they could not help but feel ashamed of their earlier actions!

"Why didn't you say something when we spoke earlier, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?" Hu Nan asked, albeit with a soft tone. "If you had told me about this matter, I could have helped you with it too."

"My apologies, Senior Martial Brother Hu," Zhao Yunxiao clasped his fists towards Hu Nan. "I have learnt my mistake. In the future, I will not get carried away and try to do something like this again."

"No, that's not it," He Luoxuan interrupted at this point. "Things might not have turned out perfectly, but your intentions are pure. You are not wrong this time, so there is no need to apologise. Instead, you kids have a lot to learn from Yunxiao and his selfless character! Rather than hurrying into reporting your own comrades' mistakes, why didn't you try to learn more about the situation first?"

"Our apologies, Elder He!"

Hu Nan, Zheng Biru, and Yu Hang answered while lowering their heads.

"That's not it, Elder He! It is my fault for not informing them about the matter," Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly corrected.

"You remain quiet, Yunxiao," He Luoxuan continued. "And you, Hu Nan. As the senior martial brother on this trip, aren't you embarrassed that your junior martial brother cannot even confide in you for something this simple? How am I supposed to entrust you with a leadership role in the future?"

"I will reflect on my mistakes, Elder He," Hu Nan answered.

"And you two as well. You are all outer disciples, so reflect well on why you act so differently!" He Luoxuan said. "As punishment, all three of you are grounded for three months after we return. Unless there is an official reason, you are not allowed to leave Purple Plum Mountain!"

"Yes, Elder He!" the trio answered together.

"This..." Zhao Yunxiao felt the corner of his lips twitch.

Things had gone a little further than what he had originally intended.

All he wanted was to get out of any potential punishment while currying favour with everyone.

He never expected that Hu Nan and the rest would end up getting reprimanded like this!

Thankfully, three months of not leaving the sect territory was not too big a deal. It was more of a symbolic gesture than anything else.

"Is there anything else that I need to know?" He Luoxuan asked in an authoritative manner.

"No, Elder He," Hu Nan said.

"What about you, Yunxiao?" He Luoxuan's tone turned soft. "Is everything all right?"

"Y-Yes, Elder He," Zhao Yunxiao nodded.

"It must have been twice as tiring to exert yourself like this for everyone even after fainting earlier. Have a good rest tonight," He Luoxuan sighed. "If there is nothing else, then you are all dismissed for the night."

"Yes, Elder He!" all four of them answered at once.

With that, Elder He turned around and left the room.

Silence fell upon the room as Hu Nan, Zheng Biru, and Yu Hang exchanged awkward glances.

However, it was Zhao Yunxiao who broke the silence first.

"My apologies once again, Senior Martial Brother Hu, Senior Martial Brother Zheng, and Junior Martial Brother Yu," Zhao Yunxiao stepped forward to pass them one root each. "My lack of consideration has ended up causing you trouble. If there is anything that I can do to make up for this, please feel free to let me know."

"Please don't say that, Junior Martial Brother Zhao," Hu Nan shook his head. "Elder He is right. It is our fault for doubting you. This root is already more than what we deserve. If you were to do more than this, then it will really make me feel too embarrassed to live on."

"Senior Martial Brother Hu is right, my apologies for doubting you, Junior Martial Brother Zhao," Zheng Biru added.

"Apologies, Senior Martial Brother Zhao," Yu Hang echoed.

"Is this really all right?" Zhao Yunxiao asked after passing an extra root to Hu Nan, meant to be passed to Song Xiaoqiao.

"Don't worry about it. Three months will be over in a flash," Hu Nan said. "You must be tired. We will leave you to rest then. See you tomorrow morning."

As though they could not wait to get out of there, the three disciples quickly left the room after Hu Nan finished his sentence.

"Wow, I am impressed," Cha's voice sounded out the moment Zhao Yunxiao closed the door behind them.

Cha had remained in the room all this while, and got to enjoy watching the entire show from a front row seat.

"What's there to be impressed about? Do you know how close that was?" Zhao Yunxiao said after letting out a sigh of relief. "Things could have gone wrong at various points of the conversation. I am just lucky to have escaped unscathed!"

Indeed, it was never definite that He Luoxuan would believe his words.

It was also never definite that He Luoxuan would pardon his mistakes even after believing that they were born of good intentions.

Now that He Luoxuan had punished the other disciples, it was similarly never definite that they would not hold it against him.

In fact, even now, Zhao Yunxiao was still not completely certain that He Luoxuan truly believed him or that the other disciples did not hold it against him!

After all, one could not just take others' words as the true reflection of what they felt.

All of these were things that he would only know for sure in time to come.

"In any case, I was right – gifts work wonders," Cha shrugged with its whiskers. "Come on now, I am still waiting for your words of gratitude."

"I wouldn't be in a situation where I need gifts to get myself out of trouble if not you, Senior Cha..." Zhao Yunxiao reminded it.

"Are you saying you didn't benefit greatly because of me?" Cha scoffed. "What was it your elder said? Pure intentions? Selfless character? Do you think he will feel that way about you if not for me? And do you know just how valuable the Heaven's Descent Bowl is? That alone is probably worth more than you!"

"I won the Heaven's Descent Bowl fair and square though," Zhao Yunxiao argued. "And I still don't know what it is actually good for."

"Bah! All sorts of excuses to deny that you benefited!" Cha grumbled. "Anyway, since we are already back, let's just continue with our chat here instead of going to the Origin Lake."

"You aren't leaving, Senior Cha?" Zhao Yunxiao asked.

"What? Are you unhappy about it?" Cha narrowed its eyes.

"No, no, of course not, Senior Cha," Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly shook his head. "I'd love to continue chatting."

Who knew what this crazy sea serpent would do if he did not say that?

And just like that, the duo continued their chat throughout the entire night, though it was actually more of just Cha telling stories of the past while Zhao Yunxiao played the role of giving the right reactions at the right time.