Reporting to the Sect Master

Qiguan Cheng Da entered the study with a smile on his lips although his eyes dimmed when he noticed Yu Jin to the side. He knew that Yu Jin was the Sect Master's disciple but why did he have to be there when he reported on his mission? Couldn't it have been just himself and the Sect Master?

Well, there was nothing he could do for now. He could only try not to show his dissatisfaction and use the situation as best as he could. There was no reason to rush anything. He would still return to the Hei Dian Sect later to get another report. Then he might have another opportunity.

Thinking till there, Qiguan Cheng Da cupped his fists and bowed. "Disciple Qiguan greets the Sect Master." Then he looked at Yu Jin and smiled a little brighter as if he was really happy to see him. "Senior Martial Brother Yu." This guy was still rumored to be the Sect Master's favorite disciple. He should use his relationship with him.

Yuchi Bing Xia reciprocated his smile while Yu Jin just nodded.

"Qiguan Cheng Da, you're back. Come on, have a seat." Yuchi Bing Xia motioned to the other side of the table and waited until Qiguan Cheng Da had sat down. "So … What did they find out at the Hei Dian Sect?"

Qiguan Cheng Da put on a troubled expression. "I don't know much about that mission of Junior Martial Brother Zhong so I can only report what I saw and repeat what he told me. It seems that he hadn't found what he was looking for yet but he established good relations with people from the sect."

"Good relations?" Yuchi Bing Xia slightly furrowed his brows.

Qiguan Cheng Da nodded. "Yes. He has been taken in as a disciple and even managed to enter the Alchemy division. He didn't say much about it since he wanted to hurry back but it seems he is quite close with one of the elder disciples called Yu. I'm not quite sure about his standing in the division but Junior Martial Brother Zhong made it sound as if he was of higher status."

Qiguan Cheng Da hardly held back a smile. Until this point, everything he had said was true although he had left out all of the reasons Qiu Ling had presented for the things Jing Yi did, as well as what they had said about Hong Bao's whereabouts. And, well, he hadn't mentioned Qiu Ling either. It really made it sound as if all this was just the work of Jing Yi. It really was a situation too favorable to not make use of it.

"It seems that disciple's Master is a high-ranking Elder in the sect. If I understood correctly, he is in charge of a part of the sect. This disciple Yu is supposed to be his most-trusted one that is even entrusted with several tasks his Master would normally do. Junior Martial Brother Zhong mentioned that he was able to get some benefits because of his relationship with him."

"Oh?" Yuchi Bing Xia raised his brows but didn't say anything else.

Qiguan Cheng Da was sure that his plan had succeeded though. Now he only had to strike while the iron was hot. "Mn. Junior Martial Brother Zhong didn't explain in more detail so I can't say what exactly they were. He only said that it wasn't enough to return just yet so he told me to report he'd stay there for a while longer."

"Did he say for how long?"

"Ah … not directly. He just said that it would take a lot of time and that there wasn't any reason to check in on him for the next few months. I guess he himself wasn't sure how much time he'd need?"

Yuchi Bing Xia nodded. "Alright. Is there anything else?"

Qiguan Cheng Da furrowed his brows as if he had to think about it. In the end, he shook his head. "No. No, other than that Junior Martial Brother Zhong only described the life in the sect."

"I see. Alright. Thank you for traveling so far to accomplish this. You've helped us a lot."

"It's an honor to be able to be of help to the sect." Qiguan Cheng Da cupped his fists and bowed again, his smile getting complacent.

Yuchi Bing Xia picked up his teacup and nodded. "You're certainly tired after this ordeal. You may go and rest."

Qiguan Cheng Da didn't dare tarry even though he would have liked to stay longer very much. He stood up, once again cupped his fists and bowed in front of the Sect Master and nodded at Yu Jin before he turned around and left the study.

It hadn't gone as well as he had hoped it would but he might be able to build on it at a later date.

Inside the study, Yuchi Bing Xia sipped his tea while looking at the door with narrowed eyes. After a while, he put the cup down and turned to the side. "What do you think?"

"He lied."

Yuchi Bing Xia waited but this disciple of his had turned mute once again. He sighed. "You don't want to elaborate on that?"

"As far as I know, Qiguan Cheng Da and Zhong Jing Yi know each other. They came from the same place. Maybe there's some bad blood."

Yuchi Bing Xia didn't respond. Maybe his disciple would talk more if he kept quiet? But unfortunately, Yu Jin had only gone back to silently sipping his tea. The Sect Master could only sigh. "Who knows what was truth and what was falsehood? We should send somebody else over."

"I'll go."

Yuchi Bing Xia raised his brows. "You want to go personally? Why that?"

"Didn't Master intend for me to go in the first place? Now that something like this happened I might as well do it. There's nothing for me to do in the sect anyway." He slightly furrowed his brows thinking of the stack of half-finished paintings in his house. If he left the sect … would he still see these things?

Yuchi Bing Xia didn't notice the slight change in his disciple and just nodded. "Alright, then you better go soon. If it's not necessary, don't tell those two what happened. We can't let them be distracted."

"Mn. Then I'll go right now." Yu Jin put down the cup and stood up. He cupped his fists, bowed and left.

Yuchi Bing Xia sighed again and poured himself another cup of tea. "This child … I really don't know what is going on inside his head."