Settling Down
“He was. Greedy. He deserved. To die.”
“Even though he’s a fellow sect member?”
Mu Yu had no response until he heard “fellow sect member”. He leveraged it and answered, “As fellow sect members, why did he not back me up when the others attacked me? He, instead, tried to take the opportunity to kill me. He did not treat me as a fellow sect member.”
“How was he supposed to know you were from the same sect?”
“I could ask the same question.”
“He wore our uniform when he died. You don’t mean to tell me you don’t recognise our sect’s badge, do you?”
Mu Yu had no time to pay attention to badges or those details when he was fighting off his attackers, yes, but that wasn’t enough to incriminate him. He argued, “Gramps explicated the person who escaped the valley was his disciple. I had yet to meet Gramps at the time, so we were not officially shifu and disciple. By the same account, I did not know he was with Pill Cauldron Sect. I would assume there are others beside myself who did not know that. Shi Yun, whom I accidentally killed, was privy, on the other hand.
“Huai Baiwan identified me in public, so Shi Yun would have known I was Gramps’ disciple and a fellow sect member. All I knew was I had become Gramps’ disciple. I had no idea I was a member of Pill Cauldron Sect. Even so, he chose to join the others to attack me. How do you explain that?
“I was only at Golden Core Realm during the attack, while he must have been at Primordial Infant Realm, correct? I almost died fighting the group. Do you honestly expect me to stand there musing over who I should kill and who I should not kill when they all jumped me?
“The only person I killed that technically falls under murder was Sword Purifying Valley’s Kuai Jian. When I was in the midst of ascending to Primordial Infant Realm, they assaulted me, causing me to suffer qi deviation. I have no clue how many people I killed during that phase of unawareness. Had Gramps not rescued me in time, I would not be able to speak to you now.”
“You also have a way with words, I see. I accept your explanation and won’t hold you responsible.” Daoist Yun Dao then said to Ku Mu, “You’re a lucky man. You have a superb disciple. It doesn’t end here, though. Junior Yao Wushi will be coming out of seclusion in two days’ time. I will discuss the name list issue with him and Junior Sister Leng. Stay here for now. I’ll have someone repair your house for you.”
“Shibo, when you say it is not over, did you mean you would be punishing me?” Mu Yu asked after Daoist Yun Dao spun around.
Daoist Yun Dao turned back. “I won’t punish you. I was reminding you to keep your wits about you. Shi Yun is Shi Dengtian’s grand disciple. Though they may not be family, he held Shi Yun in high regard. Your uncle and shifu don’t get along.”
Mu Yu: Doesn’t this just suck?
Cai Lie was ordered to notify Elder Bing Lengxue. How reluctant he was needed no description.
Once those two left, Ku Mu commanded, “You. House.”
Ku Mu went to sit down on a big rock, whilst telling Mu Yu to fix the house using a head gesture. Luckily for mu Yu, the lumberjacks already cut down enough bamboo for Mu Yu to build a simple house. As a bonus, he had his unique ability that empowered him to alter each bamboo’s length and glue them together tightly without the need for glue.
Mu Yu constructed a bamboo house in a single afternoon. Although Daoist Dao Yun did send disciples over to mend the house, Mu Yu told them not to worry. He accepted the bed, table, chairs and other necessities, nonetheless. The pills the entire sect consumed for sustenance, however, were tasteless. Having reverted to an ordinary human, the pills tasted even worse for Ku Mu. Fortunately, Mu Yu prepared plenty of roast duck.
Mu Yu scattered a powder that warded away snakes and bugs once the blue sky was covered in an ocean of blackness. The dragon vine could ward them off but better safe than sorry. And so, the four spent the night in the new bamboo house.
Cai Lie brought over a bunch of food and wine he pinched, neither of which Mu Yu needed. Ku Mu tuned out to be a lover of wine unlike Mu Yu. Cai Lie informed Mu Yu Tian Ran was going to be travelling to Second Heaven. None of them noticed Ku Mu’s reaction when he heard Secular World mentioned. Cai Lie had to leave at noon.
Ku Mu and Mu Yu went to explore another mountain. Mu Yu had nothing he could justifiably complain about when he didn’t know the place. On a particular mountain, they came across a scenic small lake tucked away between lush trees. There was an exquisite small green house. Green creepers lined the roof.
There were plain furniture and a painting of a beautiful maiden hung on the wall of the unlocked house. Ku Mu ran his hand along her long black hair extending down to her hips, eyes gleaming. Judging from how clean and tidy the house was, somebody was clearly taking care of it. Mu Yu left Ku Mu to his own devices and made his way to the balcony. Since half of the house sat over the top of the lake, a balcony was built so that one could admire the lake from above, and Mu Yu found watching the water ripples to be relaxing.
Ku Mu left without notifying Mu Yu. Fortunately, Mu Yu noticed him leave, so Mu Yu followed along. Ku Mu stopped next to a rock, with the character “ku” carved on it, by the lake. Ku Mu drifted off into his ocean of memories as he stood there.
Meanwhile, Mu Yu strolled around to kill time. Spending time in nature was always a reward for Mu Yu. Birds soared from boughs to boughs. The birds were too small to satiate their appetite. Howbeit, Mu Yu spotted a chubby white rabbit. He locked on and prepared to hunt, but the rabbit surprised him, climbing the tree. The rabbit was so vigilant that it apparently detected Mu Yu sneaking up on it when he hid in a tree. It vaulted and sped off.
“I’m not giving up!” Fifteen minutes later, Mu Yu still hadn’t caught up to the rabbit. “You may have some insane stamina for a rabbit, but I’m going to eat you for sure!”
Mu Yu decided to use the trees as it was his fastest mode of transport. He made a calculated leap, catching the rabbit while it was bouncing off one tree to another. The rabbit kicked up and fuss as Mu Yu tied its limbs up with a rope. Out of nowhere, the dragon vine let out whistle for urgent help in the form of a whistle.
“Ah, man, I hope we don’t have somebody after the dragon vine now,” cursed Mu Yu.
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