A Sect Leader's Daily Life - Chapter 7

The next day, I slept until noon, enjoyed a leisurely brunch, wandered about for a while, and was taken down the mountain by Meng Xun.

“Why aren’t we bringing any disciples?” Even after we’d left the gates, I hadn’t seen anyone accompanying us.

Usually, when we went down the mountain to fight demons and uphold the righteous path, we brought disciples along. A sort of internship. With both Meng Xun and me going today, we could look after plenty of beginners. By rights, we ought to have brought more than usual.

Instead, there were only the two of us staring at each other. Even his personal disciple Qin Wan hadn’t come.

Meng Xun paid the matter no mind. He checked his belongings without so much as lifting his eyes. “They’d only be a burden.”

Right. If it had injured even Meng Xun, this might well be an extremely powerful monster. No wonder he was cautious.

I waited for him, bored out of my mind.

He’d had this habit for a long time. Every time we went out, he had to check carefully at the gates that he’d brought everything before he could set off with peace of mind.

It seemed to have started after that one mission.

We’d gone down the mountain together, and I’d been struck by some kind of monstrous poison. It required a Lingxiang Pill as an antidote. Those things were hardly common. Who would carry one around all the time?

The pain nearly made me lose consciousness, and he couldn’t take me traveling in that state. It took quite a while to get the poison out of me. Fortunately, it left no lasting damage. It was simply agonizing while it lasted.

He didn’t say anything at the time, but I could tell how much he blamed himself. He felt that not packing everything I might need had caused me all that needless suffering.

How could that possibly be his fault?

But Meng Xun was clearly stubborn. Once he’d decided something, nothing I said made any difference.

After that, Meng Xun outside the mountain became a regular Doraemon. Whatever you wanted, his spatial pouch had it.

He finished checking quickly. Today he wore his usual clothes, frost-white as always. Even the smallest stain would show glaringly on them, so his pouch also contained many spare sets of robes.

We ought to have worn the sect uniform when fighting demons and upholding the righteous path. But since it was just us, we could dress however we liked. I was the sect leader, after all.

By the time we reached Qingyue Town at the foot of the mountain, it was nearly evening.

Every cultivation sect had its own territory. The larger the sect, the larger that territory. We were responsible for dealing with demons and other threats within our own areas and generally kept out of one another’s business.

The three great powers of the immortal realm were currently the Xuanxiao Sect, the Chongming Sect, and Huayin Temple.

So our territory was quite extensive. Qingyue was one of its more prosperous towns.

Brilliant evening clouds filled the western sky. Soft orange-red light lay over streets full of people. Shops lined either side, crowds bustled to and fro, and hawkers called without pause. Cooking smoke carried the scent of meals. An old woman at a stall smiled kindly at passersby, while children ran after one another, laughing in little groups.

Unlike the immortal mountains, perpetually veiled in spiritual mist, everything here brimmed with ordinary human life. To someone who’d spent years cultivating alone in mountain valleys, it was indescribably lovely.

It felt like being truly alive.

Caught up in the atmosphere, I couldn’t help smiling.

I turned to Meng Xun. “It’s nearly dark. Shouldn’t we get started?”

This world contained spiritual power that let people cultivate and become immortals. Naturally, it also gave rise to all kinds of monstrous beings. Some were demons who harmed mortals; others were cultivators who’d gone astray and fallen onto the demonic path.

In any case, removing things that preyed on mortals was our responsibility.

Meng Xun unhurriedly took a money pouch from his spatial pouch. His usually cold, handsome face looked unexpectedly gentle. “No rush. Shall we look around first?”

I’d never liked using my brain. If Meng Xun said there was no rush, there was no rush.

I eagerly began browsing—and gave up after a few steps.

Meng Xun was too conspicuously handsome. Women in the street, young and old, looked at him openly or discreetly. Even a few men watched him with shy expressions.

It had been so long since I’d come down the mountain with him that I’d forgotten what a lethal weapon his face was in the mortal world.

Wherever we went, those gazes followed. Standing beside him was stressful. I didn’t feel worthy of standing beside him.

Meng Xun, meanwhile, looked perfectly at ease, as if he were used to it.

Annoyed, I said, “I’ll look around by myself. Stop following me.”

He looked puzzled. In the sunset, his mouth was set in a straight line, and there was an inexplicable melancholy in his eyes. He looked like some abandoned little creature. Just as my heart softened and I was about to take it back, he asked, seemingly offhandedly, “Did you bring any silver, Master?”

Right. I hadn’t brought a thing.

But wasn’t that a threat? Didn’t his distinguished master deserve some dignity? I held out my right hand. “Give it here.”

His grip tightened on the money pouch, as though he feared I’d snatch it. “Even close master-disciple relationships require clear accounts.”

“Tch. Then can’t I borrow some?”

“Sect rules forbid any disciple from borrowing money or valuables from others.”

“Which rule says that? It’s completely unreasonable. I’ll change it when I get back!”

“Article Thirty-four. Until you return and strike it from the Rule Stele, it remains in effect.”

Utter defeat.

In the end, I bought Meng Xun a veiled hat to wear. With his own money, of course.

I looked at the thoroughly concealed Meng Xun and nodded in satisfaction.

He still attracted a few glances, but it was much better than before.

We called it shopping. In practice, I shopped and he paid.

Borrowing money was forbidden, but having him pay for me directly was fine. What kind of bizarre rule was that?

Never mind. I didn’t have to repay money he spent on me anyway. Nothing wrong with that.

The sect’s food was always mild and plain. Since I’d finally come down the mountain, I ought to eat plenty of things I couldn’t usually have.

So I held a skewer of candied hawthorn in my left hand and an osmanthus-sugar steamed chestnut-flour cake in my right.

Ooh. That sweetness.

I took a bite and looked up just as the breeze lifted a corner of his veil. Meng Xun was watching me with an unreadable expression.

Seeing him hesitate to speak, I figured I was probably eating too messily. There were crumbs around my mouth. His obsession with cleanliness must have flared up again.

I was about to obediently promise I’d wipe my mouth with a handkerchief when I finished, but he spoke first.

“Eat slowly. Don’t choke.”

He actually wasn’t finding fault with me. Flattered, I generously offered, “Here. I bestow this skewer of candied hawthorn upon you.”

Even though he’d paid for it.

“…”

With food and drink taken care of, we prepared to work.

It was fully dark now. Meng Xun led me through several turns into a small alley.

“Here.”

We stopped before a house.

It was a thoroughly ordinary building, with other homes around it. Nothing about its appearance seemed wrong.

The only difference was the thick layer of dust on its wooden door, the smell of decay drifting from within, and… the smell of blood.