Feeling refreshed after Anji’s treatment, Bai Dajin looked five years younger and smelled infinitely better. However, the neglected state of his room made it unsuitable to host a dinner gathering. Hence, Mingshen organised for the manager of Golden Halo Hotel to book them a private dining room.
"It’s been a while," Mingshen greeted. "Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to accompany my younger sister to the Mystical Qilin Sect. Our father wishes for me to convey his gratitude."
Scoffing at the rigid etiquette unfitting of someone as boorish as him, Bai Dajin brushed past Mingshen and made a beeline to the table full of amazing appetisers. Anji noticed the extravagant use of mushrooms in the stuffed spring rolls. Even the dipping sauce had little chopped mushrooms inside.
"Is mushroom a speciality of Eternal Night Valley?" she asked. "It looks good!"
Feeling proud of his younger sister’s knowledge, Mingshen confirmed that the townspeople often pick wild edible mushrooms that were abundant in the valley. They grew easily in little nooks that nobody noticed. Even without a dedicated farming shed, mushrooms quickly became a staple ingredient used in food, one that was rarely lacking in this gloomy place.
After everyone was seated at the round table, Mingshen poured herbal tea and served it while Bai Dajin looked through the restaurant menu. Unlike other regions he had been to, the cuisine here lacked spice. They had many cold and pickled dishes, but the few warm dishes were mostly soups and salty clay pots he had grown sick of eating in the past week.
"You decide," Bai Dajin tossed the menu at Gu Ying. "I’ll eat anything that has meat and alcohol."
Frowning with disapproval, Anji advised the stubborn White Tiger Sect Leader to forego the wine for one night.
"Although you feel better after I administered acupuncture, your body still requires some time to balance itself. How about some herbal tea instead?"
Begrudgingly, Bai Dajin relented. He wasn’t about to contest with a doctor, even if she was only six.
Satisfied, Anji watched as her third brother’s shifu glumly sipped his herbal tea. While they entered in casual chat, Mingshen ordered dishes on behalf of everyone. The waiter received the large order easily and beamed when he received a few extra silver nuggets as tips for a speedy delivery.
Once the waiter had gone, Mingshen eyed the White Tiger Sect Leader. He heard all about it from his father. A year ago, Bai Dajin had no choice but to leave the Celestial Dragon Mountain even before he finished overseeing Yihao’s training because the demonic cult started to expand its influence beyond the murim world. When innocent civilians in the White Tiger Sect’s territory were compromised, the sect leader returned to fulfil his duty. However, even with his best abilities, the White Tiger Sect could not reduce the number of casualties because the high-tier spells used by demonic cultivators hindered them greatly. As a result, many people condemned the White Tiger Sect for neglecting its duties to the people, only selfishly focusing on their individual cultivation benefits.
In order to redeem his sect’s poor reputation, Bai Dajin offered to take responsibility by hunting demonic soul farms and outposts based on the Gentleman Club’s intel. Due to Bai Dajin’s overwhelming power, he was the only person in the White Tiger Sect who could force his way through spell arrays, crushing the enemies. As a result, the demonic cult survivors suffered huge losses, and the White Tiger Sect regained its reputation. However, the defeated demonic cultivators laid low to plot for a new type of operation. Two months ago, Bai Dajin stumbled into the first soul slave camp, where he slew hundreds of kidnapped children who were turned into soulless killing puppets. The children were mostly beggars and orphans who had not managed to celebrate their double-digit birthday when Bai Dajin slaughtered them. Some of the child soldiers were as young as Anji, leaving a bad taste in the White Tiger Sect Leader’s mouth after he tore out the throats of over two hundred children.
While child soldiers were weaker and posed a lesser threat than actual demonic cultivators, the psychological damage was too much for any righteous cultivator to bear. After receiving Bai Dajin’s report, Mingfeng ordered the Gentleman Club to stop providing any information to the White Tiger Sect Leader. Instead, he recommended that Bai Dajin take some time off to recover mentally.
Haunted by the dreams of children crying each time he slept, the guilt haunting Bai Dajin became too heavy to bear. It was Hong Nian Niang who suggested that the White Tiger Sect Leader take a chance to redeem himself as a protector of children once more by escorting Anji safely to her teacher’s sect. Without anything else to do, the man agreed, leading them to this awkward situation.
"I heard you mastered advanced spell arrays," he commented, picking up a braised peanut with his chopsticks. "Is there even a point in seeing the blind old lady when you can study at home?" Official source is novelFɪre.net
Huffing at how rude Bai Dajin was being, Anji snatched the last braised peanut from the saucer and chewed it angrily. Her cheeks puffed like a squirrel, tempting Bai Dajin to poke it with his finger. However, he refrained himself. If she ever complained about him to her father, the White Tiger Sect Leader would have to face Zhao Wanting’s wrath. There was nothing scarier than an overprotective mother.
"Shifu has only provided me with the fundamentals needed to enter her sect," Anji glowered. "Although I can create spells, seals and arrays, my cultivation progression is extremely slow due to the overly complex nature of the Celestial Root. Shifu said I can only start learning her successor techniques when I achieve the Solid Core foundation. With nobody else capable of understanding the Seven Star Meridian Channels, I need to train under shifu’s guidance so I can help everyone in the war against the demonic cult!"
It was untrue. The lazy golden dragon had been guiding Anji with her training every night. Anji never skipped a day of training. However, it was her physical vessel that limited her cultivation progression. Thanks to her shifu’s seal, Anji’s cultivation level was suppressed to something her body could handle. If the Celestial Dragon Sect were willing to help Anji tamper her body with more demanding physical training, she would be happier to stay. However, with so many worrywarts, Anji could not train for more than two hours in a day. Hence, she insisted on leaving the sect to see her shifu, the only person in the world who did not coddle her.
Hearing Anji’s declaration and determination to participate in the war against evil, Bai Dajin saw a glimpse of all the children he killed previously. Zhao Mingfeng made the right decision to send his youngest daughter to Yan Ping. There is no safer place in this world than the Mystical Qilin Sect. Even the rogue disciple of the sect who supported the demonic cult was no match for Yan Ping in her domain.
"Don’t be in a hurry to grow up," he told her. "Study well, eat well and sleep well. That’s all your parents really want from you. Yan Ping is a very strict teacher so you must always be on your best behaviour. She will not let you graduate if she does not think you are ready."
Agreeing with something Bai Dajin said for the night, Anji nodded. Her shifu was a strict person, and Anji knew she would not be shown any favouritism when she entered the Mystical Qilin Sect. The seniors are also people who looked down on those who entered by riding the coattails of others. There would be plenty of hardships to overcome in the near future, but Anji remained optimistic she could prove herself to them with her hard work.