NOVEL NEXT 68: Expectations (IV)
Cool air blew onto the ship from the starboard, but the atmosphere on the deck remained tense. The disciples looked at Muchen, half terrified and half in awe.
The aura emanating from his body made them sweat, like they faced a beast king that had eaten thousands. They could almost taste the blood on their tongue even if he stood far from them.
To them, Muchen was a person they wanted to learn from. Even if he remained hidden and didn't give off the domineering aura that cultivators of his status had, they respected him as a teacher. But now they had to accept it.
When the time comes, he can be domineering too! The female disciples on the deck were especially smitten with this raw, powerful side of him. The male disciples stunned by the ferocious spirit.
As his popularity skyrocketed, Li Muchen faced his disciples in one corner.
"Did you two get enough practice with the techniques I gave you?" He asked. His tone still gentle, but the air around him made his disciples nervous.
"I… still need time with the Seven Rivers movement technique." Even the usually unfazed Sun Lingling couldn't make eye contact. She, too, had only seen the normal, sagely side of him, so the whiplash threw her off.
"I, uh, well…" Wang Yang was nervous too, but for a different reason. He couldn't make substantial progress with the techniques he got. They were much more complex to figure out, and he was a step away from entry-level mastery still.
With the current momentum his Master had, Wang Yang steeled himself for a punishment. But Muchen only showed his usual smile.
"No problem, the journey will last a week, you can use the training rooms on the ship till then. If you don't understand anything, you can ask me." Muchen knew the issue would get resolved with a few pointers.
Maybe because the gentle smile contrasted so much with his unkept appearance, it had a much stronger impact than usual. Wang Yang nodded with newfound confidence, while a female disciple from Tiger Peak collapsed in the back.
"Such perfection is hard to match, even for someone like me!" Lie Feng continued his posing as Muchen left the deck.
In the private chambers provided to him, Muchen sat on the wooden stool carved out of spiritual wood and faced the silver mirror. He took the wide-toothed wooden comb from the cupboard next to the mirror and, with slow, measured movements, slid the comb through his silky, ink black hair. His hair reached the middle of his back before, but because of the rapid growth after exiting the Hundred-Year elixir, it had reached his calves now.
As Muchen debated whether he should cut his hair or not, his junior sister arrived in the room, unnoticed by the people outside.
"Need some help, Senior brother?" Huang Bai asked, undoing her disguise. The face of the old, wrinkly lady lifted with the mist.
"If you wouldn't mind." He handed her the comb.
With a pair of scissors in hand, Huang Bai started to snip his hair. She reduced the length one part at a time in the back and adjusted the shape of the bangs in the front and side. In the end, she brought his hair together and used a silver butterfly clip to hold it in place. Seeing him from behind, a smile appeared on her lips, too.
"This takes me back. You used to care for my hair like this, Senior brother." Huang Bai once belonged to an influential noble family, so she had to get used to taking care of herself the hard way.
"You taught me so many things, and I watched you from close by because I too wanted to be like you, a calm and dependable senior that always has his juniors' backs." Huang Bai looked at Muchen's reflection in the mirror. "But it's because I've been watching you, it's hard to ignore the change."
With the hair out of the way, his face came into full view. He still had that strong, steadfast look on his face. Just like the senior brother she knew and respected. However, his eyes weren't the same.
He had a strong will reflected in those eyes before, an unrelenting grit that never wore away. No matter what the world threw at him, he would overcome it. He had that confidence in his eyes, and that brightness inspired her. It was the reason she turned from a helpless girl to a Peak Master.
But now, there was melancholy within those clear eyes. A hidden sadness that seemed to overflow with regret whenever he looked at them, whenever he looked at her. She noticed it first during the disciple selection ceremony, but it became more apparent after he came back from the trip with his disciples.
Seeing that look in her respected brother's eyes had kept her awake for weeks. So, she decided to confront it.
"What are you trying to do, Brother?" She asked.
Muchen matched her eyes in the mirror's reflection and smiled. It was the smile he had on when they first met 200 years ago.
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"Just trying to be a reliable senior brother." He said.
No matter how much he tried to mask the regrets and pain he went through before regression, Muchen knew that he couldn't hide it from two people. First, his master, and second, Huang Bai. Both had an incredible gift of reading people because they had a highly empathetic nature, due to their spiritual roots.
Since he expected himself to get caught, Muchen decided to make sure he only revealed a little bit rather than the entire truth. He didn't need to talk about the regression. He didn't need to talk about the grim future. He only needed to talk about what he saw for the current future.
All things considered, he knew the limits of working alone well. Muchen had the knowledge of the future and the intelligence to create plans around said knowledge. But he lacked the power and trusted people to carry out those plans. That was why he had to involve others in his attempt to catch Gu Changge. If he had the power, he could waltz into the enemy base and deal with them. But he couldn't.
The risk this time wasn't high either, but it would skyrocket in the future. He needed his trusted juniors, his sect behind him, to bring his vision into reality.
To do that that he had to share the future he had seen, but he couldn't present it as Li Muchen, who had regressed. He had to present it as the predictions of the meticulous Li Muchen that always planned, the Li Muchen whom his juniors were most familiar with.
"Bai'er, I'll tell you what I have been doing for the past few months." He held her hand, making her sit in the chair beside him.
"Please do." Huang Bai, feeling that her words got through, had a look of relief on her fair face. She expected him to be more stubborn, but she was glad he wasn't. Time had indeed changed her Senior Brother a lot from what he was a century ago.
She heard Muchen's story. A timeline of events as they had happened since his regression, but with a mix of coincidences to tie up the loose ends and holes. To Huang Bai, who thought she had gotten the truth out of her secretive senior brother after a heartfelt conversation, she had no choice but to believe it.
"So, Senior Brother happened to catch the Demonic cultivators during the caravan attack because you have been keeping an eye on them, and found out more information through them, uncovering their plot. After that, you dug deeper and happened to catch the assassination attempt on Gu Yingyue, orchestrated by the now revived Gu Changge. And this Gu Changge is being controlled by the Demonic sects that escaped from Master back then?" Hearing the turn of events, a deep frown formed on Huang Bai's forehead.
"Yes. Those old monsters withdrew from the Eastern Continent because they failed to deal with Master and The Temple; the current demonic sects left here were but small fries. They all live in hiding, fearing the Major sects." Muchen sighed. The peace that followed turned the sects complacent; the cultivators drank alcohol and visited red light districts more than they did practicing their techniques these days, and if that wasn't enough, they had turned on one another, always looking for a chance to profit. "Now that Master has stopped appearing as much, the old monsters have moved their hands. They are using Gu Changge to stir up the sects and create conflicts within us, and while the peace drunk cultivators turn on one another, the demonic sects overseas would enter the fray."
"They've been brewing this plan for years, and we didn't even notice. I am ashamed. But why isn't brother contacting the sect for reinforcements? Why didn't you tell us?" She asked, trying to understand Muchen's motivations. If he chose to do it this way, there must be a reason for it.
"Because I didn't have strong evidence, most of it has been my conjecture from the information I have gathered for the past few years. My theory was only proven by the attack on the caravan, so I dug deeper and found the schemes behind the sand. I planned to reveal more after I've got conclusive evidence that the Demonic Sects from overseas have a hand in this."
"Brother, why are you treating us like strangers? We would've believed you even if you didn't have evidence. We could've helped you with this." Huang Bai folded her arms, upset at his actions; however, she didn't raise her voice.
"We have clear roles, Bai'er. Master gave you four roles in the front; you are the lights who guide the sect to a bright future and protect the peace. I, on the other hand, work behind the scenes to eliminate the threats in silence and bury the traitors." Muchen didn't have the talent like his junior disciples, but his master respected his intelligence and capabilities when it came to scheming. "If it wasn't for you four causing a ruckus, I wouldn't have become a Peak Master either. Even now, I am doing the job assigned to me, while you all carry your duties marvelously."
"But you told me about this now. So, you must need my help, right?" Huang Bai smiled. He could've brushed her off, but decided to share the details. Living around him for so long, she had become accustomed to his non-verbal cues.
"You have included the Purple Cloud sect, even brought Han Yue from Frozen Flower Sect, but haven't told anyone else from our sect aside from Gu Fe. You've also left the Temple and Hundred sect alliance out of the loop." Thinking over the information given to her, Huang Bai reached the task she had to do in a few moments. "Since you expect a traitor on the inside, you want me to keep an eye on the people of the Hundred Sect alliance. Because if the attack doesn't happen, the traitor would be from Purple Cloud or Gu Fe, and if the attack happens as usual, someone from the Hundred Sect Alliance has leaked the location of the Eastern Martial Meet. Correct?"
"Splendid." Muchen smiled. "I'll feel at ease with you on the case."
"Brother should've shared it from the start." Huang Bai chuckled, covering her red lips with the black of her hand. "It's like Brother Hua said, we may be strong alone, but together we are unstoppable."
"Yeah… that we are." Muchen almost flattered, but gave a composed wave as Huang Bai left.
Muchen couldn't tell his juniors about his regression. He wanted to, but couldn't. He convinced himself that they won't believe him and lock him up. But that wasn't true. They would believe it if he said so.
But they would ask him what he saw, what they were doing in the said future. And, he'd have to tell them about what happened.
Maybe if they had fought together, if he had worked harder at bringing them together, he wouldn't have witnessed each of their funerals and lived in regret. One of them couldn't even get one because he couldn't find the body.
Even now, the memories haunted him. He didn't want to, no, he had to make sure that such a future didn't happen. Especially the incident that started their nightmare, the downfall of Huang Bai.
To do that, he had to eradicate the root cause of that incident. That's why he guided her into joining him for the Eastern Martial Meet and assigned this task to her.
He didn't like manipulating her, but even if it felt selfish and dirty, Muchen wanted to make sure he wouldn't fail.