Three years later.
In the Red Bean Village, a small village surrounded by the Martial Devouring Mountains, four cultivators were peacefully discussing:
"And then, when I was dancing, I slipped and, well, it seems fate did not feel happy with me this day because at the exact same moment, the server tripped as well, and I ended up on the flour, covered in booze"
Hearing Zi Moyan begrudgingly narrating her story, both Hanchen and Baotian could not help but burst into laughter, as Ye Mu looked away, so his face would not be visible as he laughed silently.
"Why are you laughing, you brats?" she asked, frowning.
"Now, now, senior sister, why are you always calling us brats?" Baotian asked. "You know, technically I am the oldest of us two, which makes you the second youngest here"
Zi Moyan scoffed:
"Maybe, but as far as I'm concerned, seniority is determined by strength, not age, meaning I am the senior here" she retorted. "And as a senior, I decree you must be the next one to tell us an embarrassing story"
Baotian rolled his eyes:
"Fine, fine" he said. "Let me search for a bit… Oh right, I believe I found a good one!"
He cleared his voice, preparing his words before telling his story:
"So, once, in a not-so-small clan, there was a little man who was very intelligent. And very lazy, too. This little man did not yet understand the importance of cultivation and so, was very frustrated to be forced to sit on his butt eight hours a day just to reach the mid stage of Qi Refining. But when he told that to his master, the master smacked him with his fan!
Furious, the little man decided that he would have his revenge: one day, using his intelligence, he made his own dye from herbs he found, and replaced his master's soap with it, resulting in the poor master to end up with green hair!
The little man felt extremely proud with his prank, but he had forgotten something: even though he had already reached adulthood, he was still less than a sixth the age of his master, a mere child to him. And so, well, he ended up getting spanked just like a child, for three whole hours. If you wonder… it did hurt, really"
Everybody laughed, including Baotian himself, who shook his head in amusement:
"The little man, humiliated and grudgeful, began to cultivate on his own after that" he said. "That's only when he encountered blocks at multiple points that he realized just how much effort his master had been putting in to help him. He returned to his master, ready to beg to be forgiven, but the latter had already forgiven him, and welcomed him with a hug"
Baotian's smile faded a bit:
"Tragically, we had to part ways, as our paths didn't align anymore" he said. "But even then, I don't believe he will ever stop to be my master"
Hearing the end of his story, the other three felt slightly bad for him, and Zi Moyan quickly scoffed to hide her feelings:
"Hah, don't think I can't see through your schemes, junior brother, you're just exploiting your storytelling talents to turn your embarrassing story into an emotional one, you shameless cheater" she said.
"I admit, I've been seen through" Baotian replied, not denying. "Hanchen, your turn"
The youngest one thought for a bit.
"Honestly, my story is similar to yours" he said. "Except I put worms in her plate instead of replacing her soap by dye, and got hanged to a tree by by the wrists in my clan's public place for six hours instead of being spanked"
Baotian, empathic, nodded:
"I understand, I understand" he replied. "Life is hard when you are born mischievous, isn't it?"
"Yes, it truly is"
"They just can't grasp our genius"
The two nodded to each other with solemn expressions of understanding, while Ye Mu and Zi Moyan looked at each other, simply feeling bad for their masters.
"Alright, I suppose it's my time" Ye Mu said.
"Yes please, go on" Baotian said. "I'm sure you're the one with the most interesting stories here, as the actual senior of the group"
He narrowly avoided a nudging from Zi Moyan, laughing, before settling to listen to the fox story:
"I… One time, a fellow of the Fox tribe, a lady, had taken a liking on me and tried to court me, and when she realized I wasn't interested, she tried to use an aphrodisiac on me. But somehow, she failed her preparation and instead, I ended up chasing my tail for the rest of the day. It's a funny memory when you think about it"
"..."
"..."
"..."
As the other three remained silent, Baotian felt enlightened on Ye Mu's personality:
'Ah, I see, that guy was always far too much of a carpet. No wonder he's ready to agree to serving a demonic cultivator for years, he just… doesn't seem to have a backbone?'
Hanchen had visibly come to the same conclusion, as he took the fox aside:
"Alright, listen senior, I know it may sound pretentious, but I believe a class on how to handle this kind of thing is necessary" he said. "Firstly, as a former member of a righteous faction, let me enlighten you on all the ways you can get back at someone who's targeting you without getting out of line…"
As the two got further, Baotian and Zi Moyan looked at each other:
"Let us pray that he won't corrupt our poor Ye Mu" the latter said.
"Yes, but I wouldn't entertain this hope, it seems that his treacherousness surpasses even his naivety"
"Right? I guess in this aspect, he really deserves to be your disciple, 'Ba Ke'"
"Hah, a disciple that does not even recognize his master after spending three years with him, as if he was deserving of anything!"
He laughed, but his heart clearly wasn't at it. Zi Moyan sat down beside him:
"These three years weren't so bad, were they?"
"Yes, they were pretty nice" her junior brother admitted. "It's like the Purple Sky Village, except we aren't brainwashed, and we are not just wasting our lifespan"
Zi Moyan frowned:
"Of course you had to mention this wicked place"
"Ahh, sorry. To be honest, I didn't keep a good overall memory of this place either" Baotian admitted. "But to be honest… there were some good parts, weren't they?"
"Maybe. Still, a place like this, where each second spent there is actively making us forget our goal, it can't be anything other than a bad memory"
"You're right. Still… I wish we could just stay like this, cultivating while living peacefully"
Hearing these words, Zi Moyan looked up at the sky, thoughtful. However, she quickly covered her eyes with her hand, as the sunlight was descending upon them:
"Heavens regulate humans so the world stays in order" she said. "Since we demonic cultivators fundamentally walk a path that is not approved by heaven, it's only normal that they make it harder for us in return, right?"
"Maybe. But if heavens were the ones who made us so miserable that we were forced to go this way in the first place, then they're not any better than us"
"Don't try to reason like this, junior brother. If you begin to compare your morals with those of something so high we can't even comprehend it, you won't last long before losing your mind"
"I know, I know that very well, senior sister, but it's just so frustrating"
"Yes, it is"
"..."
"..."
"Baotian?"
"Yes?"
"You didn't change your mind about refining Hanchen, did you?"
"No, I didn't… I don't think so at least. Do you think I'm wrong for that?"
"No, I don't believe so, that's the right decision to make"
"Thank you for saying this. It gives me some peace of mind"
"That's nice"
They went back to being silent and, just like his senior sister before, Baotian tried to look up at the sky, only for his eyes to ache.
"Yes, I guess heavens really do hate us"
Meanwhile, on their side, Hanchen's improvised class for Ye Mu had already ended, and they now were simply discussing:
"So, senior, I am not really well informed about the Spirit Beasts, is the Fox tribe a righteous faction?" the young cultivator asked.
"Hmm, it's not exactly how it works" the fox replied. "Even though most sects are composed of Spirit Beasts of the same species or species group, which we call tribes, not all the members of a tribe are necessarily going to join. That said, I was indeed part of a righteous sect"
"Oh, good to know. Then were you taught the five virtues too, senior?"
"Benevolence, righteousness, code of behavior, wisdom and trustworthiness, right? Yes, we were taught this"
"Oh, that's nice. Which one would you say is the most important?"
"Hmm… I never really thought about it, honestly. I believe it really depends on the person and the circumstances"
"That's a really wise answer, senior"
"The way you say it, it seems you have a more pronounced opinion"
"Haha, indeed, I do, senior. I believe in-"
Just at this moment, their discussion was interrupted by several mortal kids, who swarmed right around Hanchen:
"Sir cultivator!"
"Sir cultivator, you're back here!"
"Please, use your incredible powers again!"
"Sir cultivator, what is this big fox there? Is he your friend?"
A dozen of these surrounded the two cultivators, drowning them in sounds.
"Calm down, calm down, cultivators may be more resistant than mortals but that doesn't mean our ears are invulnerable" Hanchen said, trying to make them stop.
The children quickly diminished the intensity of the noise, and the young cultivator signed before turning to Ye Mu:
"For your information, little brats, the kind fox here is my senior" he said. "You should have more respect for him"
Hearing it, they changed the way they looked at the fox, now slightly intimidated.
"That's better" Hanchen said, nodding. "After all, only respectful children deserve a great Core Formation-level senior to show them his amazing powers, right?"
Their eyes immediately brightened:
"Please please, senior, show us your amazing powers!"
Hanchen looked at the fox, begging him silently to go along. The latter, looking at the kids, felt his heart warm up for some reason, and led them to the border of the village, where he wouldn't risk being swallowed by the mountains. Using his spells, he made thousands of leaves fly around at once. As it was much more than what he normally used, he could only infuse each with enough spiritual energy to control them but, with his Golden Core cultivation, he could at least control each of them to a certain level.
In front of the children, the leaves flew together, gaining the shape of a large peng bird, which flapped its wings a few times before dissipating, the leaves flying back to the ground as the little ones watched in awe. Less than a minute later, when they recovered from their awe, they all began cheering, amazed by what for a mortal was often a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. One of the children, a little girl no more than five, approached the Spirit Beast and hugged his leg:
"Thank you, sir cultivator" she said. "It was the prettiest thing every"
After that, Hanchen finally managed to make them go back to their parents:
"Phew, I'm sorry for bothering you, senior" he said.
"No, no, it was a… good moment" Ye Mu replied. "I didn't think that one day I would use my hard-earned cultivation to entertain human children but, if anything, it made me feel better"
He looked at the sky:
"During my life, there were several instances where I saw us Spirit Beasts interact with humans and, everytime, it was either out of necessity or to fight each other. Maybe if what we just did was something that every cultivator, a small act of kindness toward children of the opposite race, to help them see beyond their prejudices, the world would be a more peaceful place"
"Yes, I think so too" Hanchen said. "Even though I know that just my actions won't change much, I like to think that in the future, if I help someone out of goodwill, then they too, one day, will help someone else out of the kindness of their heart, and so on. That's why for me, the most important of the Five Virtues is benevolence"
"Benevolence… I see" Ye Mu replied.
He bit his lip, hesitated, and then spoke:
"Junior Hanchen, actually there is something that you should know" he said.
"Ah? What is it, senior?"
As Hanchen looked at him, intrigued, the Spirit Beast opened his mouth, then closed it, and tightened his jaw, before opening it again:
"I… it's nothing much, don't worry" he said. "I, well, uh, actually had something planned with sister Zi, so I have to go now"
As always, Ye Mu was terrible at lying. If he had been careful, even a little bit, Hanchen would have definitely realized something was wrong. However, despite everything, he remained a naive person, and had too much trust in this senior he had known for three years already.
"Alright then, I hope to see you again soon, senior"
The fox nodded, and then turned around, facing the young cultivator with his back, too shameful to even look at him anymore.
'With the tampering on my core, I am not the master of my decisions anymore' he thought. 'I'm sorry, junior Hanchen, after everything I have done to reach the Golden Core realm, I am… not brave enough to risk my own life by warning you'
He had lived for nearly two centuries but not once, not even when he spent his day chasing his own tail, had he felt so shameful.