Master into Lover

Chapter 4 in his arms

"Wait, my birthday is in three days. That means—in three days, another fire-type youth will die. The monks will definitely capture someone for sacrifice, right?"

"That's true, but what can you do?"

"Kill the abbot!" Xu Shu replied, gritting his teeth.

"Killing him alone is difficult, but I do have a way to kill the entire temple."

"Huh?"

"Poison!" Fang Zhihai replied with a smile. "Even though I can't defeat the abbot, if I poison the well, all these monks will die."

"No, no! That's not a good idea!"

Xu Shu quickly interrupted Fang Zhihai. He thought, "Mute Po and Jingchen are both good people. How could they be poisoned to death?Besides, not all the monks in the White Horse Temple are bad. ”

"Then I'm at my wit's end. I can't beat this big monk anyway. Even if you learn my Qinggong, we still can't defeat him together—Hey, you said you wanted to be my disciple, come on!"

Fang Zhihai was just teasing at first, but to his shock, Xu Shu actually dropped to his knees, kowtowed three times in deep reverence, and addressed him as ‌"Master!“

"..."

‌Fang Zhihai froze for a moment. He wasn’t mentally prepared to take on a disciple—he’d only been joking. The real issue was that, as an outer disciple of the Qingfeng Sect, sect rules forbade him from secretly accepting disciples

But Xu Shu had not only saved his life—he'd even completed the ritual of three kowtows. Under these circumstances, how could Fang Zhihai possibly refuse to accept him as a disciple?

Seeing Fang Zhihai not respond for ages, Xu Shu finally looked up and asked, 'You regret it? Then all three of those kowtows I gave you were just wasted breath.

To be honest, Xu Shu didn't feel he'd suffered any loss. He had nothing, but because of tonight's events, he had a lot more money and a friend like Fang Zhihai. Finally, a chance to start his own journey in the martial arts world, right? Seeing this friend's well-dressed appearance, perhaps he could help him find his father's whereabouts.

Thinking of his father, Xu Shu also fell silent.

"Dad... is he... still alive?"

The two men, mired in silence, exchanged glances. When Fang Zhihai caught sight of Xu Shu's somewhat sorrowful eyes through the firelight, a pang of guilt washed over him. He quickly helped Xu Shu to his feet and said, "Good disciple, get up quickly. Master will accept you as his disciple. At worst, you'll get a s******g from your master-in-chief."

"Pfft... You're so old, and you're still getting s*****d by your master-in-chief..." Xu Shu laughed as he stood up and sat back down on the stone in front of Fang Zhihai.

Fang Zhihai chuckled, suddenly recalling Xu Shu's earlier jest: "Am I old? Also correct, my daughter's almost as tall as you."

When Xu Shu learned that the man already had a daughter just as tall as he was, he suddenly felt downcast again. For some reason, he lost all interest in conversation, resting his head on his knees.

The small temple was actually quite dim, so Fang Zhihai naturally didn't notice Xu Shu's small emotion. "Disciple, even though Master can't defeat that old monk, our Qingfeng Sect is actually the world's foremost Taoist sect."

"Huh?" Xu Shu's expression shifted from worry to joy.

Initially, he'd only been thinking about learning Qinggong so the forced conscripts couldn't catch up to him. At least before that, he hadn't dared to imagine that he could actually join the world's foremost sect.

"If Master's Master were to fight that monk, would he prevail?" Xu Shu asked, feigning childishness.

"Patriarchal Master took action? Are you kidding? I'm only his 27th-ranked, outer disciple. I laze around at home, never bothering to train on the mountain. That's why I can't defeat this stinky monk. Any one of my 26 senior brothers could kill this monk in seconds!"

Seeing that Fang Zhihai didn't seem to be lying, Xu Shu stuck out his tongue. "So powerful!"

Disciple, it's time to sleep. Go get that bundle of straw and spread it by the fire. I'll teach you martial arts in a few days once my wounds heal better."

Xu Shu said nothing. He got up and fetched the bundle of straw, spreading it out in front of the fire to make a sleeping space for both of them. Then he lay down without a word.

Fang Zhihai, seeing Xu Shu's thin clothes, deliberately lay on the outer side of the fire. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he suddenly noticed Xu Shu's eyes were still wide open, staring at the shimmering tiles on the temple roof illuminated by the firelight.

"Why aren't you sleeping yet?" Fang Zhihai couldn't help but ask.

"I'm worried about my dad."

"Hey, it'll take a month to get to the northern battlefield from here. Besides, at your dad's age, he'd usually be in logistics, not on the front lines, so he won't die."

"Do you know how old my dad is?"

"You're an only child, right? Judging from your age, your dad is at most three years older than me. I'm 35, so he's at most 38."

Xu Shu's heart jolted. This man was 35 but looked at least a decade younger than his own father. "You're right... But are you sure my dad will be a logistics soldier?"

"More or less. The northern battlefield is short of logistics right now. At his age, he'd normally be a logistics soldier."

"How do you know?"

"I just know!" Fang Zhihai said this, then closed his eyes. He used his good right hand to pull Xu Shu in, holding him tightly to his chest, muttering, "It's warm to sleep with a child in your arms."

"I'm not a child!"

‌They remained silent until Fang Zhihai’s soft snoring began. Xu Shu kept his eyes open, staring at his master’s handsome face—the clean-shaven stubble, the slightly parted lips in sleep. For no reason he could name, he liked him, liked him enough to almost kiss him.

"Stop, Xu Shu!"

"Are you sick?"

Xu Shu cursed himself inwardly and began to reflect.

‌"Don't I like women? Why would I want to kiss a man? Think about those s*xy girls I used to know back in school, the office secretary with her big *ss... Oh, right, I’m 27 in the modern world, but anyone with friends has already lost their virginity, right?"

"I'd rather kiss a sow than this man!"

Suddenly, Fang Zhihai, who had been asleep under Xu Shu’s gaze, opened his eyes. Their eyes met for two or three seconds before Fang Zhihai abruptly asked, 'Why are you staring at me?'"

‌"Come on, you’re my only family now—what’s the big deal if I stare at you a little longer?"

"family... Okay! Okay!" Fang Zhihai was pleased with the term "family." He continued to hold Xu Shu close to his chest, hugging him even tighter.

Your parents are so careless! They didn’t even clothe you properly—how can you run through the snow in just two layers of linen? Since you see me as family, tomorrow we’ll head to the market. I, your master, will buy you a coat so thick it’ll make you sweat!

"I have money, I'll buy it myself."

After Xu Shu finished speaking, he hid the money bag he had found on the corpse inside his clothes, then curled up in Fang Zhihai's arms and fell asleep cautiously with vigilance.

Xu Shu woke twice in the night, each time finding his wallet still there and no monks chasing him down the dark road.

Master slept soundly, showing no intention of stealing his money.

Since this moment, he finally felt at ease and continued to sleep in his master's arms. All the vigilance, worry, and distrust melted away. By the second half of the night, Xu Shu had experienced the most peaceful sleep since he could remember.

‌About "since …he could remember"‌—whether it referred to his 27-year-old self in modern times or his 18-year-old self in ancient times, Xu Shu could no longer tell.

The memories of ancient and modern times—they had already merged into one in his mind, now an integral part of him.

"Smells so good..."

The aroma of roasted meat finally roused Xu Shu's eyes open. Following the scent, he saw Liu Zhihai turning two golden-skinned pheasants over the fire.

Fang Zhihai had already torn off a leg and was chewing it with gusto

"Kid, are you awake? Get up and eat some barbecued pheasant meat."

"How did you get it?" Xu Shu sat up and rubbed his eyes.

Fang Zhihai stuffed the chicken leg into his mouth, freeing his right hand. He picked up a stone and flung it out of the small temple.

The stone struck a branch with a thud, sending snow cascading down from the branches with such force.

“Wow, any stone could be used as a dart.” Xu Shu envied Fang Zhihai's martial arts even more.

Noticing Xu Shu was staring blankly, Fang Zhihai grinned. "What? Don't believe your master? Even without my darts, just my qinggong alone could snatch me a wild pheasant!"

"..."

Xu Shu's eyes became dull.

After finishing the chicken, Xu Shu munched a few more mouthfuls of snow before contentedly continuing his journey with Fang Zhihai.

The two of them sat on horseback together, and Xu Shu no longer felt unfamiliar with Fang Zhihai.

"Master, where are we heading?"

"Linhu Town. Beyond Linhu Town is Tanxing Town. Tanxing Town is the territory of Qingfeng Temple, so the monks can't touch us."

"Oh..."

"Don't worry too much about your father. Once you've mastered martial arts, you can go north to rescue him, understand?"

"I see... By the way, Master, who are the members of your family?"

Xu Shu originally thought that he had to first know who was in Fang Zhihai's family so that he could buy some suitable gifts.

Unexpectedly, Fang Zhihai stopped talking.

Xu Shu glanced back at Fang Zhihai and noticed his master's face was pale with rage. He then realized that his master's father had just passed away, and asking this question seemed inappropriate.

"Master, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought this up."

"It's okay, it's all in the past... My father and my wife died a month ago, murdered by those five men. That's why I hunted them down for revenge... The child is now living with grandma at Qingfeng Temple, safe. It's just that there's no one home now."

Fang Zhihai fell silent after that.

Xu Shu also fell silent. He didn't know how to comfort Fang Zhihai, and he didn't even know how to comfort himself—wartime was cruel. It seemed like every household had someone dying; it wasn't uncommon.

"Child, everyone dies. Don't be too sad. The living should live well."

"Oh..."

Xu Shu agreed, and began to whip his whip rapidly.

He was feeling overwhelmed.

He didn't want to continue feeling sad，and now just wanted to escape quickly.