Chapter 457 – My Master Is Not Human – Might as well go pull weeds (04)
Fu Maiwen’s original intention was to stop Bai Tang from getting angry, but his attempt at coaxing him ended up completely futile.
Wang Cheng, on the other hand, was the type to take advantage of any situation. Although he couldn’t clearly hear what the people seated above were saying, he could see Bai Tang turn his face away in anger. He assumed that Fu Maiwen and Bai Tang were on bad terms and that Fu Maiwen was deliberately provoking him.
With that thought, Wang Cheng—who was already holding his head high in arrogance—lifted it even higher. Isn’t it just Medicine Peak? They couldn’t even carry things on their shoulders or lift with their hands. Weren’t they only able to secure a place in Le’an Immortal Sect by relying on their looks?
Le’an Immortal Sect was well-known in the cultivation world. Among its peaks, Sword Peak was the strongest in combat, followed by the equally renowned Artifact Peak, Music Peak, and Talisman Peak. Medicine Peak, however, remained obscure and desolate because its peak master rarely went out.
Seeing that Bai Tang ignored the many talented geniuses and instead chose someone with a mixed spiritual root, Wang Cheng looked down on him even more. Could it be that he has no real ability and can’t teach good disciples, so he deliberately accepted someone who can’t learn anything to cover up his own incompetence?
He completely forgot that just moments ago, Wen Leng had been competing with Bai Tang to recruit disciples. In any case, he simply looked down on the obscure Medicine Peak, believing it was useless and only remained because of its connections. In his eyes, Pei Boyi would have absolutely no future if he went there.
Fortunately, Pei Boyi couldn’t read minds. Otherwise, if he knew how Wang Cheng was belittling Bai Tang in his heart, he would have beaten him on the spot until he was begging for mercy.
Fu Maiwen was dragged into Bai Tang’s anger and held back a breath of frustration—not directed at Bai Tang, but at Wang Cheng. Why did he have to talk so much? Now he had been implicated as well. Sitting at the head seat, he watched the new disciples being tested for spiritual roots with a sullen expression, deciding to take in another disciple for focused training. Given Wang Cheng’s temperament, he likely wouldn’t go far anyway, so there was no need to waste effort on him.
This year, only twenty-five people made it through the mountain gate. Fu Maiwen selected two more disciples, while Wen Leng took in a cold and aloof young girl. The rest who were favored by the elders were accepted as disciples, while those who were not became outer sect disciples.
Before the disciple recruitment ceremony ended, quite a few people shared Wang Cheng’s disdain for Medicine Peak. After learning that they had become outer sect disciples, they looked at Pei Boyi—who, despite having a mixed spiritual root, had entered Medicine Peak as an inner disciple—with envy and jealousy. Some even felt slight resentment toward Bai Tang for not choosing them despite their higher aptitude, thinking he was blind to talent.
After all, comparison breeds dissatisfaction. If Bai Tang had accepted no one, or only those with better aptitude than them, they wouldn’t have felt much. But among the twenty-five, the worst candidate, Pei Boyi, was taken by Bai Tang—how could they not feel unwilling?
Bai Tang, however, didn’t care about what others thought. After the recruitment ceremony ended, he happily led Pei Boyi back to Medicine Peak with a bright smile.
“This is the herb garden, that over there is the pill furnace. Follow this path down and you’ll reach the alchemy hall…”
In the past, new disciples were usually guided around by senior disciples to familiarize them with the environment. Even though Medicine Peak hadn’t accepted new disciples for a long time, this system still existed. Yet this year, when a newcomer finally joined, Daoist Heyi personally led him on a tour—leaving all the disciples utterly stunned.
“Your room is arranged next to mine. If there’s anything you’re not satisfied with, just tell me and I’ll change it for you.”
Because he was treating this as his final world, Bai Tang wished he could give his beloved everything the best in the world.
Xiao Bobao had told him that once the storyline of this world was complete, he would have to leave. Unlike before, he wouldn’t be able to stay for decades after finishing his task. He had already decided that before leaving, he would give everything in his storage pouch to Pei Boyi.
Medicine Peak lacked nothing when it came to plants. Stepping into the spirit-energy-rich peak made one feel refreshed in both body and mind, naturally drawing people to this peaceful, pastoral lifestyle.
Neither the original owner nor Bai Tang liked conflict, and the disciples under him were also peace-loving. By joining Medicine Peak, Pei Boyi’s life was much better than in the original storyline where he entered Sword Peak. On top of that, with Bai Tang’s favoritism, his treatment was practically on par with Bai Tang, the peak master himself.
In truth, Bai Tang really wanted to share a room with Pei Boyi. But considering that the other still needed to cultivate and required private space—and that he had to keep up appearances in front of the disciples—he restrained himself. It’s not scarcity but inequality that breeds resentment; if others developed ulterior motives and secretly sabotaged Pei Boyi, that would be bad. Though cultivation had its benefits, its dangers were equally obvious. A moment of carelessness could give rise to inner demons or lead one down the wrong path, and then everything would be ruined.
“Tang Tang, you don’t need to fuss. I’m fine with anything.”
Bai Tang had been considering whether to take out the soft mattress bed from his storage space to replace the small wooden bed, but Pei Boyi’s sudden interruption threw off his train of thought.
“Wait, what did you just call me?” Bai Tang turned back in surprise at the child behind him. Shouldn’t he be calling him Master?
“Tang Tang,” Pei Boyi replied, looking at Bai Tang’s stunned expression and finding his little squirrel even cuter.
“I never forgot, Tang Tang…” Pei Boyi said affectionately, taking Bai Tang’s hand.
Then he realized… his hand wasn’t even as big as Bai Tang’s. It felt like a child secretly holding an adult’s hand. Well—wasn’t he a child right now?
This wasn’t the first time Pei Boyi had regained all his memories. Bai Tang wasn’t as emotional as he had been when he found out in the previous world. Instead, he was more focused on the current situation: his beloved was younger than him now—he could lift him up with just one hand.
And that was exactly what he did.
He picked Pei Boyi up and set him on his lap. Heh, he had wanted to pull A Yi into his arms for a long time—this dream had finally come true.
“You have to be good—eat properly, sleep properly, and cultivate properly. Otherwise, I’ll spank your butt.”
Bai Tang’s go-to method for dealing with children was spanking their bottoms—just like how Pei Boyi used to spank his when he was younger.
Caught off guard, Pei Boyi was suddenly smacked on the butt, his eyes filled with undisguised shock. Bai Tang had only meant to scare him a little, but he hadn’t controlled his strength well. He could only chuckle awkwardly. “An accident, an accident~”
Then he remembered that he was now his master. Since he had already hit him, there was no need for a reason. Straightening his chest, he said confidently, “If you don’t behave, I’ll spank you again next time.”
He had seen his little squirrel act fierce and clawing before, but this was the first time he had seen him threaten a child in the tone of an elder.
Pei Boyi wasn’t angry—he just felt a sense of helplessness. None of the previous worlds had made him feel such a sense of crisis. He was still too weak—so weak that back in the main hall, just about anyone could bully Tang Tang.
“Understood, Master.”
Bai Tang choked on the title. The words at the tip of his tongue suddenly wouldn’t come out. So he really was treating him as his master now.
“Fine, you chose to call me that—I didn’t force you. From now on, you must respect your master. Rule number one: you are not allowed to climb into your master’s bed.” Bai Tang didn’t even know why he felt annoyed. He just didn’t like hearing Pei Boyi call him Master; it felt like it created distance between them.
Bai Tang set Pei Boyi down on the bed. Before leaving, he even prepared clothes and hot water for him to bathe, then stormed out of the room in a huff, closing the door behind him.
Even if Pei Boyi was still young, he was still his person. Things like bathing absolutely couldn’t be seen by other men.
The senior disciple, who had been about to find the new junior brother to explain the rules of Medicine Peak: “???” Master, why did you push me away?
All the disciples who had come to welcome their new junior and build camaraderie were driven off by Bai Tang. “Your junior brother is bathing—what, were you planning to scrub his back too?”
The second disciple was just about to reply, “That’s not impossible,” when the senior disciple elbowed him, signaling him to shut up.
Didn’t you see that Master is in a bad mood? And you’re still adding fuel to the fire? Do you want to spend three days and nights pulling weeds in the herb garden?
The senior disciple cupped his hands and said, “Then this disciple will wait until Junior Brother Pei has tidied himself up before explaining how to care for the herb garden.”
Bai Tang waved his hand, dismissing them all and telling them not to linger around.
Half an hour later, a cute little “bun” had freshly emerged.
Chosen by the Heavenly Dao as the male lead, Pei Boyi was outstanding in every aspect. Though his features had yet to fully mature, one could already glimpse how stunning he would become in the future. His facial proportions were nearly perfect—no matter how you looked at him, he was handsome. It was just that, due to prolonged hunger and cold, his body was severely undernourished and thin.
Seeing how frail Pei Boyi looked, all of Bai Tang’s anger vanished. He wished he could immediately stuff him with all the best food and drink, raising him into a fair and chubby figure.
“From now on, Pei Boyi is your junior brother,” Bai Tang introduced.
“This disciple, Pei Boyi, greets Master and all senior brothers,” Pei Boyi said. Not wanting to put Bai Tang in a difficult position, he followed convention and addressed him as Master in public. This didn’t arouse any suspicion. On the contrary, his frail appearance led the senior brothers to spin an entire tragic backstory in their minds.
No wonder Master personally guided the little junior brother around Medicine Peak and prepared his room. So his past life must have been miserable—unable to eat his fill or keep himself warm. Just look at him: skin and bones, barely any flesh at all. Master must have discovered his hardship and, fearing they might be careless and hurt the junior brother’s self-esteem, personally brought him into the sect.
Looking at the group of teary-eyed senior brothers in front of him, Pei Boyi suddenly felt that Bai Tang’s decision not to let Medicine Peak get involved in outside conflicts was absolutely correct. He hadn’t even said anything, yet each of them had already started imagining things. No need to guess what they were thinking—whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t anything accurate. They were probably even pitying him for having no parental love and for suffering hunger and cold.
“Junior Brother Pei, don’t worry. From now on, your senior brothers will take care of you.”
“Exactly! If there’s anything you don’t understand or anything you’re lacking, just come to your Second Senior Brother—I’ll make sure you have it.”
“At your age, you’re still growing, and you haven’t reached bigu yet—you still need to cultivate, so you’ll definitely get hungry easily. Whatever you want to eat, just tell your Third Senior Brother. I’ll prepare it for you and make sure you never return to your previous nightmare.”
Alright—he was certain now that these senior brothers had completely imagined a tragic life for him.
Pei Boyi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Should he say that like master, like disciples? They were all cultivators, yet each of them was as simple and naive as his Tang Tang.
In any case, the conflict Bai Tang had worried about—senior and junior brothers turning against each other—never appeared. Instead, they got along harmoniously, living in cheerful unity. It even got to the point that when Bai Tang wanted to sneak over at night to sleep with Pei Boyi, he didn’t dare go in because the light in Pei Boyi’s room stayed on all night.
Sigh… Bai Tang let out a long, melancholy sigh, gazing at the stars in the sky. Should he send those disciples—who were currently busy bonding with his beloved and interfering with his time with A Yi—to the herb garden to pull weeds?
Or send them to pull weeds?
…Better send them to pull weeds.