Sunset Clouds

13.

"From this day on, you will no longer study with the rest of your peers."

Lu YanShui suddenly spoke those words out. FengYin almost dropped his chopsticks, but he didn't feel any shock. In the contrary, it was as if he had expected this.

FengYin set his chopsticks down. Despite it not being unexpected, there was still a heavy feeling in his chest.

"...May this disciple know why?"

Somehow, he still felt a slight sadness, and a sort of bitterness when asking that. However, he also felt a resigned sort of acceptance. Him asking that question was just mere curiosity. Lu YanShui followed him, and set down his chopsticks as well.

"Starting tomorrow, you will be one of my inner disciples."

Confusion rushed towards him like a surging wave. His mouth was hanging open slightly, and his eyes were widened in surprise. Lu YanShui reached out a hand across the table, and after hesitating, he patted FengYin's head.

The touch was enough to bring FengYin out of his shock. With a wavering voice, he uttered. "But, but..... Why?"

After asking that, he immediately wanted to rescind his question. He gripped the cloth of his robes tightly, and looked down, unwilling to see the peak master's expression.  YanShui retracted his hand.

At the sudden loss of weight on his head, FengYin looked up, and saw a chuckling silently YanShui. His ears felt hot all of a sudden, and somehow, he felt his heart beating quicker.

Hey, he was a lover of beauty! No matter what the gender, if one were to see a smiling beauty, won't their chests be itchy even if they don't like them romantically?

In his past life, since he has a resting bitch face, people won't notice it, but his current body is that of a child's!!! People would notice it!!

Looking at this timid guy, Lu YanShui felt amusement bubbling up within him. Albeit that, he was torn between answering the youth's question or to not answer it.

Guilt won out, in the end.

"The reason for the this was because of my guilt." He admitted. And then, continued. "However, I did not decide this because of simply guilt, I, as well as the peak elder has seen your potential, and we have decided to raise you from an outer disciple to an inner disciple."

Of course, the old man have been nagging him about this since the first lesson.

"I apologise as well for crushing the pills you made."

Destroying an alchemist's pills means to chew and spit on the alchemist's pride. The dark thoughts plaguing him has clouded out all his reasons and clear-mindedness, giving birth to the wrongdoings he has made.

Now that his mind is sober, he can see  how wrong his thoughts were. Even if the other party was going to be a traitor, they were still a child, still malleable. He shouldn't have acted rashly and assumed that he had also travelled back because of the sudden switch of LongYue and FengYin's destined peaks.

"That..." A sudden whisper from FengYin brought his thoughts out. He looked towards the youth, only to find him looking directly into his eyes, with a confused look in them. "That wasn't...your fault. It was mine. I was too preoccupied and I didn't pay attention. It was my fault that I lost focus, and didn't listen to what you had said. If I had been more concentrated, I would have done what you told us to do."

Lu YanShui was offset by this sudden self-blame. He was taken aback, quite surprised at how FengYin was acting.

He needed to calm the boy down. "It wasn't your fault." He calmly refuted.