Warning tags:
Angst, child abuse, torture, Madam Yu slander, blood. Read at your own risk ig.
Cale once again sighs, he doesn't know how many times he sighed for today.
'Peaceful happiness? Xianghuan? Hah! Don't make me laugh!'
"Focus more on creating a pathway, Wei Xun!" Jiang Fengmian says, making Cale want to screw all the plans he have and just run away.
'Pathway! Fuck everything! I want to escape!'
What was it he said when he accepted Jiang Fengmian's condition back then? Right, he was very very sure that he wouldn't cultivate since he wasn't from this world.
Cale wants to strangle the God of Death when he sees him next time.
"Wei Xun! Don't let your mind wander around and focus!"
"I'm trying alright!"
Though the redhead can easily stop and lie that he couldnt do it, that he's too weak to cultivate his golden core, he didn't say anything to Jiang Fengmian.
The eyes that were observing him from afar, he annoyingly know those eyes from everywhere.
There was another God watching him aside from the God of Death. But he doesn't know if it was a God from this world or from the previous one.
"Keep it up, you're doing great."
The other disciples whispered amongst themselves. Some were scared as some were in awe as they watched the Sect Leader guide the redhead.
There were gold-rose wisps coming from the redhead as he continued to meditate, it was wild at first but soon became calmer when Sect Leader Jiang started teaching Cale.
"You have a golden core, it was small but strong." Was what Jiang Fengmian said after letting go of the redhead's shoulders.
Cale sighs again in exasperation, his imaginary slacker life officially waving him goodbye as he laments.
The smile on Jiang Fengmian's face ominously looked very much like Ron's, making Cale shiver as he cried internally.
Cale then whipped his head around again, his eyes squinting as he looked at the eyes of the God that was watching him.
"Sect Leader Jiang, is it possible for martial gods to take interest in mortals?" Cale asks.
He was no stranger to the Gods in the cultivation world, much less to those in this world as he practically recorded every information he can find in the library.
'I need to broaden my scope and read other books in other libraries.'
"It is possible and it was rare at times. In most cases, it's those mortals that had made a sin that the Heaven Realm couldn't ever forgive."
"What was the other reason?"
As Cale stretched his stiff body for sitting too long, the redhead almost fell off from his feet when Jiang Fengmian said the other reason.
"You have the qualifications to become a Martial God and ascend to the Heaven Realm."
Now this information isn't where you can find anywhere in a deserted library. Cale couldn't help but curse and prayed to the God of Death that it wasn't a Martial God.
"A-die! Gege!" A hoarse voice screamed, making Cale stand up in alarm as he looked at Jiang Cheng.
"A-Cheng? What's wrongㅡ!"
"A-niang! Please stop A-niang! Wei Wuxian will die at this rate!"
The word die and Wei Wuxian shouldn't belong together in a sentence. Everything around Cale's range of hearing deafened as he instantly put Sound of the Wind in his ankles and started walking away.
Cale's breath hitched in his throat, the red pigment on the floor was all he could see, and Wei Ying kneeling on the ground while bleeding was all he could witness.
"My Lady!"
Zidian came, but it didn't inflict pain to Wei Ying, but to Cale who stood in front of the bleeding child.
"A-Xun!" Jiang Yanli screams who were being held by the servants since she wanted to defend Wei Ying earlier.
'So this is why that bastard God wanted me to set the two of them up.'
If Cale knew that this was what Wei Ying would face in this Sect, he wouldn't have let the child become a disciple and just raise him by himself.
Cale looks down, his bleeding eye twitching from the pain the whip inflicted earlier.
The wound didn't heal even after a few seconds when it should've been.
"What is it that he did wrong now...Madam Yu? Is it really necessary to punish him to this extent?" Cale calmly asks, his reddish-brown eye staring straight to Madam Yu's own.
"Endangering other disciples, running around with no care for his surroundings, it is only right for me to constrain his childish and wild acts."
Cale's pale fingertips twitched, a sarcastic gasp escaping from him.
"A-Niang! It's not his fault! I am in the wrong too! So please stop, he didn't do anything! A-Niangㅡ!"
"Silence! I will deal with you later!"
Jiang Fengmian then tries to reason too as he stood in front of Cale who was protecting Wei Ying from Zidian, "My Lady, I'm sure we can talk about this! You! Get a physician!"
"Almost killing a disciple because of his rash acts! Don't tell me you're protecting him too just because he's Cangse Sangren's son?! They're already dead, Jiang Fengmian! So don't try to be a father to him and start acting like one to your own children!"
The wound in Cale's eyes finally closed as he wiped it away with his hands, making him look like he was shedding tears from another people's perspectives.
"Almost killing a disciple, is that why you're punishing him near death too?"
The bone-chilling voice reverberated throughout, the reddish-brown eyes looking at them with animosity.
"I shouldn't have let him live here." Cale states before turning away, walking closer to Wei Ying who still continued to bleed on the ground.
"Don't you dare lecture meㅡ"
An ominous aura shot out of Cale, making the other disciples tremble in fear as the Jiangs looked in agitation to the redhead.
"I am his father, his brother, his best friend, his family. I think I have every right to lecture you since you are abusing him out of jealousy towards his deceased parents. The Sect Leader and Madam should try communicating sometimes, it helps you gain a healthy relationship and attain close relationship with your children."
Cale kneels as he cradled Wei Ying's head in his lap, the younger's eyelids fluttering as he looked at his gege with a blurry eyesight.
A lone tear then fell to his cheek.
Of course he knows his gege, considering that the vibrant red hair was one of Cale's uniqueness to this world.
"G-Gege...don't cry...I'm alright."
"I'm not crying, brat."
Wei Ying let out a hoarse laugh before saying, "Gege is s-such a l-liar."
Cale also doesn't know why there are tears falling from his eyes, considering the emotions he's feeling are only rage and emptiness.
"You should sleep for a while, Shijie will cook you your favorite lotus pork rib soup once you wake up."
Wei Ying just hums before closing his eyes tiredly.
"Gege...don't be angry too much..."
'Forgive? And possibly even forget what they did? No, fuck this and fuck them.'
Wisps of rose-gold rose from Cale's shoulders once again as he regulated his spiritual powers, before those said wisps started to move around and danced around Wei Ying.
"Wei Xun...please stop...you might hurt yourself in the process tooㅡ"
"Stay away, Sect Leader Jiang. I don't know what I'll do to you if you come close even just a half of a li to us." Cale says when the Sect Leader tried to come close to the two of them.
The dominating aura subsided, but Cale's piercing gaze is still there etched on his stoic face.
- Close his wounds using your spiritual powers, though it wouldn't let him fully recover, atleast he won't be knocking to my door anytime soon.
The God of Death tried to joke in Cale's head, which he only received a silent treatment.
After several minutes, the rose-gold wisps had started to dissappear, the same as the whip marks in Wei Ying's body.
The physician couldn't help but exclaim, "My goodness! Such amazing healing mastery for a child!"
Cale couldn't care less about what the old physician was blabbering about, he's just relieved that Wei Ying is out of danger anymore.
- It's a good thing that you managed to resuscitate his weak pulse. Congratulations, Cale...you can rest now too. I'm sure your Shijie and the little grape would take care of you two.
After the God of Death said that, Cale started coughing out chunks of blood, earning worried screams to those he couldn't recognize with his state anymore.
Blood continued to seep out from his mouth, his nose, his eyes, and his ears. All from overusing his untrained golden core and using his ancient power at the same time.
"You were like a small dot in a white canvas, full of opportunities to be made into a masterpiece with the right brush strokes."
"I'm sorry that I was the one who held the handle and painted your fate."