Yiye couldn't utter a single word for a long time.
He didn't experience the difficulties of his elder brother, nor did he feel the same way about the sword.
Instead, he tried to look for the meaning the sword carried inside his heart.
"Longing," he started "I only feel longing when I think of the sword. Longing for…"
At this point, he didn't really know further.
Yugong smiled. Having a feeling is better than most at this point.
He explained "There is no need for you to define what you long for – throughout our lives, our goals will change.
If you feel that your sword is the manifestation of your longing, then that is exactly what your sword is."
He didn't tell him of his own guesses any further.
That would be counter productive for the process of enlightenment.
Yugong said a few more words of care, such as not to focus too deeply on the origin of the thought nor anything else, but rather try to enlarge this feeling of longing.
Yiye then left the hut, after just staying for a few minutes, he felt that once again this elder brother was worthy of his title and his effort to cling to him.
"Alas, this boy… he's clearly talented. I wonder why the uncle master hasn't put any focus on him and instead attempts to make me consider mastering the sword."
He didn't believe Yiye came out of his own volution – or rather, he was likely asked to do it.
Combined with his own curiosity, Yiye likely accepted the subtle suggestion, not understanding it was other people using him for their own gains.
No matter how small this request is, Yugong disliked it when people influenced those around him.
He might not do anything, but he will not have a good relationship with others either.
Internally, he already made a judgement 'A true weapon dharma cultivator will honour the decision another has made, especially one regarding their weapon.
Asking once is to make sure, asking twice is doubting the cultivator and asking thrice is blatant disrespect.
It is no wonder he works in a branch, far away from the headquarters."
Yugong was a perceptive person and quickly understood many things based on such simple details.
He didn't believe the world of cultivation, which he had read to be more ruthless than the modern world, would be so indifferent to resource gain and profit.
At least one thing was for sure – being in the headquarters was dozens of times better than being in some far away branch, with the main mission and contribution being the children born there.
Yugong didn't have a bad image in his mind about the Sword Sect just because of this uncle master.
Being able to find these bad seeds and reusing them by making them nannies for far away branches is definitely a smart move.
As for doubting his decision, he didn't know whether there was a rule regarding this, but he thought that this was more likely decided by the uncle master Liyuan himself.
The morning passed and it was soon time for lunch – Yugong and other young boys and girls walked out of their huts, coming to a small building on the side.
Currently, they were on the mountainside of a town, living like hermits.
There were no servants walking around, only a few working in the kitchen, and these had many different jobs to do.
This was likely their busy season, while the rest of the year, they'd do nothing but wait around leisurely, maybe serving the uncle master.
Though this was also unlikely in Yugong's opinion.
If he were to stay at some place for a long period of time, he would not live so shabbily. At least not if he was in the mortal world.
Considering his own behaviour of a hunter, he was fine sleeping in a hut, but many children others looked exhausted, as if they hadn't been able to sleep all night.
Still, as young children, they had more energy than possibly exhaustible, so they chatted amongst themselves.
The groups were generally divided into the people who came from the same place, or those that were close by.
Yiye quickly hurried to Yugong when he saw him, nearly calling him "Elder brother".
But, he knew Yugong didn't like to be in the centre of attention, so he just came closer and said in a light voice "Brother, I thought of what you said!"
"Mhm" Yugong didn't comment on it, but he was satisfied this younger brother was sensible.
"I feel an extreme longing for the path of cultivation currently, but also a longing to see my parents, to return gloriously, to make my father proud, to…" he listed everything that came into his mind.
Then, he said what he wanted to truly express "I feel a longing for the sword… like it is the answer to all my wishes."
Yugong nodded and answered the unexpressed doubt "Every cultivator has to find their own path, how you find yours is up to you.
There is only one thing I will tell you: the weapon is not a tool."
"W-" he wanted to ask what his brother meant, but then became quiet.
This had happened before.
Whenever his brother said "I will tell you one thing", he meant he would only say the thing and the remaining part would have to be imagined or explained in his own way.
Regardless of what the final result was, his brother would not comment on it as long as he wasn't entirely wrong.
From this, he understood that his brother wouldn't answer him directly but just open his mind to guess.
Soon, they arrived in the building that wasn't far away from their huts.
The children walked in in twos and threes, all with expressions that showed pain and suffering.
Only a few seemed used to sleeping like this.
Yugong was naturally used to sleep in the open, while Yiye had followed Yugong several times when hunting.
Although he didn't hunt himself, as he didn't learn the bow and arrow, he still learned a few things from Yugong.
Such as inspecting foot prints, making a fire in the open, skinning animals, grilling them, making simple food, creating a sleeping place, and other survival skills.
As a young man with too much energy and not enough space to exhaust it, he naturally enjoyed learning these things.
Just training every day was boring, but with this, he could learn while having fun.
When Yugong and Yiye entered the hall, a few eyes turned to them, or rather, to Yugong.
He ignored it and just walked in, to a table in the corner.
It wasn't long before the children turned to their own matters.
They weren't at the age where gossip was the most interesting thing – they were at the age where their attention span was short, focusing on the things before them instead of stuff they didn't understand.
So, they mainly talked about their hometown, their experience in flying, sharing fears and expectations.
A few smart children in seemingly expensive clothes didn't follow the crowd and instead approached Yugong who was sitting with his eyes closed.
Yiye on the side didn't pay them any attention, or rather, his eyes kept staring at his own sword, as if expecting it to give him an answer to his doubts.