[That's right, 009, why is it Mr Xiang who transformed?] Big A threw the blame onto the system upon hearing this.
System: […] Instead of Xiang Han, it wished it were the one who transformed. It also wanted to have a body.
[Enough, stop pretending. I just want some silence.] Xiang Han naturally knew the system could not transform, so he just wanted to complain a little.
The most infuriating part was that this matter couldn't be manually resolved. He could only wait half an hour for the transformation to wear off, which also meant he could only turn back into human then.
Too infuriating! Thankfully, Chen Shu Ze wouldn't be able to wake up before then. He sighed in incredible melancholy and tucked himself and his tail into a ball before he buried himself under a garment and began to count the seconds that passed.
Half an hour later, Chen Shu Ze's eyes flew open. He found himself lying in Xiang Han's courtyard and got up in shock. However, the moment he tried to move, he felt a dull ache in the back of his neck and memories from before he passed out flooded his mind.
At this time, Xiang Han came back and sat before the stone table, looking at him calmly.
Chen Shu Ze instinctively opened his mouth. "S-Shizun, your tail…"
"What tail?" Xiang Han quelled his anger and interrupted him. "Is your tail out?"
"N-No, it's Shizun, your…"
"Oh, right. I only stepped out for a moment, how did you fall asleep in the courtyard?" Xiang Han interrupted him once more, his tone calm.
"Fell asleep?" Chen Shu Ze's face was filled with doubt. "Just now, Shizun, you… went out?"
"En." Xiang Han reluctantly answered before turning his back on Chen Shu Ze as if he was enduring something. After a moment, he coughed lightly and turned back around, his face did not give away anything. "I remember you learned swordsmanship?"
Huh? These words sounded familiar. Was everything earlier really a dream? But the pain in the back of his neck felt very real.
Chen Shu Ze felt stuck and instinctively turned to look at the false mountain. If he remembered correctly, that rock was clearly shattered by his Shizun… huh? It's whole again?
Chen Shu Ze was taken aback and became more and more confused. Was it really a dream? But why did he dream that his Shizun grew a long tail?
"What's wrong?" Seeing him looking at the rockery, Xiang Han panicked and couldn't help but ask.
"Ahem, it's nothing." Chen Shu Ze quickly returned to his senses. After shaking his head, he tried again, "This disciple used swords before, but also likes the blade."
Xiang Han gave an "oh" and said, "If that's the case, then your master will teach you a new technique."
Huh? It's different…
Chen Shu Ze was still full of doubts and Xiang Han was afraid that he would pay attention to the rockery again. So he hurriedly plucked his sword from the air, demonstrated Liu Han Zhou's swordsmanship and coincidentally demolished the rockery that would have collapsed under a single finger.
"Did you see clearly?" Xiang Han pretended to be calm, but he was actually relieved.
Chen Shu Ze was looking behind him. On hearing his Shizun's words, he quickly retracted his gaze, and hesitantly said, "This disciple… didn't."
"Forget it, I will demonstrate it again."
As soon as Chen Shu Ze heard it, his gaze immediately focused… on his head and his back.
After a while, Xiang Han asked again, "Did you see clearly?"
Chen Shu Ze's eyes were almost glued to his back. Hearing this, he subconsciously said, "It seems… I did not." Where's the tail?
Xiang Han: "…" Why did this kid suddenly become so stupid? No, why does he keep looking at his butt?
Xiang Han was instantly infuriated. "What are you looking at?!"
"Uh, nothing…" Chen Shu Ze quickly retracted his gaze. His face was slightly hot and his expression was filled with embarrassment.
"Since you don't have the heart to learn, you should go back first." Xiang Han directly threw him out.
Seeing Xiang Han's expression of annoyance, Chen Shu Ze couldn't help but tense up. He hurriedly bowed his head to admit his mistake, and said that he will practise hard in the future.
But after tossing for so long, Xiang Han was really in no mood to continue. He waved his hand and said, "Forget it, you go back first. Come back tomorrow."
Seeing this, Chen Shu Ze could only leave in apprehension. After returning to his residence, he couldn't help but wonder, was it really a dream? Does his Shizun have a tail or not?
For the next few days, Chen Shu Ze's mind was stuck in this whirlpool. In fact, he didn't really believe what happened that day was a dream. After thinking about it, he finally felt that it was deliberately concealed by Xiang Han.
As for why it was concealed, was it as a precaution? Or did Xiang Han not trust him? But if they are the same, they should be able to understand each other better and rely on each other rather than guard against each other..
Chen Shu Ze was puzzled, especially when he thought that Xiang Han was wary of him. He felt even more depressed.
At noon one day, after he and Liu Meng'er finished their practice, she suddenly said, "Junior Brother, I'm going home tomorrow, so I won't spar with you."
"Okay." Chen Shu Ze nodded and bid her goodbye while thinking of his own parents. His workload recently was not too heavy. It seemed that he should go back and inquire about the truth of his existence.
Xiang Han has not been in the mountains recently, so Chen Shu Ze had to fold a paper crane and let it deliver the message before he packed up and went down the mountain. Unfortunately, as soon as he left Qing Jing Peak, he met an acquaintance.
When Chu Ming saw him from a distance, his eyes couldn't help but light up. He sped up his flying sword and descended before him.
"Shu Ze, it's been a long time. Why haven't you left once ever since you reached Qing Jing Peak? Have you been growing mushrooms?" Chu Ming patted him on the shoulder twice and his tone was filled with excitement.
Chu Ming had always been looking for a way to explain the matter during the disciple selection competition. But due to Xiang Han's orders, he couldn't even approach Qing Jing peak, let alone see Chen Shu Ze.
Though he could not approach, other disciples could. Thus, early on, he had already bribed other disciples to inform him once they saw Chen Shu Ze leave the mountain.
Towards this old friend, Chen Shu Ze only had some complicated feelings left over. After a pause, he finally replied, "I've been busy cultivating recently, so there was no time."
Busy cultivating? His spiritual root had been blocked by the five element aura, how could he cultivate? Unless…
Chu Ming was full of doubts as he looked at Chen Shu Ze calmly.
Chen Shu Ze possessed an aura concealment bead so Chu Ming naturally couldn't detect anything. Moreover, knowing that the
"Shu Ze, we haven't seen each other for a long time, so why don't we find a place to catch up?" Chu Ming asked lightly.
Coincidentally, Chen Shu Ze had something to ask him. He nodded slightly and said, "Okay."
The two quickly arrived and sat down in a teahouse at the foot of the mountain, Chu Ming complained bitterly, "Shu Ze, I really didn't intend to hide the fact that I'm in the foundation building stage from you. You also know about my past, so I was just… being careful and cautious. In fact, after I entered the inner sect, I've been trying to find a way to get you in, but I didn't expect…"
Chen Shu Ze shook his head and said with a slightly disappointed tone, "Brother Chu, I remember that you hated this kind of behavior the most before. You always despised the fact that Senior Sister Liu relied on nepotism to enter the inner sect, and said it was unfair, but now…"
It turns out that the so-called injustice and indignation were just because he was not the one doing it or benefitting from it. It wasn't because he felt it was unfair.
Chen Shu Ze had no opinion on Xiang Han accepting Liu Meng'er as his disciple. After all, accepting a disciple was his own business and Liu Meng'er also had the qualifications. But most importantly, Xiang Han rarely used the sect's resources.
Chu Ming, who had no power or status, criticized others for relying on relationships. But when he had the ability, he wanted to do the same thing. It was extremely…hypocritical.
Chen Shu Ze suddenly felt that Chu Ming was not as upright, justified and kind as he thought. He was just an ordinary person; Selfish, holding grudges, and greedy to climb up the ladder. Behind each of his actions was careful purpose and consideration.
Chen Shu Ze could understand it, but he was a little disappointed. He truly regarded Chu Ming as a friend before and never expected that Chu Ming had always been on guard against him.
Chu Ming was a little stunned. After returning to his senses, he said in embarrassment, "Shu Ze, we are sworn brothers, so I am just looking out for you. You may not be having a good time at Liu Han Zhou's side, why don't you come to Qingwu Peak…"
Chen Shu Ze shook his head. He dared not agree with those words about what was good for him. Some things would appear to be too petty if he said them out loud, it was fine as long as the other party recognised it.
But since they were once friends, he still wanted to remind the other party, "Brother Chu, Elder Gu is not a simple person. There are some things you should keep within limits."
After he finished speaking, he got up immediately, footed the bill, and left.
Chu Ming's expression was extremely ugly. After a moment, he caught up and asked, "Shu Ze, did Liu Meng'er say something to you? You seem to have a misunderstanding about me. We are sworn brothers, how could you believe her words?"
Chen Shu Ze couldn't bear to listen to him any further and couldn't stop himself from turning around to chide him. "Brother Chu, Shijie did not say anything bad about you. On the other hand, you hid your cultivation level and tried to kill Shiijie just because of something like a broken engagement. The extent of your suffering is truly immeasurable. The engagement wasn't something within Shijie's control, so annulling the engagement was because she had no choice. You shouldn't be putting the blame of everything that happened that year on her. I feel that… you should apologise to her."
Chu Ming stared at him, dumbfounded. He only managed to squeeze out a single sentence after a long time. "Have you been brainwashed?"
He was extremely flabbergasted. He felt that only a few months had passed since he saw the other person, yet Chen Shu Ze was speaking words that were even more modern than him, the person who came from a modern age.
Chen Shu Ze didn't know what 'brainwashed' meant, so he only frowned. "Keep yourself in check."
Chu Ming disliked this stern, admonishing tone. Currently, he was so angry he wanted to simply leave.
But he still needed Chen Shu Ze's help to clear a certain dungeon. Moreover, no matter what, this person would be his future uncle, so he could only force himself to endure. After thinking for a moment, he spoke, "Shu Ze, you've been tricked by Liu Han Zhou. That pair of master and disciple are not good people. During the disciple selection competition, I never had the intention to kill Liu Meng'er, it was Liu Han Zhou who framed me…"
Chen Shu Ze would have surely believed him if it was before. But now, comparing Chu Ming to Shizun, he naturally chose to believe his Shizun.
Moreover, his expression wasn't good upon hearing Chu Ming slander Xiang Han so his tone grew even colder. "Brother Chu, enough! If you continue to slander Shizun, consider our friendship over."
"I'm slandering him?" This time, Chu Ming felt truly wronged and he couldn't stop the words from coming out in anger. "Chen Shu Ze, you fool, you don't know what's good for you. Let me tell you, Liu Han Zhou is a pervert!"