Yunxiao Inn.
In the Yunxiao Inn, Xie Lan is waiting with Fan Wen, Chen Jing, Wu Fan, Fei Lin, Xi Ling, Sun Rong and Qie Shi for the disciples of the Xinfaxian Sect, Youxiwang Sect and Shanliangde Sect to return from the awarding ceremony. Cheng Sheng has just finished refining more Spirit Tracing Bells again so he is resting in his room after being completely exhausted.
While they are all chatting in the reception area, they suddenly heard a thumping sound that seemed to be footsteps. The footsteps sound soft but also hurried, like their owner has short legs and small feet. They are cultivators, excluding Sun Rong and Qie Shi, so their senses are sharp and they immediately heard the new footsteps of… a child?
"… Sun Rong, do your guests have brought a child with them?" Chen Jing asked.
"I'm not sure…" Sun Rong shrugged. "Dear Qie, can you check the list for me?" he asked.
"Sure." Qie Shi nodded.
"A child… it seems to be a long time since I have seen one." Xi Ling spoke and smiled.
"That's right… I suddenly miss xiao Sheng, xiao Tian and the others when they were younger…" Xie Lan heaved a sigh.
"And then you played pranks on them." Fan Wen frowned at him.
Xie Lan chuckled.
"But, Sheng-er as a child ah…" Chen Jing muttered and also smiled when suddenly, their gazes fell on a small figure that appeared. "… Sheng-er?" Chen Jing blinked when he thought he have mistaken what he saw.
"… xiao Sheng?" Fan Wen called, unsure, as they all stared at the child that looked extremely similar to Cheng Sheng.
"Cheng Sheng?!" Fei Lin's eyes widened. His handsome and gentle face cracked in shock.
Wu Fan was also shocked, and his eyes suddenly narrowed. "This can't be… really Sheng-er, right?" he asked.
As if confirming their suspicions, they heard Qie Shi spoke. "There are no guests that brought a child in the Yunxiao Inn." He told them.
Everyone fell silent. It's not as if children are banned in the inn. It's just, as Xi Ling said, they rarely see children because children are currently sent by their parents in schools, like the martial sects. Then, their children would grow up in the martial sects.
"So… this is Cheng Sheng?" Sun Rong blinked.
"… it can't be that he performed a spell, right, so he turned into this?!" Fei Lin asked.
"Or… this is a spirit servant that disguised as Cheng Sheng after the enemies found out about Cheng Sheng?" Xi Ling asked.
Everyone immediately turned vigilant of their surroundings if there might be enemies who are the master of this spirit servant that looked like Cheng Sheng.
"… wait. The Spirit Tracing Bell and the Spirit Tracing Talisman didn't activate." Fei Lin spoke.
They all fell silent.
"… so, he isn't a spirit servant?" Fan Wen was surprised.
"… so, he is really Sheng-er?!" Chen Jing asked.
"But, if he is xiao Sheng, xiao Sheng would tell us…" Xie Lan said.
"Could it be he doesn't know how to speak?" Sun Rong asked.
"How was Cheng Sheng when he was young?" Qie Shi asked.
Everyone looked at Chen Jing. Chen Jing was startled since he remembered that his real son has already died. Chen Han knows this, too, since he found the truth from Chen Han. The one who is currently his second 'son' is Cheng Sheng, who cut his ties off with their family before, although the Chen Clan didn't acknowledge it.
"Sheng-er is smart, so how can he not know how to speak?" Chen Jing spoke.
"Then…" they all turned to the child again.
Suddenly, they all saw him smile. But, before he could speak, they heard a familiar voice spoke. "Xiao Bao. Deceiving people again?" the owner of the voice is the one who owned the face the child resembled.
"Sheng-er/xiao Sheng/Cheng Sheng!" everyone exclaimed and turned.
"This… is he your child?!" they asked in shock.
Cheng Sheng… has a child?! They thought. But, he is lovers with Fei Yin. Even though there are many miracles that have happened in this world but a man giving birth to a child… this hasn't happened yet! They thought. Then, could it be… Fei Yin cheated on Cheng Sheng, or it was Cheng Sheng who cheated on Fei Yin?!
They looked at the child. The child looked like he is eight years of age. But, Fei Yin and Cheng Sheng deeply love each other so where did this child come from? They looked at Cheng Sheng. "… 'xiao Bao'?" they asked when they remembered the name that Cheng Sheng called the child just now.
Cheng Sheng nodded. "He is Fei Yin's…" he spoke, his voice slow because he still feels sleepy and lethargic.
Everyone's eyes widened in shock. Fei Yin… he is Fei Yin's son?! They thought. But, the child's face is clearly Cheng Sheng's! It couldn't be that Cheng Sheng has given birth, right?! They looked at Cheng Sheng. Wait… Cheng Sheng is the best mage so, could it possibly, he created a magic pill to conceive a child because of his deep love towards Fei Yin - ?
Cheng Sheng could clearly read their thoughts since their emotions are displayed on their faces. "… sword." He continued.
"… 'sword'?" they asked. "… but he is a child?" they said and looked at xiao Bao.
"He is the sword… spirit." Cheng Sheng told them.
"'sword spirit'?!" they turned to Cheng Sheng.
"Everything has a spirit." Cheng Sheng started as he sat on the couch. "I won't say so much but just know that our swords also have their spirit." He told them.
Everyone. "…" you are just lazy! They thought. But, they still listened.
"Before the previous Intersect Competition, I taught da shixiong as well as Li-shixiong, Feng-shixiong, shijie, shimei and Lei-shidi to call upon their sword spirits during our training." Cheng Sheng continued. "But, only I and da shixiong managed to call them. Feng-shixiong also managed to call upon his sword's spirit, but then after, Bai Bai didn't reappear." He said.
"Why?" Xie Lan asked. "What about xiao Tian, xiao Qing, xiao Ling and xiao Rou?" he added.
"What is the method of calling our sword spirits?" Fei Lin asked.
Cheng Sheng paused and then looked at them before he took a deep breath. His eyelids lowered. "… can you let me rest first?" he asked. "I woke up because xiao Bao escaped from the Shapeshifting Blanket and knew that he would deceiving people again. Now that I found him, I'll leave him to you first…" he yawned and his eyelids grew heavier. "I'll tell you everything when I wake up." He told them before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Everyone. "…" we are all ready to listen for more but then you just went to sleep?! They thought. But, they know that Cheng Sheng is really tired so they can only patiently wait… and watch xiao Bao who grinned at them.
"… you're really a sword spirit?" Xi Ling asked as he stared at xiao Bao. They lowered their voices since Cheng Sheng is sleeping.
Sun Rong and Qie Shi, although still curious, but left to guard the door so that no one noisy would enter and wake Cheng Sheng up. They know that Cheng Sheng has a bad temper when waking up, so…
"And he really looks like xiao Sheng…" Xie Lan added as he glanced at the sword spirit.
"That's because my master was thinking of master Cheng at that time so I had master Cheng's appearance." Xiao Bao answered before he paused. "I apologize for deceiving you earlier. I just felt bored inside the Shapeshifting Blanket's space and I had finished attending to my master so I sneaked out." He explained.
Seeing the childish face of Cheng Sheng, they couldn't bear to get mad at xiao Bao. "It's alright…" they said, coaxing him.
"So, xiao Bao is your name?" Chen Jing asked. He already felt fond of xiao Bao as if xiao Bao is a real child. This is the same face as his second son, of course!
Xiao Bao nodded. "Since it disturbs you, and that master Cheng prohibited me, I will change my face to another face." He said. Before they could react, his face already changed.
"… why did you change your face? Whose face is this?" Fan Wen asked.
"This is the second appearance my master gave me." Xiao Bao answered.
"Yin-er gave you a second appearance? Why?" Fei Lin asked when his younger brother was mentioned again.
"Master said that he felt he is disrespecting master Cheng. So, he told me that I shouldn't appear before him with master Cheng's face but it is fine to appear before you with master Cheng's face." Xiao Bao explained.
Everyone. "…" 'disrespect'? So Fei Yin still knows this word?! Then why did he thought of Cheng Sheng in the first place when giving his sword spirit a face?! They thought but didn't voice it out since xiao Bao is here.
"If you are Fei Yin's sword spirit, why haven't we seen you before?" Wu Fan asked.. "Or, how does one creates a sword spirit? Why don't we know it?" he asked.