22 Return

Liu Suye and Xu Hexian were both kneeling in the Hall of Repentance after getting an earful from Sect Leader Liu Fumao. Not only were they punished for injuring a guest but also for conversing during sparring. "Do you know how dangerous that is!?" They could only hang their heads in shame, after hearing those words again and again. And thus they knelt there, dejected and bored. The Hall was a sullen and desolate place where even a pin drop would echo. A giant stone slab engraved their Sect Rules sat upon the altar, looming down on the kneeling figures.

This had to be the hundredth time the two of them got into this exact same situation and yet for some reason, neither of them seemed to ever learn their lesson. At this point, Xu Hexian could recite the text on the stone by heart.

He was slightly slouched in his posture and blamed his predicament on the wild-natured Liu Suye. "Why did you have to let go of your sword?" he whispered, trying not to alarm the Elder that was tasked with watching over them from the other end of the hall.

Liu Suye raised a brow, "And why did you have to put my book somewhere that could be discovered by A-Chao?"

"Of course, it wasn't like I thought he'd be able to find it," he let out a dejected sigh. Although he was rather mischievous in nature, for the most part, Xu Hexian was sly enough to avoid punishment. Somehow, that was a whole different story when the hurricane that was Liu Suye was around.

A glare was shot their way, the Elder cleared his throat, threatening. It seemed that their chattering having been caught. And for an instant, the two of them shut up.

But it was only for a moment before they started up again, "You know, Ye-xiong, aren't you a little old to be punished for stupid things like this?"

"Hm, when it comes to my uncle there's not much of a choice," he hummed, "to him, I'm forever a fifteen-year-old boy."

"Why does it sound like you're not even bothered by that?" Xu Hexian accused.

"Hahaha, how could that be? Of course I'm bothered." But the way he was smiling seemed to say otherwise.

A loud smacking sound came from behind, an angry Elder glared at them with a long bamboo stick in hand, foreshadowing added punishment. They shut their lips and straightened their backs. "..."

Not a moment later, Xu Hexian whispered, "That Elder...has a bit of an anger problem doesn't he?"

"That sure is one way of putting it…" Liu Suye whispered back.

The poor Elder, who was forced to watch over these two fools was about to burst a vein. Fortunately or unfortunately for him, a commotion was soon heard from outside the hall that stole everyone's attention.

"What's going on?" he asked one of the disciples rushing down the hall.

"They're back!" the disciple exclaimed, words immediately peaking Xu Hexian and Liu Suye's interest. "But I heard that Second Young Master Liu is severally injured!"

"What!?"

Liu Suye and Xu Hexian shared a look, excitement melting into concern. They leaped up from their spots simultaneously and pushed passed the Elder that was watching over them, "Hey! You two get back here, where do you think you're going!?"

They apologized as they fled.

"Sorry, sorry, we'll be back later so don't get angry!" Xu Hexian begged.

"I have to check on A-Chao!" And soon they were out of sight. The Elder sighed but he supposed he could do little to stop them.

Liu Sumeng had a dream about a dark prison. The air was thick with mold and rot. He received a kick in the gut, mouth filling with the taste of iron. Chains rattled and someone was laughing at him, hysterical. A head rolled towards his feet. Oh, wasn't that his face?

He woke up with a start, cold sweat drenching his body as he wretched the sheets off with such force that he tumbled out of his bed. The dream- no the memory was so vivid that it left him breathless, heart pounding in restless leaps. The image refused to disappear from his mind, that rolling, severed head.

He gripped his chest and a groan slipped out of his lips. The action only sent a sharp burning pain cut through his gut and up his arm. How was he still in this state? Didn't he eat a high tier restorative pill? Or was that part of his fleeting dream as well?

Carefully, he peeled open his robes to see white bandages wound up tightly. Oh right, wasn't this when he began his collection of scars? The General Liu that died is Xuelan's flames had a body riddled with scars. He had so many that he couldn't remember from where they all came. It was odd to think he would only begin to collect them now. Liu Sumeng fixed his clothes.

There was a noise outside his door, startling his already rattled mind. Using the bed as leverage, he surged to his feet on trembling legs, calling Mingshui to his hand. But whoever it was that was lurking had already left, footsteps growing farther and farther away.

Liu Sumeng fell back onto his bed. He took a shaky breath. One. Two. And three.

There were birds chirping outside, and the sunlight crept into his room was warm despite the days growing colder. The calm stood as a stark contrast against Liu Sumeng's chaotic mind. He sat up on his bed, listless while his thoughts slowly reorganized themselves.

So did the pill work?

Liu Sumeng blinked.

Unfortunately, there was no way of knowing for sure when the memories of his last time at Zu village had been wiped from his thoughts.

This time…

He remembered everything. A sigh of relief escaped him. Liu Sumeng was about to get out of bed but that was when a stream of footsteps approached his door. He had a bad feeling about this.

The screen door was violently thrown aside and Liu Suye marched right in without ceremony, "Xiao Chaochao!" His voice was thunderous and grating inciting Liu Sumeng to grab the nearest pillow and smacked it into his brother's face. "Ack, is that how you greet your Dage?"

Liu Sumeng groaned and rubbed his temple, eyes sewed shut, a headache was threatening to come. His heart was speeding up again, trying as he could to forget the memory that plagued his dreams; Liu Suye staring at him with vacant eyes. "You're loud. Don't call me that." His older brother was the last person he wanted to see right then.

"A-Chao, my A-Chao, don't be so grumpy. I even got made Xiao Cai get you lunch. You're hungry, aren't you? Dead asleep for two whole days. I'm pretty sure uncle told you to protect your guests, not go out there to die," this lively Liu Suye chirped, different from the dead one in Liu Sumeng's memory. Slowly, his heart calmed down.

"Why am I being called Xiao Cai?" Xu Hexian appeared from behind the older of the Liu brothers, holding out a tray of food that he diligently placed on the low table. "But seriously, Meng-xiong, you really had all of us spooked. I've never seen you in such bad shape before."

Normally he'd be fuming by now with all these people crowded in his room but Liu Sumeng was instead focused on what Liu Suye said. Two days! He'd been asleep for two days. If he remembered his past life correctly then he should have been asleep for a full week. In hindsight, it didn't seem like a bad thing because it meant he probably did something right and that his wounds weren't nearly as dire.

"Get out," Liu Sumeng sighed, feeling a wave of hunger gnawing at his stomach. It was futile because Liu Suye and Xu Hexian were both making themselves at home in his room, sitting down around the small table.

"I'm really curious about what happened in Zu Village," Xu Hexian hummed, "there were so many mysterious details in Chen-guniang and Young Master Yuan's story. Like what was with that Demon array? How does a man get turned into a frog and how does a corpse get stronger after you injure it?" He leaned in towards Liu Sumeng, "It's all rather absurd, isn't it?"

If Xu Hexian thought that Liu Sumeng was going to ding him with an answer then he was terribly wrong. Chopsticks in hand, he was only interested in stuffing his face with food.

"You know, A-Chao. Ever since you were a baby, you've been really good at stealing the thunder from your Dage here. You beat me at everything, from studying to swordsmanship, cultivating and even marriage. And now you're beating me with your wild adventures, no one is even asking me how I've been and what I've been up to. A-Chao, do you even understand how I- urmph-!" Liu Sumeng stuck a whole dumpling Liu Suye's mouth to shut him up. Liu Suye chattering turned into grumbling angry chewing.

Satisfied, he kept eating.

"By the way, Meng-xiong," Xu Hexian spoke up again, "Shizun didn't come back. He went to the Hidden Mist Manor for some business or other. But to tell you the truth, I really think he ran away."

Liu Sumeng nodded and thought that that made a lot of sense. The Guanghai Elder was a very strange person after all. "He doesn't like me," Liu Sumeng said after chewing.

"...Right. I was thinking if perhaps you just told him that you didn't hate him anymore. And that you forgave him for the whole Ivory Sword Saint thing then maybe he would actually come back to-"

"I don't like him."

"...Right," Xu Hexian laughed awkwardly feeling a bit at a loss.

Liu Sumeng never got along with that Elder. There might have been a time where he respected the man as his Shizun, but his behavior eventually became too scandalous and annoying for Liu Sumeng to stomach. Even in his previous life, when the world was burning and crumbling to the ground, he never found out where Liu Langce ran off to. Not to mention, that man was the reason why he was stuck with that Ivory Sword Saint moniker in the first place, all based on a stupid and exaggerated rumor perpetrated by the eccentric Guanghai Elder.

Xu Hexian let out an exasperated sigh, "At this rate, Shizun will never return to Wangyun Peak."

Liu Suye, who was finally finished with the dumpling was free to speak once more, "You know, even after all that traveling, I never fully grasped his Divine Haggling Technique. Somehow he always gets much lower prices than me," he, like Xu Hexian, sighed, "I really wish he could have returned with us to Wangyun Peak."

"..." Liu Sumeng stared at those two indifferently, taking one more bite of rice before putting his chopsticks down. What would the outside world think, if they knew that the Heavenly Sword Sect was actually filled all these useless people? That wouldn't do. "Xiongzhang," he said, looking Liu Suye dead in the eye, "You've been traveling with Shizun, to improve your sword."

"Uh, yes?" Liu Suye had a silly wide-eyed grin on his face.

"You must have improved much."

"Ahahaha, Xiao Chaochao, you're very talkative today!" Liu Suye was looking away while laughing nervously.

"Don't call me that. Let's spar."

"Oh I can't possibly!" He was still laughing, refusing to meet his younger brother's eyes, "You're still recovering from your injuries. Uncle will have my head."

Liu Sumeng was not impressed. "It's fine. It's a handicap."

Liu Suye found himself speechless, "...Can't you leave your older brother with a little bit of face?"

Xu Hexian frowned as he watched this generic interaction between the two brothers. Handicap or not, it wasn't as if Liu Suye had ever a chance at comparing to Liu Sumeng when it came to swordplay. Liu Suye might have other strengths, but when it came to conforming to the martial-loving Heavenly Sword Sect, he was terribly out of place.

"Meng-xiong," Xu Hexian finally spoke up, feeling a little sorry for Liu Suye who was sweating profusely at this point, "Ye-xiong isn't the only person who will get punished if you go around sparring in that state."

Liu Sumeng glared but didn't say anything. Xu Hexian was right. Incurring the Sect Leader's wrath was not a good thing, especially at this time. So he finished his meal quietly, allowing the other two to fill the silence with their chattering. Eventually, they left, taking away the dirty plates as well, despite his protests.

"Rest up, A-Chao. Our Heavenly Sword Sect still needs its best disciple for the Supreme Hunting Tournament!" Liu Suye singsonged as he left, the sliding door clicking close behind him.

What a headache. But a deeper part of him was glad to see Liu Suye alive and well.