Chapter 50: Chapter 50

The next day, Hei woke up, thinking about giving Jingfei some space.

‘This is going to be quite tricky.’

He was fairly confident that crippling fear didn’t mix well with undying loyalty. And as such, it would be quite difficult to make Jingfei loyal to him in the way that he wanted.

‘Should I just let this one go?’

It would be a shame to lose a blue, but the amount of effort required to make them loyal needed to be considered.

For all he knew, he could find three more subordinates with the same effort that it would take to rope Jingfei in.

As he was thinking, he moved to his chair and looked out into the natural scenery. He quite enjoyed the view from his room.

Not long later, the natural Qi informed Hei of Jingfei’s arrival.

She was standing on the other side of the door.

“Young Master Hei… I am going to the alchemy hall to exchange the pills. Will you be coming with me?”

Hei could hear apprehension in Jingfei’s voice.

“No. I think it’s better if you stay away from me for some time.”

“This… Alright then. I will be back soon.”

‘Hehe. Stunned at my sensitivity, no doubt.’

Hei could hear that Jingfei was surprised by his response. Evidently, she didn’t expect him to refuse the invitation.

Jingfei left and Hei began to think about the problems within the sect.

It seemed they had implanted a fear of men within the disciples.

He thought about how Bai and Mei could be affected and decided he would join in on whatever educational sessions they went to.

He also wanted to learn what exactly it was that the young ladies of the sect believed.

Qiuyue seemed to be a good choice for this.

As far as Hei was aware, Qiuyue would be able to deliver the information without getting emotional. It was just that she seemed to have a problem with him saying her name.

‘There are all sorts of strange personalities.’

In his previous life, Hei barely socialised, so he wasn’t very familiar with the types of personalities people had.

But in this world, so far, he had met Xiulan, who was unlike any mother he had heard of, Shao Chen, who was a retired expert and somehow became a baker, and now Qiuyue who didn’t like hearing her own name.

He conveniently excluded himself from the list of strange personalities.

A while later, the natural Qi informed Hei of Jingfei’s return.

A little while after she reached his door, she spoke.

“Young Master Hei. I have brought the new batch of ingredients and a few books.”

“You can leave them there. I will pick them up later.”

“But… Will you not come to the alchemy room?”

‘Still apprehensive?’

Hei had thought some fresh air would do Jingfei some good, but it seemed she still hadn’t gotten over the events of the previous night.

“No. I will refine my pills here.”

“Then… I will come back once I have completed my practice.”

Remembering that Jingfei’s mental energy reserves were woefully low, Hei decided to let her rest after her practice.

“You needn't return. You will find the pills and the updated manual out there when you come tomorrow.”

“Y-Yes.”

“Don’t overexert yourself, Jingfei.”

There was no response.

Jingfei placed the ingredients and the books on the floor outside of Hei’s room and left to go to the alchemy room.

After Jingfei had left, Hei went to get the materials.

He first refined the ingredients into pills.

His skill was such that the possibility of something going wrong when refining this level of pill was negligible.

After successfully refining the pills, Hei read the few books Jingfei had brought.

It seemed she had chosen some good books as they provided quite a bit of new information, as well as information that reinforced what was already there.

After a while, Hei had implemented the new information into the alchemy technique and did some phantom alchemy to test it.

Phantom alchemy was to go through the motions of forging a pill, without the actual ingredients. Akin to shadow boxing.

While one could not assess their success rate with such an approach, one could find any underlying problems in one's technique, without the waste of resources.

Hei found a few minor faults in the technique, so he spent a while tweaking it.

By the time he was finished, Jingfei was also finished with her practice.

She appeared once again outside of his room.

“Y-Young Master Hei. May I come in?”

Hei could hear nervousness in Jingfei’s voice.

Thinking that seeing his face may worsen whatever she was going through, he turned to face away from the door, looking out to the scenery before he answered.

“You may.”

Jingfei opened the door and entered Hei’s room.

“Young Master Hei. About yesterday.”

Hei didn’t pay much attention to Jingfei’s words. Shortly after she had entered his room, he heard a dreadfully familiar voice.

[Nice spatial fold you have here, Boy.]

He was stunned.

In his storage space, was the very same black sword he had seen the previous day.

He sent a message to it using his Qi.

[What are you doing here? How did you get into my storage space?]

[Hehe. You haven’t even secured its boundaries. Did you expect no one to be able to enter? It’s like you missed the basics on spatial manipulation. But then, how did you get a spatial fold like this in the first place?]

[…]

Hei was lost for words.

He really hadn't learned the basics. But since when could things barge into a storage space?

While he was still speechless, he heard Jingfei’s voice again.

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, Young Master Hei. It was just-”

He cut her off, saying:

“I already told you that I won’t resent you for it.”

He was currently very distracted and didn’t pay too much attention to Jingfei’s apology. Besides, he never blamed her for her actions in the first place.

He then sighed in misery at the realisation that he couldn’t escape the black sword’s side quest. His eyes even started to well up with indignant tears.

Why couldn’t people just leave him alone? First Crystalia, then The Heavens, then The Eastern Guardian, and now this black sword.

He realised that he was getting too emotional, so he used his sleeve to wipe his tears and was about to tell the sword to get lost when he heard Jingfei’s voice.

“My success rate improved to 70 per cent today. It’s all thanks to you.”

Hei couldn’t be bothered about Jingfei’s progress. It was well within expectations. Right now, he had bigger problems.

He responded dismissively.

“That’s great, Jingfei.”

Hei then floated the pills he had refined and the revised alchemy manual over to Jingfei.

After that, he turned his attention back to the black sword.

[Is there any way for you to just leave me alone?]

[You… Don’t you realise what I am?]

[I don’t really care. To be honest, I would rather not get involved in whatever it is that you want.]

[Eh?]

[It seems to be related to the Envoys of the Heavens, right? Can’t you find someone else? I can think of at least three off the top of my head.]

[But… What? This isn’t how it usually goes. Firstly, shouldn’t you be curious as to how I am able to communicate with you?]

[Probably an ancient soul trapped within an item. And?]

[This… Then what about all of the knowledge I have to share? All you need do is let a drop of blood fall onto the shield and you will gain ultimate power.]

[Shield? What shield?]

Hei was confused. All he could see was the black sword and the materials he had been using to craft wooden furniture.

[I am referring to this body. I have come to be known as the Black Shield Onyx.]

[Have you gone senile? You are clearly a sword.]

Hei was looking at the distinctly sword-like form of the ‘shield’.

[A sword? Don’t compare me to those crude instruments of murder. If you look closely, you will see that I have no blade edge.]

Hei did as the ‘shield’ said.

Within his storage space, he was able to take any point of view he wanted.

As he looked closer, he noticed that there really wasn’t a blade edge. This thing would be about as useful as a butter knife if one wanted to cut something.

[Eh? Doesn’t that just make you a blunt sword? How did you become a shield all of a sudden?]

At this point, Hei realised that he had put all of his focus on the black sword.

His mother had already warned him about his tendency to become dangerously unaware of his surroundings.

[You know what? Never mind. My maid is here, and I’ve been ignoring her for quite a while. We can talk about this later.]

Hei had already tried to remove Onyx from his storage space a few times now, but he failed, so he decided to postpone this conversation so as to not be rude to his maid.

“Now, what were you saying, Jing… fei?”

As he turned around, he realised that Jingfei had already left.

The natural Qi told him that she was in her room, reading the revised manual he had given her.

‘Must not have been too important then.’

He shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to his storage space.

***

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That was the way Hei had experienced this day.

If one were to look at the same timeframe, but with Jingfei as the focus, one would find that there had been a lot of misunderstandings.

***

Jingfei awoke, feeling full of energy.

There was no trace of the powerlessness she had felt the previous night.

She lifted the blanket Hei had covered her in and rose from the bed he had placed under her.

Clenching and releasing her hands, she could feel that there wasn’t the slightest problem in her movements. She did some light exercise to further confirm this.

She brought her hand close to her face and could notice that even the random movements her muscles would often make were reduced to a noticeable degree.

Her hand was much steadier and was almost perfectly still.

And it wasn’t just her hand. A lot of the unintentional movements her body would make were reduced dramatically and her balance was clearly better than ever.

These were well-known effects of increasing one’s mental energy.

As she checked the formations protecting the room, she could see no sign of them having activated in response to an intruder.

Knowing Hei’s ability, there was likely a way for him to trick the formations anyway.

But Jingfei wouldn’t go so far as to think that he would pass up the moment when she was completely immobile, only to return later, having to bypass barriers.

Already, she had confirmed that there was truth to Hei’s words.

Immobilisation was only one of the results of the Shao Clan’s technique. It had clear benefits and only one discernible side effect, which Hei had already told her would reduce with practice.

She was already feeling guilty about her accusation.

Hei had told her that he understood where she was coming from, but she remembered the sadness in his voice.

She had hurt the very person who was doing his best to help her out of the kindness of his heart.

As she looked to the two sets of pills on the floor, she could remember Hei’s words, encouraging her to continue, even when she had given up on herself.

She collected the pills into her storage ring, before heading over to Hei’s room.

When she arrived, she looked at the door for a long while before speaking.

“Young Master Hei.”

She thought about what she could do to mend their relationship, which had only just begun and decided to finish showing Hei around the sect today.

She would show him all of the things she had come to love about it in hopes that they could start anew.

“I am going to the alchemy hall to exchange the pills. Will you be coming with me?”

“No. I think it’s better if you stay away from me for some time.”

“This…”

Jingfei now realised that she had hurt Hei far more than she had thought.

He didn’t even want to be near her right now.

This was much different to the Hei she knew, who did as he pleased regardless of what others thought.

After all, he had threatened the entire sect without batting an eye.

She realised that it was likely in fear of being hurt again, so she decided not to selfishly insist.

“Alright then. I will be back soon.”

She wanted to give Hei his space.

Hopefully, with a little time, he would be back to the crazy and unpredictable young master she had come to know.

She left and headed to the alchemy hall.

When she got there, the receptionist was surprised to see her.

Most of the time when disciples purchased resources, they would go and complete missions in order to regain their lost merit points.

“What will you be purchasing today, Senior Sister Jingfei?”

“I came to trade these pills for merit points.”

Jingfei handed over all of the pills except one. That was the first pill she had successfully refined using the Shao Clan’s alchemy foundations.

The receptionist was shocked to see so many pills, but she handled her business professionally.

She took Jingfei’s jade slip and transferred the merit points over.

“Now I would like to purchase some ingredients and books.”

“Of course.”

Jingfei got a repeat order of the ingredients she had purchased the previous day, and when it came to the books, she spent a long time browsing through the descriptions of the various books available to apprentice alchemists.

After careful consideration, she purchased the books she thought would be best for Hei.

Her merit points depleted, she headed back to the Man Peak.

On the way, she ran into Qiuyue, who warned her to stay cautious around ‘that junior brother of ours’.

These words only made Jingfei feel worse about the whole thing. It was precisely this kind of thinking that had caused her to hurt Hei in the first place.

When she returned to the residence, she headed straight for Hei’s room.

Again, she waited for a while before she spoke.

“Young Master Hei. I have brought the new batch of ingredients and a few books.”

“You can leave them there. I will pick them up later.”

“But…”

It seemed nothing had changed. Hei still couldn’t bear to look at her.

“Will you not come to the alchemy room?”

She wanted to show Hei that she still trusted him, at least this much.

“No. I will refine my pills here.”

“Then…”

Seeing that there was nothing she could do to alleviate Hei’s pain, she decided to leave him be.

“I will come back once I have completed my practice.”

“You needn't return. You will find the pills and the updated manual out there when you come tomorrow.”

“Y-Yes.”

“Don’t overexert yourself, Jingfei.”

On the surface, those words sounded caring and well-wishing, but Jingfei could hear a different message. ‘Don’t accuse me again.’

She moved her hand to the door, ready to open it and check on Hei, but she held herself back.

For all she knew, she would only make things worse by invading his space without permission.

She placed the ingredients and the books on the floor and took her leave.

She headed to the alchemy hall, where she began her practice for the day.

Success, success, failure, success, failure, success, success, failure…

She noticed a lot more successes this time than she had seen the previous day.

By the time all of the materials were used up, she had succeeded roughly 70 per cent of the time.

She was ecstatic to see these kinds of results.

“I did it! Young Master… Hei.”

She turned to the side, expecting to see Hei’s smiling face and hear his words of praise, but also his expectation for her to keep improving.

But all she saw was a wall.

At this point, it was evident that Hei’s words were the truth and nothing but the truth.

She stood up and realised that while she was very tired, she was nowhere near as exhausted as the night before.

She walked slowly over to Hei’s room.

This time, she was determined to settle the issue.

“Y-Young Master Hei. May I come in?”

Tired from the alchemy practice, her speech was affected.

“You may.”

Hearing these words, Jingfei became more confident.

Hei was finally willing to see her.

As she opened his door, she could see him sitting on his table, as usual, looking out at the natural scenery.

“Young Master Hei. About yesterday.”

She tried to get her words out in one go, but she was too tired, resulting in a pause.

She looked to Hei, who had not even turned to look at her.

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, Young Master Hei. It was just-”

“I already told you that I won’t resent you for it.”

After he said these words, he sighed deeply and Jingfei could see him wiping his eyes with his sleeve, causing her sense of guilt to deepen.

At this moment, she realised that Hei was still just a 10-year-old boy.

He surely had difficulty controlling his emotions.

What made it worse, was that he was falsely accused of wicked intent, even though the only thing he was trying to do, no, the only thing he did, was help, and help tremendously at that.

How would she have felt, if she were in his position, at only 10 years of age?

She tried to lighten the mood by speaking of happy things.

“My success rate improved to 70 per cent today. It’s all thanks to you.”

What she got back was a soulless response.

“That’s great, Jingfei.”

Sure, he used the words she was looking for, but there was no follow up: ‘But my maid can’t only be at 70 per cent. We will raise you to 100 per cent.’

She tried to speak, but before she could get the words out, Hei floated over a pile of pills and a manual over to her.

Evidently, he was telling her to leave.

She bit her lower lip as she vowed to make it up to him in the future.

She took the pills and the manual then left his room and headed to her own.

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