Chapter 454 - The Scum Is Mellow

Chen Han and Jing Kang entered the Zunjingde Sect with dark faces. The Zunjingde Sect disciples were startled and immediately cleared the way while greeting Chen Han and Jing Kang in low voices, afraid that they might accidentally provoke the two who looked like on the verge of exploding.

"Oh! Jing Kang, you are back!" Jing Bai exclaimed when the door opened and they saw him.

"What's wrong with you two?" Jing Cheng asked.

Jing Hei isn't present because he went to Qianxu Sect to meet with Qian Lin. Meanwhile, Zheng Yi is learning from Zheng Fu Gong, Pai Lie, and Jing Xian, who had recovered from his illness, in the Righteous Alliance. After the three elders train Zheng Yi, they would then resume preparing for the Intersect Competition with Zheng Yi.

"That Sun Rong!" Chen Han spoke as he uttered a curse. His chest heaved up and down as he huffed in anger.

"What? What's wrong with Sun Rong? What did he do?" Jing Bai curiously asked. It is rare to see Chen Han angry.

"Sun Rong deceived us! We thought that he knew what happened between Cheng Sheng and Er Zi that caused Cheng Sheng to leave Er Zi here and returned alone to Xinfaxian Sect." Jing Kang answered and frowned. "He acted like he knew but he actually doesn't!" he said as he gritted his teeth.

"Oh. Er Zi, huh…" Jing Bai muttered and turned to look at Jing Cheng who is wiping Jing Rui's face. "I also want to mess with you, but since Sun Rong already did, I wouldn't. Hahaha." He laughed when he saw Chen Han and Jing Kang glared at him. "You should go ask Jing Cheng since it was him that Cheng Sheng has last spoken with, and even sent Cheng Sheng off, before he returned to Xinfaxian Sect." he told them.

"If you want to tell me what did Er Zi did wrong to anger Cheng Sheng, then I will tell you that I really don't know." Jing Cheng spoke.

"What? You also don't know?!" Chen Han and Jing Kang were surprised.

Jing Cheng turned to him. "Before Cheng Sheng left, we only talked about uncle's medicine." He told them.

Chen Han and Jing Kang looked at each other. "What could Ah Sheng be so angry about?" Chen Han muttered.

"Jing Bai. Tell us everything that happened while Cheng Sheng was here in Zhongyang." Jing Kang spoke after Jing Cheng left to get them some snacks.

Jing Cheng has become mellow this past five years. It must be because of Jing Rui's condition which exercises his patience so much until he finally learns indulgence, so he can't become so strict on himself, and also towards others, again.

"Hmm… what happened…" Jing Bai muttered. "When Cheng Sheng arrived, he called us to tell us about the demon that can cultivate the Shaking Forked-Leaf Plant, the plant which might be able to cure uncle." He started. "Cheng Sheng then told us that the demon might be a plant demon – a Shaking Forked-Leaf Plant that gained sentience." He looked at them. "He then told us his plan to catch the plant demon, but in the middle of it, he acted as the bait." He said.

Chen Han and Jing Kang gasped. "What?!" Chen Han exclaimed.

"Calm down." Jing Bai spoke. "We didn't know he would do that. He didn't tell us, so we were surprised, too!" he told him.

Chen Han's words on the tip of his tongue rolled back. "Fine." He muttered.

"Meanwhile, Er Zi was with Sun Rong and Qie Shi." Jing Bai continued. "Cheng Sheng wanted him to train himself. We left Cheng Sheng to the head disciple of the Yuling Sect while we went to catch the plant demon." He said.

"The Yuling Sect?" Chen Han and Jing Kang were surprised.

Jing Bai nodded. "Sun Rong's clients are the sect leader of the Yulinng Sect, and an elder of their sect, who is Ling Yun's uncle." He said. "It seems that he has a special ability which is related to his eyes. They are the ones who found that plant demon in the Zhongyang and told Qie Shi about it, prompting him to tell Cheng Sheng to come to Zhongyang." He explained. "Since uncle's cure lies on that plant demon, we cooperated with them." He told them.

"Oh… we understand now." The two said.

"After we caught the plant demon, we saw Ling Yun lying on the ground, injured, while Cheng Sheng was in the Yunxiao Inn." Jing Bai said. "We found out that Er Zi sneaked out and looked for his master, and finally found him. Cheng Sheng was unconscious the whole night after the plant demon attacked him." He explained. "He only woke up the next morning, in which only Er Zi and Jing Cheng are the ones that he talked to before he returned to Xinfaxian Sect." he finished.

A long silence fell after that as the three of them pondered about what could have happened between Cheng Sheng and Fei Yinzi.

"Could it be because he did not follow Ah Sheng's order to train with Sun Rong?" Chen Han asked, trying to guess.

"It can't be. Although Cheng Sheng has a temper, he wouldn't be mad this much to Er Zi to the point that he would abandon him just because Er Zi did not follow his order, right?" Jing Kang spoke. "And… didn't Er Zi commit mistakes worse than this before, but Cheng Sheng didn't abandon him?" he added.

"You are right…" Chen Han nodded as he reminisced.

That time was one month after Cheng Sheng brought Fei Yinzi to Xinfaxian Sect. Fei Yinzi is very well-behaved, but is also very cautious in nature. Every time Cheng Sheng gives him an order, he wouldn't dare to disobey. You can say that Fei Yinzi fears to be abandoned.

That time, Fei Yinzi was practicing a spell. But, because he has no talent in alchemy unlike his master, he always fails in spell casting, talisman making, pill refining and brewing potions. Cheng Sheng must have noticed it so he didn't teach his disciple about array drawing, which is the most complicated and most dangerous. He only taught him the basic principles and how to understand them.

Every time Fei Yinzi makes talismans, the talismans burn and turn to ashes. Every time he would refine pills, the pills would explode. Every time he would brew potions, he would have stinky and also burnt smell on him. And every time he would cast spells, he would accidentally hit something.

That time, he hit a vase, and the water inside the vase spilled to Cheng Sheng's fan, making the ink on Cheng Sheng's fan become ruined. Fei Yinzi was very scared, as he knew it was Cheng Sheng's favorite fan which Li Tian gifted to him. He feared that he will be abandoned, and he is also cautious. With these two combined, he became depressed and also despaired.

It is inevitable that Cheng Sheng would come home. But, that time, it was the worst time for Fei Yinzi since Cheng Sheng was drunk. Fei Yinzi didn't dare lie to Cheng Sheng so he immediately confessed about what he did. And, as expected, Cheng Sheng got mad. And, since he was drunk, his anger was at its peak.

Cheng Sheng's voice can be heard to the other peaks. But, suddenly, for some reason, Cheng Sheng's voice disappeared. Cheng Sheng stopped shouting. He didn't hit his disciple, of course, since he knows his strength and with that small body of Fei Yinzi, it will definitely leave a mark. He also doesn't want to hurt his disciple, as also a child.

As for why Cheng Sheng has stopped yelling at Fei Yinzi, it was because he saw himself reflected in the child's eyes that were filled with tears. The child looked so pitiful, and there was both fear and anxiety in his eyes. Cheng Sheng, at that time, suddenly saw himself after he woke up and realized that Fei Yin was gone. He cried like a child, wanting to take Fei Yin back. But, how can he take him back when he is no longer in this world?

The next day, everyone expected with fear that Fei Yinzi would have wounds in his body. But, they saw that the child has only red and swollen eyes. Aside from that, he was perfectly fine. When they asked him what happened after Cheng Sheng scolded him, he just said that his master might have pitied him, and also doesn't hurt children so he can only vent his anger by scolding him. As for their question why Cheng Sheng has stopped shouting, the child just answered that his master became thirsty and was very drunk, and also tired. So, he gave him a cup of water, wiped his face and helped him take off his outer robe before he placed him on the bed to sleep, and welcome a new morning the next day.