"This... is this really a sect?"
Below the high mountains, Shun Jin asked in silence in front of a gate whose wood was already eaten by termites. Its color was faded. The signboard that read "Mist Sword Sect" had become "Disappearing Sword Sect" and lay carelessly beside the gate, one of its doors having a hole.
"Before I went into secluded training, there were five disciples guarding my sect. But fate seems to have arrived before me." Wu Tian stroked his beard, looking at the state of his own sect.
"How long have you been in secluded training?" I asked.
The three of us entered a building filled with cobwebs and termite-eaten wood everywhere. Several pillars were broken, and wooden walls had holes or sword slashes visible everywhere. Inside the building, there was a rack of rusty swords, and moisture dripped like stalactites.
"Fifty years."
Shun Jin and I would like flicking the old man's head in front of us. Which sect patriarch would leave his sect without a single word for fifty years? No wonder his sect was ruined now.
"What else can I do? A patriarch must become stronger for the foundation of his sect," Wu Tian reasoned, stroking his long beard.
"Ugh..." Shun Jin glanced at me, giving me a signal to leave here as soon as possible.
I nodded slightly. It felt like a waste of time.
As I opened my mouth to politely excuse myself and refuse to help him, someone came from the back door of the building.
"Master?" A rather stout man with a beard on his fleshy face stared in disbelief at Wu Tian; he immediately knelt before him.
"Oh my, it really is Master. This disciple thought Master had passed away on that mountain!"
Wu Tian stroked his beard, wondering who the stout, bearded man in front of him was.
"Who?" Finally, the old man admitted he didn't know him at all.
"It's disciple Jiao! Fifty years have passed, and disciple Jiao is the most loyal disciple in this sect!" Jiao, the stout, bearded man with a little bald spot, smiled broadly, seeing that his master didn't recognize him.
"Ah Jiao..." It seemed the perverted old man didn't remember his disciple's name at all, let alone their faces.
"Yes, yes, Jiao. Fifty years have passed, and why did you leave my sect that I entrusted to you? Is the loyalty you speak of just empty words to please me?" Wu Tian asked with a hint of anger, making Jiao confused about how to explain.
"That... because this disciple thought Master had passed away, this disciple left the sect and lived a normal life. The other disciples also did the same, and we began to forget this place."
I felt pity and wanted to laugh at the same time. Meanwhile, Shun Jin grinned slightly.
"Impudent! You impudent disciples! Who dared to say I had passed away?" Wu Tian was indignant that he was labeled as dead. He looked angry.
"That... your wife, whom you left alone... She remarried a rich merchant and just passed away two years ago..." Jiao was even more reluctant to continue.
Wu Tian then turned his face away, coughing softly, feeling Shun Jin's sharp gaze. He clearly didn't want to look bad in our eyes and wanted to give us a good impression, but it was the opposite.
"Ahem, ahem. Let the past be the past. I will rebuild my sect from scratch, accompanied by this beautiful girl and young man." Wu Tian pointed at me and Shun Jin with his palm. "My disciple, today you are their senior. Make sure you welcome them like family."
Jiao stood up and scratched the back of his head, which wasn't itching.
"Um... actually, this disciple came here to inform you that this sect ownership paper has been sold to the neighboring sect. This disciple is no longer your disciple but one of the masters in the neighboring sect. Please forgive this disciple, Master."
Jiao bowed in apology, Wu Tian was speechless. He even stopped stroking his long beard and mustache.
"Dammit, this must be the work of the Night Strike Sect patriarch." Wu Tian snorted and stomped on the wooden floor, which cracked and broke through when stepped on.
Without another word, Jiao left, fearing Wu Tian would rage at him.
Meanwhile, Shun Jin had been laughing behind her robe sleeve.
"So?" I raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you can give us tickets to the martial arts competition in Nanjing right now. Should I just go to the Night Strike Sect to get them?" I grinned slightly.
Wu Tian glared at me and Shun Jin. Then he let out a long sigh.
"I can rebuild everything from scratch. Although it will take a long time. But for now, I will go to the neighboring sect to get back my sect ownership paper."
Then Wu Tian hurried out chasing his long forgeted disciple, heading towards the neighboring sect across the mountain.
"Should we follow him, crazy man? I don't think we need to bother with this." Shun Jin followed me, catching up with the old man.
"There are advantages when we extort an old man who has nothing left, Shun Jin."
Shun Jin could only put on a lazy face as she ran beside me, chasing after Wu Tian in front.
"I don't understand your mind, crazy man."
***
"Dong Wen! I demand you return my sect ownership paper!"
From the front door of the magnificent sect, Wu Tian kicked the door wide open and immediately shouted at whoever was inside.
The disciples of the Night Strike Sect, wearing dark blue robes, immediately fell silent upon hearing the shouts of the unfamiliar old man who had kicked open their sect gate.
"Who is he?"
"A loan shark?"
"He knows our patriarch, is he a friend? They seem to be the same age."
"What's wrong with the old man shouting in our sect? Should we kick him out?"
Wu Tian stepped further into the sect, continuously repeating his shouts.
"Dong Wen! Come out! I demand you return my sect ownership paper!"
"Hey old man! I don't know who you are, but if you keep shouting noisily here, we will forcibly remove you from here."
A group of senior disciples of the Night Strike Sect surrounded Wu Tian to prevent him from going deeper into their sect.
Shun Jin and I stood watching with the curious junior disciples of the sect. There were many young people here, especially men aged 20 to 40. Some were even still teenagers.
"Children these days truly have no manners. Get out of my sight before I start severing those hands you're so proud of." Wu Tian threatened, although his threat was laughed at by the group of senior disciples, most of whom were still at the Qi Refining and Nascent Soul stages.
Before Wu Tian could carry out his threat, Jiao broke through the senior disciples' encirclement and chased them away.
"You all! Get out of here! You foolish children who don't respect elders!" Seeing Jiao scolding them, the senior disciples dispersed with sneers.
"Master! You shouldn't have followed me here!" Jiao said worriedly to Wu Tian. He hadn't realized he was being followed when he ran away earlier.
"You foolish disciple! I want to meet your new master and reclaim what is mine!"
Wu Tian conjured a formless sword from his hand and angrily slashed the stone floor beneath his feet. The sound of slashing and scratching was heard. This made the senior disciples swallow hard, realizing they had just angered the wrong old man.
"Please be patient, Master—"
"Wu Tian! So you've finally come out of your secluded training? Have you now successfully entered the Immortal Ascension realm as you used to boast?"
Someone wearing a dark blue robe, but in a more luxurious and clearly classy style befitting a sect leader, walked down the stone stairs. I could see his well-honed fists. I was sure he could destroy any building in his sect with one punch.
"Dong Wen! My old friend. What made you think of taking my loyal disciple and my sect's ownership paper? You've gone too far!"
Shun Jin and I watched from behind. It seemed this drama was getting more interesting to watch.
Dong Wen laughed heartily. His face was no younger than Wu Tian's, I think they were the same age.
"It's your own fault for abandoning your sect and your family for power that's impossible for you to obtain, brother Wu! Don't be foolish, you know you're more in the wrong than I am."
Wu Tian could only clench his jaw while closing his eyes, admitting that undergoing fifty years of closed-door training to break through to a higher cultivation level was indeed his own fault.
"But I'm back now, and I demand to take what's mine! Return my sect's ownership paper and our problems end here." Wu Tian pointed at Dong Wen, who was still standing at the bottom of the stairs, smirking.
"I can't do that unless there's one condition." Dong Wen revealed his robe sleeves, showing his strong hands with a dark blue aura. "Duel with me, if you win, I will return what is yours."
I whistled while taking a roasted sweet potato that one of the junior disciples was eating for me to snack on. The disciple was about to get angry and ask for his sweet potato back but refrained, sensing something from me that he clearly dared not disturb. He was quite smart. Meanwhile, Shun Jin was more focused on the drama unfolding in front of them.
"Alright, we'll have that duel here, right now." Wu Tian created misty formless swords in both his hands. Dong Wen immediately smiled broadly upon seeing them. He took a front punch stance.
"Now this is fun!"
The fight between the burly old geezers was about to begin!
***