บท 37: Threatened by a Twelve Year Old
*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*
The two cultivators choked on their soup as Chu Fan questioned them. They clutched their chests in pain as they exerted much force in coughing.
"We will tell you nothing! Just try and make us talk."
"Right! Besides, someone as weak as you could never have the power to stand a chance anyway."
Chu Fan looked up and snickered.
"You know seniors? It's the most you can do, considering I just saved your lives back there."
The two men looked at each other and back at Chu Fan. They both clasped their hands at Chu Fan and bowed.
"This and that are two separate matters. We owe you a favor and are willing to give our lives to repay your favor. Anything, we can do within our power, except tell you who ordered us to follow you."
"Hai! It's just as big brother said. We are under a blood oath. Should we speak, half our cultivation will dissipate and we shall be further disciplined by the sect."
Chu Fan lowered his head and shook it. While stoking the fire, he sighed.
"I didn't know the sect would be so severe in their punishments. This council of elders must be very afraid of the Divine Demon Butcher."
The two cultivators were taken aback. They had not revealed anything and this 12 year old child had already figured out most of it. They were both startled and slightly afraid of the child questioning them. What mystic art did he practice that allowed him to figure out such secrets from small talk?
"Relax. It's a completely simple thing to figure out. The sect is suspicious of my movements because the so-called 'Divine Demon Butcher' is one that I call master. I can tell that you two must be inner-sect disciples. And given how much the disciples have been avoiding me and the cafeteria after I stated who my master was, I know the sect has been watching me closely."
The two inner-sect disciples looked at Chu Fan, puzzled. The ugly one was first to speak.
"If you know this much, you should tell us the whereabouts of your master then?"
"Why would you want such a person called 'Divine Demon Butcher' as a master anyways."
Chu Fan sighed, he was really frustrated.
"Why must I fight a battle that I am not allowed to win, even when I am right? In a great sect like the Skyward Sword Sect, their are much more dangers lying in wait."
The handsome cultivator struggled to get up, using the tree he was leaning on as support. He was a little angry.
"You fool, what underlying dangers? The Skyward Sword Sect is not threatened by anyone."
Chu Fan looked at the handsome man, criticizing him with a glare.
"They are so apparently threatened by a twelve year old that you two must supervise him. Am I right?"
The handsome man pointed at Chu Fan, wagging his fingers. Finding no argument to refute Chu Fan's words, he flung his hands aside. The ugly man looked at Chu Fan with a calm expression.
"Then pray tell us your side of the story, junior disciple Chu Fan?"
Chu Fan stoked the fire and stared into the flames and recounted his story.
"You see this man, the 'Divine Demon Butcher', I only met and stayed under his tutelage for a month's time. And in that time, I spent my days cooking and learning cultivation from him. Though I didn't spend much time with him, I know that he is not as bad as you all make him out to be."
"Hm! Then why did you join our sect then? Surely you knew of the qualms that the Skyward Sword Sect has with him?"
The handsome senior only wanted to make Chu Fan out to be the bad guy here. It was his way of justifying the sect's immature and impulsive actions.
"Were you listening just now? I didn't spend enough time with him to have heard his thousand year old life story? He didn't like to bring up the past much. Had I really wanted to cause a disturbance in the sect, I would not have to wait this long. I never knew of his past with the sect, but I can guess that he was probably expelled for some reason."
The ugly man interrupted, he had heard of certain rumors floating around the sect. In the month that Chu Fan had been isolated, the history of the Divine Demon Butcher's past was dug up as a trending topic among the disciples. Even though much information was not written down, disciples were able to eavesdrop on the various conversations of the sect's elders. And the rest was left to the wild imagination of those who spread the news with their versions.
"I heard that the Divine Demon Butcher snuck into the sect as a hidden genius among the sect. When he was powerful enough, he went and raped the sect chief at the time's daughter. He got caught and was exiled from the sect. Several decades later, he returned to the sect to wreak havoc. But he was beat and forced to retreat."
Chu Fan was a bit angered as he believed in the more accurate story from Vault Keeper Wang. He felt a sort of responsibility in defending his master's honor. Even though he had not actually met him yet, he owed it to the God of Cookery as the inheritor of his life's treasures.
"How do you know that the two of them weren't in love. Maybe he came back to take her away? No one has ever heard of his story, nor are they willing to."
Chu Fan got up and threw his stick into the fire. The two cultivators got startled and stood up, prepared to fight.
"Whatever! This is giving me a headache! Let's continue tomorrow! It serves no purpose to be arguing in the middle of the night like this. We might anger the forest guardians."
Chu Fan went over to his tiny tent and went to sleep. He tossed about, as he was still a bit irritated. The two cultivators followed suit, sleeping under the tree with their blankets. And the crickets chirped away as the night went on and morning came.
In the morning Chu Fan got up and put out the fire while using the restroom at the same time.
"What a great thing camping is? I can start a fire and put it out while relieving myself."
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Have some class!"
Chu Fan rubbed his eyes and turned to see who was speaking. It was his two senior disciple brothers who had just woke up to the sound of drizzling water. They were, too, feeling the urge to drain their main veins.
"What are you two hollering about? Are you discouraged by the sight of my little brother?"
The handsomer of the two was furious while the uglier one was too tired at the moment to be angry.
"Y-You!"
"Big Brother, I really need to pee also. Let's just ignore his nonsensical banter."
Chu Fan finished up and went off in the direction of the nearest water source.
"You two get freshened up. I'll go ahead and get us some breakfast."
Chu Fan got to the river and began fishing. With his fishing pole set and undisturbed, he began cultivating while waiting for the fish to bite. A short while after, the two others joined him and also began fishing. They would not allow themselves to be outdone by a junior even though they were in a weakened state.
"What sort of bait are you using?" Chu Fan asked the two.
"It's a secret!" the two replied.
Chu Fan's fishing pole began to shake, signaling him that a fish was biting. He pulled upwards and his catch flew up into the air, making a giant splash as it landed back into the stream.
"Th-that's a Sapphire Scaled Carp! What the hell is happening here?"
"Look at the size of it too. My gosh, you have a mutated Sapphire Scaled Carp on your hook. Quick,hand me your fishing pole and I'll reel it in!"
The two senior brothers were excited for Chu Fan's catch. He had snagged a mutated Sapphire Scaled Carp. A regular Sapphire Scaled Carp was already worth many gold coins and sect points. The scales were a very useful ingredient for pills, elixirs, armor crafting, and magical accessories for those that could afford it.
The carp that Chu Fan had on his hook was a rather giant one, at 3 meters long and at the weight of 68 kg. Even Chu Fan was surprised by fight it put up. With all his strength, he infused the fishing pole and line with his qi and flung the fish out of the water.
"Hraaaagh!" he yelled as he bent the fishing pole to the max.
*Splosh* The giant fish flew out of the water, with Chu Fan jumping into the air following it. He brandished his cleaver and smacked it on the head, killing it instantly with his blunt attack. He grabbed it and landed back on dry land.
The two senior brothers repeatedly rubbed their eyes. They pinched themselves to see if they were still dreaming.
"What did the Divine Demon Butcher teach you?"
Chu Fan looked over at them and wiped his sweat.
"Not much. Just how to cook."
He donned his apron and rolled his sleeves up; he was preparing to dismantle the carp he had just caught. He scaled it and placed the scales in his storage, but not before sharing a bit of his bounty with his senior brothers. He changed his cleaver into a Japanese deba knife and began gutting the fish. To his delight, this carp was a female with a giant sac of eggs; he swiftly put the egg sack into his storage and finished filleting the fish.
Without a moment of delay, he went back to fishing. He did not want to lose his momentum. The other two also followed suit, drunk in their delusions of catching a rare fish for themselves also.
After having fished for a couple of hours, they returned to the campsite as it was time for breakfast. Along the way, they picked up an assortment of vegetables.
Chu Fan was happily humming his tunes to himself while the two seniors followed with their heads lowered. They were depressed that Chu Fan was the only one to have caught rare fishes today, while they only got common fish and the occasional stray boot.
They finally arrived at camp where Chu Fan was basking in the glory of his bounty, he was currently lost in thought as he wondered what kind of dishes he could make for Nian Gao and himself. He eventually noticed his stomach was growling and began cooking what he had.
The other two were still pouting, but noticed that Chu Fan was getting ready to cook and offered their help so as to earn their portion of food. The handsome one helped make utensils out of wood while the uglier one started the fire.
Chu Fan had just finished cooking and served his two senior brothers first before himself. Chu Fan laughed as he ate, a thought had finally came across his mind.
"Haha! We spent so much time debating last night that I had forgotten about introducing myself. I am Chu Fan. Might I trouble my senior disciple brothers for their names?"
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