Half a Sect Master

Mood Swings

Don’t know whether it’s because of the arrival of spring, but it’s been raining a lot recently. Bai Fan felt that the number of earthworms has increased significantly, so he doesn’t want to go out.

The speed of the shadow guards have always been astonishing, and the things he ordered them to bring a moment ago are now presented in front of him. Bai Fan put down his brush and was about to pick up the document held by the shadow guard who was kneeling on one knee, when he noticed that the figure in front of him was a little bit familiar, “Look up.”

The silent and drooping figure paused, then raised his head obediently, revealing a pair of resolute eyes.

“It’s you.” Bai Fan recognized him, this was the shadow guard who blocked an attack for him. After recognizing who it was, Bai Fan’s expression softened a little, “Get up. Has the injury from last time healed yet?”

“Your subordinate is fine. Thank you, Master, for your concern.” The shadow guard answered respectfully, but he still maintained his original position and did not get up.

Seeing this, Bai Fan immediately reached out and grabbed the shadow guard’s arm to help him up, “You don’t need to be so polite, just get up.” After helping him up, Bai Fan put his hand on his wrist, seeing the strong veins and his internal energy was stable, Bai Fan nodded in satisfaction. It seems that the medicine he sent was indeed effective, and the injury has basically recovered.

Bai Fan looked at the shadow guard in front of him, and vaguely remembered his name, “Shadow Seven.”

Shadow Seven was startled, and raised his head, apparently not expecting the Master to remember his name.

“Seven.” Bai Fan pondered for a while, “You will follow me from now on.”

Seven raised his head quickly, unable to believe what he heard, or what he understood from that statement was the same as what the Master wanted to express.

“I happen to be short of people who work for me. Would you like to break away from the identity of a shadow guard and become my personal guard instead?” Bai Fan continued.

Seven felt his throat going dry. It was exciting yet worrying. Although the shadow guards and the personal guards are both tasked to protect the Master, there was a great difference between them. The shadow guards did not need to have family nor friends. Their main duty is to protect the Master, and their lives revolve around the Master, and they will live in the darkness their whole life, unknown to others. But personal guards can walk in public, marry and have children. If they make a great contribution in the future, they will be rewarded with a high position and enjoy their lives.

Bai Fan looked at Seven with a smile on his face, not worried about his reaction, because although the shadow guards were loyal, no matter how loyal they were, they still longed for a normal life. Since Seven blocked a sword for him, then he’ll grant him this favor. After a long silence, Bai Fan heard a deep and trembling voice, “This subordinate is willing, thank you for your kindness.”

Bai Fan nodded, because the more he looked at the people around him, the more he became happy. Oh right, Yin Rui should be informed about this matter.

That night, Bai Fan mentioned this matter in his letter to Yin Rui, among which he continuously praised Seven. 

After reading the letter, Yin Rui felt gloomy. He stored the letter and called people in. Seven was among them. Yin Rui stared straight at Seven without a hint of emotion, looking up and down, to see just why this person was greatly praised by Fan.

Seven had already changed into the shadow guard uniform, and looked absolutely heroic. He walked in front of Yin Rui, knelt down on one knee, and said in a resounding voice, “This subordinate greets the Sect Master.”

Seven waited for a long time, but he didn’t get any response to let him stand up. The pressure around him was getting worse and worse, even the gaze focused on him had a particularly cold feeling. Seven felt nervous and immediately began to think about whether he had done something wrong recently to displease the Master, but after thinking about it, he couldn’t figure it out. Just last night, the Master was praising him.

After kneeling for an unknown amount of time, and just when Seven started to feel numb in his knees, a cold voice sounded from above, “Get up.”

Seven breathed a sigh of relief as he was granted an amnesty, he stood up and walked towards the side with his head bowed.

Afterwards, Yin Rui ignored Seven, and started dealing with the sect affairs while summoning the elders in an orderly manner.

After a long time, Seven quietly raised his head to look at Yin Rui. He always felt that today’s Master is a little different from the previous two encounters. But Seven didn’t think too much about it, he just thought that maybe the Master would be more serious when dealing with official affairs, remembering that he used to protect the Master secretly, and rarely witnessed the Master smiling, Seven felt relieved.

As a guard, Seven naturally follows the Master every day. Seven works very hard and efficiently, which makes Bai Fan value him even more and more, but Yin Rui finds this closeness distasteful.

Why should this person be valued by Fan? His skills in martial arts were mediocre, his actions were clumsy, and his whole body had nothing that stood out. Yin Rui judged Seven as a worthless person in his heart.

Seven naturally didn’t know the resentment in Yin Rui’s heart, he just felt a chill in his body, he didn’t dare to look up and meet the cold gaze from Yin Rui, he could only lower his head a little bit more. He didn’t want to attract the attention of the Master who had become more and more moody recently.

But can Yin Rui not pay attention to him? That was naturally impossible. His eyes caught sight of a ciphertext on the table, his eyebrows twitched, and proceeded to throw a token in front of Seven, “Take my token, go to Fengtang and get a copy of the ciphertext marked with No. 24 and come back.”

The calm atmosphere was broken, Seven heaved a sigh of relief, “Yes, this subordinate obeys.”

Seven picked up the token on the ground, and didn’t dare to look at it until he exited the door. It was indeed the Master’s warrant, Seven then took the token and rushed to Fengtang. After arriving at Fengtang, Seven was stopped by some people when he was still 100 meters away from his destination. He took out the token and said, “According to the order of the Master, I have come here to retrieve the ciphertext No. 24.”

The two people blocking Seven looked at each other, then put down the hand that blocked Seven, took the token and checked carefully to confirm that it was correct, the expressions on their faces softened. “Please wait here for now, I’ll go fetch the ciphertext.” Fengtang is the intelligence unit of the Black Moon Sect, except for the people in Fengtang and the Master himself, no one else was ever allowed to enter.

Seven nodded, expressing his understanding, and stood there quietly waiting, only filled with the thought of getting the ciphertext and handing it over to the Master as soon as possible.

But after Seven waited for a while, the people from Fengtang never came back. Just when he was wondering, he realized that something was wrong around him. Someone shouted, “Catch this spy!” A large net spread over the sky, and many masked men with daggers appeared. Seven recognised this attire, it was Fengtang’s uniform, and he shouted, “Wait a moment, I think there has been a misunderstanding, I am the Master’s personal guard, and I came to get the cipher text under the order of the Master. I am not a spy, and I have the Master’s token to prove it.”

Those people were obviously well versed in encircling formations, and after firmly restraining Seven, some people snorted coldly, “Don’t argue, the cipher text No. 24 was already taken by the Master long ago. You are definitely a spy who stole the token and came to steal the ciphertext.”

Seven paused as he struggled, there was a moment of disbelief, but the earnest look in those people’s eyes showed that those words were true. Seven felt his throat go dry, and his chest felt tight as if a stone was pressing on him. He was silent for a moment. Answered with difficulty, “I was only following the Master’s orders. Whether this matter is true or not, you can ask the Master for verification.”

Those people were unmoved by his words, and even sneered, “We will naturally ask the Master to verify the truth of this matter, but before that, you need to stay in the execution hall.”

Seven didn’t struggle, instead let them chain him and take him to the execution hall. There was no expression, but there was a heart touched by a kind of warmth not long ago slowly sinking.

Seven didn’t respond at all. Whether it be being imprisoned in the execution hall or when the torturer who loved to torture people approached him, he had no reaction at all. Those who became shadow guards have experienced an intense amount of inhuman training, they wouldn’t be afraid of any sort of punishment.

That torturer was a veteran, he knew all kinds of methods that could make people feel extreme pain without shedding blood, but the one who came in today was a tough guy, although his whole body trembled in pain, he never cried out in pain. He felt absolutely excited. He was about to take out his secret weapon and try it on Seven. Someone came in and took Seven away, the executioner sighed in disappointment, but he also knew that this guy was not someone he wouldn’t see in the torture hall again. Otherwise no one would have told him to avoid shedding blood.  Which means what he’s doing right now must be concealed, this unlucky guy must have offended someone and was sent in for rectification.

From being sent in to being led out, Seven was very calm, so calm that it was a little unusual, even the people from Fengtang who were apologizing for their mistake felt embarrassed, and decided to stop talking, doing the only thing they could do: Send Seven back. 

Seven staggered a little, presumably because of the injuries he suffered in the torture hall, he walked up to Yin Rui and knelt down, “This subordinate has failed to fulfill the Master’s order.”

“Oh.” Yin Rui didn’t even look at Seven, and continued to check the documents on the table, then casually said, “I forgot that I already took the ciphertext, so your hard work is in vain.”

“Subordinates don’t work in vain, it’s their duty to complete tasks for the Master.” Seven said with his head down.

Yin Rui finally looked up at Seven, “It’s good that you understand, you can  go back and rest now.”

Yin Rui squinted his eyes, as he watched Seven leave slowly. He was naturally not that kind. He saw that Seven looked unwell, so he let him go rest. After some rest and recuperation, Fan won’t be able to see any differences. 

    ……

“Hey, mom, um, I’m going back today, you don’t need to pick me up, I have an assistant to accompany me. Mhm, I’ll be there by noon. Okay, goodbye.” After Bai Fan hung up the phone, he saw that Xiao Chen had already verified the entire villa’s security. After ensuring that not even a fly could enter when no one was home, Xiao Wang picked up the neatly packed luggage, and the three of them drove to the airport together.

After flying in the sky for several hours, they finally returned to City Z. Although they had only been away for a few months, Bai Fan already missed it. Of course, he missed his parents the most. 

Xiao Wang and Xiao Chen stayed in a hotel, whereas Bai Fan came home alone, he didn’t like troubling his parents by bringing guests. After returning home, he had a good meal, and forced to rest by his mother. Bai Fan kept smiling all day long like nothing was wrong, but when he got to bed, he felt the exhaustion kicking in, so he went straight to sleep. After sleeping, he woke up on Yin Rui’s bed. 

After Bai Fan read the letter in the hidden compartment, he got up and put on his clothes. After drinking a cup of tea, he casually started checking the documents on the table, but he felt something was missing. When he saw the dry inkstone, he hit his forehead, and called out, “Seven.” No wonder he felt something was wrong, Seven was not standing beside him today.

After being summoned, Seven appeared very quickly. He knelt on one knee, lowered his head and said, “What task would the Master like to give me?”

“It’s nothing big, just help me grind some ink.” One of Bai Fan’s many satisfactions with Seven is his ink grinding skills, which are quiet yet fast, and the ink that he grinds out is the right thickness. It’s not too thick and not too thin either and it’s not as clumsy as Feng’er’s. 

Hearing Bai Fan’s order, Seven paused. Trying his best to cover the complicated look in his eyes, and answered in a low voice. He then proceeded to get up and stand by the table, grinding ink for Bai Fan.

Seven lowered his head and grinded the ink meticulously. When he lowered his eyes, he saw Bai Fan who was sitting at the desk correcting official documents. This person, he would praise me so much and the next moment he would play with his words. Yes, Seven was very sure the things that happened during the day was not because the Master forgot, but he did it on purpose. Seven doesn’t understand how a person can change so drastically. 

Bai Fan didn’t notice Seven’s complex thoughts at all, he dipped his brush in ink to annotate on the official document with extreme focus. Suddenly, two muffled coughs sounded. 

Bai Fan turned his head to look, and saw that Seven had bowed his head and knelt on the ground, “This subordinate has committed a grave sin.” Although he tried his best to hide it when he spoke, it was evident from the slightly trembling back that he was not alright. 

“What’s wrong? Your old injury hasn’t even healed yet.” Bai Fan put down his brush and helped Seven up. He was still concerned about Seven’s injury which was caused by him. 

“Your subordinate believes this is not due to the injury. Perhaps it is due to the cold wind.” Seven covered his chest with one hand and tried his best to suppress the cough. However, today’s events caused his old injury to suddenly resurface. 

Hearing Seven’s words, Bai Fan also immediately thought that the night in early spring was cold, Seven had just recovered from a major injury, and was naturally weak. It was really inhumane of him to make Seven stand here as a company every night. If it wasn’t for the coughing now, with Seven’s silent temperament, he would have endured it without letting Bai Fan notice. Thinking of this, Bai Fan felt even more guilty, and he said, “Your body is important, you should go back and rest tonight. I’ll let someone else come over.”

Seven clutched his chest and said respectfully, “Thank you Master, I will take my leave now.”

Seven was about to leave when he suddenly heard a gentle voice, “Wait.” Before he could react, he felt something warm covering his body. When he looked down, it turned out to be a white fur cloak. Seven looked up in shock, only to see that it was indeed the Master who took off the piece he was wearing.

“The night wind is cold, you should put this on.” Bai Fan advised Seven gently.

Seven touched the warm cloak draped over his body, dazed for a long time, and then said as if lost in thought, “…Thank you Master.”

He didn’t know how he got out of the door. The warmth of the cloak became evident when he was blown by the cold wind outside, but his emotions became more complicated.

Robe(typing vehemently on chapter 50):

Hello, been quite a while hasn’t it:) But well enjoy, don’t worry we won’t drop the series without any announcements so we’ll still be working on it until who knows when.

Luvchild:

Yes, just went on vacation yalll, hope you guys enjoyed yours too. But I must say, I feel like the author was too excited introducing Seven that this chapter was SO MUCH LONGER compared to the others. What do you guys think of Seven? :)))