Silence fell upon the group. The young disciples were aghast that Xieren would dare strike his master, especially considering he was being so nice. They all wanted to speak out and defend their elder from such ungratefulness.

Xieren, on the other hand, almost immediately regretted his actions. While his fear was justified in his heart, Shao Liang Fei was not an understanding man. Nor was he kind. He didn't know why his shizun was acting the way he was but he knew for a fact it wasn't out of kindness. Still, he'd rather not have to face the consequences of his actions. Shizun was too willing to make him truly regret it.

With a unsteady heart, Xieren looked up, wanting to see how Shizun would react. He was shocked to see that his face had yet to change. His expression as still as calm waters but just behind those eyes, he saw amusement. Indignation burst forth in his heart.

What the hell was he so amused by?!

Liang Fei was in his only world just then. When his hand was slapped away, he was just as shocked as others, thinking he might have pushed too far. He was still new to this world and wasn't sure of the relationships between everyone yet.

Inwardly, he sighed, thinking that it might have been better to listen to his sister's rants at least once. Perhaps then, he'd know better than to randomly touch people. In fact, if she knew he'd gone and done this, she'd rant and rave about how right she was to accuse him of being 'like that'. Just cause he thought a young man was cute wasn't cause to accuse a man of being into them!

Thinking of the sly and devious ways Liang Mei would win arguments in her own mind nearly brought smile to his face. Despite his amusement, his face remained static, barely a ripple other than his eyes. He was brought out of his stupor when the other disciples voices rang out.

"Ungrateful brat, how dare you glare at Elder Shao!" The leader chastised, his complaint echoed by his minions. Liang Fei rolled his eyes. What? Were they all dogs? Did they all have to echo and howl one after the other?

"Right! Elder Shao is kind enough to give you a chance to lie to us and yet you dare strike him." Another spoke, sneering down at him. Xieren said nothing, glaring at the others past Liang Fei. He looked very close to snapping. He(LF) decided something had to be said before hands started flying.

"If I need someone to speak for me, I'll be sure to let my dear disciples know." He said, his tone soft but firm. The howling youths went silent, taking a step back. Something about that tone made them want to stay quiet and out of sight.

"As for being struck, it's nothing to get so animated about." He stated, folding his arms over this chest. "It was barely anything, gusts of wind against a mountain really." He assured, hoping it would calm them down. Plus, it wasn't a lie. Xieren's strike was barely anything against the strength in this body. It was more shock than force that moved him.

Unfortunately, his words had the opposite effect. He had wanted to ease the tension by assuring them that he wasn't even hurt so there was no need to make a fuss. What had actually happened was him confirming the suspicions of a very paranoid youth.

He was laughing at me!

Xieren was still trying to make sense of Shizun's expression when he heard his words. Shizun's casual tone and words made him think he was being made fun of. That there was no need to put so much stock into such a weakling. That the amusement he was Shizun laughing at his feeble attempt to strike him. Frustrated at his weakness and the perceived mockery in the eyes of those before him, Xieren slipped away, wanting to get away from these loathsome people.

Liang Fei watched him run, feeling like he somehow had done something wrong. But what did he say that was wrong?

"Elder Shao?" The youth leader spoke, bowing to Liang Fei. "Elder Shao, we apologize for disturbing you. We shall do our best to remain out of your sight next time." He said, his sentiments echoed by his chorus of dogs. Cocking a brow, Liang Fei turned his attention to them.

"Right, you did do wrong today." He said, a bit annoyed. Not even an hour in this body and he'd seemingly made someone hate him, though he had no clue why. "First off, who gave you the right to go an harass your fellow disciple?"

The leader was a bit confused, not expecting Elder Shao to still be chastising him after Xieren had already fled. Still, he couldn't remain silent.

"I-I... Our Shimei was distressed. She was too shy to ask anyone, especially the elders for such a small matter so we-"

"So you chose to take on the task yourself?" He guessed, seeing a lot more of the story unfolding.

"Yes! How could we allow such a disgrace to walk freely in our sect?!" He argued, indignation burning in his eyes. He truly disliked this person, it seemed. "Who else would disregard a females privacy but a filthy street rat?" He concluded, preening with self-righteousness.

Liang Fei was getting tired of that look.

"So how then, did you come to learn about this if she spoke to no one about this?" Liang Fei asked, watching the youth go pale at the question. "Perhaps I should go and ask her myself, since she felt so confident to speak to you rather than an elder? Surely she can shed some light on the situation."

"N-no! She can't know about us sne-" Another youth cried, panicking before his words were cut by another elbowing him. The others glared at him, looking close to mauling the youth for revealing them.

"Was this truly you wanting to seek justice or were you just trying to bully folks out of boredom?" Liang Fei sighed, disappointed by their actions. Honestly, he kind of wished it was more interesting than this. "Moreover, such a weak tactic too. A smarter and more shameless person would have tried to do this in front of others, making just the accusation serve as proof but you chose to do things privately. How frivolous the planner must be, I shudder to think of it."

The youths frowned, not sure how to handle this. E-Elder Shao, surely you don't expect us lowly disciples to agree to such things when the planner was you!

Unbeknownst to Liang Fei, the original was the one to orchestrate the entire interaction, using the young disciples to bully and harass his least favorite student. For reason unknown to anyone, the original despised Xieren and wanted to force him from the sect. But being the 'upright and just' man he was, he couldn't be so blatant. No, he needed lackeys to do the job for him. Hence the use of the howling dogs before him.

Not realizing the tough spot he put the young men in, Liang Fei continued on unimpeded. "Still, I'm glad you didn't think things through since such accusations can be harmful but stupidity still must be punished." He stated, folding his hands behind his back, giving him a more dignified air. "All of you are to run 5 laps around the sect. Do so by sundown or no dinner." This was the kind of punishment he got whenever he got dragged into Yang Xue Tian's antics and knew it was harsh but how else were these boys to learn?

The boys flinched, mentally mapping out the sect and sweating at the distance needed to lap it. Just one lap was bound to tire them out but 5!? Liang Fei, had he known the size of the sect he currently resided in, might have chosen a smaller number. Unfortunately for the young men, he didn't.

"F-five laps?! But Elder Shao, we were just-"

"Would you like it to be 10 laps instead?" He interjected, cocking a brow. The youth paled, fearing their Elder teacher more just then. 10 laps!? Why not just strike them down now!?

"Y-yes, Elder Shao!" They all cried, running off for fear he'll add another 5 to their already herculean task. For the rest of the day, students would be watching the five young men pant and sweat as they jogged around the entire sect. Rumors would fly and fear would flood into their heart at the cruel punishment placed on the group. They would pity the group, offering water to them as they came by.

Poor bastards. They would think, both happy that it wasn't them and wary of the Elder who gave them such a task on a hot day like this.

                                                             ***

Liang Fei was ignorant of the rumors spreading about him and his apparent cruelty. He was too busy trying to find his way around.

The sect was huge and obviously had no signs or maps to show him the way. This lead to him wandering about for almost an hour. A less disciplined person might have went into a rage after passing the same magnolia tree for the nth time but Liang Fei was not like that. Instead, he just chose to sit beneath the tree to relax. It had been a stressful day.

Dying, being punished by a childishly shameless system (Somewhere in the universe, Q is flipping LF off) and dumped into a novel. To say that today has been weird would be an understatement. Still, he had somewhat come to terms with how things are. He might be able to go home, as long as that system thing wasn't lying. He just had to survive long enough to get back to it.

In the meantime, Liang Fei used this time to get a grip on his original's memories. Apparently they were just floating around, waiting for his attention like persistent butterflies. From this, he gleamed a bit about the world. He was apparently in the country of Hua, apparently named so due to its abundance of flowers. This was a land of cultivation, where one could ascend to immortality by cultivating ones qi and training in certain ways. There were many ranks, many of which were very confusing to Liang Fei, since he wasn't into this kind of stuff. Even worse, it was a jumbled mess of proverbs and studies with no rhyme or reason. The original was probably the type to study sporadically so clear answers was as random and sudden as a game of whack-a-mole.

Moving on from that, the history of the land was a bit fuzzy. There were other countries but there was little to no knowledge about them other than the fact that Hua bordered something called the Dark Lands. There was little he could gleam from the memories but he at least learned that the flowers known to bloom at the border supposedly keeps miasma from the wasteland from seeping out. Other than this, there was no information on the world outside Hua. Liang Fei, not satisfied with his answers, huffed with bemusement.

It turned out the original was very much a chicken aware of the hen house but not the farm.

Sighing, he continued to look through the memories, wanting to get a better feel for his surroundings. Not knowing anyone was bound to raise some flags, even with that damn system's 'freebie'. As he walked he tried to memorize a few important names and match them to faces. His original really was stingy. All of the names memorized were those above him while those below were designated as 'you' or 'that one guy who passed me a drink that one time'. Truly shameless for one who couldn't raise his own rank to look down on others so readily.

"E-Elder Shao?"

Opening his eyes, he saw a beautiful young girl staring at him. Smooth black hair fell gracefully down her shoulders, making one itch to reach out and touch it. The urge wasn't in Liang Fei however, because she stared at him with a wariness that told him he should keep his distance.

Seriously, what kind of man was the original to warrant such reactions?