Screeching Sparrow Sect was greeted by another bright sunny day. The disciples woke up when the gong struck for the start of breakfast and slowly wandered out of their rooms, looking like a hoard of fierce corpses. The three lord immortals that ran the sect were much worse. Even at the sound of the insistent gong, none of them budged from their respective rooms. All remained inside, knowing that breakfast could be served much later. Besides, they didn’t need to eat anyway.

As the disciples trailed off to the lake where most bathed, a few disciples with keener hearing noticed the splash of water. But that was strange. No one in Screeching Sparrow Sect woke up before the breakfast gong. Only the servants would, but even then, they would not be bathing.

A surprised gasp came from the front of the group, jerking the sleeping disciples awake.

Amidst the fog of the warm water was a shadowy figure. The man rose from the lake and grabbed his clothes. They noted the man’s strong back muscles and the scars that punctured through his shoulders. When the man let his wavy hair down and turned around, they were greeted with a cold look, causing the young men to all look away with guilt riling up in their hearts.

Finally, Su Han, who had been at the back, cleared his throat. “Good morning, Lord Immortal.”

The remaining boys clumsily echoed the head disciple of the sect.

“Good morning,” Wu Lingtian replied smoothly as he pulled his socks and his shoes on. He quickly wrapped his hair into a loose bun and stood up from the side of the lake. He glanced at the group of boys who looked as if they had been scared awake and then looked at Su Han. “I will be taking my leave then.”

“Walk slowly, Lord Immortal,” Su Han gave him a calm smile.

The boys scuffled to the side with their heads bowed. They didn’t dare move until the man’s footsteps were out of earshot.

“That scared me to death,” one of the younger disciples whispered.

“I expected it to be a wild animal, but it turned out to be an immortal!” another shuddered.

“He isn’t going to tell Sect Leader, is he? We didn’t walk in on him on purpose.”

“What’s the point of telling Sect Leader? We’re all men anyway. Besides, it isn’t like we even saw anything,” one of the more reasonable boys pointed out.

“Right, we only saw his back.”

“…Though his back did look very nice.”

The boys all glared at the last one who spoke. They were about to continue when Su Han cleared his throat. “The girls will eat all the breakfast if you all don’t hurry up.”

The boys were suddenly alarmed by such a statement. They quickly threw off their clothes and jumped into the lake. Su Han followed them but lowered himself in a much more dignified fashion.

“What was Lord Immortal doing up so early anyway?” a disciple wondered aloud.

“Didn’t you see? He was taking a bath.”

“I heard that Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect wakes up at 4AM and they sleep at 8PM,” one disciple spoke.

“That early!?” another gasped. He paused and shook his head. “But it isn’t 4AM. It’s 9AM.”

“Well, if I were him, I also wouldn’t want to wake up at such an ungodly hour anymore. He isn’t even part of the sect.”

Su Han cleared his throat, successfully quieting down the gossipy teenage boys. “The less we know, the better. Just concentrate on cultivating and don’t mind the issues of the older generation.

“Yes, da-shixiong.”

The group of boys met up with the female disciples after their baths. The quiet dining hall was soon flooded with the young disciples, but the normally bustling morning became silent when they saw who was sitting at the corner of the dining hall.  A few of the more courageous disciples tugged at each other and asked for conformation on whether that was the Yu Lan Sword Immortal or not. Those who didn’t have the guts merely lowered their head and rushed off to get their food.

Li Qing, who had been walking beside Hua Anting, looked around at the commotion until her eyes landed on Wu Lingtian. She immediately woke from her sleepy stupor and broke away from Hua Anting. The sound of her pattering feet rang out over the slow-moving disciples. She drove her heels into the ground and stopped in front of Wu Lingtian with a bright smile.

Wu Lingtian looked up from his congee and waited for Li Qing to speak first.

Li Qing bowed a full ninety degrees as she shouted: “Good morning, Lord Immortal!”

The originally humming dining hall fell dead silent. The disciples mourned over the fact that Li Qing was still too young while others only cursed the fact that Hua Anting hadn’t kept a tighter hold on the little child.

Wu Lingtian on the other hand didn’t show much reaction. He hummed in his usual deep tone and hesitated a moment before speaking a bit more. “Did you sleep well?”

“Mn! Did Lord Immortal sleep well?” Li Qing asked, her body nearly shaking from excitement of getting a response.

“I did,” Wu Lingtian looked down at Li Qing’s hands that were tightly clutching at the sides of her robes. “Are you not hungry? Go get food.”

Li Qing shifted from foot to foot, her gaze concentrated just slightly over Wu Lingtian’s shoulder. “May I bring my food here to eat with you?”

Wu Lingtian nodded without even a second of hesitation. “You may.”

Li Qing’s head shot up excitedly. “Thank you, Lord Immortal!”

“Mn,” Wu Lingtian hummed. “Go.”

“Yes!” Li Qing excitedly bounced off, leaving Wu Lingtian back to his own silence again.

The disciples watched Li Qing run back over unscathed and unscolded. Even though they had witnessed such a scene, many of them still greatly valued their lives. They chose seats far enough away from Wu Lingtian so as not to disturb him, but this created an awkward situation where there was a large circle of empty seats while the other half of the dining hall was filled to the brim.

Li Qing didn’t care. She received her food and then went directly back to sit across from Wu Lingtian. She ate quietly for a few minutes, but soon couldn’t contain herself. Her legs began kicking below the table and her food was forgotten. She told Wu Lingtian about her day yesterday and even had the audacity to ask what Wu Lingtian had been up to.

At this, Wu Lingtian glanced up. His eyes fell on her uneaten food. “Eat.”