30 Master and Disciple

When Su Jin saw the newcomer closely, she immediately understood why she had gotten such a strange feeling from them. The person in the pink robes was not a person at all. It had a face carved out of wood, and its hands holding the tray were also made of wood. No wonder it looked weird when it was walking just now.

"Do you have robots here too?" Su Jin could not help but ask.

"What, pray tell, are robots? This is the wooden puppet that I created. It usually helps me bring the tea and clean the yard," Nie Qing said proudly. It seemed that the two young ones had never seen wooden puppets before. 

When the puppet bent over to put down the tea, they could even hear the creaking of its wooden joints. Once it put the tea set onto the wooden table, it turned and left.

"Are you and your wooden puppet the only ones here?" If that was the case, no wonder he was in such a hurry to leave.

"That is so. I had to wait for my fated person here, though there is no real reason I couldn't have left at any time."

Nie Qing told them a little white lie. He had lived for several centuries by now, and he did not have any documentation nor any place to go. There was definitely no way he could integrate into modern society either, so he had no choice but to stay here.

Now, however, he had finally encountered Lu Hao. He could leave this place with Lu Hao and teach the boy all of his ancient divination spells! With that, his life would be complete.

The old man then turned to Su Jin, saying, "Your visage is equally curious, young lass. If I'm not mistaken, you were saved from a tragedy by some priceless treasure, yes?"

Su Jin was shocked. He could tell? By priceless treasure, did he mean her pendant?

"Nevertheless, you need not worry too much. That was an obstacle you were destined to face, and it also marks a new beginning in your life."

Nie Qing could see through her fate, but he did not tell her everything.

In truth, he really envied this young couple. All they wanted in life was to live long and grow old together! That was a life he could never have now.

"Grandpa Nie, Lil Jin will be safe from danger from now on, right?" By now, Lu Hao was convinced that Nie Qing was not completely useless too. There was no way he could have seen through Su Jin's secret without some know-how.

"Danger? Haha, aren't all of you living through hell on earth right now?"

Part of Nie Qing's ancient divination techniques involved predicting the future too. A few days ago, he had nothing better to do on the mountaintop, so he casually tried reading the future. What he saw gave him a terrible shock.

The world was going to fall into utter chaos! Dark days were ahead.

Chaos, huh? Nie Qing's prediction amazed both Lu Hao and Su Jin. To think he could see so much! They only knew about the apocalypse because of Su Jin's reincarnation, but he could see it coming all by himself.

Su Jin said, "Grandpa Nie, since you predicted what's going to happen, aren't you worried you'll end up suffering as well if you follow us into those dark days?"

This mountain was free of people and therefore would be free of zombies. It was probably safer than the world outside.

"With joy comes sorrow, and vice versa, lass. Fate is a two-sided coin. For all you know, what awaits me beyond these mountains is a joy I've never yet known."

Nie Qing laughed heartily after his little speech. With his abilities, he could naturally tell that a life of pleasure lay ahead if he went with these two young ones.

Lu Hao and Su Jin had no idea that Nie Qing had everything all planned out in his mind. They exchanged a glance, and then Su Jin nodded. If this could be of help to Lu Hao, perhaps it truly was fated to be.

"Grandpa Nie, let me help you carry your things," Lu Hao said.

"Haha, lad, you should call me Master! Come with me. Since I'm leaving this place, I should give it some closure."

The two of them followed Nie Qing to a hall. With a wave of his hand, Nie Qing pulled a few golden joss sticks from his wide sleeve. He handed some of them to Lu Hao, and they automatically lit up without a flame once Lu Hao accepted them.

"My disciple, look directly ahead of you. That is the grandmaster of my sect. Now, kneel and kowtow to him with me, seven times."

With that, Nie Qing waved his hand again and two gold-colored kneeling cushions simply slid up to their feet.

Su Jin was watching in wonder. Directly ahead of them was a statue of an old man dressed in clothes similar to Nie Qing's. Although he did not look particularly celestial, he at least looked kind and benevolent.

After the two men bowed to the statue, Lu Hao followed Nie Qing's instructions and bowed thrice.

When Lu Hao stood up, two wooden birds suddenly appeared above his head. They flapped their wings woven from leaves and chirped, "Congratulations, Master Nie, and salutations! The curse is broken, fate awoken, the world awaits your domination! ..."

"I invented that formation, and I finally got to use it! Impressive, eh? What do you think, lassie? Hahaha!" Nie Qing laughed merrily again.

World domination again? Just how much did this old man want to take over the world?

"Grandpa Nie, shouldn't you give your new disciple a welcome present?" Su Jin smiled like a sneaky little fox.

"Ahahaha, I don't need reminding, lass! I could never forget my disciple's welcoming gift." Nie Qing pulled a folding fan out of his sleeve.

The edges and handle of the folding fan were made of solid gold, and the tip of the frame was perfectly rounded. It was beautiful to behold.

Nie Qing unfolded the fan, revealing a lifelike painting of a flame on the white surface. The flame looked like it would burst into life at any time, and the words 'Onyx Flame Fan' were written in a powerful script right next to it.

That was a treasure, alright! Lu Hao knew that the fan was special the moment he saw it.

"Thank you, Master." Lu Hao accepted the fan and examined it carefully.

"Sigh, disciple, do you know how to use it? This old man-- I mean, your teacher hasn't taught you how to use it yet!" This treasure of his was no ordinary fan! It was capable of some truly amazing things.

"Please instruct me in your wise ways, Master." Lu Hao also knew that this fan had to be used for something other than cooling its user down, so he humbly asked Nie Qing for help.

"Well, hehe, it's not that difficult. I wouldn't call it my 'wise ways' or anything." Nie Qing's face was red, either from excitement or embarrassment. He held his hands behind his back, digging his foot into the stone floor.

They had no idea that this old man was so easily embarrassed…

In truth, Nie Qing was not exactly feeling awkward. Ever since he found out that the only way to break his cursed solitude was to take a fated person as his disciple, he had spent all his time fantasizing about the day he finally met his disciple. He even practiced what he would say thousands of times, coming up with a formation for that special moment.

When he heard Lu Hao say 'please instruct me', he finally realized that he was officially a master now. That was why he suddenly felt embarrassed from the surprise of it all.

"Grandpa Nie, hurry up and tell us! How does this fan work?" Su Jin was anxious to see what the fan could do.

"Cough cough, it's simple, really. I'll show you and you'll get it." He pulled a lighter out of his sleeve.

Finally, something modern, Su Jin thought as she looked at the lighter.

Nie Qing swung the Onyx Flame Fan at the little fire at the tip of the lighter, and the tiny flame flared up exponentially, instantly burning up the hall's wooden door.

"What do you think? Impressive, right?" Nie Qing looked at the couple proudly. The Onyx Flame Fan had been crafted by an ancient master. It was born from the flames and could boost any fire. Even the tiniest of embers could burn down a city with its help. 

Lu Hao's eyes instantly lit up. To Su Jin, he looked like a child who had just received a fun toy.

"Master, can I try it?" Lu Hao asked.

Nie Qing nodded and gave Lu Hao the fan, followed by the lighter he just used…

"Master, I don't think I need that." Since Nie Qing was his master now and no ordinary person to boot, Lu Hao thought that he should be able to reveal his special ability without surprising the old man too much.

"You don't need it? I see, you must have one too." Nie Qing kept the lighter back into his sleeve as though it was a priceless treasure.

...