"Yu Shixiong, I'll help you," Luo Cheng said after a moment.
A small, grateful smile appeared on Yu Lingyu's face. That was his Luo Shidi. He knew no one else wanted to help him.
"I'll help too," said San Jie, surprising Yu Lingyu. "But Yu Shixiong, I don't know much about talismans. Please teach me."
"No problem, no problem," Yu Lingyu said, waving his hands. "If no one else wants to come, we'll leave now."
Shen Ming was the first to walk out of there. The others followed him as his group. Just then, another person who had walked a short distance turned back and came up to Yu Lingyu.
"Yu Shixiong… please teach me too," said a girl with a nervous face.
"Good decision, Duan Shimei," San Jie said.
"Better to be here than with that proud peacock."
Duan Xia's face turned red.
"Don't badmouth someone when they're not around, San Shidi," Yu Lingyu said softly.
San Jie's face shrank. Yu Lingyu was always so kind and followed the rules. But… did he really know what others said about him behind his back?
"So, where do we draw talismans from?" Luo Cheng asked, folding his arms.
Yu Lingyu scratched the back of his head. "Hmm. Why don't you guys come to my cabin? But it's a bit…" He trailed off.
"It's a little messy."
Later, in the cabin...
"Is this what you call a little messy?" San Jie asked, trying to find a spot to step. Pieces of wood, clothes, brushes, and papers were scattered across the small room.
Blushing with embarrassment, Yu Lingyu quickly got down and started cleaning by shoving everything under the bed.
Luo Cheng smiled and helped move some things aside.
"Oh, come in, come in," Yu Lingyu said once the floor looked decent.
San Jie entered with a groan and a sulky face.
Duan Xia stepped in last, her cheeks still pink. Only two female students had been selected this year for Jun Peak, and Duan Xia had a normal, modest figure. She wasn't very tall and always looked a bit shy.
"Duan Shimei, please don't feel awkward," Yu Lingyu said gently, noticing her unease. It was normal to feel shy when surrounded by three boys.
He walked over to the curtain next to his bed and pulled it aside. Behind it, a wooden door appeared. When he opened it, the door creaked loudly.
The small room inside was just big enough for five people to sit closely. Shelves on the walls were packed with bottles of paint, scrolls, and brushes used for talismans.
"Oh? Yu Shixiong, are you making talismans for the whole sect or what?" San Jie asked in a joking tone.
Yu Lingyu nodded. "This is all I can do… so I often make talismans for everyone in Jun Peak."
San Jie stared at him, lips pressed together.
"Please have a seat," Yu Lingyu said, placing two small benches on one side of the table. He brought another two from the cabin and placed them around. Then he set out the papers, brushes, and paints on the table and gently closed the chamber door.
"Do you guys know anything about talismans?" he asked, sitting down next to Duan Xia.
"I know about protection talismans. Yu Shixiong, you can give those to me," Luo Cheng said excitedly. He was sitting beside San Jie and had already picked out some papers.
"I know a little about brightness talismans," Duan Xia said, raising her small hand shyly.
"Alright then, I'll give the protection spells to Luo Shidi. Duan Shimei, please make some brightness talismans." Yu Lingyu smiled, then turned to San Jie.
"Don't look at me like that. I said I don't know anything," San Jie muttered, frowning.
A small smile formed on Yu Lingyu's lips. "That's okay. I'm thinking of the best talisman to teach San Shidi."
"Why don't you teach him silent talismans, Yu Shixiong?" Luo Cheng said casually, a playful grin on his face. "They might come in handy."
San Jie laughed. "Luo Xiong, you're right. I could use one to shut up that arrogant peacock."
"I'll teach you demon-binding talismans," Yu Lingyu said finally.
"Oh, no problem. But silent talismans are still better," San Jie said.
Yu Lingyu opened a drawer and pulled out a large book from the shelf nearby.
With it next to San Jie, he flipped through a few pages and finally stopped at the Demon Binding Talisman. It had everything from the basic steps required to draw the talisman to its function. "How many talismans are in this book?" San Jie asked curiously.
"One thousand and twenty-eight in all." Yu Lingyu replied as he returned to his seat.
"How much do you know, Yu Shixiong?"
"One thousand and twenty-eight." Yu Lingyu replied again.
"What! you memorized the whole book?" Rising slightly from his seat, San Jie said with his mouth open in surprise. Most of the talismans had the same pattern and were only differentiated by small brushstrokes. How can someone store all of them in memory?
Yu Lingyu only gave a smile as a reply. "Oh, Duan Shimei, you are so talented." Yu Lingyu said after a few moments, pausing his work and looking at Duan Xia's talismans. She blushed shyly.
"Thank you, Yu Shixiong."
"Yu Shixiong, please check if this is correct." San Jie asked, handing the talisman he drew to Yu Lingyu. "Tighten the brushstrokes. Other than that, everything is fine."
San Jie felt a little proud of himself. At first, he only tried to get along with Yu Lingyu because of Lingyu's close relationship with their Da Shixiong, Wei Yunhe. Or… maybe not? The more time he spent with Lingyu, the more he felt that Yu Shixiong wasn't as strange as the rumors made him seem.
Yu Lingyu was actually good at what he did. His brushstrokes were neat and skillful, and he could draw many different kinds of talismans. By the time Wei Yunhe returned, the group had already finished most of the work and were now completely focused on finishing off a bowl of peanuts.
"Are you sure you don't want lunch?" Lingyu had asked earlier. The others had all said no, so they just kept working.
Now, as he stood up and started collecting the talismans, Yu Lingyu turned and asked, "Do you all have weapons?"
"No," Luo Cheng and Duan Xia replied at the same time.
"Let's go to the Sword Pavilion, then. You can each choose one," Lingyu said.
Everyone followed him out. He closed the portal to the ink room behind them. San Jie's entire face was covered in black ink, but luckily the Apprentices' Chambers weren't far from Yu Lingyu's place.
"Go wash up first. I'll wait for you downstairs," Lingyu said, glancing at his little Shidies and Shimei. Then, without thinking much, he turned and pushed open the main door-
-only to crash into someone. Both of them fell to the wooden floor with a loud thud.
"Eh?"
A familiar face hovered over him. Wu Xuan. His usual smug grin was right in front of Lingyu's eyes.
Wu Xuan was on top of him.
Yu Lingyu's face froze. Without thinking, he quickly shoved Wu Xuan off and stood up. "Wu Shixiong?! What are you doing here?"
"Ah-ow…" Wu Xuan sat up, rubbing the back of his head where it had hit the floor. "Didn't your Da Shixiong tell you?" he asked, lips curving slightly.
He was dressed in the official dark blue and black robes of Juyao Peak, his long sword casually resting against his right shoulder.
Before Yu Lingyu could answer, San Jie, who was still dripping with black paint, spoke up.
"Shouldn't you apologize first, Wu Shixiong?"
Wu Xuan smiled lazily at him. "Is that so?"
That single reply was enough to shut San Jie up. Something about Wu Xuan's tone always made it hard to argue with him.
"As I said," Wu Xuan continued, turning back to Lingyu, "since Wei Shidi knows, you should too. Juyao Peak is joining this mission. So, Yu Shidi, give me a few Demon Attraction Talismans."
Yu Lingyu hesitated. "I only drew a few…"
The Demon Attraction Talisman was one of the hardest to create. Its patterns were complex, and it couldn't be made with just regular ink. A trace of human blood had to be mixed in.
"Then give me those few," Wu Xuan said, leaning against the doorway. He crossed his arms and gave a sharp grin. "What? Don't want to?"
"It's not that I don't want to," Lingyu said carefully. "It's just… we have an urgent matter-"
Before he could finish, Wu Xuan cut him off.
"Did Wei Yunhe tell you or not? We're on the same mission. So give me the talismans, Yu Shidi. We're supposed to work together, aren't we?"
His voice had dropped lower. It didn't sound like a request; it sounded like a warning.
Yu Lingyu couldn't resist. He opened his Treasure Pouch and pulled out the folded talismans with a quiet sigh.
But before he could hand them over properly, Wu Xuan snatched them from his hand with a click of his tongue and left without even saying thank you.
"That old pig," San Jie muttered after him, glaring at the door. "A bird-brained clown who can't even draw a talisman. 'We're working together, Yu Shidi,'" he added, mocking Wu Xuan's voice with a scowl.
Yu Lingyu gave a weak smile.
"Ah… San Shidi," he whispered, "don't insult people when they're not here…"
But San Jie didn't seem to hear. He stormed out, still cursing in his heart.
After a while, Duan Xia and Luo Cheng also left, leaving Yu Lingyu alone.
He stood in front of the mirror, staring at his own reflection.
"The clownish poet?" he muttered, watching the masked face looking back at him.
Even now, rumors still spread about a scar. That rumor was supposedly left by Wei Yunhe himself. Even his Shizun believed that lie.
Slowly, Yu Lingyu reached up and removed his mask.
The red demonic mark in the center of his forehead was still there. Unchanged.
"What should I do to erase it?"
He touched it gently; his eyes filled with something like sadness.
It had been eight years.
And still, no answer.