C114(1)- Madman

"With all that cleared up, what do you exactly want me to do ? I'm talking about those tasks you mentioned, senior Xie . What would I be doing, exactly ? What's the point of those tasks ?" Han Xuhan asked, feeling mentally fatigued by then .

"Ah, what you'll be doing is information best kept secret for now . But I can tell you their overall aim ," Fang Xie said with a strained smile .

"These tasks will help me gather a team of talented youths ."

". . . .That's it ? Seriously ? I can just go down the mountain and find fifty of them within half an hour ," Xuhan nearly shouted in disbelief .

"Talented youths who are not members of this sect . Of course, if I had my way, your sect wouldn't be exempted . But your sect master is a man very difficult to convince ."

Han Xuhan repeatedly, rapidly shifted his gaze on the two experts in front of him . The implications were not lost on him .

Whatever Fang Xie had in mind for the youths he wanted to recruit through Xuhan was anything but pleasant . But this one thought suddenly created a spark of doubt in Xuhan's mind .

Kong Ye. . . .wasn't he doing the exact same thing  ? Was his new teacher's intentions truly as pure as it had originally seemed ?

Once again, the unexpected depth and sinister undercurrents of the world of cultivation made itself prominent in front of Han Xuhan's paranoid eyes .

But this was not the time to make wild theories in his mind . Clearing his thoughts, he asked the most obvious question .

"And why did you choose me for this task ? I don't think just your hatred of my existence itself is enough for you to wildly choose me for a task so 'unconventional' ."

Fang Xie leaned close and whispered the answer to his question . "Cut off your automatic sense of superiority, brat . I didn't choose you thinking you could do it . I chose you hoping you'd fail and suffer horribly in the hands of your targets . In fact, it would be best if your cultivation gets crippled in the process . Xuan Zi will have no use for you then . You'll be thrown out of the sect in order to appease the forces behind your targets, and I'll have you all to myself . . . ."

"Ah, So passionate ! How I wish you were a jade beauty, senior . . . ." Xuhan whispered back with an wooden expression .

"Oh yeah, me too, brat . Me too ."

"What ?"

"What ?"

"Disciple Xuhan, I was under the impression that you were an intelligent young man . How do you keep falling down to his level everytime I let you two have an exchange longer than a minute ? Why are you trying to win an arguement with a madman ?" Xuan Zi butted in with a sigh .

"Maybe he's mad too," Fang Xie remarked thoughtfully .

Han Xuhan rubbed his nose slowly . So in the end, Fang Xie did not care whether he succeeded or not . Perhaps his original plan for Xuhan had been something far more extreme and Xuan Zi had made him compromise .

"When I finish the tasks, you will stop hounding me, correct  ?"

"Oh ! 'When' you finish the tasks ? Confident, aren't we ?" Fang Xie exclaimed, his eyes narrowing .

"Do I have a choice ?"

"Good, good, good . I like brats who learn fast ."

"I'd rather you did not . You haven't answered my question, though ."

"Well, yes . For now, that is the plan . You do your job, you keep your life . It matters not to me whether you fail or not, but definitely matters to you . Hehe..."

Han Xuhan nodded . He obviously didn't believe the man . But he had a idea regarding how to make Fang Xie honour his promise . Reaching into his pockets, Xuhan brought out something he had gotten from brother BB during their last trade, alongside a new batch of chamber pots .

He had seen Qian Yun use it several times in the past . It was one of the reasons why he had been attracted to the law techniques in the first place .

It was a folded paper containing several paragraphs . Han Xuhan presented it to Fang Xie demurely and gave him his magical quill to sign with .

"Then surely, you would not have any problems signing in there, right ?" He said to the dumbstruck man .

Fang Xie stared at the contract for a full ten seconds before he shifted his gaze on to Xuhan . Then he went through the contract again .

"Oh, my apologies . I was unaware that you couldn't read ," Xuhan said in a very insincere tone . "Allow me, senior-"

Fang Xie sharply raised a hand gesturing at him to shut up . His eyes shone with a gloomy light as he brought the quill up and signed his name viciously underneath the paragraphs .
"How surprising, old Zi ! Letting your disciples wander off into deviant paths better left unexplored, I see . Doesn't quite match your style ."

Xuan Zi, enjoying the development so far from his seat, grinned lightly .
"This old man has learnt from his mistakes in the past, inspector Xie . On the road to heaven, why should any path be left unexplored ?"

Fang Xie almost flinched . Handing over the quill and the contract to Xuhan, he smiled in a way that could be described as benevolent .

"Intelligence isn't always rewarded, brat . You'll learn that the hard way ."

"At least I'll learn something new," Xuhan answered back with an equally sweet smile .


For the next thirty seconds, all three occupants of the room smiled back and forth at each other warmly . The word 'creepy' couldn't even begin to describe the scene .

Han Xuhan went over the contract once more amidst all the smiling . Then he signed his own name beside Fang Xie's .

"You can leave now . When the time comes, I shall notify you on what to do ," Fang Xie said .

His heart mired in deep sorrow and worry for his future self, Han Xuhan walked out from the sect master's residence .

The mystery behind the orphanage's disappearance was growing into something far too troublesome . Even a cultivator as powerful as Fang Xie couldn't remember its existence ? Or was he lying ? Or. . . .

Maybe Xuhan himself was the madman ?