The Scum Is A ***

It was another peaceful day in Jixu Peak where only this pair of master and disciple are living. Today, Cheng Sheng is having his disciple copy the recipe for Mengxiang Pill because You Rou needs it. She wanted to make them and add them to her collection. 

Cheng Sheng who was nibbling on the melon seeds which Fei Yinxi has peeled earlier peeked at his disciple writing. Then, he smiled. "Don't mind it if your handwriting is ugly. My handwriting before is worse than yours right now." he told the child. 

"Really?" Fei Yinzi raised his head from the paper which his face almost kissed because he is carefully writing the characters. 

"Yes." Cheng Sheng honestly answered. "Don't doubt your shifu's words. Your shifu should be the one you should believe the most." He told him. 

Fei Yinzi stared at his shifu before he looked at the paper. "But, shifu…You-shigu needs it." he said. "She will read what I have written. Wouldn't it be bad if she can't understand the words I wrote?" he asked. His face is serious. 

Cheng Sheng's action paused. He turned to his disciple. "Are you underestimating your You-shigu?" he asked. 

"This disciple doesn't dare." Fei Yinzi immediately answered and lowered his head in shame. 

"If your You-shigu can't decipher… ehem, read it – " Cheng Sheng coughed. 

Fei Yinzi's face turned black. "…" what 'decipher'? Is his handwriting really that bad? He thought as his cheeks reddened. 

" – your You-shigu can just visit us here." Cheng Sheng continued. 

Fei Yinzi's face turned darker. "…" you're the one underestimating me here! What's the point I wrote the recipe, then?! He thought as he complained in his heart. "Shizun." He called. 

Cheng Sheng was enjoying tormenting his disciple when he suddenly heard his disciple's address. A vein popped in his forehead. "Address me as your 'shifu'!" he told him. 

"Shizun." Fei Yinzi spoke. 

"I raised you." Cheng Sheng said with a dark face. "I should be your father." he told him. 

"But I don't want you to be my father." Fei Yinzi said. 

Cheng Sheng sarcastically laughed. "If not father, then what?" he asked. 

Fei Yinzi immediately fell silent. Cheng Sheng stared at him until his face turned red like a cooked shrimp.

"... you want me to be your big brother?" Cheng Sheng asked. He suddenly felt an itchy feeling in his heart when he saw Fei Yinzi's meek appearance. "Ohoho~? What's this? You want your shifu to be your gege? I'm too old for that." he told him and laughed. 

"Age doesn't matter to immortals." Fei Yinzi said. 

"But I'm not an immortal." Cheng Sheng told Fei Yinzi. "Your shifu will forever be in the Golden Core Stage." he told him. 

"Why did you sacrifice your cultivation?" Fei Yinzi asked as his hand inside his sleeve clenched. "There must be some other ways…" he muttered.

"There wasn't." Cheng Sheng cut him off.

Fei Yinzi looked at him. 

"Wu Ran is too formidable." He said. "Even elder Zheng, your Xie-shibo, sect leader Jing, the Chen patriarch and new sect leader Qian can't defeat him even when the five of them combined." He told him. 

Fei Yinzi sucked in a sharp breath. 

"If I didn't lower his guard, who knows what would've happened…" Cheng Sheng muttered, then shook his head. "Anyway, it was of my own volition." he said as he flipped the pages and pointed a row of lines on the page for Fei Yinzi to copy. "Line 7." he lazily told him. 

Fei Yinzi held the brush again and resumed writing. "Shizun… why did you sacrifice yourself? Why can't others do it…?" he asked. "Ow." he cried when Cheng Sheng hit his head with a scroll. 

"Too many questions. Save some for tomorrow." Cheng Sheng told Fei Yinzi and then rose from his seat. He was about to pat his sleeves when he stopped. He then remembered that Fei Yin is not here anymore to tidy his clothes for him. 

Fei Yinzi seemed to notice what he wanted. He placed down the brush and he stood to reach for his shifu's sleeve and pat the dust off of his sleeves. "Shizun should look clean as always, since shizun is beautiful." he told him. 

"Er zi. Your flattery will lead you nowhere for me." Cheng Sheng told Fei Yinzi and then pulled his sleeve from the claws of his disciple. "Go copy the lines I told you to write. And, I am your father, so call me 'shifu'." he told him before he left. 

Fei Yinzi silently watched Cheng Sheng left. He doesn't know the reason why he doesn't want for Cheng Sheng to be his father. This feeling is stemmed deep in his heart. "This is better." he muttered. "Shizun's beauty is only for me to see." he said and went back inside their house to copy. 

The next day and Cheng Sheng's face is dark. He felt something is wrong. 

"Cheng-shidi. Is the child not feeling well?" Li Tian worriedly asked. 

The child he's referring to is obviously Fei Yinzi. 

"Er zi's well today. Why? What's the matter?" Cheng Sheng asked. 

"Well, your clothes and hair looked sloppy today." Feng Mo answered. 

"Huh?" Cheng Sheng muttered and looked at his slightly wrinkled clothes. A vein popped in his forehead as he immediately fixed his hair and his clothes, only for them to become messier. "That brat!" he said through his gritted teeth and he marched towards their house. 

Only for him to see Fei Yinzi lying on the bed. 

"Shizun..." Fei Yinzi weakly called when he saw Cheng Sheng entered. 

"... what happened to you?" Cheng Sheng asked and felt his anger disappeared. He immediately checked Fei Yinzi's body and the child indeed had a fever. He immediately warmed him up and fed him his qi. Was I too hard on him for having him clean the house and cook for my breakfast? Wash my clothes and fix my hair? He thought. "Er zi..." he called. 

... did I overdo it? Fei Yinzi thought when he saw Cheng Sheng's pitiful expression. "S-shizun... don't... don't be too sad. I just stayed up late last night." he told him. 

Guilt can be seen in Cheng Sheng's face. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have... you're still young. I should be the one to look after you." he said as he looked away and covered his face with his sleeve to cry. 

"Sh-shizun!" Fei Yinzi cried in alarm and he immediately sat up on the bed. 

Cheng Sheng's eyes flashed as he immediately hit Fei Yinzi who had lowered his guard. "Er zi! It's a hundred years early for you to deceive me! What did you eat? Ah? A piece of Sundry Leaf, huh?" he said with a dark expression when he opened Fei Yinzi's qiankun pouch. 

Fei Yinzi's face reddened in shame. "Sh-shizun! Don't!" he cried. 

Cheng Sheng hit Fei Yinzi and the child fell back on the bed. "The sick ones are needed to be healed! The naughty ones are needed to be punished!" he said and grinned widely as he took out the remaining Sundry Leaf. "To deceive your shifu - " he said. " - since you like the Sundry Leaf much - " he forced open Fei Yinzi's mouth and made him chew it. 

Fei Yinzi's eyes widened and his face immediately burned red. SO HOT! He thought as he coughed. Smoke can be seen coming out of his mouth. He felt his tongue and the inside of his mouth is being scorched.

However, Cheng Sheng is ruthless. "You should've heard your shizun is a scum in his younger days. One shouldn't mess with scum people, or they'll suffer hell. Now - " he said as he glanced at the door where Li Tian and Feng Mo are hiding. Obviously, they are Fei Yinzi's accomplices. " - you even had your shibos help you, huh?" he said as he marched towards the door. 

Li Tian and Feng Mo are about to run when they felt they can't leave the place. They looked down and saw an array beneath their feet. Crap. Cheng-shidi is too formidable! They thought. They should've known… Jixu Peak is Cheng Sheng's territory and any spot could turn to a landmine. 

"Cheng-shidi..." they called and turned to face Cheng Sheng who was smiling brightly at them after he opened the door. 

"Li-shixiong. Feng-shixiong~ since you like my son so much, why don't you go join him?" Cheng Sheng asked them and pulled them inside. 

"NNNOOOO!!" Li Tian's and Feng Mo's screams can be heard in the whole peak. 

"... I said I'm not your son..." Fei Yinzi muttered before he fainted. 

The next day and he really fell sick. Cheng Sheng looked haggard. Not only no one had fixed his clothes and hair for him, but he also stayed late in the night to take care of Fei Yinzi. Then, the following day and he's the one who became sick. Fei Yinzi doesn't know where to put his hands and his feet. 

The following days and they went back to their usual routine.