I'm really not the Saviour! (我唔係救主囖!) [danmei/BL xuanhuan]

12 - Demons always have to ruin everything

Spring bloomed quickly into summer, and then passed into early autumn as Chan Bik and Sek Gon settled into life at Mount Fa.

Or, more accurately, they had beds they could use every night, but that was about as much settling as they achieved.

Sek Gon was forever wandering off, and Gou Dzing, as the head disciple of the leading school of Mount Fa, would regularly catch him casually strolling along the road away from the Sect, despite various guards and patrols swearing they had never seen him leave.

Punishment didn't seem to do anything. In fact, the first time Sek Gon was brought to the Discipline Hall, Gou Dzing handed him paper, ink, and a brush, and sat him down to make copies of The Guiding Principles of the Reflective Sword Arts. The culprit looked at the paper, and at the brush in his hand, and at the complicated passage of text beside him.

"Eight times, Sek Si-hing. I'm sorry, but you don't get special treatment if you're staying here. Chan Si-mui is working hard, it's only right that you try your best too."

"..."

Gou Dzing sat down beside him. "Are you regretting coming here? Was I too pushy?" He habitually fiddled with the tassels of his sword. "Sek Si-hing, I think you've got amazing skills that could be very beneficial to the Reflective Sword Arts School. If you're able to prove yourself, you could very quickly become a teacher here. But that does mean following the rules of the sect and... if that's asking too much... if that's not what you want... I'll humbly admit that I brought you here selfishly and you're free to go and live your life."

The flick-flick of the tassels was clear in the quiet room.

Sek Gon looked at the brush.

"Sek Si-hing? You can say what you're thinking."

"... I don't know how to write."

The flick of the tassels stopped. "... Sek Si-hing... you never learnt?"

"No."

It was Gou Dzing's turn to scramble to organise a thousand thoughts that poured into his brain. "Then... your family was not well-off. I understand now."

"... what does that mean, to be 'well-off'?"

"Well, Chan Si-mui's family has a large house and a lot of land, as well as many workers. That makes them fairly rich."

"... I think... my family's house... about half the size?"

"And workers?"

"... maybe... a few..."

"And yet you never learnt to write? How old were you when Lord Gaam Bing took you as his disciple?"

"... I don't know."

The more he asked, the more questions Gou Dzing had.

"You don't... Your family didn't teach you to write?"

"They said I didn't want to learn."

Gou Dzing rubbed his face as though the gesture might remove the overwhelming feelings rising up. "I can understand Lord Gaam Bing not teaching you, but your family... 'You didn't want to learn'? What sort of excuse is that?"

"..."

"Where's your hometown? Who's your family?"

"... I don't know."

Flick-flick-flick went the tassels.

"Sek Si-hing... If you want to stay, I can teach you how to write. I can help you become a teacher here. I can... I can help you become someone no one looks down on, if that's what you want."