It's not easy being a Master

Extra 3

About Duan Yuan's little disguise.

It was a distant memory.

At that time, Yuan Duan had just arrived at Qianyin Pavilion. In order to avoid his fated death, he had to dress up as a girl and become the personal disciple of the Third Pavilion Master, thus becoming a disciple of Qianyin Pavilion.

Because of his special circumstance, Third Chamber Master used his supposed weak health as an excuse to separate him from the groups of female disciples so that he could practice alone.

Although little Duan Yuan was dressed as a girl, he was still a young boy at heart. He would inevitably have the naughty inclinations peculiar to boys. He could control himself when he was with the his disciple sisters. But, when he was by himself on Third Pavilion, he couldn’t help himself.

The Third Chamber Master sighed. “How are you so naughty? You just look at the big senior brother from next door. He is very well-behaved. He gets up and practices every day, oftentimes before the sun is even up. But just look at your behavior…”

Duan Yuan was lying on a tree branch, struggling to pick the fruit that was just a tad bit out of reach. His skirt soon became messed up and dirty. He asked, “Who is the big senior brother?”

“Your big senior brother is Lian Qin.” With his heart in his throat, Third Chamber Master watched as Duan Yuan climb the tall, ancient tree. The child had a good spirit root and learned things quickly. He liked him very much too. He yelled, “Hurry down!”

After much struggle, Duan Yuan finally managed to pick the fruit and jumped out of the tree with satisfaction. He tilted his head and asked, "Does he really get up and practice every day before light?"

“Of course. He is very diligent and practices relentlessly, no matter what.”

Yuan Duan frowned slightly, finding this hard to believe. He’d always had a hard time getting up in the morning and couldn't separate from his bed until the very last moment. Sleeping in was the happiest thing in the world. How could anyone be willing to get up so early?

Ah, no. There were also his disciple sisters.

But the reason his sisters did so was because they wanted more time to dress up. Could it be that Senior Brother Lian Qin also...

This was the first time little Duan Yuan heard the name Lian Qin, followed by some weird thinking.

Later, the name Lian Qin appeared more and more in Duan Yuan’s life.

The sisters were clamoring that Senior Brother Lian Qin was so handsome and everyone was envious of Senior Brother Lian Qin’s strength. Even his master always praised, “Your Senior Brother Lian Qin is very talented. He is very hardworking and outstanding. What a good child. You need to learn from him.”

Duan Yuan flattened his mouth in dissatisfaction. He thought what he heard couldn’t be true so he decided to check it out for himself.

The next day, he had a hard time getting out of bed. By the time he finished washing up, the sky was already bright. Duan Yuan clenched his fists and walked toward Senior Brother Lian Qin’s residence, full of fighting spirit. He wanted to see how hard Lian Qin was practicing!

When Yuan Duan got to Lian Qin’s courtyard, there was no one in sight. He sighed with relief and was about to say that Senior Brother Lian Qin’s so-called morning practice were lies when the sound of water caught his attention.

The sound seemed to be coming from the house. Duan Yuan thought for a moment and decided that since he’d come all this way, he ought to at least see what Senior Brother Lian Qin was doing.