Chapter 57: Join the sect!
After gawking at the newspaper article about the empress, I went north in search of the Weasel bandits. However, there was a thorn in my path to the bandits by the name of Zhang Wei.
The fun time was over. Until now, I allowed him to tag along just because I felt like it. However, from this point on, I can't let him any closer.
I looked around and found a procession of monks. It was the perfect opportunity for me. I inconspicuously walked towards the procession and blended myself in with seamless ease.
Then I got the hell out of there using a bit of my Qi as well, so that no one's able to get a glance of me. Following that, I took a spot at the top of a considerably tall building and waited to watch what Zhang Wei does.
As expected, he was panicking like crazy. He looked around for me, however found nothing. He continued looking for me for roughly five more minutes. He then sought the help of a few people around him and continued his search. At this point, I left my spot and continued on with my journey.
Finding the Weasel bandits was the simplest part of the entire journey. They were literally there out in the open—about fifty men with normal stature and one humongous guy moving together as a group. It was pretty hard not to miss them.
"Yo!" I walked towards them, waving my hands vigorously. "Long time no see!"
"We literally met a few hours ago." The eldest father, who introduced himself as Guo Guiren, spoke.
"What? When did I meet you? You met the empress!" I giggled as I spoke.
I just wanted to bring up my new nickname before them. However, they didn't look so pleased with my joke.
"So, shall we head to your sect, Miss Hua?" Guo Guiren got straight to the point.
"Well, yes. But listen to the plan first." I asked them to come closer, which they did. Then I laid out my plan to them.
Most of them had doubts in their minds as they listened. "Will this even work? It's too—simple." One of the bandits spoke his mind.
"It will. Especially under the current circumstance." I replied.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"You'll see." I assured them as we headed towards my home.
#
Back at the home; I hid myself, along with the Weasel bandits, to look at what was happening in my absence. I saw Zhang Wei looking dejected, and my parents were panicking. It seems like I made the right choice letting him follow me.
Zhang Wei was an important part of my plan—he wasn't at the beginning, however he was the easiest way to let the Weasel bandits integrate into the sect, believe it or not.
I did not waste any time. I ran towards my parents with tears rolling from my eyes. Seeing me, they ran screaming my name as well. They looked relieved when I got back. It wasn't just them; Zhang Wei looked relieved as well.
"Where were you, Hua?" Father asked.
"I—don't know! (sob) I was walking around, then somehow I ended up losing my way. (sob) Thankfully, some elders helped me find the way. If they hadn't (sob)" I cried and I cried hard. I had to sell the pain after all!
Father couldn't handle it. He broke down into tears and he hugged me tight. He didn't seem like he wanted to let go of me. And I didn't push him back and let him hug me as well. However, I was kinda worried about my prospect of walking out in the mornings. But that would get resolved in a few minutes—or at least, I believe so.
"Where are the elders that helped you?" Father asked without letting me off.
Okay, at first, it was cute! But it's suffocating me now! I'm not very fond of body contact. So please leave me now, will ya?
Pleading in my mind didn't help since I didn't have a telepathic connection with them like I had with Goldy, so I just gently shoved him and got that much needed breathing space.
Learning that the hug made me uncomfortable, pops took a step back away from me and waited for my answer.
"Ah, they're over there!" I pointed towards where Guo Ning and a few of the first squad guys were waiting. Upon getting my signal, they walked towards us in a dignified manner.
I wanted Guo Ning to come out at first for a reason. He was the biggest of them. I wanted my parents to get surprised at first, so they won't be when I reveal the rest of the stuff.
"Hello, I heard you were the ones who saved my daughter. I'm Blue Moon Sect's leader." Father spoke.
"Hello to you as well. I'm Guo Ning." Both exchanged pleasantries. Thankfully, few knew about Guo Ning's actual name and called him the raging bull, so father didn't notice it.
"I really thank you for getting my daughter here. I just—thank you. Really!" Father couldn't pull off any other words from his arsenal. He was choking. It seemed like a second stream of tears was incoming. However, he held it in like a champ.
"Ah, it's fine! We just did what anyone else would do." Guo Ning replied. He felt awkward receiving a heartfelt thank you when he did nothing to deserve it.
"I don't think so. People like you have the heart of gold!" Father countered.
[Hehe]
I heard laughter. Goldy seemed to pop up in the random-est of times.
{Long time no see. What's up with the laugh?}
[Heh, nothing much. That heart of gold statement made me laugh.]
{Why? You got a golden heart as well?}
[Yup. And trust me. It doesn't make a man good!]
{Ah, he meant it as a metaphor. Not for real, though.}
[I know. I just wanted to point that out. I'm not gonna disturb you anymore—for now.]
And just like that, Goldy stopped talking. He did basically nothing other than making me miss some part of the conversation.
Anyway, when I eventually caught up with what they were talking about, it was at the point where father invited Guo Ning and company for a cup of tea. However, Guo Ning rejected it by saying that they were nomads and they had to move. Guess it's time for me to shine.
"No!" I shouted.
"Huh?"
"I don't want the elders to go!" I cried.
I felt embarrassed doing this. I'm physically fifteen, you know? And what I'm doing right now is not something a fifteen-year-old would usually do. Thankfully, Hua Liu's existence as a brat through and through is the only thing that makes my act seem normal.
"But, they're nomads, Hua!" Father spoke.
"Technically, we're homeless. I didn't want Young Miss' father to think little of us, so…" Guo Guiren added fuel to the fire that was me.
"Is that so?" Father gave out a nervous laughter.
I guess he knew what was coming. So, I'm not gonna make him wait any longer.
"Ah! We'll get them a home then!" I shouted as if I had one wonderful epiphany.
"Hua—our home is in tatters. How can we provide someone else with a home?" Father asked.
The nervousness was clear in his eyes. It wasn't just him. Mom and Zhang Wei looked really concerned as well. I mean, Zhang Wei hated me for the longest time for being a brat. Wonder what his current feelings are.
"We don't have to build a new home then! We'll let them stay in our home." I proclaimed.
Yet again, I saw despair in their faces. I have a plan, guys! Just talk about the money now! Or else I would look like an idiot. Please don't make me look like an idiot.
"But, Hua. They are total strangers—no offense." Father looked at Guo Ning and spoke.
"None taken. You're not wrong about that." Guo Ning gave out a smile.
"Then we'll make them our family then!" I countered.
You know, it's tiring—acting like a brat is really tiring. I just want to get to my focal point. How many annoying detours do I have to take?
"My daughter…" Father sighed. "We can't make anyone our family." He tried talking sense into me.
However, I wasn't one to give up like that. "Sure we can! That's the point of taking them in as sect members, right? Everyone in a sect is family, right?" I asked.
"Ah—yes. But, I'm sure that they're in some sect." Father tried to persuade me from thinking against it.
I guess taking about seven members into a sect isn't profitable. I understand that. But I didn't want to overwhelm them with a fifty. Or else I would've done that. Also, that wouldn't have been an organic addition.
"We're not, kind sir!" Guo Guiren came in at clutch time to add more fuel yet again.
"Ugh! I see. But we can't manage their expenses." Father finally spoke about the finances!
"Ah, but father! The major sect would pay us money to manage if we hit the quota, right?" I asked.
"Yea, but that's for every twenty-five members. We can't do that with seven." He spoke.
"But, it isn't seven though." I spoke.
"Huh?"
"Look!" I pointed to the spot where about forty to forty-five people were waiting for my signal.
#
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
The_Chimp
The_Chimp Yo! Do tell me how you felt about this chapter! Thank you for reading and those comments that you put down there. It really helps me—no kidding. So, if you got any questions or stuff, do put them down. I'm totally free today. Taking a few hours of break after this.
Cheers!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone