Huai paid him no mind. He gestured to the empty seat at the table. "Come," he said, his voice soft. "Eat."
The boy saw the gesture but can't hear his sounds at all.
The little boy flinched, still scared, but the aroma of the food was overwhelming. He hadn't eaten a proper meal in what felt like a lifetime. Hesitantly, he crept forward and climbed onto the chair. Huai pushed a bowl of warm rice and a plate of tender meat towards him.
Without a second thought, the boy grabbed the bowl and began to eat, so fast he almost choked. He didn't use chopsticks, just shoveling the food into his mouth with his hands, tears of relief streaming down his face.
Huai watched him, his expression gentle. When the boy finished the first bowl, Huai simply refilled it. After three bowls, the boy finally slowed down, his stomach full for the first time in ages. He looked up at Huai, his eyes wide with a mixture of awe and gratitude. He put the bowl down and shyly bowed his head towards Huai as best he could from his seat.
Huai chuckled softly. He reached across the table and placed a single finger on the boy's forehead. A warm, golden light flowed from his fingertip into the child.
"Let's fix this," he murmured.
The little boy's eyes widened. A strange, buzzing sensation filled his ears, a feeling he had never known. It grew louder, resolving into distinct sounds , the clatter of plates on the street below, the soft rustle of Huai's robes, the sound of his own frantic breathing. Then, he heard a voice, clear as a bell.
"Can you hear me now, little one?"
The boy's jaw dropped. He touched his ears, then his throat. He opened his mouth, and a hoarse, unused croak came out. He tried again, pushing the sound out.
"...yes," he whispered, his own voice a shocking, alien thing. He stared at Huai, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "...I can... hear."
Huai asked gently, "What is your name?"
The child's face broke into a smile. "My... my name is Xie Yan. That's what my mother and father taught me to write."
He couldn't hear or speak back then, but using spirit sense his parents had taught him to write and read, to give him some education.
Xie Yan's smile faltered as sadness touched his eyes at the mention of his parents. Huai ruffled his hair affectionately, making it a mess, and then suddenly froze. A distant memory surfaced—Qingqing, back on Earth. She was the only one who never abandoned him, the only friend he had.
Wuhe noticed the shift in his expression immediately. He placed his hand over Huai's other hand and asked softly, "Are you okay?"
Huai came back to the present, a gentle smile on his lips. He nodded to Wuhe, then looked at Yan and said, "Xie Yan, I want to take you as my first disciple. Are you willing?"
Xie Yan stared at Huai with wide, disbelieving eyes. To him, this divine being was already a god. He had never received such care from anyone since his parents died, except for his big sister and one uncle in the clan.
He nodded vigorously, his whole body trembling with excitement. Wuhe chuckled and silently pushed a cup of tea toward Xie Yan. The boy understood instantly. He scrambled up from his seat, took the cup with both hands, knelt on the ground, and held it up to Huai. "Master, please accept me as your disciple."
Huai took the cup as Xie Yan performed three formal kowtows, the proper disciple recruitment ceremony.
Huai drank the tea, then set the cup down. His voice was calm but carried a weight that made the air in the room still. "Alright. From now on, I, Shen Huai, Planet Master of Blue Star and Sect Master of the Eternal Sect, take Xie Yan as my first disciple. From today onwards, our relationship will be teacher one day, father for life."
The attending staff member, still standing by the door, nearly collapsed. Shen Huai. Planet Master. Eternal Sect Master. He finally understood what kind of monsters were sitting in his restaurant.
Xie Yan kowtowed again, tears finally falling freely down his cheeks. "Thank you, Master!"
Huai helped him up and pulled him into a chair beside him. "Eat more," he said, pushing more food onto the boy's plate. "You need to grow."
Wuhe watched them, a soft smile on his face. "Your first disciple," he said quietly. "You chose well."
Huai met his eyes. "I know."
Down in the street, far below the window of Heaven's Touch, a maid in Xie clan colors was frantically searching the crowd, her face pale with worry. Xie Qingluo had finally slipped out of the clan compound again, looking for her little brother.
After the hearty meal at his master's side, Xie Yan was happier than he had been in years. The magnificent spread of dishes convinced him, in his simple child's logic, that his master was not poor at all.
Huai asked him, "Xie Yan, do you want anything from this planet?"
Yan's hands clenched into fists in his lap. He asked in a small voice, "Master... are you strong?"
Wuhe chuckled. "Your master is very strong. You can ask him for anything."
Yan's eyes lit up. He looked at Huai, who was drinking his tea leisurely. "Master! My father and mother... I don't think they died in an accident."
Even the staff member lingering outside the door shivered at the revelation. Huai's brows furrowed. "Oh? Then tell me what you know."
Xie Yan continued, his voice shaking but determined. "Master! The new young master of the sect always came to my room to humiliate me and beat me up. One day he said that if his father, the current sect master hadn't gotten rid of my father and mother, they wouldn't have control of the sect..."
Wuhe's expression turned interested. Although Xie Yan was only twelve, he had cultivated with his parents before they died. As a cultivator, even a young one, he could tell right from wrong.
"He beat me up that day and let that slip," Yan went on. "That's when I left the house, searching for clues. But whenever I got close to something, they found me and beat me even worse."
"Only Sister Qingluo and Uncle Youwei treated me well in the sect. I want to say goodbye to them."
Huai set his teacup down. "Then let's go."
Wuhe scooped Yan up into his arms, and in the next instant, the three of them vanished from the restaurant.
The staff member cautiously entered the room a moment later to find three high-grade spirit stones sitting on the table. He stared at them, broke out in a cold sweat, grabbed them, and ran to find his master.
They appeared outside the Xie Clan's compound, a sprawling estate that looked grand to ordinary people but was little more than a large manor to Huai and Wuhe.
Xie Yan pointed a trembling finger. "That's the side gate, Master. Sister Qingluo uses it to sneak out."
Before they could move, a cry came from the alley beside the gate.
"Where is he?! I know you hid him again, Qingluo!"
A young man in fine robes Xie Feng maybe 18 years old, the new young master was grabbing Xie Qingluo by the wrist, shaking her. She was pale, defiant, her beautiful face streaked with tears. "I don't know what you're talking about, Feng! Let me go!"
"You're lying! That cripple is your little pet! If you don't tell me where he is, I'll have father lock you in the ancestral hall!"
Xie Yan went rigid in Wuhe's arms. "Sister!"
Huai's eyes went cold. "Wuhe."
Wuhe set Yan down gently. "Go on, little disciple. Your master is watching."
Yan ran forward. "Sister!"
Xie Qingluo's head snapped up. When she saw Yan clean, in white robes, standing tall,her eyes filled with tears. "Yan'er!"
Xie Feng turned, sneered. "You! You filthy little..." He raised his hand to strike.
He never finished the motion.
Huai appeared between them, not moving fast, simply being there. He caught Xie Feng's wrist with two fingers. There was a soft crack.
Xie Feng screamed as his wrist bones turned to powder.
"You," Huai said, his voice quiet, "are the one who beat my disciple."
Huai poured a thread of his true qi into Xie Feng's body. The young master screamed, a sound that brought the entire street to a standstill. Qingluo watched in horror as Xie Feng's bones broke apart one after another arm, ribs, leg, spine with soft, sickening cracks. It was a punishment. Even if he wanted to die, he couldn't; Huai's true qi healed the breaks just enough to break them again, an endless cycle of agony.
The onlookers gasped, backing away in fear. Qingluo, pale, turned to Yan. "Yan... how can you speak? Can you hear me?"
Yan nodded excitedly and told her everything, his words tumbling out. The mention of his master made his chest puff with pride.
Qingluo grabbed his arm, her voice urgent. "Yan, take your master and run from here..."
Wuhe appeared beside them, chuckling. "Don't worry, little girl. No one on this planet can handle his master. If he gets angry."
Yan's eyes lit up. He looked back at Xie Feng, who was still screaming on the ground.
Huai watched everything with cold eyes and announced, "No matter who you are, the moment you lay a hand on my disciple, you will suffer for eternity."
Then he raised his voice. The entire planet shuddered.
"Patriarch of the Xie Clan! Come out!"
His shout shook Canglan Star to its core. In a distant mountain, the planet master, Star Lord Changlan, jolted out of seclusion, looked toward the Xie clan, and felt pure fear. He could sense just how terrifying that being was.
Across the continent, the sleeping ancestors of the other clans woke in their coffins, rose into the sky, and stared at the Xie compound in dread, ignoring the greetings of their own descendants.
The Xie clan members poured out of their gates, terrified. Even the Xie ancestor, the strongest of them all at peak Star Grandmaster, emerged, his face grave.
They all saw their young master writhing on the ground, then looked up at Huai, who stood before them with cold, merciless eyes.
Xie Zhenghong, the patriarch, stepped forward, trying to project authority he did not feel. "Senior! I am Xie Zhenghong, patriarch of the Xie clan! May I ask what offense my son has committed to warrant such..."
Huai cut him off. "Your son beat my disciple. Daily. He humiliated him. And you..." Huai's gaze pinned him. "You murdered his parents."
Xie Zhenghong's face went white. "I...I don't know what you..."
"Don't lie to me," Huai said softly. The air grew heavy. "Xie Yan, come here."
Yan walked to his master's side. Huai placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tell them what you heard."
Yan, standing straight for the first time in his life, looked at his uncle and spoke clearly, his new voice carrying. "Young master Xie Feng said... he said that if his father hadn't gotten rid of my father and mother, they wouldn't have control of the sect."
A murmur ran through the crowd. The Xie ancestor's face darkened.
Xie Zhenghong shouted, "Nonsense! The word of a cripple...of a child!"
"He is my disciple," Huai said. "And his word is enough."
He looked at the Xie ancestor. "You. As the ancestor, did you know?"
The old man hesitated, then lowered his head. "...I suspected. I did nothing."
Huai nodded, as if that was the answer he expected. "Then you will watch."
He turned to Wuhe. "Bring me the ninth elder."
Wuhe vanished and reappeared a breath later, holding Xie Youwei by the collar. The kind uncle was dropped gently to the ground beside Qingluo. He looked around in confusion and fear, then saw Yan, clean and whole, and his eyes filled with tears.
"Uncle Youwei!" Yan ran to him.
Huai looked at the three Qingluo, Youwei, and Yan the only ones who had shown the boy kindness. "You three will live."
Then he looked at the rest of the Xie clan. "The rest... will pay for the tears of my disciple."
He raised one hand.
The sky above the Xie compound darkened.