One of the male elders stepped forward, clearing his throat loudly.
"Sect Head Liu," he began, voice tight. "Forgive our intrusion, but it seems... you have brought someone from outside into the inner quarters."
His eyes flickered meaningfully toward Jia Wei Xin.
Before anyone else could add more, Liu Mo Fei moved lazily, almost bored.
He lifted a hand and gestured lazily toward her.
"This is Jia Wei Xin," he said, voice smooth and careless. "My private disciple."
The words landed like a boulder in a calm pond.
A private disciple.His first ever.
Shock rippled through the group—whispers, stiff postures, sharp glances exchanged.
The young female elder's face twisted ever so slightly, and Jia Wei Xin could almost feel the sharp stab of hostility directed at her like an arrow.
A few of the other elders frowned, gathering themselves.
One spoke, his tone polite but strained.
"Sect Head Liu, with all due respect, taking in a personal disciple is no small matter. The rules—"
Before the elder could even finish, Liu Mo Fei raised his hand lazily.
There was a crackle in the air—A sudden, heavy pressure that pressed down on the courtyard.
The entire ground trembled faintly underfoot.
Jia Wei Xin stiffened where she sat, pastry forgotten.
At that moment, Liu Mo Fei didn't look playful or harmless anymore.
He looked like the leader of a gang. A very dangerous, very dominant gang.
Jia Wei Xin suddenly realized—Sifu… feels more like a mafia boss than a sect head. And he's so alluring! Jia Wei Xin clapped inwardly, her heart beating a little too fast.
The elders quickly shifted their tones, coughing awkwardly and pretending nothing had happened.Several even dipped their heads lower, the earlier protest swallowed before it could fully form.
No one dared to push further.
---
Liu Mo Fei turned back to Jia Wei Xin, lowering his voice into a teasing murmur—loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Keep eating. Don't worry about these boring, lazy people. Clearly, they have nothing better to do," he said lazily, as if dismissing the entire group of elders like they were nothing more than idle decorations.
With an affectionate gaze, he casually picked up a delicate pastry and placed it into Jia Wei Xin's bowl—an unhurried, almost intimate gesture, treating her with the kind of personal care that made the elders grit their teeth.
Truly mafia style.Liu Mo Fei didn't even care about showing such favoritism toward his private disciple right in front of everyone, as if daring them to say a word.
What's wrong with pampering his disciple? he thought lazily.She's his first and only. Naturally, he would treat her better than anyone else.
Then, reluctantly, he straightened and sauntered toward the large stone meeting table under the main pavilion.
In contrast, the moment Liu Mo Fei faced the elders, his gaze sharpened coldly.Interrupting my sweet moment, Liu Mo Fei thought darkly.I'll find a way to make them regret it later.
Indeed, the elders would come to regret today's interruption—For in the days that followed, they would truly experience the terrifying side of Sect Head Liu, who made sure they paid dearly for disturbing his mood.
He sat with an easy, languid air, but every elder straightened involuntarily, as if facing a coiled tiger.
---
The large stone table under the pavilion had been prepared for meetings like this.Some elders sat on cushioned stools, others remained standing stiffly around the sides, waiting.
Jia Wei Xin stayed quietly at her smaller table, close enough to listen but politely out of the official meeting.
When the urgent scroll was presented, Liu Mo Fei accepted it lazily, flicking it open with one hand while the other drummed lightly on the table.
He skimmed through it lazily, his finger tapping the table in a slow, idle rhythm.
"Supply chain issues again," he drawled, sounding monumentally bored. "Food shortages, equipment delays—how exciting."
An elder wrung his hands. "Weapon supplies are collapsing across all Wings! Disciples are sparring with cracked swords!"
"The kitchens are overwhelmed! Some training halls are rationing meals—and worse, we've had cases of food poisoning from spoiled rations!Twelve cases reported from the East Wing, eight from the North Wing—mostly outer disciples."
"Several new recruits collapsed during morning drills!"
"Our craftsmen can't keep up—the number of new disciples is flooding every division!"
"If this continues, we'll have a full-blown internal crisis before winter!"
Apparently, the sect was divided into different "wings"—North Wing, East Wing, West Wing, and South Wing—each managing different groups of disciples and facilities.
In the past, these problems were bad but manageable.Now, under Liu Mo Fei's leadership, the sect was expanding faster than anyone had anticipated.More disciples. More mouths to feed. More weapons to forge.And the old system simply couldn't keep up.
There was a heavy silence.
Finally, one elder hesitantly suggested, "Maybe... we should punish the disciples who fail to take care of their equipment? Fine them, or dock their allowances?"
Another added nervously, "Or... maybe limit food portions across the sect? It would control the demand before it spirals further."
Before anyone could react, the young female elder—the one who had been shooting daggers at Jia Wei Xin earlier—stepped forward with a bright, eager smile.
"If I may, Sect Head Liu," she said sweetly, tilting her head just a little too much, "perhaps we could organize mandatory weekly inspections for every disciple's meals and gear?If they don't pass, we can deny them food and supplies for a month! That would teach them discipline."
There was a brief, painful silence.
Several older elders coughed lightly, pretending not to hear.
Jia Wei Xin, nibbling on her spirit grain pastry, nearly choked.Is she serious? When everyone's already starving and sick?That's like trying to fix a flood by scolding the river!
Liu Mo Fei set his teacup down with a soft clink and gave a slow, dangerous smile.
"Punish the victims? Starve our own people? Are we running a sect or digging our own graves?"
The young elder flushed scarlet but quickly lowered her head, pretending to busy herself with her sleeves.
The rest of the elders flinched, shifting awkwardly in their seats.
Liu Mo Fei lazily waved his hand. "Anyone else want to embarrass themselves further?"
Silence.
The elders glanced at one another, none daring to meet his eye.
It was only then—when the air was thick with unspoken panic—that Jia Wei Xin, after a moment's hesitation, cautiously raised her hand.
"Um... may I suggest something?"
A ripple of surprise moved through the gathering.
Liu Mo Fei turned his head slightly, giving her an indulgent nod, as if to say, go on, little troublemaker.
---
Jia Wei Xin stood up slowly, feeling every eye in the courtyard land on her.
"From what I'm hearing," she began carefully, "it sounds like all your supplies—food, weapons, everything—are managed from a single central warehouse? One place serving the entire sect?"
The elders nodded grimly.
"That's... kind of a bottleneck," Jia Wei Xin said."It's too easy for things to jam up. In big organizations where there's rapid expansion—"(She stumbled slightly, catching herself just in time from saying 'corporations.')"—they usually set up smaller, local hubs. Like supply centers in each Wing. Stock them based on projected needs. That way, if the North Wing needs swords, they don't have to wait for the central warehouse to dig through six thousand people's requests first."
She paused, gathering her thoughts."And for food—if supplies are closer to each Wing, it's easier to manage freshness too.You can cook faster, avoid spoilage, and spot shortages earlier, before it turns into food poisoning or rationing."
A heavy pause.
And then—an eruption of muttering, excited discussion.
"...Decentralized hubs..." one elder repeated, rolling the words around like they were tasting something rare and precious.
"If we estimate demand Wing by Wing—"
"We could respond faster to shortages!"
"And transfer extra supplies between Wings if needed!"
The elders were suddenly buzzing like a kicked beehive, pulling out scrolls, scribbling numbers, starting frantic calculations right there at the stone table.
Honestly, it was basic supply chain logic.But judging from the elders' faces, you'd think she had just reinvented fire.
Liu Mo Fei leaned back lazily, amusement flickering in his eyes as he watched the chaos unfold.
Smart girl, he thought, his lips curling into a faint, indulgent smile.Mine.
At the side, the young female elder clenched her scroll so tightly it crumpled at the edges.She forced a stiff smile onto her face, scribbling random notes with enough force to nearly snap the brush.If she could flip the entire table without getting demoted on the spot, she probably would have.
---
By the time the moon had climbed high overhead, the meeting was still in full swing.
Somehow, without even meaning to, Jia Wei Xin had made a name for herself.
In just one day, the elegantly beautiful girl with the bright, intelligent eyes had done what few newcomers could—She had earned a place in the sect.
And her sifu?
He sat quietly, his teacup forgotten in his hand.
Across the courtyard, Jia Wei Xin glanced up—catching his gaze.
For a heartbeat, everything else faded.The noise, the elders, the endless problems of the sect—none of it mattered.
Just her. Bright, beautiful, brilliant.
Liu Mo Fei's heart gave a small, traitorous flutter.He suddenly had the strongest urge to cross the distance between them, pull her into his arms, and kiss her senseless.
His fingers tightened unconsciously around the cup.
Not yet, he told himself, fighting a smile.Soon.
Meanwhile, Jia Wei Xin blinked, puzzled by the intensity in his gaze.
Why is he looking at me like that...?
The longer he stared, the stranger she felt.Almost like—
Why does it feel like I'm about to be eaten...?
Jia Wei Xin shuddered lightly, clutching her teacup like a shield.