Ku Mu started to gnash his teeth.
"Shier, let's go up," he finally said, then started to go up with his head bent down.
Guo Shier followed his master from the Runic Hall towards the front yard.
He saw Yu Jie standing there looking embarrassed. Standing in front of him was a woman in a fuchsia robe.
Guo Shier was shocked to see another Saint-level individual. He knew now that those wearing the same robe color as his master were high-level Saints. However, the woman's fuchsia robe was printed with what seemed like dark flowers. This middle-aged woman maintained a certain level of charm.
There were faint wrinkles around her phoenix-red eyes. Right now, her gaze was full of anger.
"Hey! Ku Mu!" she shouted. "You! Who is this child? Is this your child? If you tell me this is your baby from another woman, I'm going to fight you!"
"Moni-er, stop causing trouble," Ku Mu said coldly. "This is my new apprentice!"
Moni-er was about to pounce them but suddenly stopped.
Guo Shier felt her strong power.
She went from angry to confused, and then to surprised.
Gradually, she smiled and looked carefully at Guo Shier.
"Your new apprentice?" she asked. "What's your name? Where did he get you? How old are you?"
Guo Shier didn't know how to react. Finally, struck with an idea, he said, "My name is Guo Shier. I am ten years old this year. Hello, martial auntie."
Moni-er walked up to Guo Shier. "Did you call me martial auntie? That's wrong. You should call me Master's Wife."
Guo Shier was suddenly dumfounded.
Ku Mu was finally losing his patience, "Moni-er, we are no longer married. We are not even in a relationship. What are you doing here?"
Guo Shier couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was in the middle of what might become a lover's quarrel. He shut his mouth tight and stepped away from both of them. He might offend one of them by saying something. He was not stupid enough to get involved, so he outright pretended to be a well-behaved kid and let the adults talk to each other.
Moni-er completely ignored Ku Mu and just closely examined Guo Shier. The more she looked at Guo Shier, the more she liked him. She reached out her hand to hold Guo Shier's.
"Ooooh! This kid is so cute. Come here and greet your Master's Wife."
(Note: So I double checked it and apparently, "Master's Wife" is a thing. Like having a formal Master.)
Guo Shier hesitated a bit but found that Ku Mu didn't intervene.
"Nice to meet you Master's Wife!" he said.
Guo Shier said it so adorably that even Moni-er couldn't help but shed a tear. She hugged Guo Shier and said, "Hey! You're such a good boy!"
Guo Shier couldn't believe what was happening. He could see Ku Mu's colorless face from the side of his eyes.
"Why are you dressed up a little barbarian? Come with Master's Wife so we can get you a change of clothes," Moni-er said. "Your master is a Si Mu. He knows nothing about life except Runes."
(Note: So it seems that Moni-er has a nick name for Ku Mu, which is Si Mu-tou.)
Ku Mu was no longer interested. He turned around and started to walk away.
"Shier, lessons start tomorrow morning," he quipped.
"Yes Master. I'll be on time tomorrow morning."
Guo Shier was secretly feeling bitter. He didn't expect his Master to leave him with this woman.
He yielded to Moni-er and begrudgingly followed her.
"Xiao Jie, can you clean up the yard? It looks too shabby," Moni-er asked.
Yu Jie's face turned bitter. "Alas, Missy, it's not that I refuse to fix the place up. We absolutely don't have any Rune Money to buy materials. We are actually fortunate for young master here to bring flour and meat. The household actually ran out of money for food."
"What???" Moni-er said madly. "This Si Mu-tou! He can't even take care of a small household!"
She touched her waist and took out a Storage Rune bag. She threw it towards Yu Jie and said, "There are 10,000 Big Rune Bills inside. It should be enough for a while."
Yu Jie started to smile. "Thank you, Missy."
"Come with me." Moni-er took Guo Shier's hand and led him into a relatively complete hut. The room was empty except for the layers of beast skins covering the ground.
Moni-er took out a pile of clothes and then started to laugh, "Don't dress like this in the Chen Xiao Sect, okay? Hahaha! You will be mistaken for an outsider and people might start bullying you."
Guo Shier was still pretending to be a child so he just nodded earnestly. "Yes, Master's Wife."
He began to change using the piled up clothes. He was a little troubled, though. Why would Moni-er would be carrying a bundle of children's clothes?
Moni-er's pair of beautiful phoenix-red eyes stared tearing up as she stared at Guo Shier.
Guo Shier started to get afraid. He didn't know what was happening.
After putting on his new clothes, he said, "Master's Wife, I am now dressed."
"That's nice, Shier! You'll come with Master's Wife again, okay?"
Guo Shier was startled and confused. "But Master's Wife, I have to study with Master."
Upon hearing those words, Moni-er started to pity Guo Shier and felt an inexplicable heartache. She hugged him and said, "Okay, you study well with that Si Mu-tou. If you have time, Master's Wife will pick you up. All right?"
Guo Shier nodded. "Yes, Master's Wife."
Moni-er was very happy dressing up the cute Guo Shier. She tidied up his clothes and noticed something missing, so she took out a three-finger wide belt and tied it around his waist. She hanged his identity Rune Card on his belt.
"Shier this is a good Rune Belt," she said. It can receive Storage Rune bags. It's my gift to you.
"Thank you," Guo Shier replied.
"Oh, that's right. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"
Guo Shier nodded. "I haven't eaten yet. I just came from the Runic Hall with Master."
"Your Master Si Mu-tou is a cultivating madman. All he does is show off his hall! Shier, come. Go eat with Master's Wife."
Guo Shier noticed that ever since Moni-er arrived, his Master disappeared. Where could he be hiding?
His Master didn't seem to like meeting with Moni-er.
Guo Shier was still clueless about what type of relationship these two people had.
He followed Moni-er into a kitchenette. Two cooks were busy preparing and cooking. They had a large pot of broth with meat. The pastries in the oven made a delicious aroma.
When Moni-er saw only two things being prepared, she said, "Are these the only things you're eating? Shier, Master's Wife is going to give you Rune Food to eat. I hope you enjoy eating them."
Guo Shier nodded. "I'll surely enjoy them."
Although Guo Shier was acting like an adorable child, deep inside he felt very uncomfortable.
Moni-er was clearly enjoying Guo Shier's reactions. She shooed the cooks away as she started cooking a couple of Rune dishes.
She took out a small pot and started cooking rice. Afterwards, she took out a bunch of vegetables and fresh meat.
Guo Shier believed that it was the meat of a Marked Beast Variant. He could feel a strong vitality coming from it.
Moni-er fried a few vegetables and grilled some Rune Food.
Guo Shier called Yu Jie. "Uncle Yu, ask Master to come eat dinner with us."
Yu Jie showed some hesitation, but Guo Shier urged him to go.
"Master hasn't eaten yet. Tell him we should all eat together."
Moni-er finally chimed in. "Xiao Jie, just go and call him. He wouldn't be so cheap to ignore his apprentice."
Yu Jie turned and left.
Moments later, Ku Mu walked in with a blank face. He didn't bother to acknowledge the two and just sat down crossed legged, picked up the chopsticks, and began eating.
Moni-er just stared wide eyed and said, "Shier, we should also eat. Otherwise, everything would be finished by your Master."
Guo Shier was wearing a set of platinum colored satin robes with dark toned flowers. A pure silver belt about three fingers wide was attached to his waist, made from the silk that came from a Rune Spider Variant. He definitely liked the way he looked—like a little rich kid.
Ku Mu just ate like no one was around while Moni-er ignored him and just focused on feeding Guo Shier the dishes that she made.
Ku Mu immediately finished eating his portion. He stood up and left, never saying a word from beginning to end.
"This Si Mu-tou! Idiot!" Moni-er begrudgingly cursed. "Aaaaah! I'm so frustrated at this guy."
Guo Shier stopped himself from laughing. He now understood that these two were like family. They don't get along but once you mess with one of them, the other one will definitely help. They were not really quarreling; in fact, their relationship was actually good. He smirked and bowed his head down.
After Moni-er finished venting, she reached and rubbed Guo Shier's head. "Shier, welcome home. You're a good boy, right? This Si Mu-tou finally did a good job."
After dinner, Moni-er let Yu Jie and the rest clean up the place.
She said to Guo Shier, "Master's Wife is coming back soon to check how far you have progressed, okay?"
She took out a big Glyph and was about to hold it on Guo Shier's forehead.
"Take a look at the Runes inside. Don't force yourself. How many can you see? If you can't stand it anymore, just give up. Do you understand?" she said softly.
Ku Mu walked in to remind Shier of something and was shocked when he saw what was happening. "Shier, tomorrow… um. Hey! Moni-er! What are you doing, testing my apprentice?"
"I know Shier is your apprentice but I'm his Master's Wife. Of course I need to know what level he is!" Moni-er said.
Ku Mu thought about it. "Since you want to test him, we'll do it in one go. This test kind of dull test is crap…"
"You're the one who is full of shit!" said Moni-er angrily. "I just want to see how good Guo Shier is. I can feel that his potential is excellent," she continued.
She was an early-stage Saint. Strong as she was, her strength cannot be compared to Ku Mu who was already at peak-stage Saint.
Ku Mu was just one step away from being a top-level Grand Saint.
Guo Shier picked up the Glyph and held it on his forehead.
Moni-er nervously watched. Ku Mu couldn't help but be a little nervous too.
Ku Mu already knew that Guo Shier's strength was good for his age, but this test will further check how strong his potential truly is.
A faint green glow spread gently over the Glyph. The faint green light gradually became stronger and quickly turned into cyan, then yellow, then into pale red.
After a moment, the light turned bright red, and Guo Shier felt a bit of a struggle. His face started to blush from the effort.
Ku Mu's eyes brightened. The color red signified a high potential for Guo Shier.
Just when he thought it was over, the red glow suddenly became purple.
Seeing the luxurious purple glow, Moni-er couldn't help to cry out, "Exceptional potential! Is it really possible to have an exceptional potential in this world? Is there something wrong with my vision?"
Ku Mu's face—which was always rigid as a board—showed a rare smile.
But that moment only lasted for a second.
Translator: Glasses TangGu
Editor: M