Chapter 49

"First Disciple started it!" Third Disciple cried out without hesitation.

"Liar! You three destroyed my carved bones first!" First Disciple shouted back.

"Actually, that was only Third Sister. Second Brother even tried to stop her..." Fourth Disciple's softly voiced protests were completely ignored by his sisters and only Divine paid attention to his words.

"We only did that, because you always annoy and try to bully us. Since you got stronger than us, after your breakthrough to cultivation, you got insufferable. So, you see, you started it! It’s all your fault!" Third Disciple continued to argument with her sister loudly, drowning Fourth Disciples words.

"I am the big sister. I only beat you when you deserve it. You just don't learn your lessons. It's like you're asking for it. Stupidheads!" First Disciple berated, wildly gesticulating with her arms.

Before the argument could turn physical again, Divine intervened.

"Enough!" Divine's voice wasn't loud but laced with power.

His disciples shut up immediately and stood straighter.

Now Divine knew what had led to the conflict and he could deduce the actual fight roughly from the clues.

First Disciple had beaten the other three first, after discovering her destroyed bone carvings.

The beating had made Third Disciple and Fourth Disciple break through, and Second Disciple faint.

Then Third and Fourth Disciple had taken revenge on First Disciple with their newly gained strength.

At some point the pair of minions had gotten alarmed and had tried to stop them.

Of course, without success, until Minion Hooknose had gotten his cue to flee and had gone to get Divine.

"Which of you three broke Hooknose's nose?" Divine asked sternly.

The goblings only looked surprised at Minion Hooknose, who looked up when he recognized that his name had been called.

"Hooknose's nose?" Third Disciple was asking herself what that got to do with anything as she said that.

Usually, Minion Hooknose was already pretty nervous around Divine and the disciples, but them talking about him, while he was right there and couldn’t understand a word, was torture.

The minion almost couldn’t suppress his desire to ask for clarification, but the pain in his freshly broken nose reminded him of his place and that he was better off keeping his mouth shut.

"I thought I saw something from the corner of my eye. So that was Hooknose. But I don’t know who broke his nose again. It wasn’t me this time. I swear." First Disciple told them.

"It could have been me. I didn't see him, but I remember crunching something with my elbow. Is it really that important Master?" Fourth Disciple didn't know if he should be nervous or not.

"It's not particularly important, I was just curious. I am a little fascinated with his nose's magnetism for trouble. It's like he is cursed, either with magic, with bad luck or just with incredible stupidity." After this little distraction, Divine stopped joking around.

The goblings’ minds had shifted from their conflict, from their aggression against each other, and were now more open to receive Divine’s lecture.

Divine adopted a dead-serious tone again. "What is important, is your behavior. You know I have nothing against it if you fight amongst yourselves. It's not only a part of growing up but also of life. But the next time you stop immediately if one of you faints or gets hurt badly! You cease fighting each other right away, try to help the wounded and call for me. Understood?"

"Yes."

"I understand."

"We get it."

Even though his three disciples expressed their understanding, that wasn't enough for Divine.

Suddenly, the air around Divine got really oppressive and he spoke in ice-cold tone. "If one of you causes the death of one of your siblings, you really won't like how I punish you!"

The goblings began shaking with fright.

Their eyes were wide and told of their fear.

They had never felt so horrible and scared in their entire lives.

The goblings could only numbly nod their heads in response and Divine was sure they would remember this lesson for quite some time.

The oppression was gone as fast as it appeared, letting the others feel relieved.

The minion pair had thrown themselves down on their knees.

The pair couldn't follow the conversation, but they had taken their cues from the atmosphere, praying they would survive Divine's mood the whole time.

The two minions and the four goblings were still calming their breaths, when the oppression suddenly returned without any prior warning.

In the blink of an eye, it was gone again.

Everyone gave Divine fearful looks, wondering what was going on.

Then the head minion suddenly stepped into the cave.

The gathering with the weird atmosphere surprised her.

"What happened?" She looked at Divine but addressed the crowd.

No one answered her.

Fourth Disciple intended to but received two kicks from his sisters.

In the end, all just kept looking at the head minion and the master silently.

"Where have you been? The disciples almost killed each other." Divine's voice was even and calm, but there was an almost undetectable coldness to it.

She scrutinized the three goblings next to Divine until she noticed Second Disciple to the side.

Hurriedly, she ran to the unconscious gobling to check on him.

"He will be fine. He bumped his head and fainted. It shouldn't be long until he wakes up." Divine told her.

She let out a sigh of relief and started petting Second Disciple's head softly.

"So, where were you?" Divine asked again.

She hesitated but told him the truth in the end. "I was checking up on my servant."

Divine wasn't surprised.

"Don't neglect your responsibilities again or..." Divine didn't complete the threat and let it ominously hang in the air.

"Or what?" Head Minion challenged heatedly.

"... or you will be punished." Divine finished simply and changed the subject. "Now go wash the goblings. Afterwards prepare a feast. We will celebrate and decide on Daoist names for the goblings and for you. And tell Beorn he shall place the table they made with six chairs in the cavern. This evening I want to see the results of his labor and sit at a table together."

She looked like she wanted to continue arguing, but she bowed her head and left the cave with the three goblings in tow.

"Go care for your goblings." Divine said to the minion pair in Gobble.

The female minion bowed and left the cave, but Hooknose stuck around.

Divine gave Hooknose a look and the minion almost just left without saying anything, but he gathered his courage and opened his mouth.

"Great Divine, me beg you, please help my nose." Hooknose pointed at his crooked and bleeding nose.

Divine sighed in annoyance but gestured for hooknose to come closer.

Before Hooknose knew what was happening a glowing hand had grabbed onto his nose.

*Crack*

Hooknose felt the bone of his nose shifting.

It was even more painful than when it got broken.

He had to know, he had experience.

But the pain was gone very quickly, and his nose felt much better afterwards.

Hooknose thanked the Great Divine profusely and left his presence quickly.

A weak groan sounded out and Divine sat down next to the waking Second Disciple.

“Master? What happened?” Second Disciple asked weakly when he noticed Divine.

“I should be asking you that.” Divine replied.

“Ugh… We were figh… ugh… playing and I… ugh… tripped… and hit my head against the wall. Yes, that’s what happened. And then everything went black. And then I woke up next to you, Master.” Second Disciple didn’t snitch but gave Divine guilty looks.

“All right. Next time don’t lie! Or lie better!” Divine let him off with only a nugget of critique. “How are you feeling?”

“I have a little headache but that’s it.” Second Disciple was happy he didn’t have to endure an entire lecture.

“Can you get up?” Divine asked and helped his disciple stand up.

[+1 Body Tempering Soap] [-1 Blood Qi Essence]

“Your siblings are washing up. Go and join them. Take this bar of soap and use it all up to wash yourself. It will help you reach the same strength as your siblings.” Divine watched with a smile as Second Disciple excitedly ran out.