Luo Binggong fed her some pain relief pills and brought her back to his residence, to put her bones back into place. He didn't bother the medicine peak this late at night, since setting bones was already a craft he was quite confident in, having studied anatomy under medicinal peak long ago.
However, after laying her down, he couldn't stand back up, the thin hands tightly gripping his robe, despite her having already fallen unconscious. Smiling entreatingly, he slowly lifted off his outer robe, and placed it near her, before he got to work at resetting her bones. About an hour or two later, he had finally finished and fed her a couple fast-acting healing pills, and began to clean her, wiping clean her blood-sealed eyes and dousing her hair in water, to remove all the dirt, oil and wood shavings, as well as comb out all the knots made from kneeling out in the sleeting ice storm. His eyes also caught sight of her knees, torn and scabbed from kneeling.
He sighed, wondering how Lu Biming took care of his disciples to put this little junior in such a state, in only a couple days, running through the woods at night, half dead, and even thinner than before.
Hui woke up less than an hour later and already felt better, even her old rags that she'd worn since she fell into the valley had been replaced by delicate jade ones. She saw Luo Binggong, putting away things on the other side of the room and forced her pained body off the bed, stumbling over to him, until she once again gripped his robe.
Luo Binggong, don't think you can escape again after this!
He smiled gently, quickly picking her up, "What are you doing?! You're going to undo all my hard work, walking around like this!" He carried her back to the little makeshift bed he'd made up for her, but she wouldn't let go, and as someone who wasn't in the least bit good at being cruel, he couldn't bear to force her wound-riddled arms off himself and finally just took her to his own bed, laying her down beside himself. "There? Happy now?"
Hui smiled, snuggling into him and fell asleep, her grip on his robe as strong as ever. Luo Binggong sighed. He assessed that he wasn't going to be able to meditate tonight, before also falling asleep.
—
The next morning, Lu Biming was starting to get worried, they still hadn't found Hui, and if he couldn't get her soon, the sect master would have it out for him.
He glanced at Gu Feng and Li Yueming questioningly, who had also been out all night looking for her, they both shook their heads.
"I searched all the way to the town and didn't see hide nor hair, just a bit of blood on the path below the mountain." Stated Gu feng.
Li Yueming nodded along with him, chewing on a small carrot in his mouth.
They were both tired from searching all night, so Lu Biming dismissed them and walked back to his residence, only to see it completely burnt down to the ground, he decided to head down to the outer sect to recruit some disciples to rebuild it.
He'd figure out Hui when the sect leader brought it up again.
Meanwhile, a few kilometers away, on the craftsman's peak, Luo Binggong was currently attempting to eat his food with his disciples, while a certain 6-year-old was still latched onto him. His disciples all stared at the pair so long, that when the disciple he sent out earlier returned, his eyes immediately brightened. "What did he say, Tu Tao?"
Tu Tao bowed in apology. "I'm sorry, master, neither uncle master, nor his disciples were available to meet."
"???" Luo Binggong was a bit shocked by this news. It was already late enough in the morning, everyone should be up, but none of them were available? (his peak, quite populated, was very disciplined about dawn roll calls)
The disciple, noticing his confusion, continued, "I got news that uncle master went down the mountain to visit the outer sect to rebuild his residence."
"Right, he's started the construction for the one for his new disciple already, didn't he?"
The disciple looked confused. "What are you talking about, he's only been playing around the past few days, his new disciple stays in the woodshed. Or, that's what Gu Feng told me yesterday. Today he's just getting some people to repair his own dwelling."
Luo Binggong suddenly had a thought, was there something going on here that he didn't know? He turned to Hui, who was still stuck fast to his side. "Little one, how about you follow my good disciple Tu Tao here, and he'll take you up the mountain to your home."
Hui shook her head.
"You don't want to go home?" Asked Luo Binggong kindly. She nodded vivaciously. "You want to stay with me?" She nodded even harder and clutched him tighter.
Luo Binggong sighed, holding his forehead. "This Lu Biming always leaves all his problems to me!!!" He finally gave up, patting Hui's head. "Okay, you can stay here." He gestured to Tu Tao. "Go back up the mountain, and if you see any semblance of him, ask him to come meet with me, so we can talk about his new little disciple." He turned to Hui. "Is that enough?" Hui nodded. "Then you can let go?" Hui shook her head. I'll never let you escape again, brother Binggong! Luo Binggong sighed. "I promise not to leave you behind anywhere I go, little one, so no need to grip my robe to tightly, yes?" Hui agreed to this compromise.
And so Luo Binggong now had a little girl who held stayed near him, throughout the day, often holding his robe or hand, in whatever he did, which was several, since with all his disciples and the quantity of weapons they produced, there was always much to do.
Meanwhile, Lu Biming finally finished ordering things for the construction and headed back up the mountain, walking past the two other dwellings, on his way to the back of the mountain (which still isn't a mountain), when his walk was suddenly interrupted by a shout. He turned to see Luo Binggong's disciple running over to him, bowing down politely before he finally spoke.
"Master uncle, my master was wondering if you could come over to his peak to discuss about your new disciple."
Lu Biming's eyes flashed, and he quickly changed destinations. "Bring me there immediately, I was just looking for the little rascal!" He leapt onto his sword. Tu Tao immediately followed, and they set off to Binggong, who was currently having tea, Hui by his side, as they read over some complicated manuscripts dealing with the construction of a certain ax. Hui was currently holding a pen, drawing out a unique design to overlay Luo Binggong's basic lines, as he came up with a unique contraption. They worked as a good team, him taking care of the utility part, and she randomly making it into a fashionable one, suggesting extra gadgets to add to it as they went. In fact, Luo Binggong was already so absorbed with a new concept she suggested, he hardly would've noticed Lu Biming's coming, if it weren't for Hui immediately latching herself onto him again, hiding under his arms. He looked up to see Lu Biming walking over with a determined stride, reaching over to grab Hui. "Thank you for catching the little brat for me, Brother, I was just worried about…" To his surprise, his hand was immediately blocked by Luo Binggong's own, who tossed it aside mercilessly.
"Lu Biming." His tone was extremely low and threatening, "The state your disciple was in last night, how are you going to explain this to me?" None of his usual gentle nature was present, his words curt and to the point, cutting like knives.
Lu Biming felt wronged. "Even if she's a girl, she needs to toughen up, to face the hardships of this world, a little beating when one does something wrong is only right between disciple and master!"
"It was YOU who BEAT HER!!!" Luo Binggong's face had turned completely into a livid red, his breath had become heavy, standing up so fast, he knocked over the table, throwing his work onto the ground.