(MC POV)
Interestingly, the rest of the day passed by without much incident.
Alpha, Gamma and Diao Chan must have made a perfect plan because I've yet to see hide nor hair of the new guests ever since I returned back from the beach for dinner, my Witch returning back to my side the moment I walked through the doors.
Brendan and Lian Li came down from their rooms, Brendan seemingly very deep in his own thoughts. I'm guessing he's still wrecking his brain over what I told him earlier in the day.
Of course, I'm not going to tell him the answer so easily, there wouldn't be any learning involved if he doesn't figure it out himself. Experimentation is a part of alchemy after all.
Who knows, maybe he might create a completely new pill or something that I have not seen before.
This time, dinner was prepared by the villa's chefs, since I had been too preoccupied by my girls earlier to do it.
Interestingly, all the youkai maids were there except for Delta. I just assumed that the elf was just busy with entertaining those guests to keep them away from us as I requested.
The dinner itself was also uneventful, it was mostly just me reviewing the girls' training and what they should look out and improve on for each of them.
Diao Chan was already working on shortening her chants after learning she was a Witch a short few months ago. Her talent for it was so insane that had she been enrolled in any of the Spiritual Plane's Witch's Academy, she would have been the undisputed strongest within the entire school's history.
It was only a shame that I was not a Witch myself or I might be able to guide her better.
For my swordswoman disciple, I'm honestly still not able to get over how her talent went unnoticed for so long. Eris's reaction speed and sword skills would have been the envy of any swordmaster if they knew how much she progressed in such a short time.
There was also the fact that she could imbue both herself and her sword with Quarks that she draws in from the air. Coupled with the ability to use multiple elements of them in quick succession, I highly doubt there is any normal human swordsman capable of defeating her in one-on-one combat.
To think people had been surprised by my multi-casting, she's the real talent here you know?
Last but not least, there's Kiyomi and Manami who were clearly in a league of their own.
The training I gave them was supposed to be a rather slow but easy process where they just need to dedicate a few hours each day to meditate on.
The starting would have been the most difficult one but it would gradually get easier and easier as time goes on.
I fully expected them to only break down the first wall partially, maybe half of it at most.
They awakened with three of their impurities completely cleared and the fourth wall torn down halfway, the two of them seemingly disappointed at the fact that they could not completely clear all nodes within those short few hours.
The other Practitioners who had to do this over several years are crying, you know?
Granted, those are the untalented ones but that's beside the point.
It is an absolute wonder that such talented girls would actually become my disciples, makes me wonder if the universe isn't conspiring against me or something.
I never said this but, just sitting there and watching all of my disciples looking up at me with complete attention while I was teaching them felt… Surreal.
Knowing that I somehow made a difference in their lives was quite awe-inspiring. It really made those torturous few years alone worth it and if I had to go through all that just to get back here again, I would do it in a heartbeat.
"Master, the bath is ready," Alpha reported, her tail wagging quite noticeably for some reason.
I nodded in acknowledgement, "Mmm, I shall go first then. Come, Cai Hong."
"Yayyy! Bath with Papa~" The little dragon giggled, running up to me to grasp my hand.
After my disciples have continuously insisted to me that the first bath should always belong to me, I have just come to accept that fact instead of trying to convince them otherwise.
If I didn't know better, I might have thought they were doing that just so they could peek on me bathing. But considering the fact that I don't mind all of us bathing together, that can't be it, right?
"Have a nice bath, Master," My disciples bowed, letting me leave with Cai Hong while Alpha followed behind us.
"Hmm~ Hmm~ Bathy bath time with Papa~ Bubbles~ Washy and squeaky clean~" Cai Hong sang as she skipped along merrily. Yes she does like her bath times too.
We entered the empty changing room, Alpha waiting by the side with our towels while I helped Cai Hong and myself strip.
The wolf youkai's face remained passive even after I had stripped down to my skin, her only reaction being the slow wag of her tail. I guess that's a professional for you.
"Master," Alpha offered the towels to me when I was done. "I will wait outside, do call me if anything is required."
I thanked her and brought the loli dragon into the baths with me, my little girl still singing her happy bath song with the towel wrapped around her.
While bathing, I thought I felt the presence of my disciples nearby but that feeling vanished almost as soon as it appeared so I wasn't sure what to make of it.
When I thought to investigate it, Cai Hong looked up at me and asked, "Buuu? Papa wash Cai Hong?"
Deciding this was more important, I elected to ignore it in favour of helping my loli dragon get cleaned.
I made sure to clean Cai Hong thoroughly before letting ourselves out of the bath, the little dragon practically glowing in happiness.
Curiously, the door to the bath was left slightly ajar when I remembered closing it fully before, guess I should inform the maids that the doors need fixing since they don't close properly.
I left the bath to return back to my disciple's room, giving Alpha the instruction to let my disciples have their turn with the bath.
Entering the room, I found all of the things I left in my previous room already there on top of a bed, which consisted of just spare clothes since most of my things were actually in my storage ring anyway.
The maids sure work fast.
Cai Hong clambered up on to her bed before looking at me with sparkly eyes.
"Papa sleep with Cai Hong?" She asked innocently.
"Mmm… Papa still needs to take care of your big sisters later. Can Cai Hong sleep by herself tonight?"
"Muuu… Okies~"
I patted her head for being a good girl, "How about Papa tell you a story then?"
"Yay! Cai Hong likes Papa stories!"
"Ok, will Cai Hong be a good girl and get into bed?"
Cai Hong tucked herself in obediently, looking up at me with her big, adorable eyes that sparkled with enthusiasm.
I sat down beside her, taking the time to think about what story I should tell her.
"Oh, how about Papa tell you about how he took care of some bullies?"
She tilted her head at me, "Muu? Papa no bully?"
I nodded, "Oh yes, Papa was not always strong before so there were bullies."
Cai Hong puffed her cheeks, "Papa strongest!"
I chuckled at her declarations, giving her a few headpats.
"Mmm… Papa is stronger now. But before, there were super bad men who would try to bully Papa and Papa could not fight back."
"Bad men, bad!" Cai Hong pouted angrily.
I patted her again, "Mmhmm, they are super bad. But you see, Papa was weaker but still smarter than them. Papa was working in a biiiig library and there were a lot of strong people. The strong people did not like Papa being there so they made fun of Papa."
And like that, I told her about that time I was mistreated by those idiots back in the Spiritual Plane and how I managed to outsmart them by pure wits alone.
This would definitely inspire little Cai Hong not to solve conflicts through violence and encourage her to find other ways to deal with such kinds of people. Though of course, I made sure to let her know that sometimes violence is ok in order to protect herself. Wouldn't want anyone to take advantage of her now, would we?
I would call this bed time story a success!
*
(Cai Hong POV)
"And then they didn't bother Papa again."
"Papa cool~" Cai Hong clapped sleepily before Cai Hong closed her eyes.
Mmm… Papa is cool… Bad men are bad…
Bad men bully Papa… But Papa is always nice… So Cai Hong will protect Papa.
Those bad men… Cai Hong will find them one day… Then Cai Hong will tear out their fingers and eat them. Just like what Cai Hong does to super bad man.
Ehehehe~ Then no one will bully Papa and Papa will give Cai Hong lots of headpats!
