It's morning again. Time to start the usual routine!
He started by tidying up his bed, cleaning up his room and gathering his toys and laundry and stashing them where they belong. And then he made breakfast—he almost made twice the amount he usually makes since he forgot that his teacher was still away, and then ran off to the bathroom to refresh himself.
He intentionally made himself busy all day so that he wouldn't have to face the reality that he was still very much alone in this castle. He had his toys, yes, but trying to pretend that his toys were actually people didn't change the fact that he's basically still alone. It's because he's trying to avoid confronting stuff like this that it took a while to notice that there was something 'different' about himself that day.
He blinked at his own reflection as he paused from unbuttoning his shirt. His pants were already lying on the bathroom floor, forgotten. He blinked again as he couldn't believe his eyes.
What was that on his forehead?
His teacher once used to tell him that most Sanzo priests received their shakra on their foreheads as proof that they were granted the highest honour to receive their title by the gods. He also used to see this old man having the same thing on his forehead a very long time ago (Also, that was also the time when he met that snobby kid who preferred to sweep some dried leaves rather than play with him. What's so fun about sweeping dried leaves anyway?) His teacher didn't have it though, despite his teacher being the same 'Sanzo' as that other old man.
"—the moment you've mastered those techniques, it should also be the time where you'd earn these things I left here."
His eyes widened as he realised what this could mean.
A door slammed shut suddenly as he immediately ran out of the bathroom, not even bothering to put his pants back on.
"Teacher, you're back. There's something I wanna show—!" he exclaimed before realising that the dining room he was in was still as empty as how he left it. The door slamming close just now, a strong wind had probably caused that to happen.
He let out a long sigh before going back to finish bathing himself.
.
He started pacing around the room as he contemplate what this current situation means for him. He had received his shakra... so shouldn't that mean he's mastered everything that his teacher told him to learn? So did that mean he's now qualified to gain the same title as his teacher once had?
He quickly ran off to retrieve the things his teacher left for him, stripping the clothes he was wearing and putting on the white robe himself. He picked up the prayer beads and draped them over his shoulders before lastly, taking his teacher's coronet and placing it on his head. So now he'd just need a scripture to complete the look.
"Wow!" he exclaimed. "I really looked like a 'Sanzo', right?"
He frowned, as somehow he was reminded of a certain snob with similar golden (he wouldn't acknowledge that that guy's hair was a lot shinier than his or prettier) hair and strange-looking purple eyes.
He puffed his cheeks as he look at himself in the mirror.
"—I bet I looked far better than him as a Sanzo."
xxx
He straightened out his tie before donning his old lab coat over his shoulders. He ran a finger over his hair before looking at his reflection on the mirror closely. This should be decent-looking enough, right? Who wouldn't just take a look at him and only think that he's just a simple guy who happened to be quite scholarly on the side?
He picked up his rabbit doll before teleporting himself in front of Houtou castle. A simple feat like this should be easy for him to accomplish without even activating his Muten scripture's full power.
Besides, hiding his scripture like this meant that no one would've suspected a thing that it might contain something important. Which worked just fine for him.
He approached a demon guard who happened to be loitering outside. The guard immediately tried to shoo him away the moment they realised that he was a human.
"I came here to see the mistress of this castle, Lady Gyokumen."
"Go back to where you came from, human!" barked the demon.
He smiled.
"Don't be too hasty," he drawled as he waved his rabbit doll at the guard. "After all, Lady Gyokumen and I were quite a close acquaintance. Certainly, you wouldn't want to chase away the man who had told your mistress about a certain Seiten scripture," he added testily.
The guard started to look a bit pale as he smiled at the 'man' triumphantly.
"Go tell this to your mistress. That Nii Jianyi has come back to help her with a certain experiment."
Well, for now, he would be sure that he wouldn't be bored with himself for quite some time.