My Disciple Is Crazy!

[Aisoo_Star]

"MASTER!"

The scream tore through the silence, sharp as a blade. It didn't just wake Xu Kai, it yanked him from a profound, empty blackness, flooding his senses with a jolt of pure sound. His ears rang.

A frantic voice sobbed near his head.

"Master! Please don't die and leave me alone! No one understands me! If you die, I won't last a week in this world, I swear I won't! I'll be good, I promise, just please, please be alive!"

He jerked, his body moving before his mind could follow. His head swam as he turned toward the noise.

A face hovered inches from his own, a girl, young, maybe eighteen. Her plain grey robes were rumpled. Her eyes, red-rimmed and overflowing, were now wide as saucers, locked onto him with a shock so complete it was like she stared at a ghost.

"M-Master… you're… alive?"

'Master?'

His heart hammered against his ribs, a frantic drum in the sudden quiet. A cold, unfamiliar panic seeped into his veins.

'Where is this? Who am I?'

Nothing felt right. The air smelled different, like dried herbs and sun-warmed fabric. The light was wrong. This wasn't his room, his city, his life.

A terrible, quiet certainty settled in his gut. He hadn't just fallen asleep. The man he used to be… was gone. This wasn't a dream. The sensations were too sharp, the panic too real.

'So. This is another world.'

The immediate questions, cold and practical, rose above the panic.

'Whose body is this? And who is this crying girl?'

He forced his breathing to slow and dragged his gaze away from her. He was lying on a low cot inside what looked like a large tent. Sunlight pressed against the heavy canvas walls, painting the interior a soft, glowing gold. It was bright, yet curiously cool. A strange, clever design.

For a moment, he just watched dust motes dance in a sunbeam, clinging to the quiet detail to steady his spinning thoughts.

The girl hadn't moved. She was still frozen, a statue of shock and tear-streaked relief.

He cleared his throat, the sound rough.

"Uh. Are you okay?"

She blinked. Then nodded, a quick, jerky motion. She seemed dazed.

He pushed himself up slowly onto his elbows, every movement feeling new and uncoordinated.

"If you don't mind," he began, choosing his words with care, "could you explain… what happened?"

The question snapped her out of her daze. She leaned forward, her brows knitting together.

"You don't know, Master?"

"I don't really remember," he said, tapping his temple. "Everything's a mess in here. It might come back."

He added the 'might' quietly. He was counting on no such thing.

The girl sat back on her heels and let out a long, shaky sigh. She muttered under her breath, almost to herself.

"Well. That makes sense. It's a miracle you're breathing at all. A knock like that… it's to be expected, I guess."

Xu Kai went very still.

'A miracle to be breathing? A knock?'

'Was this body supposed to be dead? Did I just… climb into a corpse?'

The morbid thought sent a fresh chill down his spine. It didn't fully compute, but the girl's demeanor, the lingering terror behind her relief, told him it was close to the truth.

She was his only source of answers. He needed to tread carefully.

The girl looked at him again, and her expression shifted. The shock melted into something more accusatory, a hint of her normal self breaking through the crisis.

"You scared me half to death," she said, swiping at her cheeks with her sleeve. "First, I thought you were gone. Then you wake up, and I'm so happy I could cry, which I did, obviously. And then you ask 'what happened?' and my heart just plunges. I thought your brains were scrambled for good!" She puffed out her cheeks. "Do you get some kind of joy out of watching me worry myself sick?"

'Two heart attacks in five minutes,' he thought wryly. 'This 'master' must mean a great deal to her.'

It was obvious from the title, from her desperate pleas for his survival. 'I won't survive long in this world.' The words echoed.

'Was it just drama? Or was it a clue?'

His eyes traced her figure again. The plain robes, the youthful face now smudged with dust and tears. She didn't look like a fugitive. She looked… comfortable. Or she would, if not for the current panic. There was a languid slope to her shoulders even now that suggested a personality prone to taking the easiest path.

'Don't judge a book by its cover,' he reminded himself.

In a new world, in a stolen body, assumptions were a luxury he couldn't afford.

Seeing the genuine confusion on her master's face, the furrowed brow, the distant look in his eyes, the girl, took a steadying breath. He needed to know. She began to recount the events, her voice low.

Her master, Xu Kai, was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He had reached the very peak of that realm. For days, he had been sequestered in this tent, gathering his energy, preparing to ascend to the coveted Core Formation stage.

The process of forging a Golden Core was a delicate, all-consuming trial. It was the condensation of one's entire life force and spiritual power into a single, radiant orb within the body. He had been so close. The energy had been coalescing, on the verge of solidifying.

Then, without warning, his mind had shattered.

His concentration, the absolute focus required to guide the terrifying power, vanished like a snapped thread. The ascension failed catastrophically. A violent backlash of uncontrolled spiritual energy should have erupted from within, tearing his meridians apart, extinguishing his life instantly. There were no exceptions. A disruption during core formation meant death.

He should be dead.

And yet, he was breathing. The body lived, but the man who inhabited it… he was gone. In his place was someone else, a soul from a distant world, now clinging to this fleshly vessel. That was the only explanation for the survival. A possession. A miracle and a tragedy woven into one.

As she spoke, fragmented concepts brushed against Xu Kai's new consciousness.

'Foundation Establishment. Core Formation. Golden Core.'

The terms felt alien, yet they landed with a strange, heavy weight. On Earth, he'd skimmed a few cultivation stories, fantastical tales of immortal ascension. He'd found them entertaining in passing, but never delved deep. Now, stranded in the very reality of those tales, a sharp regret pricked him.

'I should have paid more attention.'

"So that's how I ended up here," Xu Kai muttered, more to himself than to her. The words were a feeble attempt to anchor the surreal truth.

"...Yes," she replied. Her voice was quiet, but her gaze was not. She was watching him, really watching him, with an intensity that hadn't been there before.

Xu Kai finally noticed the scrutiny. It felt like a physical pressure.

"What?" he asked, the defensiveness in his voice surprising even him.

She didn't answer immediately. She just looked, her head tilted slightly, her eyes searching his face for something familiar. The silence stretched, growing thick and uncomfortable. It was too long. Long enough for Xu Kai's palms to feel damp.

Finally, she leaned forward, her voice dropping to a near-whisper.

"Master… you've really lost your memories, haven't you?"

Xu Kai's throat tightened. He swallowed, the sound audible in the quiet tent.

'What do I say?'

Panic, cold and slick, coiled in his stomach. The truth, 'I'm not him', was a door he could not open. It led to two terrifying paths: either she'd believe her master's mind was simply blank, a hollow shell… or she'd uncover the terrifying reality of a soul from another world. Both possibilities risked everything.

His mind raced, discarding lies, weighing risks. She knew the original Xu Kai. She'd been with him for a long time, she'd said. Any act, any false mannerism, would be a glaring signal. Denying the memory loss would be a foolish gamble he'd likely lose.

But admitting it… that offered a path forward. It was a shield, a reason for his ignorance, a way to ask the questions he desperately needed answered without raising immediate alarm. It was his only viable foothold in this impossible situation.

He met her expectant gaze. The tension in the air was a taut wire.

"Well," he said, forcing his voice into a tone of weary resignation. "It seems that's the case now."

He held his breath, waiting for her reaction.

She cocked her head to the side, a flicker of understanding in her eyes.

"I knew it. Your behavior is off. The way you look at me… the way you speak. It's different."

Xu Kai's internal guess was confirmed. She knew the original man intimately.

Then, unexpectedly, her face lit up. She flung her hands wide, a wide, almost giddy smile replacing her suspicion.

"Master, if that's the case, I'll help you! We can start small, jogging a few memories. Maybe if we pull one thread, the rest will follow. It just needs a lead, right?"

"Maybe," Xu Kai answered, his voice quiet with surprise.

He had braced for drama, tears, anger, accusations. He'd prepared for the worst. This… this cheerful determination was disarming. It was far better than anything he'd imagined.

Her hands were still raised in enthusiasm. The smile stayed plastered on her face as she leaned in, her voice dipping into a playful, testing tone.

"But, Master… you at least still remember my name, right?"

Xu Kai paused. The trap was obvious, but there was no avoiding it.

"I don't remember."

The effect was immediate and comical. She froze mid-motion, her smile stiffening. To Xu Kai, it looked as if she had literally turned to stone and then cracked. Her arms dropped to her sides. She leaned forward, the cheerful expression vaporized, replaced by utter, genuine shock.

"You don't remember?" Her voice rose an octave. "How could you forget your own honorable disciple's name!"

The retort came to him smoothly, almost on instinct.

"If I don't remember the important things, how do you expect me to remember a name?"

For a split second, she just stared. He sounded exactly like the old master just then, she thought, the familiarity throwing her off balance.

She straightened her posture abruptly, pointing a finger at him.

"Master! Is this a prank? Did you really lose your memories, or do you just hate me so much you're playing with my feelings?"

"I told you, I don't remember anything," Xu Kai replied, keeping his voice level. He was building a narrative now. "The failed ascension… it must have damaged my mind, probably not my cultivation. What do you want me to do to prove it?"

"I want you to remember my name! At least that!" she demanded, hands on her hips.

"And how can I do that," he countered, "when I don't even remember how I got here?"

It was the truth, strategically framed. If she hadn't mentioned his own name earlier, he wouldn't have known that either.

She gritted her teeth, a visible struggle playing out on her face. She looked like she was holding back a torrent of words. Finally, it burst out.

"How could you forget 'Chen Xi'!" she nearly shouted, revealing her name. "I thought I was important to you! This is a betrayal!"

'That escalated quickly,' Xu Kai thought, unable to formulate a reply. "I'm supposed to be the master. Why does it feel like the roles are reversed?'

With a sound of pure frustration, she stomped away, grumbling under her breath. Xu Kai caught only fragments, something about "ungrateful" and "all those errands." He was just glad he couldn't hear the rest.

How had she expected him to know? He'd known her for less than an hour. But one thing was becoming crystal clear.

She is completely crazy.