Feng Mo, Lei Ling, Lei Qing and You Rou were stunned when they saw Chen Han. Before they could recover from their shock, Li Tian has already sprung up and jumped on Chen Han, making Chen Han stumble and fell on his back, with Li Tian on top of him.
"Chen-shixiong!" Feng Mo, Lei Ling and You Rou exclaimed as they rose together with Lei Qing.
"Whoa… so energetic!" Chen Han laughed when he saw Li Tian. Then, he smiled as he wiped the tears off of Li Tian's face. "Why are you always crying?" he asked, helplessness in his voice. But, nonetheless, he hugged him. "When I left, you cried. Now that I returned, you still cry. Doesn't that make me a hopeless man?" he said, but his hug on Li Tian tightened. He felt his chest became damp, and his eyes reddened and he felt his nose is sour.
"Chen-shixiong…" Feng Mo, Lei Ling and You Rou called.
"Hey, you!" Lei Qing called as she pointed at Chen Han. There is a fake anger on her face. "When did you return? Why are you making our Li-shidi cry? You bully!" she said as her cheeks puffed up.
Feng Mo, Lei Ling and You Rou smiled. "Chen-shixiong… welcome b – " they said when Li Tian raised his head and glared at them with a flushed face.
"Why are you stealing my lines?! Can't you give this shixiong of yours some face?!" Li Tian said, angry.
Feng Mo, Lei Ling, Lei Qing and You Rou looked at each other and laughed.
Chen Han stared at Li Tian's face and then cupped it. "Ah Tian…" he called. "You are their shixiong, but you are mine, okay?" he told him.
Li Tian's face flushed redder because of embarrassment. "Hmph!" he scoffed and looked away. But, there is a smile on his lips. "Welcome back." He spoke in a low voice.
"Hooo!" Feng Mo, Lei Ling, Lei Qing and You Rou jeered as Chen Han helped Li Tian up. There is a teasing smile on their lips as they looked at the two lovebirds who are unable to peel off their gazes from each other's face because of how much they missed each other.
Ah. Such hopeless people…
"Ling Ling." A voice called.
Lei Ling heard the familiar voice and turned. Then, his eyes brightened when he saw who it is. There is only one person who is calling him in that endearment. "Jing Kang!!!" he yelled as he skipped towards his husband and jumped on him, like what Li Tian did to Chen Han earlier.
But, Jing Kang was already used to this habit of Lei Ling which expresses Lei Ling's excitement, as well as affection towards him. So, he didn't fell like Chen Han, and instead wrapped his arms around Lei Ling's waist to prevent him from falling. In turn, Lei Ling wrapped his arms around Jing Kang's neck and smooched his lips.
They have practiced this for so many times.
"Mwah!" Lei Ling giggled when he saw Jing Kang's blank expression but red ears and neck. "Jing Kang, did you arrive together with Chen-shixiong?" he asked as he glanced at Chen Han who is now looking at them.
"En." Jing Kang answered as he planted a kiss on Lei Ling's cheek, which made Lei Ling giggle again.
Lei Qing rolled her eyes at the two couples, which in one is her younger brother. Meanwhile, You Rou was covering her mouth while a suspicious blush appeared on her cheeks as she stared at the four people.
"I was having a hard time suppressing the demons that appeared in the Nancheng." Chen Han spoke. "Fortunately, I remembered that the Zunjingde Sect's mission is near the Nancheng so I called for their help." He explained. "Thank you." He told Jing Kang.
"It's no problem. It can be said that we're in one family now?" Jing Kang said and smiled at Lei Ling.
Lei Ling laughed and kissed his husband. "That's right!" he nodded in agreement.
"Those demons again…" Lei Qing sighed.
"There are also demonic plants." You Rou spoke. "I had shijie's and Feng-shixiong's disciples protect my disciples in procuring some herbs in case they would encounter those demonic plants." She said.
"Fortunately, there were only mutated plants in Xinfaxian and no demons nor demonic plants…" Li Tian smiled.
"Yeah." They nodded.
"As for mutated plants… the Jixu Peak…" they said and turned to see the sun setting behind the mountains. Then, in the darkness of the neighboring peak, they saw something lit up, followed by another, and another… countless colorful spots of lights of different colors were seen.
They were the mutated bioluminescent plants that sprouted in the Jixu Peak, Cheng Sheng's peak.
Jixu Peak.
Fei Yinzi dry-heaved on the side before he cupped the water to wash his pale face. Cheng Sheng has just finished training him on flying on his sword. If the surrounding didn't become dark, he doubts that Cheng Sheng would make him continue training on flying his sword until the next days…
Fei Yinzi heaved a sigh as he climbed up the stairs before he sat on the flat ground made of rock. His feet dangled, hovering above the bubbling water which became colorful because of the glowing algae beneath it. He looked around before he stared at the glowing plants, which never lose its brightness against the lanterns hanging on the bamboos beside them.
Everything looked magical.
"Er Zi." He heard his master's familiar voice called.
Fei Yinzi turned and saw a group of people following behind his master. "Elder Chen! Elder Jing!" he exclaimed as he jumped down on the lower ground before he walked towards them to greet them. "Li-shibo. Feng-shibo. Lei-shishu. Lei-shigu. You-shigu!" he said and bowed as he cupped his fists.
"Aiyo! Er Zi has grown up into a fine young man!" Chen Han smiled as he stood beside Li Tian.
Fei Yinzi's eyes brightened. "Thanking elder Chen for the praise!" he said, delighted.
"But, Ah Sheng. You still didn't renovate your house?" Chen Han asked as he looked at the small hut atop the rock.
"I don't like spacious rooms. It's making me tired of walking." Cheng Sheng answered as he climbed up the stairs.
"Young man. Why do you look so pale?" they heard Jing Kang asked as Jing Kang stared at Fei Yinzi's poor complexion with a puzzled gaze.
Silence fell. Li Tian's and Feng Mo's expressions changed when they remembered what happened earlier while Lei Ling immediately covered Jing Kang's mouth to prevent him from speaking anything more. But, the words have already been spilled.
Cheng Sheng stopped walking and Fei Yinzi's face paled even more when he heard the sound of his master's footsteps has stopped. He held his breath, fearing that he's breathing noisily and his master would punish him again.
Li Tian, Feng Mo, Lei Ling, Lei Qing and You Rou thrown sympathetic gazes at Fei Yinzi while Chen Han and Jing Kang are puzzled. What's with this strange atmosphere? Why did it suddenly become tense? They thought, bewildered. Weren't they invited for dinner? They thought as they remembered Cheng Sheng appearing in Chengshi Peak earlier. He arrived noiselessly that they mistook him for a ghost.
But, for some reason, Cheng Sheng didn't turn nor call his disciple. "Come in. I'll cook you something simple." He spoke before he opened the door. But, before he could step inside, he slowly turned to the frozen Fei Yinzi who resembled a statue. Then, he threw him a bottle of magic pills. "Go eat one of those pills. They can relieve nausea. Don't add another one, or you won't be able to eat dinner." He told him before he finally went inside.
As soon as Cheng Sheng's figure disappeared, the group that were left sighed in relief. "As expected, Cheng-shidi still dotes on Er Zi!" Lei Qing said.
They thought that Cheng Sheng is extremely harsh towards his disciple. Not to mention that he is a sadist, but they thought that he is venting his anger and sadness on Fei Yinzi after he lost Fei Yin. But, just now, they saw him give Fei Yinzi some magic pills to relieve nausea. He clearly cares for his disciple. It's just that he doesn't show it.
"What was that word again that Cheng-shixiong spoke before?" Lei Ling muttered as he tried to recall.
"… 'tsundere'?" Feng Mo spoke.
"That's right! This is the perfect description of Cheng-shixiong's behavior just now!" Lei Ling said.
As soon as his voice fell, something flew towards him. Jing Kang immediately raised his hand to catch it and his blank face was covered in black lines when he saw it was a rock.
"Lei-shidi, it seems like you are so full of energy! You actually aren't hungry, are you?" they heard Cheng Sheng's voice coming from his house. "I'll decrease your share and give it to shifu and founder later." He said.
"NOOOO!!!" Lei Ling screamed and ran towards Cheng Sheng's house.