CH 6

As Yan Jiuge and Chu Qi stood at the door, they heard a commotion from the next room.

Liu Weiming pushed open the door and stepped out.

He had already changed out of Tianxuan Sect’s robes, wearing low-key, white clothes. The black wrist guards were replaced with practical cloth wrappings.

“Shidi, it’s time for dinner.”

Before Foundation Establishment, they wouldn’t be able to fast yet, so they still needed to eat. Although Liu Weiming didn’t know how to take them out to play, he kept these important points in mind.

“We’re coming.” Chu Qi responded before remembering that he was still barefoot. He couldn’t just go out like this, so he passed the tanghulu in his hands back to Yan Jiuge, “Hold this for me.”

Yan Jiuge stood at the door with the tanghulu and met Liu Weiming’s surprised gaze.

Yan Jiuge looked away and explained, “He likes to eat these sorts of things, so I had to buy him a bunch.”

Liu Weiming nodded, noting down the preferences of his two shidi, “Okay, I’ll buy some for you two later.”

Yan Jiuge denied it, “I don’t eat these things. Ah-Qi is picky, so I’ll buy it for him. Thank you, Liu-shixiong.”

Hearing what he said, Liu Weiming couldn’t help but sigh, “You two are really good brothers. You’re quite close.”

Yan Jiuge was a little taken aback when he heard this, and nodded his head, “En.” At least, that’s the case for today.

“What are you guys talking about?”

At this moment, Chu Qi had finished putting on his socks and shoes, tidied himself up, and stepped out to hear Yan Jiuge’s response.

Liu Weiming was about to speak, but heard Yan-shidi next to him speak up first, “Just about how you’re a picky eater.”

Liu Weiming: “…”

That’s not right? They were just talking about their brotherly relationship, right? Where was the picky eating?

Chu Qi pretended he never asked, skillfully switching to another topic, “Should we go for dinner now?”

—

Dinner was eaten at the restaurant next door to the Yunluo Inn.

The private rooms were all full, so they had to sit in the dining hall on the second floor.

Liu Weiming set up a soundproofing barrier around them to block out the surrounding noise before asking the two of them, “Is there anything you can’t eat?”

“Ah-Qi doesn’t eat anything that’s spicy or bitter.” Yan Jiuge said.

Hearing Yan Jiuge list off his food preferences, Chu Qi couldn’t help but cast a glance in his direction. He thought about it carefully and remembered Yan Jiuge’s preferences as well, “He doesn’t eat sour foods.”

Yan Jiuge raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hesitated to speak, but in the end said nothing.

How did Chu Qi know?

They obviously didn’t eat together all that much before.

Liu Weiming ordered the dishes.

There wasn’t much to do in the time it took for the waiter to bring them their food, and just sitting in silence would be a bit boring. He thought about it a little, then talked about Tianxuan Sect with his new shidi.

“This afternoon, Elder Ming sent me a message. He said that if they can get twenty new disciples to join Tianxuan sect in the next two days, we can return to the mountain gate.”

“Liu-shixiong, in the past, were there many people who entered Tianxuan Sect during the Great Immortal Sect selection?” Chu Qi was a little curious.

He remembered that, during the selection in his last life, there were a total of fifteen disciples who entered Tianxuan Sect. Among the five Great Immortal Sects, aside from the Bodhi Sect, Tianxuan Sect had the fewest recruits.

“In the past… there were about twenty or thirty people.” Liu Weiming replied.

The Dao of the sword was not an easy one. If someone couldn’t reach the top of the immortal mountain within the first two or three days, it was obvious that their talent wasn’t enough. No amount of hard work would make up for it. It would be better for those disciples to go to Fuyao Palace, Qingling Sect, or Yushou Sect to cultivate in medicine, art, or beast-control.

“Elder Ming also said that when you arrive at the sect, you will meet with the Sect Head to discuss the medicinal fields. Tianxuan Sect occupies a large area, if you need space, we’re no worse off than any of the other Immortal Sects.”

Hearing what Liu Weiming said, Chu Qi recalled that since his spiritual root had changed, he was going to switch from being a sword cultivator to a medicinal one. 

This made Chu Qi feel somewhat complicated.

He didn’t know what would happen to him after he joined the line of medicinal cultivators in Tianxuan Sect.

In his last life, Chu Qi never saw any of the medicinal cultivators in Tianxuan Sect. They were even more reclusive than the sword cultivators.

Not to mention, Tianxuan Sect’s sword cultivators seldom sought out medical practitioners for treatment. Minor injuries and illnesses were left to heal on their own, while more serious problems would be solved with a few days’ rest and pills from Fuyao Palace.

Liu Weiming was a good shixiong. He was trying his best to introduce Tianxuan Sect to his two shidi. It was just a pity that a sword cultivator’s life was too boring. He found that there really weren’t many interesting things left to talk about.

Of his two shidi, one had known about Tianxuan Sect for a long time, while the other had little interest in the sect’s affairs.

Fortunately, this restaurant was rather fast when it came to serving their food. Before Liu Weiming ran out of things to say, the table was filled with delicious dishes.

Don’t speak while eating or sleeping.

—

By the time the three of them finished their dinner, it was already dark.

Tens of thousands of lanterns adorned the eaves, their flickering light making the city as bright as day. The streets of Yicheng were still very lively.

Liu Weiming asked again, “Would you like to go out for a bit?” After receiving a negative answer, he took his two shidi back to Yunluo Inn to rest.

Just as they were about to reach the entrance of the inn, they heard a commotion coming from the other side of the street.

“Let me through—! Please, everyone! Let me through–!”

A panicked voice was shouting.

Before they could see anything, the sound came first.

“What happened?” Chu Qi looked at the source of the commotion suspiciously.

He watched as the street, which was still crowded with people, suddenly split down the middle. Those who made way hurriedly avoided, their movements chaotic, as if something was rampaging.

Suddenly, that thing turned abruptly, flying straight in the direction of Chu Qi and the others.

“Ah-Qi, be careful!”

“Shidi, be careful!”

The two worried voices sounded at almost the same time.

Yan Jiuge took hold of Chu Qi’s hand first, pulling the other behind him to protect him.

Then, Liu Weiming formed a seal1 with both hands, quickly casting a defensive barrier in front of them.

Boom! 

The loud sound reverberated across the barrier like a drum, thrumming dully on the enchantment above their heads. 

The next moment, a hole formed in the barrier, and that thing fell in.

Liu Weiming’s face changed drastically. He was about to draw his sword when he saw Yan-shidi beside him raise his hand and catch that falling thing.

Yan Jiuge’s face was gloomy. Under the flickering light, his eyes appeared to be a little colder. Just now, this reckless thing was about to hit Ah-Qi.

The turmoil came to an abrupt end, and Chu Qi poked out half his head from behind Yan Jiuge, looking curiously at the thing in his hands.

It was only about a foot tall, with long ears and a pair of black eyes that looked a little dull under the light. Its body was covered in fluffy, white fur, and it had a long tail.

Currently, its tail was caught in Yan Jiuge’s fist, and it was looking at himfrom upside-down.

“This…what kind of spiritual beast is this?”

Chu Qi couldn’t recognize it.

“It looks a bit strange. It’s almost like a spiritual rabbit, but their tails aren’t as big as this one’s.” Liu Weiming couldn’t recognize it either.

“Wuji—! Wuwuji—!”

After the initial shock of being caught, the unidentified spiritual beast in Yan Jiuge’s hand began to struggle by thrashing its tail.

“…”

But with how long its tail was, it only ended up shaking back and forth, looking like it was on a swing hanging from Yan Jiuge’s fist.

Yan Jiuge frowned deeply, his disgust plainly visible.

Seeing this, Liu Weiming took the initiative to say, “Yan-shidi, why don’t you give it to me?”

However, he didn’t expect that the second that Yan Jiuge let go, the white-haired spiritual beast would slip away with astonishing speed.

Liu Weiming was stunned. He had clearly been holding onto it just now.

“Wuji! Wuji!”

The cry of the spiritual beast resounded cheerfully.

Yan Jiuge turned around with a grim expression to see that thing rubbing against his family’s Ah-Qi’s hand. It clung to Ah-Qi’s arm using both its limbs and tail. 

“Its fur is quite soft.” There wasn’t any anger in Chu Qi’s tone, just a little surprise.

However… He didn’t know whether he was imagining things, but after the white-haired spiritual beast leapt into his arms, its eyes seemed to have glowed brightly. It looked extraordinarily agile, without any hint of the sluggishness from earlier.

“Let’s turn it into a scarf then.” Yan Jiuge snorted coldly.

Before the white-haired spiritual beast could get made into a scarf by Yan Jiuge, a bold voice sounded from behind them.

“I’m really sorry my pet’s caused you trouble! I’m sorry!”

Chu Qi recognized this voice as the person who was shouting in the street earlier.

“Here. Be more careful next time.” Chu Qi stretched out the arm that the white-haired spiritual beast was clinging to towards him.

“Wuji–! Wuwu….” The white-haired spiritual beast plastered itself onto Chu Qi’s arm and refused to come down.

“…”

The person who’d lost their spiritual pet was another young boy like them, only about thirteen or fourteen years old. He was very embarrassed by his spiritual pet’s actions, shouting with red ears, “Tuantuan! Get down! You can’t just cling to random strangers!”

“Wuji! Wuji!” The white-haired spiritual beast looked up at the young boy and shook its head intelligently at him.

The boy was a little angry, but also a little sad, “You are so disobedient! You don’t want me as your master anymore, do you? It’s fine if you didn’t sleep obediently before, but now you’ve started running through the streets and caused trouble…”

Now he had to go over and apologize one by one to all those other cultivators.

He finally found it, and it turned out to be no good.

“Wuji!”

Hearing this, the white-haired spiritual beast reluctantly let go of Chu Qi’s arm and deftly returned to the boy’s shoulder. It rubbed its head against the boy’s cheek intimately.

The boy was quickly coaxed and apologized again, “Tuantuan has caused you trouble. I will make it up to you.”

“It’s no loss to us.” Chu Qi thought for a while. Other than breaking through Liu-shixiong’s defensive barrier, this white-haired spiritual beast didn’t really do anything.

“Fellow Daoist Liu! I didn’t expect to meet you here.” A surprised-sounding voice came from behind.

This person was dressed in the red and white robes of the Yushou Sect.

“Fellow Daoist Le.” Liu Weiming turned his head. Seeing that it was an acquaintance, his expression softened as he greeted him.

“I’m really sorry, this is one of our Yushou Sect’s new disciples. He hasn’t learned the beast-controlling technique yet, and he spoils his spiritual pet too much. He’s caused you trouble.” Le Changyin, a Yushou Sect disciple, explained.

Liu Weiming understood, “A new disciple, congratulations.” To get a new disciple on the first day of the selection was a happy event.

“Congratulations to you as well.” Le Changyin was in a good mood. She originally thought that missing out on Chu Qi, with his innate wood spiritual root, they wouldn’t get anything good today. Unexpectedly, in the evening, a disciple with an innate water spiritual root who loved spiritual pets also reached the summit.

“I brought my shidi to the inn to rest. He hasn’t practiced inedia yet, so he couldn’t stay at the top of the mountain.”

“Me too.” Liu Weiming empathized as someone who was also tasked with taking care of his shidi.

After the misunderstanding was resolved, the group went back to Yunluo Inn together.

On the way, Chu Qi learned that the boy’s name was Yun Jiangmiao.

Yun Jiangmiao was also a very talented cultivator in his last life. At the age of eighteen, he entered a secret realm for training and successfully made a contract with a pure-blooded nine-tailed fox. Since then, his reputation was as big as Yan Jiuge’s and he was often the subject of conversation.

Right now though, like Yan Jiuge, Yun Jiangmiao was still a childish young boy.

They passed through the gates of Yunlou Inn without noticing the man in red watching them thoughtfully from the shadows.

“It turned out to be a pure body. No wonder the Yan family heir didn’t notice anything. It’s really interesting that I was able to discover such a secret.”

The man in red chuckled to himself. He turned around and disappeared into thin air, traces of fox fire flashing behind him.

—

Chu Qi and Yan Jiuge returned to their room.

Chu Qi was still thinking about the matter just now and couldn’t help but sigh, “I never thought that Yun Jiangmiao’s spiritual pet would be able to break through Liu-shixiong’s barrier with only a first-level cultivation. It’s quite impressive.”

“It’s a White Cloud Beast. They’re good at breaking through formations, but they’re brainless. They have simple temperaments and only act on instinct.”

After Yan Jiuge finished explaining, he recalled the appearance of the White Cloud Beast rubbing against Chu Qi’s arm and felt displeased.

“It’s really good at acting coquettish. It’s very cute.” Chu Qi said.

Yan Jiuge: “…”

“It’s not much use anyway. Did you see how much trouble it caused today?” Yan Jiuge ruthlessly wiped the rose-colored tint off of Chu Qi’s glasses.

“You’re right. It must have been very embarrassing for Yun Jiangmiao.” Chasing his spiritual pet all through the streets and cleaning up its mess.

Yan Jiug didn’t want to continue this topic, so he said, “It’s getting late. You should go to sleep.”

Chu Qi had slept in the afternoon and had a nightmare, so he wasn’t very tired. But, Yan Jiuge didn’t rest at that time, so he should be exhausted by now.

“Okay, let’s go to bed first.”

With that thought, Chu Qi nodded, then asked, “Did you want to sleep on the inside or the outside?”

???

Yan Jiuge’s eyes were full of confusion, “What did you say?”

Chu Qi replied naturally, “I forgot to mention that there’s only one bed in the room. I was asking if you wanted to sleep on the inside or the outside.”

Of course Yan Jiuge knew that there was only one bed, so he didn’t plan to use it. After all, he didn’t really need to sleep.

But according to Chu Qi’s words just now, it seemed like he didn’t mind sleeping with him?

“If you’re not used to it, I can just ask the innkeep to bring up a small couch?”

Seeing how Yan Jiuge didn’t answer for a while, Chu Qi just assumed that he wasn’t used to sharing a bed with others.

“…No need.” Yan Jiuge only spoke up now, his voice slower than usual, “I’ll take the outside.”

It was just another place to meditate. 

He didn’t want to have to explain to Chu Qi why he didn’t need to sleep.

Yan Jiuge thought to himself.

—

After blowing out the lamp, there was no light left in the room and it became pitch black.

On the bed, Chu Qi was lying on the inside, while Yan Jiuge lay on the outside, maintaining a distance of three-chi between them.

Any further out, and Yan Jiuge’s fingers would be hanging in the air.

Spiritual power flowed along Yan Jiuge’s meridians, but at this moment he was a little distracted. The sound of Chu Qi’s nearby breathing filled his ears.

Although the room was quiet, Yan Jiuge could tell that Chu Qi wasn’t asleep.

Maybe he was afraid of having another nightmare?

As this thought flashed across Yan Jiuge’s mind, he was reminded of Chu Qi’s teary eyes that afternoon, and the corners of his lips curled up involuntarily.

He didn’t know what kind of nightmare could make Chu Qi panic like that. The next time he went back to the Yunyin Realm, he would have to bring back a piece of spiritual jade that could help calm his mind.

Thinking about it this way, returning to the Yunyin Realm didn’t bother Yan Jiuge as much.

Today there weren’t any cold wars or quarrels, only peace.

Maybe they could get a little closer from now on…

Yan Jiuge thought to himself, It would be best if it was always like this.

[1] Like the Naruto hand signs.