The scorching pain made Yan Xiaohu see red: "Which bastard hit your father... Master, I was wrong!"
Yan Xiaohu immediately knelt down, and Zhou Qing quickly followed suit.
At this moment, Mo Xingjian was trembling with anger, his hand shaking uncontrollably: "Alright, alright, just in this short time, I've gained two more fathers."
"Master, we were just joking, don't take it seriously," Yan Xiaohu quickly said.
Mo Xingjian wanted to get angry, but with people coming and going around them, it would only make them a laughingstock.
Then he looked at the junk on the stall, pointing at it and saying, "What kind of goods are these? How dare you try to sell them?"
"Master, half of these were the rewards you gave me. This one, this one, and these too," Yan Xiaohu pointed to several items in succession.
Mo Xingjian: "..."
"Uncle, are you buying or not? If not, don't block us! Senior Brother, how much does this cost?"
Four disciples dressed in Phecda Sect attire gathered around and asked.
Yan Xiaohu stood up immediately, beaming: "Sell, sell, of course, it's for sale. This is a good item. Look at this pattern here, doesn't it look like a monkey? The origin of this ruler is even more incredible..."
Mo Xingjian was pushed aside by a few people. He opened his mouth, then flung his sleeves in frustration and left.
Behind the stall, Yan Xiaohu and Zhou Qing both let out a sigh of relief.
"Should we just not go back tonight and find a place to stay?"
"Agreed, but what if Immortal Xuan You asks us to accompany her for a meal again?"
"Get lost!"
...
That night, the two lingered around the mountain gate for a long time. Only when it was about to close did they sneak back under the puzzled gazes of the guards.
Back home, Zhou Qing made sure there was no master hiding, then breathed a sigh of relief and continued heating water to take a bath and practice the "Silver Dragon Hand."
The next morning, as soon as he opened the courtyard door, he saw the bruised and battered third brother.
Zhou Qing's face twitched slightly.
"Did Master do this?" Zhou Qing asked.
Yan Xiaohu's small eyes were almost swollen shut: "What else! Why are you fine?"
"Maybe because I'm the youngest. Generally, the youngest ones are more favored," Zhou Qing guessed. Of course, it's probably because you mentioned those two fathers, and I didn't say anything from the beginning.
Yan Xiaohu felt a sense of injustice upon hearing this.
Just then, a whistling sword qi came, and He Han approached without saying a word.
Zhou Qing's eyes lit up, and he quickly greeted him familiarly.
"Alright, third brother, you go on ahead. I'll come find you after eating!" Zhou Qing said.
Seeing someone specifically coming to pick up the youngest disciple, who was eating the spiritual food from the Jade Dining Hall, Yan Xiaohu couldn't hold back his tears.
"It's not fair, it's not fair—" he cried.
...
"Senior Brother He, are we accompanying Immortal Xuan You for a meal again this time?"
"Mm!"
"Is Junior Sister Lu there too?"
"Mm!"
"Did you take my advice from yesterday? The heat for cooking spirit rice must be steady to keep the flavors intact and not destroy the aroma."
"If you keep babbling, believe it or not, I'll kick you off."
"I believe it, but Senior Brother He, I've already broken through to Foundation Establishment, so I can fly with sword control on my own now. So even if you kick me off, I can still... You're serious, Senior Brother He, I was wrong. Don't lock my spiritual power, this will be fatal, we're about to crash..."
In the pavilion.
Lu Yaoyao asked worriedly, "Senior Brother Zhou, are you alright? Why is your face so pale?"
"N-nothing, Senior, Junior Sister Lu, you haven't touched your food at all, aren't you going to eat?" Zhou Qing asked, looking at the spiritual food in front of him.
Immortal Xuan You shook her head slightly and then said, "I have no appetite today. Yaoyao doesn't want to eat either. You can have it."
Zhou Qing licked his lips: "Then I won't stand on ceremony."
After saying that, he started eating.
Immortal Xuan You stood up slowly, walked to the side of the corridor, and looked at the koi fishes in the pond, then beckoned Lu Yaoyao over.
Originally resting her chin on her hand, watching Zhou Qing gobble down his food, Lu Yaoyao quickly ran over with a bounce in her step.
"I can sense your special feelings for him. Is he your brother?" Immortal Xuan You asked quietly.
Lu Yaoyao turned her head to look at Zhou Qing, who was gulping down porridge, smiling happily.
"He's family!"
Upon hearing this, Immortal Xuan You did not ask further questions but looked at the shimmering lake, her eyes filled with nostalgia.
"Sister, what do you think of Senior Brother Zhou?"
After a brief hesitation, Lu Yaoyao couldn't help but ask.
Immortal Xuan You smiled faintly: "He has a good appetite and can eat well!"
Hearing this evaluation, Lu Yaoyao couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Let him eat slowly by himself then. You come with me down the mountain to see if we can find any bargains. Some of the herbs you mentioned are indeed quite rare," Immortal Xuan You suddenly said.
Lu Yaoyao agreed without hesitation.
The two of them left along the corridor without disturbing Zhou Qing.
While Zhou Qing was eating heartily, he suddenly felt a chill down his back.
Looking up, he realized that Immortal Xuan You and Lu Yaoyao had disappeared sometime, and five burly men were climbing over the wall not far behind him, cracking their knuckles.
"Not eating, not eating anymore, gotta save some for third brother!" Zhou Qing hurriedly packed the food into a food box, stuffed it into his storage bag, and ran off...
...
"Still... hiss~ a bit of conscience, my brother's efforts weren't in vain... it still hurts, be gentle, Old Mo seems to be in a strange mood this time, hitting so hard..."
"Master, you're here!"
"Master, I was really wrong, I was just joking with the junior brother... Oh, where is he, where has he gone."
"Look at you, scared like a bird!"
Zhou Qing couldn't help but laugh, and Yan Xiaohu angrily kicked him twice on the butt.
Soon after, the two sat in front of the stall, watching the flow of people in silence.
Yan Xiaohu sighed deeply: "Suddenly, I miss second senior sister, I wonder when she'll come back. If she were here, she would definitely protect us when Master scolds us, especially you."
"I noticed that Master seems to be very afraid of her. Do you think second senior sister has something on him?"
Zhou Qing shook his head: "I don't know, but second senior sister indeed speaks with authority."
"Thinking back to everything, it might actually be true. When second senior sister returns, no matter the cost, we must switch out whatever leverage she has over him," Yan Xiaohu said with determination.
Zhou Qing didn't really care about these things; he just hoped that second senior sister would come back safely.
"If senior brother comes out of seclusion, he will also protect us!" Zhou Qing said.
Yan Xiaohu immediately scoffed.
"You're dreaming. Senior brother is like the quintessential good student in Master's eyes, with talent, cultivation, and looks. How can we compare? People fear comparison; when we stand next to senior brother, Master only gets more frustrated with us," Yan Xiaohu said indignantly.
Zhou Qing had no argument upon hearing this.
No way around it, each peak's chief disciple sets an example, unlike them, always causing trouble for their master.
"Sitting makes my butt hurt, senior brother, you stay busy, I'll go for a walk!"
Zhou Qing patted his butt and got up, casually choosing a direction to wander off.
"Remember to bring me back lunch!" Yan Xiaohu shouted at his retreating back.
Not long after, Zhou Qing found himself at a stall selling live creatures...