The first to hear the commotion was the young disciple guarding the gate, who had yet to be formally initiated.
He was also the one who had watched Yu Qingtang and Ye Chenyan descend the mountain together back then. Now, seeing Yu Qingtang come charging through the gates like a whirlwind, he was so overjoyed his eyes immediately filled with tears.
“Senior Bro—”
The word Brother was still stuck in his throat when he spotted Ye Chenyan walking in right behind Yu Qingtang.
His voice swerved violently mid-syllable.
“—Sister!”
Ye Chenyan found that hilarious. He even slung an arm around Yu Qingtang’s shoulders and teased him.
“Senior Sister?”
Yu Qingtang was no longer the little idle cultivator who used to tremble in terror whenever Ye Chenyan waved a spear at him.
Now he was a little idle cultivator who could climb right onto Long Aotian’s head and run wild!
Completely unfazed, he turned around with a beaming smile and boldly patted Ye Chenyan on the head.
“Yes, yes—my Little Junior Brother!”
Ye Chenyan: “...”
The gatekeeper stared in horror at this death-defying act, which was no less outrageous than plucking hairs from a tiger’s backside. He sucked in a sharp breath and quietly backed away two steps.
“Stop scaring my not-even-initiated Junior Brother.” Yu Qingtang crouched down and squished the boy’s cheeks. “Don’t panic. We’ve already talked everything through. There’s no need to fool him anymore.”
“Huh?”
The boy only looked more worried. He anxiously grabbed Yu Qingtang and dragged him back another two steps, then whispered,
“He didn’t hit you, did he? I heard getting hit by him really hurts!”
Yu Qingtang guiltily looked up at the sky.
There was a very real possibility that the person he had “heard” that from was Yu Qingtang himself.
Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow at him.
Yu Qingtang cleared his throat and immediately defended him with a perfectly solemn face.
“Of course not! Why would he ever hit anyone?”
He paused and scratched his chin.
“...Actually, I guess he does.”
Ye Chenyan: “...”
“Ahem.”
Yu Qingtang walked over, reached up, lifted Ye Chenyan by the chin, and turned his face left and right for the boy to inspect.
“Actually, he has a pretty good temper. He’s friendly too. He doesn’t bite.”
“See?”
He even pinched Ye Chenyan’s cheek.
Ye Chenyan cooperatively put on a smile.
The boy’s eyes grew steadily more terrified.
Then he suddenly spun around and sprinted into the sect, screaming at the top of his lungs,
“Master—! Senior Sister—! Senior Brothers—!”
“HELP!”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
“What’s with that kid? Why is he yelling for help?”
Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow and touched his own face.
“Was my smile not friendly enough?”
Yu Qingtang leaned in to study him.
“I thought it looked pretty good.”
He patted Ye Chenyan on the shoulder consolingly.
“Maybe it’s not that you aren’t trying hard enough. Maybe it’s just some mysterious aura thing. Some people simply aren’t very popular with children—”
He heard a commotion higher up the mountain.
Both he and Ye Chenyan looked up.
Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened in horror.
Daoist Idle Crane was charging out of Biehe Sect’s main hall at the head of an enormous mob of disciples.
“You bastard! Let go of my Junior Brother!”
Eldest Senior Sister was leading the charge, her guzheng resting across her knees as she prepared to strike.
“Just let me—holy crap, Master, he’s late Nascent Soul! I can’t beat him!”
“Fear not, Disciple! Your master is here!”
No one knew what Daoist Idle Crane had been doing just moments earlier, but one of his trouser legs was still rolled up as he came rushing out in a panic.
Then he heard Eldest Senior Sister’s cry for help.
His vision nearly went black.
“Oh no! Late Nascent Soul...”
“Everybody stop! Don’t charge! Turn around and activate the mountain-protecting grand array!”
He hurriedly skidded to a stop and assumed a defensive stance.
“Young hero! There’s no need for violence! We can talk this through!”
Ye Chenyan had barely opened his mouth.
“I—”
“If nothing else, just take the qin in his hands!” Daoist Idle Crane pointed at Yu Qingtang. “It’s a first-rank spiritual artifact! That’s about the only valuable thing Biehe Sect owns!”
“Take the treasure, just spare his life!”
Ye Chenyan slowly turned his head toward Yu Qingtang.
Yu Qingtang gave two dry laughs.
“M-maybe some people are just like that. Mysterious aura, you know? Some people simply aren’t very popular with the elderly either.”
Ye Chenyan: “Heh.”
“Stop activating the array!” Yu Qingtang called helplessly.
He peered behind them.
“Where’s Fifth Senior Brother? Didn’t he come back already? Didn’t he explain everything?”
He raised the packaged pork hocks from his storage ring.
“Look! I even brought pork hocks for everyone! One each!”
“Really?”
Eldest Senior Sister immediately wavered.
She nearly started walking down the mountain, lured by the pork hock.
Third Senior Brother smacked her on the back of the head with his fan, snapping her back to her senses.
She abruptly retreated a step.
“No! I almost fell for it!”
Third Senior Brother narrowed his eyes.
“What if he poisoned the pork hocks?”
Yu Qingtang lowered the bag and rolled his eyes speechlessly.
“You think you’re worth poisoning?”
“None of you can beat him anyway! Why would he waste money buying pork hocks just to poison you?”
He shook the bag irritably.
“Are you eating them or not? If not, I’m taking them to feed the wild boar behind the mountain!”
“Hey, hey, don’t!”
Eldest Senior Sister could no longer restrain herself. She shot down the slope in a single bound.
“A pork hock comes from a pig too! Making pigs eat their own kind would be far too cruel. Better let me handle it!”
As she accepted the pork hock from Yu Qingtang, she secretly glanced at Ye Chenyan.
“Junior Brother Ye, you...”
Ye Chenyan laughed and bowed politely.
“It’s been a long time, Eldest Senior Sister.”
“No, no, no!”
Eldest Senior Sister hurriedly dodged aside.
“Your cultivation is already higher than mine. How could I possibly accept a bow from you now?”
She shot him several envious glances.
“Last time I saw you, you were only early Golden Core. Now you’re already late Nascent Soul, while I’m still stuck in Nascent Soul...”
Yu Qingtang pointed at himself.
“What about me? Eldest Senior Sister, look at me.”
“Aren’t you just...”
Her gaze swept over him carelessly.
Then her eyes bulged in horror.
Her voice jumped an entire octave.
“You’re Nascent Soul too?!”
Her hand trembled as she reached out and pinched his cheek.
“Are you really my Junior Brother? The same Junior Brother who could cultivate for half an hour and immediately fall asleep? The one who never worked hard at cultivation but always came first when food was involved?”
Yu Qingtang: “Ahem.”
“Let bygones be bygones. Leave me a little dignity.”
Ye Chenyan’s eyes curved with amusement.
Eldest Senior Sister pointed at Yu Qingtang’s chest, then at his men’s clothing.
She snuck a glance at Ye Chenyan and lowered her voice.
“So what exactly is going on here?”
“Hmm...”
Yu Qingtang rubbed his nose awkwardly and glanced at Ye Chenyan.
“It’s kind of hard to explain quickly.”
He shoved more than a dozen pork hocks into Eldest Senior Sister’s arms.
“Hand these out to everyone first. And help me entertain him for a bit. I need to talk to Master.”
“Huh?”
Eldest Senior Sister immediately panicked.
She turned and met Ye Chenyan’s gaze, forcing out an awkward smile.
“Ah, well, haha... Junior Brother Ye, you two are... getting along pretty well now?”
Ye Chenyan furrowed his brows as though considering the question seriously.
“I suppose we’re getting along pretty well?”
Eldest Senior Sister breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good. Good is good.”
“But...”
Ye Chenyan tilted his head.
He watched Yu Qingtang secretly dragging Daoist Idle Crane away and gave a low laugh.
“I’d like us to get along even better.”
“Huh?”
Eldest Senior Sister stared blankly.
“Oh my.”
Third Senior Brother sighed leisurely and gave Ye Chenyan a meaningful look.
“Looks like my Junior Brother really is quite lovable. He went out once and came back with far more than pork hocks.”
“He brought back someone’s heart too.”
“Huh?”
Eldest Senior Sister opened the food container in confusion.
“There’s pig heart in here?”
Third Senior Brother smacked her on the back of the head with his fan.
“Eat your food and shut your mouth.”
Ye Chenyan: “...”
Eldest Senior Sister rubbed the back of her head and obediently stopped talking.
...
Meanwhile, Yu Qingtang had dragged Daoist Idle Crane somewhere quiet.
Unfortunately, the old Daoist kept craning his neck to look behind them.
“Where’s my pork hock?”
“Right here!”
Yu Qingtang pulled one out of his storage ring and stuffed it into his hands.
“Look at you. You’re ancient, and all you can think about is food.”
“So what?”
Daoist Idle Crane cradled the pork hock like a treasure and glared at him, mustache bristling.
“I might drop dead any day now! While I still have teeth strong enough to chew, what’s wrong with enjoying myself?”
“Ptooey! Ptooey!”
Yu Qingtang rolled his eyes.
“You’ll definitely live longer than a tortoise. Longer than a turtle!”
“Couldn’t you phrase your blessing a little more nicely?”
Daoist Idle Crane plopped himself onto the grass behind the mountain and accepted the chopsticks Yu Qingtang handed him.
“Got rice? Pork hock is best mixed with rice!”
“Yes—”
Yu Qingtang handed him a box of rice too.
“Oh, right. I forgot to bring rice for everyone else.”
“Forget them.” Daoist Idle Crane expertly mixed the pork hock into his rice. “The kitchen’s right outside. If they want rice, they can cook it themselves.”
He looked at Yu Qingtang.
“Now tell me. What exactly happened? You don’t look like someone who got beaten up.”
“Hehe.”
Yu Qingtang laughed sheepishly.
“I didn’t get beaten.”
“It’s more than that, isn’t it?”
Daoist Idle Crane took a mouthful of pork hock mixed with rice and looked so blissful he nearly floated away. He swayed his head contentedly.
“I was too anxious to look closely at first. But when I got a better look just now...”
“He seems more sincere about you than when he first arrived.”
He gave Yu Qingtang a sidelong glance.
“Where’s your dress? When did he find out?”
Yu Qingtang closed his eyes with profound sorrow.
“From the beginning.”
“He already knew I was a man when he came here. And we were putting on that whole serious act right in front of him. God, that was embarrassing.”
Daoist Idle Crane comforted him.
“It’s fine. We’re used to embarrassing ourselves. A little more hardly matters.”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
He suspected Daoist Idle Crane had contributed quite a lot to his excellent ability to keep a positive attitude.
Daoist Idle Crane swallowed another mouthful of rice and turned toward him.
Then he saw Yu Qingtang pull a huge, glittering gold ingot from his pocket.
Yu Qingtang stuffed it into his hands.
“This is the Treasure-Gathering Basin. I’ll teach you how to use it.”
“I accidentally bound the Dragon-Crane Zither to myself with blood before. Our whole sect only had that one treasure worth showing off.”
“I thought about it, and the family should still keep at least one good treasure.”
“So I’m leaving this with you.”
“But remember, using it brings bad luck afterward. Make sure you do plenty of good deeds normally!”
Daoist Idle Crane stared blankly at the treasure artifact in his hands.
“Hold on. Disciple, what exactly did you do after leaving the sect? Where did you get all this stuff?”
Yu Qingtang started pouring spirit stones into the Treasure-Gathering Basin with a clatter.
“And there’s this.”
“First, fix the front gate—”
He paused.
“Actually, forget the gate. We’re all used to being embarrassing anyway. Better spend the money on something important.”
“Repair the mountain-protecting grand array first. Then buy two shops down in town.”
“You’re not allowed to pick them yourself. Have Third Senior Brother do it. He’s the shrewdest.”
“Oh, right! The three Senior Sisters gave me dresses and jewelry before so they could dress me up. Remember to buy them new ones!”
Daoist Idle Crane had initially been nodding along seriously.
But the longer he listened, the more wrong it sounded.
“Wait!”
“Why do you sound like you’re giving me your final instructions?”
“Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!”
Yu Qingtang glared at him.
“I’m going to live for ages! I’m not dying!”
“It’s just...”
He lowered his head and picked at a blade of grass with one finger.
His voice softened.
“I probably won’t be coming back for a long time.”
“Huh?”
Daoist Idle Crane needed a moment to process that.
“Could it be...”
“Mm.”
Yu Qingtang obediently nodded.
“It’s him.”
“And me.”
He made several vague gestures with his fingers, then cautiously said,
“We’re... kind of tangled up together.”
Daoist Idle Crane sucked in a sharp breath.
“You’ve thought this through? That brat looks absurdly good at causing trouble. At this rate, one day he might literally punch a hole through the sky!”
Yu Qingtang gave two foolish little laughs.
“You’re pretty good at judging people.”
He lifted his head and looked out over the familiar scenery of Shanyuan Peak.
“Master, when I went out this time, I met some demonfolk. The Lunar Jade Rabbit clan. Have you heard of them?”
“Their clan is weak. Even when they ask someone for help, they always say, ‘Only if you can keep yourself safe first.’”
“When I saw them...”
“I thought of all of you.”
Daoist Idle Crane sighed.
“On this vast road to immortality, how many people ever truly make it?”
“When I picked all of you up, I never expected any of you to become great figures. I just wanted the place to be a little livelier.”
Yu Qingtang turned back toward him, smiling until his eyes curved.
“Hehe. I never thought I’d become anyone important either.”
“That was why I used to be so lazy and never liked cultivating.”
“I figured that if I stayed a tiny Golden Core cultivator my whole life, I could stay at Biehe Sect forever.”
“If I got into trouble, I could scream my head off and run to you and Senior Sister to save me.”
“And the biggest problem I’d ever have to deal with would be that wild boar behind the mountain.”
“But somehow, in the blink of an eye, I’m already Nascent Soul.”
Yu Qingtang propped his chin on one hand.
“That’s not so bad either.”
“I can afford to buy everyone their own pork hock now.”
“And if Biehe Sect ever gets into trouble in the future...”
“I can stand in front of you instead.”
“It’s just that I’m still a little scared.”
Daoist Idle Crane slowly set down his chopsticks.
He simply watched him.
Yu Qingtang blinked and looked up at the sky.
“But I can’t bring myself to leave him alone either.”
“The place beside him was never supposed to belong to me.”
“And I don’t know what’s going to happen from here.”
He muttered softly,
“Maybe it really will be the kind of trouble where the sky comes crashing down.”
“But I’ve made up my mind.”
He looked eagerly at Daoist Idle Crane.
“If you don’t have any objections, then...”
“I-I’m going with him, okay?”
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