Chapter Fifty-two: Disciple Tian Qing

  As night fell, a silver moon hung low in the sky, and a thin line of sunset still lingered on the western horizon. The darkness was like ink, gradually swallowing up the mountains and valleys. Xu Zhen stood outside that dullness, his back still tinged with the deep red of the setting sun. He gazed silently at the massive stone monument standing at the entrance to the valley for a long time. A gust of night wind swept out from the valley, and in the fluttering of his white robe, he was like the wind, drifting towards that dark mass.

  In the howling cold wind, the last ray of sunset shone on the stone tablet, and only saw the two words "Si Fan" carved on it, with sharp strokes, revealing a sword-like intent, but also like crimson blood.

  Xuan Zhen slowly stepped into the valley, a wry smile hanging at the corner of his mouth. This Thought Returning Valley was originally used to discipline and punish those unruly or disobedient disciples who went against the sect's rules. Who would have thought that one day, he, the eldest senior brother among all the disciples in the sect, would also be punished and sent here? If the other junior brothers and sisters knew about this, they would probably laugh their teeth off.

  The mountain wind was slightly cold, and in this empty valley with no flowers or trees, it came and went, only blowing the clusters of wild grass on the ground to bend down to the ground. Xuan Zhen took advantage of the soft light on Chunshui Sword and was about to find a place to avoid the wind and rest when he suddenly heard a faint hum from the darkness on his right side.

  "So late... who are you?"

  The voice was clear and melodious, with a hint of laughter, coming from behind a protruding rock on the other side.

  Xuan Zhenwei slightly raised an eyebrow and turned to step into the grass, but as soon as he walked past the mountain rock, he bumped into a pair of shiny black eyes.

  A young man leaned against the mountain rock, with a clear and elegant appearance, but his whole body was filled with a lazy air, and his face always had a careless and nonchalant expression. Only a pair of handsome eyes were exceptionally good, with distinct black and white pupils, as clear as a stream.

  "Hey, I'm telling you to stop staring at me, I'm not a cut sleeve!" The handsome young man flipped his eyes and sized him up from head to toe, making Xuan Zhen look away. The grass stem in the corner of his mouth began to sway restlessly again, as if he had been bored for a long time and was delighted to see someone. He smiled and nodded at Xuan Zhen, "What brings you here?"

  "...disobedient to one's elders and superiors."

  "What a serious crime?" The young man spat and then smiled with a hint of schadenfreude, "You're probably not going to get out for a while. From my experience coming in and out of here several times, being locked up for three days without food is the minimum. And when you come out, I reckon there's still a scolding waiting for you... Hey, why are you smiling? I'm not lying to you!"

  "Not three days." Xuan Zhen seemed to smile and yet not smile as he slanted a glance at the young man, saying slowly, "It's ten days."

  "...Are you going to starve to death here?" The handsome young man widened his eyes in surprise, rolled his eyes and scanned him up and down, muttering to himself, "I didn't expect someone as good-looking as you to be so unlikable..."

  Xuan Zhen only felt that it was neither laughter nor tears, but when he thought of his master scolding him with a disappointed look in his eyes, he felt another wave of loss. He sighed and said: "It's my own fault for making Master angry, I deserved to be punished."

  The two fell silent for a moment, and the handsome young man shifted uncomfortably against the rock behind him, muttering to himself: "I'm not very focused in my training... Master is always scolding me, the old man usually doesn't care, but when he does yell at people, his mustache twitches with energy, and it's nothing new for me to be sent here... There's not much difference between one day and ten days apart, after all, I'll still be a good man when I get out..."

  He chattered on for half a day, speaking nonsense and illogical words, but Xuān Zhèn also heard that this awkward and arrogant young man was actually comforting himself, although the comfort was... somewhat awkward.

  "Alas, let's not talk about those annoying things!" The young man, who didn't seem to be very good at comforting others, smiled and didn't respond after seeing Xuan Zhen. His face turned red as he deliberately changed the subject in a loud and rough tone, "Look at what you're wearing, it's also our Qionghua Sect's attire. I wonder which Shifu you followed to cultivate, how come I've never seen you on the mountain?"

  Xuan Zhen smiled slightly and leaned against the mountain stone, imitating his appearance, but instead of answering, he asked: "Then which master did you inherit from?"

  "My master is..." The young man was about to answer, but he turned his eyes and smiled suddenly, "In short, just call me 'older brother', you won't lose out."

  Looking at his cunning eyes, Xuan Zhen couldn't help but laugh and said with a hint of teasing: "I haven't heard that the sect has taken in any new disciples recently. The only one was when the Master brought back a female disciple not long ago. Could it be that you are...?" His playful gaze intentionally swept across his face and chest, "...a woman disguised as a man?"

  "You also know Su Yu?" the young man exclaimed, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes, but it quickly turned into embarrassment. "Pfft, pfft, you're the one who's like a woman!"

  The young man had been sharp-tongued since childhood, and in verbal sparring he had always been victorious. But now he was being defeated by Xuan Zhen's few words, his face red with rage, and he was about to spit out two flames from his nostrils: "I've been practicing for four months already, it's you who is ignorant!"

  "Four months......" Xuan Zhen's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly realized, muttering to himself, "So it was......"

  "My master is indeed the True Lord of Taichu, you say, would it be difficult for me to call him 'senior brother' and still gain an advantage?" The young man said proudly with his head held high, as if the identity of "sect leader's disciple" had transformed into a shining golden robe wrapped around his body, radiant to the extreme. That complacent look was quite amusing in the eyes of Xuan Zhen.

  "Nature is..." Xuan Zhen humbly lowered his head, with an expression of "I'm not worthy" on his face. The young man looked very satisfied, but unexpectedly, the topic turned and he said seriously, "Naturally, it's a big loss."

  "Hmph!" The young man puffed out his cheeks again, glared at Xuan Zhen with a defiant look, and turned his head away, ignoring him.

  Xuan Zhen found it even more amusing in his heart, he had already guessed that this young man was probably one of the two junior brothers mentioned by Tai Qing True Person in the Flower City of the south, who were said to have vastly different personalities, but he didn't know about the other one...

  The young man was originally a restless and fidgety person, and there wasn't much to play with in the valley anyway. He sulked for only a moment before he couldn't help but come over, bumping into Xuan Zhen with his shoulder: "Hey, have you gone down the mountain since you joined the sect?"

  Xuan Zhen thought for a moment, then deliberately said in an offhand manner: "I've been down there before. However, below the mountain, there's only one town called Bao Xian Town. The rest is just endless yellow sand and desolate wilderness, not very interesting."

  The young man suddenly felt a sense of resonance and nodded repeatedly: "Right, right! Except for the little girl at the horse station in town who is pretty, there's nothing else interesting."

  Xuan Zhen was taken aback, and after some thought, he sensed that something was off: "Wait a minute, you've only been in the sect for four months, how could the Sect Leader allow you to go down the mountain to play?"

  "Hmm..." The young man's face flashed with a hint of embarrassment, and he chuckled, trying to brush it off. "I... uh... my master taught me the art of swordsmanship, and I was flying around, but somehow I ended up at the foot of the mountain... It's no big deal if I take a break, right?" He quickly changed the subject before Xuan Zhen could ask more questions. "Hey, younger brother, have you ever been to the Central Plains? It's completely different from the foot of Mount Kunlun. There are towns everywhere, and people as numerous as the stars in the sky. It's bustling with activity, and it's a lot of fun!" He began to talk non-stop about his experiences in the Central Plains, becoming more and more excited as he spoke, using vivid expressions and gestures, as if he were performing on stage for a crowd of onlookers.

  Nor did he know whether this younger brother or the storytellers in Zhongyuan were more glib. Xuan Zhen listened with relish, while secretly ridiculing him, still remembering the sentence that young man had taken advantage of him with just a moment ago.

  Unconsciously, the moon is high in the sky, and its brilliant light, like a silver wave, has submerged the entire valley. The valley wind whisks through, stirring up layer upon layer of grassy waves. From behind the mountain rocks, the faint sound of someone's laughter can be heard.

  "...Later, my mother died, and that Yun Jing didn't even allow me to bury her in the ancestral tomb. I was so angry that I smashed the temple to pieces, and then left the village. Hmph, anyway, no one in that village except for Big Brother treated me and Mother well, but Big Brother had already...". The young man's eyes flashed with a fierce glint as he spoke of his painful past, seeming to hold no affection for his own clan, but his thoughts were quick-witted and his emotions fleeting. He soon changed the subject to his adventures on the road, and began laughing again.

  "I didn't know what the world outside was like until I got out, and it's so much fun and beautiful. Not everyone is as annoying as those guys in the village... The young man's face was filled with joy, savoring that carefree period, even sleeping under the stars and eating in the wind was wonderful. "Oh yeah, I also saved a high-ranking official from the imperial court, it's really funny to think about it now. Brother Liu may have read a lot of books and had a belly full of ink, but when he encountered bandits, he wasn't even as good as me, a small fry from the Jianghu. With just a few words, I made them turn against each other and played a trick on them...". The young man was delighted, patted Xuan Zhen's thigh with one hand, and leaned his face close to him, "Young Master, look at how awesome I am! Call me Big Brother from now on, and you won't lose out!"

  Xuan Zhen gave him a slanted glance, and with a wave of his sleeve, he swept away the wolf claw that was still on his leg. He said bluntly, "Forget it."

  "Hmph, many people want to be brothers with me, but I don't even look at them! The young man puffed out his cheeks and muttered, then suddenly became enthusiastic again. "Anyway, after this incident, Big Brother Liu took a liking to me at first sight, and insisted on becoming sworn brothers with me. Later, we became sworn brothers, and he even invited me to Shouyang for a drink."

  "Shouyang?" Xuán's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and his heart stirred secretly.

  "Yes, Elder Brother is the County Magistrate of Shouyang. If I hadn't saved him, he would have been in trouble before taking office." The young man's words were full of self-praise, but he was very affectionate towards his sworn brother whom he had met by chance. "Before I joined the Qionghua Sect, I received a letter from him once, saying that he married a beautiful woman. Alas, if it weren't for the sect rules, I would have flown to Shouyang to take a look at my sister-in-law's appearance." He sighed heavily, as if not being able to see the beauty was a great regret, which made Xuan Zhen laugh and cry at the same time.

  "You're just a monkey in a cage!" Xuan Zhen slapped him on the head, "If you don't like being restricted by rules and frameworks, why come to Qionghua Sect?"

  "It's all about seeking immortality and the Tao." The young man rubbed his head and pouted, "Roaming the world may be free and easy, but compared to those sword immortals who can ride the wind and travel thousands of miles in an instant, I'm far behind. I've heard that there are many immortals on Mount Kunlun, so I joined a merchant caravan and crossed the desert to get here. My original plan was to bravely make my way up the mountain, showing off my prowess to the immortals of the Qinghua Sect, so as not to let this pearl of the ocean be overlooked..."

  Xuan Zhen almost burst out laughing at the last boastful sentence, and thought to himself: This young man's face is truly thicker than anyone else's in the world. He can compare himself to a shining pearl from the ocean and yet his face doesn't turn red and his heart doesn't skip a beat. It's really quite rare, really quite rare.

  The young man suddenly became angry: "Who knows where a cold-faced guy came from, and he's competing with me to kill monsters! I killed one, and he stabbed two to death with one sword. When I rushed through the Taiyi Xianjing, that guy even rushed into the mountain gate ahead of me. Fortunately, I secretly pulled him back, and the master let us both enter the trial of the Susu Fantasy Realm..."

  Xuan Zhen smiled and said, "You naturally passed together."

  "Hmph, it wasn't together!" The young man said, becoming even more indignant. "That ice-block face actually rushed ahead of me and stepped into the exit array first, so Master made him the senior brother. Clearly we entered the sect at the same time, but he's been suppressing me all along. I've been tolerant and tried to get along with him since we live in the same house, but that ice-block face actually scolded me harshly for the sake of junior sister the other day. Truly a case of seeing beauty and forgetting righteousness, not a good brother at all!"

  Xuan Zhen only realized at this point that the young man had actually quarreled with the icy-faced girl, which was why he spoke sarcastically. His temper was indeed like a child's, but also somewhat lovable. He couldn't help but tease: "I suppose that female junior of yours is quite lovely..."

  "Hmm, Shu Yu is indeed unparalleled in her elegance... In my opinion, no one in the entire Qiong Hua sect can compare to her..." The young man was indeed led astray by his words and suddenly felt something was off. He hastily stopped himself and puffed out his cheeks in anger, saying "I'm not saying that just because Shu Yu likes talking to him more!"

  Xuan Zhen couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

  The author has something to say: Thank you 123 (you also moved me... recently everyone started taking the tear-jerking route, it will make me write very sad articles, but it's better if everyone is happy and leaves messages ~MUA), LuLu, YiZui NanHui, SanManDe Fei LuoJi, YiShuiHan, DuanChangCao, beini1127 (seeing almost every chapter with a message, really thank you!), YouAiDi HuangGua, Cheng, MoYue, BaiMaFeiMa (I really didn't understand that sentence of yours, sweat), YunHaiPiaoPing, TuZiTiaoYaTiaoYa, BuShiLuGuo, FengLing, SiKaoOrh's messages~

  P.S. I didn't expect that the number of collections and comments would increase so much, suddenly feeling a little surprised and grateful. I must thank my old readers who have been supporting me since the first chapter, as well as new readers who discovered me through the divine artifact collection folder. And also thanks to my editor at home, who has always been good to this rookie.

  PPS. I spent a bit of time playing Jian Wang 3 during the holidays, so updates were slow. Afterwards, I will continue to work hard to update at least twice a day, and strive for daily updates ~ Please wait with anticipation everyone

  PPPS. Just leave a message casually, don't be so touching, okay? I'm afraid of being moved to tears and writing out a bunch of sad words... Certain grass doesn't want to bully Master Brother and the others... Hehe, first give a group MUA kiss~

  PPPPS. Seeing that some readers are asking CP, I'll take this opportunity to ask, Xuan Xiao, Zi Ying, and okay, let's add Boss Tu as well, which one do you like more?