Chapter 22: Little Senior Brother… Already Has Someone Protecting Him…

Feng Xixing only felt as if a restless tail was rubbing around in his palm. He instinctively gripped back, but what his fingertips found was not a fluffy sensation, but another hand, warm to the touch.

He shot a quick glance at Lin Chuyun and took the opportunity to probe Lin Chuyun’s Qi Sea again. He saw that the originally bright point of light had begun to dim, and the spirit power within his Qi Sea was dissipating thread by thread.

Judging by this speed, Lin Chuyun could probably maintain his human form for another five days.

Five days… that was a little too long.

Feng Xixing lowered his eyes, concealing the emotion within them, before smiling gently. “Junior Brother Lin, what is it?”

Lin Chuyun stroked the knife scar on Feng Xixing’s palm, his expression darkening.

He had finally remembered where this scar came from. It was clearly left behind when the Original Host went to assassinate Feng Xixing in the dead of night, all so Bai Linghan could win the Disciple Grand Competition!

Back then, Feng Xixing was only fourteen… just two years into his apprenticeship.

In the memory, Feng Xixing hadn’t recognized that his attacker was his own Shizun. He had gone, wounded, to find the Original Host for help. In the end, the Original Host hadn’t even opened the door for him and directly shooed the little Feng Xixing away.

Because Lin Chuyun could only see the Original Host’s memories, he couldn’t see what happened behind that door—how badly Feng Xixing was hurt, or how he returned to the Bamboo Hut alone, silently nursing his wounds without any medicine.

It seemed that from then on, Feng Xixing rarely sought out the Original Host. The two of them clearly both lived on Spirit Cloud Peak, yet they hadn’t seen each other for two years.

Lin Chuyun closed his eyes, feeling a dull ache in his heart.

His little disciple had been hurt and wanted a hug from the Shizun he trusted, not knowing that the one who had just struck him down was the very master he placed all his faith in.

“Does it hurt?” Lin Chuyun suddenly asked.

Feng Xixing was stunned for a moment. Only when he felt Lin Chuyun’s fingertips gently brush across his palm again did he realize what Lin Chuyun was asking about.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, feeling some hesitation in his heart. Back then, after being injured, he had specifically sought out Lin Chuyun. Given how guilty Lin Chuyun must have felt at the time, he should have been terrified of this matter being discovered by others.

So why was he suddenly bringing it up now? Could it be that Lin Chuyun had discovered something?

Feng Xixing paused, his thoughts racing.

Right now, he just needed to say nothing, letting Lin Chuyun guess on his own. That would be enough to make Lin Chuyun deeply uneasy. After leaving the Thunder Echo Grotto, he could use this as a pretext and definitely trick Lin Chuyun into leaving the Sect to kill him.

But… Feng Xixing glanced at Lin Chuyun, his expression faltering.

Lin Chuyun seemed to be grieving.

Like a little kitten that had accidentally scratched its master, drooping its ears in guilt, tail tucked, curled up in the palm of a hand. All that could be felt were the softest paw pads.

It was impossible to stay angry; one even wanted to pick it up, stroke its head, smooth its fur, and comfort it.

Feng Xixing pursed his lips, his hand subconsciously wanting to pull back, but it was held tightly by Lin Chuyun. In the end, he could only sigh, “It’s nothing. It stopped hurting long ago.”

Lin Chuyun also knew that no matter how much his heart ached now, he couldn’t turn back time three years. And now he occupied the Original Host’s body; the soul had likely long since dissipated completely. He couldn’t even beat him up. He could only say bitterly, “The person who hurt you was utterly malicious!”

“…” Feng Xixing glanced at Lin Chuyun with a strange expression and didn’t respond.

Lin Chuyun gritted his teeth. “It was simply despicable, venomous, utterly heartless, deserving of divine retribu—”

“Cough.” Seeing Lin Chuyun getting more and more animated with his cursing, Feng Xixing had to interrupt him. After all, if someday he “inadvertently” discovered the truth of that incident, Lin Chuyun would be mortified.

However, Lin Chuyun was cursing with such sincerity that Feng Xixing momentarily doubted whether what he’d seen back then had really been the Azure Wood Sword.

How could someone curse themselves with such genuine feeling…

Cut off by Feng Xixing, Lin Chuyun could only shut his mouth reluctantly.

But he still felt uncomfortable in his heart. After mulling it over, he decided to follow his heart’s desire. He reached out and tugged at Feng Xixing’s sleeve. “Little disc—cough cough, Little Senior Brother, come a bit closer.”

Feng Xixing eyed him suspiciously for a moment but still followed his pull and took a step closer.

They were already standing very close. With this step, Lin Chuyun was practically in Feng Xixing’s arms.

That faint scent of grass and trees appeared again. Feng Xixing found that he actually quite liked this fragrance, and his brow relaxed. He looked at Lin Chuyun, thinking he had something to say to him, and even deliberately lowered his head a bit.

Then…

Lin Chuyun reached out and hugged him, an embrace full of reassurance. One hand even gently patted his back, as if comforting a grieving youth.

Feng Xixing froze.

Lin Chuyun, acting on his feelings, properly hugged his little disciple, rubbed his head, patted his back, and then, fully satisfied, let go of Feng Xixing.

“Alright, it’s okay now.” His mood instantly improved, his tone carrying a smile.

Leaving Feng Xixing stiff as a statue, as if someone had cast a Body-Freezing Spell on him.

After a long while, Feng Xixing slowly came back to his senses. He looked at Lin Chuyun with a complex gaze, but Lin Chuyun’s attention was already on the demon beast over there.

Feng Xixing could only withdraw his gaze. Then, turning his head, he met Yan Sha’s eyes, which looked as if he’d seen a ghost.

Feng Xixing: “…”

He had completely forgotten there was another person here.

The moment Feng Xixing caught his gaze, Yan Sha shivered.

Looking again, Feng Xixing’s eyes were clearly full of ill intent. Yan Sha shrank his neck, desperately wanting to indicate that he hadn’t seen anything—

He absolutely didn’t see Junior Brother Feng being held by the hand by Junior Brother Lin, nor did he see Junior Brother Feng being hugged by Junior Brother Lin, and he definitely didn’t see Junior Brother Feng’s ears turn completely red.

He saw nothing!

However, Feng Xixing didn’t even ask him. He just gave him a casual glance and then looked away.

Yan Sha secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

So, it probably wouldn’t be like last time, when he accidentally stumbled upon the relationship between the Eldest Senior Brother and the Second Senior Sister and ended up being chased and beaten for a month.

Feng Xixing’s beatings hurt even more than the Eldest Senior Brother’s.

During the time they had been talking, the five disciples inside the sandfall had been rescued.

Feng Xixing glanced at the trace of blood at the corner of Bai Linghan’s lips and narrowed his eyes slightly. Just rescuing a few people in a sandpit shouldn’t have injured Bai Linghan at his cultivation level, unless…

Sure enough, not long after his gaze fell, Bai Linghan also seemed to coincidentally look up. Upon meeting Feng Xixing’s eyes, he trembled violently, as if terrified of him, and quickly lowered his head.

The surrounding disciples saw this and one by one cast angry looks over. However, Feng Xixing needed only one glance to make them all shrink back.

No longer interested in Bai Linghan, Feng Xixing turned his gaze to the demon beast in the distance.

It was a Gold-Devouring Rat.

Gold-Devouring Rats were demon beasts living deep within the desert, preferring to hide beneath the sand, waiting for prey to approach. This one had either gotten lost or, for some reason, inexplicably wandered to the edge of the desert.

Since those people were clamoring for a Core Formation Stage demon beast, Feng Xixing had used some tricks to lure the Gold-Devouring Rat, which had been circling nearby, over here.

Looking at the Gold-Devouring Rat, its eyes blood-red, swiping its hooked claws at Wang Jianbai from time to time, and then at Wang Jianbai, who was dodging awkwardly in the air, nearly swatted off his spirit sword several times, Feng Xixing tilted his head and looked at Lin Chuyun. “Satisfied?”

Lin Chuyun: “…”

Satisfied, satisfied. Five-star review.

Although Wang Jianbai was also at the Golden Core Stage, he was much weaker than Yan Sha, not even as strong as Bai Linghan. He had wanted to run, but the Gold-Devouring Rat was very fast and would chase the person with the strongest spiritual power within its perception, so he couldn’t escape.

Actually, the strongest spiritual power here originally wasn’t Wang Jianbai, but Yan Sha or Bai Linghan. But one of them had only recovered from poisoning a few hours ago, and the other habitually disguised his strength. In the end, the unlucky one was naturally Wang Jianbai.

Barely dodging the demon beast’s attack once more, Wang Jianbai’s breathing had become panicked. If not for his plentiful magic treasures, he wouldn’t have lasted this long. But now he had few treasures left, and the protective formation on his clothes was already broken. If he was caught by this demon beast one more time, he wouldn’t be able to withstand it!

Seeing that the people on the ground, after moving away from the sandpit, had no intention of coming to his rescue for a long while, Wang Jianbai roared furiously, “What are you all waiting for?! Come help me now!”

The disciples looked at each other. They were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage; they didn’t even have spirit swords. Getting close would just be offering themselves as food for the demon beast.

But they also didn’t dare offend Wang Jianbai. After all, Wang Jianbai’s pettiness was well-known. If they truly angered him, their days ahead would surely be unpleasant.

Seeing several people choose to go help Wang Jianbai, Lin Chuyun was speechless. “They’re afraid of offending Wang Jianbai, but not afraid of offending Yan Sha?”

Wasn’t Yan Sha more talented and more favored by Zhu Yan than Wang Jianbai?

“Naturally, they aren’t afraid.” Feng Xixing smiled. “Wang Jianbai is best at tattling and secretly tampering with things, withholding Spirit Stones behind people’s backs. As for Yan Sha…”

“At worst, he’ll just beat them up, or might even directly let them off. What’s there to be afraid of?”

Lin Chuyun’s mouth twitched. “Are they really that stupid?”

“Really that stupid,” Feng Xixing nodded.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Yan Sha interjected, displeased. “If you’re going to badmouth someone, can you at least not do it to their face!”

Lin Chuyun was just casually complaining about him. Seeing the subject object, he changed the topic. “Little Senior Brother is very familiar with Wang Jianbai?”

Even knowing clearly how he targeted people.

Feng Xixing gave Lin Chuyun a meaningful half-smile and didn’t speak.

Lin Chuyun felt his hair stand on end under that gaze and couldn’t help but step back twice.

It was Yan Sha behind him who heard the question and explained, “Junior Brother Lin, don’t misunderstand. Junior Brother Feng knows these things so well because he was also bullied like this by Wang Jianbai back then.”

Lin Chuyun was stunned. “Also?”

Wasn’t Feng Xixing a disciple of Spirit Cloud Peak?

Yan Sha curled his lip. “It’s all because of Junior Brother Feng’s bastard of a Shizun. He took a disciple but didn’t look after him. And since Spirit Cloud Peak only had Junior Brother Feng, the Steward ended up assigning him to be managed alongside Spirit Fire Peak.”

The bastard Shizun himself, Lin Chuyun: “…”

Yan Sha didn’t notice Lin Chuyun’s expression and continued, “Junior Brother Feng didn’t have any fellow senior brothers, so when Wang Jianbai bullied him, there was no one to protect him.”

Lin Chuyun was silent for a moment, then repeated, “Bullied?”

“Yes!” Yan Sha said indignantly. “Junior Brother Feng was originally able to beat Wang Jianbai, but every time Wang Jianbai got hit, he’d go tattle to the Steward, and Junior Brother Feng would get punished. He was just bullying Junior Brother Feng for having no one to back him up!”

“So that’s how it is…” Lin Chuyun blinked, then suddenly turned his head to look at Feng Xixing beside him. “Not satisfied.”

He was answering Feng Xixing’s earlier question.

Feng Xixing was taken aback, then smiled gently. “Then what would make Junior Brother Lin satisfied?”

Lin Chuyun casually summoned his Azure Wood Sword and handed it to Feng Xixing, instructing through gritted teeth, “Go, beat him up for your… for me! Beat him thoroughly until he never dares to bully you again!”

Feng Xixing stared at him for a long moment before responding, “Alright.”

And then, just like that, he took the sword and went to beat the man up.

Beside him, Yan Sha was stunned. He didn’t even have time to stop him. After regaining his senses, he was frantic. “Th-this, th-this—what if Wang Jianbai goes to tattle again when we get back?”

Lin Chuyun smiled. “If he dares to tattle, then that’s perfect. It’ll let him know… that Little Senior Brother already has someone protecting him now.”