Junior Brother Has No Idea - Chapter 7

Xie Jiusi favorability +5.

In the middle of the night, while the light sphere was fast asleep snuggled in Xie Yong’s handkerchief, the Task Book suddenly flashed a notification. And it didn’t stop there; it refreshed several times in a row.

Xie Jiusi favorability +3. Xie Jiusi favorability +8. Xie Jiusi favorability -2. Xie Jiusi favorability +4.

The back-and-forth, plus-and-minus notifications jolted the sphere awake. It sat up with a start, seeing Xie Yong’s sleeping profile beside it. Xie Yong was a very still sleeper; whatever position he started in was usually how he woke up. The sphere stared at him for a moment, adjusted its little handkerchief, and was about to lie back down when the Task Book chimed again.

Xie Jiusi favorability +2. Xie Jiusi favorability +10. Xie Jiusi favorability -2.

Little brother! Xie Jiusi, you’re just a little brother! Will you ever give it a rest?! The sphere flared with tiny rage and kicked its handkerchief.

The next morning, as soon as Xie Yong opened his eyes, the sphere leaned into his ear to complain. “Yong-yong, that third brother of yours, I don’t even want to talk about him.”

The constant fluctuations in favorability had kept the Task Book chiming all through the night, only ceasing as dawn broke. It seemed Jiusi had been unable to sleep after yesterday’s conversation, tossing and turning while thinking of Xie Yong.

Xie Yong rose and took his outer robe from the rack. As he dressed, a faint smile played on his lips the sphere couldn’t tell if it was satisfied or mocking. Regardless, he asked, “What is his favorability now?”

The sphere checked the Task Book. After all the adding and subtracting throughout the night, it had landed exactly on 49.

“49?” The sphere did a “carp skip” jump from the pillow. “Hubby, we’re about to finish the newbie task! We’re only one point away! If all else fails, just give him a slightly nice look for once, okay?”

After all, Jiusi was clearly a “cheap” date. The sphere chirped happily, “It started at -99, and I thought he’d be so hard to deal with, but my Hubby solved him with just a tiny bit of effort.”

Xie Yong was preparing to toss the overnight tea out the window. “You said yourself it’s a newbie task; it shouldn’t be that hard.”

He opened the window and poured the tea. With his dark hair over his shoulders and his robes fluttering in the morning light, every movement looked like a living painting.

Beautiful. Too beautiful. Hubby, you’re practically a succubus! The sphere praised him from the bottom of its heart. “It’s mostly because your personal charm is too powerful.”

“Not necessarily,” Xie Yong said modestly. “It’s mostly because Xie Jiusi is an idiot.”

Utterly unreasonable, yet duplicitous. He’d been tricked by Xie Yong countless times, yet he still insisted on believing him.

After closing the window, Xie Yong rang the golden bell on the daybed to summon a servant for his morning wash. Once finished, he casually asked, “Has there been any word on when Mother is returning?”

The servant hesitated before replying, “I’m not sure, but I suspect it will be within the next two days.”

Xie Yong dismissed him. As the servant gathered the basins, he added, “Second Master, the weather is fine today. You should go out for a stroll. If your leg is too painful, you can call me to support you.”

Xie Yong declined and saw him out.

Once the door was closed, Xie Yong picked up the “dead-playing” sphere and began cleaning it thoroughly with a damp cloth. Yesterday afternoon, the sphere had handled a brush and gotten ink on itself; even after a wash, there were spots left that looked like mold. To get it clean, Xie Yong used a bit of force.

“Ouch, ouch!” the sphere cried.

“Don’t be noisy,” Xie Yong said.

“I feel like you’re going to snap my legs off!”

“I won’t,” Xie Yong said, lightly pulling its limbs. “Meat Lingzhi is very resilient; it won’t break that easily.”

The sphere grumbled that it was uncomfortable, but Xie Yong countered that seeing it so dirty made him uncomfortable.

They were bickering softly when another knock came. The voice outside sounded hesitant: “Yong-er, Mother is back. Come to the front hall with me.” After a pause, the person pushed the door open and asked, “Who… were you just talking to?”

The sphere was a master of playing dead; the moment the knock sounded, it went stiff. When Xie Wuyin entered, he only saw Xie Yong wiping a lump of what looked like yellow ginger with a cloth.

Xie Yong set the “ginger” on the bed and rose. “I was talking to myself.”

Wuyin glanced at the bed. Xie Yong walked over and reached out a hand, signaling for his brother to support him. “Eldest Brother, take me to see Mother quickly.”

Wuyin instinctively took his hand. He was still suspicious, but he helped Xie Yong out of the room. Before closing the door, he stole one last look at the bed. The object under the handkerchief didn’t move an inch.

His suspicion faded. He looked down at Xie Yong leaning obediently against him and lectured, “If you have nothing to do, you should come out more and talk to your siblings. Don’t spend all day brooding in your room.” He added with a hint of a smile, “Talking to yourself… what is that about?”

Xie Yong snorted. “Among the siblings my age, who actually wants to talk to me? They all avoid me like the plague.”

Wuyin frowned. “Is that true?”

Seeing his brother’s ignorance, Xie Yong mocked, “Do you really not know?”

The Xie Family Context

The Eastern State Xie Clan was a great immortal family, famous for producing geniuses. The current Clan Head, Xie Yi, was a peerless talent, those more senior were older than him, and those his age were beneath him in rank. He was the foremost man of the Eastern State. Yet, this heaven-blessed genius had fathered a “waste” like Xie Yong.

Usually, even with zero talent, a great family could shove enough treasures down a child’s throat to make them a decent cultivator. But Xie Yong was born with a deficient constitution; if he over-supplemented, he would suffer nosebleeds that drained his already meager life force.

If he weren’t the Clan Head’s son, he would have been abandoned long ago. Naturally, his talented cousins looked down on him. There were always a few “rotten apples” who enjoyed insulting him. Furthermore, since the Clan Head himself disliked his second son, the subordinates followed suit.

Xie Yong, however, wasn’t one to take insults lying down. He couldn’t win a fight, but he was an expert at tattling and playing the victim until the elders had to intervene. Consequently, aside from Xie Jiusi, everyone in the family avoided him like a “Plague God” to stay out of trouble.

Xie Wuyin had known none of this. He had been sent to train with the elders before Xie Yong was born, and as he grew, he took over clan affairs. He truly hadn’t noticed his brother’s domestic situation.

Hearing Xie Yong’s summary, Wuyin’s first thought was: My second brother is indeed very good at tattling. His second thought was one of heartache.

“If they bully you, why don’t you come to me?”

Xie Yong looked at him once, then again. After a while, he said, “We aren’t close. What if you took their side?”

Wuyin let out a helpless laugh. “I am your Eldest Brother. No matter what, I will always be on your side.”

Xie Yong remained noncommittal.

The Front Hall

As they reached the front hall, Xie Yong felt a twinge of suspicion. Why meet Mother in the front hall? There must be a guest.

Indeed, he found another person there.

Xie Yong inherited his looks from his mother, but her face lacked his “aggressive” beauty. Han Wenzi was known as the “Number One Beauty of the Eastern State.” Her face was gentle and compassionate, with a cinnabar mark on her forehead that gave her a Guan Yin-like aura.

When Xie Yong entered, she was sitting gracefully below the guest of honor, smiling as she looked over. “Yong-er, how have you been lately?”

“Mother!” A genuine smile broke across Xie Yong’s face. He bypassed his father, Xie Yi, who sat in the high seat, and greeted Han Wenzi first. Only then did he bow to his father.

Between the parents sat a woman with porcelain skin and silver hair tied in a jade crown. Her eyes were narrow and cold. Xie Yong tried his best to control his limp to avoid looking ungraceful as he approached her and performed a deep bow.

“Xie Yong greets the Immortal Master.”

This was Daoist Master Fuying of the Qingyun Sect.

Fuying looked up, and an invisible force lifted Xie Yong. She gave a slight nod. “Since you are injured, there is no need for such ceremony.” Her voice was as crisp as frost on the ground.

Han Wenzi watched him with worry. Xie Yong quickly assured her, “It’s just a minor flesh wound; it’s no longer an issue.”

Xie Yi cleared his throat from above, gesturing for Xie Yong to sit. Only then did Xie Yong notice Xie Jiusi sitting opposite him, watching him with an incredibly complex expression. There was an empty seat next to Jiusi likely meant for Xie Yong but Xie Yong unhesitatingly sat down beside his mother instead.

Once he was seated, the group resumed their discussion.

Fuying had come to take Xie Yong as a disciple. Xie Yi, however, was still trying to push his younger son, Xie Jiusi. Jiusi was a sword-cultivation genius, rivaling his father’s youthful talent. Since the Qingyun Sect (also known as the Qingyun Sword Sect) was the best in the land, Xie Yi wanted his favorite son to have the best master.

Fuying, however, was blunt. She interrupted Xie Yi: “Clan Head Xie, you speak of ‘genius’? My sect is full of them. Every disciple in the inner sect is a genius. If being a ‘genius’ was rare, they wouldn’t be in my sect to begin with.”

She raised her teacup. “If it’s geniuses you’re looking for, the Qingyun Sect is the last place that lacks them.”

Xie Yi wanted to argue, but a sharp look from Han Wenzi stopped him.

The question on everyone’s mind aside from the parents was: Why Xie Yong?

If the sect was full of geniuses, why pick the one “useless straw-bag” who was physically weak, petty, and could only be praised for his face? No one had an answer.

Fuying, clearly not one for social pleasantries, soon excused herself to rest. Xie Yi, his plans foiled, sent a servant to lead her to the guest rooms.

A Mother’s Heart

Once Fuying was gone, Xie Yi tried to assume his role as the strict patriarch to lecture his children. But before he could speak, Xie Yong was already leaning into Han Wenzi with a face full of grievance.

“My child, why do you look so gaunt?” Han Wenzi stroked his face with motherly love. “And you’re walking strangely. Where are you hurt?”

She had been away for a month, and since Xie Yi had forbidden any “bad news” from being sent, she knew nothing. Xie Yong was overwhelmed with emotion, though he knew he couldn’t mention the “otherworldly visitors.” He simply picked out the most “unlucky” events falling down stairs and the beam crushing his leg.

“How could a beam just fall?” Han Wenzi’s eyes narrowed. Just as she was about to call her subordinates to investigate, Xie Wuyin stepped forward.

“Mother, I have already inspected it.” He explained the sabotage again, noting that while it was intentional, there were no traces of spiritual energy, making the culprit impossible to track.

Han Wenzi hugged Xie Yong tightly, stroking his back. “My poor child has suffered.”

“Mother…” Xie Yong buried his face in her chest. He didn’t tell her that everyone thought he had done it to himself even Wuyin.

Xie Yi cleared his throat from the high seat. “Have some decorum!”

Han Wenzi ignored him, wanting to take Xie Yong to her courtyard to talk. Seeing his leg, she moved to call a servant to carry him. “You shouldn’t be walking on that leg.”

Wuyin stepped forward and bent his knees. “Mother, let me carry him. It was my lack of consideration as a brother.” As a hardy cultivator, he had forgotten that Xie Yong wasn’t “thick-skinned” like him and Jiusi.

Xie Yong looked at him and refused, thinking his brother’s back was too “hard and uncomfortable.”

“Mother,” he took her arm. “I’ll walk slowly with you, alright?”

Han Wenzi smoothed his hair. “As you wish.”

Usually, Xie Jiusi would have jumped up to call Xie Yong a nuisance or complain about favoritism. But today, he had been strangely quiet. As they left, Han Wenzi smiled at him. “Jiusi, why so quiet? Didn’t you miss your mother? Won’t you come sit with us?”

Jiusi’s eyes lit up, and he immediately followed. “Mother!”

Once they were clear of the hall, he whispered to Xie Yong, “I didn’t know Father was going to suggest that.” He was referring to Xie Yi trying to steal Xie Yong’s chance at the sect.

Jiusi always complained about their mother’s favoritism, but Xie Yi’s favoritism toward him was even more blatant. Their mother might supplement Xie Yong from her private funds, but their father had tried to steal Xie Yong’s “Immortal Fate.”

Ashamed, Jiusi walked closer to Xie Yong and muttered, “My back isn’t hard. Let me carry you.”

Xie Yong, who wouldn’t even let the Eldest Brother carry him, naturally refused. “I’m afraid you’ll flip out over some minor disagreement and drop me on the floor.”

“You!” Jiusi’s eyebrows shot up as he pointed at him immediately proving the point about flipping out.

Behind them, Xie Wuyin watched the bickering brothers and hid a smile behind his hand.