Sect Master Wen's Junior Martial Brother Who Shared His Hardships Has Returned - Chapter 6

Fu Xuandao was stunned for a moment, scratching his head in confusion before leaving.

Around noon.

The sky was as clear as if washed clean, and Xu Chaoqi rode a yellow tiger folded from talisman paper, wandering about the immortal mountain. Pink petals fell onto his face, and he lifted a petal up to look at the patterns on it against the sunlight.

A few more petals fell onto his face and neck. This color, which would have made most people appear darker, only made his fair skin seem even more luminous. 

Xu Chaoqi had red lips and white teeth, and his eyes were bright with light.

He had simply been in high spirits on a whim, but his spiritual power was limited, so within half a shichen the tiger dissolved back into a bundle of talisman paper.

Xu Chaoqi sat among the flowers, looking at the scattered talisman papers with a pained expression. He pinched the talisman paper, then looked up toward the immortal palace above, and could only take out a spiritual artifact from his storage pouch to call for his senior brother to come fetch him.

By evening, after finishing his meal, Xu Chaoqi lay down across his senior brother’s lap.

His ink-black hair fell along his frost-white robes; he looked slightly drowsy, an expression of complete satisfaction.

Although he had already eaten his fill, his phoenix eyes still kept glancing at the unfinished soup broth on the table from time to time.

He pressed his lips together, and just as he raised his head, he heard his Senior Brother say, “No more eating today.”

Someone deflated.

He thought about it, then raised his head again with bright eyes. “Then will there be fish again tomorrow?”

A large hand stroked over his head, pressing it back down.

“You’ve eaten fish for ten days straight now, you can’t have any more.”

Someone: …

He lowered his head, dispirited.

After a while, a pill was brought to his lips. Xu Chaoqi looked at the pill, his eyelashes fluttering.

Over this period he had been fed no small number of medicines by his Senior Brother, yet none of them had worked.

He leaned in close to this pill, and saw that its color was darker than any pill before it. The moment he got close, the intense bitterness made bitter saliva flow at the sides of his cheeks.

Just from the smell alone Xu Chaoqi no longer wanted to eat it, resistance showing in his eyes as he tilted his head slightly away. But after thinking it over carefully, he still lowered his head and swallowed the pill in one gulp.

Perhaps out of some small revenge for his Senior Brother not letting him eat fish and constantly making him choke down pills, as he swallowed the pill he lightly bit down on his Senior Brother’s fingertip.

The fingertip curled slightly, and Xu Chaoqi felt in his mouth the calluses his Senior Brother had built up over years of holding a sword. Sensing that something was amiss, he hastily jerked his head back after biting the medicine, but his forehead still got a light flick.

Xu Chaoqi: QAQ

The moment the medicine entered his mouth, he felt a long-lost sensation of spiritual energy, immediately followed by a rich bitterness exploding in his mouth; the bitterness seemed to flow down his throat into his very organs, and Xu Chaoqi was choked into tears on the spot.

And in Wen Chaoxi’s eyes, that mortal body which had shown no change no matter how many spiritual pills and materials had been fed to it now had a faint layer of light covering its surface. Although it was still a mortal body, there was finally a slight difference from a body utterly devoid of spiritual energy.

As Xu Chaoqi coughed, his eyelashes trembling slightly, his eyes glanced downward, and naturally he too noticed the subtle change in himself.

This should have been a good thing, yet a strong sense of unease welled up inside him.

He raised his head shakily, only to see an entire bottle full of pills come into view.

Xu Chaoqi: …

His scalp went numb, and he hastily lowered his head, choosing to play dead.

At this moment, his Senior Brother’s deep, resonant voice sounded by his ear. “Eat one pill, and there’ll be one more fish on the table tomorrow.”

Xu Chaoqi’s ears twitched, but he still kept his head down as if he hadn’t heard.

His Senior Brother sighed helplessly. “Eat one pill, and there’ll be two more fish tomorrow.”

Xu Chaoqi raised his head and carefully took the medicine bottle from his Senior Brother’s hand.

Even though he tried his best to swallow the pills, by nighttime he had only managed to choke down three.

Before going to sleep, he tugged at his Senior Brother’s sleeve and instructed him. “I eat two fish a day, so split the six fish over three days for me.”

Wen Chaoxi: …

Before leaving, he closed the door behind Xu Chaoqi for him.

Along the moonlit corridor, the cultivator in white robes gradually receded into the distance, heading toward the bright moon.

The day to descend the mountain drew ever closer, and Xu Chaoqi rose ever earlier as well.

On this day, right after he got up, he ran into his Senior Brother, who had also just come out of his sleeping chamber not long before.

Xu Chaoqi was full of high spirits, because he had to pack his luggage in advance for descending the mountain.

He didn’t know what position his Senior Brother now held, but no matter how thoroughly those below prepared things, there would always be some aspects overlooked.

He took out a brand new chest and began rummaging through the room for clothes to pack into it.

Fu Xuandao had said that the sect’s people mainly wore black, so most of the clothing he picked out was also black.

First three or four outer robes, then two sets of everyday clothes, seven sets of inner garments, and then…

Xu Chaoqi pinched the clothing in his hands, which was not made of much fabric, and his face turned slightly red.

He solemnly picked out seven or eight pieces and tossed them in, but partway through tossing them in, he couldn’t help but think that all the clothes he had worn from childhood to now had been sewn by his Senior Brother.

Even during the years he had been away, the clothes added to his wardrobe had all been made by his Senior Brother.

He quietly unfolded the fabric in his hands, looking at the familiar stitching on it, then abruptly balled the fabric back up in his fist.

His eyes darted away evasively, and he tossed two more similar pieces of clothing into the chest, then hurriedly shut the chest closed.

Xu Chaoqi’s heart beat slightly faster, and he couldn’t help but reflect that from now on, he should sew this kind of clothing himself. He didn’t know needlework, but he could learn.

On the eve of his departure, the sunset dyed most of the sky red, the red clouds gathering together as if a phoenix were taking flight.

Xu Chaoqi passed through the corridors and palace halls; the palace before his eyes appeared pitch-black, and yet somehow gave the feeling that it was bright.

The closer Xu Chaoqi walked, the more the oncoming heat wrapped around him, as if it meant to roast his very soul out of him.

He stepped into the palace hall, and faintly, he seemed to see lights of various colors interweaving up ahead.

Footsteps echoed in the empty, silent hall, and as he went deeper, an alchemy furnace three or four zhang tall loomed like some enormous creature.

Deepening blue flames roared within the furnace; the furnace itself was mostly a black-gold color, engraved on the outside with ancient runes.

At the very bottom of the furnace stood a figure; the figure gave a wave of its sleeve, and a great gust of wind blew so hard that Xu Chaoqi couldn’t keep his eyes open.

The deep blue flame extinguished at once, and the furnace let out a humming sound.

Before he knew it, a rich fragrance of fruit came wafting over. Xu Chaoqi sniffed at it — it was the scent of green tangerines.

Dozens of pills were taken out and packed into a medicine bottle, which was finally placed on the stone table off to the side.

Xu Chaoqi looked toward the stone table, on which dozens of bottles had already been placed before.

Curious, he walked over and picked up a bottle, then tilted his head back to look up at his Senior Brother beside him.

His Senior Brother lowered his eyes and gave a small laugh, stroking Xu Chaoqi’s head.

Reassured, Xu Chaoqi opened the bottle, and a rich fishy fragrance hit him in the face; he was instantly hungry and craving it.

He poured out a pill, dark-colored like the one before; the moment it entered his mouth, the pill dissolved, as if he had taken a big bite of fish meat.

Xu Chaoqi’s eyes narrowed in satisfaction, and he opened another bottle, from which wafted the scent of spicy numbing fresh shrimp.

The moment the pill entered his mouth, that tiny little pill seemed to transform into springy shrimp meat, shrimp juice filling his mouth and flowing down his throat, and Xu Chaoqi’s eyes curved even more with delight.

He ate one pill after another in succession, and his body also grew somewhat sturdier than before.

The more Xu Chaoqi ate, the more satisfied he became, and by the end he was beaming with joy as he threw his arms around his Senior Brother.

He pressed his head against his Senior Brother’s chin. “Senior Brother…”