Chapter 041 Senior Brother – “What a spendthrift!” (06/19)
Shi Jingge had finished stowing everything away in his storage space. He’d been staying near the Spirit Vein for seven or eight days now, and it was time to head back.
Before leaving, however, he pulled three bottles of Pei Yuan Pills from his storage space. He placed them in a hidden corner outside his cave dwelling, casting a layer of concealment magic over them. The three-tailed cat should be able to find them.
Only after completing these tasks did Shi Jingge finally depart.
System 111 knew perfectly well who the Pei Yuan Pills were intended for and immediately blew up like a pufferfish.
Unfortunately, being a system without a physical form, Shi Jingge couldn’t see its reaction.
By the time Shi Jingge departed, dusk had fallen. Taking his time, he strolled leisurely, even finding the opportunity to admire the nearby night scenery. A gentle breeze ruffled his hair, and a faint smile graced his face, radiating an exceptionally good mood.
System 111 was curious, but nursing a grudge against Shi Jingge, it stubbornly refused to ask.
By the time Shi Jingge reached the vicinity of the Shuixing Peak disciples’ quarters, it was already midnight.
The disciples’ residences were segregated by gender, though the distances between them were not great.
Shi Jingge stood there, glancing left and right, his eyes betraying endless conflict.
This scene happened to be witnessed by Du Yihan, a disciple of Shuixing Peak. He was one of those disciples who firmly believed Shi Jingge was no good.
Tonight, he couldn’t sleep. Trying to find a senior or junior brother to chat with, he found everyone fast asleep. With no other option, Du Yihan ventured out for a stroll.
Little did he know, this stroll would lead to such a discovery!
What was Shi Jingge up to? What was he doing lurking around here? Was he planning revenge against us?
How could he be so utterly venomous!
Du Yihan gritted his teeth, cursing silently several times. His eyes fixed intently on Shi Jingge’s movements, not daring to breathe loudly.
He was actually quite afraid Shi Jingge would spot him, especially since Shi Jingge’s cultivation far surpassed his own.
Fortunately, Shi Jingge seemed oblivious to his presence. Though this added a layer of confusion to Du Yihan’s thoughts, it was still a relief, so he chose not to dwell on it.
Soon, Shi Jingge finally made up his mind and headed toward the female disciples’ quarters.
Shuixing Peak had admitted only a few female disciples. After the disappearance of Master Gu Yun, most left, leaving even fewer behind. Consequently, the number of remaining female disciples was scant. So, each female disciple of Shuixing Peak now occupied their own private quarters.
Shi Jingge located the room of his junior sister, Ji Qiulan. Even before approaching, merely eyeing it from afar, his ears burned crimson. Standing outside a female disciple’s door in the dead of night filled him with profound shame.
Du Yihan, meanwhile, was seething.
In the dead of night, Shi Jingge was heading toward his junior sister’s quarters. What was he up to? Was he seeking revenge? What on earth did he intend to do to her?!
Du Yihan gritted his teeth, his eyes bulging with fury. The glare he fixed on Shi Jingge was thick with hatred.
If Shi Jingge dared lay a finger on his junior sister, he would risk his own life to stop him! He would scream and shout, he would make Shi Jingge lose all face—absolutely!
Du Yihan’s hands clenched into fists. His eyes followed Shi Jingge’s every movement, his nerves stretched taut like a string ready to snap at any moment.
Suddenly, Shi Jingge halted.
Far from easing Du Yihan’s tension, this only heightened his anxiety.
Shi Jingge stood rooted to the spot, glancing up, down, left, and right. That furtive, suspicious manner made Du Yihan’s fists clench even tighter.
Shi Jingge definitely had no good intentions!
Finally, as if firming his resolve, Shi Jingge began to walk forward step by step. Each step felt like it was stomping on Du Yihan’s heart.
Du Yihan noticed Shi Jingge’s hands had clenched into fists at some point, and his heart instantly skipped a beat.
Was Shi Jingge about to attack?
But just then, Shi Jingge stopped again.
Du Yihan held his breath, his heart pounding so violently it made his ears ache. That was when Shi Jingge took out a small bottle and manipulated it to fly toward Ji Qiulan’s door.
Immediately, Shi Jingge turned and walked away. After about ten meters, he stopped again. Struggling for a few seconds, Shi Jingge took a deep breath and turned back.
He then cast an obscuring spell on the bottle.
Though invisible now, Ji Qiulan would inevitably bump into it when opening the door. The bottle’s clatter would lead her straight to it.
With that, Shi Jingge exhaled a long sigh of relief and fled. He ran swiftly, a stark contrast to his hesitant, dilly-dallying pace on the way over. In the vast darkness, he even exuded a hint of awkwardness.
He seemed completely oblivious to Du Yihan.
Du Yihan stayed carefully hidden. Only after Shi Jingge’s footsteps faded and his figure disappeared from sight did he emerge from his hiding spot. He moved cautiously toward Ji Qiulan’s door.
Though unable to see anything, he knew Shi Jingge had placed something here and reached out to feel for it.
But doing this in the dead of night outside his junior sister’s door felt too shameful. The moment his fingers touched the bottle, he shoved it into his pocket and sprinted back to his own room.
Returning to his own quarters, Du Yihan flung open the door, slammed it shut behind him, and leaned his back against it, gasping for breath.
Only then did he notice his palms were covered in sweat. Touching his forehead, he found it drenched as well.
It was clear just how tense he had been.
His commotion woke the other two occupants of the room. They sat up in bed one after another and asked, “What are you doing? Staying up this late—will you even have the energy to practice tomorrow?”
Du Yihan waved them over, placed the small bottle he’d taken on the table, and examined it closely for a while. It seemed to be a pill bottle.
Just then, one disciple had already climbed out of bed. He snatched the small bottle from Du Yihan’s hand and popped the cap open.
“Wait—”
Before Du Yihan could finish his protest, a faint, sweet fragrance filled the room. The other disciple’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed, “This is a high-grade Xueling Pill! Where did you get this? For our junior sister?”
But at that moment, Du Yihan felt rooted to the spot, staring blankly at the bottle of Xueling pills, his eyes filled with disbelief.
So… So that was why Senior Brother was sneaking around at night, to deliver Xueling pills to Junior Sister?
Every movement Shi Jingge had made earlier replayed in Du Yihan’s mind. Suddenly, he understood why Shi Jingge hadn’t noticed him.
Because Shi Jingge was even more nervous than he was!
The voices of the other two disciples couldn’t penetrate Du Yihan’s ears. His mind was completely occupied by Shi Jingge’s actions just now.
What if Junior Sister hadn’t found it? What if someone like him came along and secretly took it?
Senior Brother’s trick seemed so practiced—he must have used it often. So had he done this before?
Had he taken their spirit stones and herbs before? Did he secretly slip things back in the dead of night, just like tonight? No one would suspect him—they’d just consider themselves lucky and hide the items away, afraid to tell anyone.
If he hadn’t witnessed it all tonight, would the truth have been buried forever?
A disciple tugged at Du Yihan. “Hey, what’s up? Where’d you get this?”
“I found it,” Du Yihan muttered, wiping his face. His voice was muffled. “Do you think Senior Brother secretly sent it?”
“Impossible!”
“How could that be?”
The other two shouted in unison. Du Yihan’s fingertips trembled slightly.
“If Senior Brother wanted to give Junior Sister Xueling Pills, he’d do it openly. Why would he try to plant them for anyone to find?”
“Exactly! Senior Brother isn’t stupid. Why would he sneak around giving gifts? That’d be a total waste of his good intentions!”
“Right! I even suspect he never had any intention of giving anything to Junior Sister.”
“Jiang Lingqing’s words were just to fool Junior Sister. I don’t buy that Senior Brother would do something like this.”
“Senior Brother would never take a loss like that!”
“Exactly. Yihan, how could you start believing Senior Brother would do such a noble thing?”
The two disciples traded barbs, each remark stabbing like a knife into Du Yihan’s heart.
Du Yihan covered his face, his voice strained. “Because I witnessed it with my own eyes.”
The two disciples: ???
“I actually saw him do it.” Du Yihan repeated, his voice oddly hoarse.“I saw Senior Brother sneak toward Junior Sister’s quarters. I saw him place this bottle outside her door and use some method to make it vanish. I went over there, felt around, and brought it back. I didn’t know what was inside… I thought he was trying to harm Junior Sister… But you’re telling me, this is a high-grade Xueling Pill?”
The room fell silent. The other two seemed unable to process this bombshell.
Then they heard Du Yihan lift his head and murmur, “How many times do you think this has happened?”
“When dawn breaks, we’ll deliver this back to Junior Sister and explain everything.”
“And then…” Du Yihan paused, his eyes reddening. “…we’ll go apologize to the Senior Brother.”
——— ——- ——–
As dawn broke, the man finally cobbled together a few gifts. They weren’t quite what he’d envisioned, but time was too short.
Seeing his darling was far more important.
So he shook the sleepy three-tailed cat awake and took it along to find his beloved. The creature wanted nothing more than to thrash the man to death with its tails.
But the moment they stood outside the cave dwelling, the man’s expression changed.
The cave was completely deserted. Meaning, his beloved had already left it!!
Refusing to believe it, he hurried inside, only to painfully acknowledge the truth: his beloved truly wasn’t here anymore.
He’d been here just last night.
He was just a step too late. For the first time, the man learned what the pain of heartbreak felt like.
A hair’s breadth difference, a thousand miles apart.
It hurt too much.
The three-tailed cat consoled its master, then sniffed around nearby. Spotting the three bottles of Pei Yuan pills, its eyes lit up instantly.
Before the three-tailed cat could even grab them, its master’s voice rang out, “Ten high-grade spirit stones. Trade me the Pei Yuan pills.”
Three-tailed cat: !!!
You spendthrift!!!
——— ————— ——–
Author’s Note: Why doesn’t the male lead have a name yet? Don’t you guys know?
Aren’t we waiting for Xiao Ge to name him?!
Three-tailed cat: I don’t have a name either, but nobody cares about me. You only care about that damn man [tearful complaint.jpg]
Thank you all so much for your support! I’ll keep working hard!
Edit: Krone
Proofread: Choux_choux
