Baichuan narrowed his eyes.
"Who is this kid?" It was truly strange.
From the moment he entered this inn, he felt a subtle sense of unease, and now that he looked closely, he understood why.
A child who seemed barely fifteen was ordering expensive dishes and drinking wine? Of course, it was possible.
The children of high officials or the descendants of wealthy families often enjoyed such luxuries from a young age.
The problem was that this place was Huayin.
As far as he knew, there were no high officials, no descendants of noble families, and no children of wealthy merchants here.
Even if there were, they wouldn’t be of such a young age.
So who was this child who seemed so naturally at ease drinking alone in Huayin?
"Cough."
The child coughed lightly and waved his hand.
"I’m just a passerby. Don’t mind me and continue with your meal."
"A passerby, huh?" Baichuan's eyes softened.
"Well, that could be true. Little brother, since we’ve met like this, how about we introduce ourselves? I am Baichuan, the second disciple of Huashan."
Qingming gritted his teeth behind his hand that covered his face. 'No way, this guy? Why is he so persistent?' He couldn’t just hit him.
If he were to slap Baichuan like he would a common child, it wouldn’t matter, but Baichuan was not just any child.
If word got out that Qingming had struck Baichuan, the sect leader would surely be furious, and the usually nagging Yungun would undoubtedly go wild, threatening to cut Qingming down.
In that case, everything Qingming had built up until now would come crashing down. 'That can’t happen.' He couldn’t afford to get entangled with this kid and suffer losses.
Qingming cleared his throat a couple of times.
"I don’t really have a name worth mentioning..."
"In conversation, covering one’s face doesn’t seem like the way of a gentleman, does it?" What kind of gentleman talk was this? If he were a gentleman, he would be in an official position! Qingming felt a surge of irritation, but for now, avoiding trouble was the priority.
He quietly stood up from his seat.
"Then I’ll take my leave."
"Stay right there."
"Let’s talk next time we meet."
As Qingming tried to turn away, he suddenly grabbed the wine bottle on the table and bowed his head, covering his mouth.
"Goodbye."
"Little brother, I would like to talk a bit more with you."
"I’m not interested in chatting with men. Goodbye."
As Qingming dashed towards the entrance, Baichuan's expression hardened, and he quickly reached out his hand. 'Where do you think you’re going!' Just as his hand was about to grab Qingming's clothing, Qingming naturally stepped aside, and Baichuan's hand sliced through the air.
"Huh?"
"Take care!" Qingming hurriedly ran out of the inn.
Baichuan stared blankly at the spot where Qingming had just been. 'He got away?' He had clearly used Jin Nasu at the last moment.
Although it wasn’t peak skill, it was excessive for catching a mere child.
Yet, he escaped?
"Senior brother, why didn’t you catch him?"
"... Huh?"
"Didn’t you let him go at the end?" Baichuan's face showed confusion.
What should he say in response? "... I thought it wouldn’t be right to bully a child."
"Very senior brother-like of you. Haha."
Baichuan forced a smile. 'It must have been a mistake.' He was either tired from the long journey or had relaxed because he had finally arrived at Huashan.
If he had truly unleashed Jin Nasu properly, he wouldn’t have failed to catch that small child.
"It seems more people have come to Huayin, and there are unfamiliar faces as well."
"Huayin is not a small place, so we can’t know everyone. If fate allows, we will meet again."
"Yes, senior brother."
Baichuan smiled and returned to his seat.
However, his smile was not as bright as before.
"Damn it! What the hell!" Qingming kicked a stone.
"Why did I have to crawl in there of all places! There are plenty of other inns and taverns. Anyway, they say if you’re unlucky, you’ll break your nose even if you fall backward!"
Ah, what a waste.
Thinking about the snacks he couldn’t finish made his stomach churn.
How much money did that cost? "At least I managed to bring some wine."
As he climbed the mountain, Qingming kept drinking from the bottle.
"Ah, it sticks to the mouth."
It would have been better if he had some snacks.
Qingming smacked his lips and threw the empty wine bottle into a corner.
"Ugh. Climbing this mountain is so exhausting."
This mountain never seemed to get any easier.
'By the way, Baizha.' Unexpectedly, people he hadn’t planned for suddenly appeared.
Of course, their presence didn’t particularly hinder him, but... 'It could get a bit annoying.' The reason Qingming had been comfortable living in Huashan was that he had achieved remarkable feats and was treated with unspoken favor.
But that wasn’t all.
The biggest reason was the vast age difference between the Yungzi disciples and the Qingzi disciples.
Compared to the Yungzi disciples, who were all over fifty, the Qingzi disciples were merely youngsters barely in their twenties.
It would be beneath the Yungzi disciples to chase after and scold them.
This was something that should be handled by the higher-ranking disciples.
The scariest person for a new recruit entering the army is not the general or the emperor, but the senior disciple.
Isn’t it human nature to fear the irritable senior in front of you more than a distant legendary hero?
But now, a senior he thought didn’t exist had appeared.
"Ugh. Baizha."
The first encounter had been a bit strange.
"Ah, I shouldn’t be laughing there."
But he couldn’t help it; Baichuan’s words were too absurd.
"To catch a junior brother?" On that topic? Qingming clicked his tongue repeatedly.
Those who didn’t even seem to measure up to the three great disciples of the past were now acting like they were something special.
"Oh dear, senior brother. Now even those kinds of people are claiming to be disciples of Huashan. Huh? These days!" When he saw the three great disciples, he was less shocked.
How much could those kids have learned from their martial arts training? Even if they had learned proper martial arts, they wouldn’t have been much different at that level.
But the second disciple was a different story.
The three great disciples lay the foundation, the second disciple grows through training, and the first disciple reaches mastery.
And once you become an elder, you should be completing your own path in martial arts.
Yeah... that’s the way it should be.
"Oh dear."
Qingming let out a deep sigh.
Watching the second disciples made his stomach turn.
They were part of Huashan, so Qingming had to embrace them, but...
"I don’t have time to waste like this."
Watching the second disciples only made his urgency grow stronger.
"Ugh. How long will it take to make them act like proper people?" It was still a long, long way to go.
"Zhou Ge, all the third great disciples are gathering in the training hall."
"Why?"
"The masters have returned."
"Okay, got it. Did you inform the senior brother?"
"Yes! He’ll be out soon."
"Understood."
Zhou Ge hurriedly put on his clothes.
Now that he thought about it, the sun was about to set. 'I wonder if he has returned?' Zhou Ge opened the door and went to Qingming’s room.
"Ugh... snore, ugh!"
"..."
Zhou Ge was speechless when he saw Qingming sprawled out on the bed.
His position made it look like he had just had a big drink...
"No way, did he really drink?" It smelled like alcohol.
Flustered, Zhou Ge rushed to Qingming, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him.
"Qingming! Senior brother! Qingming! You crazy fool..."
"Huh?"
"... Ah, never mind. Forget the last part."
It was quite timely that Qingming woke up.
"The masters have returned, and they want everyone to gather. You need to wash up quickly. You look a mess."
"Yawn."
Qingming stretched lazily.
"I guess I dozed off while taking a short break."
That wasn’t just dozing off.
"Qingming, there’s no creature in this world that sleeps like that. You should say you were sprawled out."
"You need to wash up first..."
"Ha!" As Qingming exerted a bit of effort, the smell of alcohol wafted out.
Zhou Ge frowned, about to say something when...
'Huh?' The strong smell of alcohol suddenly vanished.
He sniffed around, but it was the same.
"Huh? Where did that smell of alcohol come from?"
"Alcohol? In this sacred and pure place, how could you say such nonsense, senior brother? You’ll be struck by divine punishment."
"... That can’t be? It was definitely..."
"Let’s go. If we’re late, we’ll get scolded."
Zhou Ge felt very wronged, but since Qingming’s words were right, he hurriedly followed without further complaints.
"But why are we going out when the second disciples are returning?"
"Still, we should welcome them. They are returning after a tough retreat."
A tough retreat? That’s nonsense.
A retreat should be like this: locked away in a dark cave for two or three months, eating moss and swinging swords until you think, 'Ah, I’ve trained a bit.' 'How dare they casually mention training while pairing up with young men and women to swing swords.'
Back in my day, that was unthinkable!
This time, they really sharpened their swords.
That’s why the sect leader decided to support their training.
He wanted to give Jongnam a good lesson.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Senior brother Baichuan strongly requested it."
Qingming scoffed.
"Oh, really?"
"You need to be careful with your attitude. Senior brother Baichuan is strict, so if you act like you usually do, you’ll definitely get scolded!"
"Yeah, yeah."
"I’m serious."
"Yeah, yeah."
Leaving behind Zhou Ge, who looked like he was about to explode, Qingming strolled towards the mountain gate.
By the time Qingming arrived, quite a few people had already gathered.
The sect leader, elders, and Yungzi disciples were all outside the hall, standing in line, waiting for the returning Baizha disciples.
"Here they come."
"Open the gate."
The beautifully newly built gate swung open.
Soon, the second disciples of Huashan, dressed in black martial robes, strode in confidently.
"Oh!"
"Their momentum has changed."
"Truly impressive."
The Yungzi disciples were in awe, while the Qingzi disciples clapped continuously.
The wise disciples welcomed their returning juniors with warm smiles.
Only one person looked bored. 'When will this end? I need to go eat.'
Leading the second disciples at the front, Baichuan smiled and responded to the welcome. 'Wow, what a sight.' He was still handsome even after seeing him again.
After all, Qingming used to hear that he was quite good-looking too.
When he dressed up and went down to the village, the beautiful maidens...
- Conscience.
"Ah, really."
Was he tormenting him with auditory hallucinations? Just as Qingming shook his head and was about to clap, "Huh?" Baichuan, who was receiving the greetings from the disciples, fixed his gaze on Qingming.
After a brief pause, Baichuan tilted his head slightly.
With a strange look, he stared at Qingming for a long time before finally walking right up to him and grinning.
"Could it be...?"
Baichuan, with a beaming smile, looked directly at Qingming and said, "Aren’t we acquainted? Little brother?"
"..."
Should I really just hit him?