Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 11 - A Cold Winter Night
Chapter 11: A Cold Winter Night
“Go back.”
A more familiar voice came from behind.
Qin Zheng pretended to hold his forehead with one hand, using it to cover half of his face.
However, from the corner of his eye, he could still see several blue-and-white hems of robes passing by him one after another.
Yet, the first person who passed by him noticeably paused for a moment before continuing to walk outside.
Qin Zheng knew that Qin Su’s strange ability had surely detected him, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to pretend to be a passerby.
Only after he was sure that the group had left did he lower his hand.
Peeking outside and confirming that there was no trace of Qin Su and his group, Qin Zheng called out, “Waiter! Bring me something delicious!”
Startled by the encounter, Qin Zheng ordered a bunch of meat dishes without a second thought.
He wasn’t actually afraid of Qin Su—just like he hadn’t feared Qin Ke in the past. Besides, even if he had bullied the sect master’s junior brother before, with Qin Su’s personality, he wouldn’t likely retaliate.
What Qin Zheng didn’t know was how he should face this junior brother now.
He rubbed his belly; the fruit he had eaten earlier had long been digested, and the dishes he had ordered still hadn’t arrived.
In the aroma-filled tavern, Qin Zheng felt even hungrier.
After the time it took to drink a pot of tea, his first dish finally arrived.
The waiter was still holding the dish when Qin Zheng already had his chopsticks ready in hand.
“Sir, please enjoy.”
The moment the dish was placed down, Qin Zheng’s chopsticks reached toward it.
But just as he was about to touch the food, a peanut shell fell from above and landed right in the center of the plate.
Frowning, Qin Zheng silently picked the shell out with his chopsticks and looked up.
Next to him sat a young boy, grinning at him. Beside the boy was a pile of discarded peanut shells.
The child wasn’t the least bit concerned that he had been caught and casually grabbed another shell from the table, aiming and tossing it toward Qin Zheng’s dish.
Another peanut shell landed on the plate.
Apparently pleased with his accurate throws, the boy shook the adult next to him to show off his achievement.
The man looked up and shouted toward Qin Zheng, “Sorry about that—kids, you know.”
But then he turned back to his son, smiling and saying, “Great job, son!”
After picking out the shell again, Qin Zheng saw the waiter coming over with his second dish and quickly called out, “Waiter, pack up all my food.”
“Right away, sir, I’ll get that packed for you.”
Meanwhile, encouraged by the adult, the child became even more enthusiastic in his throwing. Qin Zheng kept an eye on him out of the corner of his eye without saying a word. Each time a shell was tossed his way, he calmly caught it midair and placed it on the table.
He couldn’t help but think: Compared to this kid, the sect master’s junior brother really is much more likable.
Although Qin Zheng’s magical cultivation was lacking, catching peanut shells bare-handed was still a breeze for him.
Finally, once the boy had thrown all the shells he had, all of Qin Zheng’s dishes were packed up.
After paying, Qin Zheng tucked the oil-paper-wrapped packages into his arms, stood up, and with his free hand, grabbed the collected peanut shells from the table. He swaggered over to the boy’s table and slowly dumped the entire handful of shells into the boy’s food plate. Then, coldly said: “Sorry—I hate misbehaved kids the most.”
After tossing the shells, Qin Zheng turned around and walked out of the tavern with exaggerated swagger.
By the time the boy’s father reacted to the sudden turn of events, Qin Zheng had already disappeared around the corner.
***
With his food bundle in hand, Qin Zheng began running once out of sight from the tavern. He even took a detour and bought some rice along the way.
The kid’s father looked strong and fit—better to avoid trouble while he could.
When Qin Zheng, panting, finally climbed back up the mountain trail to his cave, he felt like he was starving to death.
He hastily laid out the still-warm food onto the crude table and eagerly began eating.
After a few mouthfuls of meat and rice, he finally felt alive again.
With his stomach full, Qin Zheng suddenly remembered what Qin Shuang had said back in the tavern.
Wasn’t blessing prayers a simple matter? Why would there be problems?
Had he not just traveled back in time, he might have forgotten: Didn’t the Tianque Sect already have a day of fasting to worship the mountain god? Why build a Tianque Temple at the foot of the mountain for the same purpose?
What had happened in those foggy final years he spent at the Tianque Sect?
No matter how hard Qin Zheng tried to think through the blank space in his memory, he couldn’t find a reason. He gave up and took a bite of the now-cold chicken leg.
“So cold!”
He exhaled and looked toward the cave entrance—only to find that, though it had been sunny just moments ago, snow was now falling heavily outside.
He turned to look at the stone bed he slept on, where a thin cotton blanket was spread out, and sighed in frustration.
He had gone down the mountain and didn’t even think to buy a warm blanket!
With snow falling this heavily, if he went down the mountain now, he might not be able to find his way back.
Qin Zheng stood up and walked to a hidden corner of the cave, where a pile of dry firewood—gathered by Xiao Bai—was stacked.
He pulled out a few sticks of firewood and returned to the table.
Placing the firewood on the ground in a crisscross pattern, Qin Zheng focused his mind and slowly gathered his energy. Before long, a flame appeared on the dry wood.
This was the only spell he could use. But rather than this, Qin Zheng wished he could learn the Cold Resistance Technique—then even in the coldest winters, he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.
However, that technique required third-tier cultivation, and he was still stuck at the early stage of tier two.
As he stared at the rising flames, Qin Zheng suddenly thought of Tianque Temple.
That place didn’t just have the temple itself, but also a few residences. Qin Su and the others were staying there now.
When Qin Zheng first found this cave, he thought he had discovered a treasure—after all, caves are typically warm in winter and cool in summer. That would mean he wouldn’t have to worry about freezing in the winter.
But when the first winter came, he realized he was wrong.
This cave was strangely colder than the outside.
Qin Zheng wasn’t the kind of person who enjoyed suffering, so he secretly moved into one of the side rooms at Tianque Temple.
And he stayed there—for twenty winters.
This year, he had originally planned to sneak back in on a dark, windy night sometime soon, but he hadn’t expected the sect master’s junior brother to come down the mountain with people for a blessing ceremony.
***
At night, Qin Zheng hugged his blanket and trembled, shivering too much to sleep.
He stretched out his legs under the covers and suddenly bumped into something hard.
He reached into the icy bed and felt around—when he pulled it out, he realized it was that time scroll.
Qin Zheng unrolled the scroll, and a golden light spilled out. The brush also flew out on its own as the scroll opened.
The light from the scroll was actually brighter than the fire burning beside his bed.
Looking at the scroll, and thinking about the two hundred taels of silver he had received, a new thought suddenly flashed into Qin Zheng’s mind.
Even if he didn’t return to the sect, getting his junior brother to let him stay at Tianque Temple wouldn’t be bad at all.
Wouldn’t that save him the long walks every time he needed to go out for divinations?
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