Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 13 - Clinging Shamelessly
Chapter 13: Clinging Shamelessly
Qin Zheng stared blankly at the half-open wooden door. His junior brother was no longer in sight.
He replayed Qin Su’s words in his mind over and over, but still couldn’t figure out whether that meant the apology was accepted or not.
“Junior Brother! So are you accepting my apology or not?!”
If he didn’t understand, of course he had to ask directly.
As he asked, Qin Zheng boldly walked toward the small wooden house.
After all, Qin Su was aware of his presence. If he didn’t want him to approach, he would have said so.
But when Qin Zheng stepped into the simple wooden hut, he found that Qin Su, who had just retreated inside, had already vanished.
Qin Zheng looked around. The room only had a bed and a table—nowhere to hide.
Clicking his tongue in surprise, Qin Zheng muttered, “Tsk tsk, his cultivation is already high enough that he can disappear without a sound?”
“But just because you ran away once doesn’t mean you can keep doing it for a whole month.”
There was no point waiting here, so after thinking for a bit, Qin Zheng swaggered out of his junior’s residence.
***
Qin Zheng made his way to the medicine hall of Tianque Sect based on his memory.
This was a place set up for disciples interested in alchemy, filled with rare and precious herbs.
Qin Shuang had been stationed here ever since deciding to learn alchemy.
Right now, he was probably still inside researching, and there were some things Qin Zheng wanted to ask him.
As soon as he stepped into the medicine hall, the strong scent of herbs hit him. To his surprise, Qin Zheng actually found the smell quite pleasant.
“Qin Shuang! Qin Shuang! Qin Shuang!”
Qin Zheng shouted at the top of his lungs.
The medicine hall was quite large. If his voice wasn’t loud, it wouldn’t carry far.
But strangely, there wasn’t a single other disciple in the entire place.
Nowadays, someone like Qin Shuang, who pursued medicine instead of cultivation, was a rare anomaly—once in a hundred years. And since the Tianque Sect didn’t have an endless number of disciples, one such anomaly was already more than enough.
Qin Zheng perked up his ears and, hearing no response, headed straight to the innermost herb storeroom—where Qin Shuang would always be absorbed in his work and oblivious to the world.
Sure enough, when he opened the door, he found Qin Shuang sitting in the middle of a pile of herbs.
“I say, Qin Shuang, you gave up cultivation to fiddle around with this stuff all day—what’s the fun in that?”
Back then, Qin Shuang had advanced to the second stage alongside Qin Ke, proving he had what it took to become a rogue cultivator. But no one expected he’d give it up in favor of alchemy.
Their master had felt it was a real shame, but since Qin Shuang’s heart wasn’t in cultivation, there was no use forcing it.
Looking up from his work, Qin Shuang smiled and said, “It’s just a matter of personal interest.”
“Senior Brother, if you have something to ask, just say it. I can’t leave right now.”
Qin Zheng looked at him appreciatively. “You truly understand me, Qin Shuang~”
Qin Shuang chuckled shyly. “Actually, I don’t. I just know you’d never come looking for me unless you needed something.”
Since Qin Shuang was being so direct, Qin Zheng decided not to beat around the bush.
“In that case, I’ll get straight to the point!”
“I forgot which training room Qin Su is cultivating in. Tell me.”
Qin Shuang thought for a moment and replied, “Junior Brother is training in the third-tier room.” Then he gave his senior brother a puzzled look.
“What are you planning to do?”
Qin Zheng raised a finger and wagged it. “I’m not planning anything.” With that, he turned and left.
From behind came Qin Shuang’s warning: “Senior Brother, your cultivation is still at the first tier. You’re not allowed to enter the third-tier room!”
Qin Zheng waved his hand without looking back. “Don’t worry, I won’t go in.”
He arrived outside the third-tier room. The doors were tightly shut, suggesting Qin Su was still cultivating.
So Qin Zheng loitered around the entrance.
He couldn’t help but marvel: No wonder he became sect leader. In just three years, he went from zero to third-tier.
***
At the same time, inside the third-tier room, Qin Su’s meditating face slightly furrowed.
He had sensed that person’s presence outside.
***
Qin Zheng waited outside for the entire afternoon.
He never thought he’d have that much patience.
Finally, just as dusk was falling, the doors of the third-tier room stirred.
Qin Zheng kept his eyes fixed on the door, terrified Qin Su might slip away again.
But when he saw who came out first, he nearly exploded with frustration!
It was Qin Ke—again! Why did he keep bumping into this guy?!
Judging by the look on Qin Ke’s face, Qin Zheng knew he was about to start running his mouth again.
He hadn’t expected Qin Ke to be strong enough to reach the third tier too.
“Heh, even if a first-tier like you waits outside the third-tier room for a lifetime, you still won’t be allowed in.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with Junior Brother Qin Su. Someone with third-tier cultivation should’ve put you in your place a long time ago.”
“I’m just waiting for the day he finally gives you a good beating.”
Qin Zheng looked left, looked right, and even studied the ground—completely ignoring Qin Ke’s mocking.
As expected, Qin Ke snorted heavily and walked away when he didn’t get a reaction.
Still staring at the door, Qin Zheng smirked inwardly: “Junior Brother Qin Su,” huh? Saying it like you two are so close. How come I don’t remember you being that friendly?
Not long after Qin Ke left, a small figure finally emerged from the third-tier room. Pretending not to notice someone waiting by the road, Qin Su walked right past without stopping.
Qin Zheng quickly followed after him.
“Junior Brother Qin Su, I did a lot of bad things to you before, and I’m here to apologize. I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf and be a better person.”
“So, can we get along from now on?”
The more Qin Zheng followed, the faster Qin Su walked.
In the end, even when Qin Zheng broke into a run, he could only watch helplessly as the distance between them grew wider and wider.
He couldn’t keep up with Qin Su’s pace at all.
Panting heavily, Qin Zheng stopped, looked in the direction his junior brother had gone, then glanced toward the shortest route to the dining hall and quickly changed direction.
It was mealtime—everyone in the sect would go there to eat, so he figured he’d surely catch someone there.
Qin Zheng’s best trait was that he wasn’t afraid of rejection or losing face.
He rushed into the dining hall, looked around, but didn’t see that person anywhere. So he grabbed someone at random and asked, “Have you seen Qin Su?”
The person shook their head.
Qin Zheng thought to himself: Did he actually skip dinner just to avoid me?
***
After dark, the kitchen door of the Tianque Temple creaked open a crack.
Qin Zheng poked his head out, scanned the surroundings, and only after confirming no one was around did he sneak out of the kitchen.
In his hands, he held a plate.
As he walked toward the bamboo grove, he took a sniff of the food on the plate.
The plate held five plump white buns, though they looked a little misshapen.
Once inside the bamboo forest, Qin Zheng quickly arrived at the door of Qin Su’s small wooden hut.
He knocked symbolically on the door.
Soon, Qin Su came to open it, his expression as indifferent as ever.
Looking at the boy who was a head shorter than him, Qin Zheng squatted down and quickly pulled out the plate of buns from behind his back. Smiling, he said, “You didn’t eat dinner, right? I made these especially for you—as an apology. What do you think?”
Without waiting for a response, he shoved the plate into Qin Su’s arms and walked away without looking back.
***
Qin Su stared in the direction where his senior brother had vanished at the edge of the bamboo forest. Then he looked down at the plate of buns in his arms, and his thoughts drifted back to three years ago.
On the first day he arrived at the Tianque Sect, his senior brother had made him cry and brought five buns to apologize. After that, he’d always treated him well.
But ever since that one time he broke curfew, Qin Zheng had seemed like a completely different person—he started acting mean, always teasing and messing with him whenever they met.
Qin Su stared at the buns in his arms, pouted slightly, then grabbed one and took a bite.
The rest of the buns, plate and all, slowly became encased in ice.
***
Qin Zheng had a great night's sleep after returning to his room.
The next morning, he ran straight to the small wooden hut in the bamboo grove. There were no cultivation lessons that morning, and he needed to go to other classes with Qin Su.
He hadn’t been waiting long when Qin Su walked out of the hut. He glanced calmly at Qin Zheng and then walked straight down the path through the grove.
“Good morning, Junior Brother!”
Qin Zheng greeted him, not caring whether or not he got a response, and quietly followed behind him.
This time, Qin Su didn’t speed up, so Qin Zheng was able to keep up with him steadily.
That meant yesterday’s apology had worked!
He couldn’t help but feel proud inside: My little junior brother really is a sentimental and kind kid!
Qin Zheng leisurely ate breakfast with Qin Su and then went with him to the outdoor training field—the same place where the water-splashing incident had happened before.
He quietly prayed that nothing would go wrong today, reminding himself to keep a cool head.
After all, being frequently punished and confined wouldn’t help him bond with his junior brother.
When he arrived at the training ground, he noticed everyone else there was looking at him with surprise.
Qin Zheng was puzzled: Did this body do something again before?
This time, it wasn’t Qin Ke provoking him—it was Qin Xuan.
Seeing Qin Zheng, Qin Xuan walked over with a grin and said, “Qin Zheng, what are you doing here?”
“With your first-tier cultivation, you can’t possibly learn the techniques being taught here. You should go back to the first-tier rooms and train properly.”
“Who knows, maybe with some effort, you’ll still have a chance.”
Qin Zheng had heard this kind of talk countless times and was completely immune. He even stuck his finger in his ear as if cleaning it, not reacting at all.
“I asked him to come.”
To everyone’s surprise, it was Qin Su who spoke.
Qin Zheng looked at the small figure in front of him with surprise—he hadn’t expected Qin Su to speak up for him.
He’d thought that not being ignored was already the best-case scenario, but now Qin Su was even defending him.
His heart was overflowing with joy.
Kids are still kids, he thought. Acting all cold one minute, then unable to resist defending me the next.
Qin Xuan looked at Qin Zheng, who now wore a smug expression, and then turned anxiously to Qin Su. “Junior Brother, you can’t let Qin Zheng fool you. He’s a total scoundrel!”
“Not long ago, he was constantly giving you trouble!”
Qin Su said coldly, “That’s my business. It’s none of your concern.” With that, he walked to his spot in the training area.
Qin Zheng quickly followed, and as he passed by Qin Xuan, he grinned and said, “Don’t stir up trouble. My little junior brother knows exactly what he’s doing!”
Once the lesson started, Qin Zheng realized that Qin Xuan was absolutely right.
With his current cultivation, he couldn’t practice any of the spells being taught. All he could do was silently watch Qin Su training hard.
Watching his junior brother, who now outshone even Qin Ke, Qin Zheng felt a strange sense of pride.
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