Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 22 - Time Deviation
Chapter 22: Time Deviation
Although Qin Zheng was a little reluctant to admit it, he still tentatively called out, “Qin Su?”
But Qin Su only continued to frown, staring at the senior brother speaking so strangely before him.
In Qin Su’s eyes, Qin Zheng’s expression looked like someone seeing an old friend after many years—tinged with disbelief and uncertainty.
Seeing the young man opposite him staying silent and unresponsive, a growing unease took root in Qin Zheng’s heart. After hesitating for a moment, he eventually turned around and left the forest.
Qin Su, watching him suddenly turn and leave without another word, felt a flicker of confusion.
Just now, Qin Su had the feeling that he was facing the Qin Zheng from six years ago—or maybe even ten years ago?
What was he planning this time?
***
Panting, Qin Zheng ran to the lotus pond of the Tianque Sect and leaned over to look at his reflection in the water.
The still surface clearly reflected the face most familiar to him—his own.
It was the same face he had borne for decades, and would continue to bear.
Except for the jet-black hair, his current appearance was exactly the same as before he time-traveled!
This version of himself must be in his early twenties now.
No wonder everything had felt a little strange earlier—it turned out he had grown up.
Annoyed, Qin Zheng ran his hand through his hair, unable to figure out what had gone wrong.
Suddenly, a line of golden text flashed through his mind: “The time of traversal may deviate slightly.”
Qin Zheng remembered that this was written in the instructions under the Time Scroll.
But he also clearly remembered that during his last return, he had been only sixteen. Now he had suddenly jumped to over twenty—wasn’t this time deviation a bit much?
The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. Without realizing it, he started yanking at the grass on the ground to vent his anger. As he pulled and tugged, he muttered resentfully, “No wonder Qin Shuang looks down on the Time Scroll—it really deserves the scorn!”
When the patch of grass within reach had been plucked bare, Qin Zheng stood up, gave a few annoyed kicks to the poor greenery, and turned to leave.
He had clearly seen Qin Su’s attitude just now. It seemed that their relationship was now even more strained than before.
The current Qin Su already had the bearing of his adult self. He was likely no longer as easy to manipulate as in the previous two times.
As he walked, Qin Zheng muttered to himself, “Aside from cultivation, there’s nothing in this world that I can’t handle!”
Soon, he arrived at the medicine hall.
In such a tricky situation, he had no choice but to make use of Qin Shuang.
The appearance of the medicine hall hadn’t changed at all compared to six years ago.
Qin Zheng confidently made his way along the corridor toward the herb storage room at the back. Based on what he knew about Qin Shuang, he’d either be in there or in the adjacent pill-refining room.
As Qin Zheng passed through the small garden inside the medicine hall, he spotted someone tinkering with something at a stone table.
It could only be Qin Shuang.
Since his back was facing Qin Zheng, a playful thought arose. Qin Zheng crept up quietly, leaned over behind him, and whispered in a spooky tone, “What—are—you—doing?”
As expected, Qin Shuang jumped in shock at the sudden voice.
Qin Zheng burst into triumphant laughter.
After recovering from the fright, Qin Shuang hurriedly scrambled to gather the papers and books on the table, trying to appear composed as he asked, “Senior Brother, what brings you here all of a sudden?”
“Eh—” Qin Zheng snatched the materials Qin Shuang had tried to hide and flipped through them. The book was filled with information about formation arrays.
He then pulled out the sheet of paper underneath—it was full of diagrams Qin Shuang had copied from the book, albeit with some variations.
With only first-tier cultivation, Qin Zheng couldn’t understand anything so advanced as formation arrays, so he tossed the book back into Qin Shuang’s arms and asked, “Why are you suddenly studying arrays instead of making medicine?”
Qin Shuang gave a sheepish laugh and said, “Just reading out of boredom, really. Just curious.”
“Anyway, Senior Brother, did you come looking for me because you need help with something?”
Qin Zheng sat down on a nearby stone stool and replied, “Don’t I come by all the time?”
Qin Shuang chuckled, “You’re joking, right? The last time you came here was half a year ago.”
Qin Zheng glared at the tactless junior. “It’s only been a few months, not several years.”
“Well, that’s true,” Qin Zheng said, tapping his fingers on the table as he pondered how to ask about Qin Su.
After a long moment, he feigned casual ignorance and asked, “By the way, what’s going on with Junior Brother these days? He seems particularly unfriendly toward me.”
Hearing this, Qin Shuang was so startled he immediately reached out and checked his senior brother’s pulse. “Senior Brother, are you feeling okay?”
Qin Zheng yanked his hand back and threatened, “Are you looking for a beating?”
Qin Shuang quickly shifted to sit on the opposite side of the table, ensuring a safe distance before replying, “Senior Brother, you’ve been picking on him for years. Given his cultivation level, it’s already very generous of him not to beat you up. Just being unfriendly is doing you a favor.” Then he lowered his voice and added, “In the whole Tianque Sect, I think you’re the only one who dares to treat Junior Brother like a child and bully him. No idea what spell you’ve cast on him, but if it were anyone else, you definitely wouldn’t be so lucky!”
Qin Zheng seemed to have just heard something astonishing. He suddenly stood up, leaned over the table toward Qin Shuang, and raised his eyebrows at him. “So what you're saying is—Qin Su actually kind of likes me?”
Qin Shuang thought for a moment and replied, “Well, not necessarily…”
“You can stop talking now!” Qin Zheng didn’t want to hear anything unpleasant at this moment.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned around and looked at Qin Shuang. “My memory's not great. How old are you now?”
Qin Shuang was confused as to why his senior brother would suddenly ask that, and answered blankly, “Twenty-two.”
He then added, “You forgot, Senior Brother? We’re the same age.”
So it had been six years since last time.
Twenty-two… Seems like that was one of the turning points in my life, wasn’t it?
Qin Zheng said nothing more and turned to leave.
Qin Shuang looked at his senior brother’s back and suddenly thought of something. He shouted toward the door, “Hey! Isn’t the spiritual root test happening in a few days?”
But Qin Zheng didn’t respond and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Qin Zheng once again returned to the small wooden hut where Qin Su lived. He found a spot at the front door and stood there properly.
From this position, Qin Zheng was sure his junior brother would notice him. It wouldn't be long before he came out.
However, after half an hour passed with no sign of Qin Su, Qin Zheng began to doubt himself.
Maybe Qin Su wasn’t home.
Qin Zheng looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then quietly moved closer to the door.
Step by step, he ended up right in front of the small hut’s entrance.
He pressed his ear to the door, trying to hear if anyone was inside.
But due to poor balance, he fell right against the door— which wasn’t locked — and it swung open.
Qin Zheng fell halfway into the house, with his upper body inside and his legs still outside.
He looked around and confirmed that Qin Su truly wasn’t there. The room was arranged exactly as it had been six years ago.
Suddenly, something on the table caught Qin Zheng’s eye — a dish with something frozen inside it.
It looked oddly familiar… Were those… steamed buns inside the ice?
Before he could think any further, a cold voice came from behind him.
“What are you doing?”
Qin Zheng quickly scrambled to his feet and smiled. “I came to see you, Junior Brother.”
Qin Su gave him a silent glance full of disdain, then stepped past him and entered the house.
Qin Zheng didn’t follow. He just stood quietly at the door.
Not long after, Qin Su walked back out of the house without acknowledging Qin Zheng and walked right past him.
Qin Zheng hurried after him.
This scene was just like six years ago.
Suddenly, Qin Su stopped walking.
“Why are you looking for me?”
Qin Zheng hadn’t expected him to speak so soon. He quickly came up with a response: “Master said my cultivation level is too low and told me to learn more from you, so here I am.”
Qin Su glanced at him indifferently and said nothing, continuing on his way.
Qin Zheng followed behind. From the path they were taking, it looked like they were heading toward the outdoor training grounds.
Clusters of disciples were gathered there — the same people from before, only now they were all grown up.
When they saw Qin Su, their faces all showed open admiration — including Qin Ke, who had always been against Qin Zheng.
Qin Zheng couldn’t help feeling a little proud. His junior brother, the sect leader’s disciple, truly lived up to the title — so respected within the sect.
However, when those same people saw Qin Zheng trailing behind Qin Su, their expressions did a complete 180.
The most popular person in the Tianque Sect and the most disliked person had shown up together.
Seeing everyone’s shocked expressions, Qin Zheng happily grinned. “Long time no see, everyone.”
But no one responded. Instead, someone said directly in front of Qin Zheng, “Junior Brother, why are you walking with him?”
Qin Su replied innocently, “He followed me.”
With that, everyone turned their suspicions toward Qin Zheng, all speaking at once: “What are you up to now?!”
Seeing how united they were in their dislike, Qin Zheng cursed himself a thousand times in his heart: Why do you always have to be like this?! But on the surface, he remained calm and casual, shrugging helplessly. “What can I say? Junior Brother is just too amazing. The sect leader told me to follow him and learn. I can’t exactly disobey Master’s orders, right?”
As soon as Qin Zheng mentioned the sect master, everyone, although clearly unhappy, had no choice but to accept it.
Because… it was the truth.
Qin Zheng followed behind. From the path they were taking, it looked like they were heading toward the outdoor training grounds.
Clusters of disciples were gathered there — the same people from before, only now they were all grown up.
When they saw Qin Su, their faces all showed open admiration — including Qin Ke, who had always been against Qin Zheng.
Qin Zheng couldn’t help feeling a little proud. His junior brother, the sect leader’s disciple, truly lived up to the title — so respected within the sect.
However, when those same people saw Qin Zheng trailing behind Qin Su, their expressions did a complete 180.
The most popular person in the Tianque Sect and the most disliked person had shown up together.
Seeing everyone’s shocked expressions, Qin Zheng happily grinned. “Long time no see, everyone.”
But no one responded. Instead, someone said directly in front of Qin Zheng, “Junior Brother, why are you walking with him?”
Qin Su replied innocently, “He followed me.”
With that, everyone turned their suspicions toward Qin Zheng, all speaking at once: “What are you up to now?!”
Seeing how united they were in their dislike, Qin Zheng cursed himself a thousand times in his heart: Why do you always have to be like this?! But on the surface, he remained calm and casual, shrugging helplessly. “What can I say? Junior Brother is just too amazing. The sect leader told me to follow him and learn. I can’t exactly disobey Master’s orders, right?”
As soon as Qin Zheng mentioned the sect master, everyone, although clearly unhappy, had no choice but to accept it.
Because… it was the truth.
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