Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 24 - The Sealed Ground
Chapter 24: The Sealed Ground
It's already been two days since the spiritual root test.
At the same time, Qin Zheng had also stayed inside the First-Tier Room for two full days.
Every day, as soon as he woke up, he would run straight into the First-Tier Room and shut the door to "cultivate in seclusion."
Even Qin Shuang, who wanted to comfort him, couldn't catch him.
But only Qin Zheng himself knew that his seclusion these past two days had absolutely nothing to do with the spiritual root test.
Qin Zheng had already experienced this before. Although the first time he heard the result, he couldn't accept it, so many years had passed since then that he had long come to terms with it. Now, he wouldn't waste his limited time wallowing in disappointment.
He’d leave those emotions to his future self a month from now.
The reason he behaved and stayed in the First-Tier Room for two days was because Qin Su had been summoned for special instruction by the sect leader and the elders shortly after the test.
That training session was supposed to last two days.
Qin Zheng had come here for Qin Su in the first place. With his target gone, all he could do was obediently stay in the First-Tier Room and ‘cultivate.’
It also helped him avoid unnecessary trouble — mainly from Qin Shuang. That guy was so overly enthusiastic, Qin Zheng would die of secondhand embarrassment just by seeing him.
And considering how arrogant he'd been before, if he started wandering around now, all the people he used to bully would definitely come over to show off.
If he couldn’t hold back and caused trouble again, given his current status, he’d definitely end up confined.
No way was he walking into that mess.
But today was different — today, he was going out.
Because the sect leader’s special instruction for Qin Su ended today.
After two days of absence, it was time for him to reestablish his presence.
Qin Zheng checked the time and, figuring it was about right, leapt up from the floor and cheerfully ran out.
Although Qin Su was now one of the most prominent figures in the Tianque Sect, thankfully no one was crazy enough to stalk him daily, tracking his every move.
Qin Zheng was the only one. So there wasn’t much competition.
As soon as Qin Su stepped out from the sect leader's stone chamber, he spotted someone standing not far away.
The natural expression on Qin Zheng’s face made it almost seem like the spiritual root test from two days ago had just been a game.
Given his arrogant attitude in the past, someone like him should’ve taken the blow of having no spiritual root pretty hard. Yet now, he was acting like nothing had happened?
Qin Su found himself increasingly unable to understand this person.
The unfamiliar expression on Qin Su’s face didn’t escape Qin Zheng’s keen eye.
Suddenly, Qin Zheng thought maybe the spiritual root test could actually work in his favor. After all, Qin Su was ultimately just a soft-hearted kid with a tough mouth.
But he wouldn’t say that out loud — not yet.
As Qin Su walked past him, Qin Zheng naturally followed.
This kind of thing would take time. The longer he waited to confess anything, the higher his chances of success.
The two of them walked one after the other, wordlessly, down the corridor toward the forest.
Perhaps because Qin Su had come out early, they didn’t encounter anyone annoying on the way.
Suddenly, Qin Su stopped walking. After a moment of silence, he asked calmly, “You’ve been following me every day. What do you actually want?”
“That excuse about orders from the sect leader might fool others, but it won’t fool me.”
Qin Zheng didn’t expect Qin Su to ask so directly, and nearly blurted out his true intentions.
Thankfully, he regained his composure just in time. If he made Qin Su promise something now about the future, there was no way he’d agree — he wasn’t stupid.
Seeing no answer from behind him, Qin Su said, “If you’re just thinking of lying again, then don’t bother speaking.”
Qin Zheng scratched his head and said, “It’s just... now isn’t the time to talk about it. When the time’s right, I’ll tell you myself.”
“Ah! Junior brother Qin Su!”
Just as Qin Su was about to continue speaking, a chorus of loud voices interrupted them.
Qin Zheng, who had just been mentally celebrating the fact that no one was around to bother them, shot a murderous glare at the group approaching from a distance.
It was a bunch of junior disciples, who seemed to have just finished their training.
When they saw Qin Su standing with Qin Zheng, they immediately puffed up with pride.
“Isn’t that Senior Brother Qin Zheng? You’ve already bounced back from the shock in just two days?”
One of them even boldly said in front of Qin Zheng, “Junior Brother Qin Su, someone without a spiritual root won’t benefit from cultivation, no matter who he learns from. You should ask the sect leader to stop letting him interfere with your training.”
Then he turned to Qin Zheng and added, “Having no spiritual root means there’s zero possibility of cultivating immortality. We suggest you request to leave the mountain and live the life of an ordinary mortal.”
The whole group burst into laughter.
Qin Zheng glanced at the group mocking him, recalling the quality of each of their spiritual roots, and replied cheerfully, “Why don’t we all go down the mountain together? If I remember correctly, none of you have particularly impressive roots either. Whether you actually make it to immortality is still a big question. Wouldn’t it be even more pitiful to have spiritual roots but still fail?”
“And besides, someone like me with no spiritual root — isn’t that a once-in-a-century rarity? How do you know I won’t have some kind of special ability?”
The group of juniors were so furious, they started rolling up their sleeves.
Qin Zheng quickly darted behind Qin Su and called out righteously, “Are you trying to defy your senior? Have you forgotten what the sect leader said?”
“With respect and propriety! As long as I’m still part of the sect, I’m your senior brother. What would the sect leader think if he saw your behavior?”
“Learn from Junior Brother Qin Su — even though he has a celestial spiritual root, he still treats me with respect. You lot only bring shame to your masters.”
“Tsk tsk tsk!” Qin Zheng clicked his tongue and shook his head in mock disappointment.
His words struck home, and the two sides ended up in a silent standoff.
Qin Su, standing nearby, seemed unable to watch any longer and quickly said, “The senior leaders and uncles are leaving seclusion today—they likely have matters to discuss with you all.”
The junior disciples looked at each other and only then remembered that the master had mentioned needing to see them.
Once they had left, Qin Su glanced at Qin Zheng and said, “So Senior Brother actually remembers the master’s teachings?”
Qin Zheng was stunned, then glanced at Qin Su and replied with a grin, “You can’t blame me—they started it.” He looked entirely serious, as if he’d never done anything wrong in his life.
Qin Su looked at his senior brother but said nothing and simply turned to continue walking.
However, Qin Zheng noticed that he was heading in a slightly different direction.
He hadn’t taken the corridor but instead had turned down a small path.
Qin Zheng knew this path very well—it was the one he often used to avoid trouble.
Feeling amused, Qin Zheng looked ahead at Qin Su and feigned ignorance as he asked, “Why are you suddenly taking this path?”
Qin Su didn’t answer.
“Is it because you’re trying to help me?”
Still no answer.
Qin Zheng grinned smugly to himself: So the bitter-meat trick actually worked.
Ever since deciding to raise his favorability with Qin Su, Qin Zheng hadn’t taken this path.
And now that he did, he noticed that many of the rare herbs planted by the master along the road were missing.
Qin Zheng looked around in confusion, and confirmed—it wasn’t his imagination.
But no one in Tianque Sect had been injured recently, and there shouldn’t have been any need for such rare herbs.
As Qin Zheng’s gaze swept along both sides of the path, he suddenly noticed something strange.
There was an area covered in weeds, and it seemed like something was moving under the edge.
Logically, there shouldn't be any snakes, bugs, or rats in Tianque Sect.
Curious, Qin Zheng carefully avoided the herbs and walked over to the weeds. He nudged them with his foot.
The weeds weren’t naturally growing—they looked like they had been deliberately placed to cover something.
Kicking the weeds aside, Qin Zheng squatted down and looked carefully, discovering that beneath them wasn’t some animal, but a barrier gate just like the one in the third-tier cultivation rooms.
“Qin Su, is this a barrier gate?” Qin Zheng pointed at the ground and shouted to his junior brother not far away.
Qin Su turned his head to look, but just then, Qin Zheng accidentally touched the barrier with his finger—and was instantly pulled inside.
By the time Qin Su reached the edge of the barrier, Qin Zheng had already vanished.
Frowning, Qin Su stared at the barrier, then stepped into it as well.
Soon, the dim little path was completely empty.
The method of passing through barrier gates was always the same.
Qin Zheng’s vision went black for a moment. Because of how he entered, he landed flat on the cold ground.
He quickly sat up and looked around—he was surrounded entirely by ice, even the ground beneath him was frozen.
He hadn’t expected to be sucked in so carelessly and unprepared.
The place resembled where he’d been confined before, but Qin Zheng was sure this wasn’t the forbidden area.
The forbidden area was small—you could see the whole place at once. But the structure before him was completely different, like an ice cave.
In front of him was a long, narrow ice tunnel. He couldn’t see what lay at the end.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.
Turning his head, he saw that Qin Su had come in too.
With a smile on his lips, Qin Zheng said, “Did you come in because you were worried about me?”
Qin Su replied coolly, “I came because I was concerned about the seal inside.”
“Huh?” Qin Zheng looked at him in confusion. “What seal?”
Qin Su replied, “The barrier gate outside leads to the Sealed Ground. That means something should be sealed in here.”
“Then how do we get back?” Qin Zheng glanced at the empty wall behind him.
This barrier gate didn’t seem to have a return path.
Qin Su looked ahead and said, “Let’s explore first. We’ll find a way eventually.”
Even after just a short time here, Qin Zheng already felt like his whole body was freezing stiff.
It felt just like his mountain cave—except he was dressed even more thinly now than he had been there.
Shivering, Qin Zheng looked pitifully at the junior brother in front of him, then lunged forward and hugged him, saying, “Junior Brother, I’m freezing to death! Let me hold you for warmth!”
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