Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 28 - Red Seal, White Seal
Chapter 28: Red Seal, White Seal
“1, 2, 3…”
Sigh—
Qin Zheng sat lazily inside the First Tier Room, counting on his fingers. The one-month time limit of his fourth time-travel was almost up again.
And yet once more, it seemed all his efforts would come to nothing.
Based on his performance in the ice cave, if he brought up such a small request to Qin Su now, the other would surely agree to it.
But heaven seemed determined to go against him.
Because after returning this time, Qin Su had once again fallen into a coma.
After their master brought them out of the cave, he took Qin Su directly into the stone chamber.
Qin Zheng hadn’t even had a chance to say anything.
Based on the previous time Qin Su had fallen unconscious, Qin Zheng had already lost hope this time.
He was sure that Qin Su’s condition was even more serious than before.
Last time, even in a coma, Qin Su had held on for quite a while.
That recovery had already taken several months — this time would likely take longer, not less.
The gateway Qin Zheng had discovered by the path had also been erased by their master, though even he couldn’t figure out who had created it.
Feeling frustrated, Qin Zheng lay flat on the floor.
He was so unwilling — he couldn’t even complete such a small request.
In just three more days, he would be back in that freezing cave. Who knew if the sun had even risen over there?
Suddenly, Qin Zheng sat up. The displeasure that had been written all over his face moments ago was now completely gone.
He stood up and dashed toward the door.
Just now, a brilliant idea had flashed through his mind — a way to make sure this time travel wouldn’t be in vain.
Qin Zheng hurried back to his room, pulled out brush and ink he hadn’t touched in hundreds of years, laid out a sheet of paper on the desk, and boldly wrote down his request.
Once finished, he folded the paper and tucked it into an envelope, then sealed it.
On the envelope, he wrote: "To Qin Su, personally."
With everything prepared, Qin Zheng grabbed the letter and ran toward Qin Su’s residence.
Since he couldn’t say it to him directly, he would leave a letter.
After all, once he returned, he’d be staying in the First Tier Room cultivating, so leaving a note made perfect sense.
Qin Zheng sneaked into Qin Su’s place and pushed the door open.
Inside, it was cold and quiet, just like always.
He walked into the room and looked around, finally stopping at the table near the window.
Because the window had always been left open, a few leaves had blown onto the desk.
Qin Zheng gently brushed the leaves out the window.
His gaze landed on a plate in the center of the table — a plate of something frozen — and he was drawn in.
It was the same plate of buns he had glimpsed before from afar.
Huh, was Qin Su really that childish? Couldn’t bear to eat a plate of buns, so he froze them instead?
Suddenly, a memory flashed through Qin Zheng’s mind. He bent down and closely examined the buns frozen in ice.
These... seemed to be made by him?
Qin Zheng frowned and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
How many years ago had that been?
This kid sure wasn’t very lovable back then!
Qin Zheng couldn’t help but smile with delight. He hadn’t expected the boy to be so sentimental. If that was the case, then the request he wrote in the letter would definitely be agreed to.
With a grin, Qin Zheng kissed the envelope, then used the plate to press it down at one corner — making sure Qin Su would see it right away.
***
Three days flew by in the blink of an eye, and Qin Zheng once again woke in total darkness.
The sun hadn’t risen yet outside, but judging by the sound, the snow had probably stopped or become lighter.
The fire he’d lit before traveling had long since burned out.
Thinking about how Qin Su would quickly come tomorrow and tell him to move into Tianque Temple, Qin Zheng grinned so wide his mouth nearly reached his ears.
Maybe he’d gotten used to the cold, but Qin Zheng didn’t feel cold anymore — in fact, he felt a trace of warmth.
Since he wasn’t cold, he couldn’t be bothered to get up and start another fire. Though his body had been resting the whole time, his soul had gone through so many dangerous events that he still felt tired.
In such a good mood and feeling warm, Qin Zheng quickly fell back asleep.
By the time he woke again, the sun outside was already high in the sky.
Last night’s heavy snow had covered the ground in a thick layer, but today was a beautifully sunny day.
The snow was beginning to melt under the sunlight.
Usually, snowmelt brought colder temperatures, but Qin Zheng found the cave surprisingly warm.
That reminded him of everything that had happened in the mountains during the time travel.
Could it be that the warmth was because the seal had been lifted?
But when he left, the ice in the cave hadn’t disappeared — only collapsed due to the destabilizing energy wave from the broken seal.
Suddenly, Xiao Bai bounced into the cave, happily carrying a basket of fruit.
When Qin Zheng took the fruit from him, he reached out and patted his head as a reward.
During these days when the heavy snow had sealed off the mountains, only he was unafraid of the cold and wouldn’t get lost, wandering around the mountains.
After patting him, Qin Zheng looked at his own hand strangely.
He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but after several times of time-traveling, Qin Zheng felt that he had somehow changed.
Seeing Qin Zheng pat his head again, Xiao Bai happily started hopping and jumping inside the cave.
Qin Zheng blinked. It seemed like he could actually see Xiao Bai smiling?
“Xiao Bai, come here!” Qin Zheng called with a wave.
Xiao Bai obediently ran over.
Qin Zheng stared at Xiao Bai’s blurred face and said, “Smile.”
Sure enough, there really were two curved eyes.
But they looked a bit hazy.
Could Xiao Bai be evolving?
***
Qin Zheng stayed in the cave for three days.
After three consecutive days of sunlight, the snow outside had mostly melted.
However, after three days, Qin Zheng still hadn’t seen anyone from the Tianque Sect come looking for him in the cave.
He could understand the thick snow on the first day, but now that most of it had melted, with their cultivation levels, coming here shouldn’t be difficult.
Qin Zheng couldn’t help but start to suspect.
Could it be that Qin Su and the others had left? Otherwise, with Qin Su’s personality, if he had woken up and seen the note Qin Zheng left, surely he would have reached out by now knowing Qin Zheng was living in the cave.
The more Qin Zheng thought about it, the more unwilling he felt. He decided to visit Tianque Temple himself.
He needed to confirm—if they really had left, then he had nothing to say.
When Qin Zheng stepped out of the cave, he hadn’t taken more than a few steps when a sudden chill swept over his whole body. It was unexpectedly cold outside the cave.
Having stayed in the warm cave for several days, Qin Zheng found the cold unbearable and hurriedly retreated back.
However, he had barely taken a single step back inside the cave when he felt his body quickly wrapped in a warm sensation.
Qin Zheng paced back and forth a few times and was certain that the warmth he’d felt in recent days wasn’t because the seal inside the cave had been lifted, but rather some other special reason — as if someone had cast a cold-dispelling spell where he was staying.
A flash of the frozen buns Qin Zheng had seen earlier in Qin Su’s room quickly passed through his mind.
Could it be Qin Su?
Qin Zheng quickly shook his head. If it were Qin Su, he would have sent someone to tell him to come live there already — there was no way he’d do something so unnecessary.
Standing at the edge of the cold-dispelling spell, Qin Zheng hugged his arms tightly, shook his body hard, clenched his teeth, and rushed out.
Although the weather was cold, there was no shortage of worshippers coming to Tianque Temple to burn incense and pray.
Qin Zheng quietly bypassed the crowded paths and ran to the back of Tianque Temple, where there was higher ground.
He stood there and looked inside.
He saw that disciples of the Tianque Sect were still moving about in the temple’s backyard, which meant they hadn’t left.
Since he was standing on high ground, a gust of cold wind blew over, and Qin Zheng, wearing thin clothes, sneezed hard.
Rubbing his nose, Qin Zheng prepared to turn back to his warm cave.
The cave was inexplicably protected by the cold-dispelling spell now, and compared to the rooms in Tianque Temple, his cave might even be warmer.
Just as Qin Zheng was about to turn and leave, a flash of red light at the corner of his eye caught his attention.
He couldn’t help but stop and focus on it.
The red light was coming from above the main hall of Tianque Temple.
And Qin Zheng found the red mark that emitted the light very familiar.
That red seal was very similar to the red seal their master used to seal the Senior Uncle inside the ice cave, except that the red seal over Tianque Temple was more complex.
It was certain this was not the Senior Uncle’s seal, but it should be similar, because different seals wouldn’t look so alike.
The red seal above Tianque Temple swayed up and down.
Qin Zheng quickly glanced at the incense worshippers outside the main hall, noticing they hadn’t seen the red seal above Tianque Temple.
Maybe they simply couldn’t see it.
After swaying for a while, a white seal suddenly flew in from somewhere and pressed down over the red seal.
Qin Zheng also recognized that white seal.
The white seal was the origin from which the master’s red seal over the Senior Uncle was derived.
The red seal lasted only briefly in the air before the white seal pressed it down, causing it to sink. Eventually, the two seals sank together into the main hall and disappeared into the roof.
Unconsciously, Qin Zheng had stepped forward repeatedly to get a better look at the red seal, and when he realized it, he was already very close to Tianque Temple, which startled him into quickly turning and running away.
He wondered if the temple’s deputy sect leader had noticed.
But Qin Zheng was more concerned about the red seal appearing above Tianque Temple.
He suddenly felt that Qin Su and the others hadn’t come down the mountain for blessings but for whatever was under that red seal.
Previously, when the Tianque Sect had said something went wrong with the blessing ceremony, it was very likely connected to that rising red seal.
So perhaps the original purpose of building Tianque Temple wasn’t really to offer blessings to people — the mountain god was just an excuse. What really lay beneath?
Qin Zheng realized he had truly missed out on a lot within the Tianque Sect.
----------
If you like my translation, please support me by buying me a coffee:
0 comments: