Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 37 - A Pleasant Surprise
Chapter 37: A Pleasant Surprise
Qin Zheng turned his head to look at the cave entrance. The snow within sight had been completely trampled and messed up.
That half-finished snowman was probably built by Xiao Bai.
The snowman faced the cave, and the crooked, twisted smile on its face seemed to be mocking his foolishness.
To stop himself from taking his anger out on Xiao Bai, Qin Zheng quickly shifted his gaze back to the protruding rock on the cave ceiling.
At this moment, Qin Zheng was already groping under the blanket, searching for the time scroll.
He planned to go back immediately and finish what he had wanted to say.
After all, he had only used half of the scroll’s charges—he had more than enough left.
No reason to waste it.
Although it seemed a bit extravagant, it had landed in his hands after all.
Besides, judging from what Qin Su had said last, it was likely that he already knew his identity.
“Excuse me, is anyone here?”
Suddenly, a clear voice called from outside the cave.
Qin Zheng turned his head in surprise. On such a snowy day, who else but Xiao Bai would come here?
When Qin Zheng saw the man peeking in at the cave entrance wearing the robes of the Tianque Sect, he quickly added in his mind: Of course, there's also someone from Tianque Sect!
This wasn’t the same person who had delivered a message last time.
“I’m here! I’m here!”
Qin Zheng scrambled up from his bed, grinning, and ran to the cave entrance.
Qing Qiu saw a man dressed in coarse cloth walk out of the cave and guessed this must be the senior martial uncle in seclusion the sect master had mentioned. He immediately bowed respectfully and said, “Disciple Qing Qiu greets Senior Uncle.”
Qin Zheng looked at this Qing Qiu in delight—it was the first time someone had addressed him as "Senior Uncle." He immediately wanted to go over and greet him warmly.
But as he was about to step out of the cave, he glanced at the thick snow outside and sheepishly pulled his foot back.
It looked freezing out there.
Qin Zheng thought for a moment, then waved Qing Qiu over. “Come inside to talk, it’s cold out there.”
Qing Qiu quickly shook his head. “Thank you for your concern, Senior Uncle. I’m not afraid of the cold.”
Hearing this, the smile that Qin Zheng had been maintaining began to fade. He said gloomily, “You’re not afraid of the cold, but I am.”
Qing Qiu wore an expression of sudden realization and finally obediently stepped forward a few steps, entering the range of the cold-repelling spell.
Although Qing Qiu had cultivation and wasn’t bothered by the cold, he could still feel the warmth.
Just a single step, yet the temperature difference was immense.
Curious, Qing Qiu looked around and exclaimed, “A cold-repelling array!”
“There’s such a large cold-repelling array set up here! Senior Uncle’s cultivation must be on par with the Sect Master’s!”
After rattling off a bunch of excited observations, Qing Qiu looked at Qin Zheng with admiration, making Qin Zheng eye him oddly. “What cold-repelling array?”
He only knew about the cold-repelling spell, not any sort of array—and he definitely wasn’t the one who set this up.
Qing Qiu nodded knowingly. “Cold-repelling array is what Master called it. The formation keeping your cave warm is derived from the cold-repelling spell—it’s been enhanced.”
“The array can remain effective even without the caster nearby.”
“I saw Master use it once back at the Tianque Sect. It requires a very high cultivation to sustain.”
“Oh~”
Rarely praised, Qin Zheng began to feel a bit smug. He nodded and said, “This kind of array is really quite simple.”
“But you didn’t come here just to talk about that, did you?”
Prompted by Qin Zheng, Qing Qiu finally remembered his original purpose for coming.
“The Sect Leader said that even if Senior Uncle is cultivating, there’s no need to live in a cave. Tianque Temple is currently vacant, and someone needs to look after it. He hopes you can move there to cultivate.”
Qin Zheng listened calmly as Qing Qiu finished speaking. After a moment’s silence, he reluctantly nodded and said, “Since Junior Brother is asking so sincerely, I can’t refuse. I can cultivate anywhere, after all.”
Seeing that Qin Zheng agreed, Qing Qiu nodded excitedly. “Great! I’ll return and report to the Sect Leader.”
Just as he was about to turn and leave, he paused and turned back. “Would you like to come with me now, Senior Uncle? I can help you carry some things.”
Qin Zheng smiled and shook his head. “There’s not much. I can handle it myself. You go ahead.”
Then, he looked around the cave somewhat wistfully. “I’ve lived here for so many years… I’ll miss it a bit.”
“Oh, right!” Qing Qiu scratched his head sheepishly. “Senior Uncle’s cultivation is so high, of course you can manage on your own.”
“Then I’ll head back. Goodbye, Senior Uncle!”
Qin Zheng watched with a grin as Qing Qiu walked lightly through the snow, gradually disappearing from view.
The next second, his calm expression completely collapsed, and his smile nearly reached his ears.
Qin Zheng ran joyfully around the cave like a maniac.
“Hahahahahahaha…”
Laughter of triumph echoed endlessly from within the cave.
“Qin Su is just too good to me! My junior brother really gets me! Didn’t even need to say a word, and he brought everything to me!”
Qin Zheng paced back and forth, sat on the bed, got up again, couldn’t sit still.
Why wasn’t Xiao Bai here now?! He had no one to share his joy with.
It was so hard to keep it all in!
In the end, Qin Zheng looked up at the thick snow outside and came up with a clever idea.
Afraid of the cold, he charged straight out of the warming array and stood in snow up to his knees, gleefully shoveling snow with his hands.
Finally, he lay down in the snow, panting heavily, yet he couldn’t help letting out silly giggles.
If someone passed by now, they’d definitely think there was a madman here.
***
Qin Zheng waited in the cave for a few more days before the snow outside finally melted enough.
It had been fun to deceive others for the moment, but now he was starting to worry.
Looking at the messy pile of random things in the cave, Qin Zheng didn’t even know where to start.
Xiao Bai hadn’t shown up in days—who knew where it had run off to?
He glanced at the tattered quilt on the bed, the old broken jars, and the worn-out table and chairs.
Thinking about how he was about to become a mortal who would experience aging, sickness, and death, he decided not to take any of it.
He would just go down the mountain later and buy new things in town.
After all, he’d be over fifty once he became mortal. The silver notes Qin Su gave him would be more than enough to live out the rest of his life in comfort—no need to be frugal anymore.
Qin Zheng walked to the bed, dug into the old quilt, took out the time scroll, and stuffed it into his chest, placing it with the banknotes. He patted them fondly.
Then, he swaggered out of the cave he had lived in for over twenty years.
His excitement had mostly settled by now, but he still couldn’t help humming a little tune as he made his way toward Tianque Temple.
He had already decided which room he wanted to live in.
There were plenty of rooms at Tianque Temple, but his favorite was the master bedroom.
That room was probably occupied by Qin Su for now, but once he left, Qin Zheng planned to move right in.
For now, he’d live next to Qin Su and look for a chance to ask him to help turn him back into a mortal.
Qin Zheng was blissfully planning out his ordinary future in his mind.
After walking along the mountain path for quite a while, he started to feel something was off.
Why hadn’t he seen a single person coming to pray along the entire road to Tianque Temple?
Could it be that everyone had already gathered at the temple?
Recalling how packed it had been that day, Qin Zheng figured he might need to climb the wall to get into the back courtyard later.
However, when he passed by the temple gate and peeked inside, he saw only a few scattered people.
That didn’t seem like the usual behavior of the folks from the town below.
Qin Zheng strolled leisurely into the back courtyard of Tianque Temple.
This was what he cared about the most right now.
The courtyard was completely silent—there didn’t seem to be a single person around.
He glanced at the prominent master bedroom but quickly shifted his gaze to the adjacent rooms.
The master bedroom must be where Qin Su was staying, so he should check the two rooms next to it.
Qin Zheng casually walked up to the door of the room on the left. He pushed it open, and it creaked open easily.
Peeking in and seeing it was empty, his mood instantly lifted. Looking at his own hand, he said cheerfully, “Looks like luck’s on my side today.”
He took a walk around the room, then stepped back out.
Looking up at the sky, he guessed that maybe everyone had already gone down the mountain by now.
After openly touring the back courtyard, Qin Zheng leisurely made his way to the main hall.
But he couldn't actually do anything.
In the eyes of the Tianque Sect disciples, he was a powerful elder. If they saw him doing fortune-telling, wouldn’t that be humiliating?
Besides, he had food to eat now even without doing fortune-telling.
Seeing a woman finish burning incense and getting ready to leave, Qin Zheng hurried over curiously and asked, “Why are there so few people here today to pray at Tianque Temple?”
The woman waved her hand and replied, “The Tianque Sect people have all left. Everyone who came here for so many days is tired, so they’re taking a break.”
“Huh?”
Qin Zheng thought he’d misheard and quickly repeated, “Did you just say the Tianque Sect people left? Left where?”
The woman gave him a strange look. “Where else? Back to the Tianque Sect at the top of Mount Yujing, of course.”
Her words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Qin Zheng, chilling him from head to toe.
After a moment of stunned silence, he suddenly turned and ran toward the back courtyard of Tianque Temple.
He pushed open the master bedroom door and found it completely empty, with the furniture neatly arranged.
Not convinced, Qin Zheng checked every single room in the courtyard. All empty. As if the Tianque Sect people had never been there at all.
How could this be?!
With Qin Su gone, how was he supposed to become a mortal again?
Was he really going to have to wait another twenty years like everyone said?!
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