Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 38 - Unexpected
Chapter 38: Unexpected
Qin Zheng glanced at the completely empty bedroom and decided to head down the mountain to visit the nearby town.
Taking advantage of the relatively good weather today, he needed to go down the mountain and deal with his current food and shelter issues.
Qin Zheng had left everything in the cave, including the fruits Xiao Bai had picked for him.
When Xiao Bai was around, he could rely on him. But now that Xiao Bai was nowhere to be found, he had to rely on himself.
If he didn’t get food and shelter sorted before nightfall, he’d end up cold and starving tonight.
Besides, it snowed heavily here several times each winter. If he didn’t stock up on supplies while the snow was melting, he’d only have regrets when it started snowing again.
What’s more, he was getting on in years—it was time to enjoy life a little.
If one has money and doesn’t spend it, that’s not the Qin Zheng way.
***
As soon as Qin Zheng arrived in town, he went straight to the tailor shop and bought a padded coat he had dreamed of for years. He put it on immediately and squinted in comfort.
Because he had to buy a big-ticket winter item like a quilt, he only picked up the most essential small items for now.
Soon, his once-empty hands were full of things.
Once he felt he couldn’t carry anything more, he began walking back toward Tianque Temple.
"Hey, fortune teller, what kind of windfall did you hit, huh?"
After years of telling fortunes at Tianque Temple, Qin Zheng had made a few acquaintances, and the person who stopped him was one of them.
Qin Zheng gave a mysterious smile and smugly replied, “Can’t say.”
The other man had only asked casually and didn’t press when Qin Zheng dodged the question.
The supplies Qin Zheng had gathered were quite heavy.
Climbing the mountain meant going up step by step, and Qin Zheng had to stop every few minutes to rest.
This was already his twentieth break.
One foot propped up on the quilt, Qin Zheng looked up at the seemingly endless staircase and couldn’t help but think of Xiao Bai.
Another one of Xiao Bai’s strengths—he was incredibly strong!
Qin Zheng had never seen anything Xiao Bai couldn’t lift.
The firewood in the cave had all been brought there by him—big logs as thick as a person’s thigh, carried in bundles of five or six to the cave entrance, then chopped into firewood and stacked inside.
Thinking of the firewood, Qin Zheng decided that next time Xiao Bai showed up, he’d have him move all the firewood from the cave to Tianque Temple.
“Xiao Bai!!” Qin Zheng shouted toward the woods on both sides of the stairs, hoping to call him out.
Something like this had happened before.
Back then, Qin Zheng was in danger and shouted Xiao Bai’s name, and he really did appear—but only a few times.
After a few shouts, Qin Zheng waited quietly, but saw no sign of Xiao Bai.
“Sigh!” Qin Zheng let out a sigh. “Just a coincidence after all.”
He could only resign himself to hoisting the load back onto his shoulder and continuing up the mountain.
Time was running short. If he didn’t hurry, it would get dark soon.
In the pitch black, who knew how far he’d have to go?
“Do you need help, sir?”
The sudden voice from behind startled Qin Zheng so much that he stumbled.
Where had this person popped up from, out here in the middle of nowhere?
Still, he turned around with a glimmer of hope.
If someone was offering to help carry things, he’d be a fool to say no.
“It’s you!” Qin Zheng’s face changed dramatically.
What bad luck!
He never expected to run into Wei Feiluan again in this situation!
Sure enough, misfortunes never come alone.
With Qin Su gone, let alone taking revenge, Qin Zheng felt like this man could kill him and hide his body and no one would ever know.
And the worst part was—this guy really had done things like that to him before.
Qin Zheng quickly looked around for a stick or something to defend himself with.
But there were only thick trees on both sides, and all the fallen branches had probably already been picked up by Xiao Bai!
“It’s you?” Wei Feiluan also looked surprised to see Qin Zheng.
Despite his nervousness, Qin Zheng forced himself to speak firmly: “Why are you still hanging around Mount Yujing!”
Wei Feiluan gave him a curious once-over and asked, “What’s with your outfit?”
Seeing that Wei Feiluan didn’t seem hostile, Qin Zheng relaxed a little. He glanced down at his clothes and replied, “Everyone here dresses like this.”
Wei Feiluan frowned. “You went down the mountain?”
Qin Zheng, feeling the load in his hands getting heavier and heavier, quickly dumped everything into Wei Feiluan’s arms. “Didn’t you just say you wanted to help? Then you can carry all of it.”
“You’re so powerful—you could carry twice as much without breaking a sweat.”
Wei Feiluan effortlessly caught all the things Qin Zheng handed over and urgently asked, “When did you go down the mountain? Why?”
Qin Zheng looked at the apparently concerned Wei Feiluan with a trace of suspicion.
If he hadn’t seen Wei Feiluan trick him out of the royal manor with his own eyes, he might’ve almost believed him.
“I didn’t get along with Tianque Sect. I left the sect a long time ago.”
Wei Feiluan probed further: “You look exactly like you did decades ago.”
“Logically, you shouldn't be an ordinary mortal anymore. Why are you walking up the mountain on foot?”
Qin Zheng shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe the immortal energy of Tianque Sect was too strong. I only stayed a few years, yet even without a spiritual root, I somehow became an immortal ordinary person.”
Walking the mountain path alone had been quite boring. But seeing that Wei Feiluan didn’t seem to have any ill intentions, Qin Zheng naturally started chatting.
“Why are you going up the mountain?”
Wei Feiluan paused, then answered truthfully, “I’m going to Tianque Temple.”
Qin Zheng was surprised to hear that they were heading to the same place. He gave him a curious look. “What’s a rogue cultivator like you doing there?”
Wei Feiluan smiled lightly. “To ask the mountain god for blessings.”
Qin Zheng shot him a sideways glance, clearly unconvinced. “You think I’m three years old? You’re the one who broke the mountain god’s seal. And now you’re asking for his blessing?”
Wei Feiluan merely smiled and didn’t answer.
Qin Zheng recalled that before he traveled back in time, this man had been searching for something on Mount Yujing. “By the way, did you ever find what you were looking for twenty years ago?”
Wei Feiluan nodded happily. “I just found it recently.”
Qin Zheng looked at him in surprise. “You mean you’ve been searching all these years? And only found it now?”
“You’ve got perseverance, I’ll give you that.”
The two chatted along the way, and before long, they arrived at the entrance to Tianque Temple.
Seeing that the entrance was still some distance from the backyard, and feeling too lazy to carry his load any further, Qin Zheng pointed ahead. “This is Tianque Temple. Why not come in? Help me carry these to the back while you’re at it.”
Wei Feiluan looked at him with surprise. “You live here now?”
Qin Zheng nodded. “Just moved in today.”
Wei Feiluan looked at him with a subtle smile, and uttered two words:
“Very good.”
Qin Zheng didn’t quite catch it. He glanced over. “What did you say?”
Wei Feiluan shook his head. “Nothing.” Then shoved everything he was holding back into Qin Zheng’s arms and walked off around the temple walls.
Qin Zheng watched his back in confusion. “I knew you weren’t here to pray. Didn’t even step inside before leaving.”
Dragging his heap of belongings, Qin Zheng wandered into Tianque Temple and headed toward the backyard, passing through the main hall.
By now, dusk had settled, and all the worshippers had already left.
The ever-burning lamp beside the mountain god statue gave off a faint glow.
Just as Qin Zheng was about to turn and head toward the backyard, a sudden flash of white light lit up the entire hall.
It vanished in an instant.
The light had seemed to come from behind the mountain god’s statue.
Thinking he had imagined it, Qin Zheng placed his things on the steps and slowly walked around the back of the statue.
At that moment, the white light flared again, flickering brightly and dimly.
Once he got behind the statue, Qin Zheng clearly saw the source of the light.
On the ground behind the statue, a white seal flickered in and out of view — the very light he had just seen.
At first glance, Qin Zheng found it strangely familiar.
He searched his memory and suddenly recalled the red seal pattern he had seen on the back mountain of Tianque Temple — it looked exactly like this one!
The only difference between the two was the color.
Then Qin Zheng remembered what his master had said when sealing his martial uncle.
A red seal meant residual demonic energy. Once it turned white, that meant the demonic energy had been fully cleansed.
Qin Zheng looked at the mountain god’s statue, then down at the white seal on the ground.
Suddenly, everything clicked into place — all the events lined up to form a clear picture.
It became obvious: Tianque Temple had not been built to worship the mountain god, but because of whatever was sealed beneath it.
That so-called “twenty-year promise” was merely a pretense, used to lure villagers into praying in exchange for that promise.
Now, with the demonic energy beneath the seal dispelled, did this mean that even if he waited another twenty years, Qin Su would never return?
Qin Zheng looked at the seal, then quickly turned, grabbed his belongings, and returned to his room in the backyard.
He tossed everything on the bed and pulled a time scroll from his robes.
At this point, it seemed the only solution… was to go back to the past
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