Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 39 - An Unexpected Calamity
Chapter 39: An Unexpected Calamity
In just the blink of an eye, everything around him had changed.
Qin Zheng looked up and around, confirming that this was not the familiar first-tier training room.
On the left wall of the room, there were three barrier gates lined up side by side.
He raised his right hand, circulated a bit of energy, and a small flame flickered to life on the tip of his index finger.
This was the only spell he would be able to use in the future.
。
It seemed he had successfully cultivated to the early stage of Tier Two.
Looking at the dancing flame on his fingertip, Qin Zheng considered whether he should leave a note for his past self before he left again, telling him to stop cultivating—since there wouldn’t be any further progress anyway.
He had later heard from his master that for someone without a spiritual root, reaching Tier Two was already a miracle—and also the absolute limit.
Advancing further required relying on one's spiritual root, and he didn’t have even a trace of one.
Instead of exhausting himself and ending up disappointed, he figured it would be better to spend that time nurturing a good relationship with Qin Su.
Qin Zheng stood up, stretched, loosened his joints, and opened the door to the second-tier room—
Only to find complete darkness outside.
Since the second-tier rooms were in a relatively remote corner of the Tianque Sect, the surroundings were eerily quiet.
Qin Zheng distinctly remembered that he had written “noon” on the time scroll for convenience.
Because noon was a rest period, it would be easier to find Qin Su then.
He hadn’t expected the scroll to be so unreliable again, with yet another time discrepancy.
This time, Qin Zheng had reminded himself repeatedly before coming back: as soon as he arrived, he would go find Qin Su and state his intentions directly.
This same mistake had happened three times now—which completely contradicted his intelligence as Qin Zheng!
As the saying goes: three strikes and you're out.
These three bloody lessons had taught him that no matter what, the most important thing must always be handled first.
Better safe than sorry.
If something dangerous happened again, with Qin Su’s tendency to pass out easily, they might waste another opportunity.
And Qin Zheng was already in his forties or fifties—if he delayed too long, he might forget what he came to do in the first place.
Most importantly, ever since the spiritual root test, Qin Zheng had stopped picking on Qin Su. With Qin Su’s intelligence, he must’ve already realized that this Qin Zheng was no longer the original one.
Last time, even though Qin Su had asked a question, with his personality, he would never have voiced it if he wasn’t already sure.
So instead of asking, it was more like he was telling him: “I know you’re not really Qin Zheng.”
In that case, whatever past grudges there were wouldn’t be held against him now.
Qin Zheng stepped out of the second-tier room and looked up at the pitch-black sky.
Unfortunately, there were no stars or moon in sight, so he had no idea whether it was just after sunset or deep into the night.
If it was already late, his plans would have to wait until the next day.
Despite all his past travels through time, this was the first time he had ever arrived during the night.
Although the second-stage area was remote, many glowing plants had been planted along the way.
Qin Zheng easily found his way back to the main path of the Tianque Sect.
Once he left the second-stage area, he could hear all kinds of noise and chatter coming from every direction.
It didn’t seem to be too late at all.
In that case, catching Qin Su at the little wooden house would be easy.
Qin Zheng couldn’t help but perk up his ears and listen closely. The Tianque Sect now seemed livelier than he remembered.
It felt just like a festival down in the village.
Could it be that the sect leader and senior uncles had all gone traveling again?
Otherwise, how could the disciples be acting so bold?
Just as he was about to step onto the walkway, he heard someone coming his way and paused his steps.
From a distance, he saw a few unfamiliar junior disciples walking together, chatting animatedly.
“All the elders are out, so let’s take a proper break today!”
“Definitely!”
“But didn’t the Sect Leader leave Qin Su in charge while he’s gone? What if Junior Brother Qin Su reports us?”
“Relax. Qin Su doesn’t look like someone who’d tattle.”
“Wrong, wrong—it’s more like Qin Su can’t be bothered with petty stuff like that!”
……
Qin Zheng stepped onto the corridor and glanced at the disciples as they walked away.
So the sect leader and senior uncles really weren’t around—no wonder things were so lively today.
He listened more carefully. The noise coming from all directions meant he’d likely run into people wherever he went.
Right now, Qin Zheng had no interest in seeing anyone except Qin Su. He didn’t have the energy to argue with anyone else.
After scanning his surroundings, he quietly slipped into the nearby woods from a side path next to the corridor.
This shortcut to Qin Su’s place was not only faster but also guaranteed he wouldn’t run into anyone at this hour.
The night was too quiet—only the sound of his shoes crunching dry grass could be heard.
The glowing plants in the woods were far fewer than before, so Qin Zheng had a flash of inspiration: he lit a small flame on his finger to use as a lantern.
He remembered that the last time he’d taken this path was with Qin Su—when they both fell into the ice cave.
Thinking back to what happened last time, Qin Zheng couldn’t help but cast his gaze toward both sides of the small path.
On both sides of the path, many medicinal herbs could still be seen, and each one looked quite aged.
It seemed that ever since his martial uncle was sealed, his master had stopped bringing back herbs to plant. The herbs here had been left untouched, growing freely on their own.
Qin Zheng strolled leisurely down the path toward Qin Su’s residence,
He pondered over how to bring up his request in conversation.
And what if Qin Su refused?
Although the small path through the forest was some distance from the corridor outside, Qin Zheng could still see what was happening on the corridor because it was well-lit over there.
From the corridor, unless someone looked carefully into the woods, they wouldn’t notice Qin Zheng with his little flame.
Casually glancing at the corridor, Qin Zheng happened to see a somewhat unfamiliar junior brother hurrying along.
This junior brother’s walking style reminded Qin Zheng of how young ladies from the lower world walked. Amused, he watched him go farther and farther away.
Suddenly, a black-clad figure appeared out of nowhere, silently following the junior brother, getting closer and closer.
Immediately sensing that something was wrong, Qin Zheng quickly extinguished the flame on his hand.
Even though he was cloaked in darkness, he instinctively looked around for a tree to hide behind.
Clutching the tree trunk with tense fingers, he didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly, quietly watching the situation unfold on the corridor.
Sure enough, the black-clad man caught up to the junior brother and knocked him out with a quick chop to the neck. He then slung the unconscious man over his back, leapt lightly onto the rooftop, and disappeared into the night.
Was this a kidnapping?
His master and martial uncle weren’t in the sect today, and the intruder had chosen this particular time to strike—clearly, this was premeditated.
Anyone daring to infiltrate Tianque Sect and snatch people like this must have considerable cultivation.
Thinking fast, Qin Zheng turned and sprinted toward Qin Su’s residence.
Since Qin Su was temporarily managing the sect, he had to be informed immediately.
And right now, there was no safer place than wherever Qin Su was.
However, Qin Zheng had only taken a few steps before he suddenly felt a heavy blow to the back of his neck.
A chill ran through him.
Then everything went black as he lost consciousness.
In that final moment before passing out, Qin Zheng felt a wave of inexplicable frustration.
Exactly what he feared had happened.
***
He didn’t know how much time had passed before he groggily opened his eyes.
He was still a bit dazed, but the sharp pain from his neck jolted him fully awake.
Was he… kidnapped?
Qin Zheng instinctively tried to raise his hand to rub his aching neck—only to find that his arms wouldn’t move at all.
Frowning, he turned his head and saw that he was completely tied to a pillar, unable to move an inch.
The surroundings looked like an old, rundown temple.
He was bound to one of the stone pillars in it.
To his surprise, there were others tied to the surrounding pillars too.
Judging by their clothes, they were disciples of Tianque Sect as well—probably low-level and unfamiliar faces, like himself.
Looking closely, he recognized one of them as the junior brother he had personally seen get taken earlier.
They all seemed to have woken up a bit earlier than him.
Qin Zheng struggled a bit, then turned to the nearest person and asked, “What’s going on here?”
The junior brother shook his head. “I don’t know either. I woke up and was already here.”
Qin Zheng twisted his body and noticed that the ropes seemed pretty ordinary. “You’re all cultivators. Can’t you break free?”
The junior brother replied dejectedly, “We tried. These aren’t ordinary ropes. We’re completely helpless against them.”
Just as Qin Zheng was about to ask more questions, the old temple doors creaked loudly as someone pushed them open from outside.
A strangely dressed man walked in.
With just a glance, his bright red eyes immediately stood out among the dim surroundings.
The more Qin Zheng looked at him, the more familiar he seemed. He closed his eyes and searched his memory—
Got it! This person’s attire was very similar to the demonic creatures they had encountered in the Third Tier forest. Only those creatures were just soul remnants and didn’t have such distinct eye colors.
Suddenly, the junior brother beside him gasped in shock: “A demon!”
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