Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 42 - Seemingly Familiar
Chapter 42: Seemingly Familiar
Qin Zheng cautiously looked around but couldn’t see a single shadow of a person or sense any movement.
But Qin Su wouldn’t say something like that just to deceive him.
Thinking of that demon clan member whose cultivation rivaled Qin Su’s, Qin Zheng started to panic.
He had actually stayed in such a dangerous place for so long—and even lit a fire.
If those people came, this would definitely be the first place they’d search.
He had to leave this place immediately!
Qin Zheng rushed to the campfire and quickly smothered it with the surrounding sand.
As the fire went out, darkness instantly enveloped the area, and only faint moonlight allowed him to see vague outlines.
Gripping the clothes in his hands, Qin Zheng suddenly remembered that Qin Su still hadn’t gotten dressed and rushed over to him.
Under the moonlight, he saw Qin Su half-sitting up on the ground, though it was unclear how well he had recovered.
Standing in front of him, Qin Zheng shook the clothes in his hand and asked, “How are you? Can you put your clothes on yourself?”
“I’m afraid that’ll be difficult.”
Qin Su replied, his voice sounding exhausted.
In his condition, if he tried to dress himself, they might as well not bother running at all.
Qin Zheng pressed his lips together and squatted in front of Qin Su. “I’ll do it. We don’t have time.”
He quickly picked out the pants and underclothes from the pile by moonlight and began dressing Qin Su piece by piece.
Since the moonlight wasn’t enough to see clearly, Qin Zheng had to rely on touch to dress him.
By the time the clothes were on, Qin Zheng had pretty much felt every part of Qin Su.
The sensation under his hands gave Qin Zheng a strange satisfaction.
As he helped Qin Su into the final outer robe and looked up, he saw Qin Su’s face just inches away, his eyes unreadable.
This face was really getting more and more attractive.
But Qin Zheng only dared to say that in his heart.
Quickly backing away, he muttered, “Why are you so close to me? You scared me.”
Under Qin Su’s gaze, Qin Zheng suddenly felt inexplicably uneasy.
He stood up, dusted off his clothes, and then bent down to help Qin Su to his feet.
Now wasn’t the time to linger—they needed to escape.
Qin Zheng glanced anxiously at the dark forest ahead. “Neither of us can use spells right now. Are you sure we can outrun people whose cultivation is on par with yours?”
It sounded hopeless.
“We can. Let’s go,” Qin Su answered firmly.
Encouraged by his confidence, Qin Zheng mustered up his courage and began walking toward the forest.
Suddenly, the feel of Qin Su’s hair in his hand reminded him of something.
He dashed back to the makeshift clothes rack and yanked down the two hair ties he’d used to secure it. Only then did he feel at ease helping Qin Su into the pathless forest.
His will to survive kept him from stopping even for a second.
A thought suddenly occurred to Qin Zheng, and he asked with concern, “What about those junior disciples on the mountaintop? Could they be captured again?”
There was a long silence before Qin Su replied in a voice only Qin Zheng could hear, “They’re probably no longer interested in those people.”
“Huh?”
With nothing visible in front of him but forest, talking was the only way for Qin Zheng to feel less lost.
“Do you have something on you that they want?” he asked.
Qin Su let out a soft laugh. “Do you want to know?”
“Then you tell me where you came from first.”
The words hung in the air, met with silence.
But Qin Zheng’s heart wasn’t nearly as calm.
Qin Su’s meaning was clear: I know you are Qin Zheng, but you’re not the original Qin Zheng.
It might not seem like a big deal to admit that, but Qin Zheng feared that revealing something about his time-traveling might affect the past in unforeseen ways.
He didn’t want a careless word to ruin everything.
So he changed the subject completely. “It’s pitch black ahead. If there’s a cliff, warn me. I don’t want to fall to my death.”
“Okay,” Qin Su replied.
Since Qin Zheng didn’t want to answer, Qin Su didn’t press him.
In the trackless forest, they had no choice but to keep walking forward.
Neither said much, and their heavy breathing was the only sound around.
After an unknown amount of time, a dark shadow suddenly appeared ahead.
Qin Zheng stopped to assess the situation.
Amid the darkness, a bioluminescent plant glowed faintly—it looked exactly like the ones grown at Tianque Sect.
Looking more closely, he realized it was a steep mountain.
They were now halfway along a cliffside path, with the option to go left or right.
Without thinking further, Qin Zheng chose the right.
Before heading to the right, Qin Zheng first ran to the left side and deliberately trampled down the grass to create traces that looked like they had gone that way. Then, supporting Qin Su, he carefully slipped into the grass on the right.
The two continued walking aimlessly along the side of the mountain.
“Their presence is getting closer,” Qin Su said.
“Looks like your little trick didn’t work.”
Qin Su’s words made Qin Zheng’s heart instantly race.
He had originally thought they could just keep walking forward, but now it seemed that plan wouldn’t work.
He didn’t know where Qin Su’s earlier confidence came from.
But clearly, he couldn’t rely on it completely.
Qin Zheng stopped, looked around, and said, “I think if we hide in the bushes on the side, we might still have a chance to escape.”
“Wait, no!” he suddenly exclaimed, realizing something. “You can sense their movements, which means they can probably track us the same way!”
No wonder they had followed even after being misled.
Qin Su seemed to guess what Qin Zheng was thinking and said softly, “Let’s hide off to the side for now.”
Qin Zheng pulled a bitter face. “But won’t they still sense our presence even if we hide?”
However, Qin Su shook his head. “They can sense normal people, yes—but not us.”
“That’s why, even though we’re on foot, they still haven’t caught us.”
Qin Zheng didn’t fully understand the deeper meaning behind Qin Su’s words, but since he said so, he decided to follow along.
Better than doing nothing.
After scanning the area, Qin Zheng chose a spot where the vegetation was the thickest and the shadows deepest, then helped Qin Su crouch down.
Both of them leaned in, listening carefully to the sounds around them.
Due to nerves, Qin Zheng unconsciously gripped Qin Su’s hand tightly.
Soon, voices came from the direction they had just come from, drawing steadily closer.
“Are you sure the Spirit of Time is with them?”
“Absolutely. I saw it with my own eyes—someone vanished and reappeared suddenly. Then I was inexplicably transported miles away! No other artifact has that kind of power—it has to be the Spirit of Time.”
“Besides, we can’t sense their auras at all now. It has to be the artifact’s doing.”
“Enough! Stop arguing and search. We can’t stay in this area much longer.”
In the dim light, Qin Zheng could see about five people. One of the voices belonged to the person who had abducted him earlier.
Judging by their behavior, they truly hadn’t noticed the two of them hiding nearby.
If only he’d known earlier—there was no need for all that running.
Just hiding in any bush would’ve worked.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Qin Zheng noticed something by his feet.
He quickly looked down and saw a rat the size of a rabbit, crouched upright like it had some intelligence.
Sensing Qin Zheng’s gaze, the rat turned its head and looked right at him.
Then, it suddenly jumped toward him and Qin Su, sniffing intensely.
That leap caused the plants around it to sway noticeably.
The demon race members, who had just passed by, immediately turned toward where Qin Zheng and Qin Su were hiding.
Qin Zheng silently cursed his luck—next time he time-traveled, he really needed to check the almanac. Today was just too unlucky.
As the demon cultivators approached, the rat, sensing danger, bolted away with a whoosh.
Qin Zheng looked helplessly at Qin Su, who still wore a calm and collected expression.
The demons were just about to push aside the final layer of bushes.
Qin Zheng’s mind was spinning in overdrive, but he couldn’t think of any way out.
Just when everything seemed lost, the world in front of Qin Zheng suddenly blurred. The grass, the enemies—everything vanished.
Before him now stood a massive shadow.
Looking up, he saw a steep cliffside with a glowing plant—identical to those grown at Tianque Sect.
The scene felt eerily familiar.
He suddenly noticed the weight of Qin Su in his arms had grown heavier.
“Go left.”
Qin Su’s voice came, now incredibly weak.
Without a second thought, Qin Zheng followed his instruction and turned to walk along the left side of the cliff.
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