Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 44 - Rat Grey House
Chapter 44: Rat Grey House
Qin Zheng looked in surprise at the humanoid-looking rat.
The words Wei Feiluan had just said were still echoing in his ears.
Could it be that the original form of the mountain god Yu Jingchen was actually... a rat?
Qin Zheng slowly walked over and asked softly, “Do you know what’s wrong with him?”
As soon as Qin Zheng spoke, the rat in front of him seemed startled and jumped up in fright, quickly turning to look behind it.
“Who are you! When did you get in here?!”
Qin Zheng looked oddly at the overly dramatic rat and said, “I’ve been here all along. The person on the chair is my junior brother.”
When the rat turned around, Qin Zheng actually found it more and more familiar.
The events from last night in the bushes suddenly resurfaced in Qin Zheng’s mind.
He had seen this rat before!
Not caring whether the rat was the mountain god or not, Qin Zheng pointed at it, fuming, and shouted, “So it was you! Last night it was your fault I was almost discovered by those demons, which forced my junior brother to use one of his energy-draining abilities again!”
The rat stared blankly at him and said, “Last night?”
“I didn’t see you last night. But I did see a few demons.”
As it spoke, the rat hopped to Qin Zheng’s feet and sniffed him. While sniffing, it exclaimed, “No wonder I couldn’t detect your presence—you’re neither human, immortal, nor demon. Of course you have no scent.”
“I never thought such a person could exist in the world!”
This was the second time Qin Zheng had heard this. He thought to himself: What’s so strange about being immortal?
Still, judging by the rat’s expression, it didn’t seem like it was lying.
Qin Zheng couldn’t help but wonder: Could I have mistaken it for another rat?
He thought for a moment and asked, “Do you have any siblings? I might’ve seen another rat your size last night.”
The rat finished sniffing and hopped back to the lounge chair, shaking its head. “You must’ve been seeing things. There’s no way you’ll find another rat like me on all of Mount Yujing!”
Qin Zheng carefully recalled what happened last night and thought of the Spirit of Time’s ability.
Could Qin Su have reversed time?
Suddenly, the rat politely bowed to him and said, “I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Huiwu, the servant here.”
“You’re not the mountain god?” Qin Zheng looked slightly stunned.
But then again, the idea of Yu Jingchen being a rat did seem a bit far-fetched.
Huiwu laughed and said, “How could I dare claim the title of Mountain God!”
Since it wasn’t the mountain god, Qin Zheng felt relieved and pointed to Qin Su, who was still unconscious on the lounge chair. “You just said his condition was strange—may I ask what you meant?”
Huiwu sniffed Qin Su and said, “Your junior brother carries the aura of the mountain god.”
“But strangely, he has no human energy.”
“Otherwise, I would’ve thought he was...”
Hearing that Qin Su had no human energy, Qin Zheng immediately rushed forward to check his breath.
After confirming he was still breathing, Qin Zheng, still shaken, looked at Huiwu and said, “Can you not scare me like that? I really can’t handle any more shocks right now!”
Huiwu didn’t understand why Qin Zheng was so nervous and explained, “When I said he has no human energy, I didn’t mean he was dead. It just means that he doesn’t feel like a person—more like an object.”
Then Huiwu pointed at the lounge chair beneath Qin Su and said, “Like this chair—it has no human energy.”
Qin Zheng didn’t quite understand such profound concepts. “He probably just overexerted himself. But is his current state dangerous?”
Huiwu waved a paw. “Don’t worry. I’ve seen this before elsewhere. He’s probably undergoing a physical reconstruction.”
“Physical reconstruction?” Qin Zheng stared blankly at Qin Su. “Didn’t he just overuse his powers? Why would that require something as dramatic as reconstructing his body?”
Huiwu jumped off the lounge chair and walked into the house while saying, “I’m not entirely sure of the reason, but I suspect it’s related to him not having human energy.”
“The fact that he can reconstruct himself is already impressive. Some people, after overexerting themselves, can only recover through reincarnation.”
“You mean the mountain god, right?” Qin Zheng blurted out.
Huiwu paused, turned around to look Qin Zheng up and down, and asked, “Are you a disciple of the Tianque Sect?”
Qin Zheng nodded.
“No wonder,” Huiwu said as he continued walking inside. “Come in too. It wouldn’t do to leave guests out in the courtyard—if the mountain god finds out, he’ll definitely scold me.”
Since Huiwu said so, Qin Zheng didn’t hold back. He helped Qin Su up and followed inside.
The house had no obvious light sources, yet it was as bright as outside—though lacking the warmth of sunlight.
The furniture wasn’t arranged with much care. Upon entering, the first thing one would see was a couch.
Aside from the central walkway, the rest of the space was filled with various curious items.
Huiwu pointed to the couch. “Place him there. It’ll be more comfortable.”
“From the looks of it, he won’t wake up for at least ten days to half a month.”
“At least?” Qin Zheng turned to glance at Qin Su lying on the couch. His gut told him that once again, this trip might have been in vain.
Suddenly, as if something had occurred to him, Qin Zheng asked, “The mountain god hasn’t returned yet?”
If the mountain god were around, maybe he could help Qin Su wake up sooner.
Huiwu was stunned for a moment, then nodded after a while and said, “Ah, that’s right—it’s been almost thirty years. He should be back by now.”
“Sigh... hopefully he hasn’t run into any old enemies. If they found out where he went, it’d be big trouble.”
Qin Zheng asked in confusion, “Enemies?”
Huiwu nodded. “The Mountain God has many enemies because he loves meddling in other people’s business.”
“Just take those people who passed by outside the cave earlier—every one of them treats the Mountain God like an enemy.”
“That person in the middle, Wei Feiluan, I’ve seen him before. He’s probably the Mountain God’s greatest foe.”
“Sigh... but to be fair, the Mountain God was innocent in that matter.”
Suddenly, as if something had occurred to him, Huiwu exclaimed in surprise, “Wait, were those people here for you?”
Qin Zheng nodded, looking a bit helpless.
Huiwu examined him again and said, “The passage to the Demon Realm has already been sealed—it should be extremely difficult for them to get here. Why are they so determined to chase you?”
Qin Zheng remembered that group had mentioned the Spirit of Time. That must have been their goal. But since neither he nor Qin Su currently had any power, he couldn’t just tell anyone about it.
So he shook his head and said, “I was abducted by demons from the Tianque Sect. They captured several of our disciples.”
“Your sect leader wasn’t there?”
Qin Zheng nodded. “I’m not sure what happened, but none of the high-ranking elders were present.”
“I guess that’s why those people dared to come into the sect and snatch people.”
Huiwu thought for a while, then nodded as if he had figured it out. “I see.”
At that moment, Qin Zheng’s stomach growled loudly from hunger—it had been a long time since he’d eaten.
The sound was especially clear in the quiet room.
Huiwu glanced up at Qin Zheng and said, “I’ll go get you something to eat.”
Qin Zheng nodded gratefully.
In just a second, Huiwu vanished.
After Huiwu left, Qin Zheng found his loose hair a bit annoying, so he reached into his robes and pulled out the hair tie he’d used before.
After casually tying up his own hair, he glanced at the extra tie in his hand, then at Qin Su’s long, disheveled hair on the bed. After thinking for a moment, he walked over and simply tied Qin Su’s hair into a braid.
With nothing else to do, Qin Zheng walked around the house.
The objects on the shelves all looked like magical or extraordinary items, but there were so many of them that Qin Zheng actually lost interest.
Suddenly, three paintings hanging side by side caught his attention.
All three depicted the same person—one lying down, one sitting, one standing.
From the style of the paintings, it looked like they were done by different artists.
Just then, Huiwu returned, balancing a plate of fruit. He placed it on the empty table and said, “We only have fruit here.”
Qin Zheng was already so hungry that he didn’t care whether it was meat or vegetables. He grabbed a piece and started eating immediately. While chewing, he pointed at the three paintings and asked, “The person in those paintings—could that be Yu Jingchen?”
Huiwu said proudly, “Who else could have such looks besides our Mountain God?”
Qin Zheng chuckled inwardly. He didn’t expect the Mountain God to have such a vanity streak.
Sensing that his words might cause a misunderstanding, Huiwu quickly explained, “The Mountain God didn’t paint those himself!”
“They were made by the three sisters of Nanshan. They only agreed to his request on the condition that their paintings be hung here.”
Qin Zheng bit into his fruit and said, “I still think my junior brother looks better.”
Qin Zheng ended up staying in the Mountain God’s courtyard for a full month.
The deadline for this time was fast approaching.
As Qin Zheng had guessed, Qin Su did not wake up after ten or fifteen days like Huiwu said. He remained completely unconscious for an entire month.
Even now, he was still lying there—but the glowing aura that once surrounded him had faded.
Qin Zheng stood at the side of the bed, hoping that Qin Su would finally wake up today.
The deadline was coming.
And this time, it seemed the heavens had finally heard his wish.
Qin Zheng saw Qin Su’s eyes move slightly and hurriedly wiped his own eyes.
When he lowered his hand, Qin Su was indeed looking at him with open eyes.
Qin Su looked at Qin Zheng’s surprised and delighted expression by the bed and said slowly, “It’s been... almost a month, hasn’t it?”
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