Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 68 - Illusion Lantern Festival 02
Chapter 68: Illusion Lantern Festival 02
Not long after, the entire sky over the town was filled with floating lanterns drifting through the air.
When the people beneath the lanterns looked up and saw one floating above their heads, some were delighted while others appeared troubled.
Qin Zheng watched lantern after lantern rise into the sky, then turned and glanced at Yu Xinjue. “You can do illusion magic too, right? Why not try?”
Yu Xinjue glanced at Qin Su. “I already released one.”
“I see.” Qin Zheng looked enviously at the lanterns hovering above others’ heads.
He had originally wanted to ask Yu Xinjue to conjure one just for fun.
The three of them stood in the crowd watching for quite a while. Eventually, they got bored and slowly wandered away with the flow of people.
Just as the three of them squeezed out of the crowd, someone appeared in front of them.
“Young Master, the clan leader wishes to speak with you.”
Qin Zheng recognized the person—it was the same man who frequently came to call him for meals.
Yu Xinjue looked a bit troubled as he glanced at Qin Su behind him. “I need to return to the residence. You two enjoy yourselves and head back when you’re done.”
After saying that, he walked away, turning back repeatedly with each step.
Qin Zheng cheerfully watched as Yu Xinjue’s figure disappeared down the street, then turned to stand proudly in front of Qin Su. “Here, help me hold these.”
Earlier, out of some inexplicable irritation, Qin Zheng had accepted everything Qin Su handed him.
That resulted in him now carrying a ridiculous number of trinkets, to the point where he couldn’t hold them all.
But because Yu Xinjue was around, he didn’t want to give any of them back to Qin Su.
Now that he was gone, he could finally enjoy himself properly.
Qin Su took almost all of the items from him.
Qin Zheng kept only one in his hand to play with, and as he fiddled with it, he chuckled, “Why is it that Yu Xinjue keeps buying you things but never buys me anything?”
“He even invited only you out to play. That’s really unfair!”
Qin Su remained silent, walking quietly behind him without replying.
“Hey hey hey! You two, please wait a moment. Allow me to read your fortune!”
Qin Zheng followed the voice and saw a fortune-telling stand by the side of the road.
The setup looked even more impressive than the one at Tianque Temple.
Since he himself had once practiced fortune-telling, Qin Zheng felt a curious kinship with the fortune teller and walked over right away.
Glancing at the table, he said, “Didn’t expect to see fortune-telling here too.”
“What do you want with us?” Then, as if remembering something, he added, “But don’t expect to get any money out of us. The one who had money ran off—we’re flat broke now.”
The man quickly waved his hand. “Today is the Lantern Illusion Festival. I’m only here to practice—I’m not charging anything.”
Qin Zheng grinned with interest. “So fortune-telling needs practice too?”
The man nodded. “Yes. The higher your illusion skills, the more accurate your readings.”
“So, how about letting me read your fortune?”
“Let’s see if I’m accurate or not.”
Qin Zheng, in a great mood, immediately sat down on the stool in front of the table. “Sure! Go ahead.”
“Alright!”
After manipulating some items on the table in a way Qin Zheng didn’t understand, the man finally looked at him intently, clearly having completed the reading.
Qin Zheng urged, “Go on, tell me!”
The man pursed his lips and said, “This young master lost his parents at a young age. Originally, this would have allowed him to achieve great things, but unfortunately, due to the interference of petty people, he lost both fame and fortune.”
“However, you are inherently lucky. In time, you will surely reclaim your rightful place.”
When he finished, the man looked at Qin Zheng with hopeful anticipation. “Well? How did I do?”
Qin Zheng nodded. “The first part was vague but fairly accurate. As for the latter part, I haven’t experienced it yet, so I can’t comment.”
Hearing that, the man looked overjoyed. “I’m still refining my illusion skills, so I can only make general predictions. If I was even somewhat accurate, I’m already satisfied!”
“But my father always said—if the first half of a reading is right, the second half is bound to come true as well.”
“So young master, don’t give up hope.”
Qin Zheng smiled, stood up, then turned and picked one of the many trinkets from Qin Su’s arms to place on the table. “Thanks. This is a gift from me in return.”
The man looked touched as he accepted the toy.
Then he leaned closer and whispered to Qin Zheng, “To be honest, I’m not that good at most spells, but when it comes to matters of the heart, I’m fairly accurate.”
“I know you and the person behind you are a couple—I won’t judge you for it. But he’s surrounded by a lot of romantic energy right now, so you’d better keep a close eye on him.” After saying that, he gave Qin Su a meaningful look.
The moment Qin Zheng heard the word couple, he instantly stood up straighter.
After thinking it over, Qin Zheng realized it wasn’t entirely wrong. He awkwardly nodded and quickly dragged Qin Su away.
“I think his fortune telling was pretty accurate,”
Qin Su’s calm voice floated gently into his ear.
Qin Zheng turned and shot his junior brother a look. “Were you eavesdropping?”
“You two were talking too loudly.”
Qin Su’s voice sounded a little innocent.
***
Feeling like there wasn’t much else to do, Qin Zheng grabbed Qin Su and headed toward the clan leader’s house.
As the two walked into a quieter part of town, Qin Zheng casually looked up at the sky, trying to gauge what time it might be.
But what he saw made him freeze.
Floating above him was a pale blue illusion lantern.
To be precise, the lantern was floating above Qin Su’s head—
It was clearly following him.
Qin Zheng stared darkly at Qin Su, and the fortune teller’s voice echoed in his mind.
It really did look like Qin Su had some romantic fortune coming his way.
But from who?
After searching his mind, Qin Zheng could only think of one possible person: Yu Xinjue, who had taken them out earlier.
Looks like he needed to keep a closer watch.
Qin Su was going to be the next sect leader—he couldn’t be distracted by romance!
***
After the Lantern Illusion Festival, Qin Su continued cultivating in his room. Qin Zheng, still obsessed with what had happened during the festival, stayed in his own room secretly monitoring Qin Su.
Even after returning, that illusion lantern above Qin Su’s head hadn’t disappeared.
So Qin Zheng was convinced—if things were really as he suspected, then Yu Xinjue would definitely come looking for Qin Su in the next few days.
Sure enough, the very next morning, Qin Zheng saw Yu Xinjue standing hesitantly in front of Qin Su’s room, lifting his hand to knock only to lower it several times.
Finally, after who knew how many tries, Yu Xinjue mustered the courage and knocked on the door.
Moments later, the door opened.
Yu Xinjue took a deep breath before stepping inside.
The door closed behind him.
Qin Zheng immediately rushed to the wall and began eavesdropping.
Thanks to his excellent hearing, he could still make out what was being said next door, even through the wall.
***
Qin Su looked calmly at the unexpected visitor. “May I ask what brings you here?”
Yu Xinjue hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Yesterday, I released a lantern for you. But I’m disappointed... My illusions aren’t the best in town, so I couldn’t make it the last one to fade.”
In the next room, Qin Zheng gritted his teeth as soon as he heard that.
Now there was no doubt—Yu Xinjue really did like his junior brother.
He couldn’t understand it. The girls in Kuishui Town were all beautiful—why did Yu Xinjue fall for someone like Qin Su, a guy?
Qin Su didn’t seem surprised. He replied calmly, “It’s fine. I had a good time yesterday, that’s enough.”
“But if you had given that lantern to Senior Brother, he probably would’ve been even happier.”
“Yesterday, when he saw the lantern above my head, he didn’t take his eyes off it for a second.”
Hearing this, Qin Zheng couldn’t help rolling his eyes.
Yu Xinjue clearly hadn’t expected Qin Su to respond that way. His whole expression fell, and he muttered a dejected “Mm.”
The word disappointed practically written across his face.
Still, he wasn’t ready to give up.
“Brother Qin Su, the weather should be nice in a few days. Would you come out with me to enjoy the scenery?”
Yu Xinjue looked at Qin Su with hopeful eyes.
Qin Su thought for a moment, then nodded.
Just as he was about to say something else, Yu Xinjue quickly added, “Then it’s settled—just the two of us.”
“I have something to give you.”
With that, and without giving Qin Su a chance to respond again, Yu Xinjue happily dashed out of the room.
Qin Su walked to the door, shut it, and glanced over toward his senior brother’s room next door.
He had originally planned to ask Qin Zheng to come out and relax for a while.
These past few days, for some reason, his senior brother had been staying cooped up in his room, acting very strangely.
Looks like it would be best to finish his cultivation early and return to the sect soon.
***
At this moment, Qin Zheng was glaring furiously at the wall, practically fuming.
Yu Xinjue was way too sneaky.
If he hadn’t added that last sentence, Qin Zheng was sure Qin Su would’ve taken him along too.
But instead, Yu Xinjue deliberately waited until after Qin Su agreed before tacking on “just the two of us,” leaving his junior brother no choice but to go alone.
Looks like it was time to take some action and put some distance between that guy and Qin Su.
Qin Zheng paced back and forth in the room for a long time, before finally landing his gaze on his own bed.
This was the only way!
He’d stall for as long as he could—once Qin Su fully recovered, he’d leave anyway.
Qin Zheng walked to his bed, rolled up the mat and quilt, scooped them into his arms, kicked open his door, and headed straight to Qin Su’s room.
Once again, he lifted his foot and kicked the freshly closed door open.
Qin Su silently watched as his senior brother laid his bedding down right on the floor in front of his bed and spread it out.
After setting everything up, Qin Zheng sat down and said, “For your convenience, I’ve decided I’ll be sleeping here from now on.”
“You don’t have to worry about me—go ahead and meditate, I’ll sleep. I won’t disturb you.”
Qin Su had no idea what Qin Zheng was trying to do, but since he was so insistent, he just let him be.
Each day, Qin Zheng lay on the floor, watching his junior brother train, while secretly waiting for Yu Xinjue to show up.
He had already come up with hundreds of excuses to reject him—
Every one carefully crafted to make Yu Xinjue give up on bothering Qin Su.
Knock knock knock—
“Brother Qin Su?”
The moment Qin Zheng heard that all-too-familiar voice, he leapt up from the floor, ran to the door, and flung it open.
He even glanced back nervously to make sure Qin Su’s cultivation hadn’t been interrupted.
Yu Xinjue looked surprised to see him and asked, “Why are you here?”
Qin Zheng smiled. “I’m concerned about my junior brother, so I’m giving him personal care.”
“Qin Su is currently at a crucial stage of cultivation. If you have anything to say, just tell me—I’ll pass it on.”
Yu Xinjue thought for a moment, then smiled. “I was just passing by and thought I’d stop in. It’s nothing really.”
He turned to leave.
“Wait a second!”
A voice suddenly came from right behind Qin Zheng, making him jump. He quickly turned around.
At some point, Qin Su had already stopped cultivating and was now standing behind him.
Yu Xinjue’s eyes lit up with surprise and joy when he heard Qin Su’s voice and immediately turned around to look at him.
Qin Zheng pursed his lips helplessly and stepped aside to let Qin Su pass.
“I’ll go out with him for a bit. Just wait here.”
Qin Su said before following Yu Xinjue out.
Qin Zheng glared darkly at the backs of the two departing figures and sneered, “Hmph. Do I look like an idiot?”
As soon as they walked off, he slammed the door shut and secretly followed.
There was no way he’d feel at ease without tagging along.
He trailed the two of them through the crowd as they gradually made their way toward the edge of the town.
Because of the noise around them, Qin Zheng could no longer hear what they were saying.
But judging from how the two kept their distance while walking, he could tell they weren’t saying anything romantic yet.
The farther they walked, the fewer people there were—but the number of trees increased.
That made it easier for Qin Zheng to hide and observe.
Though, knowing how sharp Qin Su was, there was a good chance he had already noticed.
Still, since he hadn’t said anything, he was probably letting him follow along.
By now, the two ahead had mostly stopped talking.
They passed through the forest, and Yu Xinjue led Qin Su to the edge of a lake.
The water was clear and a deep blue.
Qin Zheng saw them come to a stop.
It looked like one of those moments where someone was about to make a heartfelt confession.
Yu Xinjue stood by the lake and pulled something radiant and dazzling from his robe.
One glance, and Qin Zheng could tell it wasn’t an ordinary item.
He gritted his teeth as he stared at the two by the lakeside.
Looks like he was going to give Qin Su a gift!
He’d seen this kind of thing before!
Worshippers at Tianque Temple would present offerings before the mountain god and make passionate vows.
Qin Zheng perked up his ears to catch what they were saying.
Yu Xinjue held out the item and said, “This is my Life-bound Illusion Pearl. I want to give it to you.”
Qin Su looked at the glowing object in confusion. “Why are you giving me this?”
Yu Xinjue’s face had turned bright red. He shoved the item into Qin Su’s hands and said, “If you want it, just take it.”
Then, without waiting for a reply, he cast an illusion and vanished.
Qin Su looked helplessly at the item that had just been forced into his hands.
He had no idea whether he even liked it or not.
Far away, Qin Zheng was seething.
A Life-bound Illusion Pearl—it was clearly something incredibly precious. And Yu Xinjue had shoved it into Qin Su’s hand before he could even decide whether to accept it. That was plainly just forcing his feelings onto someone!
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