Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 77 - To Walk Right Into the Trap
Chapter 77: To Walk Right Into the Trap
Qin Shuang gave Qiu Shi a signal.
Qiu Shi then led the two guards in the cell out to wait outside.
Qin Zheng looked at this Qin Shuang, now completely different from the past, and frowned deeply.
“Heh… Ling Yan?”
Qin Zheng muttered to himself. He remembered the woman named Ling Fei.
Qin Shuang seemed to have guessed his thoughts and smiled. “Senior Brother guessed right. That foolish demon woman who wanted to live as a mortal is my younger sister.”
Qin Zheng chuckled. “I didn’t expect that, in the end, the undercover agent in the Tianque Sect would turn out to be you.”
“Truly unexpected.”
“No wonder you chose alchemy over cultivating immortality.”
Perhaps out of old habit, Qin Zheng, facing Qin Shuang, did not feel the least bit nervous —
As if the real master here was Qiu Shi outside the cell.
But in truth, Qin Shuang was the one he couldn’t see through.
Qin Shuang didn’t answer right away. Instead, her gaze fell on Qin Zheng’s chest.
Sensing this, Qin Zheng instinctively looked down and remembered that his clothes had been burned through earlier by the branding iron, leaving a large hole that exposed a broad stretch of his chest.
A man showing a bit of chest wasn’t a big deal…
But what embarrassed him was that the exposed skin still bore marks — left by Qin Su either last night or the night before.
Qin Shuang looked at those marks and smiled teasingly. “Senior Brother had quite a fun time with Junior Brother Qin Su, I see.”
“Looks like you should thank me for helping you discover something so delightful.”
At that, Qin Zheng suddenly recalled that the root cause of him ending up in bed with Qin Su… was this person in front of him.
Anger surged instantly.
Qin Zheng snapped, “Even if you’re an undercover, why feed me that kind of drug? What was the point?”
Qin Shuang laughed brightly.
“I heard that those who experience such… intimate affairs can’t become immortals, so I wanted to test it out.”
“But mainly it was about Junior Brother Qin Su — I think he’s in love with Senior Brother. So I simply gave him a push.”
“Isn’t that killing two birds with one stone?”
Qin Zheng listened, stunned by her bizarre reasoning.
In love? What nonsense was that supposed to mean?
But Qin Shuang gave him no time to think. She leaned in close, her lips near his ear, and whispered: “I recall that you, Senior Brother, have no spiritual roots and no magic power. Yet you’ve avoided Qiu Shi’s attacks and kept your appearance at barely over twenty for all these years. Surely it’s thanks to the treasure in your possession — the Spirit of Time?”
After speaking, Qin Shuang stepped back, studying the face that hadn’t changed in twenty years with a half-smile.
“Senior Brother, if you’re willing to hand over the Spirit of Time, I promise I won’t harm a single hair on your head.”
“Once I perfect my weapon and rule the mortal realm, I’ll make sure you enjoy endless wealth and glory.”
“If you’re worried that without it you’ll grow old, I also have ways to grant you eternal life.”
“You’d best seize the chance — I, Ling Yan, always keep my word.”
Looking at Qin Shuang’s increasingly crazed expression, Qin Zheng could only feel helpless.
He liked him offer very much — and if he actually had the Spirit of Time, he suspected he would have already given it to her without hesitation.
But right now, he could only look at Qin Shuang and say, “I really don’t have it.”
“The reason I haven’t aged isn’t because of the Spirit of Time — I think it’s because I absorbed too much immortal energy at Tianque Sect.”
“Isn’t there a saying among mortals? That anyone who enters the Tianque Sect will live forever? Must be the same for me.”
Qin Shuang’s face darkened.
“Senior Brother, if you’re going to make excuses, you could at least think of a better one.”
Qin Zheng spread his hands. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
“But we’ve known each other a long time — I’ve never been fake.”
“You know I’m not the type to sacrifice myself for some grand cause.”
Qin Shuang studied him, and he had to admit — he did know this about him.
That was why Qin Shuang didn’t understand why he kept refusing to say where the Spirit of Time was.
Half-believing, he asked, “So, Senior Brother, you mean… the Spirit of Time is with Junior Brother Qin Su?”
Seeing that she was buying into it, Qin Zheng quickly nodded solemnly.
Qin Shuang pressed his lips together, stopped questioning him, and began pacing the cell as if deep in thought.
After a while, as though he’d realized something, he turned to Qiu Shi outside and asked, “Qiu Shi, has there been any word from the people we sent to Tianque Sect?”
Qiu Shi turned to him. “Reporting to my lord, not yet.”
Suddenly, Qin Zheng, who had been looking at Qin Shuang, shifted his eyes toward the cell door and pricked up his ears strangely.
He thought he heard noise outside — as if many people were approaching.
Qin Zheng frowned to himself. Do they need that many people just to interrogate me?
At the same time, Qin Shuang seemed to hear it too and ordered, “Qiu Shi, go see what’s going on.”
“Yes!”
Qiu Shi nodded and headed toward the cell door.
Qin Zheng narrowed his eyes, watching him closely as he walked.
He was very concerned about what might happen next.
But he noticed something strange — Qiu Shi’s movements seemed… off.
Just as Qiu Shi reached the doorway, before even stepping outside, he stopped abruptly.
Then, instead of turning back, he slowly retreated backward into the cell.
In one swift motion, he shut the cell door and immediately began casting a barrier.
Qin Shuang frowned as she watched Qiu Shi inexplicably begin setting up a barrier. “Qiu Shi, what’s going on outside?” he asked.
While continuing to cast the barrier, Qiu Shi shouted, “Lord Ling Yan, Lord Ling Xin has brought people to surround the prison!”
Qin Shuang was stunned. He ignored Qin Zheng for the moment, quickly stepping out of the cell to Qiu Shi’s side and demanding, “Say that again!!”
By now, Qiu Shi had finished setting up the barrier. Only then did he report, “My lord, you just returned yesterday and have been busy preparing to attack the Tianque Sect, so I didn’t have a chance to warn you yet.”
“In the years you’ve been gone, Lord Ling Xin has been trying to win over the various factions of the Demon Realm to take your place.”
“At first, he used the failed experiments—where many of our kind were sacrificed as defective products—as an excuse.”
“Then, because of your failure to destroy the Demon Realm passage seal twenty years ago, Lord Ling Xin began privately spreading the claim that you betrayed the demon race.”
“It was that incident that gradually caused the factions who originally supported you to start leaning toward him.”
“After so many years, many demon factions have completely pledged allegiance to Lord Ling Xin.”
Qin Shuang was silent for a long moment before laughing coldly. “How ridiculous. What abilities does Ling Xin have? Everything he has came from me, and yet he dares to betray me!”
“I’ll go out there and execute him myself!”
Qiu Shi quickly stepped forward to block him. “My lord, in your current state, you can’t defeat him.”
“Please, just wait. Among those surrounding us, there are still some who are on our side, and the forces we sent out will be returning soon.”
“Even though Lord Ling Xin is sowing discord, there are still demons who believe in your character.”
Under Qiu Shi’s persuasion, Qin Shuang finally calmed down.
“Brother! You’d best surrender.”
“As long as you obediently hand over the throne, I won’t do anything to you.”
From outside the prison came Ling Xin’s voice, calling in a mockingly persuasive tone.
Qin Shuang stared at the tightly closed prison doors, saying nothing.
Just now, in a moment of impulse, he had wanted to throw herself into a hopeless fight. Now that he’d cooled down, his mind was occupied with thinking of how best to punish this treacherous sibling.
Ling Xin, getting no reply after waiting a moment, continued, “Brother, if you won’t come out, don’t blame me for ignoring brotherly ties.”
“The Execution Seal for demons is being set up around the prison.”
“If you’re not out before the seal is complete, then… what a pity.”
Qin Shuang roared, “You dare to use the Execution Seal on demons!”
“Why wouldn’t I? Using it against a traitor to the Demon Realm—if Father were still alive, he would approve of it.”
“Bullshit!” Qin Shuang glanced at Qin Zheng and said, “I have someone here who knows where the Spirit of Time is. If you activate that seal, you can forget about ever getting it.”
Lingxin laughed loudly. “Brother, I’m not like you.”
“I only want to be the king of the Demon Realm. All that ruling-the-human-realm nonsense is your own obsession.”
“I won’t sacrifice so many of our people just for my own ambitions.”
“When I become king, the first thing I’ll do is destroy your ridiculous defective product, and send it off with you.”
“Tsk, tsk…”
“The Execution Seal looks almost ready.”
“Still haven’t made up your mind, brother?”
Just then, before Ling Xin could say more, a commotion sounded outside the prison.
The three people inside exchanged glances. Qiu Shi said excitedly, “My lord, our people must have returned!”
With that, Qiu Shi immediately tore down the barrier and opened the prison door.
Qin Zheng glanced at the open cell door, then at Qin Shuang standing there.
After a moment’s thought, he walked out.
However, just as he stepped past the cell’s threshold, Qin Shuang’s startled voice rang out.
“Qin Su!”
“How could it be Qin Su!”
Qiu Shi froze. “My lord… could it be that our forces were wiped out?”
Qin Zheng quickly ran to the doorway to look outside—only to meet a familiar pair of eyes.
But Qin Su was surrounded in tight circles by demon soldiers, looking to be in real danger.
Qin Zheng had always thought Qin Su could face a thousand troops alone, and had been hoping he would arrive quickly to rescue him.
Yet the scene before him made his heart tighten.
He’d forgotten—Qin Su was not invincible. Even with the Spirit of Time within him, using it would leave him weakened.
At this moment, Qin Zheng’s mind kept repeating a single question:
If Qin Su can’t defeat them… what will I do?
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