What is it like to be the only useless deadweight in a sect full of main character overachievers?
Yi Xiannianyue was well-qualified to speak on this topic.
The wooden door of Qingya Cave was slowly pushed open. Chen Erluo burst into view, executing a series of breathtaking sword flourishes, sharp, elegant, piercing through the sky, and intensely visual and impactful.
Lin Siyu sat cross-legged under the veranda, a tiny figure with an open book resting beside him. His little hands fluttered, instantaneously condensing floating spiritual energy into reality.
Yi Xiannianyue stepped sideways to dodge Chen Erluo’s wide, sweeping strikes and sidled up to Lin Siyu. Bending over to look, he saw that the move on the book page was exceedingly complex, yet in Lin Siyu’s hands, it felt completely natural and seamless.
So it turned out everyone in their sect was self-taught. What did that make him? A student so bad even their Master couldn’t carry him?
“Senior Brother.”
Lin Siyu opened his eyes and giggled, his eyes curving into crescent moons. He leaped up and tugged on Yi Xiannianyue’s sleeve.
“I’m hungry.”
As those grape-like eyes blinked at him, Yi Xiannianyue silently turned and walked toward the small kitchen.
Guess I’m basically the cook here, he thought.
Inside the small kitchen, a curl of hot steam was already rising, coiling around a youth clad in white. In a grease-and-smoke-filled kitchen, his pure white robes looked strikingly out of place, refined and untainted by worldly dirt.
Jiang Sanli leaned against the hearth with his eyes tightly shut, seemingly asleep. His whole body was curled up on a small wooden bench, head propped up by an elbow, his long hair cascading down like a waterfall.
A small pot on the stove was simmering with thick, black medicinal soup, emitting a pungent, bitter aroma even from a distance.
Yi Xiannianyue rested his left hand on his knee and slowly squatted down. He gently placed his right hand on Jiang Sanli’s shoulder, tilted his head, and called out softly: “Third Junior Brother? Third Junior Brother, wake up.” absolute bitter medicine bubbled aggressively, spitting out scalding clouds of steam. Yi Xiannianyue couldn’t help but frown. He wrapped an arm around Jiang Sanli’s shoulders, pulling him away from the scorching heat.
“Hey, what did the Sect Master talk to you about?”
Chen Erluo suddenly popped out from the side, hooking his hands over the doorframe and sticking his head in, noisily trying to barge inside.
Don’t speak.
Yi Xiannianyue raised his eyes, fixing Chen Erluo with a reproachful glare while making a “hush” gesture with his hand.
Though Chen Erluo had barged in like a brass band, Jiang Sanli slowly stirred awake. His brow furrowed slightly as he tried to lift a hand, only to realize he was encircled within a warm embrace.
“…First Senior Brother?”
His voice was hoarse, his usually clear, bright tone now sounded as if filled with sand, as though he were enduring severe pain. His misty eyes drifted toward Yi Xiannianyue, catching sight of the youth’s sharp, defined jawline and a pair of round, scolding eyes.
A stiff, dull ache surged through his limbs. Seeking the warmth, Jiang Sanli instinctively leaned closer into Yi Xiannianyue’s chest. Realizing it was inappropriate, he hurriedly tried to push himself up, but his body lacked all strength.
“Don’t move around,” Yi Xiannianyue said, knitting his brows tightly.
Jiang Sanli’s face was deathly pale, he looked almost translucent. His exquisite features were twisted in distress, making anyone who looked at him feel their heart tighten in sympathy.
“I’m sorry, Senior Brother… I don’t seem to have any strength. I’m troubling you,” Jiang Sanli offered a pale smile, his voice trailing off with a subtle, trembling hint of tears.
A gap of two or three years during teenage years makes a huge difference in physical size. Yi Xiannianyue scooped him up in his arms and couldn’t help but sigh mentally, this kid didn’t have a single bit of extra flesh on him, built like a skeleton, unloved by father or mother.
It really made one’s heart ache for him.
Chen Erluo leaned against the doorframe, watching all this with a inscrutable look. He stepped aside on his own to clear a path, narrowing his eyes as he watched the two leave.
“If you were sick, why didn’t you tell me?”
Yi Xiannianyue laid Jiang Sanli on the bed, carefully tucking in the corners of the blanket, and leaned in to whisper softly.
Lying on the bed, Jiang Sanli looked at Yi Xiannianyue from the side. Even in sickness, his peerless countenance remained striking, only rendered more hauntingly beautiful.
He said softly, “It’s fine, Senior Brother. I just didn’t want to trouble you. I went to Martial Uncle Qian to get some medicine, and I’ll be better soon.”
Yi Xiannianyue’s hand reaching for Jiang Sanli’s forehead paused for a second. He pursed his lips. In the next moment, his hovering hand was proactively pressed against by Jiang Sanli, bringing the warm, delicate skin of the boy’s cheek against his palm.
Yi Xiannianyue retracted his hand as if electrocuted.
Speaking of medicine, Yi Xiannianyue shouted toward the doorway: “Chen Erluo! Bring Third Junior Brother’s medicine in!”
Chen Erluo hollered back from the courtyard, his dissatisfaction painfully obvious: “Why should I!”
“He’s your Third Junior Brother! Don’t you know anything about unity and love?!”
“No, I don’t!”
“Watch out or I’ll beat you!”
“You can’t beat me!”
“Then I’ll tell Master on you!”
“…”
“You win.”
After a short pause, Chen Erluo reluctantly brought in the bowl of medicine, slamming it onto the table before turning around immediately to leave.
“Wait.”
Yi Xiannianyue picked up the medicine, blowing gently on a scooped spoonful. He didn’t spare a glance toward Chen Erluo, who had already darted to the doorway like a startled rabbit.
“Wait for me in the courtyard. I have something to say to you.”
The warm porcelain spoon touched Jiang Sanli’s dry lips. Yi Xiannianyue slowly tilted his hand, and Jiang Sanli swallowed the bitter potion in tiny sips.
Chen Erluo snorted with disdain: “What makes you think I’d actually listen to you?”
Yi Xiannianyue was long accustomed to Chen Erluo’s prickly temper. It was like scratching an itch through a boot, or a kitten showing its claws, completely non-threatening to him.
Yi Xiannianyue sighed softly: “It seems you’re not interested in what the Sect Master said, then. Forget it.”
Chen Erluo clenched his fist, released it, and repeated the motion several times before swallowing his pride and stepping out of the room.
The dark liquid slid down his throat into his stomach, spreading an intense bitterness across his palate. Soon, the bottom of the bowl showed, and the lingering odor of the dregs hit his nostrils.
As Jiang Sanli was forced to endure the unbearable bitterness, a hard square object was suddenly popped into his mouth, melting into a sweet taste.
“I don’t have much food in my room. I just found a jar of rock sugar in the kitchen, so suck on this for now. Next time I go down the mountain, I’ll buy some candied fruit and pastries for you.”
“I’ll also buy a few sets of clothes for all of you.”
“No need, Senior Brother,” Jiang Sanli leaned against the headboard and suddenly grabbed Yi Xiannianyue’s hand. “Your money doesn’t just blow in on the wind, either.”
Yi Xiannianyue froze.
Actually, his money was all given to him by their Master… Conscious of his guilt, he shifted his gaze away.
“I feel much better now. Thank you, Senior Brother.”
Jiang Sanli made a move to lift the blanket and sit up, but Yi Xiannianyue held him down firmly.
“I still need to go to Martial Uncle Qian today to learn medicine refining,” Jiang Sanli said gently.
Yi Xiannianyue disapproved: “Don’t go today. I’ll go speak to Martial Uncle Qian for you.”
Yi Xiannianyue pressed down hard on Jiang Sanli, forcefully pulling the blanket back over him.
“Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother.”
Jiang Sanli smiled faintly.
“Senior Brother, you are so good to me.”
…
Closing the door to Jiang Sanli’s room, Yi Xiannianyue didn’t immediately go to Chen Erluo, who was waiting eagerly in the courtyard. Instead, he called Lin Siyu over first, instructing him that there was fresh shrimp porridge simmering in the pot. It would be ready in fifteen minutes, but he must first scoop a bowl for his Third Senior Brother, bring it to his room, and watch him finish every drop.
Lin Siyu, whose soul had long been captivated by the fragrant aroma wafting through the house, nodded frantically in agreement, swearing he would accomplish his mission without fail.
“What did the Sect Master say to you?”
Chen Erluo walked swiftly to Yi Xiannianyue’s side. However, Yi Xiannianyue simply walked toward the pavilion, lifted his robes, sat down, and poured two cups of cool water from the teapot.
Chen Erluo sat down aggressively across from Yi Xiannianyue, practically burning with impatience.
“Tell me already!”
Yi Xiannianyue pushed one cup forward. Chen Erluo gulped it down in one go, staring fixedly at the person before him.
Yi Xiannianyue stopped beating around the bush and relayed all the information he had just gathered from the Sect Master to Chen Erluo.
“How could Father do this?!”
Chen Erluo slammed his fist onto the tabletop, anger igniting his whole body.
Yi Xiannianyue raised an eyebrow and listened quietly.
Chen Erluo gritted his teeth: “It was bad enough that he favored the Crown Prince since we were young. If I hadn’t been blessed with talent, the one sent to Renqing Sect would never have been me! And now he wants to stand in my way again?!”
“Is it possible that your father is genuinely worried about your personal safety?”
“Absolutely impossible!…”
Chen Erluo was furious, looking as if he wanted to storm back to the Imperial Palace right that moment to settle scores with his father.
“Cultivators cannot easily return home,” Yi Xiannianyue kindly reminded him.
Chen Erluo remained silent for a long moment. Seemingly realizing his loss of composure, he shifted his gaze to the distant tree shadows and spoke in a muffled tone.
“You don’t understand. Growing up deep inside the palace, without favor, you have to fight for everything. You have to be outstanding, you have to flatter… But even though I did all that, I still couldn’t overcome the Crown Prince’s status as the legitimate heir. He can’t match me in anything…”
Chen Erluo bit his lip hard, making it flush bright red, before revealing his white teeth.
Yi Xiannianyue inexplicably sensed a subtle, indirect jab… He now roughly understood where Chen Erluo’s resentment toward him originated.
“I wonder if Mother has enough food and warm clothes deep in the palace. She doesn’t have brothers serving as court officials, and the child she could rely on isn’t by her side… Forget it, it’s useless talking to someone who doesn’t even have a mother like you.”
Chen Erluo muttered to himself, not forgetting to hurl a barb at Yi Xiannianyue at the end.
Yi Xiannianyue glanced at Chen Erluo with a peculiar look. He twitched his fingers, lowered his gaze, and refilled Chen Erluo’s cup with water.
“Did you go ask for me?”
“You’re not entirely stupid.”
“Did you really think the Sect Master, with a thousand things to attend to every day, would specifically keep your affairs in mind?”
He took my words to heart.
It felt as though his heart had been struck by an unknown object, a subtle, indescribable sourness welling up inside. Chen Erluo awkwardly expressed his thanks, his cheeks gradually flushing red. He looked at the sky, he looked at the ground, he looked everywhere except at Yi Xiannianyue in front of him.
“What were you thinking when you first came to Renqing Sect?”
Yi Xiannianyue didn’t take the boy’s awkward reaction to heart. He slowly and unhurriedly took a sip of the plain water.
“Naturally, to learn from the strong and strive to be number one.”
“Master is the strong one.”
Chen Erluo took it for granted, as if questioning whether the question itself was stupid.
Having grown up in the dog-eat-dog environment of the inner palace, Chen Erluo naturally had no room for anyone else in his eyes. If someone was there, they were merely an obstacle in his path that ought to be removed.
Yi Xiannianyue spoke earnestly: “Don’t bring the rules of the inner palace here. At Renqing Sect, you will never have to fight alone. You must pay attention to those around you. A person who has no room for others in their heart and only thinks of themselves will never truly comprehend and attain the Dao.”
Seemingly moved, Chen Erluo thought that from his angle, he could see the green hair ribbon embroidered with silver-threaded clouds and cranes resting at the end of Yi Xiannianyue’s hair, swaying softly in the wind, playfully trying to brush against its master’s spirited eyebrows.
“You speak just like my old tutor back in the palace.”
“Very annoying.”
Chen Erluo lowered his eyes, his gaze sweeping past the tiny red mole on the other’s earlobe. In a secluded corner of his heart, a solitary wave broke through the fortress he had spent a lifetime building.