This class was Elder Fang Xiuxian’s alchemy lecture. Li Jingsheng couldn’t understand it, nor did he want to listen. Gazing at the peach trees outside the window, he recalled Mo Yu’s aggrieved expression just moments before, suddenly feeling rather puzzled.
Clearly, Mo Yu hadn’t uttered a single cry of pain during those sixty lashes earlier, yet a mere splash of water was enough to make the other person yield so completely.
Though, that perhaps had a bit of connection to those sixty lashes of his own doing as well.
After pondering for a moment and failing to make sense of it, he simply gave up thinking entirely.
He was an optimist who never liked to overcomplicate things; if he couldn’t figure something out, he would drop it immediately and refuse to let himself suffer from internal friction.
How did that saying go? There are no difficult things in this world, as long as you are willing to give up.
Besides, he just needed to follow the plot.
Since idle hands and minds look for amusement, he poked the bracelet that Xiao Yu had transformed into and whispered to wake it up: “Time to get up. If you keep sleeping, the sun is going to scorch your tail feathers.”
Xiao Yu woke up extremely displeased. Since public places were inconvenient for shifting back, it could only voice its protest: “Host, have you never heard the saying that disturbing someone’s sweet dream invites heavenly retribution?”
It certainly had plenty of crooked logic.
Adopting the airs of a teacher, Li Jingsheng poured some chicken soup for the soul: “Xiao Yu, a person must have drive, and the same goes for a feather. Just think about it: while you’re resting, all your peers are still working hard. Later on, when your peers get promoted and only you are left standing still, won’t your heart ache?”
Xiao Yu was completely unaffected by his motivational pep talk and even wanted to retort: “I don’t have any peers.” But in the end, it managed to hold it in.
It changed the subject instead: “Host, there is a task for this afternoon.”
Hearing this, Li Jingsheng stopped serving up chicken soup and asked, “What task?”
Yawning, Xiao Yu replied, “This noon, you need to make the protagonist go hungry.”
“Then the shou protagonist will secretly bring him food, deepening the emotional bond between the two while simultaneously increasing the protagonist’s hatred value toward the villain.”
Thinking it over, Li Jingsheng muttered inwardly: “This villain is truly rotten to the core. The kid is still growing, yet he won’t even let him eat!”
Xiao Yu chimed in as well: “That’s why he ended up dying such a miserable death in the end.”
Involuntarily reminded of the ending, Li Jingsheng sighed bitterly: “True, I suppose it’s just desserts for his evil deeds.”
＊
When Mo Yu returned holding bottles of medicine, Chu Wen was anxiously searching for him.
He had only stepped out for a short while, and Mo Yu had vanished.
So upon seeing Mo Yu return, he hurriedly checked him for injuries.
Noticing that Mo Yu’s clothes were merely a bit creased and he had sustained no new wounds, Chu Wen let out a sigh of relief.
“Where did you go? You didn’t even say a word, you scared me to death.”
Not wanting to worry him, Mo Yu lied, “I went to the latrine.” He then handed the medicine in his hand over: “I just took a fall earlier, and the wounds on my back split open again.”
Hearing that his wounds had split open, Chu Wen panicked and pulled him toward the backyard: “Come on, I’ll go apply medicine for you.”
The backyard was filled with weeping willows and was rather secluded, so disciples rarely came here. Mo Yu undid his outer garment, revealing his blood-stained back.
His clothes were stuck to the wounds, and Chu Wen carefully removed the gauze for him. The tearing sensation caused Mo Yu to draw in a sharp breath.
Chu Wen looked at the medicine Mo Yu had brought back.
Hemostatic dew, bone-setting pills, jade-condensing ointment, and even a marrow-cleansing pill.
Every single one of them was a precious medicine accessible only to chief disciples.
Gazing at the marrow-cleansing pill in his hand, he tilted his head and asked, “Zigui, where did you get all this medicine? Such precious remedies can’t be brewed just anywhere.”
While the alchemy room on Fulu Peak allowed disciples to practice brewing pills on their own, given their current abilities, they could never refine such high-grade medicines.
Mo Yu glanced at the pills and chose not to tell the truth, casually fabricating a lie: “I ran into Elder Fang Xiuxian on my way back just now. Hearing that he was injured, he gave these to me.”
Chu Wen fell silent for a moment before taking out the heostatic dew to apply to his wounds: “Is that so? Well, make sure you properly thank the elder next time you see him.”
Mo Yu nodded: “Mm.”
Chu Wen knew Mo Yu was lying; Elder Fang Xiuxian was notoriously greedy for wealth, so there was no way he would give away so many spiritual medicines for free. Yet he couldn’t figure out who else could have provided them, nor could he understand why Mo Yu felt the need to lie to him.
The moment the heostatic dew touched Mo Yu’s back, he experienced once again the agonizing pain from yesterday’s treatment.
With a thread connecting the dots in his mind, he gritted his teeth and asked Chu Wen, “Mengfeng, was this the medicine you used yesterday?”
Knowing he couldn’t keep up the ruse, Chu Wen admitted straight out: “Yes.” Anticipating what Mo Yu wanted to ask, he seized the initiative: “Elder Senior Brother gave me that medicine last time. I forgot about it and only remembered when I found it in the medicine box yesterday, so I used it.”
Hearing this reply, Mo Yu suppressed the doubt in his heart.
The effect of the heostatic dew was fast-acting, instantly sealing the torn wounds. By the time they finished bandaging and stepped back outside, it was just in time for the second class.
Looking at the blossoming flowers outside the window, Mo Yu inexplicably thought of the youth in red standing amidst the blooms.
The full trees shed their blossoms, and the youth in red emerged.
＊
Meals on Fulu Peak were served in a fixed location, much like a school cafeteria, with elders and disciples eating separately.
Li Jingsheng looked at the food in front of him, then glanced at Mo Yu, who was sitting a dozen meters away, racking his brains to figure out how to make the other go hungry.
Xiao Yu gave a straightforward suggestion: “Can’t you just knock his rice bowl over?”
The disciples’ portions were fixed; if knocked over, he truly wouldn’t have anything left to eat.
The tricky part was how to knock it over. He couldn’t just march right up, flip the bowl, and yell, “You aren’t allowed to eat, go starve!” could he?
Even Li Jingsheng thought to himself: Isn’t that way too unhinged?
Xiao Yu couldn’t wrap its head around human complexities; its mind was simple and its limbs underdeveloped, making it suitable only for deep sleeps.
After racking his brains for ages, seeing that half the meal was already gone, Li Jingsheng acted on a sudden impulse. He rushed over to Mo Yu’s table, knocked over his food, and bellowed, “What are you eating for? A good-for-nothing like you thinks he’s worthy of dining with us?”
With a crash, the food scattered all over the floor.
Applying the laws of physics he had learned, Li Jingsheng forcefully kicked it at an angle that wouldn’t splash anyone, ensuring that despite the huge commotion, nobody else got food on them.
In an instant, the entire hall fell silent, watching this sudden farce unfold.
Clearly not expecting Li Jingsheng to pull such a stunt, Mo Yu dazedly raised his head to lock eyes with him.
Meeting that pair of watery eyes, Li Jingsheng wanted nothing more than to slap himself.
Yet he had no choice. He had to follow the plot.
Mo Yu watched as Li Jingsheng stood fiercely before him, declaring, “Don’t even think about eating today.”
Meanwhile, Li Jingsheng was thinking inwardly: I’m sorry, baby. I was forced into this, but don’t worry, you won’t starve; Chu Wen is going to bring you food.
Mo Yu wondered in confusion: Baby? What kind of word is that? Does it mean a little infant? Why is he calling me baby? And how does he know Chu Wen will bring food?
Seeing Mo Yu’s wounded expression, Li Jingsheng’s heart softened completely.
Staring at me won’t help, I don’t want to do this either.
Still, he dutifully recited his lines: “A good-for-nothing shouldn’t be lingering around here.”
“Do you even deserve to?”
Li Jingsheng expected Mo Yu to stand up and fight back, or glare at him like before. Instead, the other person simply stood up and said, “Yes, Senior Brother,” before turning and walking out.
Surveying this utterly absurd scene, Li Jingsheng let out a mental shriek fit for a prairie dog.
Ahhhhh! No, big brother, are you really this obedient? You just leave when told to?
Watching Mo Yu’s slightly desolate-looking back, Li Jingsheng felt his conscience suffer a massive blow.
Such an obedient kid, how could I treat him like this!
The disciples present held varying degrees of contempt for Mo Yu, who possessed inferior spiritual roots. Coupled with the fact that Li Jingsheng was their Second Senior Brother, none of them dared to openly oppose him.
With the First Senior Brother absent, the farce surprisingly concluded without a hitch.
The act finished, Li Jingsheng returned to his seat, and Wang Yong’s gang of the original owner’s sycophants immediately crowded around.
“Hey, Jingsheng, what you said earlier was spot on! How could that good-for-nothing be worthy of eating with us? I’ve wanted to kick him out for ages!”
Having just finished playing the villain, Li Jingsheng was mentally exhausted and had zero desire to speak with them.
He only muttered inwardly: The guy is going to have heavenly spiritual roots later on; you earth-root pleb should stop calling people good-for-nothings.
For once, Han Yi didn’t suck up to Wang Yong, instead flattering Li Jingsheng: “Brother Li, the way you knocked his food over just now looked so cool!”
Thanks, later on the protagonist is going to knock our meals over looking even cooler.
Ge Daqing stood stupidly to the side as usual, munching on a pastry in his hand.
Li Jingsheng spared him a glance and offered a fair evaluation, spreading the love: “Big bulky Chun, keep eating like that and you’ll make the perfect punching bag for the protagonist later.”
He poked at the food in his bowl, offering perfunctory replies to brush them off.
Sweeping his gaze across the room, he predictably spotted Xi Feng’s look of disdain mixed with contempt.
Big brother, can you please change that look? I know I’m acting terribly, but I have no choice either.
Searching for Chu Wen’s figure next, he naturally found him missing.
He couldn’t help a sigh of sentimental relief: As expected of the shou protagonist; even now, he’s the only one who stays by his side through thick and thin. Truly a match made in heaven.
＊
Meanwhile, Chu Wen found Mo Yu in the pavilion of the backyard.
Sitting across from Mo Yu, he brought out his remaining pastry and placed it on the table.
“Zigui, have a bite. Don’t starve yourself.”
Mo Yu wasn’t particularly hungry, truth be told, since he had already eaten half his meal earlier.
He simply couldn’t figure out why Senior Brother had acted that way.
Harming him on the surface, yet showing internal distress.
He pushed the pastry back toward Chu Wen: “I’m not hungry, you eat it. You didn’t eat much earlier either.”
Lowering his gaze to the pink pastry on the table, he probed with a trace of hesitation: “Is this Peach Blossom Pastry?”
Peach Blossom Pastry wasn’t exactly a rare delicacy in the immortal realm, but on Qize Mountain, it was Li Jingsheng’s exclusive treat.
Because the other youth was extremely fond of Peach Blossom Pastry and notoriously overbearing, the pastries on Qize Mountain were supplied solely to Li Jingsheng.
Those sixty lashes from before had been given because he was framed for stealing Peach Blossom Pastry.
Knowing he couldn’t hide it, Chu Wen nodded: “Yes.”
Actually, Chu Wen also found it strange. Right before lunch today, Senior Brother had specially given him these pastries, telling him to eat them if he got hungry. It was as if he had anticipated everything in advance, and now they had come in handy.
Seeing him nod, Mo Yu fell silent.
Intentionally knocking over the meal, and then arranging for Chu Wen to deliver pastries.
Emotions surged in the depths of his gaze, unfathomable and complex.
Senior Brother, what on earth are you thinking?