It was clear that Zeng Youran had originally had no intention of going to the Fourth Senior Brother’s place for bandaging. Firstly, he felt there was no necessity whatsoever, and secondly, even if he went, the Fourth Senior Brother might not necessarily have the time to deal with him.
Throughout the entire Qingxuan Mountain gate, practically no one paid him any mind, except for, except for this Sixth Senior Brother whom he had only met a few times. Zeng Youran looked up at the person who had just righteously stepped in to help. He saw his high nose bridge and those eyes that always carried a hint of a smile. Every time he looked at him, it made people feel as pleasant as a spring breeze, but he had just offended the Eldest Senior Brother.
Seeming to sense the gaze, Qiao Yiting, who was humming a tune, lowered his head and collided with the look cast at him by the person beside him.
Then, those eyes shifted away, and his pace even quickened a bit.
Feeling somewhat baffled, he chased after him, wanting to strike up a conversation with Zeng Youran, “Eldest Senior Brother, why did he treat you like that?”
The moment he asked, he felt a bit regretful, and Zeng Youran clearly showed no sign of answering. Between the two of them, only the sound of hurried footsteps and garments brushing against grass and trees could be heard, creating a somewhat awkward atmosphere for a moment.
He gave an awkward laugh, wanting to break the silent atmosphere, “Well, I just asked casually. It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to say it. If you run into any trouble in the future, just come find me.”
He had no idea why he had made such a boastful promise, but spoken words were like spilled water. Gazing at Zeng Youran’s dark crown of hair, he thought: I just hope that when you become powerful in the future, you won’t kill me. That’s not too much to ask, just leaving a path to survive will do.
Whether it was a specific sentence that touched Zeng Youran, he suddenly raised his head abruptly, looking at him cautiously as he spoke, “Really? Can I really always come to Sixth Senior Brother in the future?”
Looking at the starlight in his eyes, Qiao Yiting’s vanity as a man swelled up involuntarily, and he straightened his back, “Of course it’s true! We are all disciples of the same sect; helping each other out is only right and proper!”
When they finally arrived at the Herb Pavilion where the Fourth Senior Brother resided, Qiao Yiting remembered that the Fourth Senior Brother lived together with the Fifth Senior Sister.
The name Herb Pavilion sounded very scholarly, and a wave of herbal medicine scent rushed toward them, perfectly matching the name on its plaque.
This place was also the largest residence outside of the Eldest Senior Brother’s dwelling, though large portions of the area were planted with medicinal herbs.
Walking further in, one could see two facing rooms surrounded by all kinds of medicinal herbs, with the Fourth Senior Brother and Fifth Senior Sister each living in one.
Both of these individuals were well-versed in medicine and pharmacology. As the saying goes, medicine and pharmacy are inseparable, one was a pharmacy cultivator, and the other was a medical cultivator.
Fourth Senior Brother Xue Yun was a medical cultivator, equivalent to the healer in games. His medical skills were superb; though his pharmacy knowledge wasn’t quite as proficient as Su Qingyu’s, he knew a fair amount since medicine and pharmacy are inseparable.
Fifth Senior Sister Su Qingyu was a pharmacy cultivator. Since medicine and poison are inseparable, the Fifth Senior Sister excelled at using medicine and could also use poison.
Coincidentally, both of them were outside their rooms; Xue Yun was helping Su Qingyu dry medicinal herbs.
In Qiao Yiting’s eyes, this pair looked more like an old married couple, but unfortunately, later on, Xue Yun lost his life, and Su Qingyu was captured to become one of Zeng Youran’s harem favorite concubines.
When reading the book, he had secretly sighed that Su Qingyu and Xue Yun together were a much better match than either of them with Zeng Youran.
Now, seeing this pair of jade-like companions in the flesh, he sighed inwardly, feeling it a pity, before calling out, “Senior Brother, Senior Sister.”
The two people busy with herbs turned their heads at the sound. Seeing that the newcomer was Qiao Yiting, they rushed over to support him.
Su Qingyu spun around him once, inspecting him up and down, “Junior Brother is really something else. The moment he wakes up, he runs all over the place. Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”
“No, thank you Senior Brother and Senior Sister for your concern.” Qiao Yiting quickly turned back and gently pulled Zeng Youran to the front, “I came today to ask Fourth Senior Brother to check on Junior Brother’s injuries and bandage him up by the way.”
“Greetings, Fourth Senior Brother, Fifth Senior Sister.” Zeng Youran started to bow, but fortunately Xue Yun supported him, gesturing that formalities weren’t necessary.
Subsequently, Xue Yun led the two of them into his room.
“Junior Brother’s injuries…” Su Qingyu fussed over the wounds for a moment before looking up at Qiao Yiting in confusion, “Sixth Senior Brother, aren’t you being a bit too ruthless with your attacks?”
“Senior Sister, you’ve got it wrong, it wasn’t me…” Qiao Yiting waved his hands repeatedly, not wanting to claim credit for such a fine deed for no reason.
After inspecting the wounds, Xue Yun understood in his heart. Within the sect, the only one who excelled at using a long whip was Fang Ping.
It was just that he had only heard rumors that the Eldest Senior Brother was dissatisfied with this Junior Brother; he hadn’t expected the kid had already become a plaything in the palm of Eldest Senior Brother’s hand. Even so, this Junior Brother had only ever come to the Herb Pavilion once before. How had he treated him that time again?
Seemingly just brushed him off casually…
Looking at the horrifying wounds, Xue Yun shook his head, “Junior Brother’s injuries…”
“I did it to myself. It has nothing to do with Sixth Senior Brother… nor anyone else’s business.” Zeng Youran spoke lightly. He had no intention of telling them the truth at all. Even if they asked how he got hurt again, he would just claim he fell.
Watching him put on a brave face, Xue Yun smiled, “It won’t do if the wounds stick to your clothes. Why doesn’t Junior Brother take off his outer garments?”
Upon hearing this, Qiao Yiting immediately stepped forward to strip him, while Zeng Youran clutched his clothes tightly, refusing to take them off no matter what.
“Be obedient, Fourth Senior Brother is doing this for your own good.” Qiao Yiting was baffled. Why did things suddenly change course like this?
He saw the person using his hands to clasp his clothes glancing a few times toward Su Qingyu’s direction. That was when Qiao Yiting realized: Ah, so he didn’t want to lose face in front of his future wife. Little fellow, quite meticulous in his thoughts.
“Senior Sister, could you go find some pain-relieving herbs?” Qiao Yiting had no choice but to help distract Su Qingyu first.
Su Qingyu grumbled about Junior Brother daring to order her around, but still followed him out the door, “Actually, Junior Brother’s wounds aren’t very suited for oral medication. I have some external Qi-supplementing powder over there, follow me.”
Looking out over the courtyard full of medicinal herbs, Qiao Yiting’s state of mind calmed down as well. Originally, he had thought about watching Xue Yun treat the wounds since his own professional background matched, and once he left the mountain gates, he might even be able to practice medicine to earn a living.
Well, there was plenty of time in the future. He estimated his visits here wouldn’t be few.
“Isn’t Qingxuan Mountain famous throughout the world for sword cultivation? How come both you and Fourth Senior Brother are medical cultivators?” This was a question that had puzzled Qiao Yiting for a long time. Unfortunately, the original book didn’t explain this. Now that the people were right in front of him, he might as well ask directly.
Su Qingyu, who had been walking in front, suddenly stopped in her tracks, glanced sideways at the person who had spoken, her eyes filled with confusion, “Is your brain broken from your qi deviation?”
Only then did Qiao Yiting realize that his question indeed carried the suspicion of exposing himself. But then he heard Su Qingyu’s voice ring out again, “Although Qingxuan Mountain is renowned for its sword dao, do sword cultivators only fight and never need healing? In case of a qi deviation, we still have to rely on Fourth Senior Brother and me.”
Qiao Yiting nodded repeatedly to show it made sense, only to hear her continue, “Besides, Fourth Senior Brother and I are disciples of Senior Virtuous True Man Wan Keran, who is your Master’s junior brother.”
“So that’s how it is. Thank you, Senior Sister, for clearing my doubts.”
Saying one more word would have exposed him! Why didn’t the original book introduce this? He thought again: perhaps it was introduced, but he might have simply forgotten it.
With that said, the two had already arrived at Su Qingyu’s alchemy and medicine-brewing area, where the refreshing fragrance of herbs filled the air. Qiao Yiting looked at the mortar, pestle, and utensils before him, feeling an overwhelming sense of familiarity. He had used these exact tools back in college, and he had to admit he still loved his major dearly.
He only regretted not taking a few more traditional Chinese medicine courses back then; otherwise, he wouldn’t have to come begging for medical help here like seeking counsel at someone’s snowy doorstep.
“Senior Sister, my apologies for my earlier rudeness.” After going through that little episode, he weighed his words a few times before asking cautiously, “I feel that pharmacy and medical cultivation are extremely, extremely necessary, so in the future, might I learn some basic skills from you and Fourth Senior Brother?”
Only then did Su Qingyu stop wearing a stern face, “Hmph, if Senior Brother agrees, then I agree.”
On the other other side, Xue Yun looked at Zeng Youran’s face, flushed red from enduring the pain, and said with a heart-wrenching tone, “You don’t need to hold back the pain. You can come over anytime in the future; you don’t need to be so distant.”
Hearing this, Zeng Youran’s bean-sized tears fell like broken beads, one by one, yet he still endured and refrained from crying out loud.
“Remember to come over for a change of dressings every day.”
Zeng Youran put his tattered clothes back on, using his sleeve to wipe the tears from his face, “Thank you, Senior Brother.”
Midway through their conversation, the Qiao-Su pair had already returned to the treatment area.
Su Qingyu handed the medicine to Zeng Youran, “Applying this to the wound will stop the pain. If you can’t reach the spot, you can come here and let Senior Brother help you.”
Qiao Yiting stood off to the side, leaning against the doorframe with a beaming smile, “I can help you too.” After all, changing dressings was his specialty!
Zeng Youran looked at the medicine bottle in his hands, then raised his gaze to look at Su Qingyu and Qiao Yiting standing at the door. His tears began to flow uncontrollably once more, his voice trembling as he said, “Thank you, Senior Brother and Senior Sister.”
This was the first time he had received preferential treatment on Qingxuan Mountain, the first time he tasted the feeling of someone caring about him. At that moment, Qiao Yiting and Su Qingyu stood in the light like gods.
Watching him cry, Qiao Yiting couldn’t connect him with the ruthless arch-villain he would become later on, and playfully teased him instead, “It hurts that much? It seems Fourth Senior Brother needs to improve his technique. He should have added some anesthetic or mandragora for you.”
On the way back, perhaps realizing he had been a bit out of character just now, Zeng Youran reverted to his reticent self, walking at a brisk pace.
“Junior Brother, how much do you know about the sect?” Qiao Yiting didn’t dare question the senior brother and sister any further. Judging by Su Qingyu’s reaction earlier, she was already suspicious of him, so he decided to extract information from Zeng Youran instead.
“Replying to Senior Brother, I generally know most of it.”
Although Qingxuan Mountain was famous for sword dao, the sect had been established for several hundred years and had produced many famous cultivators in the past, boasting a very solid foundation. Even now, many cultivators came admiringly to join, though few ended up staying.
The current Sect Master Gu Minghuai was the senior-most disciple of the former Sect Master, but currently, he and his junior brother Wan Keran were traveling afar and their whereabouts were unknown.
Above the Sect Master, there was also an elder, but he cared even less about worldly affairs, solely focusing on secluded cultivation in pursuit of the Dao and ascension. Therefore, the daily affairs of the sect were managed by the Eldest Senior Brother and Third Senior Sister.
The information obtained from Zeng Youran’s narration wasn’t substantial. After all, he had only recently come up the mountain and actually didn’t understand much about the mountain’s situation, only thinking he knew most of it.
The book described very little about the situation on the mountain, yet Qiao Yiting knew more than Zeng Youran did.
However, he didn’t show it. After listening to Zeng Youran’s words, he nodded approvingly, “Then do you know those two child gatekeepers at the mountain gate?”
“I know them. Those are Qingcong and Qingbo Senior Brothers. They were ordered by Master to guard the mountain gate over there.”
How could Zeng Youran possibly not know? The first time he suffered abuse from Fang Ping, he had packed his luggage and prepared to flee down the mountain, but unfortunately, he was given a sound beating by Qingcong and Qingbo. Later, he figured at least he could get three meals a day here, if he got beaten, so be it, as long as he had thick skin and could eat his fill, it was fine.
“So that’s how it is.” After listening to the explanation, he looked at the ignorant kid walking ahead and pushed his luck, “I haven’t fully recovered from my major illness, and many things have become unfamiliar to me. Why don’t you show me around the mountain tomorrow?”
“Senior Brother, you’d better find someone else. I still have to follow Eldest Senior Brother’s orders tomorrow, or else he will get angry.”
He hadn’t expected Zeng Youran to actually refuse; he thought he would be extremely willing. Seeing Zeng Youran’s frightened look, he had no choice but to compromise, “Fine, then tomorrow I’ll go with you to find Eldest Senior Brother, won’t that work?”
Naturally, he knew Fang Ping would get angry, so he decided he had to go meet this Eldest Senior Brother tomorrow.
Zeng Youran didn’t respond to his words and muttered to himself, “Senior Brother, our dwellings are not in the same place. I’ll take this path, Senior Brother walk slowly.”
With that, he prepared to head toward his small firewood hut.
Yet how could Qiao Yiting let him slip away so easily? Without him leading the way, he wouldn’t be able to find Eldest Senior Brother’s dwelling tomorrow, “You might as well sleep in my quarters tonight. It’ll be convenient to look after me.”
“But…”
“Besides, your firewood hut is cold and small, quite uncomfortable to live in. Come to my place, you’ll sleep much more comfortably.” Knowing what Zeng Youran was hesitating about, Qiao Yiting said, “Tomorrow morning I’ll go with you to explain things to Eldest Senior Brother. Let’s go!”
Actually, there was another very important reason: he was lost again. If Zeng Youran didn’t guide him, he had no idea when he would ever find his way back to Zhiyi Hall.