Zhulan’s face darkened to the pitch of midnight. “My disciple has barely half his life left, and you still want to continue the duel? Do you intend to have him killed right here on the Duel Stage?”
“I was merely returning in kind what he dealt out. When he used to bully me, he went just as hard, trying to beat me to death,” Yan Mingqiu retorted righteously.
Yun Feng rolled up his sleeves. “That’s right! Nobody messes with our Yucang Peak and gets away with it.”
Stepping forward, the First Elder intervened. “The Duel Stage has been wrecked, and it will take time for us to repair this tunnel. The match is temporarily suspended.”
Hearing this, a twinge of guilty conscience tugged at Yun Feng, though he maintained an impassive, serene front. “Then I shall await the three elders’ good news.”
With that, Yun Feng led Yan Mingqiu and Chenhan away.
Well aware in his heart that this underground tunnel was ninety-nine percent Yun Feng’s handiwork since Yun Feng was the only one capable of tunneling beneath Biluo Peak without a sound Zhulan had no concrete proof.
Glowering at the retreating backs of the trio, he swore a silent, bitter oath in his heart: If I do not wash away this humiliation, how can I ever face cultivation again?
Upon returning to Yucang Peak, the trio found that their once-deserted domain was now bustling with unprecedented liveliness. Countless disciples had crowded around the front gates, all eager to catch a glimpse of Yan Mingqiu.
After all, he was the real deal a living, breathing heavenly-grade fire spiritual root!
One eager disciple rushed forward, taking Yan Mingqiu’s hand with excessive familiarity. “Senior Brother, I always knew you possessed extraordinary grace and breathtaking demeanor…”
Before he could finish, Chenhan elbowed his way between them, stepping directly in front of Yan Mingqiu. Spreading his arms wide to wall him off, Chenhan swept a protective, hostile gaze over the surrounding crowd, glaring fiercely at any disciple who dared step closer.
Yan Mingqiu was the sort of softhearted person who struggled to turn away well-wishes, even when those well-wishes were entirely self-imposed.
Looking a bit flustered, he offered an embarrassed smile. “Ah… since you’re all already here, come on inside and have a cup of tea.”
The moment those words left his mouth, the crowd swarmed through the front gates like a tidal wave, filling the courtyard to the brim in an instant.
Immortal Yunshang was still present, and lacking his explicit permission, none of the disciples dared to step foot inside the main hall, choosing instead to sit directly on the ground outside. Yan Mingqiu bustled back and forth serving everyone, while Chenhan pitched in diligently by his side.
The lively commotion persisted all the way until the hour of Hai (9:00 PM to 11:00 PM). The Medicine Spirit Sect had a strict rule: rise at the hour of Mao (5:00 AM to 7:00 AM) and rest by the hour of Hai.
As the hour of Hai approached, the disciples gradually dispersed. Once the courtyard quieted down, Yan Mingqiu and Chenhan sat together amidst the sea of empty cups and tea sets.
Recalling the scene just moments before, Yan Mingqiu smiled gently. “Yucang Peak has never been this lively before.”
Chenhan poured him a fresh cup of tea. “Do you like the bustle?”
Cupping the teacup in his palms, Yan Mingqiu rubbed his hands back and forth, soaking in the comforting warmth radiating from the clay. “I do. This kind of warmth makes me feel so cozy… It gives me a sense of having a real home.”
This was the first time Yan Mingqiu had ever opened up to anyone about the concept of home since coming up the mountain, and once the floodgates opened, a torrent of suppressed words spilled forth.
“You know what? I never once laid eyes on my biological father. I can barely even picture what my mother looked like. There’s a portrait of her in Master’s study, but I’ve never dared to look at it. In the painting, my mother was so beautiful and so kind, yet she ended up meeting such a horrific end…”
Sobs choked his voice as tears began to stream down his face.
Fragment by fragment, Yan Mingqiu recounted his past.
Only then did Chenhan learn that his mother had been Immortal Yunshang’s junior sister, who had suffered the misfortune of a disastrous romance. After falling pregnant, she had been abandoned by a heartless scoundrel and forced to raise her child in solitude.
His mother had hidden away with him in constant fear for four years. Following her murder, he had drifted alone as an orphan for another two years until Yun Feng finally tracked him down and brought him back to Qiwang Mountain.
“Why did you two have to hide? Did you have enemies?” Chenhan asked gently, his voice laced with caution.
With a bitter, sorrowful shake of his head, Yan Mingqiu replied, “No. That person wanted to capture my mother and me to use as leverage against my father.”
“An enemy of your father?”
“Mm. She claimed my father had murdered her husband.”
“Mm.” Chenhan felt a familiar, splitting throb pulse through his temples, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to endure it. “So… didn’t you want to avenge your mother?”
“I already have,” Yan Mingqiu whispered, quietly appending a silent addendum in his heart: It’s just that the executioner happened to be my good-for-nothing father.
“That’s good, then. Tonight is the fifteenth the moon is even rounder than it was last night. Would you like to go up to the Moon-Embracing Pavilion for a drink and admire the moon?” Chenhan wasn’t naturally gifted at comforting others; in his mind, getting thoroughly drunk was the absolute best cure for processing overwhelming emotions.
Nodding softly, Yan Mingqiu agreed, “Alright.”
Ever since that day, small groups of disciples continuously drifted over to Yucang Peak to beg for tea.
And while sipping their tea, they inevitably gravitated toward casual gossip.
” Have you heard? The Lin family sent someone to pick Lin Pu up, claiming that returning home would be much better for his recovery.”
“Heh, speaking of recovery, nowhere in the entire cultivation world can hold a candle to our Qiwang Mountain when it comes to healing we are the premier alchemy sect, after all.”
“His kind of illness isn’t something medicinal pills can fix anyway. He’s completely lost his mind, wandering around and demanding anyone he locks eyes with step onto the Duel Stage with him. He’s totally obsessed/deranged.”
“To think that a once-aloof, high-and-mighty prodigy has been reduced to an absolute cripple.”
Taking advantage of a moment when the crowd thinned out, one disciple lowered his voice into a cautious whisper, “Senior Brother Yan, you really need to be on your guard against the Lin family from now on. A powerful aristocratic clan like theirs isn’t the type to swallow a humiliating loss lying down. If I were you, Senior Brother, I wouldn’t step foot off the mountain for a long time—who knows if the Lin family has agents staked out at our mountain gates waiting for you to walk out?”
Yan Mingqiu nodded earnestly. “You’re right. I appreciate the warning.”
He naturally lacked any appetite for endless disputes; to him, avoiding trouble was always preferable to inviting it, and truth be told, he had never had any fondness for descending the mountain anyway.
When Yun Feng had first rescued him and brought him up the mountain, he had spent every waking moment consumed by a singular desire: to cultivate hard, grow strong, and avenge his mother.
However, Yun Feng later revealed the truth to him: the entire Han family the clan responsible for murdering his mother had been completely wiped out. And the executioner behind the massacre was none other than his own father. The patriarch of the Golden-Winged Roc clan had personally led dozens of elite martial experts to slaughter every last soul in the Han family.
So many innocent lives had been needlessly dragged into the bloodbath. Upon learning the full picture, Yan Mingqiu had spent days chanting scriptures to help souls find peace.
With the burden of revenge lifted from his shoulders, he chose to follow his mother’s dying wish: to simply live out his life quietly as an ordinary, peaceful mortal.
Now that his cultivation was safely capped at the early Foundation Establishment stage, he resolved to let this be his final stop. From this day forward, he would never cultivate again.
Between playing host to endless streams of visitors, Yan Mingqiu suddenly realized he had overlooked something important.
Noticing that Chenhan kept tugging self-consciously at his sleeves over the past few days, Yan Mingqiu had an epiphany: Oh! I completely forgot to buy Chenhan new clothes.
A promise was a promise; he couldn’t back out of it now. Slinging a storage pouch stuffed to the brim with spirit stones over his shoulder, Yan Mingqiu grabbed Chenhan by the wrist and dragged him down the mountain.
Fortunately, no members of the Lin family ambushed them along the path, allowing Yan Mingqiu to relax his shoulders and stroll leisurely through the town with Chenhan in high spirits.
The bustling city nestled right at the foot of Qiwang Mountain was called Wangji City. Eager to treat his companion properly, Yan Mingqiu led Chenhan straight into the most prominent apparel boutique in town.
He picked out over a dozen outfits and made Chenhan try them on one by one.
“This set looks dashing on you.”
“This one makes you look drop-dead gorgeous.”
“And this one…”
“Shopkeeper, wrap up the whole lot!”
Staring at the sea of crimson garments lined up before him, Chenhan blinked in mild bewilderment. “These robes are all the exact same color. Won’t people think I never change my clothes?”
“What are you talking about? Look closely: this one is coral-red (shanhuhong), this one is deep vermilion (zhuyin), this one is blazing scarlet (chichi), and this one is deep madder-red (chiti)…” Yan Mingqiu listed off each shade with expert precision, pointing to them one by one.
Even the shopkeeper was left slack-jawed in absolute admiration. “Esteemed customer, you are a true professional! You can’t rattle off all these nuances without at least eight or ten years of deep experience in textiles.”
Running a hand appreciatively over the fine fabric, Yan Mingqiu murmured, “I’ve always loved red, so I made a point of studying it.”
Back when he was a young child, his mother had always dressed him in vibrant red robes. But ever since coming up the mountain, he had never worn the color again, forced instead to don the standard white disciple robes of the sect a shade far too pale and drab for his tastes, which he thoroughly disliked.
Chenhan smiled warmly. “Since you love red so much, why don’t you buy yourself a few red robes as well?”
Yan Mingqiu shook his head. “Forget it. Even if I bought them, I’d never get to wear them—they aren’t allowed on the mountain.”
Chenhan’s eyes glinted playfully. “They aren’t allowed on the mountain, but they’re allowed down here. How about we change into them right now and stroll through the city together wearing our matching new clothes?”
Lifting his gaze, Yan Mingqiu locked eyes with him, his own eyes sparkling brightly. “Alright! Let’s do it together.”