After a long moment, Lin Jin finally snapped back to his senses and resumed his usual gentle, hospitable demeanor.
“I heard from the servants that you haven’t eaten all day, Master Immortal. Is the prince’s mansion cuisine not to your liking?”
Shu Chen: “No, it’s not that. That snake demon is cunning, and I haven’t had time to eat while trying to catch him.”
Lin Jin’s face paled a few shades more. “Then it seems I’ve been an interruption. I’ll go have food prepared at once.”
Shu Chen looked at him. “No need to rush. Skipping a few meals won’t hurt us.”
Lin Jin rose to leave. “What are you saying, Master Immortal? As the prince’s mansion, we would never be so remiss in our hospitality.”
This time, Shu Chen didn’t stop him.
After Lin Jin left, Xiao Nian finally put away the giant snake. “Is teasing him like that fun for you?”
“Why do you say that?”
Xiao Nian stepped forward, raising a hand halfway before lowering it again. “You clearly don’t want to talk to him, yet you take advantage of knowing everything to listen to what other lies he can spin.”
“Isn’t it entertaining to watch someone perform for you?”
His thoughts exposed, Shu Chen’s face turned cold. “Do you have to spell everything out so clearly?”
Xiao Nian pulled a fruit from his robes and handed it to him with a smile. “Didn’t you ask me to?”
Shu Chen let out a displeased huff, took the fruit, and bit into it. It was crisp and refreshing even his mood improved.
It was pretty tasty, too. Who knew where the male lead had found it.
Xiao Nian propped his chin on both hands nearby, the corners of his lips curving upward as he watched the quieted little deviant with a meaningful gaze.
Before Shu Chen could finish his fruit, a commotion broke out outside something that would never happen in the prince’s mansion.
Xiao Nian shot to his feet, took two steps, then turned around. “Aren’t you going to check it out?”
Shu Chen wiped his hands lazily. “No.”
“Not curious?”
Watching a commotion was something normal people enjoyed, but Shu Chen had no interest. He pointed outside. “As long as it doesn’t involve me, no matter how much noise or chaos happens, as far as I’m concerned, nothing is happening.”
“Then stay here. I’ll go take a look.”
As it turned out, that look kept him away for hours without returning.
Instead, it was Qin Yu’an, who had been gone all day, who came back first.
“I found the graves of those three! Come with me this time I definitely won’t lead you astray.”
Xiao Nian had just returned when he heard those words. Leaning against the doorframe, he raised an eyebrow and smirked. “No wonder you’re not interested in these little matters. Turns out you were hiding something far more exciting.”
Shu Chen: “No.”
Qin Yu’an pulled his junior brother along and turned to look at the newcomer. “You’re the one from the outer sect. Why are you here too?”
Xiao Nian: “Coincidence, I suppose.”
Qin Yu’an had been running around all day, and now his mind was entirely focused on proving himself. “Then do you want to come with us?”
Xiao Nian: “Going to a graveyard at this hour? Planning to dig up graves?”
Qin Yu’an hedged, “If necessary, it’s not entirely out of the question.”
Shu Chen: ? Grave-digging!
Instantly, every fiber of his being screamed with resistance.
Xiao Nian keenly caught on to someone’s reluctance. He strode forward and slung an arm around Shu Chen’s shoulder. “Of course we’re going. Good friends naturally go grave-digging together in the middle of the night. Don’t you agree?”
The hand resting on Shu Chen’s shoulder gave a few light pats.
Shu Chen turned his head, staring darkly at the male lead who was smiling with ill intent, and said slowly, “That’s right.”
Qin Yu’an released his junior brother’s hand, his gaze sweeping between the two of them before concluding, “So you two are really close.”
The male lead was clearly going against him, but for some reason, Shu Chen felt little turmoil inside. Calmly, he said to Qin Yu’an, “Then I’ll trouble Senior Brother to lead the way.”
Xiao Nian curled the corner of his mouth in delight where no one could see.
Without alerting a single soul, the three fellow disciples slipped out of the prince’s mansion.
The first half of the journey went smoothly, but Qin Yu’an was overconfident he chatted with Xiao Nian about the situation while leading the way.
It wasn’t until they turned a corner that his pace slowed.
A familiar feeling surged up, and Shu Chen had a bad premonition.
Under the cover of night, the road he had deliberately walked twice during the day to memorize had become utterly foreign he couldn’t even tell north from south anymore.
He turned around miserably and confessed to his two junior brothers, cutting his losses in time. “How about we just head back the way we came? I can’t find the road again.”
Xiao Nian pulled out paper and a brush. “Do you remember the general direction? Draw it out, and I’ll find it.”
Shu Chen: “Tomorrow, we could also ”
Xiao Nian smiled at him, then turned to Qin Yu’an. “I trust Senior Brother isn’t so lost that he doesn’t even remember the general location.”
With that push, Qin Yu’an reluctantly took the paper and brush, sketching a wobbly two-point line with no landmarks marked along the way.
“It should probably look like this.”
He was clearly lacking in confidence, and after Xiao Nian took the paper, he sincerely suggested, “Let’s just come back during the day. Tomorrow, I definitely won’t get lost again.”
Xiao Nian folded up the line drawing. “Follow me.”
Qin Yu’an was stunned. “You can even understand that!”
Xiao Nian thought of an explanation that would make him feel better. “It’s because Senior Brother’s drawing is very straightforward.”
The arduous task was handled by someone else, leaving Qin Yu’an with little to do. He began to work on his image in front of his junior brothers. “Actually, I used to be able to find my way before. It’s just that at some point, I suddenly started losing my sense of direction.”
With his young, handsome face, he spoke in a world-weary tone, “Maybe it’s because I’m getting old, and my memory isn’t what it used to be not as sharp as you young folks.”
Only after saying this did he realize that the young man beside him, who hadn’t reached that age, also couldn’t find his way. He quickly pulled Shu Chen closer. “Not you, though.”
Shu Chen: “Then what do you think the reason is for me, Senior Brother?”
Qin Yu’an kept a straight face, suddenly turning serious. “You know I don’t know medicine, so I can’t diagnose your condition. But you could do what I do find a reason that makes you feel better about it.”
Xiao Nian walked ahead, listening to their exchange, in quite a good mood.
Despite the mishap on the road, with Xiao Nian’s help, the three of them still managed to reach the place Qin Yu’an had visited twice during the day.
Qin Yu’an only recognized the path near the end, pointing ahead excitedly. “That’s right, it’s here. Turn left here, and we’ll see the grave.”
So they turned left, but after walking for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, there was still no sign of a grave.
Xiao Nian: “Let’s turn right and head back.”
On the way back, he and Shu Chen graciously remained silent.
It was Qin Yu’an who sighed. “I thought we could finish this quickly, but alas!”
That sigh was full of bitterness.
“If the prince’s residence suddenly needs us for something, I don’t know how we’d explain this.”
Shu Chen: “It’s fine. The Young Prince will explain for us.”
Qin Yu’an felt even more bitter.
Fortunately, not long after, they really did find the grave.
Qin Yu’an rolled up his sleeves. It was time for him to be useful again.