Qin Yu’an slapped his thigh, annoyed. “What a loss. I should’ve stripped him of his good stuff before tossing him away.”
Xiao Nian was busy burying the giant serpent’s corpse in the empty grave and replied casually, “Then shall we catch him again?”
Shu Chen: “Forget it. He doesn’t seem to be of much use.”
That offhand remark hit Qin Yu’an right where it hurt. He thought for a moment, then found something to occupy himself. “That formation at the manor is disgusting. I’m going to break it the moment I get back.”
Shu Chen wanted to say that he’d already tampered with it during the day, but seeing how hard his senior brother was trying to be useful, he decided he’d restore the formation to its original state when they returned.
Looking busy but accomplishing absolutely nothing that was Qin Yu’an’s story all along.
When it came to efficiency, Xiao Nian was the real deal. In just a few moments, he finished handling the empty grave, wiped his hands clean, and got ready to lead the way back to the manor.
Qin Yu’an had never liked the manor to begin with, and now that he knew it was hiding a serpent demon, he said indignantly, “The manor schemed against us like that, and you still want to keep helping them, Junior Brother?”
From his perspective, he’d done his part properly according to the requirements, and once the money and the job were settled, neither side owed the other anything. But they’d been out for their lives from the very start the mission reward had turned into blood money.
Shu Chen nodded. “Of course. If you take the money, you do the job.”
Xiao Nian gave him a strange look, as if he hadn’t expected Shu Chen to hold such a principle.
Shu Chen continued speaking to Qin Yu’an. “Senior Brother, you didn’t take their money, so you don’t need to feel obligated. You can head back to the sect first, or leave the manor and go explore elsewhere. I’ve heard the mortal world has plenty of fun places too.”
Qin Yu’an refused. “The old man’s been teaching all the recent classes. I’m not going back. When you’re ready to leave, we’ll go explore the rest of the mortal world together.”
The old man that was the medical cultivator who’d made Qin Yu’an repeat a year.
Shu Chen immediately understood. You just want to skip class.
No one knew when the three of them had left, and no one knew when they returned.
Qin Yu’an harbored a grudge against the manor. After breaking the formation, he went back to his room to rest and refused to do a single thing more for the manor.
The other two still hadn’t ended their cold war. Seeing their senior brother leave, they each returned to their own rooms without a single word exchanged.
Lying back down on this bed, Shu Chen finally managed to overcome his psychological aversion and closed his eyes to sleep.
It felt like he’d barely slept at all when a loud crash came from outside. Shu Chen jolted awake and sat up to see the male lead kicking his door open.
Shu Chen usually had a terrible temper when waking up. Under normal circumstances, his anger would’ve flared up instantly. But he found himself surprisingly calm.
Strange.
Xiao Nian strode in and yanked off his blanket. “Get up. It’s this late and you’re still sleeping?”
Shu Chen glanced out the window. He could swear it was definitely not past six in the morning.
His anger had faded, and the way he was sitting looked a bit foolish to Xiao Nian, who softened his tone slightly, no longer as harsh as before. “Hurry up and get dressed. Someone’s outside looking for you.”
Then he couldn’t help muttering, “Do you really need to? Setting up a soundproof barrier in a place like this.”
Shu Chen slowly got up and dressed, retorting inwardly: Of course I do. No one gets to disturb my rest.
Seeing that Shu Chen was finally moving, Xiao Nian stopped urging him and turned to sit by the table, helping himself to a cup of tea without any pretense.
Before long, Shu Chen stood silently before him, head lowered, staring at him without a word.
Xiao Nian rested one arm on the table, leaning back slightly, and looked up at him with a smile, looking relaxed and at ease.
“What are you trying to do?”
Shu Chen stared at him, completely devoid of emotion, and spoke slowly. “How strange. It seems I can’t get angry anymore. Do you know why?”
That remark successfully broke through Xiao Nian’s composure, and he burst out laughing. “Isn’t that a good thing? I really like you in this state.”
Shu Chen kept his eyes locked on him, not missing a single expression on Xiao Nian’s face, yet still couldn’t find any flaw.
Suddenly, Shu Chen reached out toward his waist. Xiao Nian tried to block him but failed, so he just let him do as he pleased.
Shu Chen opened the storage pouch, and a foul stench hit him in the face. His eyesight was too good he could clearly see what was inside. His expression shifted, and he stiffly put it back on Xiao Nian.
From start to finish, Xiao Nian’s expression never changed. He maintained a perfectly composed smile the entire time, even kindly pulling out another storage pouch for him. “There’s more. Want to see?”
Shu Chen withdrew his hand. “No need. It’s definitely you.”
Xiao Nian sighed innocently. “You suspecting me like this really breaks my heart.”
That said, there wasn’t a trace of hurt on his face. In fact, he even pulled out another fruit right in front of Shu Chen and said with a lazy smile, “Still want one?”
Shu Chen calmly took the fruit, then in a flash reached out and pinched Xiao Nian’s mouth, shoving the fruit inside.
Xiao Nian took a bite without a care, then pulled Shu Chen’s hand away from his face and said lightly, “No need to be so petty about it, right? Didn’t you also do plenty of bad things to me?”
As if he’d just realized something, he studied the person before him with great interest, then began to console him. “It doesn’t affect you much anyway. And it only lasts a few days.”
Shu Chen pressed his lips together without responding, taking a step back under Xiao Nian’s amused gaze, signaling that the matter could be dropped.
A knock sounded at the door again. The previous one had been blocked by the barrier, so Shu Chen hadn’t heard it, but this time there was no reason not to go out.
As he turned to leave, Xiao Nian followed from behind and leaned close to his ear, whispering with a light laugh, “You know? No one can grow that tall overnight. At this rate, are you trying to reach the heavens?”
Xiao Nian held up his thumb and index finger in front of Shu Chen’s eyes to indicate a length, and Shu Chen’s heart gave a sudden jolt. But his face betrayed nothing, and he decided to ignore the remark, pretending he hadn’t heard it.
Xiao Nian chuckled, lowered his hand, and made a “please” gesture.
Shu Chen secretly regretted it in his heart, wanting to shrink back, but afraid of being caught on the spot.
The people outside the door, seeing him come out, said in a fluster, “Immortal Master, there’s a room full of snakes. The Young Prince asks you to come over.”
Qin Yu’an heard the commotion and followed along as well. Even if he wasn’t going to help, he still wanted to watch the excitement, and he couldn’t resist taking a jab at them. “What’s there to be afraid of with snakes?”
The servant shuddered, as if recalling some terrifying scene. “Because there are too many of them.”
When they arrived, Qin Yu’an understood exactly how many “too many” meant.
Snakes were sprawled across the walls of the building and the ground nearby. At first glance, there wasn’t a single empty spot. Snakes of all sizes slithered back and forth. Had the guards not surrounded the area with tools, the entire prince’s residence would likely not have been spared.