Chapter 42: Second Senior Brother
Outside the restaurant lights, the noise of drinking was loud, and light floated on clear reflections.
Wei Yinzui stood up lazily, his face flushed red as fire. Swaying unsteadily, he held half a jar of wine in his left hand and supported himself on the vermilion lacquered pillar with his right. A heavy sword hung at his waist behind him.
After meeting Su Huan, the sword, which had gained sentience, buzzed incessantly, like a frolicking child.
Wei Yinzui clicked his tongue in disdain and reached out to press it down. The hum of the sword became somewhat muffled, seemingly dissatisfied.
He observed the youth whose eyes had widened upon recognizing him, couldn’t help laughing, and finally remembered to greet him properly. “Fourth Junior Brother, long time no see. You’ve grown quite a bit.”
Su Huan was stunned for a good while before digesting the memories that suddenly surfaced in his mind.
In his memory, he was sent to the Xuanji Sect to study when he was ten. At that time, Master Chongjiang already had three direct disciples and didn’t want to take care of a child. It was Wei Yinzui who thought he was cute and put in a good word, allowing him to be accepted into Lichen Mountain.
When he went up the mountain, Lichen Mountain’s Eldest Senior Brother, Yin Pei, had reached the age to go down the mountain for experience. Master Chongjiang was often in seclusion, leaving only Feng Jiangyue and Wei Yinzui to take turns taking care of him.
Both of them were muddle-headed.
One forgot that he hadn’t achieved bigu (abstinence from grains). It wasn’t until the third day, when he fainted from hunger, that she hurriedly boiled a spirit beast egg to fill his stomach. The other lived for wine, taking the little Su Huan in and out of taverns. The big one and the small one got drunk but had no silver to pay for the wine. They were detained by the proprietress in the back kitchen to wash dishes all night before they could escape.
Once, Wei Yinzui finally managed to be sober. Carrying Feng Jiangyue on his back, he found Su Huan practicing swordsmanship, mysteriously hid something in his palm, dragged him to the bamboo forest behind Lichen Mountain, and grinningly shared it with him.
A butterfly, half the size of a palm, rested quietly in his palm.
Its black wings flapped gently, emitting a faint blue light; it was extremely beautiful.
But he took only one look and fainted on the spot.
Only after waking up did he learn that it was an Ink Butterfly from the Desolate Realm. The powder on its wings could make people die silently in a dream.
Wei Yinzui was beaten half to death by Feng Jiangyue for this. After recovering, he conversely called him a weak beauty and said he would never play with him again.
It wasn’t until he cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage that the youth, who lived a life of drunkenness, also went down the mountain for experience and rarely returned.
…
Su Huan looked at the Second Senior Brother before him, who had “unreliable” written all over him, and held his forehead. “Second Senior Brother, were you swept out by the shopkeeper again?”
“Of course not.” Wei Yinzui snorted a laugh, swayed close to him, and whispered, “I… hic, am back to catch a big demon… hic…”
Seeing he was about to fall, Su Huan hurriedly supported him, puzzled. “Big demon?”
Yue Jiusi also walked over from behind. Crossing his arms, he sized up the drunk slob in front of him, his face full of disdain, and asked, “Hey, is he really your Senior Brother?”
Before Su Huan could speak, Wei Yinzui narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue. “Stinking sword cultivator from the Jianqing Sect? Fourth Junior Brother, you have to stay away from sword cultivators, especially those from the Jianqing Sect. They are the most cold-blooded and heartless.”
Yue Jiusi was annoyed and immediately retorted, “You are clearly a stinking sword cultivator yourself, why don’t you tell your Junior Brother to stay away from you too! Truly a lunatic!”
Wei Yinzui took a swig of wine, shook his head, refusing to lower himself to the level of this wet-behind-the-ears brat, and stumbled toward the street.
“Where are you going? Come back and explain clearly!”
Yue Jiusi wanted to chase after him to argue, but seeing that stumbling figure, in the blink of an eye, it was swallowed by the crowd.
Su Huan advised, “Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. Second Senior Brother just has this kind of bad temper; you must not take him seriously.”
Yue Jiusi huffed through his nose, but the expression on his face softened.
He said, “You have to order all the signature dishes of this restaurant for me…”
Su Huan gazed at the bustling crowd, his mind distracted by the words Wei Yinzui had uttered earlier.
“Hey, are you listening to me?” Yue Jiusi suddenly waved his hand in front of his eyes. Seeing his confused expression, he felt a bit angry. “Are you still thinking about that whatever Senior Brother of yours? So absent-minded, you might as well go find him!”
But he heard Su Huan muse, “Makes sense.”
Su Huan turned and instructed him, “You go in and order first; I’ll be back soon.”
Yue Jiusi’s eyes widened as he shouted, “You really want to leave us behind to find that guy?!”
But he saw Su Huan had already squeezed into the crowd and disappeared in a moment.
Yue Jiusi felt stifled instantly, secretly swearing in his heart that if he didn’t fleece the guy surnamed Su for a huge meal tonight, he would write his name backwards!
When Nangong Yi and Xiao Jianming arrived, Su Huan was nowhere to be seen. Nangong Yi asked him, “Jiusi, where is Fellow Daoist Su?”
Yue Jiusi replied loudly and angrily, “Don’t know!”
After speaking, holding his sword, he ran upstairs.
Su Huan passed through the crowd, blocked Wei Yinzui’s path, and asked, “Second Senior Brother, the big demon you mentioned is…”
Wei Yinzui leaned close with a flushed face, a gust of alcohol breath rushing over. He laughed low, “Fourth Junior Brother, do you also want to catch the demon with me… Pity I don’t know who he is, only that he is the Demon Lord’s eldest son…”
The Demon Lord’s eldest son?!
Su Huan was horrified. Wei Yinzui rambled on, “That day… hic, I bumped into that person contacting a demon… That demon looked exactly like the Second Prince Yin Rong, and even called him Big Brother… That person covered half his face with a mask, but the fabric of his clothes was of Xuanji Sect territory make…”
“I intended to catch this traitor, but was knocked unconscious in a dark alley instead, sleeping for three days and three nights…” Wei Yinzui burped and laughed mockingly at himself. “He is truly strange; he actually spared my life.”
Indeed, this demon was truly strange.
Su Huan could see that Second Senior Brother was clean, without a trace of demonic qi, not looking like a demonic seed had been planted in him.
In other words, that demon merely knocked him out and let him go.
Su Huan couldn’t figure it out. Opening his mouth to ask for more details, someone in the crowd suddenly called him:
“Junior Brother Su!”
A white shadow suddenly flew down before his eyes. It was Eldest Senior Brother, Yinzhu.
Descending on a Green Bamboo Flute, dressed in gentle white clothes, resilient as verdant bamboo.
This Chief Disciple of the Xuanji Sect was unlike the cold and ruthless Xiao Jianming in the Heart Tribulation Illusion. Instead, he was a “mother hen” type who was somewhat overly kind and rambled a bit when speaking.
Seeing Su Huan safe and sound, Yinzhu breathed a sigh of relief. “Seeing you safe is truly wonderful.”
After speaking, he looked at Wei Yinzui, who was holding the wine jar beside him, a trace of surprise leaking from his eyes. “Junior Brother Wei, why are you here? Is your experience training over?”
Wei Yinzui sobered up by thirty percent and called out respectfully, “Eldest Senior Brother.”
Wei Yinzui had been the little bully of Lichen Mountain since childhood. Relying on his natural talent, he didn’t cultivate diligently but spent all day going down the mountain to eat, drink, and play, leading countless sect disciples astray. Even the Sect Master couldn’t do anything about him.
This respect of his, apart from the Sect Master and Master Chongjiang, was only given to Yinzhu in the entire sect. Even Yin Pei only got the address “Little Old Man.”
Because Wei Yinzui was an abandoned infant picked up by Yinzhu.
Yinzhu blinked and said softly, “Junior Brother Wei is drunk.”
Su Huan nodded. Just at this moment, Xiao Jianming found his way over—
“Huan-er.”
This gentle call sobered Wei Yinzui up another thirty percent. He turned to look at the person who spoke behind him.
A youth dressed in dark blue robes walked slowly from the noisy crowd, treading on the shadows of lights on the ground. With thin lips, a straight nose, and eyes like lacquer, he was born with a good appearance.
It was just that the look in his eyes when he looked at his junior brother gave one goosebumps… like a cultist worshipping an evil god.
Su Huan also turned his head. Seeing Xiao Jianming coming toward him, he asked, “Why did you come over?”
Xiao Jianming looked down at him and whispered, “I saw you weren’t there, so I wanted to come find you.”
He glanced at the Chief Senior Brother he hadn’t seen for a long time, then at the drunk youth, and nodded with a fake smile. “Eldest Senior Brother, Senior Brother Wei.”
Hearing the tone of their conversation, which was very familiar and intimate, Wei Yinzui’s heart skipped a beat. He probed, “Fourth Junior Brother, this is?”
Only then did Su Huan remember that Second Senior Brother hadn’t met Xiao Jianming, so he introduced, “Second Senior Brother, he is the Sword Venerable Martial Uncle’s new disciple, named Xiao Jianming.”
Xiao Jianming looked at Wei Yinzui. Seeing his furrowed brows, he raised an eyebrow slightly and deliberately added, “Also Huan-er’s Dao Companion.”
As soon as the words fell, Wei Yinzui frowned.
Standing aside, Yinzhu heard this and asked in surprise, “Fourth Junior Brother, you’ve become partners already? Why have I never heard of it? Did you not hold a bonding ceremony?”
Su Huan was stunned and shook his head. “No.”
Xiao Jianming held his hand, smiling. “We just returned and haven’t had time to tell the masters yet.”
Yinzhu frowned slightly. “Heaven, Earth, Sovereign, Parent, Teacher—you absolutely must not forget to hold the bonding ceremony, otherwise it is an illicit union without a matchmaker, which is not recognized.”
Xiao Jianming didn’t like him. Hearing this, he just gave a faint acknowledgment, not wishing to say more.
Su Huan nodded obediently and promised, “Eldest Senior Brother rest assured, I will speak to Master.”
Wei Yinzui scrutinized his expression carefully. Seeing no sign of forced submission, he lifted the wine jar and took a swig, the drunkenness on his face deepening a few degrees. He laughed, “You kid… hic, actually quietly abducted my Junior Brother… I tell you… hic, if you treat my Junior Brother badly…”
As he spoke, he paused, reaching out to pat the heavy sword at his waist. “I will definitely make you taste the flavor of my sword… hic…”
Accidentally using too much force, his body swayed along with the sword. Yinzhu supported him lightly and sighed, “Junior Brother Wei, if your alcohol tolerance is poor, don’t drink so much wine.”
Being born with poor alcohol tolerance was the greatest regret of Wei Yinzui’s life. Unfortunately, despite his lack of skill, his addiction was great; he just loved to drink.
Thinking of this failing that Junior Brother Wei refused to correct despite repeated admonitions, Yinzhu sighed again and unconsciously began to nag, “Drinking hurts the body so much. If you truly like it, you should learn to drink in moderation. How can you drink all day long? Even for cultivators, it will damage the body…”
At this moment, a shout came from mid-air in the distance—
“Su Huan, if you don’t come soon, I’m going to drink all the wine!”
Several people looked up and saw Yue Jiusi standing on the eaves of the restaurant, holding the pot of spirit wine bought from Zihuan Zhenren, deliberately shaking the clear wine pot at them.
The evening breeze blew towards them. Across thousands of lights, Su Huan smelled the aroma of wine from that small pot.
He couldn’t help exclaiming in his heart: What fragrant spirit wine.
He hurriedly responded, “Coming right now!”
After responding, remembering the Big Demon Wei Yinzui mentioned, he glanced at Wei Yinzui, who was so drunk he couldn’t walk steadily, and looked conflicted.
Yinzhu saw this and smiled. “In that case, Junior Brother Su can go drink with your friends in peace. Leave Junior Brother Wei to me; I will take good care of him.”
Su Huan’s eyes lit up hearing this. He thought that Second Senior Brother wouldn’t know who the demon was anytime soon anyway, so he might as well play with Yue Jiusi and the others tonight and investigate later.
He agreed, “Then many thanks, Eldest Senior Brother!”
Yinzhu lightly supported the unsteady Wei Yinzui and smiled. “You’re welcome, go quickly.”
Su Huan nodded and ran happily towards the restaurant.
Xiao Jianming lagged a step behind. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at the black qi on Yinzhu, which wasn’t much but lingered persistently.
Yinzhu felt his gaze, looked at him with a smile, and asked with confusion, “Junior Brother Xiao, is there anything else?”
Xiao Jianming saw a thin wisp of that black qi separate, floating in the air like claws and teeth. He could clearly perceive the delusional desires within it.
Finally, that wisp of evil delusional qi drifted lightly and landed on the drunkard who kept shouting that he could walk alone.
The corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily. “Nothing.”
He turned and left.
Translator’s note: Enjoy reading!
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