Chapter 238: Returning Together (Part VIII)
Xiao Ji had always thought of himself as someone who was impervious to both persuasion and coercion, yielding to neither soft nor hard tactics.
In the past, no matter who it was, they could forget about forging any ties with him. At first, Patriarch Xiao had also tried to use his authority as an elder to make Xiao Ji do certain things.
Xiao Ji wouldn’t disobey an elder, but as long as he didn’t want to do something, he could simply choose to stop living altogether.
Hard tactics simply didn’t work on him.
As for soft tactics, given Xiao Ji’s temperament, there was truly no one in the entire Xiao family who dared to act spoiled or play cute in front of him.
Right now, Zhong Yinnian’s call of “Brother” actually left him somewhat at a loss.
And Zhong Yinnian was the type to seize any opening and push his luck. Seeing Xiao Ji fall silent, looking as if he hadn’t thought of a countermeasure, he simply slung an arm over Xiao Ji’s shoulders, leading him upstairs while saying with a cheeky smile:
“Just treat it as me f*cking begging you, alright, Brother? Good Brother, I already said I won’t let you suffer a loss.”
Xiao Ji was rendered dizzy by his repeated calls of “Brother,” and in his daze, he followed Zhong Yinnian upstairs.
Even up until he lay down on the bed, he hadn’t figured out how he had fallen into Zhong Yinnian’s trap.
Fortunately, Zhong Yinnian had some sense of propriety and didn’t come to disturb him during the night.
However, early the next morning, just as Xiao Ji pushed open his door, he saw Zhong Yinnian opening the door and walking out from the adjacent room at the exact same moment.
Zhong Yinnian yawned, rubbed his eyes, and said to him, “What a coincidence.”
Xiao Ji nodded in greeting, and then, as if he had never known Zhong Yinnian, went downstairs and left the inn straight for Qingyang Mountain.
But before long, he realized someone had been following him the entire time.
It couldn’t be called tailing him, because it wasn’t the least bit secretive.
Instead, the person was strutting openly right behind him, eating and drinking non-stop along the way, and occasionally humming a little tune.
At first, Xiao Ji chose to ignore it, assuming Zhong Yinnian merely happened to be going the same way.
But it wasn’t until he entered the boundaries of Qingyang Mountain and turned his head to see that Zhong Yinnian had caught a bird from who knows where and was muttering something to it, that he finally couldn’t hold back and asked, “Why are you following me?”
Hearing this, Zhong Yinnian even looked behind himself, and only after confirming there was no one else around did he point to himself in surprise. “Is Brother talking to me?”
Xiao Ji remained silent, merely staring intently at him.
Only then did Zhong Yinnian say, “I’m not following you. We are going the same way. Isn’t that just a coincidence?”
Xiao Ji stated, “This is Qingyang Mountain.”
Zhong Yinnian nodded. “I know, I’m heading to Qingyang Mountain.”
“To do what?” Xiao Ji asked.
The look Zhong Yinnian gave Xiao Ji turned peculiar. “Isn’t it like this every year? Several disciples from your Qingyang Mountain are currently cultivating divination arts at our Tianque Palace. Naturally, our Tianque Palace has also swapped people over to seek instruction in spellcraft and weaponry from your Qingyang Mountain.”
Xiao Ji had heard something about this, but he had never cared about the specific details of how the exchange worked.
Because Qingyang Mountain would never exchange him out under any circumstances.
Over the years, no one had even brought up this matter in front of him.
However, now that Zhong Yinnian mentioned it, Xiao Ji thought about it carefully. It seemed that indeed, around this time every year, there would be some unfamiliar faces on Qingyang Mountain cultivating alongside the Xiao family disciples.
These people were usually not very adept at executing spells and wielding weapons.
Previously, Xiao Ji had merely assumed that these people were replaced every year or so because they were too stupid and had been expelled from the sect.
Thinking about it now, it turned out they were from the other major aristocratic families. Their talent lay outside of weaponry and spells, and when the time came, they were swapped out for the next batch.
Xiao Ji was suddenly enlightened and casually asked, “From Tianque Palace this year, is it just you?”
Zhong Yinnian waved his hand. “There are others, but my personality is reclusive. I didn’t want to travel with them, and my walking pace is fast, so I arrived a bit early. I had intended to wander around, but who knew I’d get trapped in Fu’an Village, and also…”
Speaking up to this point, he suddenly shut his mouth and did not continue.
Xiao Ji’s brow twitched. “And also what?”
Zhong Yinnian shook his head. “Nothing.”
Xiao Ji just uttered an “Oh” and turned his head to continue walking forward.
Zhong Yinnian followed behind him and let out a “Hey.” “You’re just going to stop asking?”
Xiao Ji said, “If you don’t want to say it, then don’t.”
Zhong Yinnian quickened his pace, walking two steps to get in front of Xiao Ji. He turned around and walked backward: “Ask again. Ask me again and I’ll tell you.”
Xiao Ji refused: “I don’t want to know.”
Zhong Yinnian then began to pester him: “No, you do, you do. You want to know. Ask one more time. This time if you ask, I’ll tell you.”
Xiao Ji found Zhong Yinnian very noisy.
The bird in Zhong Yinnian’s hand was actually very quiet. Swaying back and forth while pinched in his palm, it didn’t make a single sound, looking as if it were dead.
But Zhong Yinnian was as if he had been possessed by a bird, chattering endlessly with an irritating amount of words.
For the sake of peace and quiet, he humored Zhong Yinnian’s wishes: “And also what?”
Zhong Yinnian grinned, licking his little canine tooth: “And also ran into you.”
Hearing these words, Xiao Ji was momentarily stunned. Then, recalling the phrase Zhong Yinnian had said last night when inviting him to stay at the inn—that he had a favor to ask—alarm bells immediately blared in his head:
“Do not expect me to assist you.”
Truthfully, for the members of the Xiao family, those who could enter the inner sect to cultivate all possessed exceptionally fine talent in the paths of weaponry and spellcraft, inherited through their lineage.
Even so, when Xiao Ji watched his fellow disciples cultivate, he felt they were unbelievably stupid. Let alone the disciples from the other three great immortal sects who were even less adept at this path.
Xiao Ji found it troublesome just thinking about it.
Zhong Yinnian looked at him innocently. “Why be so heartless? How about this: you assist me with spellcraft, and I’ll teach you divination. How does that sound?”
As soon as these words were spoken, Xiao Ji genuinely hesitated.
There weren’t many things in this world that could spark his interest.
If Zhong Yinnian’s primary focus was on talismans, arrays, or alchemy, Xiao Ji would have refused without hesitation.
To be honest, he wasn’t even all that interested in the spellcraft and weaponry he excelled at. Cultivating up until now, Patriarch Xiao had wanted to select and forge a suitable weapon for him countless times, but Xiao Ji had never been able to choose.
He didn’t like a single one of them. Furthermore, carrying swords and blades while traveling was incredibly cumbersome, and he would end up losing them.
Only toward the path of prying into heavenly secrets did Xiao Ji harbor a bit of interest.
But this wasn’t innate either. It was because the Great Elder couldn’t divine his fate, and he always felt that his life seemed to be missing something important.
Xiao Ji couldn’t divine his own fate, but Zhong Yinnian could.
Perhaps he could glean some of the things he wanted to know from Zhong Yinnian.
He halted his steps, looking into Zhong Yinnian’s eyes: “May I ask who your master is at Tianque Palace?”
Hearing this, Zhong Yinnian knew the fish had taken the bait.
He grinned, boasting shamelessly, “A personal disciple of Zhong Du.”
Zhong Du was none other than the old Palace Master of Tianque Palace who had been coerced by Yinnian.
“How about it, Buddhist Son Brother? As long as you are willing to assist me a little, I will definitely hold nothing back in teaching you.”
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