chapter 3

chapter 3

On the seventh day after Little Black’s death, I carried a basket to visit Junior Brother.

I bore some responsibility for Little Black’s fate, after all.

Senior Brother had always spoiled me and given me both drumsticks, so I felt deeply guilty.

I offered the basket to Junior Brother with both hands. “Junior Brother, please accept my apology.”

He had not hit me that day, but I could tell he was genuinely angry.

Wei Yuqi lifted the white fleece cloth covering the basket. A dozen fluffy yellow chicks poked out their heads, chirping.

I watched him hopefully. Sure enough, his expression softened and his brows eased.

I had just relaxed when he said in a deep voice, “Senior Sister, I’m not that easy to placate.”

Less than fifteen minutes later, Junior Brother and I climbed over the wall into Senior Brother’s courtyard.

I trembled. “Junior Brother, do we really have to go this far?”

Wei Yuqi looked resolute. “A life for a life. Senior Sister, are you planning to shield Senior Brother?”

I immediately cast Palm Thunder to demonstrate my loyalty to Junior Brother.

By the time Senior Brother returned, the orange tree he had tended for three years had departed this world.

He ground his teeth in fury. “Who struck my Ah Ju with lightning?”

Wei Yuqi stood right in front of him, calmly peeling an orange and feeding it to me.

Patient and gentle, he held out a segment. “Ah. Open up, Senior Sister.”

Under Senior Brother’s murderous stare, I reluctantly ate two pieces.

God, they were sour.

But if I spat them out, I would offend them both.

This time, Senior Brother drew his sword and chased Junior Brother.

They fought from the ground into the sky and vanished within moments.

Huh. Why had neither of them attacked me? Heh.

Committed to avoiding waste, I gathered every orange scattered across the ground and personally delivered them to Master’s hall.

Master took one bite and spat three times.

His verdict was that Little Black had died for a worthy cause and Ah Ju had deserved to die.

He also said he had made a major breakthrough in his investigation of the immortal.

“Qingxuan, watch the recording!”

Master swept his sleeve, and a vast illusion appeared in midair.

First came a white boot, then the robes of our sect, then a very familiar waist.

Wasn’t that Junior Brother?

W-was this the world from Ah Huang’s point of view?

Wei Yuqi lounged on a swing with one foot braced against the ground and his face tipped toward the sky, his expression hidden.

Ah Huang seemed to leap up, trying to catch its master’s attention. Wei Yuqi turned his head, his exquisite features languid and unruly.

“Keep kneeling. Who told you to eat Little Black? You and she both forgot Little Black. Heartless creatures.”

Master paused the illusion, then raced it forward.

When Wei Yuqi appeared again, it was at another time and place. He stood outside a courtyard wall, his face cold as ice.

From the other side came Senior Brother’s voice and mine.

“Senior Brother, it’s been three years. Ah Ju finally bore fruit.”

“Next month, perhaps. I’ll invite Junior Sister to eat oranges.”

Wei Yuqi crouched and stroked Ah Huang’s head, tenderness and menace mingling in his eyes.

“Ah Huang, which tastes better—chicken or oranges?”

Master dismissed the illusion with a wave and asked whether I understood the problem.

I remembered then. Little Black was the chicken I had brought back from the mountain for Wei Yuqi two years ago.

I simply had not recognized it once it was in the pot.

I absolutely understood the problem.

“As the saying goes, one cannot have both oranges and chicken. Are you telling me to choose early, Master, lest my Dao heart waver?”

Master frowned. “When I call you stupid, you never prove me wrong. Your junior brother will ascend sooner or later.” Disgust filled his face as he arched a meaningful brow. “You can be with Senior Brother afterward, can’t you?”

He spread all five fingers, then gathered them into his fist, silently mouthing, Have them all.

Understanding dawned. “Master, your foresight is unparalleled.”

From the sound of it, he had already confirmed Junior Brother’s identity.

With another sweep of his sleeve, Ah Huang’s view returned.

Junior Brother knew to guard against people but had forgotten to guard against dogs.

Steam filled the air. Wei Yuqi sat in the water, closed his eyes, and slowly sank beneath the surface.

He disappeared entirely. Was he going to drown?

Master told me to keep watching.

A long while later, the surface stirred. What emerged was not a man, but a dazzling silver dragon in its true form.

I stared, momentarily dazed, my heart pounding.

I swallowed and patted Master’s arm. “Rewind a little. We still didn’t see the silver dragon mark.”

Master gave me a disgusted side-eye.

“Ah Huang is too short to see the crucial area you want. But do you truly need to look? His true form is right there!”