"Xiaobai, why did you come back? Why didn't you tell grandpa?"

Just as Ju Jingbai was about to push the door open, he heard a surprised voice behind her.

Ju Jingbai turned her head and saw a little old man about 1.7 meters tall in front of her. He was wearing a short, white, double-breasted coat, his hair was still black, and he looked at her with his hands behind his back, looking very energetic.

Ju Jingbai happily went forward and hugged Ju Xing. "Grandpa, I missed you so much. When did you get out of confinement? I couldn't find you when I called you a few days ago. I also bought you some beer produced at my school. I sent it to you by express delivery. It should arrive tomorrow."

"Okay." Ju Xing took the backpack off Ju Jingbai, shook it with one hand, frowned and said, "This backpack is quite heavy. It must be tiring to carry it. You must be tired after this journey.

Go into your eldest brother's room and sit for a while. Your fellow disciples are all in there. I'll ask someone to clean up your room. I'll ask Chef Yang to make a few more of your favorite dishes tonight.

Look, you've only been in school for a few months, and the little bit of fat you put on your face has already disappeared."

"Don't look at me through a filter. Before I left, you complained that I ate too much and asked me to lose some weight so that I could find a partner." Ju Jingbai complained. Her weight now was obviously no different from then.

"You must have remembered it wrongly. I never said anything like that." Ju Xing shook his head, a smile on his face. "How long will you stay this time?"

"Wait until the New Year's Day holiday is over." Ju Jingbai said.

"Will your teacher agree to stay for such a long time?" Ju Xing frowned. "You can't be like your junior brother who skips classes every other day. I couldn't even hold my head up when I had a one-on-one meeting with him."

"One-on-one discussion?" It sounded so nice. Ju Jingbai was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Ju Xiaoqi, your parents are being called in again?"

Her senior brothers Qin Shijun, Bai Shuo, and Qi Qingren all had parents, and only with the approaching Metaphysics Competition did they have some free time to gather in the Xingyi Sect. Her junior brother Ju Qiyue was an orphan, a gifted Taoist child adopted from an orphanage by her grandfather over ten years ago. He had a cleft lip and underwent surgery a few years ago. Now, aside from a slight unnatural appearance upon closer inspection, there weren't any major issues.

"No, little sister, don't listen to Master's nonsense. I didn't skip class." Ju Qiyue rushed out, relying on his small size, and jumped onto Ju Jingbai's back, saying affectionately, "My brother had a fight that day, and he insisted on dragging me into it. I was simply the fish in the pond that got in trouble."

"Xiaobai, you've arrived, why didn't you send me a message?" Qin Shijun touched his bald head.

"Big Brother, you were probably too engrossed in the conversation and didn't see the message I sent you." Ju Jingbai said, "If you don't believe me, check your phone."

"Look, you got caught gossiping!" Bai Shuo has naturally curly hair and a pair of fox eyes. His facial features are not outstanding, but his skin is extremely white.

"Second brother, don't take yourself away." Ju Jingbai pulled Ju Qiyue off his body.

"And Third Brother, you sold the peach wood amulet I made, right?"

The third brother Qi Qingren is dark-skinned, but has three-dimensional facial features and is very handsome in every move. He also likes money, but he is stingy not simply because he loves money, but because he likes to collect various famous watches. He often owes huge debts because of buying watches and is led by the nose by the rich businessmen who issue tasks.

Qi Qingren was surprised: "Xiaobai, how did you know?"

"Oh, my amulet is still around my roommate's neck. How did I know that?" Ju Jingbai said, walked in, poured himself a sip of tea, sat on the bench, and said, "Third Brother, tell me what you just talked about. I won't pursue the matter of the amulet."

Ju Xing looked at Qi Qingren's pleading eyes, turned his head, picked up Ju Jingbai's schoolbag and turned away: "You guys chat, I'll find someone to clean Xiaobai's room."

Ju Qiyue stood beside Ju Jingbai and immediately rebelled: "Little Senior Sister, if you want me to say something, I can tell you right away. I will never be secretive like Third Senior Brother."

"Xiao Qi, you are really promising." Bai Shuo smiled.

When Ju Qiyue heard this, he immediately shut up, looked around and said nothing else.

"Isn't it about you and Xu Ge from the Xu family? You might not know that Xu Ge is protected by the Xu family like a treasured genius. The eldest brother said that you and he are sworn enemies, and you snatched Xu Ge's mission and divided the commission. How can we not be curious? We pestered the eldest brother to tell us more." Qi Qingren said, "Xiaobai, you are really making us brothers proud now."

No, she was a sworn enemy of Xu Ge? If this misunderstanding continued, once the truth was revealed, she would be stabbed to death by her fellow apprentices.

"Big Brother, is your foot okay?"

Ju Jingbai laughed. At that time, Qin Shijun had concealed the fact that he was injured for the sake of his own face. This incident could be used as a handle.

"What can happen to my feet?" Qin Shijun said, pointing to his cell phone.

Ju Jingbai received it and looked down at the message her senior brother sent her: "Xu Ge asked me to say this, and Xu Cheng also told the people over there that this is what happened. If you ask again, you'll be exposed."

Ju Jingbai was stunned. Wasn't the script she accepted about teaming up to fight monsters? How could they fight monsters together if rumors spread and their relationship was bad? Was it going to go undercover?

—I asked my senior brother to say this to cover up our relationship.

—I’ve been busy lately and forgot to tell you.

Ju Jingbai received a message from Xu Ge right after that.

She replied, "Boss, are we going to do that secret meeting? That's too ridiculous!!"

—Whatever is useful is fine.

"Oh, that's okay, I remembered it wrong." Ju Jingbai smiled, "Big Brother is right, I did do the mission with Xu Ge, but I didn't get much commission. Xu Ge is very stingy. Really, Third Brother is even stingier than you."

Qin Shijun nodded and reached out to touch the bald head again. He had just contacted Xu Ge urgently and agreed to one of Xu Ge's blank requests before Xu Ge agreed to help.

Why on earth had he mentioned covering up their relationship? And why had he suddenly said they were sworn enemies? This deal was a huge loss. But of one thing, Qin Shijun was certain: that idiot Xu Cheng, to protect his reputation, hadn't fooled anyone and spread rumors about Xu Ge and Xiao Bai's bad relationship.

There was a large table for dinner, which was prepared by an old Taoist priest in the Taoist temple. The old Taoist priest had been in charge of the meals in the kitchen since Ju Xing's generation, and his cooking skills were now comparable to those of a restaurant chef.

Ju Jingbai sat at the dining table, took a mouthful of rice, and glanced at Ju Xing.

"Grandpa, Senior Brother told you, I'm going to participate in the Metaphysics Competition."

After Ju Jingbai mustered up the courage to speak, the atmosphere at the dinner table grew cold.

She looked at Ju Xing, ready to use both soft and hard tactics.

"Yes, I heard from your senior brother that I don't care what your physique is. Even if you wanted to participate in the Metaphysics Competition, there would be no problem.

But before you participate in the Metaphysics Competition, you must first pass our Xingyi Sect's Ghost Formation. This Ghost Formation was left by our ancestors and can test your abilities." Ju Xing put down his bowl and sighed, "Your fellow disciples have all been through it before participating in the Metaphysics Competition."

"Big Brother, have you all passed?"

"Of course, the eldest brother is the fastest. Even Xiaoqi has passed." Bai Shuo said seriously.

Ju Jingbai looked at them one by one. The eldest brother nodded. Qi Qingren was concentrating on eating, and Ju Qiyue was busy picking up dishes without saying a word.

At first glance, there was nothing wrong, but she always felt that Bai Shuo was watching her.

It must be because Second Brother is usually too mean.

"Then I accept the challenge." Ju Jingbai still said.