Chapter 16 If you can gang up, don't fight one-on-one.

The storybook was riddled with holes by Wang Sheng, and Qing Jue laughed so hard he was doubled over for a long time.

Ruan Linglai was reprimanded when she returned. Qingjue originally wanted to say some harsh words to prevent her from making the same mistake again.

Courage is not recklessness. In any situation, ensuring your own safety is the most important thing. No matter what, following a demonic cultivator is just too dangerous.

But Ruan Linglai cried as she said to Qingfeng, "Senior Sister Qingfeng, I wanted to give you the phoenix sugar painting, but it broke, boohoo—"

My goodness, who could bear to say anything to her?

Qingfeng hugged her and comforted her for a while. Qingjue sighed, unable to bring himself to scold her, and finally gave her a gentle lecture.

Since then, Qingjue has not encountered any children with strong connections to the plot, and the elders have finally felt relieved.

This is, after all, the Qing family, the number one family in the cultivation world. What kind of family is it for the patriarch to accept so many outsiders?

Knowing that Qingjue had not only missed a day of work but also brought back two apprentices, he almost fainted.

There was some good news too. Since that incident, Wen Tianyu has been speaking more frequently and her speech has gradually become more fluent.

So it's unclear when exactly, but the relationship between Jie Zhoujian and the lost geese has become like that of a cat and a mouse.

Yan Shiqun always complains that he is too loyal to Qingjue, but in reality, a little kid like Jie Zhoujian doesn't understand so much. He just feels that whoever is good to him, he will be even better to them in return.

Master protects me and gives me a home. Hello Master. My senior brothers and sisters have no prejudice against me. Hello senior brothers and sisters. My junior sisters and brothers are all kind people. Hello junior sisters and brothers.

Who would have thought that a year later, Yan Shiqun would become someone who plays house with children and has even learned a lot of Qing family techniques?

Qingjue did not reveal his identity to others, but Qinghuan, as his close subordinate, still guessed that Yan Shiqun's identity was not simple and was worried for a while.

However, Qingjue said: Since he was accepting disciples, he should treat them all equally. He should learn the mental cultivation methods that his disciples were learning.

The Qing family's mental cultivation method also has the effect of stabilizing the mind and cultivating temperament, and can help regulate disordered internal energy—that's how Yan Shiqun stubbornly insisted when he was learning it.

Picking up where we left off, Qingjue assessed their cultivation progress every month, and Jie Zhou always came out on top.

The reason why Yan Shiqun was at the bottom was not because his abilities and luck were not mature enough. On the contrary, he had gradually recovered his memories of his past life and was the strongest in combat besides Jie Zhoujian. This is why Qingjue took him and Jie Zhoujian with him on their journey to seek the sword.

However, the points he lost were mainly in his academic subjects.

At this moment, Yan Shiqun was looking at the densely packed books with a headache: "Why do we have to learn this stuff!"

Qingjue said, "What you learn is not just knowledge, but also perspective."

Jie Zhoujian is an all-around academic genius, Wen Tianyu and Ruan Linglai are also good at academic subjects, and although Aju is usually a bit glib, he always manages to pass the exams unexpectedly.

So, a despairing physical education student was left alone, feeling melancholy.

Although Qingjue is a kindergarten teacher, he is actually a college graduate from a prestigious university. If this profession didn't have special significance for him, he could have found a better job.

So tutoring them is no problem; the key is whether these kids are willing to learn.

Yan Shiqun is clearly the problem child who doesn't want to study.

"I'm not writing anymore!" The Demon Lord had never suffered such humiliation in either of his two lives. He slammed down his pen. "Whoever wants to learn can learn!"

Qingjue simply smiled faintly, not getting angry along with her: "You really don't like writing that much?"

"...Does disliking something need a reason?"

“Of course,” Qingjue said, “For example, I don’t like eating carrots because I think they taste like mud, so when I see a child who likes to eat carrots, I’m surprised: ‘There are actually children in this world who like to eat carrots!’”

“It’s normal for tastes to be different,” Yan Shiqun glanced at him and said, “What’s so surprising about that?”

"That's true. So it's normal for everyone to have things they're good at and things they're not good at. I know carrots are very nutritious, but I just don't like eating them. I think if someone had praised me when I ate them as a child, saying, 'Great job, you can eat them all even though you don't like them,' I might have been more willing to eat them in the future."

"..."

"If you memorize this poem today, you'll get an extra little red flower as a reward."

“…A childish trick,” Yan Shiqun’s entire earlobes turned red, “but it’s not that difficult. I can memorize it in a quarter of an hour…”

The candlelight on the desk flickered and the shadows swayed twice. It wasn't until the lamp went out and the oil ran out that Yan Shiqun finally left the library after studying for a long time.

Qingjue never expected that as soon as he stepped out, four children holding pillows were waiting there.

"Master."

"Master..."

"..." Qingjue felt a little ashamed. He had forgotten for a moment when he was tutoring Yan Shiqun's studies, and these children would pester him to tell them stories before going to bed at night.

It's getting late, and all the children are waiting for him.

"It was my fault," Qingjue admitted first, and quickly said, "Let's go to sleep now."

Inside the room, the children were all lying obediently in bed, probably because they were really sleepy. Aju didn't get up to bother him today.

Qingjue pushed aside the screen and sat in the middle. He coughed and said, "Today, we will tell the story of the Calabash Immortal's battle against the Snake Demon."

"Long, long ago, in the remote Calabash Mountain, lived a scorpion demon and a snake demon. One day, a pangolin accidentally broke through the cave, and the two demons escaped..."

"...The eldest brother is incredibly strong, the second brother has eyes that can see a thousand miles and ears that can hear the wind, the third brother is invulnerable to swords and spears, the fourth brother can breathe fire, the fifth brother can spray water, the sixth brother comes and goes without a trace, and the seventh brother has a treasure gourd that can absorb all things in heaven and earth."

"...In the end, the seven brothers worked together and successfully suppressed the monster that was plaguing the world."

Jie asked during the day, "Is it the same as the black bottle?"

Qingjue thought for a moment and said, "So, the black bottle can only subdue ghosts and demons, while the magic gourd can absorb everything. So, his magic gourd is more powerful, right?"

"No, no," said Ruan Linglai from the next bed, "Master is still the most amazing. He has the abilities of seven people all by himself!"

"...That's not necessarily true..."

They all seemed to have woken up, and Aju immediately spoke up, saying, "I feel that Master is like the grandfather in the story, raising us to grow up!"

"No, no, no, that's not allowed," Qingjue interrupted immediately. "You can't just listen to half the story. In the end, the Calabash Immortal succeeded because of everyone working together. What does this story tell us?"

Wen Tianyu: "...Work together with one heart?"

Ruan Linglai: "Unity is strength."

Yan Shiqun: "Strength is paramount."

"No, no, no," Qingjue shook his head and said, "This story teaches us that we should never be like the Calabash Immortal, sending them one by one. If we can gang up on them, we shouldn't fight one-on-one. You can't reason with bad people. If your master encounters any danger in the future, do you remember that?"

The children woke up, and Qingjue yawned, saying, "Alright, stop chatting and go to sleep. If you oversleep tomorrow, Elder Zhenling will come to tell you stories."

Upon hearing that name, the children immediately wrapped themselves in their blankets and went to sleep.

After all, Qing Zhenling is the oldest elder in the Qing family. He is usually stern and rarely smiles. Most people of high moral character and prestige are like this. He is also very serious when teaching other disciples, so it is normal for younger children to be afraid of him.

Qingjue walked out of the room and gently closed the door. He picked up an oil lamp and glanced at the night, guessing that it was probably around 10 p.m. in modern time.

Perhaps due to the presence of spiritual energy, the Qing family's climate has been relatively cool year after year, unlike the outside temperature.

So when the cool breeze blew after I went outside, Qingjue became a little more awake.

After carefully reviewing the process of finding the children, Qingjue felt as if something in the dark was guiding him to find them.

He hadn't initially intended to take Jie Zhoujian with him, but his kindness got the better of him, and he couldn't bear to think about the life Jie Zhoujian might face.

When Qingjue discovered Ruan Linglai's talent, he was not surprised but rather belatedly delighted. It would be a waste for such a talented girl not to cultivate with him.

What exactly is it that Wen Tianyu can't see? Why would he say something like that on purpose? Qing Jue, out of curiosity, even forgot to cultivate Yun Yuelin's favorability and snatched it away.

Aju and Yan Shiqun appeared one after the other. A homeless child with cultivation talent and a ruthless demon lord who had been dead for fifty years and was reborn as a child. He actually brought these two people, whose identities were obviously extraordinary, back with him.

It seems that apart from the initial hesitation when facing Jie Zhoujian, Qingjue hardly struggled with anything.

It took me a while to realize, was this a plot device? Isn't this like forcing him to follow the storyline?

These children must be important characters, so the plot will arrange for them to meet?

This world is quite intelligent; it doesn't control who does what, but rather arranges encounters. And whenever they meet, Qingjue always has a reason to convince himself to accept them.

In the midst of a year of ordinary daily life, Qingjue no longer felt as suspicious as she had at the beginning, because nothing major had really happened.

It's probably because these main characters are all still young, so even if they wanted to, they couldn't push the plot forward much.

It seems I'll have to raise them to adulthood before considering the plot development.

"Immortal Lord," Qingfeng greeted Qingjue, who was out on night patrol, as they encountered him. "It's so late, why aren't you resting yet?"

"I just finished comforting the children and came out for some fresh air. I'll be right back," Qingjue said. "You've worked hard on patrol."

"No, it's what we should do," Qingfeng said. "You have to take care of them, teach them, and supervise their training. You're the one who works so hard."

As Qingjue watched them leave his sight, he suddenly felt a sudden, inexplicable panic, and he also felt a slight, almost imperceptible movement beneath his feet.

But the signs were too vague and unsubstantiated, so Qingjue turned around and went straight back to his room.

A note from the author:

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