Chapter 703 The Stubborn Senior Brother
Song Chunxue touched her nose; she really was a coward, and a deserter.
"But it seems that you're not that brave either. Don't you always make up an excuse to leave because you're afraid of saying goodbye? Haven't you always been scolded by acquaintances over the years for leaving without saying goodbye?"
The Taoist priest turned around, lowered his head, and smiled, vehemently denying it. "No way! I just didn't plan ahead. It was an emergency, so I didn't inform you in time. How could I have left without saying goodbye?"
Song Chunxue looked down at his toes and said earnestly, "Senior brother, before you leave next time, could you let me prepare properly and say goodbye? I have a feeling that you're planning to disappear quietly again this time."
The Taoist priest looked at the top of her head without saying a word.
"And I bet you'll say again that you don't know when we'll meet again, and then you'll be gone for five or six years, or even longer."
She held the broom and looked up at the Taoist priest, her eyes filled with an unyielding determination.
“Senior brother, since you recognized me as your junior brother, I thought I was not just a passerby you have met over the years. We have our own Taoist temple on Wuquan Mountain, and we have each taken on disciples. You even said that you would establish your own sect, but you have broken your promise the most.”
"You also said that life is very short. The three of us came together because of you. It's not easy to meet again. Who knows if someone will already be buried when we meet again?"
She spoke with a serious expression, but the Taoist priest lowered his head and kicked away the pebble.
"It's not that bad. If that were the case, I would have foreseen it," the Taoist priest said with a half-smile. "Most of us cultivators live long lives."
Okay, so your senior brother is still trying to dodge the question.
Song Chunxue crossed her arms and asked, "Then tell me, when are you leaving?"
"next month."
"You weren't planning to tell me unless I asked, were you?" she said with a half-smile. "You went to all this trouble to bring us together, are you planning to do something earth-shattering in secret?"
She suddenly remembered that he had taken her to study under a master near Mount Kongtong. He was always thinking about their future.
Although my senior brother clearly dislikes revealing secrets, he always finds himself making plans for others without even realizing it.
Her senior brother kept a lot of things from her.
"Let's go, we can't explain this here in a short time. I'll buy you a drink." Song Chunxue turned around and threw the broom into the woodshed. "Senior brother, you don't have anything else important to do today, do you?"
The Taoist priest followed behind her, saying, "No, let's go."
She stood outside the gate and called out into the distance, "Sweet Dates."
Soon, a chestnut horse came galloping towards them from around the corner, chewing grass in its mouth.
It ran straight up to the Taoist priest and nudged him with its head, looking very affectionate.
The Taoist priest raised his hand and stroked the horse's mane. "You're going to name it Sweet Date?"
Hearing his incredulous look, Song Chunxue raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't it sound good?"
Upon learning that she had initially named herself Dazao (meaning "Jujube"), the Taoist priest agreed, saying, "Sweet Jujube sounds better."
They walked down the mountain under the blazing late summer sun. The sunlight was no longer so bright, but had taken on a golden hue, causing the fallen leaves to turn yellow and red.
The melancholy of spring and autumn, that faint sense of sadness, seems to begin with this ray of sunlight that is gradually deepening.
Seeing his taciturn demeanor, Song Chunxue couldn't help but ask, "You don't have any appointments with anyone else, do you?"
"No."
"..." Then why did he seem absent-minded and preoccupied?
Once on the street, she randomly chose a tavern she had never been to before.
Sitting on the bed on the second floor, she saw Mei Yang on the opposite second floor, drinking with a group of people. Mei Yang not only waved to her but also winked at her.
"Is he opening a bar for the kids?" She had only been away from home for a few months.
"No, he's celebrating his own birthday and treating his brothers to drinks. Don't mind him. Just go over and give him a birthday gift later." The Taoist priest handed her a wine cup and chopsticks.
She felt that something was different about the Taoist priest; there was an inexplicable sense of unfamiliarity. He seemed unhappy lately, and the smile had disappeared from his eyes.
But if he doesn't tell her, she can't press him for an answer.
After a few rounds of drinks, Song Chunxue asked casually, "Senior brother, is something on your mind? Or did you not sleep well? You seem to be in poor spirits. Have you taken any medicine?"
She added, "Anyway, you're leaving in a month. Use this time to take good care of yourself. You don't look well. Were you injured when you encountered the bandits last time? Are you still recovering? Or have you run into some trouble lately?"
The Taoist priest put down his chopsticks and looked at her helplessly, a hint of ambiguous amusement in his eyes. He held his wine glass without immediately replying.
“It’s been more than two months since I last saw you. Why have you become so talkative, junior brother? I’m fine. It’s just that I’ve traveled to too many places and met too many people. I haven’t sat down to meditate properly in a long time, so I look a bit haggard.”
Song Chunxue didn't believe it, took a sip of wine, and remained silent.
“I plan to rest here for a month before going on other things. But next time I go out, I will take my newly accepted apprentice with me. You are right, life is short. Since I have accepted an apprentice, I can’t put it off any longer. It’s good to take him out to gain experience.”
Hearing that he would bring someone with him, Song Chunxue felt much more at ease.
She nodded. "You're right to think that way. I always feel uneasy about you going out alone. Although your apprentice won't protect you, he makes his senior brother more cautious when making any decisions."
The Taoist priest looked up and met her scrutinizing gaze, and a thought struck him.
How come she's so perceptive now, as if she can see right through his thoughts?
He picked up two bites of the stir-fried buckwheat pancake with meat and exclaimed sincerely, "Junior brother has made rapid progress these days; he's even learned to read people's minds."
“I have nothing to pry into about others, but senior brother, the more familiar I am with you and the longer I know you, the more I will inevitably understand you, and you probably don’t like to be seen through.”
Song Chunxue poked the wide potato noodles in the bowl with her chopsticks and thought they weren't as good as the ones she made herself.
She didn't look her senior brother in the eye and said in a low voice, "Senior brother, if you're too tired, you can rest for a while and don't do so much. There are too many people in this world who need help, but you can't save them all by yourself."
She could sense that her senior brother was always kind to others without expecting anything in return, and he couldn't ask for help from people he knew well.
"Don't try to run away from us and distance yourself from us when you encounter difficulties, afraid of causing us trouble."
"No," the Taoist priest denied instinctively.
“You do,” Song Chunxue said firmly, “Didn’t you say you wanted to take me on as your apprentice just so you would have more manpower?”
"Senior brother, I think I'm more useful than before. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, remember to ask me for help. At least I can help you keep watch and provide support."
“I thought that ever since the Taoist temple was built and consecrated, the three of us have been in the same boat.” She jokingly threatened him, “We can’t abandon ship halfway through. At least until those five years arrive, we are still the pillars of the temple, aren’t we?”
Master Zhang said helplessly, "I really didn't, junior brother, you're overthinking it."
When it comes to being stubborn, the senior brother is even more so.
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