Chapter 43: Making trouble... Can we do it in private?
Qi Qing's back suddenly stiffened.
If it was the Yue Ji two years ago, this kind of closeness would be normal - the boy had a thin build, a relatively soft voice, and would occasionally be a little clingy, which would only make people feel that he was well-behaved.
But the person behind him now is no longer the young boy he was before. His shoulders have become much broader, and his stature is even slightly taller than Qi Qing. He covers him completely with his arms, which are heavy and do not seem like an embrace, but more like pressing on him.
Qi Qing's breathing stagnated slightly, and he subconsciously struggled: "Master naturally misses you too."
He softened his voice, patted Yue Ji's hand, and motioned him to let go: "Okay, stand up straight and talk. You are such a grown-up and still hugging Master. It's so ridiculous."
Yue Ji called out "Master" vaguely again, rubbed his chin randomly, and let go without waiting for him to push again.
Only then did Qi Qing turn around and look at him.
Yue Ji stood in front of him without saying a word, letting his gaze look him over from head to toe, his slightly upturned eyes always fixed on Qi Qing's face. His eyes were dark and deep, like a dormant eagle. The hint of fatigue in his voice just now seemed to be just Qi Qing's illusion.
Qi Qing sighed: "Taller, thinner."
After all, he was the child she raised, so seeing him like this, Qi Qing couldn't help but feel soft-hearted.
He wanted to rub the top of Yue Ji's head, but just as he raised his hand, the other party lowered his head slightly and rubbed his head obediently into his palm.
“…”
There's no need to be so considerate.
Qi Qing paused with his fingertips, rubbed them gently, and then retracted his hand and said, "Go and have a rest. Master won't run away again. I'll hear you talk about what you've done in the past two years tomorrow."
Yue Ji didn't respond. He hugged him again and then slowly walked out the door.
He walked to the door, turned around and whispered to Qi Qing, "See you tomorrow."
Qi Qing waved his hand.
He had been practicing day and night in the cave, and now that he suddenly came out, the disadvantages finally showed up.
He actually suffered from insomnia.
Lying on the familiar bed, the young man tossed and turned but could not fall asleep. He vaguely saw the sky outside gradually turning pale, and was startled to find that he had been awake all night.
But he had no intention of getting up, so he simply turned on the live broadcast and wanted to chat with the comments.
[Today is the midnight show... Wait, based on this background, are we out of prison? ]
[God bless you, the anchor will see the light of day again one day. I thought he would be in prison until he ascends to heaven.]
[What's wrong with being in jail? I love watching people in jail. I support the anchor to continue to be in jail! ]
[This room looks familiar. It looks like the room the anchor used to stay in? Is the anchor alone? Where is the baby? ]
"He's next door."
Qi Qing tapped his fingertips and manually muted the person who supported him to continue to stay in jail for ten minutes.
Knowing that he was released from prison, the comments immediately exploded, and everyone wanted to see Yue Ji. Qi Qing was annoyed by the noise, and estimated Yue Ji's schedule, then got up from the bed and changed clothes.
After he finished washing up and opened the door, he found the courtyard unusually quiet.
The flowers and plants were still asleep, the morning dew was cool, and the sky was just beginning to turn a crab-shell blue.
Qi Qing found it strange. Yue Ji was always diligent and should have been practicing in the yard at this hour.
Maybe the kid is just being lazy occasionally.
He thought so and said to the barrage: "I'm going to go out and do something first, and I'll show you when I come back."
Senior brother has taken care of Yue Ji for two years, so he should at least thank him. It's a pity that there is no good wine... Why not go down the mountain and get a pot of century-old Bu Lao Chun later?
Qi Qing was thinking while taking a few steps when he suddenly heard a slight sound of "grinding" from behind.
He looked back and the yard was as quiet as usual.
Was it a bird that flew by? The young man didn't pay much attention and picked up his pace again.
"Glen".
This time the sound was closer, as if it was right behind him.
Qi Qing's back tensed and he turned around instantly.
Still nothing.
He frowned and thought for a while, then walked back to the next door and knocked twice politely: "Yue Ji, are you up?"
The next moment, the wooden door made a slight "creaking" sound and opened impatiently.
Yue Ji stood quietly behind the door, his clothes neatly arranged, without a single wrinkle on his outer robe.
The dim light from the sky shone obliquely on his chiseled face, and his eyes were dim.
"Master is looking for me?" he asked softly.
Qi Qing was startled and said unhappily, "Why didn't you tell me you woke up?"
Yue Ji smiled, his eyes fell on his attire, "Master is going out? Where are you planning to go?"
He was not at all embarrassed about making any noise, he just turned sideways and made way inside.
"Let's go around the sect."
Qi Qing walked into the house and asked, "How long have you been up?"
The young man was still calm, but the comments were boiling.
Once he was released from prison, what greeted everyone was not a well-behaved and sensible handsome boy - but a man in black with a physique close to that of an adult.
[Where is the baby? Where is my big and pitiful baby? Whose is this rudimentary double door? ]
[…He’s also called Yue Ji, haha, what a coincidence, you’re also called Yue Ji, right? ]
[People with the same name and surname are not allowed to stay here! 】
Qi Qing glanced at the shocked comments and suddenly felt a little proud.
He was much calmer when he first met Yue Ji last night.
The young man glanced into the house. It seemed to have been renovated. The walls were flat and the beams were solid, but everything was too tidy and it didn't look like someone lived there.
At this moment, a strange little object on the wooden shelf in the corner attracted his attention.
It was a half-melted snowman, balanced and straightened with great effort by someone, and it looked very familiar.
Qi Qing raised his eyebrows slightly, and when he picked it up, he actually felt his own spiritual power on it.
"This is……?"
"This is the snowman my master gave me." Yue Ji came over and poked the snowman's head gently: "I sealed it with my spiritual power so that the snow will not melt again."
He moved cautiously, with a hint of unconscious caution, and it was obvious that he cherished this snowman very much.
Qi Qing was silent for a while, and suddenly remembered the snow that fell on Yue Ji two years ago, and the boy's bright eyes in the lantern.
It felt like something in my heart was touched, sour and bitter, as if a crack had appeared.
His voice softened: "It has become like this. Master will make a new one for you."
Yue Ji shook his head and took the little snowman: "I want this one."
Seeing that he was stubborn, Qi Qing had no choice but to extend a finger and press the tip of his finger on the broken hand of the little snowman. Light blue spiritual power flowed like flowing water, and in the blink of an eye, the little snowman grew an arm and half a leg again.
"Okay." He smiled and said to Yue Ji, "Take it. Now it's a complete snowman."
Yue Ji held the little snowman in his hand, unable to let it go like a little child. He looked at it several times, reinforced it with his spiritual power, and then carefully put it back on the shelf.
"Let's go find your uncle." Qi Qing turned around, his tone a little more relaxed.
Yue Ji followed up and said, "If you only want to see Master Uncle, Master doesn't have to go. Master Uncle has been away for more than two months."
"Two months?" Qi Qing paused and asked, "He has been down the mountain for so long?"
"He said that a friend invited him to explore a secret place." Yue Ji walked side by side with him calmly, "Uncle Master's return date is uncertain, so it would be a wasted trip for Master."
Qi Qing wondered, "Does he often go out like this?"
"Yeah." Yue Ji responded softly, "Master uncle often goes out, I'm used to it."
Qi Qing paused, then asked in a gentler tone, "How have you been these past two years? Are the spirit stones I left for you enough? Did you pick up the new clothes you ordered at the foot of the mountain on time? I asked your uncle to help you borrow new skills from time to time, but didn't he..."
Before he finished speaking, Yue Ji had already lowered his eyes, his eyelashes casting a shadow like a small fan: "Master treats me very well."
He avoided the question, but Qi Qing felt depressed and guilty.
He suddenly realized that his senior brother and he had completely different personalities. During the two years that he had been in seclusion, Yue Ji must have been neglected a lot.
That’s right, senior brother was so rough in raising him himself, how could he know how to raise a child?
[Host, wake up. Your senior brother is the one who raises his apprentice in the normal way, okay? You are raising a son like this.]
[That’s right, how can a cultivator be so spoiled? ]
[What are you complaining about? You were raised in a rough way, so you must be jealous of your cubs who are raised well! ]
[The host is obviously very good at raising a baby. The baby has grown tall and big, has high cultivation, and is young. What's wrong with that? ]
[If you dote on your child too much, he or she will become lazy and evasive when encountering setbacks. How can he or she achieve great things? ]
[Don't talk either! ]
Despite the noisy comments, Qi Qing became more and more certain that there was nothing wrong with his method of raising apprentices.
If Yue Ji was raised like his senior brother did, he would have died in just a few days.
He ignored the fact that Yue Ji was taller than him, and said decisively: "Don't practice today, go down the mountain and relax. When you come back in the evening, Master will make you something delicious."
Yue Ji's eyes moved, and he curled the corners of his lips: "Okay."
After more than seven hundred days, the master and disciple finally went down the mountain again.
The mountain breeze blew on his face, bringing with it the long-lost smell of human life. Qi Qing took a deep breath of nostalgia. Although it was not as novel as the first time he went down the mountain, it was much better than being in the broken cave.
Although today is not a market day, Guanshan Town is exceptionally lively. The streets are crowded with people, many of whom are dressed like people from other places and are in a hurry.
Qi Qing took a few glances and became suspicious, so he decided to find out more during lunch.
He and Yue Ji went to the Cat and Dog Hall first, where Xie Tang and his brother were. This place has become a place of great significance, and it is different from the past. Wind chimes are ringing under the eaves, and there are not only a dozen chubby dumplings chasing and playing, but also a few peasant women helping out.
"Senior Brother Qi!"
Having not seen him for two years, Xie Tang was very happy. He immediately grabbed them and invited them to stay for lunch.
The banquet lasted for more than thirty minutes and the atmosphere was warm. Someone first mentioned the many strangers who had appeared in the town.
Xie Tang looked around and said in a low voice: "Many of these people are alchemy practitioners."
"Alchemy practitioner?" Qi Qing asked in surprise, "What are you doing in this little place of ours?"
Xie Tang pondered, "It is said that they are looking for some kind of fire lotus... Senior Brother, you may not know that half a year ago, news came from somewhere that there was a spiritual vein hidden in the neighboring Yunzhou, and a nursery rhyme was also heard. The lyrics were... what were they?"
She couldn't remember it for a moment, so Xie Di continued for her: "The Lingmai Yangling Temple is hidden in the secret realm of the temple. If you want to know where to find it, just look for Yunxiang."
Yunzhou is located in a remote area and has always been unknown. Suddenly there is such a rumor. It is hard to guarantee that someone is not plotting something else.
Qi Qing put down his wine cup, thought for a while, and said, "I'll go find out."
After lunch, he and Yue Ji changed their clothes and blended into the crowd in the town. The narrow streets were crowded with people. Qi Qing was almost squeezed out. When he was about to turn around to look for Yue Ji, a warm hand had already reached through the crowd and held his hand.
Yue Ji had come close to him without him noticing, his warm chest pressing against his back, his fingers slipping into his fingers and clasping them tightly.
"What are you doing?" Qi Qing whispered uncomfortably, "We are in public, let go."
Yue Ji also lowered his voice like him, leaned over to his ear, and raised his voice: "Then... can we do it in private?"
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