Chapter 109: Senior Brother and I are kindred spirits
Mo Cunzhi had never encountered anything like this before.
As the head disciple of the Wuyue Immortal Sect, he was known for being upright, cold, and silent.
Most of his fellow disciples were both respectful and fearful of him, acting timid and honest in his presence.
He had met those who tried to flatter him, those who avoided him out of respect, and even those who feared and disliked him.
Only his junior brother Meng Qing and junior sister Bai Feishuang were among the few who treated him kindly and warmly.
But as for Yu Le—who brazenly provoked and framed him in such a blatant and shameless way—this was the first time Mo Cunzhi had ever encountered such behavior.
When their eyes met, Mo Cunzhi saw the mocking and pitiful look in his little junior brother’s gaze. His expression turned cold, and his sword lifted slightly at his side as he muttered, “Deceptive words, turning truth on its head.”
Yu Le, unafraid, continued to look at him confidently. As expected, Bai Feishuang immediately stepped in, gently pressing down on Mo Cunzhi’s sword, disapprovingly saying:
“Senior Brother, Little Junior Brother hasn’t said anything wrong. Why are you so angry? To draw your sword over such a trivial matter between fellow disciples?”
“Or could it be that Senior Brother have prejudice against Junior Brother for what happened before?”
Mo Cunzhi remained silent for a moment, then turned and left without a word.
Bai Feishuang watched him leave, worried. She felt that over the past two years, Senior Brother had become more prone to anger, and his emotions were harder to control.
She had even considered whether there was an issue with his cultivation and asked their master, but he had advised her not to interfere.
“Senior Sister.”
Hearing her junior brother’s anxious call from behind, Bai Feishuang snapped back to reality and offered him a few comforting words.
Yu Le responded, “Don’t worry, Senior Sister. It’s just a small matter. I won’t hold any grudge against Senior Brother. The next time we meet, I’ll explain everything clearly. Please don’t worry about us.”
Recently, Bai Feishuang had found herself marveling more than once at how mature and considerate her junior brother had become. It brought her a sense of relief.
Unable to hold back, she spoke a bit more, “Senior Brother wasn’t always like this. He never used to take such small matters to heart, nor would he ever get angry over what others did or said.”
“Really? I haven’t had much interaction with Senior Brother before. Every time I see him, he has that cold look on his face. After a while, I started to fear him a little. What was he like before?” Yu Le, ever the practiced performer, played the role of the curious younger brother, asking eagerly.
Bai Feishuang, amused by his lively expression, smiled and said, “Although Senior Brother and I grew up together, he lived with Master at Quxing Peak, while I stayed at the foot of the mountain.”
“Quxing Peak is bitterly cold year-round, with fierce winds that cut to the bone. Yet, Senior Brother would rise at dawn every day to train without fail.”
“Even after moving from Quxing Peak to live alone at the colder Hanya Peak as an adult, he kept to the same routine.”
“Master holds high expectations for Senior Brother and has always been especially strict with him. He wouldn’t let him be distracted by worldly matters or go down the mountain to play with the other disciples, as I did. When Senior Brother was only ten, Master sent him to the back mountain to slay demons. He often returned with serious injuries back then.”
“I see. So, Senior Sister must have visited and taken care of him, right?” Yu Le wasn’t surprised at all. After all, if she cared so much for him, a junior brother with whom she hadn’t been close before, it was only natural she would do even more for Senior Brother.
“Yes, I was worried about him. Even though I was a bit afraid of him back then, I still brought him medicine and food. But Senior Brother was always so determined—he started practicing fasting at a very young age and didn’t enjoy such things. Although he accepted my offerings, I never saw him use them.”
Bai Feishuang sighed as she said this.
She had admired her senior brother since childhood, but he always maintained a sense of distance from everyone. The older he got, the more pronounced this became.
Yu Le only smiled without saying anything. Someone like Mo Cunzhi had been scolded and oppressed by his master since he was young. No one loved him, except for one junior sister who cared for him. No wonder he held her so dear.
Unfortunately, the senior sister saw the senior brother purely as an older brother. Of course, part of the blame lay with the senior brother, too. With his cold, distant attitude, how could anyone tell he had feelings for her?
Yu Le looked at his senior sister, feeling even more affection for her.
Such a kind sister, yet the ones who liked her were all people like this.
Either the unlucky senior brother, who was cold as ice and hardly spoke, or the mischievous junior brother who caused trouble. Then there was the male protagonist, who didn’t understand love and needed some serious correction.
All of them were bad romances.
After chatting and joking with his senior sister for a while, making her laugh a few times, Yu Le said his goodbyes and left, heading to see his close senior brother, Meng Qing.
Meng Qing was an alchemist, calm by nature, and lived near a medicinal herb garden filled with spiritual plants. As soon as one approached, the faint fragrance of herbs would greet them, refreshing the soul.
“Senior Brother, I’ve come to see you,” Yu Le called out with a smile.
During the time he had been strengthening his relationship with his senior sister, he hadn’t forgotten to bond with Senior Brother Meng as well. Their relationship had improved considerably compared to the distant one they had before.
Meng Qing had just finished refining a batch of pills and was resting. When he saw Yu Le arrive, he smiled.
“Didn’t you just go to Junior Sister Feishuang’s place? Why are you here now?”
“Don’t mention it. I ran into Senior Brother again and got scolded,” Yu Le shrank his head in a comically sheepish manner, looking a bit childish as he sat affectionately next to Meng Qing.
Meng Qing assumed he had been scared off by their senior brother and laughed, pouring him a cup of calming tea.
“What kind of pills did you refine today?” Yu Le asked, holding the cup of tea with spiritual energy gently swirling around it.
“Some healing pills. Since I can’t join you on this trip to the Meishou Mountain secret realm, I’ve prepared these for you,” Meng Qing said.
Unlike before, when he had only cared for his junior brother out of respect for their shared master, Meng Qing had grown genuinely fond of Yu Le after their gradual bonding over time.
Because Meng Qing was on the verge of a breakthrough in his cultivation, he couldn’t accompany them to Meishou Mountain. So, he had specially refined several kinds of pills for his junior brother.
“I’ve also prepared a defensive powder. If it touches skin, it can cause both humans and beasts to faint. However, keep in mind, the higher the person’s cultivation level, the shorter the duration of unconsciousness,” Meng Qing carefully explained the uses of various pills and powders to him.
Yu Le listened attentively, occasionally exclaiming in wonder:
“It has such effects?”
“Senior brother, you’re amazing! These pills must be difficult to refine, right?”
“Senior brother, you’re so kind. After getting hurt this time and being taken care of by you and the others, I’ve realized how immature I was before. From now on, I’ll train diligently to repay you all!”
“Since you like refining pills, after I go to the secret realm, I’ll collect as many spiritual herbs as I can for you.”
“What would you like, Senior Brother? I’ll find it for you.”
Meng Qing, who was more than ten years older than him, saw Yu Le as a child and couldn’t help but smile at his flattery. Relaxing further, he gave him even more pills, along with some powders with special effects, telling him to use them wisely.
He only reminded Yu Le not to use them carelessly, to avoid accidentally harming others.
Of course, Yu Le obediently nodded and agreed, then eagerly helped him organize some of the spiritual herbs and process the materials for pill refining.
Looking at such a dutiful junior brother, Meng Qing finally understood why their master doted on him so much.
If Yu Le stayed this way, even Meng Qing couldn’t help but feel like treating him as a cherished younger sibling, almost like a son.
While Yu Le was thriving here, his senior brother, who had stormed out of Songxi Residence because of him, was not in a good mood at all.
He returned to his Hanya Peak, his expression stern and icy. Along the way, a few fellow disciples saw him but didn’t dare greet him in this state.
The frost-laden winds of Hanya Peak blew harshly, and thick layers of ice and snow hung from the eaves of the simple, austere courtyard.
Instead of entering his house, he sat at the edge of the exposed cliff, placing his sword aside and sitting cross-legged to meditate.
The cold wind billowed his robes and sent his long hair flying.
Looking down, he noticed the numerous fine cuts on his rough hands, with faint traces of blood seeping from where he had gripped too tightly.
These were the wounds he had received during the recent demon-exterminating mission.
During the battle, something strange had happened—he had nearly been tainted by the demonic energy.
As a righteous path cultivator, his body was brimming with spiritual energy, which should naturally repel demonic forces. So why had the demonic energy been drawn to him?
Mo Cunzhi couldn’t help but recall his junior sister’s recent words and began to reflect on himself.
Could it be that his excessive bloodlust had affected his state of mind? Had it even given rise to a heart demon?
He had sensed for years now an uncontrollable force stirring within him, making him quick to anger. It felt like a heart demon, constantly agitating his emotions, but he couldn’t pinpoint its source.
On guard, he had been spending more time honing his mind and cultivating inner peace.
The silence on Hanya Peak was only broken by the wind, and the bone-chilling cold almost seemed capable of freezing one’s thoughts. Mo Cunzhi ran his hand over his sword, which hummed softly in response to his inner turmoil, and he closed his eyes to resume his cultivation.
He sat there like a lifeless statue.
It was unclear how much time passed, but eventually, a messenger bird flew to the peak, as it had done for years.
The pure white bird accurately found him and spat out a message talisman into his palm.
From the talisman, the voice of the sect master spoke: “The Meishou Mountain secret realm is about to open. Cunzhi, you will lead your fellow disciples there. Do not allow any mishaps.”
“Yes, Master,” Mo Cunzhi respectfully replied.
He put the talisman away, brushed the frost off his clothes, took up his sword, and descended the mountain.
*
Yu Le had long been looking forward to the day they would head to the Meishou Mountain secret realm. He walked beside Senior Sister Bai Feishuang, chatting with a smile. Although there were other disciples around, the bond between the two of them was clearly more familiar and intimate.
When Mo Cunzhi appeared, the group fell silent for a moment. Bai Feishuang was the first to greet him, saying, “Senior Brother.”
The others then followed suit, calling out, “Senior Brother.”
Mo Cunzhi glanced briefly at Bai Feishuang and Yu Le, his expression unchanging as he shifted his gaze away. He said, “Let’s depart.”
“Yes, Senior Brother!” they all responded.
The group consisted mostly of young disciples, full of vitality and energy, with a bold and fearless spirit. They all summoned their magical treasures to fly, many using swords like Mo Cunzhi, though some relied on other artifacts.
Bai Feishuang, who usually wielded a sword, had specifically chosen to use her jade leaf treasure for this journey.
“Yu Rui, come with me,” she said.
Yu Le grinned and agreed, thinking to himself how thoughtful his senior sister was. She had chosen the jade leaf to carry him, likely worried that his lower cultivation level would make it difficult for him to keep up if he flew on his own sword. She wanted him to conserve his energy.
Over a hundred disciples from the Wuyue Immortal Sect were heading to the secret realm. Led by the senior disciples at the front, they streaked across the sky like shooting stars, and in less than half a day, they arrived at the distant Meishou Mountain secret realm.
They landed on a mountaintop.
Many of the disciples were already exhausted from using their spiritual energy and had to sit and meditate to recover. Mo Cunzhi stood at the front, guarding them, as steady and unshaken as a cold mountain, showing no signs of fatigue.
Once everyone had recovered, more people began arriving at the site. At last, the entrance to the Meishou Mountain secret realm opened.
“Enter,” Mo Cunzhi commanded, his expression unchanging, paying no attention to the other sects present. He was the first to charge toward the gaping, chaotic entrance of the secret realm.
The other disciples, whether they felt fear at entering for the first time or had been here before, could only follow him forward.
This time, Yu Le flew on his own sword, but his senior sister still held onto his hand to prevent him from being swept away by the fierce winds at the entrance.
Inside the secret realm, the sky was bright, almost indistinguishable from the world outside, as if they had entered another dimension. However, Yu Le could feel the pervasive resistance in the air. Before long, all those flying in the sky began to descend.
The rules of this realm restricted outsiders like them, serving as a challenge and a test.
The group split into several smaller teams, maintaining enough distance to support one another if needed, with Mo Cunzhi overseeing them all.
Yu Le stayed with Bai Feishuang’s group. Among them, he was the youngest and had the lowest cultivation level. When his senior brothers and sisters fought beasts, he could only assist from the sidelines.
By the end of the day, Yu Le had gained a lot of experience, though he had only fought a few times himself.
He kept smiling, but inside, his desire for power grew stronger. His gaze couldn’t help but narrow as he looked toward Mo Cunzhi.
Mo Cunzhi hadn’t acted either, remaining on guard to protect the others. When there was no danger, he simply stood watch.
In the evening, the disciples gathered to rest. With nothing to do, Yu Le noticed Mo Cunzhi meditating alone and wandered over.
“Senior Brother,” Yu Le called.
Mo Cunzhi opened his eyes, his gaze calm and indifferent. “What is it?”
Yu Le crouched down in front of him, smiling. “I’ve come to apologize, Senior Brother. I feel uneasy about causing trouble between you and Senior Sister Shuang because of me.”
Though his words were apologetic, his eyes gleamed with mischief.
“No need,” Mo Cunzhi replied, clearly uninterested in continuing the conversation.
“Why keep pushing people away, Senior Brother? We’re kindred spirits, aren’t we?” Yu Le said with a grin, resting his chin on his hand.
Mo Cunzhi didn’t respond, but it was obvious he didn’t agree with Yu Le’s notion.
Yu Le leaned in closer, still smiling. “You like Senior Sister Shuang, and I like Senior Sister Shuang. With such similar preferences, how can we not be kindred spirits?”
