By what great merit had Regret of Chunshan come to be first on the list? And what the hell was this new one, Song of Bingqiu?!
After the meeting concluded, Shen Qingqiu began to sulkily head toward Qing Jing Peak, but before he got very far, he realized quite a few of the peak lords were following him.
“Shidi and Shimei, I believe the way back to your peaks does not lie in this direction,” Shen Qingqiu said amicably.
“That’s because I wasn’t going back to my peak in the first place,” said Qi Qingqi.
Shen Qingqiu had known this hurdle was coming, but he still made a valiant attempt to clear it. “Why have you suddenly thought to come visit Qing Jing Peak? My Bamboo House is simple and crude; I am afraid I cannot provide ample hospitality.”
“What are you playing dumb for? I know your Bamboo House is simple and crude—who wants to visit you? I’m obviously going to see that darling disciple you’ve hidden away.”
Everyone in this crowd was eagerly plotting to gawk at Luo Binghe like he was some rare curiosity. Helpless, Shen Qingqiu said, “He’ll be angry.”
“You don’t have to take it from me, Shen-shixiong, but how does a disciple like him dare to be angry with his shizun? Do you not discipline him properly?”
“That won’t do. No matter what your relationship is now, you should keep up discipline where it’s due.”
“So what if he’s angry? What’s there to be afraid of? Luo Binghe’s powers are less than a tenth of his usual. If we don’t anger him now, when else can we?”
Because of his ascetic lifestyle, the Ku Xing Peak Lord had a fiery temperament, and he was impatient after having failed to acquire the selection priority he wanted. “Enough with this blathering—are you just afraid we’ll empty out your stock of tea?! We’re coming, we’re coming.”
Shen Qingqiu knew there was no escape, and his face darkened as he was dragged off toward Qing Jing Peak. How do you guys know the situation so well? It’s like you know it even better than me!
He could maybe hold off one or two of them, but when several peak lords swarmed into the Bamboo House all at once, there was nothing he could do to stop them.
As soon as Qi Qingqi walked in the door, she lost it and let out a chuckle.
Luo Binghe was lying on the bed, deep asleep and tucked in tight, looking just as he had when Shen Qingqiu left. Shen Qingqiu gestured as if to say, He’s asleep; don’t disturb him.
Liu Qingge sent a glance inside and couldn’t resist remarking, “Why does he look different from yesterday?”
Different? Shen Qingqiu turned, and sure enough, he was different. Luo Binghe seemed to have aged two years, and now looked to be about seven or eight.
“Admirable growth, admirable growth!” Wei Qingwei said quietly.
Qi Qingqi peered closely at him. “At this rate, he’s going to grow out of those clothes soon.”
Shen Qingqiu hadn’t considered this issue. He pondered this, then realized that Luo Binghe’s clothes truly hadn’t fit so well that morning, and a chunk of his wrist was showing. “True indeed; I have been careless. I’ll take him to buy a few more sets tomorrow.”
“What do you mean buy?” Qi Qingqi asked. “Do you not know how to use what we have? Just go to Xian Shu Peak and ask a few jiejie and meimei to make some outfits for him.”
At this, a few of the peak lords rather ungenerously began to chuckle. The vision of a crowd of sweet-smelling immortal ladies surrounding an aggrieved demon cut-sleeve and chirping in their birdlike voices was enough to give these peak lords, who had nothing better to do, a good laugh.
Seeing their glee at kicking Luo Binghe while he was down, Shen Qingqiu’s heart began to hurt for the dregs of his disciple’s dignity. “Don’t overdo it, don’t overdo it. Let’s go and sit in the drawing room; don’t stand around here staring at him. Stop laughing! Careful, you’ll wake him up.”
“You wouldn’t let us look at him before, and you won’t let us look at him now either? Shen-shixiong, you’re such a killjoy.”
“Give me some face.”
“All right, then Shen-shixiong should come drink with us on Zui Xian Peak tonight.”
“I still have to look after Luo Binghe…”
“You used to hole yourself up in here all the time, refusing to budge, then you got dragged around all over the place. You’re finally back for once, so forget the kid! Let’s get together. You need time for yourself—you can’t just orbit around your disciple all day.”
After Shen Qingqiu finally managed to shoo away his sect siblings and return to the Bamboo House, he felt as if his head had swelled a full size.
Luo Binghe was awake and sitting at his old desk. His legs weren’t long enough to reach the ground and hung in midair, and next to him was a pile of documents even taller than he was. He held a brush dipped in red ink as he reviewed some lists and made notes.
Shen Qingqiu looked at him for a while, then walked in. “What are you doing?”
Luo Binghe looked up. “Shizun hasn’t been back in a long time, and there was no one to organize the books. This disciple wanted to make a new catalog and put them in storage.”
“Just get some rest. You don’t have to take care of these things.”
“But Shizun wasn’t here, and I had nothing else to do. I thought I might as well just do it.”
Shen Qingqiu sat down next to him, thought for a moment, then asked, “Are you so unhappy to be back at Qing Jing Peak?”
Luo Binghe gave him a faint smile. “What is Shizun saying? How could this disciple be unhappy?”
Shen Qingqiu slowly got up and went to head outside. But suddenly, he couldn’t move his feet.
Luo Binghe had jumped down from the table and grabbed onto his legs. “You’re right,” he ground out through gritted teeth. “This disciple…is unhappy!”
“There you go. If you’re unhappy, just say so. From now on, if you have something to say, don’t shut it up inside your heart and stifle your feelings. If you really don’t like Qing Jing Peak, we’ll leave once you recover your original form. It’s just that in your current state, you’re unsuited to constant travel. If anything happens, Cang Qiong Mountain can at least protect you.”
“I do like it! But the Qing Jing Peak I like is only Qing Jing Peak—it’s not Cang Qiong Mountain. And aside from Shizun and myself, it has no other people.”
But, Shen Qingqiu thought, the Qing Jing Peak you like has never really existed, has it?
Luo Binghe mumbled, “Shizun, is it true that being with me has made you lose a lot of opportunities to do things for yourself?”
Shen Qingqiu burst out laughing. “You put on quite a good act of being asleep. Your ears are sharp too. How much of your martial aspect have you recovered?”
“Shizun…the reason I didn’t want to come back wasn’t because I don’t like this place. Rather…it’s too easy for you to be stolen away here,” he mumbled, depressed. “If I were my actual self, I’d have some confidence that I could steal you back, no matter what I had to do. But as my current self, I really feel like…I can’t win against others.”
Shen Qingqiu rapped the top of his head. “Who asked you to win? You don’t need to steal me; Shizun will go with you himself.”
The appearance of one’s conversation partner was truly of utmost importance. If this were the adult version Luo Binghe, Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t have said something so nauseatingly frank even if you held a knife to his throat. But since this was the mini-version who he could pick up in his arms, and who was also willing to cling to his legs and throw a tantrum to seek comfort, Shen Qingqiu was free of all psychological pressures.
Luo Binghe lifted his face and gave him an adoring gaze.
The flowers were in bloom and the moon was round, and at this fine hour, in this beautiful scene, a faint fragrance floated on the breeze, which set a perfect mood. Anyone’s heart would race.
Luo Binghe’s dewy eyes blazed brighter and brighter, and finally, unable to resist, he shoved Shen Qingqiu down on the bamboo couch and pounced. He sprawled out on Shen Qingqiu’s chest as the two of them stared at each other.
“Um… You can…continue.”
But even if they continued, he couldn’t do any of the things he wanted to…
Shen Qingqiu’s expression was full of a sympathy he couldn’t manage to hide.
After a while, a howl of unbearable rage escaped from Luo Binghe’s still youthfully tender throat.