Chapter Twenty-One: The Servant Disciple
Qu Yiqiu emerged from the main hall with the air of a victor.
“Don’t be so pleased with yourself—there’s still a long road ahead,” Qu Youyou sneered, casting her a contemptuous glance.
Qu Yiqiu smiled sweetly. “I’ll be waiting for you to send another fortune my way.”
With that, she walked past Qu Youyou alongside Zhou Chen, returning to Little Ping Peak.
Qu Youyou scoffed in disdain. To think a meager compensation for a few spiritual fields could make her so delighted—truly, a rat accustomed to poverty.
…
It wasn’t until Qu Yiqiu was near her cave dwelling that she saw Mu Yunjin come out.
“Senior Sister, you’re back!” His glassy eyes instantly lit up.
Qu Yiqiu’s brows arched with a smile. “Yes, I’m back. It looks like your injuries have healed.”
“They have! I did as you said, Senior Sister, and trained obediently in the cave every day!” Mu Yunjin balled his fair fists, a look of resilience on his delicate face.
Unable to help herself, Qu Yiqiu ruffled his hair. “Well done. We at Little Ping Peak may lack talent, but that means we must work all the harder in our cultivation.”
She still wasn’t sure about Mu Yunjin’s aptitude. He was already twelve and had only just drawn qi into his body—there was clearly something amiss.
“Senior Sister, why are you back so soon? I thought you’d be gone for a long time!” Mu Yunjin pouted before his pure smile returned as he looked at her.
It’s wonderful that Senior Sister is back so early!
Qu Yiqiu, thinking of the chain of events set off by this mission, touched her nose and said, “I thought it would take a month or two, but something unexpected happened midway, so I came back ahead of time.”
“I’m just glad you’re back. Training alone here is so dull. When you lived next to me, I was never bored!” Mu Yunjin’s voice was soft and sweet.
Faced with such natural affection, even Qu Yiqiu, who considered herself emotionally steely, couldn’t help but feel her heart soften.
This child’s just like a son—so clingy to his mother!
“Don’t worry, I won’t be taking any long missions for a while. I’ll be managing Little Ping Peak and focusing on improving my cultivation.”
“Really? I’m so happy!” Mu Yunjin tugged her hand and jumped for joy, his clear eyes curving into crescents.
“Really, really!” Qu Yiqiu, infected by his innocent smile, answered playfully.
“I’ll train hard so that one day, I can go on missions with you!” Mu Yunjin’s face glowed with happiness as he dreamed of the future.
Qu Yiqiu swept her gaze over his cultivation and thought, Silly child. If you really put your heart into training, I’d never catch up without a golden finger!
“Oh, by the way, there’s something I haven’t told you. Tomorrow, two new labor disciples will be joining us at Little Ping Peak.”
Mu Yunjin scratched his head in confusion. “Labor disciples? Like Junior Brother Zhou, who tends the spirit plants?”
“That’s right, but their status isn’t as high as Zhou Chen’s. They’ll only be with us for three months. You don’t have to be too polite—ignore them if you wish.”
Qu Yiqiu didn’t plan to tell him the full story; he wouldn’t understand anyway.
Mu Yunjin’s eyes sparkled like stars. “Okay! Got it!”
“Alright, go on back to your training.” Qu Yiqiu patted his forehead and turned into the cave dwelling.
Mu Yunjin stood there, a bit lost in the breeze.
Upon entering her cave, Qu Yiqiu collapsed onto the stone bed. She needed a good sleep.
Acting for so long was truly exhausting!
She slept straight through until the sun was high in the sky.
“Has Senior Sister Qu woken yet?” Zhou Chen’s low voice drifted in from outside.
“Not yet. Have those two labor disciples arrived?” Mu Yunjin’s childish voice answered.
“Labor disciples? Brother Mu, you shouldn’t call them that—they’re only being punished for three months!” Zhou Chen’s tone was flustered.
If others overheard, Mu Yunjin would surely be scolded.
“Ahem, Zhao Wen, Huang Lan—have they arrived?” Qu Yiqiu emerged, refreshed.
“Senior Sister!” The two exclaimed in delight.
“They’re here, waiting for us at the spirit fields!” Zhou Chen quickly replied.
Qu Yiqiu glanced at the pair and nodded. “Alright, let’s go see them.”
“I want to come too!” Mu Yunjin was curious.
“Come along!” Qu Yiqiu wanted him to meet the two, to prevent them from deceiving him in the future.
After all, Qu Youyou and her trio had been rivals since childhood—their conflict never ceased.
“Wow! Now we have three labor disciples at Little Ping Peak!” Mu Yunjin, thinking like a child, felt that a peak with more labor disciples was impressive.
Zhou Chen, though not close to him, understood his childlike innocence and didn’t take his words amiss, chatting with him amicably.
Laughing and joking, the three made their way to the devastated spirit fields.
“What happened to our spirit seedlings? Why are the fields destroyed?” Mu Yunjin exclaimed in surprise.
Qu Yiqiu patted his shoulder. “It’s alright. The two new labor disciples did this. We’re going to overturn the fields and replant.”
Zhao Wen and Huang Lan shot her a glare at her words.
Qu Yiqiu pretended not to notice.
Mu Yunjin calmed down, puzzled. “Why replant? Junior Brother Zhou took good care of the seedlings.”
He looked at the collapsed fences and the withered seedlings, eyes full of pity.
“To cultivate higher-quality seedlings. This won’t happen again,” Qu Yiqiu soothed his young heart.
The compensation from sacrificing those third-rank fields was already enough.
Next time, she’d set a high-level formation on Little Ping Peak!
“Yes, Brother Mu, I’ll take good care of the plants and make sure they grow even better!” Zhou Chen said cheerfully.
Relieved, Mu Yunjin beamed. “I see! Junior Brother Zhou’s seedlings are always the best!”
He wore a pure, carefree smile.
Qu Yiqiu and Zhou Chen both breathed a sigh of relief.
“Alright, let’s see what needs to be done today.” Qu Yiqiu crossed her arms and sauntered over.
Zhao Wen and Huang Lan stiffened, as if a demon approached.
Qu Yiqiu grinned. “I hear you haven’t scraped together your compensation yet? Never mind—flatten all these fields first, and remember—no spiritual power. The soil will be looser that way.”
Huang Lan looked up in shock. “No spiritual power? That’ll kill us with exhaustion!”
Zhao Wen bit her lip, eyes glimmering with resentment.
“That reminds me,” Qu Yiqiu said with a mischievous grin, “if you do work yourselves to death, I’ll use spirit stones to bury you—on your behalf, of course, but under my name!”
“You—you’re too much!” Huang Lan trembled with rage.
Zhao Wen bit down hard, lips bleeding.
Qu Yiqiu laughed heartily. “Don’t you know me by now? When you did what you did, you should have expected this outcome!”
Amid her unrestrained laughter, memories of her battles with Qu Youyou’s trio flooded back.
She and Qu Youyou, it seemed, had been rivals since birth, and the struggle had never ended.