Chapter 39

Xie Bi An panicked. He pushed Fan Wu She away from him and said seriously, "This is a private matter, how can I talk about it with outsiders?"

Fan Wu She raised his eyebrows, "Is this a private matter between brothers? Didn't you say that you'd treat me as your own younger blood brother?"

"You ..." Xie Bi An rose to his feet, "The tea is getting cold, I'm going to read a book."

But Fan Wu She tugged Xie Bi An's wrist, and he also followed and stood up, "Senior brother."

"What are you doing?" Xie Bi An turned around and realized that Fan Wu She was really almost as tall as himself, at this age, had he really grown up so fast?

"Brother, I've read all those books you gave me, but there are still things I don't understand, can we talk about them?"

Xie Bi An's eyes were rounded like deer eyes. He was embarrassed and annoyed. This kind of thing was not understood by anyone, instead it was secretly understood. Would he ask Zhong Kui when he did not understand? Why is this kid not ashamed at all? He lowered his voice sheepishly, "You can just look at it yourself, why ask me?"

"If you want me to read it, don't you want me to understand it? Since senior brother knows, why can’t you tell me directly?" Xie Bi An's shy look tickled Fan Wu She’s heart. He grabbed that slim but strong wrist without letting go, his thumb even rubbing the slightly raised pulse intentionally or otherwise. When thinking of this hand, which could give him the gentlest of strokes, and also exert the Zongxuan Sword Technique so exquisitely and invincible, it made his heart flutter.

"I don't really understand it either, you will, you will know it by heart."

"Is that so ..." Fan Wu She rolled his eyes and added, "I know half of it, but I do know that I did something disrespectful to senior brother that night."

Xie Bi An's face turned red almost instantly, and he shook Fan Wu She's hand away with force, "It's not true, you're overthinking it. You're just confused from sleeping."

"But I remember that I was erect and senior brother felt it too. Does senior brother blame me?"

Xie Bi An was about to explode. He panicked, "Don't talk nonsense, no one blames you, and you should stop asking such nonsense questions. Cut out these distracting thoughts and cultivate properly!" He abandoned Fan Wu She behind and hurried away.

Fan Wu She stared at the handsome back of Xie Bi An's slender waist and long legs. The tip of his tongue slowly licking over his dry lips, a deep and undisguised desire in his eyes. Sooner or later, he would be able to hold this person whenever and wherever he wanted, just like he had in his previous life.

---

For the whole day, Xie Bi An kept avoiding Fan Wu She. He had never known that raising a younger brother would be so troublesome. He thought that by keeping his younger brother well-fed and warm, supervising his martial training and protecting him outside. He had fulfilled his duty as an elder brother, but he had never expected that he would have to face all the embarrassing problems of a young boy growing up.

Moreover, he didn’t know if he’s being oversensitive, but from time to time he can feel Fan Wu She staring at him with all sorts of meaningful eyes, sometimes even making his heart shiver. It was as if there was some other karma between the two of them which he didn't know.

However, there was no way he could keep avoiding Fan Wu She. They have to practice their swords together at night.

When they met again, Fan Wu She looked normal, but Xie Bi An looked uncomfortable and was a bit distracted during the fight.

Fan Wu She suddenly thrust his sword across fast and fierce, at Xie Bi An's vitals. Xie Bi An was startled. When he regained his focus, it was already too late to dodge.

The blade brushed the clothing in front of Xie Bi An's chest. Fan Wu She took the opportunity to go around his back and clasp his arm with one hand, while the blade crossed in front of the thin white and slender neck.

"You ..."

"Senior brother is not concentrating." Fan Wu She's front chest indistinctly pressed against Xie Bi An's back, his warm breath spraying on his ear, "You always warn me not to be distracted at any time, yet you are so careless during a sword fight, what if I am the enemy?"

Xie Bi An was a little deflated, "It was senior brother who was negligent." He tried to break free from Fan Wu She's grip, but the hand was clenched tightly.

"Senior brother has been avoiding me today, are you angry at me?"

"No, your senior brother is not a narrow-minded person." Xie Bi An said, "Let go of me first."

Fan Wu She hesitated for a moment, let go of his hand and said with a sullen face, "Why are you angry at me."

"I'm not angry at you."

"You are clearly angry at me, because I asked you those questions?"

"I said I am not."

Fan Wu She pursed his lips and looked at Xie Bi An with some resentment, as if he was really aggrieved, but stubbornly refused to say anything.

Xie Bi An couldn't help but feel guilty, he said softly, "Wu She, it's senior brother's fault, but senior brother is really not angry at you."

"Then will you still avoid me?"

"Not anymore." Xie Bi An stroked Fan Wu She's head, like he was comforting a puppy.

Fan Wu She let out a soft hum, "Only you can touch me like that."

Xie Bi An laughed, "Who asked me to be your senior brother?" He couldn't help but sigh again, "How did you grow up so fast?"

"I told you, this year I'll be as tall as you and next year I'll surpass you."

"And then I'll stop growing and you'll grow to five foot seven one day?"

"Hmm."

"Big talk." Xie Bi An snorted, "How can anyone know what will happen later."

Fan Wu She looked at Xie Bi An with a smile in his eyes, a gentleness he would never have thought of himself. Yes, no one could know the future, but he remembered the shape and appearance of the person who had filled his eyes.

---

As night fell, Xie Bi An took Fan Wu She to Jingzhou City to have some fun. He heard that there was a monthly night market tonight, and this one in the first month is the most lively of the year.

The market was so crowded that it was difficult to walk along the two parallel streets, and some of the food stalls had long queues. The more people Xie Bi An saw, the more he wanted to get involved.

To prevent getting separated, Fan Wu She naturally held Xie Bi An's hand, who was busy strolling around, eating this and that, and didn't notice anything wrong.

However, Fan Wu She recalled when he was a child, his elder brother took him by the hand and led him around the lantern fair. When he got tired of walking, his elder brother let him ride on his neck. Looking back, he still can't tell if he was born to be a deviant or if it was because Zong Zi Heng was so good to him that he wanted to keep him for himself for the rest of his life.

Xie Bi An bought a freshly cooked sesame candy, took a bite for himself and his eyes instantly lit up, bringing the still steaming deliciousness to Fan Wu She's mouth, "Delicious, quick, try it."

"I don't ..." Fan Wu She looked at the sesame candy that had a piece missing from Xie Bi An's bite, his heart moved, and took a bite at the place where he had bitten. It was crispy and sweet when it entered his mouth. He licked his lips, gazed at Xie Bi An and smiled faintly. "So sweet."

The sesame candy was made into a thin and round biscuit which was as big as a plate, and there were places that had not been touched, but Fan Wu She was inclined to bite where Xie Bi An's teeth marks were. Xie Bi An retracted his hand, momentarily bewildered. He seemingly cared yet didn't care.

Yet Fan Wu She acted like nothing was unusual: "Senior brother, why aren't you eating?"

"Oh, I'm a bit full." Xie Bi An wrapped the sesame candy and threw it into his Qiankun bag.

"I have never eaten this stuff before. We don't have it in Shu land."

"Yeah, me too."

Fan Wu She held Xie Bi An's hand again, "There are a lot of people there in front, let’s go and have a look."

Xie Bi An drew back his hand without a trace, "Sure, let’s go. I guess there's a queue again."

He took a few quick steps, but was soon caught up by Fan Wu She. Fan Wu She held his hand again, "Don't run around, there are so many people here, we may get separated."

Xie Bi An suddenly felt his palm get hot. On such a cold day, sweat even seeped out.

At midnight, the streets were still full of people, and the two brothers had enough to eat and drink, so they planned to go back and rest.

Without warning, there was a sudden loud bang in the distance. As loud as a thunderclap in heaven, which startled the people all over the street. Next, a burst of fire was seen in the direction of Chunyang Sect.

"Oh my god, something's happened, something's happened in Luojinwu!"

Xie Bi An was startled: "Is that ... Luojinwu on fire?!"

Fan Wu She drew his sword: "Go, let’s go back and take a look."

Chunyang Sect has a curfew, so there were no Chunyang Sect’s disciples in the city at this time. The two of them rose up with their swords and left the gush of alarm behind them in the blink of an eye.

They flew back to Luojinwu as fast as they could. The closer they got, the more they could see that the fire was fierce. Looking down from the sky, Chunyang Sect’s disciples were running around putting out the fire like a bunch of ants with no rules.

When they landed, Xie Bi An grabbed one of the disciples, "What's going on?"

The disciple said sharply, "There’s a fire*, do you still need to ask?" He broke away and ran away with the bucket.

"It's definitely not just a simple fire, there was an explosion." Fan Wu She said.

"Hurry up and find master." Xie Bi An was very worried about Zhong Kui, fearing that he would drink and become unconscious, "You go to the master's residence, I will go to the place where the fire started."

"Okay."

Xie Bi An ran to the place where the fire was at its peak and his heart went cold. That was the residence of Chunyang Sect's successive sect heads - Zheng Yang Palace, which was not only the sect head's sleeping quarters, but also the location of Chunyang Sect's hidden treasures.

It was hard not to think of Cangyu Sect's Flying Plume Ambassadors in this situation. Although the two female cultivators really did not look like crazy people, no matter how one looks, this attack was directed at Xu Zhi Nan and the treasure trove.

The high-ranking disciples were drawing a formation to pray for rain. The lower-ranking disciples were fetching water to put out the fire, and the elders had probably already gone in to save the people inside. Because Yuanyang technique is a fire attribute technique, they are more resistant to heat and fire than ordinary people, but it doesn't mean that they can't burn, and with such a big fire, the people inside are likely to be in bad luck.

Xie Bi An was anxious, worried about both Zhong Kui and Xu Zhi Nan.

"Senior brother!" Fan Wu She ran over, "No sign of Master."

Xie Bi An looked at the smouldering fire, "Wu She, Master won't ..." If Xu Zhi Nan had been killed, according to his knowledge of Zhong Kui, he would have gone in to save him.

Fan Wu She shook his head, and his brow was tightly locked at the thought that Xu Zhi Nan might be inside.

Xu Zhi Nan, as a master of his generation, should not have been trapped here, but this was a time when his body was weak. If there was a further premeditated set-up…

"Master!" A wail rang.

Only seeing Zhong Kui, carrying a man with a head full of frost and snow, came rushing out of the fire.

 

----

It's almost time to go back to the past life again~~

There’s a fire*[走水]---direct translation is walk water/or out of water, which is incorrect. In ancient China, 火 (fire) is a taboo word (just like how 死 (die) cannot be said because these words are inauspicious/taboo)

 

Edited on 22 Mar. 21 (Emzie)

 

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