Chapter 26: Disbandment

Xiu Jiming looked at Gong Xuance with an unfriendly expression; he realized he had somewhat underestimated his senior brother.

Xiu Jiming glanced around and noticed that not a single one of his traps had been triggered.

He instantly knew that the aftershocks from his battle just now had been completely blocked by Gong Xuance.

Seeing this, Xiu Jiming pondered for a moment.

Instead of placing a new restriction on his senior brother right there, he gave Gong Xuance a deep look before turning back to change his clothes.

Lin Ling quickly wrote on the paper: “Everything has been prepared for you. You can just go to the inner room to wash and change.”

Xiu Jiming smiled slightly upon reading this and reached out to stroke Lin Ling’s ear.

Lin Ling felt a bit uncomfortable and directly swatted his palm away. She wrote heavily on the page: “You know you’re dirty, yet you still dare to touch me.”

However, despite everything, so much had happened during this period that Lin Ling had gradually come to permit, or rather, get used to Xiu Jiming’s series of slightly intimate gestures.

Gong Xuance watched the two of them being affectionate and felt a bit annoyed.

Feeling as if someone were flaunting their love right in front of him, he immediately stood to the side and started making a noisy fuss.

For instance, he asked someone to brew a new pot of tea for him or find him a room.

Of course, not a single person present paid him any attention.

Everyone knew this guy was nothing more than a prisoner.

Currently, he was being personally supervised by the acting Deputy Governor of the Yunzhou Inspection Office.

Seeing Xiu Jiming head off to rest, Lin Ling also gave a dull stretch, preparing to return to the archives to continue her work.

After such a battle, many more permutations and combinations of runes had filled her mind.

They might yield miraculous effects in the future.

After confirming that the three girls—including Bai Yunyun—and the staff of the Inspection Office were fine, the little fox plunged headfirst into the bookshelves.

She began to combine her memories from her past life with the various encyclopedias of incantations and divine spells recorded within the Inspection Office to research a rune construction method of her own.

Seeing that everyone had something to do, leaving him to daze alone in the main hall, Gong Xuance suddenly became a bit unsettled.

He dissatisfiedly sought out Xiu Jiming, who had just finished changing.

“Junior Brother, oh Junior Brother, your elder brother helped you solve such a huge problem. Shouldn’t you reward me properly? For example, let my younger sister-in-law—no, let Little Ling’er come up and brew a pot of tea for me or something.”

Xiu Jiming narrowed his eyes at him and said with some impatience, “Senior Brother, don’t forget that you are currently just a prisoner. You are only staying here temporarily. The fact that I haven’t asked you for money is already considered generous on my part.”

Hearing this, Gong Xuance’s face fell. He chuckled bitterly.

“There’s no need to be so cold-hearted. I am your senior brother, after all.”

Xiu Jiming sneered, “Senior Brother? Yes, you are my senior brother. But in the end, I don’t know your background. I don’t even know if you are a good or bad person.”

He paused, a playful smile appearing on his face as he said, “You were just taken from the remote Northwest Prison and were being escorted to the capital. No matter how you look at it, that doesn’t seem like the fate of a good person.”

Hearing this, Gong Xuance was even more speechless.

“Sigh, what family misfortune. Can’t you be less superficial? There’s naturally a reason why I’m being escorted back to the capital. It’s just that the Little Emperor has reached adulthood this year and wants me to take him to find something.”

“What thing?”

Xiu Jiming blurted out.

Gong Xuance’s mouth hung open as he froze.

He suddenly realized what he was doing and quickly covered his mouth.

“You’re trying to bait me.”

He let out a cold snort and turned his face away, no longer paying Xiu Jiming any mind.

Xiu Jiming shrugged indifferently.

To be honest, he wasn’t curious at all.

If he weren’t worried about the potential risks to Lin Ling, he wouldn’t even bother to care about what this man was doing.

Regardless, the divination results said that this guy was just bored out of his mind.

Xiu Jiming was very experienced in dealing with such people—just ignore them.

Soon, the cultivators whom Xiu Jiming had left at the scene to handle the demon corpses had all arrived at the entrance of the Yueshan County Inspection Office.

They knelt on one knee before Xiu Jiming.

“Big Brother Xiu, since the matter has been resolved, we will each return to our homes. As for why the demons attacked the fellow Daoists of the Hidden Mountain Rain-Listening Pavilion, that is not something we can know. You will need to investigate that yourself. But rest assured. If you have any need for us, you only need to send a single transmission talisman. We will come here immediately and await your orders at any time.”

Xiu Jiming said with a smile, “Everyone has worked hard. This trip was quite fruitful, having wiped out a demon den. I will report this to the Emperor to reward you all. Whether it be spirit stones or Dharma treasures, as long as it’s not excessive, I will certainly help you obtain them.”

Everyone laughed. “Big Brother Xiu, you’re being too formal by saying that. After over a dozen years, it’s rare to see you take action again; our hearts are incomparably joyful. Any reward is actually unimportant.”

Another person stepped forward, cupping his fists.

“This wasn’t some world-shaking contribution either. The things that little Emperor kid can give probably won’t be much to look at.”

The previous person added, “We only hope that Big Brother Xiu won’t leave us forgotten in a corner in the future. Once something happens, just give the word, and we will come immediately.”

Xiu Jiming looked at everyone with quite a bit of emotion, feeling somewhat ashamed.

“You all still trust me so much. I am truly unworthy.”

He could only repeatedly cup his fists toward the crowd.

Seeing this, the senior staff of the Inspection Office also cupped their fists toward Xiu Jiming.

“Big Brother Xiu, you’re too polite. Since the matter here is concluded, we should also depart. Farewell!”

Many cultivators paid their respects to Xiu Jiming and then flew into the sky one after another.

Xiu Jiming silently kept his hands behind his back, planning to have Lin Ling write a letter asking the Emperor for rewards.

When the time came, he would just toss it to that fellow Shen Zaixin.

They could say they didn’t want anything, but Xiu Jiming couldn’t neglect to give it.

Having owed them for so many years, Xiu Jiming always felt uneasy in his heart.

Walking back into the house, Xiu Jiming looked at Gong Xuance sitting in his seat, and his expression gradually turned cold.

‘In a while, when the people from the Hidden Mountain Rain-Listening Pavilion arrive, I’ll just hand this guy over to them.’

‘While I’m at it, I’ll plant a few more troublesome forbidden curses on him to make sure he gets more than he bargained for.’

Gong Xuance didn’t yet know that his future fate had already been decided by his junior brother.

He was busy studying Xiu Jiming’s tea set on his own.

Ignoring Gong Xuance’s eccentric behavior, Xiu Jiming let out a yawn and prepared to go rest first.

It had been many years since he had exerted himself like this, and he indeed felt a bit strained.

***

Lin Ling sat in the archives, her mind constantly replaying the scene where Lin Shuyang swallowed the flames she had thrown out.

Envy filled her heart.

‘I wonder if I could also make a similar devouring rune?’

But she had searched through the ancient books and couldn’t find any relevant information, leaving the little fox with no clue at all.

Thinking that Lin Kejing wasn’t a master of rune cultivation either, she suddenly felt a bit depressed.

After tidying up her slightly messy desk, Lin Ling thought to herself, ‘Maybe I should ask Xiao Ming tomorrow? He might have some ideas.’

Since Lin Kejing had said she could ask him if she had problems with her cultivation, Xiu Jiming must know quite a lot.