ed to the sky.

Laughing uproariously, the elder ran off, shouting gleefully, “I finally got one over on you, brother! I’ll treat you to drinks tonight.” His croaky voice made my skin crawl.

The fat man shouted, “You scoundrel! Wait till I get my hands on you!” He tried to chase the elder but noticed me. Realizing his situation, he landed and respectfully bowed, “Sir.”

The elder stopped, noticing someone had arrived, and shouted, “Your pants are torn, brother!” The fat man quickly covered his exposed backside, embarrassed, “Sir, you can go ahead. I’ll handle the registration.”

He ran off awkwardly, his hand still covering his ripped pants. The elder immediately thought, “I better get the best wine to make amends.”

Ignoring their skit, I continued on. Qianyao remarked, “Same old story.”

“Do you know them?” I asked.

She pointed at the fat man, “That’s Fo De Kuai, and the weak elder is his brother, Liu De Kuai. Once, during registration, Liu was so focused on eating that he mistakenly let in members of the Twilight Sect, causing our sect to lose many talents. The sect master, in his anger, drained some of his vitality, making him appear older.”

Thunder, who had been about to laugh, shivered at the mention of the sect master’s ruthlessness.

“So that’s what happened,” I murmured.

Qianyao concluded, “Alright, I need to head back. Goodbye for now.”

When I returned to my old thatched hut with Thunder, I was surprised to see that it had been replaced by a modest mansion named Yun Residence. Murong Yu was directing the placement of a flowerbed, “Be careful, don’t break it!” I approached her, but two guards blocked my way. “No entry beyond this point.”

I called out, “Murong, what’s going on here?” She turned and, delighted to see me, ran over, “Young Master Yun is back!” Turning to the guards, she scolded, “Do you know what you’re doing? This is the master of this residence!”

Realizing their mistake, the guards quickly apologized, “Master Yun, we didn’t know. We were just assigned today. Please forgive us.”

I inquired, “Murong, what’s all this? I asked you to buy household items, and you brought back a mansion?”

Murong apologized, “Young Master Yun, with the martial beads you gave me, I still had one left. These guards were assigned by Commander Chen. I met him while out shopping and couldn’t refuse his offer to help.”

“I see, but how did you end up buying an entire mansion?” I asked again.

“With the martial beads, it seemed better to invest in a proper residence. This way, we have what we need.”

“Alright, alright,” I said, not wanting to waste more time on the details. I pointed at Thunder, “This is my younger brother, Thunder. He’ll be staying with us. Find him a room, will you?”

“Of course, Young Master Yun. Right away,” Murong replied.

Br

 Prev. P 41/162 next