How Could a Secret Brew Be an Ordinary Thing

"Do you need me to do anything else?" After finishing the holes in the bamboo tubes, Zhang Xiaofan smiled as he looked at Luo Yunji.

"Senior Brother! Take a bamboo tube and go fill it with water from the earthspring in the stone platform at the very bottom."

"All right!" Taking a bamboo tube, he went running down with a thump, thump, thump.

When Zhang Xiaofan had run halfway down, he smelled a fragrance he had never encountered before, and within it there seemed to be a special fruity aroma.

By the time he returned with the water, he saw his little junior brother Luo Yunji casting hand seals, drawing two streams of liquid from the two vessels holding the fruit brew, making them meet in midair before flowing into the bamboo tubes with holes already opened and arranged to one side.

One, two, three... In the end, they actually filled a full seventeen bamboo tubes.

It had to be known that each bamboo tube was about as thick as an adult's arm! Clearly, the fruit brew in that gourd and that jar combined did not have anywhere near that much volume!

Then he saw his little junior brother happily sealing the openings of the bamboo tubes one by one, and after he finished, he planted his hands on his hips and laughed with great delight and pride.

"Little Junior Brother! The spring water you wanted!" Zhang Xiaofan handed over the bamboo tube filled with spring water.

"We'll drink this today!" Luo Yunji took it and smiled happily. He raised his sword fingers toward the gourd and jar on the table that had previously held the fruit brew, and then two streams of liquid, much thinner than before, flew into the air. The rich fragrance once again slipped into their noses.

Just as Zhang Xiaofan was somewhat greedily sniffing that fragrance, Luo Yunji drew the water from the bamboo tube in his hand into the mass of fruit brew in the air as well. Zhang Xiaofan suddenly understood. So earlier, Luo Yunji had used spiritual power to summon spirit water from the air and blended it with the fruit brew, which was why he had been able to fill so many bamboo tubes with it.

Under Luo Yunji's control, the liquid in the air spun and flowed, until it had perfectly fused together. Then he once again summoned the spirit fire from before and gave it a round of steaming and roasting. Zhang Xiaofan then saw wisps of faint fragrant mist curl all around, enveloping both him and his little junior brother.

"Here!" Who knew how much time had passed; just when Zhang Xiaofan thought he was already a little tipsy, that fragrant mist was still drifting about. Though it had grown much lighter, that faint wine aroma still kept slipping into his nose, until Luo Yunji's voice woke him.

"For me?" Zhang Xiaofan happily took the bamboo tube, then saw that Luo Yunji had none in his hand. "Little Junior Brother! Where's yours?"

"These seventeen have to be sealed and stored. Every so often, we can open one. If we drink them slowly, they should last a very long time. The one in your hand is the last of the sedimented essence; the concentration should be very high. We'll drink this first for the time being!" Luo Yunji looked at the bamboo tube in Zhang Xiaofan's hand and sucked in his saliva.

"Oh!" Hearing that his little junior brother would have some to drink too, Zhang Xiaofan finally smiled in satisfaction.

Could it be that he had never considered, with Luo Yunji's gluttonous nature, that in front of delicacies and fine wine, he could possibly let himself suffer?

After sealing and hiding away the seventeen bamboo tubes, the two ran to the bedroom.

"Little Junior Brother! Will you really get drunk? Since you will, let's just drink a little less. If that really won't do, we can just taste a tiny bit!" As Zhang Xiaofan spoke, he placed two bamboo cups the size of a baby's fist on the table.

"Just in case!" Luo Yunji thought for a moment. "I'd better drink on the bed! If I really do get drunk, falling on the bed would still be much more comfortable than falling on the floor!" As he spoke, he turned and climbed back onto the bed, then waited for Zhang Xiaofan to pour the wine and hand it to him.

"Then! Little Junior Brother, you can drink it yourself! I won't drink!" Zhang Xiaofan said after considering it for a moment.

"Why? It's really good! And what do you think that companion brew I had you busy yourself with for so long was for! When that's blended with the gourd of monkey wine, it can increase cultivation! Though not by much! But it's still better than nothing!" Luo Yunji looked at Zhang Xiaofan with an expression that said, "You're so stupid."

"If you get drunk, I can carry you back! Otherwise, if it's like last time and we go back late again, it would be bad if the senior brothers come out looking for us!" Zhang Xiaofan explained. "Besides, the senior brothers might not even be able to find this place!"

"Oh, right! You considered it correctly! If the senior brothers find this place, maybe my wine will be divided up by them until there's none left! Right! Right!" Luo Yunji suddenly came to a realization.

"Little Junior Brother! That's not what I meant!" Zhang Xiaofan looked at his own little junior brother's face of sudden enlightenment and explained gloomily.

"How about... we wait until tomorrow to drink? Tomorrow, we can come out earlier, and then we won't have to worry about going back late!"

Luo Yunji had only just finished speaking when Xiaofan had already poured a cup of wine and handed it to him. The corner of Luo Yunji's mouth twitched, but in the end, he still could not resist the temptation of the aroma. After taking it, he sipped.

Delicious!

It was so delicious that even his eyebrows twitched on their own, his face full of intoxicated delight. Zhang Xiaofan put the stopper back in, then placed the bamboo tube on the table and sat to one side, watching him.

"So, so good! Little Senior Brother, you should taste it too!" Luo Yunji looked at Zhang Xiaofan with a face full of satisfaction and happiness as he spoke.

Zhang Xiaofan smiled at him and shook his head. "Little Junior Brother! You drink it yourself!"

"Senior Brother!" Luo Yunji looked toward Zhang Xiaofan, moved. "Senior Brother, you're the best! I like you the most!"

After Zhang Xiaofan heard this, his eyebrows trembled just like Luo Yunji's had after drinking the fine brew, and he smiled with a silly look all over his face.

Luo Yunji took a few more sips, then waved his little chubby paw at Zhang Xiaofan, who was sitting by the table. Zhang Xiaofan got up and walked over, and Luo Yunji pulled him down to sit beside him.

Luo Yunji handed the wine cup in his hand to Zhang Xiaofan. Then his head tilted, and he collapsed into Zhang Xiaofan's arms. His breathing gradually grew long and even, and he started snoring softly. Zhang Xiaofan looked at the half cup of fruit brew still remaining, then looked at Luo Yunji, who had passed out drunk against him, his face full of conflict and worry.

"Drink! Drink it! Don't... don't waste it!" Even in his sleep, Luo Yunji mumbled on, still not forgetting to urge him to drink.

Zhang Xiaofan smiled and drank the wine in the cup in one gulp. Then he felt a cool stream flow down his throat and into his belly. Threads of warm airflow coursed through his meridians. Zhang Xiaofan knew this was the effect his little junior brother had mentioned, the one that could increase cultivation, beginning to take hold. He hurriedly supported Luo Yunji, placed him properly on the inside of the bed, then took off his own shoes, sat cross-legged on the outer side, and circulated the improved version of the Taiji Mystic Purity Dao.

It seemed Zhang Xiaofan's tolerance for alcohol was much better than Luo Yunji's. After Zhang Xiaofan finished his circulation, he did not feel drunk at all. Instead, he felt refreshed and clear-headed, and his cultivation in the Taiji Mystic Purity Dao had also grown somewhat, while Luo Yunji was still sleeping sweetly, snoring softly.

He went out to look at the sky and saw that it had already turned dim and yellow.

Zhang Xiaofan went to the kitchen again and tidied up briefly. Then he returned to the bedroom, fastened the bamboo tube of wine on the table to his waist with a cord, dragged Luo Yunji up from the bed, got him onto his back, closed the door, and left!