While Su Ru was fretting and worrying herself sick, a faint snore drifted through the room. She followed the sound and found herself shaking her head in helpless amusement. She carried the child to bed, tucked him in, then went to the main hall to wait for her husband to return so they could discuss things properly.
She hadn't waited long before Tian Buyi came in, looking thoroughly displeased. Seeing Su Ru sitting in the hall, he paused in surprise. "Didn't you go to Small Bamboo Peak?"
"Never mind that for now! Come back to our room. I need to tell you something." Su Ru looked deeply worried. Tian Buyi suppressed his questions and followed her into the bedroom, where he found their little disciple fast asleep on the bed.
"Why's this little rascal sleeping here?" Tian Buyi grumbled. He was old enough to know better than to be so willful.
"Never mind that for now! Look at this!" Su Ru pulled Tian Buyi down beside her, then shoved the Qilin Horn into his hand.
"What is this?" It looked familiar, but he couldn't remember what it was. Tian Buyi asked curiously.
"The Qilin Horn!" Su Ru whispered.
"What?" Tian Buyi wasn't sure if he hadn't heard her or simply couldn't believe it.
"The Spirit Venerable's horn!" Su Ru repeated, a little louder.
"How did you get it?" This time, Tian Buyi lowered his voice.
"Your precious disciple snapped it off today!" Su Ru replied, glancing toward the bed.
Looking at the little disciple still sleeping without a care in the world, Tian Buyi found it hard to believe. "Even if I gave it everything I had, I couldn't cut through this thing with Scarlet Flame. What kind of treasure could that boy have to sever the Spirit Venerable's horn?" He refused to believe it.
"Then tell me, what is this?" Su Ru glared and pointed at the Qilin Horn in Tian Buyi's hand.
After a moment of silence, Tian Buyi still shook his head. "I still don't believe it."
"But I saw Little Ji holding it in the main hall. I asked him, and he said it was a horn from the Spirit Venerable's head!"
"So that's why you rushed back in such a panic?" Tian Buyi finally understood why Su Ru had behaved so strangely in Jade Purity Hall.
"Was it that obvious?" Su Ru asked, blushing with embarrassment.
"Painfully obvious!"
"Never mind that. What do we do now?"
"What do you mean, what do we do?"
"The Spirit Venerable! The horn from the Spirit Venerable's head! If anyone finds out, Little Ji will be finished!"
"Then don't let anyone find out." Tian Buyi replied as if it were nothing.
"How can we possibly keep something like this a secret?" Su Ru scolded him loudly when she saw how unconcerned he was.
"Should we tell Senior Brother the truth? I could go apologize." Tian Buyi pondered.
"What if Senior Brother the Sect Leader refuses to accept it?"
"Then what do you think we should do?" Tian Buyi picked up the teapot on the table and poured a cup of water for himself and Su Ru.
"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you!" Su Ru was truly furious now, glaring at her husband.
"All right, all right! I know you're worried about Yun Ji, but what's done is done. Worrying won't help." Tian Buyi soothed her.
"Worrying won't help, but we still need to come up with a plan!" Su Ru's eyes had gone red with anxiety.
"I understand! Don't worry. That boy will be fine. Senior Brother the Sect Leader examined him today. You know what? That little rascal has already cultivated the Taiji Mystic Purity Dao to the fifth level. Senior Brother even praised him. Fifth level in three years—do you know what that means? It means that unless he commits some irredeemable offense, like betraying the sect, the boy can get away with anything!"
"Does snapping off the Spirit Venerable's horn count as a minor offense he can get away with?" Su Ru was delighted to hear that her little disciple had advanced, but it still didn't solve the problem at hand.
"Well... we'll have to let Senior Brother decide."
"That still doesn't give us a plan!" Su Ru cried in alarm.
"How about taking Ling'er and Yun Ji to hide at your senior sister's place?"
"Hide? How are we supposed to hide?" Su Ru shot Tian Buyi a glare. "Forget it. I'll go to my senior sister's and think of something. No, I'm going right now!" As she spoke, she scooped up the little fatty from the bed and hurried out of the bedroom.
"Hey! When are you coming back?" Tian Buyi called after his wife's hurried figure.
"When I've thought of something!" Su Ru's angry voice called back from a distance. Tian Buyi sniffed and pursed his lips, then let the matter drop. When he noticed that he was still clutching the Qilin Horn, he furtively looked around like a guilty thief and hurriedly hid it away.
"Master, Shiniang went to Small Bamboo Peak this morning, didn't she? I thought I just saw her." Song Daren had followed Tian Buyi's orders and settled the newly admitted junior brother. He'd come to report back, only to see Shiniang hurrying away with Little Junior Brother in her arms and Junior Sister in tow.
"Oh! Your Shiniang came back to fetch something. Don't worry about her." Tian Buyi lifted his teacup and took a sip. First his little disciple had given him a fright, then he'd spent so long talking things over with his wife. Now he was thirsty.
"The new junior brother has been settled in! He's still asleep, though." Song Daren picked up the teapot and refilled Tian Buyi's cup.
"That'll do. We'll talk to him when he wakes up!" Thinking of his little disciple's progress, Tian Buyi broke into a happy smile. "Daren!"
"Master!" Song Daren replied, privately wondering, In Jade Purity Hall, Master looked so glum, as if he didn't want to accept that child as a disciple. Now, I wonder what happened to make him this happy.
"You need to work hard! Your Little Junior Brother has already cultivated the Taiji Mystic Purity Dao to the fifth level!"
"What! When did that happen? How come none of us knew?" Song Daren asked, both startled and delighted.
"Hmph! Do you expect your Little Junior Brother, with that head in the clouds of his, to know anything? If your Master Uncle the Sect Leader hadn't noticed, the boy himself would still be clueless." Tian Buyi grew annoyed just thinking about it. How absent-minded did you have to be not to know what level your cultivation had reached?
"Master! You... didn't notice either?" Song Daren asked quietly.
"That boy goes to the Back Mountain every day with a firewood cleaver, but all he does is sleep on a rock. At least he knows to come back in time for meals. With an attitude like that, if someone told you his cultivation had advanced, would you believe it?"
Song Daren considered it and nodded in deep agreement. "Little Junior Brother really is too absent-minded."
"All right! You can go now."
"Yes, Master!" Song Daren answered, then withdrew.
In the courtyard, several junior brothers were chatting among themselves as they waited for Eldest Senior Brother to come out so they could ask what had happened in Jade Purity Hall.
As soon as Song Daren emerged, they hurriedly crowded around him.
"You lot are in for more suffering!" Song Daren said, looking at everyone except He Dazhi.
"What happened?" Fifth Senior Brother asked with a furrowed brow.
"Little Junior Brother has broken through to the fifth level of the Taiji Mystic Purity Dao." Song Daren said, feeling the pressure himself now.
"What! That little monster does nothing but eat and sleep every day, and he barely even does his lessons. How did he break through?" Sixth Senior Brother cried, envious and jealous.
"How did he break through? Did it happen in Jade Purity Hall?" Fourth Senior Brother asked curiously.
"Not exactly. From what Master said, even Little Junior Brother doesn't know when he broke through!"
"That's bizarre!" Second Senior Brother Wu Dayi exclaimed in surprise.
"Get cultivating, all of you! Especially you lot— even Junior Sister has broken through to the fourth level. As her senior brothers, you need to get moving!"
"It's not like we want to fall behind! Those two are just little monsters." Sixth Senior Brother complained glumly.
The others nodded repeatedly, feeling exactly the same.
"Always clowning around. Get back to your cultivation!" Song Daren felt exactly the same way. It seemed he would have to push his junior brothers even harder to cultivate.
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