Learning by Observation

After Wen Jian finished speaking, he was about to lower his head, turn the medical book right-side up, and continue reading when he saw Chu Shihan still standing there without moving—the hem of his black robe hung at his sides, barely swaying at all. Clearly, he had no intention of leaving.

Wen Jian looked up in confusion and met Chu Shihan's eyes, which, rare as it was, held a trace of hesitation—utterly unlike his usual confident, steady self.

Since he was already here, Chu Shihan figured he might as well ask what his junior brother thought of him. He changed the subject, his tone becoming more earnest. "Ninth Junior Brother—what do you think of me as the senior brother? Have I done well in daily life? Is there anywhere... I need to improve?"

Wen Jian froze at that. He looked Chu Shihan up and down—he saw his eldest senior brother's straightened back, the unhealed calluses on the hand that held his sword, and in those eyes that always carried three parts sharpness, a cautious expectation now appeared.

Wen Jian fell silent for a long while, his fingertips repeatedly stroking the cover of the medical book. At last, he hesitantly asked, "Eldest Senior Brother, can I tell the truth?"

"Of course!" Chu Shihan nodded at once, his tone sincere.

"Then I'll be blunt." Wen Jian closed the medical book and placed it on the stone table. He weighed his words, yet did not beat around the bush in the slightest. "Eldest Senior Brother, you should just focus on practicing your sword. Stop overthinking all that meaningless nonsense."

Chu Shihan paused, not quite understanding. "What do you mean?"

Wen Jian drew a breath and put it even more plainly. "Leave the things that require brains to us."

The faint smile Chu Shihan