Time for a Hug

At some point, rumors spread through the sect that their eldest senior brother had someone in his heart and had already built a plank road in the open while secretly crossing the warehouse with a fairy maiden from another sect.

Some busybodies even drew portraits of that fairy maiden and made up all sorts of nonexistent, melodramatic tales of tortured love to sell throughout the sect.

Chu Zeming had always assumed the fairy maiden in those rumors was the handkerchief girl from that day. But every day, the male disciples looked at him as though his romantic fortunes ran deep, and doubts began to creep into Chu Zeming's mind.

Though that junior sister who had given him the handkerchief was indeed adorable, there was no need to look at him like that... unless they were not talking about the same person.

Thus, after morning lessons one day, Chu Zeming instructed Xuan Mo to find the portrait for him.

"Eldest Senior Brother, I found it."

Xuan Mo entered the inner quarters, pulled out a portrait from his sleeve, and handed it to Chu Zeming. In a low voice, he said, "I spent two low-grade spirit stones on it. I never expected Sister-in-Law's portrait to be worth so much."

Taking the portrait from Xuan Mo, Chu Zeming slowly unrolled it. Before his eyes appeared raven hair piled in cloudlike coiffures, adorned with exquisitely crafted hairpins; a floral ornament between the brows; shifting, limpid eyes; beauty unmatched beneath heaven—

So beautiful.

Chu Zeming's breathing hitched slightly, then his heart began to thump wildly.

A familiar feeling wound around his heart once more.

This time, love had come for him again.

It was exactly the same feeling he had experienced upon first meeting Yue Lian.

Wait, Yue Lian?

The veins on Chu Zeming's forehead bulged as he stared at the beauty in the portrait. His expression darkened, darker and darker...

Xuan Mo leaned over to admire Sister-in-Law's world-toppling beauty alongside Chu Zeming, exclaiming, "Sister-in-Law is truly beautiful. Eldest Senior Brother and Sister-in-Law are simply a match made by heaven and earth, especially well suited!"

Before Xuan Mo could finish buttering him up, Chu Zeming's sinister, terrifying voice rang out—"Well suited? Are your dog eyes blind? Look carefully. Who is this?"

Chu Zeming shoved the portrait into Xuan Mo's face, the pressure around him dropping to freezing depths. "Look carefully. Who is it?"

Xuan Mo froze, then took the portrait and began studying the person in it with great effort—skin as flawless as white porcelain, clear and translucent eyes, quite... tall. Tall was good; being taller benefited future descendants. The line of the neck was beautiful too...

Except.

Holding up the portrait, Xuan Mo pointed at the figure's neck and asked Chu Zeming, "Senior Brother, look. Does Sister-in-Law have a tumor on her neck? There seems to be a faint little bump..."

"I think you're the one with a tumor in your brain." Chu Zeming slapped him outright. "You cannot even recognize an Adam's apple? Did reading turn you stupid?"

Xuan Mo got beaten up.

After examining the portrait several more times, Xuan Mo finally realized that the person in it seemed to look rather like the newly arrived little junior brother in the sect...

Having spent a long time around Chu Zeming, Xuan Mo knew that his eldest senior brother hated others fantasizing about him having relationships with men. He silently rolled up the portrait he had purchased at great expense and tucked it back into his robes.

—He could not tear it up. He had to find a way to resell it.

After putting away the portrait, Xuan Mo, his head covered in bumps, asked his displeased eldest senior brother, "Senior Brother, they are still spreading stories about you and Little Junior Brother secretly doing that in the little grove behind the mountain... Should I take some people and drag out those who started and spread the rumors for a beating?"

Hearing this, Chu Zeming pondered for a moment before slowly nodding. "Fine. Remember to cover your faces. It would not be good if they reported us to the Law Enforcement Hall elders. You must consider the fellowship between fellow disciples and do not hit too hard."

Xuan Mo: "...Eldest Senior Brother is kindhearted. I have learned much."

Xuan Mo's execution was formidable. In merely five days, no one in the sect dared gossip about Chu Zeming anymore.

Chu Zeming was very satisfied with this. From time to time, he praised Xuan Mo for being thoughtful and clean in his work, saying that he would surely become someone great in the future, and telling the other junior brothers to learn from him.

Under Chu Zeming's personal instruction and Xuan Mo's exemplary guidance, after half a month, the junior brothers gradually became Chu Zeming's diehard devotees. In their minds, they believed only in the profound words once spoken by some world-creating great power, as quoted by their eldest senior brother—"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

Though they did not know what a gun barrel was, they knew their senior brother was teaching them that a big fist was the hard truth. In order to learn the essence of Sixth Senior Brother's clean methods and never leaving behind evidence, they secretly followed Xuan Mo in doing quite a few sneaky, chicken-stealing, dog-pilfering deeds.

For a time, a band of unusually rampant thieves appeared within the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect. The chickens, ducks, and spirit fowl raised in the Aviary Court often vanished without a trace, yet the culprits could never be caught. The Aviary Court's chickens were thrown into a panic, and the hens became so frightened that they would not even eat their feed.

Time passed swiftly.

Just as Chu Zeming finished his morning lesson duties, Ling Yunzi sent someone to notify him that everyone was to gather in the main hall tomorrow. It was time to depart for the Extreme Sea.

The following morning.

More than twenty disciples were already waiting in the main hall of the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect. Among them were several familiar faces—Ling Tian, Xuan Mo, Ning Weiyu, and Yue Lian.

Ning Weiyu and Yue Lian stood together.

Naturally, Xuan Mo had crowded over to Chu Zeming's side.

Ling Tian stood in a corner, beautiful all by himself. From time to time, he shot Chu Zeming a resentful and complicated glare before swiftly withdrawing it.

Xuan Mo looked around and unexpectedly met Ling Tian's gaze. He blanked for a moment, then whispered to Chu Zeming, "Senior Brother, Ling Tian still holds a grudge over you beating him that day. He was just glaring at you."

Chu Zeming tilted his head slightly and looked at Ling Tian without drawing attention to himself. Sure enough, he saw him glaring in secret.

Retracting his gaze, Chu Zeming quietly decided that after entering the Extreme Sea, he would find an opportunity to beat Ling Tian up.

Chu Zeming's presence was powerful and exceedingly cold.

Therefore, although he was leading this expedition into the Extreme Sea Secret Realm, none of the junior brothers and sisters nearby dared approach him. Instead, they gradually gathered around Yue Lian, the little junior brother who looked more approachable.

Yue Lian's popularity in the sect was sky-high, even faintly surpassing that of Eldest Senior Brother. Xuan Mo could not help feeling dissatisfied. "Are these people blind? Do they not know who is leading the group?"

Chu Zeming did not feel much about it.

He understood them quite well.

The protagonist bottom's all-charming halo was far too domineering. Even a straight man of steel like himself could barely withstand it, much less everyone else.

Amid the disciples' soft chatter, the stone doors at the head of the main hall turned. Several streaks of mystic light emerged from the inner hall beyond them. When the stone doors shut once again, Ling Yunzi, dressed in white and as immaculate as an immortal cast down to earth, suddenly sat at the head of the hall. Twelve sect elders stood in order along either side of him.

Ling Yunzi swept a faint glance over the disciples, then his low, noble voice echoed through the main hall.

"You will be participating in this expedition to the Extreme Sea Secret Realm. Remember to cherish your fellow disciples, mind your conduct, and understand that when you are outside, you represent the face of the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect..."

After explaining the necessary precautions, Ling Yunzi waved his sleeve and dismissed the disciples.

Once all the disciples had withdrawn from the hall, Qin Elder, standing to Ling Yunzi's right, finally spoke in a low voice. "Sect Master, this old man believes... perhaps Lian'er is not particularly suited for this journey into the secret realm."

Yue Lian's cultivation had only just reached the Fusion Stage. He could not even sustain sword flight for long periods, so he originally had no qualifications to enter the Extreme Sea Secret Realm.

A trace of emotion surfaced on Ling Yunzi's face, clear and cool as snow pine. Only then did he slowly say, "The Extreme Sea Secret Realm opens only once every two hundred years. Such an opportunity is not something one can seek and find. I do not want Lian'er to miss it. Qin Elder need not worry that he will encounter danger. I have already instructed Lian'er to remain at his eldest senior brother's side every step of the way during this journey."

Qin Elder frowned, his face showing a slight displeasure.

But in the end, he did not say anything further.

***

After leaving the main hall, Chu Zeming took the lead and stood at the very front of the disciples. Just as he was about to set off, he suddenly sensed someone beside him, followed by a beautiful hand catching the corner of his robe.

Chu Zeming: "?"

He turned around with a bewildered expression and saw the gay guy.

Chu Zeming's face darkened. "What are you doing?"

Yue Lian twisted awkwardly. "Senior Brother, I cannot fly for very long, so Master told me to follow you."

Chu Zeming slapped away Yue Lian's paw and said coldly, "...Xuan Mo."

"Senior Brother, I'm here!" Xuan Mo stepped forward. Chu Zeming gave him a look, and Xuan Mo turned to Yue Lian. "How about I take Little Junior Brother with me?"

Yue Lian said somewhat embarrassedly, "That will not do... Master told me to remain at Senior Brother's side every step of the way. Eldest Senior Brother can just carry me along."

Xuan Mo looked helplessly at Chu Zeming.

It was time to depart, and it would not be good to delay any longer.

Chu Zeming's face darkened as he took a deep breath, then drew his Luminous Glaze Sword once more—

Carrying him was impossible.

Poking him along with the scabbard was more like it.

Thus, under the complicated gazes of the disciples, history repeated itself as Yue Lian was hung up and flown along once more.

He wanted to ask his senior brother to set up a barrier for him, but the instant he opened his mouth, wind poured into it. Feeling the fierce air in the sky slice across his cheeks like blades, Yue Lian felt somewhat miserable.