Deep in the night, Lü Bufan was in the stable, washing and grooming the horse he had just acquired.
It was the first horse Lü Bufan had ever owned. His youthful nature got the better of him, and he tended it with meticulous care.
"Do you like this horse? Or do you like... horses?"
Lü Bufan raised his head and saw a middle-aged man in a plain cloth robe sitting on a pile of fodder nearby, watching him calmly.
"You are..."
"Your eldest senior brother!"
Lü Bufan fell silent for a moment, then quietly drew the Short Sword from behind his back.
Bai Ye studied the sword with a complicated expression, then curled his lip. "Is there any point? Since you know who I am, you should know I'm a Great Cultivator at the peak of the Eighth Realm..."
"Knowing is one thing. Doing what I should is another! It has nothing to do with life or death..."
Bai Ye smiled. "Relax. I won't kill you!"
"I won't kill you either. But someday I will..."
"It doesn't matter. I'm merely curious why our masters regard you so highly. You're as ordinary a mortal as mortals come."
Lü Bufan sat on a wooden stump, both hands resting on the Short Sword across his knees. "There's nothing shameful about living in the mortal world as a mortal!"
Bai Ye raised an eyebrow. "How much do you know about Two Realms Village?"
"Master Du Yuan told me about you. Master Ming told me a little about how Two Realms Village came to be... No one's told me about Big Black, but he trusts me, and I trust him! As for Old Skeleton, Master Peach... no one needs to tell me. I know he's the backbone of Two Realms Village!"
"No one needs to