Senior Brother Was Clearly So Capable

Finding a patch of level open ground, Jiang Beiran took materials from his Universe Ring and had the junior sisters set up camp themselves.

It was the Five Girls' first time camping out in the wilderness, so they could not help feeling excited. Looking at the huge canvas on the ground, Yu Guishui said to the others, "How about we pitch a bigger tent? We can sleep together tonight."

"Sure, sure." Fang Qiuyue immediately agreed.

Liu Zijin nodded as well, indicating her agreement.

Yet an hour later, Jiang Beiran was already building a fire and preparing to cook a meal, while the five junior sisters were still fretting over how to prop up the tent.

"Strange... I clearly remember tents being set up like this. Why won't it stand?" Yu Guizhui said in puzzlement, clutching a thick log.

"How about... asking Senior Brother?" Yu Guimiao instinctively looked toward Jiang Beiran.

"But..." Yu Guizhui hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.

Over the course of the journey, the five junior sisters had come to understand a little of their senior brother's temperament. If he did not take the initiative to help with something, then going to ask him about it would earn them a scolding.

At that moment, Liu Zijin said, "If we keep tossing and turning like this, we really will have to sleep on the ground tonight. I'll go ask Senior Brother."

"No!" Yu Guishui suddenly shouted. "That's too unfair to you, Sister Zi Jin. We can't keep hiding behind you. Let me go this time."

"It's fine. Senior Brother isn't actually as strict as you imagine. I..."

"No, I have to go this time." After saying that, Yu Guishui walked toward Jiang Beiran.

"Hey!"

Just as Liu Zijin wanted to stop her, Yu Guizhui and Yu Guimiao came over and each grabbed one of her arms. "Let Sister go this time. Sister Zi Jin, just wait here."

"This... all right." Liu Zijin could only sit back down, filled with disappointment.

Crack!

After snapping off a branch and tossing it into the fire, Jiang Beiran sensed Yu Guishui approaching and asked without looking up, "Didn't they teach you how to pitch a tent in the ceremony hall before you came down the mountain?"

"They... they did." Yu Guishui answered with her head lowered.

Though Jiang Beiran's tone was not particularly severe, Yu Guishui had grown up amid nothing but praise and flattery. A question carrying even this hint of criticism was enough to make her feel thoroughly embarrassed, which was why she had never dared ask him face-to-face.

"Tell me. What don't you understand?"

"Those copper components are too scattered and fiddly. We really can't tell which piece goes with which."

"All right, then I'll teach you again." Jiang Beiran rose to his feet and walked toward their tent.

In truth, Jiang Beiran had expected Liu Zijin and the others to be unable to set up the tent themselves. Tents in this world were truly complicated, completely unlike modern tents that could be erected with two crossing poles. This tent alone had 102 large and small copper pieces, and the ways to assemble them were as varied as flowers in a garden. It truly was not something that could be put together so easily.

When he reached Liu Zijin and the others, Jiang Beiran picked up the dowel pins and mortise and tenon components one by one, carefully explaining them to the five junior sisters. Then he guided them in putting together more than half the tent.

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Seeing their large tent take shape in the blink of an eye, the five junior sisters happily thanked Jiang Beiran.

That night, after dinner and cultivation practice, Jiang Beiran sat before the campfire and said to the junior sisters, "Go sleep. I'll keep watch for you."

The five junior sisters all bowed to Jiang Beiran. "Thank you, Senior Brother. Good night, Senior Brother."

Then they eagerly burrowed into the tent.

Listening to the bursts of laughter from inside, Jiang Beiran could not help shaking his head with a smile. They looked less like they had come out to gain experience and more like they were on an autumn outing.

But judging by their ages, these five were indeed only around high school age. It was normal for them to be innocent and lively.

Yet even by Chou Hour, the frolicking inside the tent had not stopped. Jiang Beiran had no choice but to stand and walk over to the tent. "It's late. Get some rest. We still have to travel tomorrow."

"Yes~" came the unified reply of the five junior sisters from within the tent.

Nodding in satisfaction, Jiang Beiran returned to his stool, added more firewood to the campfire, and continued studying further possibilities for the Invisibility Set.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed, Yu Guishui, who had been tossing and turning for quite a while, softly said, "I can't sleep~"

"Me too!" Yu Guizhui was the first to respond.

The other three girls quickly chimed in as well, saying they could not sleep at all.

"Then how about we chat a little longer?" Yu Guishui suggested.

"But Senior Brother will scold us, won't he?" Yu Guimiao replied quietly.

"What if we gather closer and talk softly? Then Senior Brother won't hear us."

"Good idea!"

Yu Guishui's proposal was immediately accepted by all the girls, and before long, the five of them had formed a circle, face to face.

"This should be fine, right?"

After saying that, the five junior sisters exchanged smiles. Yu Guimiao turned to look at Jiang Beiran's shadow on the tent and, seeing that he had not moved, suggested, "Since Senior Brother can't hear us, how about we talk about Senior Brother?"

"Excellent!" Yu Guizhui was the first to agree, directly opening the topic. "Do you think Senior Brother really broke that formation yesterday?"

Yu Guishui immediately said, "Surely no one actually believed Senior Brother when he said the Formation Technique broke by itself?"

"I didn't!" Yu Guizhui promptly retorted. "I was just confirming whether everyone thought the same as me."

"Shh~ Keep it down." Since Yu Guizhui had become too agitated, the other four girls immediately gestured for her to be quiet.

"Oh, oh." Yu Guizhui hurriedly nodded, then asked again, "So how do you think Senior Brother broke the formation? I once heard Father say that trying to break a formation after entering it was several times harder than breaking it from outside the formation."

"Yeah, and that formation was so powerful. Before long, I felt dizzy."

Fang Qiuyue immediately added, "Me too. I don't know what sort of Formation Technique it was, but the farther I walked, the dizzier I became, and panic rose in my heart."

Yu Guimiao nodded repeatedly. "I was terrified yesterday. If not for Senior Brother, we would probably have fallen into those thieves' hands by now, right?"

"Exactly, so we're back to the question: how did Senior Brother break that formation? I remember Senior Brother is a disciple of Blue Heart Hall, right? Isn't Star Luo Hall the one that teaches Formation Techniques? And..." Yu Guizhui suddenly drew out her words, "Senior Brother really seems to know a great many things. Have you noticed how special the straw hats and straw shoes he prepared for us are? It was my first time walking through town without anyone noticing me."

"We noticed long ago." The other four girls answered in unison.

"Not just that." Fang Qiuyue had wanted to mention how Senior Brother had saved her that night, but after thinking it over, she chose not to. Instead, she said, "I think those pills were most likely refined by Senior Brother himself too. Ordinary pills don't have that fragrance."

Hearing that, Yu Guishui looked at Fang Qiuyue. "Speaking of fragrance, the Hundred Flowers Honey Senior Brother brewed smells so wonderful. These past two days, I've almost been reluctant to take off the Sun-scorched Cloth."

The five then launched into another heated discussion, going over all of Jiang Beiran's actions from the past two days.

At last, Yu Guimiao sighed in conclusion, "Senior Brother was clearly so capable, so why had we never heard of his reputation despite being in the sect for so long?"

Yu Guizhui first secretly glanced at Jiang Beiran's silhouette on the tent, then whispered, "How about... we just go ask him?"