SPMT : Chapter 54: Xiao Qingyan’s Visit

In the evening, Xiao Jinfeng and Mu Shuyu found an inn to rest, when an unwelcome visitor came to their door.

“Big Brother.” Seeing who had arrived, Xiao Jinfeng couldn’t help but feel somewhat surprised. Although he knew Xiao Qingyan might also be in Wind City, suddenly seeing him still left Xiao Jinfeng rather astonished.

“Don’t call me Big Brother. I don’t have such a shameless younger brother,” Xiao Qingyan said impatiently.

Xiao Jinfeng’s face darkened as he said: “I thought you understood, Big Brother, that I’m innocent.”

“Whether you’re innocent or not is none of my business. I came only to remind you – leave Wind City immediately and don’t cause me trouble,” Xiao Qingyan said coldly.

Xiao Jinfeng’s expression twisted for a moment before quickly returning to normal.

Xiao Jinfeng said coldly: “I understand. Don’t worry – you don’t want to have such a disgraced younger brother, and I don’t want to have such a heartless and ungrateful older brother either.”

“You!” Xiao Qingyan was left speechless by Xiao Jinfeng’s words, feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“What are you doing in Wind City?” Xiao Qingyan asked.

“Nothing much, just seeing if there’s any work to be found here.” Xiao Jinfeng didn’t tell the truth. Xiao Qingyan was used to asking for money, and Xiao Jinfeng was very worried that if Xiao Qingyan found out their real purpose, he would ask for money. Xiao Jinfeng originally still had some brotherly feelings for Xiao Qingyan, but a few sentences from Xiao Qingyan had completely destroyed them.

“With your current reputation being so bad, it’s better not to show your face in public. With your attributes, you won’t find any good work in the city anyway – you might as well become a freelance hunter,” Xiao Qingyan said.

Xiao Jinfeng nodded and said: “I understand.”

“Who is he?” Xiao Qingyan looked toward Mu Shuyu.

“This is my husband,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Xiao Qingyan glanced at Mu Shuyu and was somewhat surprised to discover that he was actually a Fourth Layer Qi Refining warrior.

Xiao Qingyan originally thought that with Xiao Jinfeng’s ruined reputation, he probably couldn’t find a wife, and even if he did, the conditions wouldn’t be very good. He didn’t expect Xiao Jinfeng to find a Fourth Layer Qi Refining husband. After thinking it over, Xiao Qingyan figured he was just a ger anyway, so his attributes probably wouldn’t be very good either.

Xiao Qingyan glanced sideways at Xiao Jinfeng and said: “You sure found a wife quickly enough!”

Xiao Qingyan had originally been courting Ouyang Jing, who was a young lady from a marquis household – though only a concubine’s daughter, she wasn’t very valued in the marquis house. Xiao Qingyan had originally been developing a good relationship with Ouyang Jing, and his fair-weather friends had praised him for his ability to actually win over a young lady from a marquis household.

After Xiao Qingyan’s parents died, he lost their financial support and became much more strapped for cash. Ouyang Jing then changed her attitude, saying he was a toad trying to eat swan meat. Xiao Qingyan couldn’t afford to offend the marquis household, so he could only swallow his knocked-out teeth along with the blood.

Xiao Qingyan didn’t stay long. After making a few sarcastic remarks, he left. Long after Xiao Qingyan had gone, Xiao Jinfeng still couldn’t calm down.

Mu Shuyu patted Xiao Jinfeng’s shoulder and said: “Don’t be angry.”

Xiao Jinfeng smiled and said: “I’m not angry.”

Xiao Jinfeng had originally wanted to stay in Wind City for two more days, but after encountering Xiao Qingyan, he immediately lost interest. After selling the spirit wine in scattered sales and purchasing some supplies, he returned home.

At the Xiao residence.

“Second Brother, you’re back!” Xiao Jingting said with great excitement.

“The harvest this time was quite good. I sold everything for a total of twelve thousand taels of silver. I exchanged it for thirty pieces of jade and also bought some fourth-level talismans and magical instruments,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Xiao Jingting nodded and said: “Excellent! These things are exactly what we desperately need right now.”

Xiao Jinfeng gave all the jade stones to Xiao Jingting. He felt that drinking spirit wine was much more effective than absorbing spiritual qi from jade stones, and really couldn’t understand why Xiao Jingting was so obsessed with jade stones. “Second Brother, aren’t you keeping a few pieces for yourself?” Xiao Jingting asked.

“Just leave Second Brother a couple more jars of wine and squeeze more grape juice for your second sister-in-law,” Xiao Jinfeng said casually.

Xiao Jingting nodded and said: “That works well too.”

“By the way, I encountered Big Brother during this trip,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Xiao Jingting looked up thoughtfully and said: “Big Brother should be doing pretty well. Even if he’s lost our parents’ protection, he’s still a student at Bifeng Academy, and Grandfather thinks highly of him, so he shouldn’t be treated poorly.”

“Apart from being frustrated in pursuing a concubine daughter from the marquis household, he should be doing quite well,” Xiao Jinfeng said. After Father Xiao and Mother Xiao’s incident, Xiao Qingyan’s status at the academy had declined considerably, but compared to Xiao Jingting and Xiao Jinfeng’s previous situation of being surrounded by enemies on all sides, it was already much better.

“Doesn’t Big Brother have a principal wife? He already has a wife, yet he’s still pursuing young ladies from the marquis household?” Xiao Jingting asked.

Xiao Jinfeng nodded and said: “Yes, he has one. Big Brother probably wants to enjoy the fortune of having multiple wives.”

Xiao Jingting rubbed his nose. Xiao Qingyan always used to advise the original host not to act too arrogantly, yet his own actions were even more unreliable. Even a concubine daughter from a marquis household wasn’t someone who could be easily provoked.

Xiao Jingting vaguely remembered that Xiao Qingyan’s wife, Zheng Pei’er, was a very fierce woman. This woman had given birth to two sons for Xiao Qingyan, and the original host’s parents, loving the house and its crow, treated Zheng Pei’er quite well too. The two sons Zheng Pei’er bore received extremely high treatment in the Xiao family. In his memory, Zheng Pei’er’s two sons didn’t get along very well with his own two boys.

Zheng Pei’er’s younger son seemed to have once pushed Xiao Xiaofan into a lake, and Xiao Xiaodong had gotten into many fights with those two – though rather than fights, it was more like Xiao Xiaodong getting beaten up one-sidedly.

After the original host’s parents had their incident, Zheng Pei’er took her two children back to the Zheng family.

“Second Brother, did Big Brother say anything to you?” Xiao Jingting asked.

Xiao Jinfeng lowered his head, took a deep breath, and clenched his fists as he said: “Big Brother told me to leave quickly, feeling that I was causing him to lose face by association and not wanting to have any connection with me.”

“Big Brother also thinks I’m worthless. Well, since Big Brother doesn’t want to deal with us, we shouldn’t ask for trouble either. In any case, Big Brother is at Fifth Layer Qi Refining cultivation – he won’t starve,” Xiao Jingting said cheerfully.

Xiao Jinfeng nodded and said: “You’re right.”

“I hate Big Uncle,” Xiao Xiaofan said, puffing out his cheeks gloomily.

Xiao Jinfeng looked toward Xiao Xiaofan and said: “Why do you hate Big Uncle?”

“He gave birth to two big bullies. The big bullies always beat up Xiaofan and beat up Big Brother too. Grandfather is also bad – clearly the bullies are wrong, but he always scolds Xiaofan,” Xiao Xiaofan said, full of gloom.

Xiao Jingting rubbed Xiao Xiaofan’s head, feeling a flash of pity in his heart. Xiao Qingyan was raised like a crown prince in the Xiao family, and Xiao Qingyan’s two sons were spoiled rotten, becoming very arrogant at such a young age. In his memory, the original host seemed to have witnessed his two nephews bullying his sons many times, but since the original host didn’t take Xiaodong and Xiaofan seriously, he naturally never stood up for his two sons.

Thinking about what the original host had done, Xiao Jingting’s heart was full of indignation. The original host was such a bastard, not even knowing how to protect his own sons. “Xiaofan should eat more and cultivate more. When you meet those two big bullies again, beat them into meat patties.”

Xiao Jinfeng couldn’t help but laugh. He had originally thought Xiao Jingting would advise Xiaofan not to hold grudges, but instead…

Xiao Xiaofan seemed encouraged and raised his fists, saying: “Xiaofan will grow up strong and beat those two bastards in the future!”

“Idiot,” Xiao Xiaodong muttered gloomily.

Hearing Xiao Xiaodong’s words, Xiao Xiaofan looked at Xiao Xiaodong somewhat dejectedly.

…

Xiao Jingting walked into the room and took out five cups of water. “This is water from twenty days ago, this is from fifteen days ago, this is from five days ago, this is from today – try tasting them.”

Xu Mu’an drank a sip of each in turn and said: “The spiritual qi is getting more and more concentrated. It looks like using jade stones to improve the spirit spring’s quality is indeed correct.” Originally, the spirit spring water was only useful for Third Layer Qi Refining cultivators, but now it should have considerable effect for Fourth Layer practitioners too.

Xiao Jingting sighed lightly and said: “It’s correct, but the expense of jade stones is too great.”

Xu Mu’an patted Xiao Jingting’s shoulder and said: “Yes! But as your strength improves, earning money will become easier and easier.”

Xiao Jingting nodded, his eyes bright as he said: “Indeed.”

Xu Mu’an looked at Xiao Jingting and thought: This Xiao Jingting seems very easy to coax.

“I want to buy more land and connect all the fields together,” Xiao Jingting said.

Xu Mu’an nodded and said: “That would be good too, but won’t it be very tiring?”

“With you and Second Brother handling the miscellaneous matters, I only need to manage farming, so it’s not really anything,” Xiao Jingting said.

Xu Mu’an nodded and said: “That’s fine too, but if you feel tired, don’t push yourself too hard.”

Xiao Jingting nodded and said: “I understand.”

…

Xiao Jinfeng was drinking wine with great excitement, his eyes full of admiration.

“The wine Jingting brews is really delicious. I’ve never had such mellow wine before. Previously, I thought that crude village wine was good, but now I can’t get used to it anymore. My palate has been spoiled,” Xiao Jinfeng said, shaking his head.

“The wine that Mu’an brews has many wonderful uses and very rich spiritual qi. I always feel there’s something special about the water used to brew this spirit wine,” Mu Shuyu said.

Xiao Jinfeng waved his hand and said: “Everyone has some secrets. Jingting is my younger brother – as long as he doesn’t harm me, I’ll do my best to help him.”

Mu Shuyu nodded and said: “Previously, I heard rumors saying your big brother was a world-class hero, young and accomplished, while your younger brother only knew how to live dissolutely and was stupid beyond measure. Only after getting to know them did I realize that rumors are all false. Sun Miaomiao really had no eye for talent, wasting such an excellent partner. As for your big brother… he’s nothing special.”

When a brother is bullied, instead of helping to stand up for him, he acts as if avoiding association at all costs – how could such a person inspire trust and confidence!

“Isn’t it good the way things are now?” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Mu Shuyu nodded and said: “It really is good. This spirit wine’s quality is quite excellent. If you drink like this for three or four months, I think you have hope of advancing to Fifth Layer Qi Refining, catching up with that big brother of yours. It’s time to find a technique for concealing qi – if you advance to Fifth Layer Qi Refining, you’ll attract attention.”

Xiao Jinfeng nodded and said: “I know. I have such a technique.”

Mu Shuyu said with some surprise: “You have one? That’s wonderful – we can save some money.”

Xiao Jinfeng smiled. On the Barbaric Continent, strength reigns supreme, and few people conceal their cultivation levels, so very few people study qi-concealing techniques. This technique would be perfect for them to learn.