After Changing to the Ruthless Way, the Brothers Cried and Begged for Forgiveness-Chapter 497: If No One Wants It, Then It’s Mine
When Yu Zhao followed Senior Ling Long out of the sealed space, dawn had already gilded the eaves and pavilions with sheets of gold. In the distance, a few servants swept fallen leaves. Motion and stillness balanced one another.
They had barely reached the main court when Ancestor Sui Bian and Old Black Daoist hobbled in. The two were a mess; Old Black Daoist’s ragged robe had been reduced to a few fluttering strips. “Ancestor, what happened?” Yu Zhao blurted, thinking they looked as if they had slipped through the gates of the Underworld.
Ancestor Sui Bian tossed the gathered herbs onto the main table and collapsed into a chair with his legs stuck out. Here in Senior Ling Long’s cave he had resumed the plain face of his split body, and even that unseemly sprawl read as rakish ease. Then he opened his mouth and broke the spell: “Ling Long, the beasts you keep are too fierce. This ancestor nearly didn’t make it back.”
Old Black Daoist stared mournfully at the tatters clinging to him: “This old daoist’s collection of centuries is gone.”
Senior Ling Long snorted: “That threadbare thing you’ve worn for eight hundred years counts as a collection?”
“Of course it does. We have feelings for each other,” Old Black countered.
Something black arced toward his face. He snatched it out of the air. It was a brand-new robe of deep black. Plain at first glance, but stitched with silver lines that only gleamed under sunlight, those lines linking into a high-grade defensive array. It was not cheap.
Old Black Daoist’s eyes lit up: “For me?”
Senior Ling Long’s face remained cool: “Who said it was for you? It’s junk I don’t want.”
Old Black held the robe like a priceless treasure and grinned until his cheeks hurt: “If no one wants it, then it’s mine.” He tugged at the last strips on his body, ready to drop them on the floor, then thought twice and folded them with care onto the table before shaking the new robe out to put it on right there.
Senior Ling Long’s brows arched. She flicked a teacup at him: “Go wash and change. Don’t disgrace yourself here.”
“I don’t mind,” Old Black muttered as he dodged the cup. Seeing her growing impatience, he scooped up both robe and rags and shuffled out.
He was not gone long. Ancestor Sui Bian was midway through an account of his clever battle with a monster when Old Black Daoist strode back in, step light and full of himself: “I’m back.”
Three sets of eyes swung toward him. Silence fell. Old Black Daoist smoothed his mood with a hand down his chest. Belt tied. Pants on. Shoes on. Nothing wrong as far as he could see.
“Pfft.” Ancestor Sui Bian, closest to Old Black Daoist’s heart, broke first into laughter: “Hahahaha—oh no, Little Black, I forgot how you look without a beard. I haven’t seen you shave in centuries.”
Yu Zhao tried to hold it in, but her eyes curved, betraying her. No wonder he went unwashed and unshaven. Who would have guessed that under that thicket lay a clean, delicate, baby face? He looked less like an ancestor and more like a junior disciple new through the gates.
Old Black Daoist gasped, clutched his chin, and let out a wail to shake heaven and earth: “Ling Long! What did you do to me?”
“Nothing much,” Ling Long said blandly. “I added a certain incense to your room. You are much easier on the eyes now.”
Old Black’s hands flew to his hair. Finding it still there, he exhaled in relief and raked it back, though his outrage remained: “You had no right to touch my beard. Do you know how long I’ve been growing it?”
“Ugly,” Ling Long replied.
“Ugly or not, you still—” he began, but when Ling Long drew out her whip he swallowed the rest: “Actually, I’ve hated that thing for ages. Shaving was the right call.”
Only then did Senior Ling Long put the whip away. Her eyes turned hard: “The Earth Clan and several families tied closely to them are hunting you. For now, do not wander. No one will touch you while you remain in my cave. Outside, I make no promises.”
“Staying here will get me beaten to death by you anyway. Might as well let someone else do it,” Old Black grumbled.
“Hmm?” Ling Long’s glance went cold. Old Black straightened and said loudly: “I mean, I think Ling Long’s proposal is excellent. Sui Bian, didn’t you want to teach Yu Zhao your split-body art? Do it here. If you run into trouble, we can help.”
Yu Zhao looked hopefully at Ancestor Sui Bian. “All right,” he said with an easy nod. It was not his backside on the line, after all.
Old Black Daoist stared at him, the picture of betrayal. Ancestor Sui Bian avoided his eyes and said to Yu Zhao: “No time like the present. Come, I’ll teach you now.”
Old Black Daoist moved to follow, but a razor-edged gaze pinned him where he stood. He tried a sheepish smile: “Heh, Ling Long…”
Ling Long lifted the whip and rose: “That robe’s defensive array is special. Come. We will test its limits.”
“No need—wait, don’t pull me. Ah—ah, put me down, I can walk on my own!”
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Chapter 497: If No One Wants It, Then It’s Mine
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