Su Bei closed his eyes in a fit of despair, trying his best not to look at that wretched face flying toward him in such a rush.
Then he let out a soft sigh, looking down at Xiao Ruoqing, who was dead drunk in his arms.
It was bad enough having to deal with a disciple whose brain was wired wrong... but why did he also have a Junior Brother whose brain was entirely filled with booze?
Above Bujian Peak, Jūn Wúxié looked at Su Bei with eager anticipation, then executed a dashing mid-air spin and landed gracefully on the ground.
He gave a sharp sniff, frowned, and said, "Fifth Senior Brother, why is there such a strong smell of alcohol?"
"Could it be that you've been sneaking drinks behind my back?"
"......"
Jūn Wúxié blinked at Su Bei, rubbed his hands together, and gave the wine jar in his hand a vigorous smack.
Su Bei looked at him expressionlessly. In his arms, Xiao Ruoqing seemed to hear the loud thuds of Jūn Wúxié slapping the jar. She furrowed her brow, let out a soft murmur, snuggled into an extremely comfortable position against Su Bei's chest, and smacked her lips.
"Smack, smack."
Hearing the sound, Jūn Wúxié finally noticed the young woman in Su Bei's arms, a knowing look spreading across his face.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I never took Fifth Senior Brother for a man of such tastes..."
"Even though Junior Brother would love to turn around right now and not disturb Senior Brother at his work, my inner booze-worm is acting up."
"So, where is that legendary Water of Life that supposedly intoxicates three thousand gods and Buddhas?"
"......"
Su Bei motioned with his chin toward the empty bottle on the table and said, "It was a full bottle to begin with, but didn't my disciple drink it?"
"She got this drunk the moment I came back."
"......"
Jūn Wúxié's face drained of color in utter shock. Then, glaring at Su Bei with righteous indignation, he blurted out, "Fifth Senior Brother, if you didn't want to give it to your Junior Brother, you could've just said so!"
"Why bother coming up with such a blunt, brainless excuse?"
"Any disciple of yours with half a brain could smell that it was alcohol! And if I'm not mistaken, this is that new female disciple you just took in, right?"
"How could a newly initiated disciple possibly dare to touch Master's things?"
"You just didn't want to give it to me!"
"Breaking your promise! For all I know, this passed-out female disciple of yours is just some new trick you cooked up, and you're planning to taste—"
"......"
Su Bei rolled his eyes, too lazy to engage with Jūn Wúxié, and scooped up Xiao Ruoqing to head toward Thatch Cottage.
After all, in the eyes of an idiot, whatever he did would just be seen as a cover-up.
Was he supposed to tell him that the moment he returned, he found his disciple smiling away, drunk as a skunk, holding a massive iron pot of simmering chicken soup and casually dumping laxatives into it?
Seeing that Su Bei offered no explanation, Jūn Wúxié let out a cold hnh.
He slammed the wine jar down hard onto the ground and barked viciously, "Fifth Senior Brother! I never expected you to be such a person!"
"I finally see your true colors today."
"You are petty, sickening, unconventional, venomous at heart, manipulative, utterly despicable..."
"......"
Su Bei shrugged. Feeling the warm, soft body wriggling in his arms and the slender arm wrapped tightly around his neck, he sneered back, "She drank it. Believe it or not, the wine is gone, and you can leave now."
"Not to mention, who was it that lay on the ground playing dead the moment Senior Sister gave them a scare?"
"......"
Jūn Wúxié glared furiously at Su Bei. Then, under Su Bei's watchful gaze, he snatched up the empty little bottle from the table and took a greedy sniff.
"Ah! Smells amazing."
He wore a look of utter intoxication.
Suddenly!
A bowl of chicken soup that looked incomparably delicious, with a flawless color and emitting a faint, delicate fragrance, caught Jūn Wúxié's eye.
It radiated an intensely alluring sheen!
And right there in the dead center, resting peacefully at the bottom of the bowl after surviving a thousand trials and tribulations, was a chicken butt.
Jūn Wúxié hurried over and stared intently at the bowl of chicken soup.
Stared intently at that slightly reddish chicken butt.
Then he drew in a sharp breath and gasped in shock, "This... this is a Phoenix-Feather Chicken!"
Senior Brother had actually grown wealthy enough to use such a divine artifact to make soup?
Damn him!
He had clearly promised to give that bottle of Water of Life—which could stun three thousand gods and Buddhas—to him.
And yet he had stood him up?
This was completely intolerable!
Since you show no loyalty, don't blame your Junior Brother for being unrighteous!
At that thought, a cold smirk curled the corners of Jūn Wúxié's mouth, and in the next instant, he snatched up the bowl of chicken soup from the table.
Su Bei had already turned away, but suddenly hearing the rapid motion of Jūn Wúxié picking up the soup, he quickly spun back around. Staring at the bowl in Jūn Wúxié's hand, he shouted in alarm, "Junior Brother, don't—"
Jūn Wúxié looked smugly at Su Bei, holding the bowl tight in his hands, and said, "Hehe, Senior Brother!"
"You had a divine artifact like this and didn't even tell your Junior Brother?"
"You were probably planning to sneak off and drink a whole bowl of chicken soup like this all by yourself..."
"Since you hid the Water of Life all to yourself, you wouldn't mind if Junior Brother drinks this bowl of soup, right?"
Su Bei looked at Jūn Wúxié in sheer panic, swallowed hard, and stammered, "Junior Brother, no, this chicken soup..."
Unfortunately, before he could finish, Jūn Wúxié cut him off.
Inordinately pleased with himself, he sniffed the aroma of the chicken soup, casting an arrogant gaze at Su Bei:
"No what?"
"Fifth Senior Brother, Junior Brother knows this is soup brewed from a Phoenix-Feather Chicken!"
"Hah, it takes the entire essence of the chicken to yield just one bowl of soup like this."
"......"
Su Bei opened his mouth, watching the bowl of soup move closer and closer to Jūn Wúxié's lips, and managed to squeeze out another warning:
"No, Junior Brother... you can't drink this soup..."
Jūn Wúxié let out a cold laugh, held the soup right up to the tip of his nose for a deep sniff, and proclaimed loudly:
"Can't drink it?"
"Senior Brother, I never thought you'd be such a person!"
"It's one thing to hide the Water of Life, but you're hoarding the chicken soup too?"
"If I hadn't been observing closely and spotted this dazzling Phoenix-Feather chicken soup at a glance, you would've gulped it all down in secret by yourself ages ago."
"How does it feel to raise a chicken for a full fifty years, planning to eat it, only to have someone else snatch it away at the last second?"
"Don't blame your Junior Brother for being heartless!"
"Today, this chicken soup—I am going to drink it!"
"I'm going to make you feel what it's like when something you've been yearning for day and night gets ruined by someone else!"
"......"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Jūn Wúxié moved with lightning speed. He tilted his head back, opened his mouth, and chugged down the entire bowl of chicken soup in one go.
He closed his eyes and smacked his lips.
The marvelous flavor of the Phoenix-Feather Chicken lingered richly on his palate.
Then he slammed the empty, bone-dry bowl down hard onto the table and looked at Su Bei with a provocative grin.
"Tsk, tsk, drinking chicken soup really is one of life's great pleasures."
"Senior Brother, you really know how to make chicken soup!"
"......"