A few delightful days in the secret realm, where there were powerful demon beasts, albeit not many, Lin Zhusheng had just barely touched the threshold of LV10. That was secondary; the important thing was that he discovered a lot of fresh things, and he would be able to unlock a bunch of dessert recipes when he got back.

After his relentless efforts of making snacks every day to give to others, he finally unlocked the intermediate snack and cooking function for the cooking station after making a large quantity of snacks. He could try cooking when he got back.

The only odd thing was that every time he delivered fruits to others, his senior brother’s expression seemed off, often glancing over with a look that was hard to pin down.

In a normal context, it seemed like the other party wanted the fruits too, but he had given them to him before, and none were accepted, so that was ruled out.

After careful thought, he concluded that the other party must be wondering how he managed to stuff so many things on him. Feeling that his conclusion was quite reasonable, he decided not to care anymore and just continued giving and sending.

Coming out of the secret realm felt like a trip to a wholesale market; he was loaded with bags, his backpack bursting at the seams with things he couldn’t bear to throw away. Every possible space on him was stuffed, and even the little cat in his clothes was severely cramped, angrily gnawing on the fruits around it, trying to carve out some space for itself.

The return trip was much easier than the journey there. A bunch of outer disciples were chatting happily, and wherever Lin Zhusheng was, he was the center of the crowd, munching on fruits while laughing and listening to others talk, nodding from time to time.

The more cheerful they were, the quieter the inner disciples leading the group were. A few of the leading disciples huddled together, whispering, while the boss was busy maintaining his beloved sword. After Wen Baizhou finished his tasks, he stood aside, watching the gathered disciples with a contemplative gaze.

He was indeed conspicuous; he looked like he was on a different layer compared to the people not far away, especially the boss. Some disciples in the crowd were talking while glancing over this way.

Lin Zhusheng noticed and directly turned his head to ask, “Are you guys looking at Senior Brother?”

Caught off guard, a few disciples quickly turned their heads.

Well, it was obvious they were looking. They had been staring for quite a while, thinking they had something to say. Lin Zhusheng, who was straightforward and never beat around the bush, slightly raised his head and said, “If you have something to say, you can talk directly to Senior Brother.”

He was a very honest person; as he spoke, he actually raised his hand to wave, but a few disciples rushed over and quickly held down his raised hand.

“?”

Being overwhelmed in the crowd, Lin Zhusheng was so fast he didn’t even know what was happening. His eyes widened like saucers, and he hadn’t even swallowed the fruit in his mouth.

Fortunately, there was a Song Ming beside him; he had a support, so he wouldn’t be pressed down to the ground directly.

The bad news was that he bumped his head against the other’s chin.

Now that he had bumped into something solid, he felt he must have hurt the other party. His judgment was based on the other’s expression, which looked a bit uncomfortable, but probably out of good upbringing, they didn’t say anything.

Quickly sitting up straight, he swallowed the fruit in his mouth and apologized.

The well-mannered Song Ming said it was fine, propping himself up to stand, and said, “I’ll go for a walk.”

He probably really felt pain and needed to find a place to cry quietly. As an apology, Lin Zhusheng stuffed a few more fruits into his hand.
【Song Ming Favorability +5 (80/100)】
A prompt popped up indicating the increase in favorability, and Lin Zhusheng paused in his action of stuffing fruits, looking at his good-natured companion in disbelief.

This person… was his upbringing so good that even after being bumped into, his favorability would still increase?

“……”

Zhang Jing, who had quietly sat beside and witnessed the whole thing, moved his gaze back and forth between the two faces, raised an eyebrow, and ultimately chose to continue drawing symbols, opting for silence.

Song Ming took a bunch of fruits and went for a walk, while Lin Zhusheng briefly reflected, then joined the remaining companions in a lively gathering. In the moment he turned around, he noticed that the senior brother, who had originally been facing this way, had turned his back to them.

Outside the flying boat were familiar mountains, and realizing they were almost at their destination, he raised his hand to pause urgently, saying, “You guys play, I’ll step out for a bit.”

Standing up from the ground, he ran to find his senior brother.

He didn’t have anything particularly important to discuss; mainly, during this trip to the secret realm, he had raised the favorability of others quite a bit, and the only one who remained stationary was probably his senior brother.

At home, there was a wooden box with a finally revived 兰筠 flower, just right to give away. He originally wanted to lean against the railing like others, but then he realized they were in mid-air, and he quickly stopped his forward steps, standing a good distance behind and asking, “Senior Brother, do you have time after we return this time?”

A very good distance; he could stand at the other end of the boat if he were any further away.

A person appeared behind him, and hearing the sound, the quietly breezing Wen Baizhou turned his head. Upon seeing the distance between them, his brow moved slightly, asking what was the matter.

“I have something particularly important I want to give you,” Lin Zhusheng said, “but the thing is at my home, I need to go get it.”

He was still an outer disciple and couldn’t enter the inner disciples’ living quarters. Meeting this person, who rarely came down the mountain, relied purely on fate, and now was just a good opportunity to send something out.

The fingers of his senior brother resting on the railing moved slightly, as if surprised, and he asked a pointless question, “For me?”

Lin Zhusheng smiled, “Otherwise?”

He often secretly did little things, and not everything he said was the truth, but his eyes were genuinely sincere, especially when he smiled, his eyelashes curling, and his eyes were filled with joy.

Very good, his senior brother was free today.

They agreed to meet again in the evening. As the flying boat was nearing the destination, Lin Zhusheng said goodbye and ran to organize his bags, determined not to leave behind a single item.

“Whoosh—”

As soon as he left, the boss, who had been observing from a distance, quickly stopped his actions of polishing his sword and rushed over.

Leaning against the railing, the boss watched as the person who returned to the crowd meticulously sorted through his things, then withdrew his gaze, asking Wen Baizhou, “What were you guys talking about? You looked quite happy.”

Remembering something, he spoke while pulling out the fruits he had just obtained today, taking a bite as he spoke.

The flying boat entered the sect and began to descend slowly, and they could already see the jade-white buildings. Wen Baizhou slightly turned his eyes and said, “You go to the sword field alone today; I won’t be going.”

“Hmm?” The boss looked at him, “Why?”

The flying boat stopped, and everyone began to prepare to disembark. Wen Baizhou stepped forward, walking while turning back to briefly explain, “He seems to have something for me.”

“?”

His voice was as calm as usual, and his face still wore the habitual expression. After finishing his words, he turned back, and all the boss saw was a backlit figure swaying in the wind, along with the gaze that had briefly fallen on the fruit in his hand while speaking.

Leaning against the railing, the boss slowly processed this, and the corner of his mouth twitched, a thousand words converging into a simple, “…Tsk.”

With the disembarkation from the flying boat, this trip to the secret realm came to an end, and the disciples could disperse and leave directly.

It was still early, just noon, and Lin Zhusheng and his senior brother agreed to meet in the evening not for any other reason, but simply because he still had to take his bags to deliver gifts before that.

With many little friends, after delivering to the teacher, there was the manager, and after that, there was Wu Qi. He stayed in the library with Wu Qi for a while, snacking on some desserts to replenish his energy, and by the time he left, it was already close to evening.

He hurried home on the big sword.

Stepping into the first rays of the sunset, he gasped as he pushed the door open and finally entered the house.

Big and small items filled the room, quickly being stuffed back into a rickety wooden box, clearing a large space. The little cat finally jumped off him, clutching a red fruit and slowly gnawing on it.

His senior brother arrived while he was still tidying up. The door was open, and when a figure appeared, he immediately noticed, poking his head out to wave, signaling for him to come in directly.

When Wen Baizhou walked into the room, the person inside was sitting cross-legged on the floor, sorting through things. There were many strange items, ordinary grass, oddly shaped stones, and many other things that could be considered rare from certain perspectives.

As the sunset dimmed, the only light in the room came from the orange-red sunlight streaming in through the window, casting onto the table and floor, tinting the ends of the person’s hair and the hem of their clothes.

He looked a bit longer, then turned to find the lamp on the table, lit it, and squatted beside the person sitting cross-legged on the floor.

The vision suddenly brightened, and Lin Zhusheng realized it was already dark. He thanked his thoughtful senior brother for lighting the lamp, saying, “I’ll finish organizing soon, and then I’ll give you the things.”

He draped his long sleeves embroidered with ice-blue cloud patterns over his arm, and Wen Baizhou replied, “Alright,” naturally extending his hand to help sort things out together.

“?”

It wasn’t until a hand appeared in his line of sight that the busy Lin Zhusheng realized what this person was doing. He didn’t expect that this senior brother would actually help, and he was helping to sort out what the little cat called garbage.

Moreover, he seemed to have a strange connection with Lin Zhusheng’s thought process, knowing where each item should go. Lin Zhusheng paused in his actions, letting out a small “oh.”

His voice was easily caught, and Wen Baizhou turned his head, asking, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Lin Zhusheng gave a thumbs up, “I just wanted to praise Senior Brother for being very homely.”

Mainly because he was very homely in his own home; if he could keep helping to organize, that would be even better.

“Is that so?”

Putting a herb in its proper place, Wen Baizhou said, “I lived with someone for a while.”

“Hmm?”

Lin Zhusheng thought for a moment and said, “Then the other person who lived with you must have been very happy.”

“Not really.” Wen Baizhou shook his head slightly and said, “He left and never came back.”

“Not even a word of goodbye?”

“Never.”

It sounded quite tragic. Lin Zhusheng comforted him with a pat on the shoulder, lightly reproaching, “That’s really heartless.”

Turning his head, his gaze slightly dropped to the hand resting on his shoulder, and Wen Baizhou replied, “It is quite heartless.”