Chapter 017: Incompatibility

Whenever they were together with Junior Brother Chen, be it talking or practicing martial arts together, he would always be this composed. Not to mention, Jiang Fan was a talkative person. In front of Junior Brother Chen, he would always feel uncomfortably restrained, as though he couldn’t utilize his strength to the fullest.

After the two of them walked out of Chen Jingzhi’s room and out of his residence, Jiang Fan could not help but let out a long sigh.

Xiaodong looked at him a little curiously.

Jiang Fan was rather embarrassed as he said awkwardly, “It was a little stuffy in that room.”

Xiaodong could not help but glance in the direction of Sword Conferring Peak again.

Master and Eldest Senior Brother had already been gone for an entire day.

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He wondered, between Master and Senior Liu, who was winning in the conferring of swords?

Senior Brother Jiang thus turned to nagging Xiaodong with the words that were stuffed in his belly.

“Senior Liu and Master have been friends for many years. Ever since I can remember, Senior Liu has often contacted Master. Though, Senior Liu’s temperament back then was much better than it is now. I recall that he would often have a smile on his face back then.”

Xiaodong couldn’t imagine that.

Senior Liu gave the impression of being icy cold and unsmiling, someone that did not have a very good temper. It felt like Senior Brother Jiang was describing a completely different person.

“The former Senior Liu isn’t like that. It seems like something happened.” Jiang Fan looked around. Even though there was clearly no one around, he still kept his voice low. “I heard that Senior Liu accidentally killed a sect member by mistake, and then after that incident, he became like this.”

Xiaodong was surprised. “Accidentally killed?”

“Keep it down.” Jiang Fan hurriedly placed a finger on his lips. “Do you think it’s a good thing? I’m not even sure if it was really an accident either. I coincidentally heard others talk about it when I was out with Master. Those three people that tagged along this time addressed Senior Liu as Senior Uncle, right? In the past, Senior Liu was unwilling to take in a disciple and had never brought along juniors from his sect either. It seemed like he couldn’t talk his way out because of that incident, and so he reluctantly allowed them to tag along.”

“Is that true?”

“Even if it’s not completely accurate, I definitely got the gist of it. Didn’t you notice that Senior Liu is indifferent to those few people? More importantly, this conferring of swords is such a great opportunity, and even Master allowed Eldest Senior Brother to spectate. However, Senior Liu didn’t bring along a single one of them.”

That was true. If Senior Brother Jiang had not brought it up, Xiaodong wouldn’t have thought of it that way.

“Spectating this conferring of swords is most likely the reason those three tagged along, yet Senior Liu insisted on not bringing them. If I were them, I definitely wouldn’t be able to maintain my composure.”

Actually, what Jiang Fan really wanted to talk about was not just limited to these. However, seeing that Little Junior Brother was still a child, it wasn’t a good idea to talk about certain matters with him.

But Jiang Fan was afraid of getting beaten up if he told Linglong. The most awful thing was, he wouldn’t be able to beat her if they really fought.

Furthermore, how could he possibly fight his senior sister for real? He would be on the losing end no matter if he won or lost against her.

If he were to talk to Junior Brother Chen about it… Forget it, Jiang Fan decided that he might as well head over to the kitchen and see if there was a bowl of porridge that could fill his belly. Doing anything else was better than being frustrated about this matter.

Actually, it wouldn’t be much of a problem if the matter was exposed.

He heard that getting a few pointers from Senior Liu was not the sole reason the three disciples tagged along to Returnflow Mountain, nor was it wanting to watch this conferring of swords.

He heard that they wanted to form a kinship of marriage with Returnflow Mountain.

Either one of them got engaged with Senior Sister Linglong and brought her back with them, or they would have Senior Sister Lin Yan engaged to one of them here and have her stay here.

However, Senior Sister Linglong was still a little young. The plan they had was most likely to marry one of them off.

Naturally, Jiang Fan was not their target. Junior Brother Chen and Junior Brother Yun were too young and thus unsuitable as well.

They were targeting Eldest Senior Brother from the very beginning. Eldest Senior Brother was unbelievably handsome, cultured, had a good personality. Not to mention he possessed a rare talent for martial arts. Most importantly, he was the eldest senior brother and would definitely inherit Master’s mantle. He was certainly the next Sect Master of Returnflow Mountain, and there was no one else more suitable than him. If Lin Yan were to be married to him, would that make her the wife of a Sect Master?

However, Jiang Fan felt that this marriage was unsuitable.

Eldest Senior Brother was great in all aspects, but it felt like Lin Yan was still lacking in some aspects. First and foremost, in the looks department… Jiang Fan felt that if she were to stand next to Eldest Senior Brother, they would look incompatible. As for personality, though he was not familiar with her, Jiang Fan felt that this lady’s mind had quite a bit of schemes, and was not the honest sort at all. Not to mention she was someone from Cloud Sword Sect. Even if she were to marry in, her heart might be somewhere else even if she was physically here. Hopefully, Returnflow Mountain wouldn’t end up as a branch of Cloud Sword Sect in the future.

If Returnflow Mountain were to reject the idea of taking in a fiancee, then Cloud Sword Sect might think of taking one from them.

The moment he thought this, Jiang Fan grew even more upset.

Among the two senior brothers from Cloud Sword Sect that came, the person with the surname Song was indeed a talented individual. His face was constantly filled with smiles, but he seemed too overly sophisticated. The one surnamed Shi was as thin as a stick, and he was always mimicking Senior Liu. However, Senior Liu did not look that gloomy and arrogant, right?

Neither of them were compatible. If Senior Sister really were to marry one of them, she might have to live her days soaking in bitter water.

Xiaodong was unaware just what sort of ridiculous nonsense Senior Brother Jiang was thinking about. His entire mind was filled with worries for Master and Eldest Senior Brother. At night, even after laying in bed for a good while, he still couldn’t fall asleep.

Senior Brother Jiang made it sound easy, and Xiaodong too believed that given their martial prowess Master and Eldest Senior Brother wouldn’t fear the harsh cold winds. However, when he heard the winds growing louder outside, as though they were tiger roars and wolf howls, he couldn’t help but worry that the roof might get blown away too.

He was worried for a moment, and then perplexed the next. Suddenly, he saw that there were people standing in front of him. They were far away, and he couldn’t hear what they were talking about.

Xiaodong closed in a little, and only then did he realize that they were not unfamiliar faces, but Master and Senior Liu. The moment he saw them, Xiaodong instinctively turned his head around to search for traces of Eldest Senior Brother.

Ah, there he was. Eldest Senior Brother was standing next to an ice rock not far away. Even in the midst of the harsh mountain winds, Eldest Senior Brother still merely wore what seemed to be a thin robe. The belt on his robe fluttered aggressively with the wind, and it looked as if it could fly away at any moment.

Xiaodong sized Eldest Senior Brother up carefully, and after realizing that he was not suffering from the cold winds, he heaved a sigh of relief.

Though, Xiaodong then looked at Master not far away and felt a little guilty.

Even though Master was wearing really thin clothing as well, Xiaodong merely worried about Eldest Senior Brother. He had actually forgotten about Master, and he shouldn’t have.

Master was currently speaking with Senior Liu.

Master said, “When I came back from my trip down the mountain last year, I went into seclusion training for several months and came up with a new set of sword techniques. I’ve yet to name it, nor have I used this set of sword moves on someone. I will have to seek pointers from you after this.”

Senior Liu simply nodded slightly and replied, “Alright.”

This person’s words were truly like gold. It was as if saying another word would cost him his life.

“Oh! I seem to have forgotten to bring my sword with me,” Master said, and then called out to Eldest Senior Brother, “Chen’er, lend me your sword for a bit.”

Xiaodong’s jaw was about to fall off.

Wasn’t Master here to confer swords? How was he going to confer swords when he didn’t even bring his?