Chapter 19: The New Assistant

“Ah?” Zhen Yi was momentarily stunned, then suddenly recalled something. Right! Wasn’t he planning to leave? Why was he planting crops now? But… since he had already started, he might as well finish planting before doing anything else. Besides, staying here with Sister Qiu might actually be safer. “Senior Brother, I think instead of leaving the sect, staying here is much safer.”

Jing Hong’s brow furrowed even more deeply, clearly disapproving of his words. Hiding in the back mountain was supposed to be safe? He couldn’t see how that was so. Did these two not understand the Master’s intent in asking them to leave? His mouth twitched slightly but he remained silent, fixing Zhen Yi with a cold, piercing gaze that grew colder by the moment.

Zhen Yi felt somewhat guilty under such a look. They had only recently entered the inner sect and were unfamiliar with this once top prodigy. They had only heard that he was suddenly seriously injured, and he had accompanied the Master to visit him once or twice but never exchanged words.

According to senior brothers and sisters in the sect, his cultivation was indeed very high and he was highly valued by the sect leader. However, he seemed to have a somewhat cold temperament, disliked making friends, and was extremely strict in his ways, so inner sect disciples regarded him with both respect and fear, rarely daring to disturb him.

“Senior Brother…” Zhen Yi’s heart tightened with nervousness as he hurried to explain, “Rest assured, we are not being reckless. Staying here is a result of careful consideration.”

“...” Jing Hong still said nothing.

“Really! Nothing will happen. I can’t go into the details.” He couldn’t exactly explain about Sister Qiu.

“...” Silence.

“Please trust me! We are not joking with our lives!”

“...” No response.

“Really, really, this is the safest place!”

“...” Still no words.

Seeing the continued silence, Zhen Yi, usually so confident, became more and more uneasy and was about to concede, “Then maybe—” leave?

“Why don’t you lend a hand too?” Before he could finish, Qiu Ci suddenly appeared and handed Jing Hong a hoe.

Jing Hong: “...”

Zhen Yi: “...”

Instinctively taking the tool, Jing Hong glanced at the woman before him, then at the hoe in his hand. A rare flicker of surprise crossed his usually steady and serious face.

Qiu Ci nudged him aside, “Fill these in over here. You go there; that part hasn’t started yet.” She pointed to his right.

Following her gesture, Jing Hong looked in that direction and then down at the hoe again.

Then...

He obediently turned and walked over, swinging the hoe in his hand.

Zhen Yi: “...”

No, what on earth are you doing here?!

Jing Hong himself didn’t know why he was being so compliant. At first, he had intended to leave with Feng Ting and Zhen Yi, but once he picked up the hoe, an inexplicable urge to dig a few strokes took hold.

No, there was a great enemy ahead, he—

---

“Sister Qiu, I’ve finished filling in!” Taking advantage of the conversation, Feng Ting, who had been quietly working hard, suddenly appeared, giving Zhen Yi a provocative look. As expected, the spirited cat was no match.

Zhen Yi instantly flared up, “You… you cheated! That doesn’t count!”

“If you say it doesn’t count, then it doesn’t. I finished first anyway. It’s not my fault you got distracted.”

“You… fine, just wait. I’ll fill this last pit, then we’ll compete again.”

“Bring it on! I’m not scared of you!”

“I’m done too. Let me show you what speed really means.”

“You’re so slow filling just one pit, you delicate little cat!”

“You’re delicate!”

“No, you’re delicate!”

As the two bickered more fiercely, Jing Hong, still mid-swing with his hoe, watched the thunder pits on the ground being filled at an astonishing speed.

Jing Hong, who hadn’t yet finished one pit, felt as if all those “delicate” words were hitting him directly. A sudden flame of anger burst inside his calm heart, exploding loudly in his mind.

It’s just filling pits, isn’t it?

Come on!

Sword Qi, activate!

The hoe in his hand flashed with spiritual light, instantly multiplying into thousands, then all struck the ground in a flurry. Dust billowed as even the quarrelling pair beside him were startled.

They stared in disbelief at the instantly filled thunder pits.

You can farm like this?

┌╏º□º╏┐

After finishing with a single move, Jing Hong sheathed the sword Qi and looked toward Qiu Ci, raising an eyebrow. Then...

*Pfft~*

He spat out a mouthful of blood.

“I (pfft~)… filled (pfft pfft~)… everything (pfft pfft pfft~)… fastest (pfft pfft pfft pfft~)…”

“Damn it, don’t scare me like that!” Bro, if you’re that bad, just don’t talk!

“Senior Brother!”

---

If the pit-filling technique just now was astonishing, then his blood-spitting speech now was downright terrifying to the others.

Qiu Ci was stunned, quickly stepping forward to support him. This situation would definitely make headlines on Blue Star—a heartless, unscrupulous boss overworking his employees to the point of coughing up blood.

“Senior Brother, are you alright?” Zhen Yi and Feng Ting hurried over anxiously.

Jing Hong still wore a serious expression, and after a moment, with blood in his mouth, he replied, “It’s nothing.”

Then he suddenly collapsed, but Qiu Ci held him up before he could fall face-first, helping him sit on the nearby grass as he continued to cough up blood.

“...” That hardly looked like ‘nothing’!

“Could it be an old injury flaring up?” Zhen Yi guessed, quickly pulling out some pills.

Qiu Ci suddenly remembered—this man had just barely recovered from a serious injury, and worse, she was the one who inflicted it. She really was a ruthless boss!

A heavy wave of guilt rose in her heart. She grasped his wrist and scanned his body with her spiritual sense. Sure enough, several tendons were broken, and most of the others showed marks of having been broken and then reconnected. The healing was obvious, but the technique used...

“Who reconnected your tendons? What a mess!” Qiu Ci grew more alarmed as she examined him. Not only were the blood vessels blocked, but some were hooked up incorrectly. With such a crude reconnection, it was a miracle he was still alive.

“Why?” Jing Hong looked up blankly, surprised that she knew about the reconnections.

“Don’t move.” Qiu Ci instinctively summoned her spiritual power, intending to realign his messed-up tendons.

“No need.” Jing Hong interrupted immediately.

He had been grievously injured by villains earlier, with his tendons severed. His master had put great effort into reconnecting them, but his foundation was ruined. The master had said his cultivation would likely never advance a single step again, and even normal energy circulation caused pain.

Though he felt frustrated inside, he knew the sect had done all it could.

That was why he had been assigned this task—to escort and protect the two younger disciples. His cultivation was sufficient and, since he was not a sect elder, he wouldn’t attract the attention of the Immortal Alliance. Although this mission might cost him his life, he was no longer the sect’s pride; Feng Ting and Zhen Yi were the sect’s future hope. Protecting them now was his final contribution.

“My foundation... is destroyed. No need...”

“Who said your foundation is destroyed?” Before he could finish, Qiu Ci interrupted. His spiritual roots were still perfectly intact.

“Ah?” Not only Jing Hong, but Zhen Yi and Feng Ting were all stunned.