30 The Final Crow-down

Fang Lei, completely bored out of his mind after everyone had left and entered into the pagoda, sighs as he slumps against a tree. If only the Yun Sect didn't have the spiritual array around it, he could've gotten Xu Jiyu himself!

Now, not only is he indebted to Wen Po, he even signed a contract of who-knows-what!

It seems that ever since meeting that dumb merchant, he's had it rough… But at the same time, if he didn't meet him, then Fang Lei would've had trouble finding someone to become 'friends' with and ask them to do this for him.

...

...Now that he thinks about it, what is his relationship with Wen Po, exactly? Are they friends? Enemies? Simple acquaintances? Traveling partners? Or are they only together now because they are bounded by the contract?

For some reason, none of them seem to fit. Wen Po is his own category...

Suddenly, a black shadow appears in the corner of his vision. His eyes immediately follow after it, and unsurprisingly, it's a crow. It lands upon a branch nearby.

It seems as if it wants to caw as it opens it beak, but—

Fang Lei, in an irritated mood, snaps his fingers. Exerting his spiritual power, he wills the crow to burst into blue flame. Clearly burning, the crow sits, unbothered. After a few moments, the azure wisp vanishes.

Fang Lei's face fills with black lines.

What the f*ck is wrong with that crow! How dare it live after being set on fire! Staring up at the crow with malice in his eyes, the young man's face scrunches up in raw fury. But like a certain other frustrating entity in the man's life, the crow seemed to leer at him, with a sort of smug energy. Fang Lei's face flushes red in anger, and the crow lets out a low, provocative caw.

---

Back inside the Yun Sect, Xu Jiyu was forcibly dragged back into Qin Jin's chambers by the Sect Leader himself.

Unable to escape the Immortal's grasp, Xu Jiyu simply resigned to his fate and is now currently sitting between Qin Jin and Wen Po.

"Excuse our conversation from earlier, ah. We were just catching up since it's been so long since we've seen each other, hahaha!" Qin Jin apologizes with a teasing tone. He's most certainly shameless as he continues, "But I did mean the 'gege' part. It's seriously my only wish!"

Xu Jiyu: "..."

Wen Po reaches over and smacks Qin Jin on the back of his head. "Oi, stop harassing the youngster, can't you tell he doesn't want to call an old bastard like you 'gege'?"

Xu Jiyu's face fill with black lines once more.

He seriously doesn't want to be here… but alas, he has to listen to this strange master-student pair banter. Rather than master and student, they seem to be more like best friends. It would certainly explain why Wen Po is able to talk so casually and rudely towards Qin Jin.

"Is it so bad I want to be called 'gege', ah?! I think it's been a millennium since I've been called 'gege' and not 'shifu'! I just want to feel young again for once!" The Sect Leader refutes stubbornly, but doesn't urge Xu Jiyu to call him 'gege' anymore.

"Apologies for this geezer's attitude towards you, ah. I didn't think I'd meet you again, especially here of all places, Xu Jiyu." Wen Po smiles, completely disregarding Qin Jin's comment. "Anyway, I heard that you've just recently arrived, but I'm afraid you'll have to leave a bit to see someone. After we separated, I met someone quite interesting. He appears to be looking for you, so you should go greet him."

Xu Jiyu's expression is one of absolute confusion. Who in the world came looking for him? After he departed from the Song Sect, he hasn't made any close acquaintances aside from the King of Spirits, and Lang Jing.

Wen Po can now be considered one of his acquaintances after running into each other so many times, too.

But two of those people weren't possible, so could it be Lang Jing?

Well, no matter. As long as he doesn't have to stay here listening to these two talk about… those indecent things, then he'll be more than happy to meet whoever it is.

"Is that so?" Xu Jiyu says, excitedly standing up from his seat. "Thank goodness. He's outside, you say?"

Wen Po raises an eyebrow at his excitement. Could it be Xu Jiyu and Fang Lei were close friends—is that why he's so excited? "Yes, outside of the Yun Sect, hiding behind a tree."

"What? What kind of suspicious person did you bring to my sect, you half-brained lout?" Qin Jin asks, frowning slightly.

"None that you should know of." Wen Po lazily answers.

Xu Jiyu, too eager to leave, doesn't even bother asking why the person who wants to meet him is clearly exhibiting suspicious behavior. "Alright, I'll go immediately! Thanks for your time!"

Without waiting for an answer, the youth practically dives towards the doors and exits the chambers.

---

Fang Lei summons his spiritual sword, roaring a challenge at the crow. The crow, in response… yawns. It literally opens and closes its beak languidly and continues to sit, content, on a branch above Fang Lei's head.

"Are you looking down on me?! Huh!?!" Fang Lei screams, his voice cracking.

The crow caws, as if to say, 'I am looking down at you right now, from this branch, idiot.'

Fang Lei, even further enraged, throws his sword end over end at the branch the crow is resting on. The crow, alert and ready, takes flight. The sword cuts through the branch like a pair of scissors gliding through wrapping paper.

The crow, unimpressed, glides around Fang Lei in a circular path, banking wide and hardly flapping its wings at all. With a flourish, it floats gently to sit atop its new throne: the crown of Fang Lei's head. Fang Lei swats at the bird, only hitting his own head as the crow hops, flapping its wings for an instant to avoid the hand, and again nesting among the young man's hair.

"Goddamn crow. F*cking stupid, attractive merchant. Messing with me all the f*cking time…" Fang Lei mutters to himself, crouching in the grass. The crow again lets out a low caw.

"...Um… are you the suspicious person Wen Po was talking about? The one who wanted to meet me behind a tree or something like that?" A hesitant voice calls out to him from behind.

"Ye—I mean yes—!" Fang Lei abruptly turns around and stumbles over his words, embarrassed to be found in such a state.

The familiar youth that the King of Spirits is so infatuated with raises a questioning eyebrow.

Did Xu Jiyu see his ridiculous duel with the crow just now?!

...Please don't judge me, I thought I was alone, ahhhh!