9 Caught Again?

"Be straightforward to me, my fourth brother. What evil tricks you have in your mind this time? I am a very busy woman with two daughters waiting outside," said Qin Hua.

"Look at this first before you decide to stay or leave." Qin Wen, the third elder of the Qin Family, said as he pushed a box closer to his fifth sister.

"Four sets of Litong Pill? This must cost my fourth brother some effort and fortune to purchase. But I'm afraid that six hundred gold coins are hardly enough to convince a woman's heart..." Qin Hua closed the lid and pushed the box back to her brother.

"This is just a deposit. If you're willing to help, having a box of Litong Pills each week will not be a problem at all." the third elder continued. From his manner of speech, the source of origin of his Litong Pill is not a mere puddle of water that could dry out.

"Hmm... Looks like your fifth sister could use some help here. What is your condition?" Qin Hua asked. Her hand that was pushing the box away has now turned into pocketing it in her sleeve.

"Simple. In this Annual Hunting Festival, I hope that both Xiao Qin and Xiao Qi can support Qin Hu to win first place." the third elder said. His concern is understandable, but what piqued other's curiosity is why Qin Hu, and not Qin Huang?

(This old fogey... I can only pity that boy Qin Huang for being born with a courtesan mother. But that's not my concern. As long as both of my daughters could cultivate with six Litong Pills weekly, it will further their chances of breaking through the Middle-Attainment Rank)

(By that time, who cares if you like it or not. As long as both Qin Qin and Qin Qi entered the Cloud Plucking Sect, their future is assured, just like Qin Fan and Qin Chan!)

"My fourth brother, helping Xiao Hu, is not a problem at all. But my daughters might not be as efficient as the boys because they played with zither or brush for the whole day instead of swords and spears."

"Furthermore, how can two lasses provide such support with their flowery fingers?" Qin Hua continued with her words. Behind it was a hint of a sarcastic tone because to a flesh refining cultivator, having a body full of muscle or not is pointless.

"My fifth sister, say what you want to say. Let's stop to try and guess our intention behind our words." the third elder said.

"I've heard about the reward for first place this time from my husband." Qin Hua placed her palm gently on the table as she moved her body forward.

**Foundation Advancement Pill?**

Qin Hua whispered. What she said made the third elder's expression changed slightly, but as they were a family, he finds it no point for him to get aggressive.

"Two boxes. Not more." the third elder took another box of Litong Pills out from his inner pocket and placed it on the table.

"Thank you, my beloved fourth brother. I'll make sure that the girls know about it. Please excuse me as the girls are going to be late for their zither lesson soon." Qin Hua left her seat and made her way to the door.

But before she steps outside of the room...

"It is best to not underestimate an illegitimate son," she added and left.

Her final words before leaving made the third elder somewhat unhappy.

...

...

"Sister Qin, sister Qi, what about we have a chess game to entertain our third brother?" Qin Huang suggested.

"A cup of tea would be fine. Both of us will need to maintain our composure before the zither class." Qin Qin, the elder between the sisters, rejected Qin Huang's suggestion.

"Zither class, of course... Only with a tranquil mind can one enter the realm of one with music. Please forgive me for suggesting a game like chess. Servants! Bring over three pots of Western River Tea." Qin Huang said.

His restrained display of manner shows the maidens a hint of his reservedness.

But in front of the two uninterested maidens, it would be pointless even if Qin Huang is a dragon amongst the men. Instead, the two of them paid more attention to Qin Lan, who seems indifferent towards both of them.

"Brother and sisters. This is the high-quality Western River Tea Leaves from the Cloud Plucking Sect. I hope it would be good enough to satisfy your excellent tastebud." Qin Huang added as he raised the cup before everyone else.

"En." the sisters nodded.

"Good tea," Qin Lan said after a sip assisted by Xiao Yun.

**Dok!**

The seventh brother, Qin Hu, is the one that remained quiet. As a member of this house, these tea leaves are nothing extraordinary in his opinion.

Their light conversation continued for slightly more than an incense stick of time. It was when Qin Hua came to the room the group disband and return to what they were supposed to do for the day.

"Mother, what for the third elder ask for you today?" Qin Qi asked. When she's with her mom and sister, her attitude of a difficult to approached young lady was shed away. In fact, compared to her elder sister, Qin Qi can be said to be the talkative one, perhaps because she's younger.

"We'll talk about it when we're home. But both of you should hold this properly. Do not tell anyone that we came to the third elder's private courtyard today, especially to your father when we're home." Qin Hua warned both of them.

"Ah!" Qin Qi gasped. Her curiosity made her opened the box to check its content. She was surprised by the six Litong Pills seated nicely inside the box.

Meanwhile, back in the room, Qin Huang crushed the teacup in his hand using his strength of a third-level in Flesh Refining Layer. He was angered by the two girls' indifferent attitude towards him.

"Brother, why are you so fixated on the fourth and fifth sister? There are more than twenty female servants inside our courtyard, some with even bigger assets than them. Just choose a few of them to accompany you at night." Qin Hu said.

"Shut up," Qin Huang said.

As for Qin Lan...

"Young master, how can not a single servant can push your wheelchair? Is there something you didn't tell us about?" Xiao-Ke asked. By now, his face is almost fully healed from those bruises and cuts.

"If they don't remove the wood used to stop the wheel, of course, it can't move. Did you forget about this mechanism in case the wheelchair rolls on its own?" Qin Lan explained. But he did not go further to the part where he used the spiritual energy to strengthen his grip on the ground.

"Heh, our young master is still the most amazing one. Let me go to the kitchen and bring some food back..." Xiao-Ke was going to say he will prepare some food, but Qin Lan interrupted.

"Food your head. Go out and get something back for me. You're not allowed to have lunch because you made me get out of my courtyard to save you." Qin Lan said.

Xiao-Ke is slightly unhappy, but he still retrieves the paper in Qin Lan's hand and rushes outside. Xiao Yun takeover the responsibility next as both of them are finally returned to the private courtyard once again.

"Come in with me," Qin Lan said.

"Yes, young master." Xiao Yun blushed as she answered her young master's word. Her cheeks turned red from the embarrassment quickly as only both of them were inside the room.

Qin Lan stands up from the wheelchair once the door is closed.

(Oh my heaven... Please tell me that the young master is not going to do what I think he will... Would he be responsible for it? But... But I've seen him and know his secret. He will not let me go, not until I obediently listen to all his words)

Many things went through Xiao Yun's mind as she listened to Qin Lan's approaching footsteps.

"Xiao Yun!" but instead of being hugged from behind, Qin Lan's word wakes her up from all her weird and wet fantasies.

"Yes! Yes, young master." she turned around. After tidying her messy hair from pushing Qin Lan forth and back from the third elder's courtyard, she's finally calm again.

"I hope you can understand my difficulty." Qin Lan said. Instead of returning to the table, he decided to have their conversation on the spot.

"The main culprit behind hiring the expert to cripple my cultivation might be related to someone close to me. But they have no idea that I have a great teacher behind me helping me to get my cultivation back," he added.

"But brother Xiao-Ke is your loyal servant too. If he found out that he was the last one to know about your recovery... I'm afraid that brother Xiao-Ke is going to be angry and disappointed." Xiao Yun said.

She knows that if it wasn't because of today's matter, Qin Lan's secret might be still hidden from her.

"I won't have you keep this secret for too long. Just remember to cover it up for me whenever something happened. Can you do it?" Qin Lan asked. He was prepared to bring out something to bribe her if Xiao Yun rejected him.

Plus, as he just found out, the shelf that's likely belonged to him right on the wall is filled with random treasures. Even himself has no recollection of close to three-quarters of what was kept inside there.

"Xiao Yun will make sure to keep this secret. The third young master can be at ease when it comes to this," she replied. Although there's still a question or two in her mind, Xiao Yun understands that knowing too much might be a bad thing for her. Hence, she believes that going with the flow would be best for now.

"En. Good."

"From tomorrow onwards, come and cultivate with both of us in the morning. I'll teach you what my teacher allowed me to teach and help you to efficiently raise your cultivation." Qin Lan said. He noticed that there's something special about her body.

And the most transparent clue came from her cheek and neck alone, which somewhat arousing people the longer they stare at her.

"Xiao Yun will follow the arrangement of the third young master. If there's nothing, for now, I shall go and prepare some food for you," she said.

"En. You may go," Qin Lan made his way back to the wheelchair he was sitting on.

But once again, the door to his room was opened without people knocking. Xiao-Ke, with his crazy efficiency, has returned after he completed everything Qin Lan asked him to do.

"Y - Young master... You can stand?" Xiao-Ke dropped everything on the ground, including the living white marten that he's struggling to keep obedient in his hand.

(Can this stop? I was caught twice standing today!)

Qin Lan sighed. Xiao Yun immediately closed the door after she noticed that Xiao-Ke has found out about it.