Brother

Ji Yun's eyes followed Lin Tao's gaze before widening in surprise, "Shui Ming? Shouldn't he be resting at the orphanage? What's he doing here?"

Lin Tao's eyes narrowed as he critiqued the young man, "Although he looks very similar to Shui Ming, he appears older. His demeanor also seems different."

After losing his memories, Zhou Ming was soft-spoken and humble. On the other hand, the young man Lin Tao and Ji Yun were observing had a trace of arrogance in his eyes despite appearing dejected.

"Mm. You're right. In that case, could that be Shui Ming's brother?"

"Most likely."

Ji Yun knitted her brows as she began pondering over something.

"I thought you would instantly suggest we check if that young man is truly Shui Ming's brother and then reunite Shui Ming with his family."

"I was thinking of that at first. However… Do you think granny knows of Shui Ming's real identity? She seems to have some plans… Could Shui Ming's current situation be part of her plans?"

"I was also considering that possibility. Let's just investigate that man for a bit before questioning granny. After all, she made it quite clear that Shui Ming must be hidden inside the Shui Orphanage. We shouldn't risk revealing Shui Ming's identity at the moment even if it's to his own brother."

The two children approached the stall the young man was at. They casually examined the items at the stall while listening to the young man converse with his two companions. His two companions' lower quality clothes suggested that they were his servants.

"Young master, madam sent you to the marketplace to lift your spirits. Please try to at least look at the items, " one of the servants sported a pleading look as he urged his young master to stop standing still in front of the stall.

The young master solemnly mumbled, "Browsing the marketplace isn't fun without my brother…"

Lin Tao and Ji Yun showed no reactions as they continued to idly examine the items for sale at the stall, 'Missing brother? That must be Shui Ming.'

"Master and the others are doing their best to look for him. They have yet to find his corpse, so it's not guaranteed that he's dead. You need to take care of yourself so that when your brother comes back, he can see you doing well. He'll be heartbroken if you ruin your health over him, young master.

"I don't need your sugar-coated assurances! It has already been so long since he went missing. No corpse you say? Since when has there ever been a corpse left after someone dies in the Obsidian Forest! We're just wasting our time staying in Obsidian City! I--" The young man stopped himself when he realized that his voice had raised considerably, attracting the attention of many of the surrounding people.

He ignored the many stares he was getting and sighed, 'I should just buy something and leave.' He half-heartedly picked up a light blue beast core, "I'll take this."

Frightened by the outburst, one of his servants inquired in a soft voice, "Wait, young master. Do you even know what type of beast core that is?"

The young man blades at the servant as he shook his head. The glare sent shivers down the servant's spine. Too fearful of accidentally angering the young master, he simply nodded in understanding.

"You have a good eye, young man! This beast core came from a spirit wolf that had the power of a rank 7 spirit grand warrior, " the stall owner spoke in a flattering tone.

Lin Tao narrowed his eyes, 'A normal stall owner should be angry if someone causes such a disruption in front of his stall. To act so courteous despite the young master's outburst, the stall owner is probably aware of the young master's identity, which should be fairly extraordinary.'

Upon mention of spirit wolves, the young master's face contorted as his voice became rigid, " Nevermind. I don't want it. Let's look elsewhere." As soon as those words left his mouth, he turned away and walked off.

His two servants sighed and gave each other looks of pity before hurriedly chasing after their young master.

After the trio was far away, Lin Tao raised three fingers and inquired, "Who was that person just now?"

The stall owner smiled politely as he assessed the two short, black-cloaked figures before him, "Please show me the money first."

Ji Yun wordlessly placed 30 gold coins on the counter.

The stall owner's smile widened, "He is a young master of the Zhou Clan, Zhou Ning." the stall own kept his response brief in hopes that the two children would offer him more money for more information.

Lin Tao and Ji Yun knitted their brows as similar thoughts formed in their minds, 'The Zhou Clan is one of the four great clans of this kingdom and their main residence is at the capital city. Things will become troublesome if we make an enemy out of them.'

"Many thanks, " Lin Tao calmly began walking away from the stall.

Ji Yun frowned as she followed him, 'This direction is towards the entrance of the Obsidian City Marketplace.'

Once they have walked a fair distance from the stall, Lin Tao spoke up, "Let's buy granny's sea kelp at the Plant Pavilion before returning to the orphanage."

"Alright," despite voicing her agreement, unwillingness was evident in Ji Yun's voice.

By the time the young pair returned to the Shui Orphanage, the sun had begun to set. Lin Tao and Ji Yun found the other four children eating in the dining room.

Initially, they weren't sure how they should face Shui Ming. After all, he was basically one of their brothers now and yet, they were hiding such a large secret from him. However, the corners of their mouths raised when they saw Shui Ming covered in bandages.

Shui Ming noticed their smiles and he softly chuckled, "Can you two please not take pleasure in other people's miseries?"

Ji Yun beamed, "Can you not make baseless assumptions? We're smiling because we're happy to see you, silly."

Chen Lihua sighed, "If you're going to lie so blatantly in our faces, then please don't make your lies too obvious."

Lin Tao grinned, "Yeah, you really are staining our legendary master's reputation."

"Huh? Since when was that shameless old man so legendary?"

Chen Lihua softly laughed as she turned to Yao Zihao, "Obviously, he's talking about their other master, the legendary Guardian Spirit of the Obsidian Forest."

"Oh, I see. Mm, that makes sense," the chubby boy's words were muffled as he continued munching on a meat bun.

Lin Tao silently shook his head, 'How disappointed will they be when they finally get to meet granny? Should I try lowering their expectations before they meet her?'