WPCID 47: Your Senior Brother is Too Annoying

Chu Xuan spent the better half of the night trying to get his senior brother’s soul back.

The sword was already halfway into the furnace, but he managed to snatch it back. After banging it against a rock for a while with a “clang, clang, clang,” a small ball of light fell out.

The people from the Elder’s Hall quickly took the sword and discovered that the originally small crack had grown larger. Their vision went dark, and they grabbed him, demanding an explanation.

Chu Xuan ignored them, picked up the ball of light, and left.

The small ball of light lay in his palm, looking incredibly weak, as if a single breath could disperse it.

Chu Xuan carefully protected it and called out, “Senior Brother?”

The ball of light hid in his sleeve, seemingly unwilling to be seen in this state.

Chu Xuan: “…” He tugged at his sleeve, carefully covering his senior brother who didn’t want to be seen.

Back at Shuyu Peak.

The soul had been out of the body for several days and was tainted with the righteous energy of the punishment sword. Fearing something might go wrong, Chu Xuan didn’t directly place it back into the spiritual platform. He took out a small paper figurine and said in a low voice to his sleeve, “Senior Brother, you’ll have to make do with this for tonight. I’ll take you to see Xie Xianqing tomorrow.”

The sleeve lifted, and the ball of light emerged and attached itself to the paper figurine, dropping an even smaller speck of light behind it.

Chu Xuan: “???”

Chu Xuan: “Se-Senior Brother, what is…?”

The small paper figurine in his palm moved twice, got up, ran over to pick up the speck of light, and said, “Junior Brother, do you know how to fold a paper crane? I have a little friend here with nowhere to go.”

“…Who?”

“Little Black,” Lu Buzhuo said, “A myna bird.”

Although it was a bit strange, Chu Xuan had always been responsive to his senior brother’s requests.

He folded a paper crane the size of a fingernail and even used ink to color it black, since his senior brother said it was a myna bird.

The speck of light went into the paper crane, flapped its wings, and landed on Lu Buzhuo’s shoulder. At first glance, it looked quite convincing.

Lu Buzhuo patted the paper myna bird, satisfied, and continued, “Is Shen Zhou at Shuyu Peak? I want to see him.”

Chu Xuan then took him to Shen Zhou’s room.

Shen Zhou was in a deep sleep. Because his spiritual consciousness wasn’t in his own spiritual platform, he slept much more soundly than usual.

His body would instinctively move closer to where his spiritual consciousness was, so he was currently sleeping in a mess. His forehead was resting on Lu Buzhuo’s shoulder, his knee was on Lu Buzhuo’s stomach, his calf was hooked around Lu Buzhuo’s waist, and his arms were wrapped around the other’s chest and neck in a very clingy posture.

While sleeping, he probably smelled a familiar scent, frowned, and said fiercely, “Get lost… get lost…”

As he spoke, he hugged even tighter.

Chu Xuan: “…”

He was very reluctant to put his paper senior brother over there; he would be crushed by the restless half-demon.

The little paper figurine waited for a long time. Seeing that his junior brother was still standing by the bed without moving, he took a leap of his own. He landed lightly and, in a few movements, climbed onto his Dao companion’s face. His two paper arms hugged the tip of the nose as he looked carefully.

The little paper figurine had no facial features, only a horizontal line representing a sword serving as its eyes. From such a flat and plain face, one could somehow discern a hint of heartache and pity.

“I’ll go back and rest then,” Chu Xuan said. After a moment of hesitation, still worried that the little paper figurine housing Lu Buzhuo would be crushed, he asked, “Senior Brother, should I arrange another place for you to stay?”

Lu Buzhuo didn’t even raise his head, making a rustling sound of paper rubbing as he nuzzled his long-unseen Dao companion, “No need.”

The next moment, Shen Zhou sneezed in his sleep.

The little paper figurine went flying.

Chu Xuan was alarmed and reached out to catch it.

Just then, a black shadow the size of a grain of rice flashed by, accurately biting onto Lu Buzhuo, and with a flap of its wings, carried him back to his original position.

Chu Xuan: “…”

Chu Xuan rubbed his eyes.

“I’m fine,” Lu Buzhuo said calmly.

“You go to sleep. I’ll find a place to sleep on my own.”

Chu Xuan nodded and left as if in a dream.

The room quieted down.

There really wasn’t a good place to rest here. The room was tidy, with little furniture. The window was open, and anything on the table would be blown away. Sleeping on the bed might result in getting wrinkled.

The little paper figurine looked around and suddenly found an excellent place to sleep. He swaggered over with his paper myna bird and lay down.

…

A peaceful night passed.

No little paper figurines or half-demons were harmed, only the wolf ears felt a slight discomfort.

Shen Zhou’s routine for getting up today was a bit complicated.

First, his spiritual consciousness woke up, tidied itself, and returned to its spiritual platform.

After a tour to confirm that everything was normal, he opened his eyes.

Then he discovered that his arm was numb from being pressed by Lu Buzhuo. Although he wasn’t sure what had happened last night, it was definitely Lu Buzhuo’s fault. So he gave Lu Buzhuo a dirty look.

He pushed the person away, stretched, and while the comfortable feeling still lingered, slowly got out of bed.

Halfway up, he suddenly felt his wolf ears itch. He casually touched them and pulled off two pieces of paper.

Shen Zhou: “?”

He stared at the pieces of paper in his palm for a long time, not understanding why Chu Xuan would secretly stuff paper balls into his ears in the middle of the night, and two pieces of waste paper that had been folded into little paper figurines at that.

Could it be in retaliation for taking his sword last night?

He hadn’t said he wouldn’t return it.

Petty.

Just as he was about to throw the paper balls out the window, one of them suddenly moved and called out, “Shen Zhou.”

Shen Zhou: “!!”

His hand trembled, and the paper fell under the bed and disappeared.

Then he sat on the edge of the bed for a long time in confusion, thinking he might not be fully awake. He returned to bed, pulled the covers over his head, and prepared to go back to sleep.

Outside the blanket, someone called out again, “Shen Zhou.”

This time he heard it clearly; it was Lu Buzhuo’s voice.

Shen Zhou threw off the covers as if he had seen a ghost, his messy hair sticking up. He looked at Lu Buzhuo lying next to him and saw that the person was not awake.

Looking closely again, he saw a black paper ball the size of a fingernail biting a small paper figurine half the size of a palm, fluttering erratically before his eyes.

The little paper figurine was even making strange noises: “Shen Zhou, it’s me!”

Shen Zhou stared at these two things for a long time, raised his hand, and “smack,” slapped them down.

Chu Xuan hadn’t slept well all night, worried that something might happen to his senior brother’s paper figurine, so he got up extra early to check.

Just as he pushed the door open, he saw the half-demon with messy hair frowning, a little grumpy from waking up, reaching out and, with a smack, flattening his senior brother.

Chu Xuan’s face paled: “Senior Brother!”

“What senior brother?” Shen Zhou turned to see him and became even more unhappy, questioning, “How can you just come into my room?”

“Senior Brother!” Chu Xuan didn’t hear what he was saying at all. He rushed forward in a few steps, picked up the flattened paper, and held it in his hands. 

“Senior Brother? Senior Brother!”

“Cough, cough, cough…” The little paper figurine struggled to get up, trying to smooth out the creases on its body. 

“I-I’m fine…”

The door opened again.

Xie Xianqing hurried in, clearly having just received the news on a communication jade slip. He hadn’t even had time to tie his hair, holding a green hair ribbon in his mouth, gathering his hair with one hand and tying it up with the other, mumbling, “Where’s Lu Buzhuo? Since you brought him back last night, why didn’t you call me? And you put him in a little paper figurine, what an idea… How did it get flattened? Let me see.”

Chu Xuan said, “It was flattened by Shen Zhou.”

Shen Zhou: “…”

His wolf ears, which had been one up and one down from sleepiness, were now both drooping.

Although those two didn’t show anything, both busy fussing over the flattened little paper figurine, Shen Zhou inexplicably felt that he was a little unwelcome here.

But this was the room he lived in at Shuyu Peak; he had arrived earlier than Lu Buzhuo.

Actually, it wasn’t his own. Shen Zhou had never had his own room; he was only allowed to stay when others were happy.

It wasn’t a big deal, but it put a slight damper on his mood for breakfast.

He got dressed and went to the kitchen, only to find that there were only leftover crispy pastries from yesterday. They were cold, the crust was no longer crispy, and the filling was a bit greasy. Xie Xianqing hadn’t had time to make new ones; he had gone to see Lu Buzhuo.

The wolf ears drooped listlessly.

Shen Zhou took two bites, had no appetite, and threw down the half-eaten cold pastry to go work on the puppet.

The puppet had been placed in the warehouse by Xie Xianqing.

There were a few identical ones left in the Ten Thousand Bones Cave. Because there was no demonic energy to replenish them, they naturally wouldn’t move either. Shen Zhou couldn’t be bothered to go pick them up; Chu Xuan would surely bring them back when he saw them.

This puppet named Lu Ye lay quietly on the ground, a large hole in its chest, yet the heart inside was still beating.

Upon closer inspection, the heart was wrapped in a circle of fine golden threads, which were not real threads but puppet strings spun by Shen Zhou from his own spiritual power, one by one. That was why it took a lot of effort to make one.

The golden threads contained the ever-present life force from his bloodline, passing through all the meridians in the puppet’s body. It was exquisite and profound. If one didn’t dissect it, one would never know it was just a puppet.

The threads on the heart were a bit messy, and a few were broken. Shen Zhou repaired them quickly and carefully.

Xie Xianqing had given him a sewing kit, which was very useful for sewing up wounds.

And the small stool under his bottom was just right.

…

The wolf ears slowly straightened up and then began to wag happily.

When Xie Xianqing found Shen Zhou in the warehouse with a tray of freshly baked crispy pastries, the puppet was already repaired.

“Come have breakfast,” Xie Xianqing put down the pastry box and examined the puppet on the ground, feeling its pulse with great interest, unable to put it down. 

“How on earth is this made?”

Shen Zhou glanced at him, lifted the lid of the pastry box, and reached inside, giving the same old excuse: “I picked up a few sets of bones in the Ten Thousand Bones Cave and molded them with demonic energy.”

Suddenly, he touched a pastry that was a bit prickly.

He took it out and saw a dirty little paper figurine lying on the pastry, looking up breathlessly and saying, “Shen Zhou.”

Shen Zhou: “…”

Shen Zhou expressionlessly bent his finger, flicked it away with a “thump,” and turned to ask Xie Xianqing, “Why isn’t he back yet?”

“Lu Buzhuo’s body is tainted with the righteous energy of the punishment sword. He needs to stay in the paper figurine for a few days to dissipate it, otherwise his spiritual platform will be injured again,” Xie Xianqing said, catching the little paper figurine. 

“Be careful, a paper figurine is not a good vessel, the soul is still susceptible to injury.”

The little paper figurine, however, did not appreciate the sentiment. It leaped up, had the sesame myna bird bite it and fly over, and continued to hover in front of Shen Zhou.

“Shen Zhou, listen to me.”

Shen Zhou coldly turned his face away; the sesame myna bird followed, flying to the left.

Shen Zhou turned to the right; the sesame myna bird also flew to the right.

The little paper figurine hanging below was also very noisy: “I didn’t see clearly that it was you that day, I thought it was a demonic cultivator… Shen Zhou, Shen Zhou, mmph…”

It was flicked away again.

“What is this black thing?” Shen Zhou pointed at the sesame myna bird, not asking Lu Buzhuo, but Xie Xianqing. 

“Can I swat it dead?”

Lu Buzhuo said, “It’s the myna bird you gave me.”

Shen Zhou put down the crispy pastry, caught it, and with a “squish,” squeezed it flat, threw it on the ground, and strode away.

The wolf ears followed, flicking with a swagger.

The little paper figurine fell silent. Because it had no expression, it just looked like it was sitting dumbly next to the crushed myna bird.

“I told you so. When you were lying in bed covered in blood, Shen Zhou only came to ask me if he could change the bed.” Xie Xianqing picked up Lu Buzhuo and put him back in the pastry box. 

“I even tried to speak well of you and deliberately put you two in the same room. It was useless.”

The little paper figurine was still clutching the flattened myna bird, its head bowed, lost in thought.

After a moment, it asked, “Xie Xianqing, do you know how to coax people?”

“No,” Xie Xianqing thought for a moment and recommended, “Why don’t you go ask your junior brother?”

Lu Buzhuo gave him a look, and jumped off his shoulder.

“Hey, don’t go.” Xie Xianqing easily caught the little paper figurine again and sat down on the still-warm small stool. 

“Think about it. First, you scared him half to death in Biancheng, and then you didn’t die and didn’t tell him… I know you thought you would be punished according to the sect rules, but Shen Zhou didn’t know. It’s too late to say anything now.”

“There might have been some room for things to turn around. But then Chu Xuan picked up his puppet, he followed it here, and you pinned him to a rock with a talisman, leaving him on the verge of death.”

What he said made a lot of sense, Lu Buzhuo thought. But there was another hidden reason, and the situation was much more serious than Xie Xianqing thought.

“You can’t coax him,” Xie Xianqing concluded. 

“Get a new Dao companion. I’ll take Shen Zhou in at Shuyu Peak; he even helps me dry medicinal herbs.”

The little paper figurine left again.

After two steps, it tripped over a pile of clutter, was crushed by a falling inkstone, and got a black smudge.

In the following days, the little paper figurine Lu Buzhuo launched a fierce offensive.

But the results were not ideal.

For example, hiding behind a cup, trying to climb onto the back of Shen Zhou’s hand when he was drinking water.

Unexpectedly, while waiting, a gust of demonic wind came, and he fell into the teacup and nearly drowned.

Another time, he hid in the dried medicinal herbs, waiting for Shen Zhou to come and collect them.

But Shen Zhou forgot. And it started to rain that evening, and he almost died again.

The little paper figurine had short arms and legs. If he went to find Shen Zhou openly, the person would be gone before he could get close. Lu Buzhuo had no choice but to ask Xie Xianqing to find him a spirit mouse as a mount.

The spirit mouse was useful and could even understand human speech, but it had a penchant for grinding its teeth and “crunch,” bit off Lu Buzhuo’s arm.

He died again.

Shen Zhou had been harassed by the little paper figurine for several days in a row. It was even more incessant than the noise in his spiritual platform. He couldn’t even sleep peacefully; as soon as he lifted the covers, there was the little paper figurine.

Finally, he couldn’t bear it anymore. He rolled up his bedding and knocked on someone’s door.

Chu Xuan poked his head out: “?”

“Sect Master Chu,” Shen Zhou said, “your senior brother is too annoying. Can I sleep with you?”

Chu Xuan: “???”

Shen Zhou didn’t want to beg like this either.

But he had no choice. With Chu Xuan around, Lu Buzhuo would probably have some consideration for his dignity as a senior brother and wouldn’t be so reckless.

Seeing Sect Master Chu’s expression of three parts confusion, five parts resistance, and two parts of his usual coldness, Shen Zhou pursed his lips and reluctantly folded down one of his wolf ears.

“You try it,” he stammered in a small voice, as if he were about to sell his soul, “It’s s-soft.”