“Second Young Master!” The servants of the City Lord’s Mansion helped the Second Young Master to his feet.
“Second Young Master, does your head hurt?”
“Where are you injured?”
The servants crowded around the City Lord Second Master, their mouths full of concern. Some patted the dust off his robe, while others took out handkerchiefs to wipe his face. However, no one stood up to blame Jiu Hui for hitting him.
They were all busy, too busy to dare to meet Jiu Hui’s gaze.
Even the Second Young Master, who was extremely destructive when he went crazy, could only withstand two big slaps. These little minions shouldn’t go to their deaths.
“Gongshou.” The young master rode his horse over and saw his younger brother covered in dirt, hiding behind a burly servant with his face covered. He sighed helplessly. “We’re about to set off for the Jiutian Sect. What are you doing?”
“Brother, she hit me!” Seeing his elder brother arrive, Tao Gongshou, who had been hiding behind a servant, suddenly found the courage to cry out and pointed at Jiu Hui, who was a few steps away. “You hit her back for me!”
Jiu Hui raised an eyebrow and turned her wrist. Tao Gongshou quickly hid his hand, which had been pointing at her, into his sleeve.
Tao Xiangyi knew what his younger brother was like. He dismounted and walked up to Jiu Hui, bowing to her in greeting. “My apologies, Miss. My younger brother is young and ignorant. If he has offended you in any way, please forgive him.”
“How old is your younger brother?”
Tao Xiangyi hesitated for a moment: “Twenty-one.”
“I’m seventeen.” Jiu Hui walked up to the little boy who had been knocked over by Tao Gongshou, picked him up, brushed off the dust from his body, and took out a piece of candy from her storage ring and put it in the child’s mouth. The little boy, who had originally opened his mouth to cry, smacked his lips twice and obediently ate the candy.
“Kid, you’re awesome.” Jiu Hui patted the child’s head and stuffed a handful of candies into his pocket. “Go home.”
“Thank you, Sister.” The child squeezed into the crowd with a red face. The adults were afraid that the City Lord Second Master would continue to go crazy and hurt the child, so they made way for the child to run away successfully.
“I’m only seventeen, I don’t need to be considerate of a twenty-one-year-old.” Jiu Hui pointed at the things that Tao Gongshou had knocked over on the floor. “If you do something wrong, you have to make up for it. He knocked these things over, so he should pick them up.”
“I don’t want to, ahhhhhhhhhhh, I don’t want to!” As soon as Tao Gongshou heard that he had to pick up things all over the street, he started screaming like crazy and rolling around on the ground with his limbs twisted.
“Gongshou!” Tao Xiangyi was flustered by his younger brother’s sudden madness and reached out to help him.
But Jiu Hui was even quicker than him. She stepped forward and kicked Tao Gongshou in the butt with seven-tenths of her strength. Tao Gongshou rolled out like a little potato.
“Pick it up!” Jiu Hui stepped on Tao Gongshou’s back. “If you don’t pick it up, I’ll hit you again!”
Go crazy, go what crazy?!carpreads.pages.dev
If one beating didn’t cure you, then two would!
“Miss…” Tao Xiangyi looked at his brother who had been kicked flying, and it took him a long while to find his voice. “Let’s talk things out.”
“Wasn’t I discussing it with him?” Hearing the humming sound coming from under her feet, Jiu Hui smiled and said, “Be quiet.”
Tao Gongshou instantly shut his mouth.
Jiu Hui looked at Tao Xiangyi. “Young Master, it’s your Tao family’s duty to protect the people. As a member of the Tao family, if he goes crazy at home, it’s your family’s business, and I can’t control it. But if he goes crazy outside and makes everyone panic, or even hurts people and destroys things, then it’s your family’s fault. If you don’t want to teach him, I’ll teach him for you. If you try to stop me from teaching him, I’ll teach both of you a lesson.”
“I was young and ignorant. I ask for your forgiveness, Young Master.” Jiu Hui cupped her hands towards Tao Xiangyi. In the crowd, someone secretly cheered for Jiu Hui.
“Brother…”
“Brother, my foot.” Jiu Hui grabbed Tao Gongshou by the collar and threw him in front of an overturned vegetable stall. “If you don’t pick it up, I’ll keep beating you.”
When Jiu Hui had taken out a handful of candies from her storage ring to coax the child, Tao Xiangyi had known that this young lady was no ordinary person. He looked at his younger brother who was crying on the ground and bowed to Jiu Hui. “I have not disciplined him strictly enough. I apologize for making you laugh.” After speaking, he turned his head away and stopped looking at Tao Gongshou.
It was time for Gongshou to learn a lesson or two, or else his personality would cause a lot of trouble once he left Taolin City.
“Immortal Venerable Yu, please come this way. My two sons will also be accompanying me to Jiutian Sect this time. I ask that the Immortal Venerable guide them along the way…” City Lord Tao stood rooted to the spot, his body stiff. He glanced at his second son, who was crawling around on the ground not far away, picking up vegetables and fruits. His old face instantly turned beet red.
Although he modestly called the child a dog, he didn’t expect him to actually become a dog.
Yu Jing had met the two children of the City Lord of Taolin City before, so she recognized Tao Gongshou, who was crawling all over the floor. She had heard that the second child of the Tao family liked to act crazy, but she didn’t expect him to had become even crazier.
In front of everyone, Tao Gongshou, whose butt, face, and back were all in pain, didn’t dare to cry or howl. He picked up the scattered items with tears and snot. When he looked up and saw City Lord Tao, he cried out again, “Father…”
“Master.” Jiu Hui walked up to Yu Jing. “Are you back from your business?”
Tao Gongshou realized something was wrong and quickly shut his mouth. He didn’t want to get beaten up anymore.
“Earlier, Zhi You and I were walking and couldn’t find you, so we guessed you were here.” Yu Jing pretended not to see City Lord Tao’s embarrassment. “City Lord Tao, this is my other core disciple, Jiu Hui.”
“Miss Jiu Hui.” Upon hearing that Jiu Hui was the core disciple of Sect Master Yu, City Lord Tao respectfully bowed.
“Greetings, City Lord Tao.” Jiu Hui returned the greeting. “Just now, I encountered the City Lord’s second son running amok in the market, knocking over countless fruits and vegetables and injuring a young child. I took the liberty of giving him a small lesson. I ask for the City Lord’s forgiveness for my impertinence.”
“It’s not easy for ordinary people to grow fruits and vegetables, and young children are also the treasures of their parents’ hearts. If your second young master has hysteria, you should ask a good doctor to treat him as soon as possible.” Jiu Hui looked at Tao Gongshou with concern: “Second Young Master, are you sober now?”
Tao Gongshou put the last two vegetables into the basket: “I’m sober, I’m sober.”
He was prone to fits of rage, but his mind was clear enough to know that when this woman said she would beat him, she would really beat him.
His servants held money bags and compensated the damaged stalls one by one. They were afraid that if they were late in compensation, they would become potatoes rolling on the ground like their second young master.
“This good-for-nothing has troubled you, Miss.” City Lord Tao looked at his son’s swollen face and guessed that he might have been beaten up. He was a little distressed at first, but when he saw his son being unusually obedient, he felt inexplicably relieved.
Over the years, this child would go crazy from time to time, tormenting his family. Which parents have experienced their child suddenly becoming ferocious and crawling to their bedside in the middle of the night?
Who has experienced a child suddenly howling, rolling around on the floor, and climbing under tables, chairs, and up tree trunks when there was a disagreement?
At that moment, he finally understood what the lingering depression in his heart was: it was the anger of wanting to beat a child but not being able to.
“Get up, change your clothes and get ready to leave.” City Lord Tao glared at Tao Gongshou.
Tao Gongshou got up on one leg, but when he caught sight of Jiu Hui’s shoe tip out of the corner of his eye, he got back down on the ground.
He, he didn’t dare.
“Since the Second Young Master is now sober, please get up.” Jiu Hui bent down to help him up. “I was eager to save you, and I’m sure the Second Young Master won’t blame me, right?”
Tao Gongshou shook his head violently. How could he dare? He was not worthy!
Yu Jing smiled gently. After Tao Gongshou changed into clean clothes, she said softly, “Everyone, let’s set off.”
She took off a golden hairpin from her hair and tossed it into the air. The hairpin transformed into a resplendent golden flying boat in the air. The puppets dressed as servants on the boat bowed and said, “Please board the boat, honored guests.”
“Immortal Venerable, please. Young master and young lady, please.” After Yu Jing and her master and apprentice boarded the boat, City Lord Tao led his two sons to follow.
Everyone watched as the golden boat flew farther and farther away. When they finally couldn’t see it anymore, they all cheered.
“Finally, someone has taken care of Tao Er*!”
TN:roughly Tao’s second child
“Everyone on the street wants to beat him up. The City Lord is a good man, how could he have such a son?”
“So that young lady was a disciple of the immortal sect. No wonder she was so powerful when she hit people. It was satisfying to watch.”
At this, everyone looked up at the sky, hoping that this time when the girl went out, she would beat Tao Er a few more times, and preferably beat him back to normal.
-—–
“This boat travels ten thousand miles a day, so we’ll be able to reach the Jiutian Sect tomorrow.” Yu Jing walked to the table. “Everyone, sit down and have some tea first.”
Jiu Hui sat down next to Yu Jing and asked, “Master, how many people will attend Daoist Master Yin Ji’s Body Integration Grand Ceremony this time?”
“Yin Ji is the most talented sword cultivator in the past three hundred years. The Jiutian Sect is holding a ceremony for him with such importance. All the major sects and the City Lord’s Mansions must attend to show their support.” Yu Jing thought for a moment and added, “Except for the Qinglan School.”
The five of them sat around the table. Tao Gongshou hesitated and carefully observed Jiu Hui’s eyes. Seeing that she wasn’t looking at him, he sat down next to his brother, shrinking his shoulders. After sitting down, he smiled ingratiatingly at Zhi You on the other side.
They were all disciples of the Immortal Venerable, so he was afraid that this one would also slap him in the face without a second thought. His whole body was aching now, and his head was still buzzing, but he didn’t dare to complain.
Zhi You took a sip of tea and said nothing. So this was what the books meant when they said that petty people fearing power but not virtue.
He——had an epiphany.
Staying on the flying boat was very boring. City Lord Tao was worried that his youngest son would go crazy again, but unexpectedly, his son was very well-behaved. Not only did he not make a fuss, but he also diligently served everyone tea and water.
The only problem was that he couldn’t bear to see Miss Jiu Hui raise her hand. Once Miss Jiu Hui raised her hand, his son’s knees would buckle.
Jiu Hui slept for a while and when she woke up, the sky was already bright. She walked out of the room and leaned on the flying boat’s guardrail, looking at the white clouds and the morning glow for a while. She walked around to the stern and saw Zhi You sitting cross-legged in cultivation. She was about to leave quietly, but Zhi You opened his eyes first.
Their eyes met. Jiu Hui walked over to Zhi You and sat down cross-legged beside him. “You didn’t sleep all night?”
Zhi You nodded. “I’m not used to falling asleep on a flying magic treasure.”
“Oh.” Jiu Hui took out some snacks from her storage ring and gave half to Zhi You. “It’ll be another two hours before we reach the Jiutian Sect. I wonder if the Jiutian Sect is as formidable as the legends say.”
Zhi You had gotten used to Jiu Hui sharing her food with him. He ate the snacks in silence, listening to Jiu Hui talk about some rumors from the outside world.
“Do you think the Demon Cult will come to cause trouble at Daoist Master Yin Ji’s Body Integration ceremony?” Jiu Hui whispered. “We must be careful then, lest we get caught up in their mess.”
“The Jiutian Sect has many masters, so even if someone from the Demon Cult really did come to cause trouble, the Jiutian Sect would be able to handle it.”
“Look over there.” Jiu Hui pointed to the glowing place in the distance. “Isn’t that where the Zhenxing Cauldron is?”
Zhi You nodded slightly.
Jiu Hui wanted to say something, but she swallowed her words when she saw a gorgeous flying phoenix boat emerging from the clouds.
There were many people standing on the boat. The woman in the lead seemed to notice Jiu Hui’s gaze and met her eyes.
As the morning sun pierced through the clouds, the flying boat that Jiu Hui was riding on emitted a brilliant golden glow.
The beautiful woman who had been standing proudly on the flying phoenix boat flew towards Jiu Hui and Zhi You.
Author’s Note:
Little Garlic Chive: Look, isn’t this being obedient? Although I hit you, you can’t hold it against me, I’m still a child!
Zhi You: I have realized.
Tao Er: Is there really no one who will speak up for me?