The next morning, the group of disciples woke up and quickly made for the hidden realm's exit. While traveling, the juniors noticed something strange between their senior martial brothers. There was a sense of closeness and harmony that hadn't been present before. Though they were curious about the change, none of them were shameless enough to pry into it.
In the afternoon a few hours before reaching the exit, they took a short break and something unexpected happened at this time.
Junior Brother Wen nervously went up to Qinghe and stood before him. Just when Qinghe thought he would begin making trouble again, Junior Brother Wen formally bowed. The bow was deep and undeniably respectful.
"Senior Martial Brother Feng, I have been disrespectful during this journey, and though I do not deserve it, I humbly beg your forgiveness."
Silence claimed the surroundings as everyone looked on in shock as Junior Brother Wen apologized with utmost sincerity.
After speaking, he made to kneel before him. Qinghe hurriedly stopped him and pulled him back up.
"Junior Brother Wen, there is no need for this. I am not angry at you, nor have I ever been. There is nothing to forgive, so please rise," Qinghe spoke with a gentle smile adorning his face, eyes brimming with kindness.
"But Senior Brother, I…" Junior Brother Wen didn't know what to say. He didn't think he would be forgiven this easily, and Senior Brother Feng really seemed to mean it.
"It's alright now, so please rest. We will continue traveling again soon." After advising him, Qinghe turned around and left.
Seeing that Jing Shui was also about to leave, Junior Brother Wen immediately called out to him, "Senior Brother Jing, please wait!"
A trace of annoyance flashed past his eyes, but Jing Shui still halted. "What?"
Junior Brother Wen fidgeted a bit before asking anxiously, "Senior Brother Jing, do you think Senior Brother Feng meant it when he said he wasn't mad at me?"
At first, Jing Shui had been annoyed enough to slap this junior brother who kept targeting his friend. But he noticed that after the fight with the Behemoth, Junior Brother Wen's attitude did a one-eighty. He would keep shooting Feng Qinghe conflicted glanced loaded with guilt, as though he had suddenly realized something that made him see how much of an asshole he had been. It was probably due to Qinghe inadvertently revealing a hint of his tragic past.
Though Jing Shui was glad for the change, and though Qinghe really didn't seem to care about the previous hostility, Jing Shui still couldn't bear to completely forgive this junior brother. After all, he didn't have a screw loose in his head like Qinghe.
But still, he didn't have a heart made of stone either.
Seeing that he was sincerely worried, Jing Shui unconsciously softened his voice as he assured, "Yes, he really isn't mad at you. That silly fellow can't even hold a grudge. So you stop worrying and go rest, or else you'll drag everyone else down."
With a beaming smile, Junior Brother Wen shouted a "Yes, Senior Brother!" and went back to resting. This scene left everyone watching with a warm and pleasant feeling.
A few minutes later, they set out again.
As they drew closer to the exit, they noticed more and more trampled greenery and footprints that signaled that many other people had used this path recently. It was most likely that the other groups of disciples had also used this path to the exit.
Soon, they saw a wide spatial rip suspended half a meter over the ground.
This was the exit to the secret realm.
The rip was wide in the middle and tapered as if pinched towards the ends, its edges luminescent. The space inside of it seemed to be rippling, the distortion looking like waves in an ocean of glass. Nothing was visible of what lay past the exit.
Since the disciples had already seen it once from the other side while entering, they were not all that alarmed. With Qinghe and Jing Shui in the lead, they swiftly moved towards the exit.
The moment Qinghe went through the spatial rip, he felt the familiar feeling of vertigo as the space around him twisted and blurred. Within the blink of an eye, the scenery had already changed into familiar surroundings.
In front of him was a large and flat plain surrounded on all sides by towering forested mountains. Groups of disciples were scattered throughout the plain.
They had reached the other side safely.
The juniors all arrived one by one, crowding around the spatial rip for a moment. The disciples then greeted Qinghe and Jing Shui one last time before running off to meet with their friends or masters.
Not wanting to block the exit, Qinghe and Jing Shui also moved a bit further away.
Their task was finally completed. Qinghe heaved a sigh of relief. He no longer had to herd, guide and protect a group of excitable teens who went around finding trouble. He had done his responsibility. It was finally over.
Just as he was basking in the lack of teenagers, two young bodies suddenly crashed into him full force, almost toppling him in their excitement as they screamed joyfully, "Senior Brother, you're back!"
Here were two more excitable teens.
Qinghe sighed and patted the two heads resting on his shoulders as he reprimanded lightly, "Jin-er, Yin-er, what did I tell you about decorum in public places."
Two heads popped up and grinned. "That it was unnecessary?" Fei Jin said innocently while Fei Yin nodded his head in agreement.
Qinghe rolled his eyes internally. Here they went again. He couldn't teach them anything good, they just disregarded everything.
Fei Jin and Fei Yin were twins. They were half spiritual beasts and it showed. They had tiny fangs, short and curly hair that never grew, small, pointy and thick nails that could make holes in pretty much everything, and personalities as free as the wind.
Fei Jin wielded the rare thunder element while Fei Yin wielded the just-as-rare ice element. They had been rescued by the head disciple of the sect and were the third and fourth disciples of the sect master of Heavenly Peak Sect.
Feng Qinghe was the second disciple of the sect master.
Just then, the two little devils noticed that there was an extra person who stood nearby as if he was familiar with their senior brother.
They turned their heads to Qinghe as one as Fei Jin asked, "Brother, who is this?"
Qinghe introduced, "This is the head disciple of the Golden Sun Sect, Jing Shui. Brother Jing, these are my junior brothers, Fei Jin and Fei Yin."
Both sides evaluated each other.
"He stinks like gold and money," Fei Jin summarized for the both of them while Fei Yin nodded while wrinkling his nose.
"You brats!" Jing Shui wanted to go beat them up and teach these impertinent little imps some manners. Seeing his angry look, the twins giggled and ran away like the wind while exclaiming sarcastically, "Scary! So scary!"
Frowning, Jing Shui turned to Qinghe, "How come you're alright with touching them?"
Qinghe froze. "What?"
Jing Shui elaborated. "In the hidden realm, I once touched you by accident and you flinched like I was a hideous monster out to eat you. I thought it might be because of your past, but it seems it's just me you don't like?"
"That's…" Qinghe faltered. Just how should he explain this? Maybe it was their partial spiritual beast heritage or maybe the fact that Qinghe had practically raised them, but he had never felt uncomfortable at those two junior brothers' touch.
Suddenly realizing that he might have said something insensitive, Jing Shui panicked. "Uh, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it! You don't have to say anything! Nothing at all! Let's just…uh, let's find your junior brothers! That's right! Let's go find them and spank some sense into them!"
Qinghe felt amused and exasperated at the same time.
"Brother Jing, that's not it. I only prefer not to be touched by most people, I'm not yet sure why I'm okay with a few. I can't control this aspect and I'm sorry if that caused you offense," he explained as clearly as possible to avoid future misunderstandings.
"Oh?" Jing Shui didn't look offended but rather disappointed.
Feeling like he had to say something to appease the other, Qinghe opened his mouth to speak before realizing that a lot of gazes had concentrated on them. Closing his lips, he subtly looked around.
Groups of cultivators from various sects were scattered throughout the plain, either having returned from the secret realm or waiting for someone's return from there. Right now, most of them were staring openly or casting covert glances at Qinghe and Jing Shui while discussing something in hushed whispers. They didn't look hostile but rather shocked, as if they'd just heard something unbelievable.
Even Jing Shui noticed the looks they were getting.
"What's up with them? Why are they looking at us like that?"
Qinghe sighed in exhaustion. He just wanted to get back to his room and rest without having to maintain appearances. "It appears that word of us having taken down a Behemoth has spread."
"So soon?" Jing Shui was startled at the speed.
"Yes. I'm sure our juniors couldn't wait to proudly proclaim their exploits."
"That group of braggarts, what's there to be so proud about?" Jing Shui was displeased. Look at his friend! He had been the one to do all the hard work, but had he gone around swaggering like a prideful peacock? No. That is how a true cultivator should behave!
"Leave them be. I've put them through a lot this past month, they deserve to at least get some bragging rights out of it," Qinghe was unconcerned.
"Hmph! You're just too lax on them."
"Not this again…"
Their bickering was interrupted by a rich and smooth female voice, "Oh, this is a surprise. You two seem to be getting along well."
Instantly recognizing the voice, Jing Shui turned around in astonishment. "Master?"