The adored child of the Xiao family has returned home

During the absence of the youngest of the Immortal Xiao Baishan's disciples —Xiao Qingchen— seniors missed him deeply. Shixiongs and shijies went daily to the entrance of the spirit caves to await his return and play with him again. And of course, with them, they always brought a few rice cakes or fresh tea to receive their little shidi properly.

"Ahh... So long time cultivating without rest or food... Will A-Qing be alright? He's so young and still developing. He won't grow if he continues like this!" These were the everyday thoughts of worried older brothers.

Poor ignorants. If they knew that their beloved shidi spent this couple of months enjoying the delicious delights that the different cities and kingdoms he visited offered, and the good cuisine of his traveling partner, who, sometimes, prepared different special sweets only for him... Maybe if they knew, for making them worry unnecessarily, they would have beaten him. Only a little. And very gently so as not to hurt him.

If possible with something not so hard.

—Ow! Shijie! —Xiao Qingchen whimpered dramatically when he felt the tap on his forehead.

—Shh. A-Qing was very bad in not telling us his real whereabouts, —says the oldest of all the disciples: Xiao Meiyu, a tall fine lady dressed in long, pale robes. In her arms, a small white rabbit sleeps.

She was peacefully patrolling the perimeter of the grounds when she found her little shidi very healthy and sneaking into the sect through the secret passage. She intercepted him and now they are like this.

—You have worried our brothers; they think you are cultivating behind closed doors in spirit caves. Now they are there: waiting for your return, very concerned about your health.

The older one takes again the tiny paw of the rabbit and hits her shidi again in the same place. As the oldest disciple, her duty is to "discipline" her youngest. Xiao Qingchen pouts not knowing what to say; he does not know if his teacher will allow him to talk about his escape with his siblings.

Xiao Meiyu smiles subtly when she sees him as this—: Shifu knows, right?

Xiao Qingchen looks at her in surprise. Xiao Meiyu responds by pointing to her own head. It refers to the bamboo hat with veils he is wearing, which she knows belongs to their shifu. Or, well... it was.

That explained, they both start walking towards the study of their shifu, with Meiyu-jie trying to convince Qingchen to tell her about the outside and the reason why he was there.

—But-! Why are you here?!

A deep but friendly voice suddenly interrupts the peace. This belongs to a tall, handsome young man who is fast approaching where the pair is. He looks surprised to see his shidi, not in the spiritual caves where he did come to wait for him, but conversing with his shijie a few meters away—. At what moment did you come out? Oh no! I left Li–shimei there!

—Ahhh, Wang-ge, I'm sorry! I have just arrived! Don't hit me!

With great strides, the older finally cancels the distance between them and hugs his shidi.

—Silly boy! Who would hit you?

Xiao Wangyi is even taller than Xiao Meiyu and picks up a smiling Xiao Qingchen who returns the hug. His knee-length robes and dark pants indicated that he was going to train with the sword, but he crossed paths with them earlier.

—Mhm... You?

—Don't joke.

After a few seconds of playing, Xiao Wangyi brings his little brother back to the ground. Xiao Qingchen can now see the appearance of his shixiong better: straight bearing and princely aura; fine features with overly straight eyebrows that made him look annoyed. A bit similar to shijie, but all of this family, despite not sharing blood, look slightly alike.

The low-key laugh of Xiao Meiyu is heard tinkling behind her small porcelain hand.

—What do you think you're doing? You're not six years old anymore. —Xiao Wangyi laughs when he sees what Qingchen does.

—Shixiong carried me until I was twelve, now I'm only fifteen, —he replies with a slight tone of adorable demand while continues with his arms raised towards his older brother—. Is it that they no longer love me the same because I grew up?

Xiao Qingchen knows how to play his cards very well as a little boy when he wanted to. If he wanted to be hugged, he would be hugged. If he wanted to be carried, he would be carried. No one could say no to him.

Fifteen minutes later, a group of seventeen disciples was gathered in front of the door of the office of shifu. Xiao Qingchen is in their midst, sitting in the arms of Wangyi-ge and smiling as he drank the tea that Meiyu-jie gave him. The other shixiongs stroked his head and the other shijies pinched his round milky cheeks. They all spoke to him affectionately, but they did not harass him too much.

How good it is to be the youngest in the house.

This treatment now is the one he has always received. The day he was brought to the sect, he was only a four-year-old boy, while the other disciples of the immortal were between eight and sixteen years old. At that time he was quite disheveled and his face was stained with a lot of dust, so he did not attract much attention from others. However, after grooming and dressing him in soft new robes, they saw that he was a very, very cute little boy.

With large clear eyes and rosy cheeks, long wavy hair of the color of the ink, and skin as white as snow... The first thought they had of him was that he was a beautiful porcelain doll!

And they should treat it as such!

It helped a lot that he was still an infant and his sweet and pleasant character conquered hearts. It was for such pampered, cared for, and raised by the rest of the students, who at the beginning found in him a small doll with which to play dress and feed. I can even mention that this was not only limited to the students but also reached their shifu.

Years passed and A–Qing grew.

Then, they understood that he was not a doll. Xiao Qingchen was a person and they had to treat him as such. However, the change was not really so radical: since they no longer feared it would break, his shixiongs allowed him to learn to fight and play with the sword, and his shijies to use the knife and play with magic fire.

Oh, and they already let him take a bath and dress up on his own.

Xiao Qingchen continued to grow, but his personality was already formed. It is understandable from this type of raising why his acts are so delicate and the reason for his attitude of "I'll play with you if you pamper me a bit and you are good." Besides, his sect was not rigid with the manners towards older people and the attitudes of everyone were freer, so they cared little about that character not suitable for the mortal world. That was hard for Song Yewan at the time.

—Qingchen.

The face of the one who was called shone, betraying his emotion. They all turned their heads to where the soft, but commanding voice of their respectable teacher was coming from.

A slim, straight figure like bamboo stood in the middle of the path from the garden to her office. Her erudite robes inclined to art and beauty fluttered in the gentle breeze alongside her long white hair casually tied by a thin ribbon of the same color. She is a beautiful young woman, with white skin like jade and more beautiful than the flowers around her; her mere presence and bearing demanded respect, but her kind gaze and soft smile hid that a little and called for affection.

She is Xiao Baishan. The immortal anchorite who rules this mountain.

—Shifu. —They all greet solemnly in unison cupping their hands and making a proper bow.

—Shifu! —Xiao Qingchen cheerfully greets, springing from Wangyi's arms to the ground and running towards the beautiful woman—. This disciple pays his respects! This disciple has missed her!

Before reaching her, he stops and greeted her with folded hands; then he goes on and hugs her like an adorable koala. The immortal smiles and caresses the hair of her little student.

—Qingchen looks healthy. That is good. —She pats him on the back a couple of times to show his face, which she caresses when just sees him—. You look different; you have a lot to tell I guess.

—Hm! But... did not Shifu call me about an urgent situation? Maybe I should help with that first...

She shook her head.

—We can see it later. It was a long way here; you must be exhausted. First, go in and make some relaxing tea for both of you.

Immediately obeying with a smile, Xiao Qingchen leaves and enters the office of his shifu. She follows him at a slow pace looking at her other "children". Pat a couple of them on the head before saying:

—Go with the others and give notice: in three hours I want you all here. Qingchen has returned from the mortal world and it sure has something to share with you.

After these words, she closed the doors of her office.

~

—Woah! I can't believe he's been so dedicated!

—He is like that! Is it really cute? I only said once that I like sweets and he went to the trouble to make me many the next day. And he's so shy ~! When I woke up, he was not there: he had left them on the table next to our bed with a note. I didn't see him until the afternoon! Even after so many hours, he still looked a bit embarrassed, hahaha!

The beautiful clear eyes of Xiao Qingchen formed two crescent moons when he smiled broadly with the memory. He rested his small face on his hand and, without meaning to, let out a sigh; his gaze was distant and happy, lost in thoughts.

It is the eighth time that he sighs like that. His classmates begin to be a little puzzled and his teacher suspects.

It was already night. After handling the security matter of the sect, they were all now gathered in a spacious garden, sitting on tablecloths filled with the fragrant dinner they would share. A bright full moon lit up the place from high in the sky. In the distance, for the beauty of the background and the cultivators in it, one would think that is observing, not people, if not... deities.

—You know? I got sick once. —Xiao Qingchen speaks again, a little calmer and looking nostalgic. Between his hands, a bowl of hot soup is gently moved in circles—. Winter is colder and more dangerous there, and I noticed it very late. At night, after playing with Yewan in the snow, I started sneezing uncontrollably and my eyes sting a lot. I was trembling very hard even though I wrapped myself up with many blankets and my head seemed to be on fire. I have never felt so bad.

He takes a spoonful of the hot liquid to his mouth and drinks it. A sound of satisfaction escapes from his lips and then he laughs—: I think I should have listened to him when he told me to put on one more coat.

The others smile. They know that, since his adolescence began, he became a bit headstrong about various matters, including bundling up properly or combing his hair on his own. This brother has become a little brat... In their hearts, they apologize to the traveling partner of Xiao Qingchen.

—At that moment, I just wanted to go back and be in my bed drinking the delicious soup of da shijie, but I couldn't even move because my body didn't respond to me. I wanted to cry, but I had no tears.

Together, they pursed their own lips. Xiao Qingchen took the opportunity to steal a piece of chicken from his eldest brother, who did not deny it. Because, oh, his little brother had already been through a lot! He had no heart to deny him something now. Everyone felt bad thinking they were not there for him...

However... it seems that someone else does. Before continuing, the cheeks of their shidi subtly took on color, his expression revealed that his heart feels warm; some of them think it is because of the hot soup which he is drinking, but they are wrong.

—Suddenly, I felt something cold on my forehead and how someone was arranging the blankets on me. It also straightened my hair and wiped the sweat from my face. Then he helped me to sit up and gave me a drink. How thirsty I was at that time! —He exclaims, moving his spoon along with the tone of his voice—. Then I fell asleep. I don't know how long I was, but many times I woke up for a few seconds and noticed that YeWan was still by my side. Hahaha, actually, I was sleeping in his embrace. We were still in the same position as when he gave me water; I guess I didn't want to wake up if he left. So kind...

Another sigh.

This is so strange. Why is he talking with his eyes lost in the stars and shining like theses? What about that big dreamy smile? Who is that person that left such a mark on the memory and heart of their little brother? Is not he just a simple boy from the mortal world that he met by coincidence?

—... and he helped me eat the soup that he made for me. —Xiao Qingchen finished eating and was now drinking peach tea. As with the soup plate, the cup was also moving it in circles absently—. Until I recovered, YeWan took care of me and helped me recover fast. He prepared me medicine and cut fresh fruit... Ah, it felt so good! I was treated like a prince, hahaha! He's such a good friend!

—A-Qing should not have abused his kindness! —scolds a shijie sweetly—. Here we would have taken care of you better and you would not have caused your friend so much trouble. Why didn't you come back?

The youngest looked at her with his big eyes, then shook his head gently. A soft smile was still on his lips, but the inner tips of his eyebrows were tilted upward:

—I didn't want to say goodbye to A-Zhen yet...