After the group returned to the surface, Queen Medusa merely nodded to Xiao Feng before flying toward the depths of the desert. The remaining three, led by Xiao Feng, walked toward Stone Desert City.
When he last came out of seclusion, his two older brothers had already founded the Mo Tie Mercenary Group here. He hadn't visited then because he was in a hurry, but this time they could have a proper gathering.
In the original story, these two didn't have much screen time, often giving the impression of being mere plot devices. However, in Xiao Feng's eyes, they were flesh-and-blood older brothers who protected him.
He stopped a passerby to ask for directions; the Mo Tie Mercenary Group was quite famous, and they soon found the place.
"Brother Ding and Brother Li aren't doing too badly for themselves."
Xiao Feng looked at the courtyard, which was no smaller than the Xiao Family's, with a look of joy on his face.
He stepped forward and announced his name. The guards looked at each other in surprise before hurrying inside to find the commanders.
A moment later, the voices of Xiao Ding and Xiao Li rang out.
"Brother Feng! I bet with Big Brother earlier that you would definitely be the first to come, not Xiao Yanzi!"
Xiao Li laughed heartily; his joy could be felt even from a distance.
Xiao Ding said helplessly, "You make it sound like I didn't say Brother Feng would definitely be the first to come too."
While they spoke, the two had reached the entrance. A large crowd of mercenaries following behind them packed the entrance tightly. They were all curious to see what the 'cultivation benchmark' their commanders often mentioned looked like and what his Realm was.
"Brother Ding! Brother Li!" Xiao Feng happily embraced the two.
"Brother Xiao Ding, Brother Xiao Li, hello," Xiao Xun Er also greeted them with a smile.
Xiao Ding nodded and smiled at Xiao Xun Er.
Xiao Li, however, seemed to have just noticed her. He punched Xiao Feng's shoulder, his eyes full of admiration. "Good lad, you actually managed to snatch Xun'er away. You're better than Xiao Yanzi!"
Xiao Feng smiled without speaking, while Xiao Xun Er's pretty face turned slightly red, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Come, these are my eldest brother and second brother." Xiao Feng looked at Qing Lin while introducing the young girl to the two beside him. "This is Qing Lin."
At this point, Xiao Feng paused. He had always used the title of 'maidservant' to frame Qing Lin, but truthfully, that wasn't how he felt in his heart. "She is my adopted younger sister."
Xiao Li glanced at the three of them and quickly greeted Qing Lin with a smile.
Xiao Ding, however, wore a half-smile. He was a good judge of character, and that girl's gaze was not so simple.
Qing Lin had originally kept her head lowered, but hearing Xiao Feng say this, she instinctively shook her head in denial. "Two... two young masters, I am Young Master Xiao Feng's maidservant, not his adopted sister."
"Let's not worry about all that mess for now. It wasn't easy to meet, so say no more—come inside and drink!" Xiao Li shouted at the top of his lungs, pulling Xiao Feng inside.
Xiao Ding smiled and followed behind with Xiao Xun Er and Qing Lin.
At that moment, the mercenaries gathered at the door cheered. Having wine to drink and no training to do was simply heaven!
The group sat in the main hall. Xiao Feng had always preferred tea over alcohol, but he couldn't resist Xiao Li's repeated egging on. Finally, he slammed down his teacup, picked up a large wine jar, and aimed it at Xiao Li. "Brother Li! Let's drink!"
Xiao Xun Er, sitting to the side, couldn't help but show a look of surprise. The usually mature and steady Brother Xiao Feng was actually getting worked up for once.
The usually quiet and solemn Meeting Hall was now filled with laughter and joy. The hall was filled with wine tables, and at every table, there were several drunks with their necks strained as they competed in drinking.
Looking around, there were bobbing heads everywhere, but Qing Lin was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is Qing Lin?"
After gulping down several large mouthfuls, Xiao Feng finally seemed to notice his little maidservant was missing. After looking around and not seeing her, he asked Xiao Xun Er.
Xiao Xun Er rolled her eyes, feeling quite speechless at the red-faced youth. Qing Lin had clearly greeted him before leaving, but after a few drinks, he had forgotten it all.
Back when she saw Xiao Li bringing the wine jars to the table, Xue Lan had walked over with a sigh and borrowed Qing Lin.
As for what they were doing... "Sister Qing Lin, keep an eye on the heat."
Xue Lan added water to a large pot while instructing Qing Lin, then began preparing other things.
"Sister Xue Lan, what are you making?" Qing Lin asked curiously.
"This is sobriety soup, my exclusive secret recipe. You're not allowed to steal it," Xue Lan said, raising her chin with a smile.
However, seeing Qing Lin's curious gaze, she quickly changed her tune. "If you want to learn, I can teach you, but you must promise me not to tell anyone else."
"Okay!" Qing Lin nodded heavily.
Her young master had started drinking; as his maidservant, she must learn how to make sobriety soup!
...That night, Xiao Feng was carried back by Xiao Xun Er and Qing Lin.
The sobriety soup was indeed finished, but where would those drunkards have room to drink anything else? By the time the soup was ready, they were already stuffed full of wine.
"Sister Xuner, you should go rest too. Young Master has Qing Lin to take care of him," Qing Lin said softly.
Suddenly, Xiao Xun Er felt something was off. She looked up, staring at Qing Lin, and said, "Sister Qing Lin is also very tired. I will look after Brother Xiao Feng."
Qing Lin had her own persistence; guarding her young master's rest was a maidservant's sacred duty.
Xiao Xun Er also had her own reason: This Lady's man, and you want to take care of him?
Then, both of them turned their gazes back to Xiao Feng and stopped talking.
Even in his drunken stupor, Xiao Feng's body involuntarily shuddered... The next day, Xiao Feng sat up from the bed with a headache. The hangover left his brain in a daze. After tapping his head several times, he noticed two people lying by his bed: Xiao Xun Er and Qing Lin.
His hand froze mid-tap. The headache that had shown signs of improvement instantly worsened to a terminal stage.
Almost instantly, his brain cleared completely.
"These two girls... they didn't get into a fight last night, did they?"
Regarding Qing Lin's feelings, Xiao Feng wasn't completely oblivious. The two men a woman could rely on most were her father or her husband; otherwise, she wouldn't have been so resistant to the title of'sister' yesterday.
It's just that in matters of the heart, the worst thing is unrequited passion. Xiao Feng truly intended to raise Qing Lin as a sister.
"Sigh... it's hard to be blissfully ignorant."
Xiao Feng carefully got off the bed, but he still woke the two of them.
Qing Lin just stood there obediently, while Xiao Xun Er simply threw herself into his arms.
"Go wash your face and brush your teeth," Xiao Feng said, rubbing Xiao Xun Er's head.
Qing Lin seemed to have just remembered something and rushed out with a look of despair.
Not long after, she brought in toiletries. "Young Master, let Qing Lin help you wash your face."
Xiao Feng shook his head with a wry smile. "Both of you go wash your faces and brush your teeth."
The two girls fought fiercely in private, but in front of Xiao Feng, they were as obedient as kittens. As soon as he spoke, they both went out.
After finishing everything, Qing Lin somehow found two portions of breakfast and placed them before Xiao Feng.
"Young Master, Sister Xuner, time for breakfast." Qing Lin took the tray and left again.
Xiao Feng looked at the respectful Qing Lin and turned to Xiao Xun Er in confusion. "What's wrong with that girl?"
Xiao Xun Er pouted her red lips and let out a soft hmph. "She's afraid that if she doesn't do her job as a maidservant well enough, you'll drive her away."
Xiao Feng looked baffled. What was all this? And why did you, Xun'er, understand Qing Lin so well?
After eating, Xiao Feng strolled through the courtyard with Xiao Xun Er, with Qing Lin following closely behind.
"I need to ask my brother for a sword," Xiao Feng suddenly remembered.
Xiao Xun Er covered her mouth and laughed. "Brother Xiao Feng, you're still thinking about that?"
Xiao Feng nodded. "One man, one horse, plus a little maidservant carrying a sword. How grand is that!"
Xiao Xun Er looked at Xiao Feng, her eyes blinking. "Brother Xiao Feng is quite good at putting on airs. Why didn't you show it when you were younger?"
Xiao Feng smiled. "Do you think your Brother Xiao Feng was just a dull goose?"
Xiao Xun Er's lips curled. "Xun'er didn't say that."
The three of them walked aimlessly and happened to reach the martial arts field. From a distance, they heard Xiao Li shouting, "You lazy bunch! If you had even a tenth of my Brother Feng's diligence, you wouldn't be here eating dirt!"
Usually, the mercenaries would just listen, but since the person in question had appeared today, the field immediately buzzed with heated discussion.
Xiao Li noticed something and turned around just in time to see Xiao Feng walking over. He grinned. "Brother Feng, you've come at the right time. Show them what you've got!"
He knew how easily Xiao Feng had dealt with Jia Lie Ao, and even more so how Xiao Feng had taken a punch from his own father without a scratch. He was completely confident in him against this group!
Xiao Feng was a bit bewildered. "Brother Li, what do you want me to do?"
At this moment, a burly man stepped out from the field. He smiled at Xiao Feng and said, "Young Master Xiao Feng, we men of the Tagor Desert get to know each other through fighting. We hear the two commanders mention your name every day. Since we've met today, if we don't spar a bit, my heart will itch terribly!"
Xiao Feng glanced at Xiao Li. "Brother Li, do you really praise me like that every day?"
Xiao Li laughed. "What, are you going to be modest now?"
He walked over to Xiao Feng, patted his shoulder, and lowered his voice. "This guy is a seven-star Dou Practitioner, rock attribute, specializes in defense. If you're not confident, I'll set a rule that no one can use Dou Qi."
Xiao Feng shook his head. "Brother Li, you've built me up so much, I can't let you down! But I'll need to borrow a spear."
Xiao Li's eyes flickered, finding that he could no longer see through his younger cousin. He turned and walked to the edge of the field, pulled out a long spear standing there, gripped it in the middle, and thrust it toward Xiao Feng. "Brother Feng, catch!"
With a bit of testing intent, Xiao Li put some extra force into the throw.
Xiao Feng raised his hand and caught the long spear, his figure remaining motionless. This brought another smile to Xiao Li's eyes.
With a shake of the spear, the stiff shaft only produced a small flurry of spear flowers. Then, Xiao Feng leaned forward and stepped, the spear spinning across his back. When he stood up again, both hands were gripping the tail of the spear.
"Good spear!"
Xiao Feng, who hadn't touched a satisfying weapon in years, felt a surge of excitement. He moved forward with short steps, the spear sweeping left and right, each time stopping just as it touched the floor. After six consecutive sweeps, he stopped his pace, and at the same time, the spearhead pointed into the air; if someone were standing in front of him, it would be aimed directly at their heart. When he stepped again, the spearhead shot out like a white snake, incredibly fierce.
In his excitement, Xiao Feng gave a loud shout, turned around, and exerted sudden force. The hard-shafted long spear actually curved into an arc, and with a whistling sound of breaking wind, it instantly slammed onto the ground.
Boom!
The stone slabs cracked from that point, and a fissure over ten meters long spread out in all directions.
Xiao Li's eyelids jumped. He looked at his spear with some heartache, hoping it wasn't broken.
The man who had stepped out swallowed hard. "My heart... suddenly doesn't itch anymore."