Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

At the dinner table, Qin Xiao almost cried as he stared at the table full of meat and vegetable dishes.

In fact, because it was dinner, the dishes were not very rich. They only fried a few home-cooked dishes and made seafood porridge. The only main dish, steamed fish, was added temporarily when Qin Xiao came back.

But Qin Xiao looked at the table of food and sighed for a long time.

Because of the limited conditions in the forest and their haste, the food they ate along the way was not very good, just barely cooked, and the only cooking methods were roasting, boiling, and steaming. There were no seasonings in the forest, and they were not in the mood to look for them, so they ate the flavors of the creatures themselves.

Qin Yun'an, who had been eating that kind of food for decades, felt a little uncomfortable when looking at the table of dishes.

As soon as he put the dish into his mouth, Qin Xiao couldn't help but frown.

The taste is very strong.

Qin Xiao couldn't help but stick out his tongue. He wanted to drink a mouthful of porridge to wash it down, but he felt that the porridge tasted strong.

Perhaps it was because he hadn't eaten anything with seasoning for a long time, Qin Xiao couldn't get used to the taste for a while.

"What's wrong?" asked Qin Jichen, who had been paying attention to this side.

Qin Yun'an beside him was even more exaggerated than Qin Xiao. He almost vomited after taking a sip of soup.

"...Oh my God." Qin Yun'an swallowed it hard and said uncomfortably.

He had been there longer than Qin Xiao and had long been accustomed to the tasteless food. When he first ate these, he felt much better than Qin Xiao.

"...The taste is a bit strong." Qin Xiao stared at the table of dishes and frowned uncomfortably.

It looks so delicious, but tastes like this.

“? The taste is not strong?” Qin Jiuyuan picked up another dish curiously, tasted it, and was a little puzzled.

"...You may not be used to it." Qin Jinyi thought of something, walked out and brought back a bottle of hot water.

"Why don't you just eat it with hot water? It can be diluted a little." Qin Jinyi said, pouring a large bowl of water for Qin Xiao and Qin Yun'an respectively.

Qin Xiao did not refuse. He rinsed it tentatively and then ate it. It was indeed much better than before.

Although Qin Yun'an still felt uncomfortable, he was able to swallow it.

Qin Jinyi looked at the two of them and couldn't help but sigh.

The dishes were eaten up by several people. Qin Xiao even added porridge to a large bowl of hot water and drank it all.

Qin Jinyi looked at it and felt sad: "I haven't eaten good food for many days... I can't even eat such a light dish."

"It will be fine." Qin Xiao wiped his mouth and didn't care much.

"Oh, you'll get used to it after a few days." Qin Yun'an imitated Qin Xiao and finished drinking the porridge, and echoed.

Qin Jichen turned his gaze towards him: "By the way, I haven't asked yet, your name——"

"My name is Qin Yun'an." While Qin Jichen was observing Qin Yun'an, Qin Yun'an was also looking at Qin Jichen. His eyes swept across Qin Jichen's eyebrows and he smiled slightly.

"Qin... Yun'an?" Qin Jichen thought of something, his expression changed slightly, and his eyes became solemn.

Qin Yun'an smiled at him: "Yes."

Qin Jichen's eyes darkened slightly: "We have a vacant house next to our father's house. You can live there, but no one has lived there for a long time. It may be a little -"

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm not picky. As long as there's a place to stay, it's fine." Qin Yun'an waved his hand, not caring at all.

"Then I'll go find clothes for you. Qin Xiao's clothes are still too small for you." Qin Jichen said as he stood up.

Qin Yun'an looked at the robe that he had worn like a tight-fitting garment, responded with a dry laugh, and stood up with Qin Jichen.

When he reached the door, he turned to look at Qin Xiao as if he had thought of something, but he saw that he ignored him and was still staring at the dishes in a daze.

Qin Yunan paused, turned around and followed Qin Jichen.

"Who is he?"

After Qin Yun'an and the other man disappeared, Qin Jinyi asked Qin Xiao in a low voice.

"Who is what?"

"As for his identity, I always feel that... you and him are not friends." Qin Jinyi frowned and asked tentatively, "Why did he come back with you?"

"He said he was my father's brother." Qin Xiao picked up the tea beside him and took a sip.

so bitter.

Qin Xiao said this calmly. Qin Jinyi almost spit out the water he had just drunk.

"Brother, brother?!"

Qin Jinyi quickly put down the teacup in his hand: "Does our father have a brother?"

"There should be." Qin Xiao remembered that Qin Xiuyun had mentioned it to Qin Jichen.

"I haven't heard of it yet." Qin Jinyi sighed.

"Normal." Qin Xiao closed his eyes, his eyelashes casting a shadow on his eyelids. "He was 6 years old when he left. Dad is not much older, and he will not be older than that. He doesn't have a deep impression of his childhood, and he didn't come back, so naturally he won't mention it to us."

"Where are you going? Are you going on an adventure like you, third brother?" Qin Jiuyuan asked curiously.

Qin Xiao glanced at her and touched her head: "Yes, but he had some accidents."

Qin Jiuyuan was puzzled, but Qin Xiao did not explain to her. He just whispered, "Aren't you going to play with your friends?" He remembered that when he parted with Qin Yingying, the girl said see you later.

"Oh, yes, I have an appointment with them." Qin Jiuyuan became excited when she heard this, and said goodbye to Qin Xiao and the others happily, "I will be back before 9 o'clock in the evening."

Having said that, he jumped out.

When Qin Xiao watched Qin Jiuyuan go away, Qin Jinyi kept staring at him with flickering eyes, wondering what he was thinking.

He found out about it a few months after Qin Xiao left, when he went home for the winter vacation. When he found out, he was upset. He was angry that Qin's father didn't tell him, that Qin Jichen didn't tell him, and that Qin Xiao didn't tell him about it.

He clearly left a communication tool for Qin Xiao, and Qin Xiao could have contacted him at any time, but he didn't.

On New Year's Day, Qin Jinyi broke into Qin Xiao's room and saw the contact tools he gave to Qin Xiao on the table.

It was a stone called the Sound-Wearing Stone. Two of these stones form a pair, and after being infused with Qi, they can communicate with each other. Before he left, he was afraid that Qin Xiao would be lonely, so he spent money to buy a pair. He took one of them and left the other to Qin Xiao so that he could contact him at any time.

But because he had just entered the academy, everything in the academy was too attractive to him. He quickly absorbed all the knowledge about Qi cultivation. The academy broadened his horizons. Every day there were new people and things waiting for him. For a while, he was overwhelmed and forgot about Qin Xiao, who should have been safe at home, and didn't pay too much attention to him.

Naturally, no one would care why the Sounding Stone had been silent for several months.

He had also been confused, but thinking about Qin Xiao's indifferent personality, he believed that Qin Xiao was living well over there. After all, Qin Xiao had never taken the initiative to contact his eldest brother when he was in school.

It was not until he got home that he felt something was wrong. Under his constant pressure, Qin's father finally told him everything.

Qin Jinyi's mind was blank at the time, and the gift for Qin Xiao was still hidden in his ring.

The gift was not handed over to Qin Xiao in the end, but was put into his cabinet, thinking that one day, if Qin Xiao came back, he could be given a surprise.

Thinking of this, Qin Jinyi's eyes changed slightly, and the light dimmed a little: "You... have you seen what's in the cabinet?"

Qin Xiao just turned around and heard Qin Jinyi's question. He was stunned for a moment, then realized that he was talking about what Qin Jiuyuan showed him, and nodded: "I saw it."

"What do you think...?" Qin Jinyi's fingers tightened slightly, and there was a hint of nervousness in his voice that he himself was not aware of.

How about it……

Qin Xiao thought back to the cabinet of toys and said with a guilty conscience, "It's pretty good. I like it very much."

"Really?" Qin Jinyi was overjoyed.

Qin Xiao looked into his eyes, realized something, and nodded helplessly: "Yes."

Qin Jinyi wanted to say something when a black shadow flashed before his eyes. When he looked closely, he saw a black cat lightly landing on Qin Xiao's neck and glanced at him indifferently.

Qin Xiao seemed nervous because of the arrival of the cat.

“What is this…?” Qin Jinyi looked at Qin Xiao.

"Ah, he..." Qin Xiao didn't know what Qiongqi wanted to do, and looked at him in confusion, "His name is Qiongqi."

Qiongqi glanced at him lazily, said nothing, and just lay on Qin Xiao's neck and shoulders.

"Did you name it?" Qin Jinyi was slightly stunned, but didn't really care. "Did you pick it up on the street? If you want to keep it, just keep it. It's nothing."

Qin Jinyi looked at Qiongqi's size and estimated that he couldn't eat much, so he just had to open his mouth a few times.

Qin Xiao: ...

Qin Xiao hesitated to speak, looked at Qiongqi, and seeing that he didn't respond, he nodded and agreed.

"Speaking of which... you actually lied to Jiuyuan like that." Qin Jinyi didn't pay attention to this episode and recalled, "You don't know how surprised my father and I were when we heard what Jiuyuan said."

Although Qin Xiao didn't see it, he could imagine the scene and nodded: "I didn't have a good reason at the time, so I said that."

Qin Jinyi smiled and lowered his head.

More than just surprise.

Qin Jinyi was devastated after knowing the truth and was depressed for a long time. Seeing that Qin Jiuyuan ate and slept, then played and ate every day, looking so heartless, he couldn't help but feel confused.

"Your third brother is missing, aren't you worried?" During a dispute between Qin Jinyi and his father, Qin Jiuyuan passed by. Qin Jinyi saw her puzzled expression and asked after thinking so.

Qin's father next to him said nothing, as if he knew something and turned his head away.

"Hmm? There's nothing to worry about." Qin Jiuyuan was surprised by his performance. He glanced at Qin's father hesitantly, waved at him, and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, Third Brother told me. He wants to go out and play, to see these... mountains and seas... and so on."

"He told me everything. It'll be fine." Qin Jiuyuan said. Seeing Qin's father beside him, she quickly added in a low voice, "Don't let Dad know. I promised my third brother to keep it a secret."

Qin Jinyi's face became extremely gloomy after listening to this. He glanced at Qin's father who was silent beside him. One look at Qin's father's expression showed that this was definitely not the first time he had heard Qin Jiuyuan's words.

In the end, Qin Jinyi snorted coldly, ignored the confused Qin Jiuyuan and the silent Qin's father, and left with a flick of his sleeves.

Qin Jinyi's eyes were slightly deep and complicated, and he lowered his eyes. He didn't want to be seen by Qin Xiao, but he didn't expect that the cat on Qin Xiao's shoulder suddenly jumped down, lowered its body and tilted its head, and met his eyes with an inexplicable look.

Qin Jinyi was stunned for a moment, then he calmed down. For some reason, he always felt that this cat was unusual.

"...I heard from Qin Jiuyuan before that there will be a competition in a few days, so you are on vacation?" Qin Xiao glanced at Qiongqi and asked.

"Ah, yes." Qin Jinyi was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "You may not know that there will be a festival called Yufang in two days, which is actually a sacrifice. As for the competition... I'll tell you later."

Qin Jinyi winked at him and made a mysterious expression.

Qin Xiao raised his eyebrows, and seeing that he was intentionally keeping him in suspense, he tactfully did not ask any more questions.

"What is sacrifice?" Qin Xiao was more interested in the so-called Fisherman's Rice Festival.

"Actually, I'm not too sure... It seems to be a prayer to the gods, praying for good weather and safety at sea." Qin Jinyi said, "After all, this place generally does sea fishing business... I'll take you to see it in a couple of days, and you'll know."

Qin Xiao felt a little tired. After chatting with Qin Jinyi for a few more words, he went back to sleep.

Qin Jinyi did not stop him and watched him go away.

Qin Xiao thought of something halfway through his journey, and turned back to carry away the Qiongqi that was staring at Qin Jinyi.

Qiongqi didn't resist along the way, staring at Qin Xiao quietly. Qin Xiao's expression remained unchanged: "Don't you want to rest?"

"None of your business." Qiongqi swung its tail and tried to hit Qin Xiao, but he dodged it.

"Then what are you going to do?" Qin Xiao returned to the room, put him on the ground, took off his shoes, got on the bed, spread out the quilt and prepared to go to sleep.

"Are you going to sleep now?" Qiongqi raised his eyebrows.

Qin Xiao nodded and lowered his head to smell the quilt. Although there was not much dust on it, it had a smell of being left in the house for a long time.

Qin Xiao frowned, then lay down while thinking about drying the quilt tomorrow.

When Qiongqi saw this, his eyes changed color. He jumped lightly onto the bed, turned into the size of a tiger, and lay down on the inside, surrounding Qin Xiao.

Qin Xiao was squeezed, opened his eyes, and looked at him with a little fatigue.

Qiongqi stretched out his claws and hugged him like a doll, spread his wings slightly, closed his eyes and fell asleep, as if he had no other intentions.

Qin Xiao closed his eyes again and was about to fall asleep when he heard Qiongqi asking a question in his ear.

"Do you trust me so much? Aren't you worried that I might eat you while you sleep?"

Qin Xiao frowned in a daze and murmured, "There's nothing I can do if you're determined to eat it, even if I'm awake there's nothing I can do. Why should I worry so much..."

Qin Xiao fell silent as he spoke.

Perhaps it was because he was lying on the soft bed, or because he was sinking into the comfortable bedding, Qin Xiao slept particularly peacefully.

Or maybe it’s because I know that when I’m at home, I don’t have to be on edge every day and I don’t dare to relax for a moment.

When Qiongqi heard the reply, surprise flashed in his eyes. He raised his eyebrows and looked at him. After thinking for a while, he stretched out his chin, put it on Qin Xiao's shoulder, and then fell asleep.

Qin Xiao slept until dawn. Looking at the bright sky outside the window, Qin Xiao frowned and covered his eyes.

His biological clock told him to wake up, but his body told him to continue sleeping.

Thinking of something, he reached out and touched the bed, and sure enough, it was cold beside him.

Qin Xiao had a headache and sat up. Before his brain was fully clear, his consciousness was released and he started looking for Qiongqi.

After searching around but finding nothing, Qin Xiao had no choice but to get up from the bed.