Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 198 [The Vanished Senior Brother] (6000 words)

Chapter 192 [The Vanished Senior Brother] (6000)

"A reward?" Chen Yan was taken aback, frowning as he asked, "Chu Keqing, what are you talking about?"

"Huh? Oh no, it's nothing, I was just spacing out."

Chu Keqing's heart skipped a beat. How could she have accidentally blurted out the truth in her heart...

"Senior Chen Yan, please rest assured, I will definitely punish Luo Qing severely!"

After quickly hanging up the phone, Chu Keqing put down her phone and gently rubbed her slightly flushed face.

After pondering for a while, Chu Keqing sighed and picked up her phone again to dial the number.

"Xiao Cai, go and fetch my Senior Brother Luo. If he refuses to come, use some force."

·
Luo Qing has been doing alright lately.

After Chu Keqing broke his leg, Luo Qing suffered greatly as compensation to Fang Dahai and Chen Yan, and lived a quiet life for a while.

His business at Luoyunzhai was actually ruined—the hundreds or thousands of rats that Chen Yan had created back then, which ran rampant in broad daylight, eventually all ended up in Luoyunzhai…

After a passerby filmed the incident and posted it online, it went viral, sparking all sorts of rumors and speculations, such as the shop being haunted or attracting some unclean spirits...

Luo Qing's livelihood depends on his connections with the Xuanmen sect; by causing this mess, his reputation is completely ruined.

After his leg healed, Luo Yunzhai also sold his shop—at a huge discount.

He had to offer a discount; his house was already famous, and the buyer had to drastically lower the price.

However, fortunately, after Chu Keqing gave him a stern warning, she gradually stopped paying attention to him. Chu Keqing had devoted all her energy to currying favor with that senior Chen Yan, so she had no time to care about what Luo Qing was doing.

After behaving himself for a while, Luo Qing gradually started to think of ways to make some money again.

Having learned from his previous experience, he dared not go too far. He knew that some people were not to be trifled with. If he kicked a hornet's nest, his junior sister, Elder Zi, would no longer be there to clean up his messes and cover for him as before.

Fortunately, as the only son of the previous leader of the Yun Sect, Luo Qing had accumulated some connections and resources over the years by using Chu Keqing's name to travel the world.

Although Chu Keqing broke his leg, she couldn't completely kill him out of consideration for their family ties, let alone announce a purge of his family.

So, after the storm had passed, Luo Qing still secretly made some money under the guise of being Chu Keqing's senior brother.

For example, he transformed his private teahouse courtyard into a small clubhouse.

Relying on his previously accumulated connections, he began acting as a middleman, providing venues for transactions between parties in shady businesses and acting as an intermediary.

They can earn quite a bit just from the "tea money".

Some businessmen who wanted to get to know Master Zi but lacked the status and influence to do so would ask others to indirectly find Luo Qing, thinking that Master Zi's senior brother should still have some influence over Chu Keqing.

Luo Qing naturally accepted these easy targets, using the guise of referral fees to earn a small profit.

When he encounters a stupid, fat sheep, he simply takes matters into his own hands and does fortune telling or face reading.

These victims, unaware that they had been tricked, were instead filled with gratitude and offered him a reward.

After all, it wouldn't be polite enough to ask Elder Zi to help. But being able to get Elder Zi's senior brother, Uncle Qing, to help is already quite good.

Chu Keqing knew some of these things but not others. Overall, she turned a blind eye, only sternly warning him not to go too far. She let him do things like fortune telling and face reading to earn some money.

However, if someone were to do something like the one that tricked Fang Dahai before, they would be expelled from the Yun Sect and the entire martial arts world would be notified to clean house.

Luo Qing knew fear, but dared not go too far.

But... this time, it still caused trouble.

·
In the evening, Luo Qing was brought back to Chu Keqing's private courtyard on the street where Yunzong Academy was located.

Luo Qing was brought back by Xiao Cai, Chu Keqing's female assistant, along with two martial arts instructors dressed in academy teaching attire.

These were all martial arts practitioners, recruited by Chu Keqing and raised in the academy.

You could say you're a fitness instructor for the students at the academy, or you could say you're a security guard for the academy.

Occasionally, he would naturally act as a henchman to help Chu Keqing with some tasks.

Anyway, how it's used is just a matter of wording.

Two middle-aged, burly instructors dragged Luo Qing from the car, one on each side, and carried her into the backyard of the private residence. By then, Luo Qing was already pale with fright.

In particular, upon entering the backyard, they saw the main room door wide open, with Chu Keqing dressed in white sitting under the eaves, holding a stick in her hand, lost in thought.

Luo Qing immediately shouted, "Junior Sister! Junior Sister! Let's talk this out!!"

Chu Keqing raised her eyelids to look at Luo Qing, and said coldly, "What did you say?"

"I...I didn't cause any trouble this time, I didn't offend anyone!!" Luo Qing quickly shouted, "I've just been telling fortunes or acting as a middleman lately, earning a little extra money! I...I didn't cause any trouble!!"

Chu Keqing sighed and gently waved her hand, and the two instructors pressed Luo Qing directly to the ground.

With one hand holding her arms and the other holding her legs, how could Luo Qing possibly break free?
The female assistant, Xiao Cai, calmly stepped aside, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings.

Chu Keqing slowly stood up, picked up the stick, and walked to Luo Qing, who was trembling with fear.

He recalled how, a few months ago, this junior sister had coldly smashed her own leg with a stick.

Chu Keqing's expression back then was exactly the same as it is today.

When she broke her own leg, there was no anger or ferocity on her face, but rather a cold and calm expression. Yet, with that expression, she broke her own leg again and again!

Luo Qing wasn't afraid of his junior sister's angry outbursts, but he felt fear when she showed such a cold and indifferent expression.

"Senior brother, it'll be quick, I'll be quick." Chu Keqing squatted down and whispered next to Luo Qing's head, "Actually, to be honest, I don't want to punish you this time. Looking back on what you did, I'm actually quite happy, and I even want to reward you a little."

However… it's a pity, they've come to me, and I dare not disobey them.

Luo Qing cried out, "Junior sister, at least let me die knowing why! Who did I offend this time?"

"Have you been telling fortunes and analyzing people's fates lately?"

"Yes, I did tell fortunes, but... I didn't cause any trouble, and I didn't..."

"There's someone named Lu Xiuting..."

"..." Luo Qing thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes, there is! Her husband's surname is Yang, and he's from Hong Kong..."

As she spoke, Luo Qing quickly retorted, "Junior Sister! Junior Sister! Don't make a move yet, listen to me first! I've learned my lesson. This time I've inquired. That woman surnamed Lu's husband is from Hong Kong, a Hong Kong bastard, not from our Jinling Prefecture. I thought, since he's so far away, he has no connection to us here, so..."

"So you told people that the mother and daughter's fates clashed?" Chu Keqing shook her head.

"This, this isn't really harming anyone, is it? I heard she has a daughter who's out of favor. Since she's already out of favor, letting her send her daughter far away to another place isn't such an excessively cruel thing to do!"

As he spoke, Luo Qing pleaded, "Junior sister! My leg has already been broken once, just a few months ago. I'm not young anymore, and my leg has only just healed. If you break it again, I... I'm afraid... I'm afraid of what will happen to me..."

"Senior brother," Chu Keqing sighed, "Why don't you understand? I broke your legs for your own good. If I hadn't broken your legs, and someone came looking for you, they might have killed you."

Be good and bear with it. Remember, I'm not breaking your legs, I'm saving your life.

"No, no, no, I... Ahh ...

Luo Qing wanted to beg for mercy, but he only managed to say half a sentence before letting out a scream!
·
A moment later, Chu Keqing stood up again, took a few breaths, and gently tossed the stick in her hand to the ground.

Luo Qing, lying on the ground, had his right shinbone bent, and his lower leg was in an irregular shape.

Luo Qing was in so much pain that she almost fainted. Her screams went from loud to soft, and finally she was just groaning in pain on the ground.

The female assistant, Xiao Cai, had already walked over, picked up her phone, and quickly took several photos of Luo Qing before sending them to Chu Keqing.

Chu Keqing nodded.

"Luo Qing, from today onwards, you are no longer allowed to tell fortunes or read faces—you haven't mastered this skill, and if you continue to give random readings, you'll only cause trouble!"

After a pause, Chu Keqing sighed: "I will announce to our fellow practitioners that you, Luo Qing, are expelled from the Yun Sect from this day forward, and you will no longer be allowed to use my senior brother's name to make money outside."

Luo Qing lay on the ground, his face twitching, a hint of despair flashing in his eyes: "You, you're trying to kill me! Chu Keqing!! How will I survive in the future!!"

Chu Keqing shook her head: "You've accumulated quite a bit of wealth over the years, you won't starve. Besides, why should I continue to tolerate you making money under my name?"

"I... I am, after all, a member of the Yun Sect, and I am, after all, your senior brother!" Luo Qing's voice trembled. "Are you going to be so ruthless? Back then, my father..."

"I've repaid my master's kindness far too much." Chu Keqing shook her head. "If it weren't for my master's kindness, you would have died countless times over!"

Luo Qing struggled to lift his head to look at Chu Keqing, and suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Father!! Father!! Open your eyes and see!!! You gave the entire Yun Sect to this woman surnamed Chu!! Now she shows no mercy and wants to exterminate your son!!!!"

"Shut up!" A murderous glint flashed across Chu Keqing's face, and Luo Qing trembled, but only looked at her with resentful eyes.

Chu Keqing raised her head, took a deep breath, then turned and walked into the main room. She soon came out again with a brown paper document bag in her hand.

Snapped!
She threw the file bag onto the ground in front of Luo Qing.

"I bought four shops on the same street to the left and right of your teahouse. The property certificates and real estate ownership certificates are in these shops! They are all in your name!"

Even if you do nothing, just collecting rent will bring in hundreds of thousands a year, enough for you to live a life of luxury for the rest of your days!

As she spoke, Chu Keqing's tone turned cold: "Luo Qing, our camaraderie as fellow disciples is over. From now on, you are no longer my senior brother, and I am no longer your junior sister."

Upon hearing this, Luo Qing's face turned pale. He gritted his teeth, struggled to grab the brown paper file bag, opened it, and saw that it contained a stack of red notebooks.

"Chu Keqing...you treated me like this, breaking my legs, expelling me from the Yun Sect, and then using these few shops to buy me out..."

"I told you, breaking your leg was to save your life!" Chu Keqing coldly shook her head: "If your leg hadn't been broken, you would have died! I have a clear conscience."

After saying this, Chu Keqing had Luo Qing taken away to be treated for his injuries.

She then took out her phone and sent the photo she had taken of Luo Qing's broken leg to Chen Yan.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Keqing sent another message: "Reporting to the senior, I have severely punished Luo Qing, expelled him from the Yun Sect, and announced that he will no longer be allowed to use my name to commit fraud."

As for Lu Xiuting, I will personally go and talk to her, explaining that the claim of conflicting fates between mother and daughter is Luo Qing's wild gossip. I will definitely handle this matter properly, so please don't worry about it, Senior Chen Yan.”

After finishing, Chu Keqing turned around, walked back to the chair in the main room, sat down, picked up a bowl of tea beside her, and only then did she realize that the tea had gone cold.

She gave a wry smile and drank the cooled tea.

Luo Qing... let's handle it this way.

Chu Keqing said this to herself.

Actually, it was also painful.

I remember when I first started cultivating as a child, I was only thirteen years old. Among all the senior brothers in the Yun Sect, Luo Qing was the kindest to me.

Because Luo Qing himself lacked the talent for cultivation, he had been practicing for many years but had not been able to enter the gate. Among the many fellow disciples in the sect, Luo Qing had always felt inferior. In addition, his status as the sect leader's son made it even more difficult for him to enter the gate, which increased his pressure and made him feel ashamed in front of his fellow disciples.

At that time, I was just starting to cultivate as a child. Among my fellow disciples, I was the only one who, like him, had not yet entered the sect.

At that time, Luo Qing seemed to regard his younger self as his fellow human being—a fellow human being who could not even begin cultivation.

He once secretly climbed over the wall to go out for a stroll in winter. After being beaten by the sect leader when he returned, the sect leader secretly called him outside and took out a steaming plum blossom cake from his pocket and handed it to him.

At first, when his master was teaching him, he couldn't memorize the algorithm for the Heavenly Gang Cycle. Luo Qing would hide behind his master, wink at him, and mouth hints to him on how to recite the next line of the formula...

For a while at first, Chu Keqing was very grateful to "Senior Brother Qing," who was several years older than her, and felt that he treated her like his own brother.

Hmm... when did this attitude start to change?

It was after I had begun my own spiritual practice!
On that day, when I sensed the existence of primordial energy and officially entered the path of cultivation...

Chu Keqing clearly remembered that day when she was meditating and suddenly her spiritual senses were awakened, and she felt the existence of the primordial energy of heaven and earth. She excitedly told her master about this breakthrough.

The master was overjoyed, and many of his fellow disciples also offered their congratulations.

Luo Qing, however, stood there dumbfounded, staring at him from afar, his face ashen.

The way he looked at me then was one of shock, anger, and a strange sense of grievance, as if I had done something to betray him.

Despite her repeated attempts to speak to and get close to him, Luo Qing only coldly told her: "He is a useless person with no cultivation, and he is not worthy of being friends with cultivators!"

Later, the longer he cultivated, the faster he progressed, displaying astonishing talent, and step by step surpassed his fellow disciples...

Luo Qing's attitude towards him became increasingly strange.

At first, he distanced himself from me, and his attitude toward me grew colder day by day.

Years later, when he gradually became the leader of the sect, he began to take the initiative to get close to him again—but this time, the closeness was clearly tinged with hypocritical politeness and flattery.

Luo Qing's attitude towards him became increasingly respectful, even to the point of groveling and fawning.

but……

Back then, after being beaten by her master, with a bruised and swollen face, she secretly pulled herself outside and said to herself in a feigned nonchalant tone, "What's there to be afraid of? I'm tough. I'm used to my dad beating me ten or a hundred times. Come on, little sister, don't be afraid. Have some plum blossom cake. I saw someone selling it on the way, and I thought you liked it..."

Well, the senior brother who told her, "Little sister, don't be afraid, eat plum blossom cake," has finally disappeared without a trace.

Chu Keqing drank the herbal tea, but her eyes couldn't help feeling hot.

"Luo Qing, Luo Qing, don't blame me, I really was saving your life!"

Others may not understand Chen Yan, but how could Chu Keqing not understand him? Chen Yan's methods, Chen Yan's personality...

He dared to offend Chen Yan several times, and this time he has even offended Lu Sisi!

Chu Keqing was even more aware of the changes in Chen Yan!

In the past two or three months, whenever Chu Keqing saw Chen Yan, she could clearly feel that the murderous aura around him was growing stronger day by day! This senior's murderous intent was getting heavier and heavier.

·
While Chen Yan was at home, he received photos and WeChat messages from Chu Keqing.

After looking at it, he understood Chu Keqing's intention.

She used this method to save Luo Qing.

She took the initiative to break Luo Qing's leg and also took on the responsibility of cleaning up Lu Xiuting's mess. So, out of consideration for her, he couldn't cause trouble for Luo Qing anymore.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Yan replied with a "okay" and decided to ignore the matter.

But after sending the "okay" message, a few minutes later, Chu Keqing made a voice call directly to him.

Chen Yan was taken aback, then pressed the call button.

"Senior Chen Yan...do you have any complaints about what I did?" Chu Keqing's voice trembled slightly on the phone: "Yes, is it because my act of protecting Luo Qing displeased you?"

Chen Yan was taken aback, then said in a low voice, "Ke Qing, I didn't think that way."

"Really?" Chu Keqing's voice sounded a little aggrieved: "You only taught me the character 'good,' and I thought you were unhappy."

“I’m really not upset.” Chen Yan pondered, “He is, after all, your senior brother. I can understand that you want to protect him. Besides, this matter isn’t that big. Although I’m angry, I’m not going to go on a killing spree. Breaking his leg is enough punishment for you. It’s just that he keeps using your name to cheat people. Even if he can’t cheat the people around me, he can cheat others.”

“Yes, after this, he can no longer use my name to do these things.” Chu Keqing.

“That would be best. Otherwise, if you’re lying to me, wouldn’t lying to others also be lying?” Chen Yan sighed. “You should have done this a long time ago. Otherwise, you’re just condoning evil.”

Chu Keqing's voice trembled: "I..."

After a moment of silence, she said in a low voice, "Senior Chen Yan, I'm not trying to excuse Luo Qing, but... there's a reason why he's become like this."

My senior classmate has actually suffered a lot inside all his life.

She paused, then said in a low voice, "He is my master's only son. From the moment he was born, everyone assumed that he would be the next leader of the Yun Sect."

My master's many disciples are all exceptionally talented, and several of them have successfully entered the Dao and achieved some success in their cultivation.

But it was Luo Qing, the one everyone assumed would be the next sect leader, who couldn't even get past the basics of cultivation. After years of hard work, he couldn't sense even a trace of vital energy.

His master's disappointment in him, the gossip among the disciples behind his back, and his identities as the 'only son of the sect leader' and 'future successor to the sect leader' all put him under too much pressure during his youth, forcing him to become increasingly twisted in his heart... Luo Qing, he wasn't actually this bad when he was young.

But later, when people reach a point of despair, they completely give up on themselves and recklessly abandon all hope.

As she spoke, Chu Keqing seemed to sniffle, her voice slightly nasal, and she said in a low voice, "I know that no matter what he is like, he shouldn't hurt people. In any case, his own problems should not be an excuse for him to harm others."

But... but I really, many times, find it hard to be ruthless.

My master has been very kind to me, and I find it really hard to be too harsh on his only son.

Moreover... when I was young and just starting to cultivate, Luo Qing treated me very well, like an older brother..."

Hearing this, Chen Yan sighed. He thought for a moment and said in a serious tone, "Keqing, there's no need to say anything. I'm really not angry with you."

I have no objection to how you deal with Luo Qing.”

He paused, then slowly said, "However, I still have a suggestion for you. Since you still feel a sense of kinship with Luo Qing as a fellow disciple, you should keep a closer eye on him and prevent him from doing anything harmful. Otherwise, if he causes trouble, he will ultimately have to bear the consequences."

The saying goes, "Spoiling a child is like killing a child." Your kindness towards him shouldn't be used to clean up his messes after he gets into trouble; it should be used to discipline him more strictly on a daily basis.

Chu Keqing was silent for a while, then slowly said, "I understand. I have done something wrong all these years. I will send someone to keep an eye on him in the future so that he will not have the opportunity to do anything wrong again."

(End of this chapter)