After Changing to the Ruthless Way, the Brothers Cried and Begged for Forgiveness Chapter 457: Don’t Become My Stain

Han Jing Zhi laughed in fury and jabbed a finger at Cui Jue: “Tuo Ba Jing, he’s just a pretty face. What part of him compares to ? Are you blind?”

“I’ll say it again: who I like has nothing to do with you. Don’t point your finger at ,” Tuo Ba Jing said, slapping his hand away, anger showing plainly on her face.

Seeing the two about to co to blows, Han Jing Zhi’s hangers-on hurried to defuse it: “Senior Brother Han, forget it, forget it; even beating a dog you look at the owner. Don’t damage the harmony between you and Senior Sister Tuo Ba.”

“Right, Senior Sister Tuo Ba is just playing with that boy; once she’s bored, we can deal with him at our leisure.”

“Senior Brother Han, a piece of trash who can’t even pass the Alchemy Hall assessnt isn’t worth a fuss.”

Under their chorus of persuasion, Han Jing Zhi barely reined in his temper. He threw Tuo Ba Jing a final warning: “You’d better keep your pretty boy on a short leash; don’t let him cross my path. We’re leaving.”

He shouldered past Yi Chuan and stord out. Yi Chuan had ant to escort them personally, but one of Han’s companions shoved him aside in disdain. He could only stand there, smiling obsequiously as he saw them off from afar.

“All right, they’re gone. Hand him over,” Tuo Ba Jing said, impatience knitting her brow.

Yi Chuan bobbed a smile: “Please wait a mont, Senior Sister Tuo Ba; I’ll have Quan Ye brought up at once.” He beckoned soone over and murmured instructions into his ear. The man hurried away. Before long, the clatter of chains rang from the far end of the passage. Quan Ye—wrists and ankles shackled—was dragged forward, stumbling. His face was mottled with bruises of every size; his clothes were in tatters; blood slid from open cuts, each step printing a bloodied footprint on the floor.

Cui Jue’s eyes went bloodshot; his heart felt plunged into boiling oil. “Who told you to put him in chains? Take them off, now!” he snapped.

Reading the room astutely, Yi Chuan planted a kick on the culprit’s backside and stepped up himself to unfasten the shackles on Quan Ye’s wrists: “Junior Brother Quan, you’ve been wronged. It was all a misunderstanding just now; please don’t take it to heart.”

With his old temper, Quan Ye would have caused a scene without caring about anything. But since arriving in Bei Ming Realm and suffering beating after beating, even his stubbornness had been worn smooth. He stood there silently while the shackles ca off, and only when Cui Jue called to him did he move his lips and murmur, “Fourth senior brother.”

Choking back the ache in his chest, Cui Jue gave Tuo Ba Jing a formal bow of thanks. Without her, he would never have known where Quan Ye had been taken, much less had the strength to get him out. One way or another, he owed her a debt.

Tuo Ba Jing waved it off with a smile: “If you really want to thank , don’t turn down my kindness. Take these pill recipes for now.” She flicked several jade slips into Cui Jue’s arms and strode for the door. “You must have things to say to your junior brother, so I’ll leave you to it. Cui Jue—rember this: don’t beco my stain.”

Cui Jue looked down at the jade slips in his arms and, in the end, silently stored them in his Storage Space. He thanked Yi Chuan as well, then supported the battered Quan Ye toward the exit.

As they neared the doors, Yi Chuan jogged after them: “Junior Brother Cui, don’t bla for ddling. Senior Sister Tuo Ba’s standards are sky-high; if she’s set her sights on you, it’s your good fortune. Don’t fail to appreciate it.”

A faint shadow dulled Cui Jue’s eyes: “Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother Yi. I know.”

“Right, right—get him ho quickly,” Yi Chuan said, watching them grow distant. He shook his head. The man who had brought Quan Ye earlier frowned in puzzlent: “Senior Brother Yi, that fellow clearly won’t listen. Why waste your breath?”

“I just felt sorry for them,” Yi Chuan said, rubbing his chin. “And I have this feeling he’s not ordinary. Maybe he’ll have a great stroke of fortune soday.”

“Him?” the man said, plainly skeptical.

Yi Chuan didn’t argue. In truth, he wasn’t very confident either; it was only the slightest possibility. It was a word tossed off in passing, not sothing he ant to dwell on.

Back in his room, Cui Jue settled Quan Ye down and took out a special salve, the kind he’d been refining most often of late—trauma dicine. As his fingers spread the ointnt evenly across the wounds, a teardrop fell, striking the back of his hand. His hands paused; then as if nothing had happened, he continued.

“I was wrong,” Quan Ye said, forcing his emotions down, though the tremor in his voice betrayed his grief. “Fourth senior brother, I was wrong.”

Cui Jue wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard. But Quan Ye’s tears fell like a string of beads snapping; the salve on his skin was almost washed away by them. Cui Jue drew a long breath and kept his tone even: “Little Zhao isn’t here. Apologizing now won’t do any good.”

Yes—though Quan Ye hadn’t nad her, Cui Jue knew at once that he was repenting for how he had bullied Yu Zhao in the past. Only when the needle pricks your own flesh do you know what pain is. After becoming the punching bag of Bei Ming Realm’s disciples, he had begun to feel firsthand the sadness and tornt Yu Zhao had suffered—tornt of the body, and torture of the mind. It was like a blade hanging overhead, never knowing when it would fall; even in places that should have been safe, the slightest rustle made one jump at shadows, sick with panic. Realizing how hateful his past behavior had been, Quan Ye now regretted it bitterly, but it was too late.

“Fourth senior brother, where do you think Yu Zhao is now? Is she really not in Bei Ming Realm?” Quan Ye asked in a muffled voice, head bowed. He wanted to see her—to apologize in person.

The light in Cui Jue’s eyes dimd. Though they were called outer disciples of Bei Ming Palace, they were little different from prisoners. They couldn’t leave the palace, nor could they contact the outside world—unless he beca a true inner disciple…

“I’ll try to pass the next Alchemy Hall assessnt,” he said. “Until then, don’t stray far from .”

If Quan Ye was alone, he could easily beco a target for Han Jing Zhi’s crowd again. Cui Jue could only keep him close and watch him without blinking to head off another accident.

“What about eldest senior brother and third senior brother?” Quan Ye asked, worried.

“Third senior brother is now a registered disciple serving under an inner-sect elder; they don’t dare touch him. Eldest senior brother spends every day in the Secret Pavilion; they can’t get at him either. For now, we don’t have to worry about them.”

Quan Ye nodded, eyes going vacant. Cui Jue picked up the salve once more and continued to dress his wounds.

In the cramped, shabby room, the quiet was deep enough to hear a pin drop.