Daily life of a cultivation judge

Zou Liqin hesitated slightly before she meekly and softly said,

"Okay.."

"Good... little brother Yang Qing, one for my sister.." Zou Yi roguishly said before his body suddenly shivered. His eyes narrowed as he knew that feeling all to well. Living at the edge of death since he was eight, and the four-month experience in that hell they called the Golden Twilight Forest had engrained in his body the ability to sense dangerous situations and right now every bone in his body was wailing, telling him that something was coming for him.

He tightened his fist, as he prepared himself to retaliate. Even if he had half given up, he wasn't going out without taking a swing even if said swing would amount to nothing more than an ant facing off against an elephant. Out of principle or petty vengeance for all he had endured, he didn't want to be defeated without getting at least one shot in.

"Liqin, you ready.." said Zou Yi as he stood up in preparation, however, his expression froze over when he saw Zou Liqin innocently nibble at a piece she had sliced from the Golden Lotus Delight cake.

"I know I said make the best of the illusion, but an attack is coming, is this really the time?" he bitterly thought.

He had just turned when the attack he anticipated coming, finally struck, and it struck true.

"Who's your big brother?" a calm voice muttered as Zou Yi felt like a mountain had flicked him on his forehead, with the resultant shock traveling all around his body, with his legs giving out in the process that he found himself slumped on the seat as he grimaced at the hot searing needle like pain on his forehead.

"Yi'er you sure have a lot of guts for disregarding my words on not drinking until you were mature enough.."

Zou Yi didn't have enough time to process the pain before his body tingled again warning him of something ominous coming his way. Before he could register what was coming, he felt a searing hot sensation coming from his ear lobe.

Out of ingrained reflex, he yelled,

"Grandma Wang I was wrong! I was wrong!."

It was only when he uttered those magical words did the searing pain coming from his left earlobe stop.

With some sense of calm, Zou Yi was able to look around him. He saw Yang Qing smiling dangerously at him, Grandma Wang sending him threatening glares with her fingers in a claw-like grip as if she was about to strike again, and Grandpa Wang was shaking his head, as for his sister, she wore the same befuddled look as he did, with her mouth and eyes wide open, with the piece of cake she had on her hand almost slipping out.

"B.b.brother Yi, is this... is this still an illusion?" she warily asked.

Zou Yi smiled miserably as he looked around the table before he finally asked,

"Is it?"

"What do you think?" snidely asked Grandma Wang with her dagger eyes still locked on him.

Zou Yi's shoulders slumped as he replied.

"I hope it is.." Which drew laughter from Yang Qing and Grandpa Wang.

"Dear, stop tormenting him, he has been through enough. See you're even scaring Liqin.." said Grandpa Wang.

"Liqin is always the most behaved.." Grandma Wang said as she jumped to embrace the confused Liqin.

"You look amazing, child.." she added as she separated to give Zou Liqin a once over.

"This is real.." Zou Liqin with a shake in her voice.

"It is.." Grandma Wang answered with a warm smile.

Zou Liqin buried herself into her embrace as she said,

"Good.." over and over.

"So we passed?" Zou Yi said with half relief and half disbelief in his tone.

"You did, splendidly at that. Welcome to the Order, you two.." said Yang Qing to the two who couldn't help but cry at the remark.

Zou Yi tried to hold them back, and when that didn't work he tried to quickly dry them and erase all evidence of his crying as fast as he could, he only let himself go when he saw Grandpa Wang smile gently at him with a few tears of his own rubbing his head as he said,

"It's okay, this is worth shedding tears for. You and your sister did great, and you will be great, your grandmother and I are honored to be along for the ride.."

Grandpa Wang's words seemed to have been a trigger as Zou Yi's tears fell like a broken dam. It took a while before the emotions of the two siblings settled down.

"When did you come?" asked Zou Liqin in between sniffles.

"Today.." said Grandma Wang as she gently stroked her hair.

"Will you live with us?" warily asked Zou Yi. Everything still seemed so surreal for him, from the moment he met Yang Qing to now. He couldn't quite believe it was all real. Since their arrival, he had taken to pinching himself a few times to confirm it wasn't all an imagination.

"If you still want to have us.." said Grandpa Wang.

"We would!" the two siblings answered in unison almost as if afraid that if they delayed, the couple would change their minds.

"Good.." said the couple.

"The cake is yours.." said Yang Qing as he used his chopsticks to point to the cake.

"But not the wine.." he added with a smirk, which made Zou Yi's cheeks redden in embarrassment, drawing laughter all around, even from his sister.

The mood turned jovial, with the siblings bombarding the couple with questions about their journey, while also telling them of the various interesting things and experiences they had since they came to the Order, with hours quickly flying by without them realizing it.

The siblings seemed relaxed, better than they were earlier, however, they would still flinch at the occasional sudden reactions from the customers within the restaurant, and they also seemed constantly on guard with their bodies in a state where they could react explosively if need be.

The couple had been slightly worried at first, but with time, they were okay with it and even appreciated the sense of hyper-alertness exhibited by the siblings. With the experience they had as warriors on the battlefield and from being hunted by assassins, they knew the importance of being constantly vigilant. It was the difference to whether you survived or not, a thin thread constantly separated the two sides, and constant vigilance tilted the odds ever so slightly toward survival.

After they were done with their meals, and catching up, Yang Qing led them to the resettling department of the Administration Hall. The branch had its offices a few steps away from the Flaming Goose Restaurant. Once there, the relationship between the Wang couple and the Zou siblings was sealed by a saint-grade.

The artifact had a grand dao binding oath ability to it. The couple were officially recognized as the guardians of the Zou siblings and had access to said privileges as a result of it one of which was a place to stay.

They were given a long list of courtyards to choose from, to which Yang Qing guided them to the ones suitable to a small family as theirs, but even then, the size of it left the couple wide-eyed as even land for a small family was 1,000 acres and one rich with spiritual qi measuring to the standards of a top tier rank 3 organization. They had doubts if the treasured ground of the royal family of the Red Maple Empire was as good, let alone as large, and now it was all theirs.

After they made their decision, the staff from the settlement department along with Yang Qing led them to the place. The courtyard itself was on a plain with beautiful scenery. It had a few trees, a forest, a shallow stream crisscrossing around the plain, and wild vegetation with the least being at the middle tier of earth grade, with the bulk being at the top tier of the earth rank or low tier sky grade with a handful even being at the middle tier of the sky grade.

The courtyard was the standard design, being three stories high, with all the necessary requirements fit for a courtyard that would be used by cultivators. It had a few meditation chambers, an alchemy chamber, a smithing chamber,a training ground, store rooms fit for storing all manner of cultivation resources and maintaining their efficacy, a library though it was empty, a kitchen, living rooms, and personal quarters for seven people.

They had more than ample room and designation for all whatever needs they may have, and if it was missing, the Order would happily retrofit it to their specifications at a huge discounted rate for their first time, the next after that would be at cost with a little discount here and there.

The siblings and the couple were all wide-eyed when they saw the area, more so the siblings who despite coming from a rank 2 family and living in luxury during their earlier years, but after the death of their parents, and their banishment thereafter, slept in caves, trees, exposed to the elements and all manner of privation.

For all those years sleeping within a structure with four walls and a roof was a luxury they did not have but now they had more than that. Yang Qing could understand a bit of the emotion they had as they saw the courtyard and the compound that was now theirs indefinitely. While Yang Qing may not have had quite the same struggles as they did, when he got his first courtyard, there was that sense of safety, comfort, and exhilaration of knowing that this is now mine, especially after enduring the hellish torture of the entrance exams.

The courtyard was a form of validation, a place that says I see you, I commend you, now rest and take it all in. Yang Qing figured those intense emotions were the reason why most chose to stay in their first courtyards same as what Yang Qing was doing, and even those that move on, few choose to relinquish it. Such was the romance of the first courtyard.

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