Daily life of a cultivation judge

"What are you two saying? How unfilial can you be? The achievements you have today are thanks to the tireless efforts of your grandfather and the other elders of the clan.

They used all the resources they had and even traded their research so they could help you all improve.

You both should be more thankful and it might not even be a bad idea to go see him once or twice," said their mother as she gently chastised Yang Qing and Yang Gen.

"Mother there are no outsiders here, there's no need to pretend that Grandpa and the rest made some grand sacrifice with those resources. We were nothing more than experimental subjects to them.

Do you remember that one time Qing had a toad's head for a week all thanks to their help or the other numerous times we have lost some function or part of our bodies due to their well-meaning ideas and guidance?

While I do thank them because they genuinely did care and try to help us in their own dysfunctional way but visiting him is out of the question. Who knows what he has been up to over the past few years at the Medicine Valley, I've heard some stories and it's enough to frighten me from going there.

I'm sorry Mom, Qing can go but I'll put a wide berth between me and Grandpa. It wouldn't be a bad idea to join Dad at the institute."

Zou Yi and Zou Liqin were surprised to see that all those words came from the polite-looking Yang Gen. They had assumed he was the silent type but at the moment he seemed to have turned into someone else.

He may have been soft-spoken when he made that statement but one could detect firm stubbornness beneath it.

Other than them, the rest were not surprised. Yang Gen may seem polite but he has hard-headed and a bit rebellious at times. Yang Qing's habits especially when it came to causing trouble with the Order all came from emulating his brother.

"Well said big brother," Yang Qing said as he drew a thumbs up at Yang Gen however he shrunk back when he saw his mother's calm gaze.

"Fine, then can you go see your father after and bring him some of the leftovers," their mother, Mai Ha said as she sighed.

....

"So, how do you two find the Order?" Yang Qing suddenly asked the Zou siblings who had been silent all this time as they exchanged a few glances here and there.

"It's been okay, thanks to the help you gave and also Master Hao Da, we were able to settle in well. He ensured we got a place to stay and even guided us here where Auntie Mai has been taking care of us the past two days," Zou Yi politely answered.

Around unfamiliar settings, he was always the freest in communication while his sister Zou Liqin was a bit more reserved and it took time for her to be comfortable enough to be expressive.

"So Hao Da was the one who guided you here, I'll have to thank him later," Yang Qing muttered.

"He's changed so much, I almost couldn't recognize him as that kid with anger and resentment filled in his eyes. I was always worried about him. I'm glad he managed to find some peace from whatever he had been battling with when you guys were young," said Mai Ha with a gaze that had a hint of sympathy in it.

"I was also surprised when I saw him, he seemed calmer and freer than he was. He is even about to be the next branch chief of the Three Fires branch in the next month or so," said Yang Qing.

"That's a huge post, if they can trust him with that level of responsibility, why wasn't he been called back to the headquarters? Hasn't he always wanted to be stationed here as a judge? It was all he talked about back then," said Yang Gen.

Hao Da had struck a deep friendship with Yang Qing and eventually, during holidays he would spend it with them since he never came with any family. He had cut ties with the Hao family when he run away after his only living relative, his mother passed away.

So after meeting Yang Qing and striking a friendship with him during their punishments, he eventually became a guest of the Yang family household so he was familiar to them.

"The headquarters did offer him a post here but he turned it down and preferred being stationed outside. Maybe he found what he had been searching for out there and the pay and resources afforded to him as a branch chief isn't bad either.

I don't know yet how much I'll be making but I was told a branch chief with the same cultivation realm as me earns almost ten times as much as I do. Being a branch chief of a place as prominent as the Three Fires sect wouldn't be bad," Yang Qing said after some thought.

"Well if he is okay with it, that's all that matters," said Mai Ha as she removed the lids of the pots releasing a thick wave of misty tantalizing food scent.

Yang Qing's stomach grumbled instantly along with Zou Yi's.

The spreading on the table instantly made Yang Qing forget all the reservations he had about coming here.

There was sweet and sour pork fillet that was crispy red-orange in color, Kung pao chicken, braised beef fillet with scallion, red braised pork, shanxi pasta, and spring rolls filled in two large earthen bowls.

Yang Qing didn't waste even a second as he used his chopsticks to pick a lot of everything. Luckily the quantity was large enough that even his gluttony didn't reduce the quantity.

"Mom you've really outdone yourself again," Yang Qing said with crescent-shaped eyes as he savored the crispy taste of the Kung Pao chicken.

A few minutes in, sounds of satisfied sounds rang all around. Just as Yang Qing was about to add more sweet and sour pork fillet to his plate, his chopsticks froze midway to the pot.

"What's wrong?" Yang Gen asked with a raised brow.

"He's here," Yang Qing grimly said.

"You're sure it's him?" Yang Gen asked as his voice cracked up a bit.

"He is the one person I can never confuse and he isn't alone either, he came with the rest."

Yang Qing slowly finished adding a little sweet and sour pork fillet and then sat down.

He was no longer that excited glutton from a few seconds ago but instead had a grim look to him as he had his meal. It was like that of a person enjoying his final meal before his execution.