"Swoosh! Swoosh!"

Two chopsticks turned into sharp beams and flew out, effortlessly piercing through a century-old tree a hundred meters away that required two people to embrace.

Everyone was startled, looking towards the back of the tree.

Qin Yi wouldn't strike without reason.

"Qin Yi, what's wrong?" Yun Mengyao asked.

Qin Yi looked at the old tree and said, "Sneaky fellow, get out here."

"Such a skillful move, young man." An old voice came from behind the tree.

Jing Wuyan and others were shocked; indeed, someone was hiding behind the tree.

Qin Yi was also quite surprised, his gaze gradually became serious. From the sound of it, the other party wasn't injured, indicating the person's cultivation wasn't weak.

A hand stretched out from behind the tree, holding the two chopsticks that Qin Yi had just shot out between its fingers.

Then, the person behind the tree walked out.

He wasn't tall, had completely white hair and beard, wearing a gray long robe, looking like a teacher.

Qin Yi narrowed his eyes slightly; the other party's cultivation was more terrifying than he had imagined.

"Yaoyao, get behind me."

Yun Mengyao was taken aback, her expression changed slightly, instantly understanding that this was a formidable person that even Qin Yi considered seriously.

Unexpectedly, Jing Wuyan jumped up, "Uncle Xiao, why are you here?"

Qin Yi was slightly taken aback, not expecting Jing Wuyan to know this person, and seemingly have a good relationship.

The newcomer walked over slowly with one hand behind their back.

No one noticed that the hand behind their back was trembling slightly. It was the hand that had caught the chopsticks just now, but now it had switched to the other hand.

"Uncle Xiao, what brings you here?"

The newcomer laughed, "Your father was worried about you and asked me to watch over you a bit. Don't blame the Hall Master; he's also facing many difficulties."

Jing Wuyan shook his head with a smile, "I never thought Father would send you, Uncle Xiao. I understand his difficulties and won't blame him."

Uncle Xiao nodded with a smile and then looked at Qin Yi.

Jing Wuyan quickly said, "Uncle Xiao, let me introduce you, this is my newly met good friend, Qin Yi."

"Qin Yi, this is Xiao Jian, Uncle Xiao, who watched me grow up."

Qin Yi nodded, feeling strange, as if he had heard this name somewhere before. Then, he greeted with a smile, "Hello, Sword Uncle."

Xiao Jian was momentarily stunned, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly, "Just call me Uncle Xiao."

"Okay, Sword Uncle."

Xiao Jian: "..."

"Qin Yi of the Sword Sect Branch who quit?"

"That's me, Sword Uncle."

Xiao Jian: "..."

Xiao Jian looked at Jing Wuyan and laughed, "I never thought you would meet a young hero like Qin Yi, truly a reason for celebration."

Jing Wuyan scratched his head and smiled, "I also feel I'm quite lucky. Without Brother Qin, we probably wouldn't have been able to leave Lianhuan City."

Xiao Jian nodded and handed the chopsticks back to Qin Yi, "Qin Yi, thank you for protecting our young master."

Qin Yi accepted the chopsticks and said, "You're welcome, Sword Uncle." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The corner of Xiao Jian's mouth twitched; he felt like Qin Yi was insulting him.

"Sword Uncle, please have a seat." Jing Wuyan offered the stone he was sitting on.

Xiao Jian felt conflicted all over, Jing Wuyan hadn't realized that he had been led astray by Qin Yi, also starting to call him Sword Uncle.

"Sword Uncle, would you like something to eat?"

Xiao Jian shook his head.

"Sword Uncle, is my father doing well?"

"Young Master, could you call me Uncle Xiao?"

Jing Wuyan paused, then realized he had been led astray by Qin Yi. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Uncle Xiao."

Xiao Jian found it much more pleasant to hear.

"Sword... Uncle Xiao, is my father alright?"

"He's fine. He understands your nature, which is why he sent me over."

Jing Wuyan happily said, "I knew Father wouldn't just leave me be."

Xiao Jian said, "Young Master, do you have any plans? What step are you at now?"

Jing Wuyan pulled over a stone to sit and said, "Xiaoxi is locked up in Sin City, and I've already gathered people to meet up there. We'll adapt according to the situation when the time comes."

Xiao Jian nodded, then brought his hand, which had been behind his back all the time, to the front, holding a... smoking pipe.

Qin Yi was surprised, not expecting to see such a thing in this world.

Xiao Jian filled the pipe with tobacco, leaned close to the fire, and puffed to light it up.

Qin Yi sniffed, realizing the smell wasn't tobacco.

"What are you smoking?"

Xiao Jian paused, then understood Qin Yi was asking about his pipe, and said, "Thousand-Mile Fragrance."

Qin Yi was befuddled, "What is Thousand-Mile Fragrance?"

Jing Wuyan explained, "Thousand-Mile Fragrance is a very expensive tea leaf."

Qin Yi was taken aback, "You use a pipe to smoke expensive tea leaves, that's so unconventional, such a waste."

That's why he could smell tea fragrance.

Xiao Jian was equally confused, "Then what should be smoked?"

"Nonsense, of course it's shredded tobacco."

"What is shredded tobacco?"

Qin Yi: "..."

Qin Yi pointed at the pipe, "Curious to ask, what do you call this thing?"

Xiao Jian looked at Qin Yi as if he were an idiot, "Have you never seen this thing? While not many people smoke tea guns, there are still some."

"Tea gun?" Qin Yi's mouth twitched a few times, "Do you guys always smoke tea leaves?"

"Yes. Brewing tea to drink is troublesome; smoking it like this is quite indulging."

Qin Yi was full of disgust, truly a bunch of barbarians, to be smoking tea leaves.

"What kind of pleasure could that bring? It's no different than smoking tree leaves."

Xiao Jian curiously asked, "Can you smoke tree leaves?"

"Dried tree leaves, crushed, are more pleasurable to smoke than tea leaves."

"Really?" Xiao Jian became interested, and with a wave of his hand and a strong suction from his palm, he pulled over a handful of dry leaves from the tree, dumped the tea leaves, filled it with tree leaves, lit it, took a deep puff, and ended up coughing violently, his face flushed, and tears streaming down.

Jing Wuyan quickly went over to lightly pat Xiao Jian's back and gave him some water to drink.

After a while, Xiao Jian finally caught his breath, looking at Qin Yi, "Young friend, do we have a grudge? Why do you want to harm me?"

"Who harmed you? Back home we all smoke tree leaves," Qin Yi said, not missing a beat.

Yun Mengyao said, "It's not right. Don't all people back home smoke shredded tobacco?"

Qin Yi: "..."

Damn, this woman is a master of exposing the truth. But it didn't matter; looking at Xiao Jian's barbaric style, he had no idea what shredded tobacco was.

Xiao Jian frowned, "These tree leaves can't be smoked, they're too choking."

"Maybe you're not used to smoking them."

Xiao Jian nodded, agreeing, "Maybe that's it."

Qin Yi leaned closer with a chuckle, "Sword Uncle, could you let me take a puff from your pipe?"

"You like this too?" Xiao Jian was surprised because this sort of thing was typically liked by older people.

Qin Yi nodded, not because he liked smoking, but rather because he liked that pipe. Goodness, the pipe in Xiao Jian's hand was crafted from pure gold, with a glass mouthpiece, and the small pouch hanging from the pipe was made of gold thread, making it a perfect work of art.