The five of them ate the dishes that Luo Lin and Yun Bei Fen had prepared before they eventually finished and went their own ways. Well, most of them went their way.

Yan Hong Min slipped away first, mumbling that he had something very important to do although it was obvious that he was just trying to put as much distance between himself and Zhi Guan and Shen Lei as he could. Who knew when these two would remember that he was the one who had brought this whole incident about?

Luo Lin then took the time to say goodbye to the little bunny before he pulled Shen Lei away to his own house, taking a few of the leftover dishes with him without bothering to explain. Well, Zhi Guan didn’t really want to know. Some things were better left unsaid.

The only ones left were Zhi Guan and Yun Bei Fen.

Zhi Guan looked at the little bunny and wondered whether he should say something. His little junior brother didn’t look too unhappy but he wasn’t his usual energetic self either. Could it be that his story hadn’t been convincing enough?

He furrowed his brows and pondered if there was anything he could add on to make it more believable but he couldn’t think of anything. Anyway, the story was long over so it would seem strange to add to it now.

In the end, Zhi Guan could only crouch down in front of Yun Bei Fen and ask directly. "Little junior … Is something the matter?"

Yun Bei Fen blinked his eyes and shook his head. "No. What should be the matter?"

Zhi Guan pondered. If nothing was the matter, that was very good but he wasn’t too sure if he should let things go just like this. It had sounded very serious when his third junior martial brother told him about the issue. "Well, I heard that you went to search for me today and met your second senior martial brother. Did he say something that made you unhappy? Or …" He didn’t know what else to say and could only look at him questioningly.

Yun Bei Fen once again shook his head. "No. Nothing like that."

Zhi Guan nodded with relief. "So you’re not unhappy."

Looking at the little bunny, he didn’t seem happy though. But if he said that nothing was the matter and that their second martial brother hadn’t done anything wrong, then what could it be that had made him … not quite happy?

Zhi Guan pondered and finally, his face lit up. "Ah, what about that question you had? Was your second senior martial brother able to answer it?"

Yun Bei Fen shook his head. "No. I didn’t ask him. He wouldn’t have known."

Zhi Guan nodded. He believed that immediately. His second junior martial brother really didn’t know too much. "Then do you still want to know the answer? Maybe I can help you."

Yun Bei Fen looked at him sadly.

Zhi Guan felt distressed seeing him like this but at least he had managed to find the reason for this little junior’s unhappiness this time. He could work with that! "You think I wouldn’t know either?"

Yun Bei Fen shook his head. "That’s not it. I think I already know now."

Zhi Guan pondered but he couldn’t imagine at all what this could be about. Anyway, it was still better to check. Who knew what the little bunny thought he knew and whether he was right or not? "Well, you can still ask me. Maybe I can tell you more about it."

Yun Bei Fen pondered and finally nodded his head. "I heard from senior martial sister Zhang that you were going on a mission today with senior martial brother Mei. But then second senior martial brother told me that you were going to do something with demons. And now you’ve told me that you actually went to pat the pumpkins. So you didn’t see senior martial brother Mei, did you?"

Zhi Guan looked at this little junior with a complicated expression. So the whole time all of this hadn’t been about any terrifying demons at all and he had just been sad because he didn’t know what his senior martial brother Mei had done today?

Well, maybe they should have expected that …

Zhi Guan rubbed his neck and then shook his head. "That’s not it. Your senior martial brother Mei was also on that mission with us. I didn’t spend much time with him since he was in another group but he was also there."

Yun Bei Fen’s expression lit up. "Then senior martial brother Mei also went to pat the pumpkins?"

Zhi Guan looked at his little junior and wondered if he shouldn’t tell him the truth now. Since he hadn’t been sad because of Yan Hong Min’s story wouldn’t it be alright if he knew that all those pumpkins hadn’t been real and were indeed the terrifying demons his second senior martial brother had described?

In the end, Zhi Guan kept quiet and just nodded his head. His little junior probably didn’t care and if he got afraid because his senior martial brother Mei had needed to fight with demons that also wouldn’t be good. "Mn, he did. Actually, I’ve seen a bit and he did it very well. Your senior martial brother Mei is the best at patting pumpkins. Nobody else can compare."

Yun Bei Fen’s expression lit up and he hugged his senior martial brother’s leg again, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. "Really? I knew senior martial sister Zhang couldn’t be wrong! So you really were on a mission with him. And he patted the pumpkins well. That’s great!"

Zhi Guan nodded and leaned down, patting the head of the little pumpkin sticking to his leg. "That’s right. It’s already late now though. You should go and sleep. There are still some pumpkin pastries. You can go and bring some over to your senior martial brother Mei tomorrow morning. How about that?"

Yun Bei Fen nodded happily and then rushed back in, picking up the pastries before he ran to his own house to turn in for the night. He couldn’t help but look at the pumpkin pastries though. Ah, he really would’ve liked to be a pumpkin today. Then he also could’ve been patted by senior martial brother Mei. Wouldn’t that be great?

He pulled up the blanket and closed his eyes, dreaming a very long dream of being a plump pumpkin that was sitting outside in the moonlight, carefully being patted by senior martial brother Mei, the world’s best pumpkin patter.