While Yun Bei Fen was having breakfast with Luo Lin and Shen Lei, Yan Hong Min was busying about a few steps away from his house. For his grand plan to work, quite a bit of preparation was necessary. Since there were only two hours left, he had to hurry up a bit.
Throwing a few talismans at the snow, he blasted it away to show the frozen ground beneath. With a triumphant smile, Yan Hong Min took out a dagger from his spiritual bag and then started to etch lines into the ground, fortifying them with a bit of the crystal powder he had ground before.
When he had finished, he started to push the snow back into place so it wouldn’t be too obvious that he had made preparations. Next, he went to sort through the other talismans he still had in his spatial bag, making sure that he had something as a backup in case his grand plan somehow went wrong after all. Finally, he crouched down, and started to form a few snowballs and put them in a circle around the array he had just drawn.
By the time Yan Hong Min finished with all his preparations, the two hours were almost up. It seemed he had guessed the time quite well. He got up, dusted off his hands, and then continued to stand in the middle of his array, shifting on his feet while waiting for his martial brothers to come over.
The first to arrive was Zhi Guan. To master the sword arts, one needed to have an undisturbed heart. Thus, after giving your word, you could not go back on your promise. Since he had promised to be there two hours later, he would definitely be there even though he would have liked to train a bit longer.
He stopped opposite of Yan Hong Min, crossing his arms with his sword still in his hand. "What is this about?"
Speaking of his three junior martial brothers, his thoughts on them differed widely. While he regarded all of them as his brothers, and would even give his own life to protect them, he couldn’t help but admit that his second junior martial brother could be a bit of an annoyance.
His third junior martial brother, on the other hand, was a little confounding. He did not quite understand what he was talking about most of the time but it was alright. At the very least, he seemed to be taking his training very seriously considering how often he seemed to be asking the other martial brothers of their sect for help. It was just a pity that his talent was so low. Even after so many years, he still didn’t make much progress with the sword. His agility had gotten quite good though.
As for the little one, Zhi Guan was not ashamed to say that he was probably his favorite junior among the three. Yun Bei Fen was never afraid to ask him questions about sword arts or even other matters and would always listen to him obediently. He felt that this boy had a bright future ahead of him. It was just a pity that he was still so small and could not really swing a sword yet. Well, as long as his third junior martial brother fed him well, he would likely be big enough for that in a year or two. Then he could teach him more.
Yan Hong Min looked at the slightly furrowed brows of his first senior martial brother and couldn’t help but wonder if this had really been such a good idea. But thinking of the fun he would have when things worked out later on, he pushed the thought away already. "Don’t be so impatient, first senior martial brother! I’ll tell you after third junior martial brother and little junior have arrived."
Zhi Guan gave a hum and then just stood to the side. In any case, he could still go back to his practice after this was dealt with.
Meanwhile, Yun Bei Fen had finished breakfast and Luo Lin and Shen Lei had gone to 'change their clothes' for a while. The three of them arrived one after the other in front of Yan Hong Min’s house.
Luo Lin raised his brows when he saw his first and second senior martial brother just standing there, not exchanging a word. He really wondered what his second senior martial brother had come up with this time.
Meanwhile, Yun Bei Fen excitedly ran to Zhi Guan’s side, hugging his leg again, and looking up with wide eyes. "First senior martial brother, you came!"
Zhi Guan looked down, his gaze softening a bit, and then reached down to pat Yun Bei Fen’s head. "A man should always keep his word."
Yun Bei Fen nodded as if he completely understood what his first senior martial brother was thinking and then turned to look at Yan Hong Min. "Second senior martial brother, what is the surprise now?"
Yan Hong Min’s lips twitched when he saw Yun Bei Fen rush to their first senior martial brother instead of him even though he was the one who had a surprise. Just what was this kind of unfair treatment? Shouldn’t he be much easier to get along with?!
Well, that wasn’t the point right now. He cleared his throat and then motioned at the heap of snowballs around him. "Since you are all here now, let me explain. Fen’er very helpfully came to tell me this morning that there was snow outside. Since he seemed so excited, I had the splendid idea of having a snowball fight. You just have to form balls like this and then you should throw them at one of the others. The one who scored the most points wins. Let me demonstrate this!" He bent down, picked up one of the balls he had already formed, and threw it at Yun Bei Fen.
The little bunny who still didn’t understand what was going on was hit square in the face.
Zhi Guan and Luo Lin stared at their youngest junior, their eyes going wide. Zhi Guan immediately bent down and picked him up, looking his face over to make sure that he wasn’t injured.
Luo Lin also rushed over, fussing about him. "Fen’er, are you alright? He didn’t hurt you, did he?"
Yun Bei Fen reached up and touched his forehead that had turned a little red, his eyes shocked as well. He really didn’t think that he had any chance to win this game.
Shen Lei also came walking over, pulled Luo Lin into his arms, and looked over his shoulder at Yun Bei Fen, raising his brows. "He looks alright. Thankfully, he didn’t hit his nose."
Zhi Guan and Luo Lin nodded and then turned to glare at Yan Hong Min. If he needed to demonstrate, very well. But did he have to choose Yun Bei Fen to do so? Wasn’t this just bullying those younger than him?
Yan Hong Min tensed up but thinking of his preparation, he really didn’t think that he would lose. Thus, he gave the two of them a strained smile. "Why are you looking at me like this? That’s how the game is played! I’m sure little junior wouldn’t mind, right?"
Yun Bei Fen looked at him and then touched his forehead again but finally shook his head. "It’s alright." In any case, this was how you played the game. If his senior martial brothers didn’t complain about it, then he also wouldn’t.
Yan Hong Min unwittingly heaved a sigh of relief. Thankfully, his little junior wasn’t angry or this would have turned out quite differently. After all, he had already seen how differently their first senior martial brother was treating the two of them. "Well, if everybody understood how the game is played, let’s just start!" With that, he immediately picked up a ball and threw it over again.
Zhi Guan furrowed his brows, picked up Yun Bei Fen by the shoulders, and put him down behind him. Then, he drew his sword in a fluid motion, and hacked the snowball in two, making the halves fall to the ground. After that, he stared down Yan Hong Min, daring him to throw another one at their little junior.
Yan Hong Min pursed his lips, picked up the next snowball, and threw it at Luo Lin instead. In any case, he wasn’t stupid enough to throw it at Zhi Guan or Shen Lei. These two would mop the snowy floor with him if he did that.
Unfortunately, Yan Hong Min had still miscalculated.
The snowball hit Luo Lin who immediately gave a yelp and threw himself into Shen Lei’s arms, a trace of snow glittering on his red robe.
Shen Lei furrowed his brows in response and lightly brushed it off. It seemed that this second senior martial brother of his little fairy wanted to play for real. Well, he’d accompany him for a round or two!
Taking a glance at Zhi Guan, he learned from him and pulled Luo Lin behind him. "Don’t worry, little fairy. Your Ah Lei will protect you! You just form a few of those snowballs for us."
In any case, Yan Hong Min hadn’t said that they couldn’t team-up. And since senior martial brother Zhi was teaming up with his little junior, he might as well team up with his little fairy. That way, they could make use of their talents the best way.
A beautiful smile lit up Luo Lin’s face and he rushed to nod. "If that is what Ah Lei wants, then Luo Lin will definitely do so." With that, he leaned down, picked up some snow, and formed it into a ball. He handed the ball to Shen Lei with a smile, and then just bent down, forming another one.
Shen Lei smiled as well. He turned to look at Yan Hong Min and then threw the snowball at him with full force.
Yan Hong Min flinched and tried to evade but the snowball still struck his shoulder. He winced and groaned, feeling as if that thing had just broken a bone. Ah, he should have made sure that Luo Lin wouldn’t bring this guy along! What was he supposed to do now?!
Well, it seemed that he couldn’t wait any longer. It was time to use his secret weapon already!
He hurriedly imbued some spiritual energy into the array that he had drawn on the ground and, suddenly, a gust of wind blew up, and then started to circle around him. The snowballs that had been lying in a circle around him were blown into the air with it, whirling around him. Then one by one, they were ejected outside, rushing at Zhi Guan and Shen Lei.
