Bai Xiaochun was someone who could find joy in anything… At this moment, he discovered the fun of being the sect leader's junior apprentice brother. Excitedly, he swaggered down the sect's mountain path. In the distance, he saw the Task Office.
Clearing his throat, Bai Xiaochun tidied his clothes, put on a senior's serious expression, raised his chin proudly, and slowly approached with his hands behind his back.
The Task Office was crowded—one of the busiest places on Xiangyun Mountain. Every day, a large number of outer disciples came and went, and the noisy chatter could be heard from afar.
Before long, Bai Xiaochun arrived at the Task Office. He stood there with what he thought was a kindly smile, looking at the outer disciples.
Almost as soon as he appeared, people noticed him—especially a group of outer disciples in front of him who had been discussing their next tasks. Their eyes caught Bai Xiaochun and they all froze for a moment.
"Is that Bai… Senior Uncle? Greetings, Senior Uncle Bai!"
"Greetings, Senior Uncle Bai!"
They quickly cupped their fists in respect. More and more outer disciples saw Bai Xiaochun, and soon nearly all the outer disciples there were paying their respects.
"Thank you all for your hard work." Hearing those words, Bai Xiaochun's heart bloomed with joy. Smiling, he greeted everyone, hands behind his back as he walked forward.
The outer disciples all looked at him with envy, whispering among themselves.
"That's Senior Uncle Bai—the sect leader's junior apprentice brother…"
Especially the stewards at the Task Office, who immediately stood and bowed as well, causing all work to come to a halt. Seeing all this, Bai Xiaochun became even more thrilled.
"You all continue on, no need to pay attention to me. Today, I am here on behalf of the sect leader to check on the outer disciples of Lingxi Sect," Bai Xiaochun said with a proud heart. As soon as he spoke, the disciples bowed again, and even a few elders stepped out and nodded at him.
However… Bai Xiaochun, despite telling everyone to ignore him, did not leave but walked among the crowd, smiling and nodding at everyone he passed. The words "Senior Uncle Bai" echoed from all directions, with some disciples repeating it over ten times…
Gradually, the expressions of the disciples became strange. It was clear Bai Xiaochun was here just to hear them call him Senior Uncle Bai. Seeing this, he decided it was time to stop, waved to the crowd, and swaggered off. The Task Office then resumed normal operation.
"This identity is powerful!" Bai Xiaochun's eyes sparkled. That whole morning, he felt mentally joyful. More importantly, he discovered a unique advantage to this identity.
"Honor disciple, sect leader's junior apprentice brother—doesn't that mean no one dares to bother me anymore?" Thinking of this, Bai Xiaochun laughed heartily and quickly ran toward the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion.
The Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion was just as crowded.
Not long after, Bai Xiaochun arrived and looked at the ten stone tablets there. Again, "Senior Uncle Bai" was called out repeatedly. Bai Xiaochun felt quite emotional. He lingered there for a while, but noticing the increasingly strange looks from those around, he finally left reluctantly.
Although it was already dusk, he wasn't tired and went to the outer disciples' living quarters.
Just as Xu Baocai stepped outside, he saw Bai Xiaochun and quickly cupped his fists in respect.
"Oh, it's Xiao Bao. When I left half a year ago, your cultivation wasn't much different from now. That won't do—you must cultivate diligently!" Bai Xiaochun patted Xu Baocai's shoulder and spoke in a very old-fashioned tone.
Xu Baocai was stunned and blinked. Hearing "Xiao Bao" from Bai Xiaochun made him feel weird since only his father called him that. No one else did. He felt awkward but dared not refuse and just nodded.
"I… er, Your Highness!" Bai Xiaochun suddenly realized that with his new identity, he shouldn't say "I." Remembering how Li Qinghou usually spoke, he replaced it with "Your Highness."
"This place is unfamiliar to me, Xiao Bao, take Your Highness around to get familiar," Bai Xiaochun cleared his throat, hands behind his back, chin raised proudly.
Xu Baocai helplessly took Bai Xiaochun around.
As more and more outer disciples came back, they were all surprised to see Bai Xiaochun again—many of whom had already met him at the Task Office or the Medicine Pavilion that day. They exchanged looks and couldn't help but pay respects again.
Bai Xiaochun once again felt the glory of his identity. Seeing the disciples bow to him, he was overjoyed and stayed until late at night before leaving satisfied.
Passing by the area where the spirit-tail chickens were raised, he stopped by. Once again, a chorus of "Senior Uncle Bai" echoed. When he left, he was carrying two spirit-tail chickens in his hands.
"This is the advantage of this identity. Before, I had to steal chickens to eat. Now, I just take them openly. Humph, since the sect leader is my senior brother, who dares to bother me?" Bai Xiaochun hummed a tune happily as he proudly returned to his residence.
Early the next morning, the sun just rising, Bai Xiaochun got up bright and early. He tidied his clothes and posed several times in front of a bronze mirror, finally choosing a posture that suited his status best, and stepped outside.
He truly treated this like a… career.
This time, he didn't go to the Task Office but visited other crowded places on Xiangyun Mountain, even attending a small competition there.
All day long, he heard countless calls of "Senior Uncle Bai." He felt like an immortal and was radiant with joy. So… on the third, fourth, and fifth days…
He wandered like this for more than ten days straight. By then, almost every outer disciple on Xiangyun Mountain had called him "Senior Uncle Bai" dozens of times. The disciples were going crazy—calling a kid "Senior Uncle" once might be bearable, but so many times?
Each day, Bai Xiaochun was very fulfilled, especially when meeting acquaintances, always stepping forward to greet them…
"Yi Duo junior disciple, don't go! Long time no see." One day, Bai Xiaochun saw Zhao Yiduo and excitedly grabbed him. Zhao Yiduo twitched his face upon hearing "Yi Duo junior disciple."
"Senior Uncle Bai, we… we've met many times these past few days…"
Bai Xiaochun blinked and cleared his throat, about to speak when he suddenly noticed a figure not far away. That person, seeing him, immediately turned to leave.
"Oh, isn't that Zi'ang junior disciple? Long time no see!" Bai Xiaochun quickly let go of Zhao Yiduo and hurried to stop Chen Zi'ang, showing joy.
Chen Zi'ang was almost driven crazy. These past days, he had encountered Bai Xiaochun at least three times daily. Everyone who knew Bai Xiaochun on Xiangyun Mountain was like this, plus some unlucky guy who called himself Wolf Master, who supposedly saw Bai Xiaochun more than ten times a day…
"Senior Uncle Bai, um… I have something to do. I'll leave first." Chen Zi'ang practically fled like he was running for his life.
After over ten days, nearly all outer disciples on Xiangyun Mountain began pretending not to see Bai Xiaochun whenever they met him. This annoyed Bai Xiaochun, so he became even more proactive.
"Oh, Your Highness, you look so familiar. Come on, remind me, have we met before?" Bai Xiaochun caught a disciple who had once admired Zhou Xinqi. The outer disciple, with a very gloomy face, was pulled aside and chatted with Bai Xiaochun for about the time of one incense stick. The disciple called Bai Xiaochun "Senior Uncle" over thirty times before Bai Xiaochun was satisfied and let him go.
But this wasn't a solution. Seeing many people avoiding him, Bai Xiaochun decided to be more assertive. So in the following days, he would cough loudly to remind others of his presence.
The effect was mediocre, making Bai Xiaochun somewhat sad. Fortunately, besides Du Lingfei, there was another girl Bai Xiaochun found very cute.
She was Hou Xiaomei, who almost every day appeared in front of Bai Xiaochun multiple times voluntarily. Without Bai Xiaochun coughing to remind her, she would excitedly call out to him with a sweet voice, "Senior Uncle!"
The other outer disciples nearby felt a pang of jealousy, but Bai Xiaochun became even happier and more proud.
Hou Xiaomei, having once been taught by Bai Xiaochun, admired the mysterious and unfathomable little turtle in the sect. Once, when following Bai Xiaochun, she even asked for his opinion on the little turtle.
"The little turtle? That's a mysterious, extraordinary genius—the greatest person Lingxi Sect has seen in ten thousand years. Such a person is like a white cloud in the sky, admired by all!" Bai Xiaochun cleared his throat and bragged. He struggled to suppress the urge to tell Hou Xiaomei that he himself was the little turtle. He resolved to wait for a grand moment to reveal his great identity.
"I agree. I and many others have said that the little turtle is indifferent to fame and fortune, pursuing the ultimate in medicine, calm and serene, like the white clouds in the sky," Hou Xiaomei said, her eyes shining brightly.
At one point, there were rumors in the sect that Bai Xiaochun was the little turtle, but those were quickly denied. Everyone had their own imagined version of the little turtle, and no matter how they thought, it never matched Bai Xiaochun. The ten stone tablets for the grass, wood, spirit, and beast didn't record names, only symbols representing the path of medicine, making identification difficult.
Hearing Hou Xiaomei say that, Bai Xiaochun wasn't paying much attention. Instead, his mind was on Zhou Xinqi, one of the five beauties of the southern bank.
"I wonder what proud and talented Zhou Xinqi would look like when she calls me Senior Uncle Bai," he thought excitedly, and searched for Zhou Xinqi every day.
His efforts paid off. One day, he saw Zhou Xinqi riding a blue silk ribbon flying through the sky.
"Xinqi junior niece!!" Bai Xiaochun shouted loudly.
Zhou Xinqi's expression instantly darkened. She had heard about Bai Xiaochun's antics over the past month and knew that the outer disciples on Xiangyun Mountain were almost crazy about him. Hearing those words made her skin crawl, so she pretended not to hear and sped away, eventually flying out of Xiangyun Mountain to escape him.
Bai Xiaochun watched her silhouette disappear and sighed, feeling it was a pity.
"No worries. She can fly now, and I will be able to fly too in the future. There will be plenty of chances for her to call me Senior Uncle Bai," Bai Xiaochun grumbled. Seeing the sky grow dark, he turned to look for Du Lingfei.
When Du Lingfei saw Bai Xiaochun, she covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"Senior Uncle Bai, Senior Uncle Bai, Senior Uncle Bai…"
Bai Xiaochun was instantly delighted. The more he looked at Du Lingfei, the cuter he found her. But a few days later, because of her previous merits, Du Lingfei was taken as a disciple by an elder and sent to Donglin City as a steward of Lingxi Sect there.
This was a great opportunity for Du Lingfei. After several years in Donglin City, she would gain enough qualifications, and combined with her merits, could directly advance to the inner sect.
Also, in Donglin City, she would have much better resources for cultivation than in the sect.
Bai Xiaochun felt regretful. After sending Du Lingfei off, he continued looking for fun in Xiangyun Mountain.
Time passed like this for another month. By then, the words "Senior Uncle Bai" had become taboo on Xiangyun Mountain, causing everyone to smile bitterly whenever they thought about it.
Fortunately, Bai Xiaochun also realized that he couldn't continue like this.
"I, Bai Xiaochun, am the sect leader's junior apprentice brother of Lingxi Sect and the senior uncle to all disciples—not just those on Xiangyun Mountain. It wouldn't be right to favor one branch over another. I should visit other peaks," Bai Xiaochun said resolutely, then headed toward Zidingshan…