Chapter 257: True to the Brotherly Bond

Qi Junyi's arm muscles tensed slightly, and he easily lifted Ying Duo, who was sitting on his shoulder, and set him down on the ground beside him.

He brushed off nonexistent dust from his uniform's shoulder with a casual pat, his tone tinged with impatience.

"Little Ghost, go play elsewhere; don't get in the way here."

Qi Junyi frowned, trying to keep his tone patient toward a "cognitively impaired" person, but the expulsion was unmistakable.

"This isn't your business; it's... our family's household matter."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, trying to shoo away some "obstacle" that had fallen from the sky, his focus shifting back to the blood‑stained corner of Qi Hengyu's mouth.

Ying Duo's golden pupils showed no emotion, but he raised his hand and pointed at a dark dormitory window behind them.

"You're not sleeping and fighting here?"

But speaking of household matters...

Ying Duo tilted his head slightly, as if recalling what Qi Junyi had just said.

"Didn't you kick him out of the house?"

He pointed at Qi Hengyu, "So, it shouldn't count as a household matter, right?"

Even if it is a household matter, it should be the "version answer" kind of household matter, right?

Qi Junyi: "......."

Qi Hengyu: "......."

This NPC is a bit off—someone over forty levels bullying a twenty‑level who might not even have that—do you have any sense of decency?

Qi Junyi's temples throbbed as he tried to reason with Ying Duo.

"Just because he's kicked out, the yard's not my house? And he still has the surname Qi, he's still my brother, so it's still a household matter, understand?"

"Who asked you to meddle!"

Qi Hengyu wiped the blood from his mouth corner, his eyes reddening, and before Ying Duo could calm down, he hoarsely shouted back.

"My affairs have nothing to do with you; stop the fake concern!"

"Got nothing to do with me?" Qi Junyi's anger flared again with a sudden snap, his voice sharply rising.

"Look at yourself now—you're a useless waste who can't even use your own Aberrant Arts; no matter what I say, I'm still your older brother!"

"All of you shut up—!!!"

A resentful roar came from a window on the first floor of the neighboring dormitory, clearly the voice of someone fed up after being harassed by the two for too long.

"Is this never ending! Doing a family drama at someone's window in the middle of the night? Go roll to the training ground to fight, stop disturbing the residents, I've got an early eight tomorrow!!!"

Qi Junyi and Qi Hengyu both froze, and the retorts that were about to spill out choked themselves back.

Even though Qi Junyi is an elite of the Heresy Tribunal, he still has a sense of not disturbing the public; his complexion instantly turned a bit unnatural, and Qi Hengyu also turned his head away with a grimace.

At that moment, the two brothers' guilty expressions were almost identical.

Ying Duo stood nearby, glanced at the ashen faces of Qi Junyi and Qi Hengyu, and suddenly blurted out:

"If you're scolded, just be honest."

Qi Junyi glared at him fiercely, deciding to ignore the guy who couldn't read the atmosphere.

After all, compared with Chi Jinan's venomous tongue that can give someone a heart attack, Ying Duo's factual "cold remark" style is far less aggressive, merely a dry comment that can be a bit choking.

If it weren't for the huge commotion caused by last night's Flame City Cannon, which sent the saintess to dispatch Chi Jinan's plague deity to scour the world, he wouldn't have had time to sneak into the Academy to find this troublesome brother and settle some lingering historical issues.

If he doesn't resolve it now, he'll truly lose the chance.

"Fine, we keep going to the training ground to fight, right?"

Qi Junyi suppressed his anger, looking at Qi Hengyu.

Since you contest me, let's go to the training ground so I can see what skills you've actually gained in the years away from home, or if all you have left is a stubborn mouth.

Sure enough, Qi Hengyu's gaze shifted, he wiped the blood from his mouth corner, and almost without hesitation agreed.

"Go if you want! Who's afraid of whom!"

Qi Junyi stopped the chatter, turned and headed toward the Academy's public training ground, and Qi Hengyu immediately followed.

Then the two noticed that the Ying Guang Lu head was also walking at a steady pace, neither too close nor too far, trailing behind them.

Qi Hengyu stopped, frowned, and looked at Ying Duo.

"What are you following for? Go back and rest!"

Ying Duo's gaze fell on Qi Hengyu, and he asked a question that seemed completely unrelated to the current situation.

"Is Shen Zexi's mother not at the school?"

"Eh?" Qi Hengyu staggered a step, nearly performing a ground fall, and retorted.

"What mother... Shen Zexi is male! Can't you just call people by their names?"

"Oh," Ying Duo nodded, then silently asked back, "Don't you think Shen Zexi looks like an old‑maid?"

Qi Hengyu opened his mouth to argue, but an image of Shen Zexi constantly worrying about everything, nitpicking and meddling, flashed through his mind.

Given his over‑concerned demeanor, last time he even ran to the slums together with him out of worry...

It seemed, perhaps, maybe...

Is it a bit of a "old‑maid" trait?

No, perhaps that guy is some kind of supreme saint?

Qi Hengyu was momentarily speechless and could only awkwardly change the subject.

"Why are you asking about him? He said last night he wanted to go out for a walk, and hasn't returned since."

Qi Hengyu's tone carried irritation and worry.

"Last night Tianmian City was so chaotic—Mutation, explosions... it didn't settle until dawn, and even now he hasn't shown up..."

He muttered softly, "He couldn't have actually died out there, could he?"

Ying Duo tilted his head, analyzed Qi Hengyu's words, and reached a conclusion.

"So you wanted to go out to find him, and ended up meeting your brother downstairs?"

"What else?" Qi Hengyu subconsciously rolled his eyes in irritation, "My luck is absurdly terrible; as soon as I step out I run into this Demon God."

Qi Junyi, who was walking ahead, heard the label "Demon God," their steps faltered slightly, they let out a cold snort, then did not look back.

Ying Duo nodded, his tendency to jump between topics remained as strong as ever.

"Why can't you use your Aberrant Arts?"

Qi Hengyu's body tensed slightly, and his irritation grew even more.

"There's nothing worth saying."

He turned his head away, his voice dropping, "That kind of ability... even if used, it's meaningless, it's purely a Damage Others Not Benefiting Self ability."

He said the last few words lightly, yet they carried a tone of self‑loathing.

Ying Duo's golden eyes stared at him silently for a few seconds; in his memory, Qi Hengyu had always been a character who couldn't control his emotions, quick to anger and irritation, amusing when teased but also rather one‑dimensional.

Putting those personality flaws aside, Qi Hengyu is still a very loyal person.

A Damage Others Not Benefiting Self ability?

It sounds like an Aberrant Arts with massive side effects, or one that has extremely strict activation conditions.

But......

Ying Duo thought about the brothers' names—one Qi Junyi, the other Qi Hengyu—and then recalled some obscure, pretentious prophecy poem.

It says the two of you have nothing to do with balance; he doesn't believe it.