The Zou siblings' expressions eased up once they heard Yang Qing's words.
Within a few seconds, the dot of dark clouds and thunder had already arrived a few meters away from them.
They became visibly petrified once they saw the source of that dark cloud up close.
It was a grey-headed albatross that had a wild and tempestuous aura to it, that even made it difficult for them to breathe.
It had rough-looking dark grey feathers that faintly produced thunder noises, though they were less intense than before when it was announcing its presence. Its irises were swirling like it was brewing a storm.
"Don't look at its eyes for too long, otherwise your souls will be swallowed into its swirling storms."
Yang Qing's voice pulled the two siblings from the brink just as they were about to be sucked in.
Yang Qing's voice was the tether that pulled them back in. The moment they regained their senses they immediately started choking as they breathed heavily. Their skins had already turned pale white and their robes were soaking wet.
Yang Qing waved his sleeves as a green mellow qi surrounded them like a warm blanket. Within a few seconds, their breathing had turned normal, however, their skin tones were still pale as they kept their eyes firmly trained on the ground, afraid to look up even for a second.
That brief exposure made them feel like they had been drowning for months. They could still feel a liquid sensation in their lungs and throats. And their wet robes were evidence that what they went through wasn't an illusion.
"Senior Hao Da, can you tell your little friend there to stop harassing my young friends here? You too Ellie," said Yang Qing as he turned his gaze towards Ellie whose combative aura was increasing more and more.
"Where was this posturing when the palace stage realm cultivators were attacking you," Yang Qing muttered in dissatisfaction.
"Hahaha junior Yang Qing, your demeanor is turning more and more expert-like. It's hard to reconcile the mischievous kid who used to cause the instructors endless grief back then and the palace stage expert I see before me.
Congratulations on your promotion by the way."
There was a handsome, blue-haired young man on top of the storm grey-headed albatross. He had smooth long flowing hair and sharp sword-like eyebrows.
He was in half-dark gold half red robes which only further added to his charm.
He was calmly seated on top of the storm grey-headed albatross as he looked at Yang Qing and his group.
"Please senior, don't bring up the past, I've been trying really hard to forget it," Yang Qing said as he smiled bitterly when the memories of his institute days surged into his mind.
While it was one of his best years since he didn't have an unforgiving schedule, it was also one of his hardest years. The instructors were seasoned experts at sniffing out schemes and he was always in the thick of it, either as the mastermind or the lackey in for the ride.
Whatever the case, it always ended up with him on the receiving end of some creative punishment from the instructors. A couple of times he wanted to turn over a new leaf due to how extreme those punishments were, but a number of factors prevented him from doing that.
For one, he already had a reputation to uphold and if he let it go, the tongue-lashing he would have gotten from his fellow students would have been way worse than the punishment he would get from the instructors. Atleast, that's what he told himself, to console himself every time he got caught and suffered under the mighty hand of the instructors.
Yang Qing hurriedly shook his head to cast out those pain-inducing thoughts once his mind touched on those punishments.
"Those instructors were beasts in human skins," Yang Qing muttered under his breath.
"That they were," said Hao Da as he sighed fearfully too.
"So how are things at the headquarters?" Hao Da asked trying to change the topic.
"Same old, same old. Being worked to the bone every day with no end in sight, hopefully, the palace courts will be better. By the way, I should also be offering my congratulations to you, senior Hao Da.
I heard you will be taking over as the branch chief at the Three fires branch. That's a pretty big promotion, though I thought you'd choose to come back to the headquarters," Yang Qing said in admiration.
"Thanks. They did ask me if I wanted to come back but I've worked at the branches for so long that I'd feel uncomfortable any place else. When a post at the three fires branch opened up, I accepted it instead." Hao Da answered with a carefree smile.
"Your change is even more drastic than mine, senior Hao Da."
Yang Qing sighed as his gaze fell on Hao Da who looked free and unfettered like the sky could fall and he would still be seated calmly enjoying the sights.
"It can't be helped, people change. I was nothing but a troublesome brat back then who held on to hate a little too much that it almost buried me.
Being made a rotational inquisitor was the greatest gift the Order could have given me, otherwise, I'm afraid if things went on as they were, I'd have ended up as a resident of the Requiem, being specially taken care of by my seniors.
As a rotational inquisitor, I got to see a lot of things and experience a lot of things that helped open my eyes. My life wasn't as tragic as I thought it was, in comparison. Knowing that, helped me let go of the bitterness and resentment I was holding to.
It helped me come to terms with my past, which was I was even able to break through into the palace realm. Otherwise, with the way I was, my mental demons from back then would have swallowed me whole.
Now I'm looking forward to the new experience as a branch chief. The pay and working schedule isn't bad either," He meaningfully said as he poked fun at Yang Qing's well-known lifelong desires.
"Senior, can you not take pleasure in other people's misfortunes," Yang Qing said as he ruefully smiled.
He couldn't help but admire the complete transformation of this senior of his. He didn't have that many friends at the institute but Yang Qing could be considered one of the few. It was why Yang Qing could pick up the change in his entire persona.
