Chapter 67: Don’t cry, buddy! What’s going on? Do you miss home?

Alexander crouched across from Robert, a smile on his face, his eyes like crescents. The surrounding area instantly fell silent, a profoundly eerie aura spreading around them.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!!" Robert, clutching his head, was filled with terror.

This must be some kind of joke!

Oh, my God!

"Ghost! Are you a ghost?! Why are you everywhere!! Weren’t you flying in the sky!"

Pulling out a sword from behind, Alexander chuckled, "Oh, you suddenly jumped down and even forgot your sword. So, I just followed you down, just landed a bit faster than you."

"I’ve specifically come to give you your sword, haven’t I?" Alexander added.

Robert’s spirit plummeted. Fear had brought tears to his eyes as he pleaded, "I don’t need your sword! I just want to go home! I beg you, can you leave me alone?!"

Alexander replied with certainty, "I think you just want me to treat you to dinner!"

Robert was distraught, tears streaming down his face, "No, I don’t! How could you tell that I wanted you to treat me?!"

Pointing to a luxuriously decorated restaurant not far away, Alexander’s eyes gleamed with an air of ’seeing through it all’, "As soon as I mentioned that there was a nice German restaurant around here, you hurriedly jumped down. Doesn’t that mean you want me to treat you?"

Robert, his face still streaked with tears, followed Alexander’s gaze towards the German restaurant in the distance.

And then, he was stunned.

Why...

Why would there be a German restaurant here of all places?

Why did I just happen to land near this fancy restaurant?

With a hearty laugh, Alexander patted his shoulder, draped an arm around his neck like an old friend, and amid Robert’s stunned gaze, started pulling him towards the German restaurant.

"Come on, let’s go! My treat today. Order whatever you want, it won’t cost much. After we eat, we can have a good spar."

A few minutes later, inside a private room in the restaurant, the dining table was laden with a variety of dishes.

Delicious red wine-braised beef, German roast pork, Black Forest cake, smoked herring, and more - almost all famous German dishes.

With a pop, Alexander had a waiter open a bottle of red wine. Raising his glass with a hearty laugh, he said, "Come on, friend, let’s have a drink!"

Across the table, Robert was still sitting in a stupor, not having recovered from the shock. His four disciples were sitting together, legs clamped together, trembling in fear like children who had done something wrong, not daring to say a word.

Shaking, Robert lifted his wine glass and clinked it against Alexander’s, muttering, "I came here to kill him today, didn’t I? Why am I now sitting here having a drink with him..."

Taking a small sip of his wine, Alexander asked, "What did you just say, friend?"

Robert shivered, replying, "Nothing... nothing..."

Alexander pointed at the disciples sitting next to him, "Move over and make some room, I’d like to chat with your Senior Brother."

The disciples promptly stood up in trepidation, yielding their seats to Alexander.

Robert’s eyes widened in shock, trembling, "Don’t... don’t leave..."

Alexander sat down next to him, leaving Robert choking back sobs, his legs clamped together, a sudden urge to cry washing over him. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Holding his red wine, Alexander said, "Little brother Robert, I admit, I went a bit overboard today! It took me quite a while to find an opponent willing to spar with me 500 times, I really shouldn’t have made fun of you."

Robert felt his world crumbling.

No one would willingly spar with you for 500 rounds! It wasn’t my voluntary choice at all!

Swirling his wine glass, Alexander casually suggested, "How about this? I apologize for what happened today, and we write off everything that’s happened before. What do you say?"

Trembling, Robert picked up his wine glass, a glimmer of hope rising in his heart. "Write... write off?"

With a tipsy gaze, Alexander replied, "Written off. The 500 rounds from here on don’t count!"

Robert’s eyes immediately brightened. "Really? Really?"

If it were true... it would be too good to be true.

But then Alexander added, "We spar another 500 rounds!"

Spit-take!!

Hearing this, Robert sprayed out the half-drunk red wine.

"Calm down! Calm down!" Alexander patted his back, soothingly saying, "Drink slower, I know you’re happy, but don’t overdo it at the expense of your health."

Trembling, Robert extended his hand, pointing at Alexander. "You... you..."

Alexander shook his head, smiling, "No more words, little brother, I understand. We’re all in the same boat.

After all, there are so few Cultivators in the world nowadays, finding a suitable opponent is really hard! You’re just bashful and acting coy, but I know you also want to spar with me, right? I understand, I do!"

Looking at Alexander’s "I understand" expression, Robert was on the verge of exploding.

Tears streaming down his face, Robert, pointing at Alexander, stammered, "I... I..."

"Do you want to thank me? Thank me for accompanying you in sparring?" Alexander wore an "I understand you" smile.

Trembling, Robert started, "You... you..."

"No need to thank me!" Alexander gave him a hearty slap on the back, laughing.

"It’s only right!" Alexander slapped him again.

"We’re helping each other improve!" Another slap on the back.

Spit-take!

Frustrated, Robert suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Tears welled up in his eyes, streaming down his face.

Why? Why did he have to run into this guy?

"Senior brother!"

"Senior brother, what’s wrong with you?"

Alexander was taken aback as well. He quickly pulled out a napkin to wipe the blood from Robert’s mouth, saying, "Buddy, what’s wrong? Even if you’re happy, you shouldn’t be vomiting blood!"

Robert extended a trembling hand and said, "I want to go home..."

Surprised, Alexander turned to the four disciples, asking, "What did he say?"

One of them swallowed nervously and replied, "Senior brother said he wants to go home..."

"Where’s his home?"

"North... It’s far, thousands of kilometers..."

Alexander quickly took hold of Robert’s hand, saying, "Friend, your home is too far. Why don’t you spend the night at my place?"

Tears streaming down his face, Robert said, "I want to go home... to my mother."

Baffled, Alexander said, "Don’t cry, buddy! What’s going on? Do you miss home?"

With tears running freely and a desolate look, Robert murmured, "Mother... I don’t want to cultivate anymore... I want to go home."

"..."

All of his fellow disciples were stunned.

Was this really their senior brother?

In their memory, their senior brother was an incredibly proud prodigy with a dismissive talent!

What happened to him after drinking a bit of wine today?

Could he really be homesick?

"He must be drunk," Alexander shook his head, gently shaking Robert, saying, "Your tolerance is so poor, even a three-year-old child could outdrink you. How about..."

Turning to Robert, Alexander suggested earnestly, "We could have a fight while we’re still in the mood, it might help reignite your passion. It’s very good for sobering up! What do you think?"

"I... I..."

Trembling, Robert looked into his sincere eyes, and leaned on the table to stand up shakily.

"I don’t want to fight with you!"

In complete meltdown, Robert broke down in tears and suddenly pushed everyone away.

Under the stunned gaze of the crowd, Robert ran out of the restaurant and violently embraced a marble pillar, banging his head against it with a loud thump.

Instantly, cracks formed on the marble pillar, a testament to the intense force of the blow. The most critical aspect was that, in his distraught state, Robert hadn’t used any spiritual energy; he’d created those cracks using only the physical force of his body.

Both Alexander and Robert’s disciples were shocked.

"Senior Brother!"

"Robert!"

Alexander and the disciples rushed over to support Robert, who was bleeding from a head wound.

Alexander, looking at Robert’s expression of utter despair, lamented:"Friend, what on earth are you doing?! If there’s something troubling you, talk to me!"

Robert trembled, "I don’t want to spar with you..."

Helpless, Alexander responded, "I thought it was something big! Why didn’t you say it earlier! If you’d told me before, I wouldn’t have continued to spar with you!"

"Why didn’t you say it earlier! Why?!"

"...."

"I... I... you... you..." Robert trembled, spitting out a mouthful of blood before his head tilted and he passed out.

Alexander and the disciples were terrified.

"Robert! Robert!"

Alexander held his hand up to Robert’s nose and then sighed in relief, "He’s alright, just passed out from overexertion. He’ll be fine after some rest."

One of the disciples, trembling, asked, "What on earth just happened?!"

With a bitter smile, Alexander confessed, "To tell you the truth, your senior brother and I are the closest of friends; our relationship is very strong. Today, seeing me stirred such intense emotions in him that he couldn’t help but express his inner joy by headbutting a wall, which I find quite touching."

Alexander sighed deeply.

The disciples were completely stunned.

This... this doesn’t seem like the behavior of someone expressing joy...

Alexander shook his head and said solemnly, "Once he wakes up, you must remember to tell him that we still have our agreement for five hundred more sparring sessions. I will definitely seek him out for those. Did you hear me?"

The disciples gulped and responded blankly, "We... we heard."

With a sigh, Alexander continued, "As a good friend of your senior brother, it’s only proper for me to foot today’s bill."

"Al... Alexander..."

However, Alexander patted his pockets only to find he didn’t have any money.

Generally,settling the bill would be the responsibility of Alexander’s butler. However, the butler is not present today.

So, he reluctantly pulled out Robert’s wallet from his pocket, took out a thousand dollars, and called to the waiter at the entrance of the restaurant:

"Check, please! No need for change!"