Chapter 50: “Ye’an and Lianxue” and “Bi Yi Lian Li”
Listening to the two senior sisters talk about other people’s cultivation partners, Pei Lianxue couldn’t help but purse her lips and smile. She couldn’t help but fantasize, wondering if others would discuss her and her senior brother in the same way in the future. Perhaps even a poet would compose a line of poetry for them.
For example… “Constantly envied is the young master of Hundred Lotus Sect, Ye’an, whom heaven has gifted with the lovely and wise, snow-like Niang.” —Constantly envied is the handsome young master of Hundred Lotus Sect, Ye An. Even heaven favors him, bestowing upon him a gentle, intelligent girl like snow to accompany him. Don’t poems often use inseparable birds and intertwined branches to describe loving couples? If one day, when poets write love poems and verses, they no longer use swallows and intertwined branches, but rather the words “Ye An” and “Lianxue” to represent loving couples, how wonderful would that be?
“Hoo—” Of course, this was just a beautiful fantasy of the future. Pei Lianxue suddenly remembered “Xiyue” that her senior brother had mentioned when they were in Wu Xi Town, and a flicker of unease arose in her heart. What if in the future it became, “Constantly envied is the young master of Hundred Lotus Sect, Ye’an, whom heaven has gifted with Xiyue Niang”? And it’s not just Xiyue Niang. There’s also… Yu Die Niang… Thinking of this, Pei Lianxue’s eyes suddenly turned cold. Xiyue was fine, but it was that Feng Yu Die… “Tsk…” She wondered if her senior brother had ever considered marriage. Last year, he had already turned fifteen and come of age, but there seemed to be no sign of him getting married. He was still cultivating! Practicing swordplay! Fighting his junior sister! Although he couldn’t beat his junior sister anymore. Thinking of this, Pei Lianxue remembered that her birthday would be here soon. Her coming-of-age ceremony, her fifteenth birthday. A woman could marry at fifteen, a rule that applied to both mortals and cultivators. Every year on her birthday, her senior brother would come over in the morning to wish her a happy birthday and give her gifts. Last year, he gave her a beautiful potted plant. She wondered what her senior brother would give her for her coming-of-age ceremony this year. Would senior brother give himself to her~~ Perhaps “Xiyue” and the like were just a surprise her senior brother had planned for her, and he had made up that name precisely to build suspense. Then, on her birthday, he would enter her room dressed in festive red robes and say, “Junior Sister, you’ve finally come of age. Senior Brother has waited for this day for over ten years! Let’s go, we’re having the wedding!” But… what if “Xiyue” wasn’t something her senior brother made up? In just a short moment, Pei Lianxue’s expression changed seven or eight times, from a sweet smile to a look of disappointment, then a cold gaze, followed by another smile, and then more disappointment. Xiao Yunluo, watching her rich change in expression from the side, was confused. “Junior Sister Pei, what are you thinking about?” “Ah… nothing.” Pei Lianxue quickly lowered her head, throwing away the sweet and sour fantasy in her mind. After a pause, she suddenly asked, “Senior Sister Xiao, what was it like when you came of age?” “Coming of age?” Xiao Yunluo paused, then her eyes widened. She had always assumed Pei Lianxue was around her age, or even older, given how powerful Pei Lianxue was. “You haven’t had your coming-of-age ceremony yet?” “It’s still more than three months away.” “…” Xiao Yunluo fell silent for a moment, feeling a little discouraged. After some thought, she replied, “On the day of my coming-of-age ceremony, Xuan Xing Sect held a grand banquet. The Young Sect Master of Shadow Moon Sword Sect, the Young Island Master of Feng Yu Island, and the ministers of Hantian Kingdom all came and gave me many gifts.” “That’s amazing?” Pei Lianxue looked envious. Seeing her expression, Xiao Yunluo puffed out her chest and said, “Of course. I am the Young Miss of Xuan Xing Sect. My coming-of-age ceremony was bound to be grand.” Seeing Pei Lianxue’s expression, Xiao Yunluo couldn’t help but brag, “But it was actually quite annoying.” “Why was it annoying?” “I had to talk to so many people, and I received many letters that day. The Sect Masters of many sects wanted to marry their sons to me as sons-in-law by marriage from my Xiao family. It was so troublesome. Those people kept trying to get close to me and put on a show.” Pei Lianxue tilted her head, “Put on a show?” “They would show off their poetry in front of me, or deliberately practice their swordplay where I could see them, trying to get my attention. They were so pretentious.” “Is that so.” Xiao Yunluo had a “Come on! Admire your Senior Sister Xiao!” expression, but then she fell silent for a moment, suddenly lowering her head shyly, and asked in a voice as quiet as a mosquito: “Junior Sister Pei, we… are friends, right?” Pei Lianxue nodded, half understanding, “Mm, I guess so.” “…Then can I call you Lianxue? And you call me Yunluo.” “Mm… If Senior Sister Xiao doesn’t mind, I don’t have any objections.” Hearing Pei Lianxue agree, Xiao Yunluo was overjoyed. She immediately pointed at Pei Lianxue with her finger. “Lianxue…” Then, pointing to her own face: “Yunluo…” “Lianxue Yunluo, Lianxue Yunluo… Friends… hehe—” After smiling with pursed lips for a while, Xiao Yunluo felt that her legs had rested enough, so she stood up. “Let’s go back. When we get back to the room, call that Second and I’ll take you to wander around Xuan Xing Sect’s marketplace.” “Ah… okay.” With that, the two of them returned to the Three-Bay House where they were staying. Pei Lianxue went back to her room to change into a cleaner outfit, and then went to Feng Yu Die’s bedroom to tell her about Xiao Yunluo’s invitation. However, Feng Yu Die was nowhere to be seen in her bedroom, only some unfinished roasted chicken on the table. “Where is she? She’s supposed to be recuperating, where did she run off to?” Without thinking too much, she simply returned to her room to meditate and cultivate Qi, resting while passing the time. After a while, Xiao Yunluo also came to call her after changing her clothes. Hearing that Feng Yu Die was not around, she didn’t mind and took Pei Lianxue by herself, flying on her sword towards the marketplace. … The Xuan Xing Sect marketplace was as lively as usual. Pei Lianxue had never seen many of the things on the street, like a country bumpkin entering a grand mansion. Seeing her like this, Xiao Yunluo acted as a tour guide, proudly introducing the unique products of Xuan Xing Sect in the marketplace. Every time they entered a shop, the shopkeepers would respectfully call Xiao Yunluo “Young Miss” and treat her politely. Xiao Yunluo, adopting the demeanor of a wealthy patron, told Pei Lianxue to say anything she liked, and she would give it to her for free. However, Pei Lianxue was too embarrassed to ask for anything the whole time. Finally, as Xiao Yunluo kept insisting, she casually said she wanted to eat the candied sour spirit fruits sold on the street. She thought they would be cheap, but when Xiao Yunluo paid, she saw that one serving cost twelve Spirit Stones, and she immediately lost interest. However, Xiao Yunluo still bought it. Over the past ten years, she had saved quite a bit of Spirit Stones. When he came to Xuan Xing Sect, her senior brother had mentioned that the prices were relatively high and told her to bring her little piggy bank. Pei Lianxue had always thought that the Spirit Stones she had saved for ten years would last a long time. But after wandering around the marketplace for a while, she realized that if she didn’t spend her little piggy bank sparingly, it might not even last a month. She clutched the sour spirit fruit in her hand, reluctant to eat it. Seeing her like this, Xiao Yunluo asked, “Why? Didn’t you want to eat it? Why aren’t you eating?” “Ah… are things here all this expensive? At Hundred Lotus Sect, this bunch of sour spirit fruits only costs two Spirit Stones. How can this be twelve?” “Ah? Two Spirit Stones? That cheap?” Xiao Yunluo stared blankly at the sour spirit fruit in her hand, “I remember these have always sold for twelve.” “…” “Forget it, Lianxue, what else do you want to eat? I’ll treat.” “Ah… No, no, I’ll just look.” The two were strolling on the street when suddenly, a man and a woman, two disciples of Xuan Xing Sect, walked out of a shop. Both of them had rosy complexions and looked relaxed. Xiao Yunluo looked at the plaque. “Ye’s Physiotherapy Center? What is a physiotherapy center?” Hearing the words “Ye’s,” Pei Lianxue suddenly perked up and quickly followed her gaze to the plaque. Could it be Senior Brother?! Before she could react, Xiao Yunluo grabbed her hand and walked towards it. “Lianxue, let’s go take a look too. I wonder what kind of shop it is.”
