Chapter 695: Welcome Back
Jiang Ning knocked on Ning Yuzhu’s door. She knew Jiang Huai and Fang Moye were asleep together, so she didn’t disturb them. Instead, she went to Ning Yuzhu’s room. The door opened, and Ning Yuzhu, still in her pink nightgown, looked a little hazy-eyed.
The moment she saw Jiang Ning, Ning Yuzhu’s eyes cleared instantly, her haze replaced by deep respect. “Master… you’ve come out of seclusion early?”
“Yes, yes. It didn’t even take a full year, I just wanted to stay hidden in the Void Dark Night a bit longer… to observe the situation.” Jiang Ning smiled gently at her, then, instead, she hugged Ning Yuzhu’s arm and started acting spoiled. “I’m so hungry… can you cook me a bowl of noodles?”
Jiang Ning wasn’t good at cooking. Her creations were always just barely edible. Ning Yuzhu was still a bit stunned, and was vaguely pulled along to the kitchen, still being held. Only then did Jiang Ning release her.
Ning Yuzhu felt somewhat overwhelmed. Her Master had rarely initiated physical contact with her before, and now she had directly hugged her arm. It brought an indescribable sense of happiness. Jiang Ning said softly, “Then I’ll trouble you. I’ll go check on Jiang Zhi.”
With that, she walked with light steps to Jiang Zhi’s room. Jiang Zhi was sleeping soundly, hugging a bolster pillow made by Jiang Huai. She was accustomed to sleeping with Jiang Huai and couldn’t sleep without something to hold. Last night, before bed, she had been quietly cursing Jiang Huai as a little bastard.
Little bastard? What a pervert!
Towards Jiang Zhi, Jiang Ning was not so gentle. She tiptoed to the bedside and looked at Jiang Zhi’s messy bedding, then at the plump, round snow buttocks beneath her light purple nightgown. She raised her hand, and then… with a “slap.”
A stinging pain woke Jiang Zhi. She instinctively grumbled, “Are you trying to die…” She thought it could only be Jiang Huai, the one who liked to play pranks. But as she sat up, intending to pull Jiang Huai into her arms and give him a good spanking, she suddenly froze.
Then she rubbed her eyes.
“You…”
“Don’t you recognize me?” Jiang Ning tilted her head. The next moment, her appearance changed. Her incredibly beautiful face seemed to dim the colors of the world. Even Jiang Zhi instinctively held her breath, her heart pounding. After a moment, Jiang Ning returned to her usual appearance, her eyes looking playfully at Jiang Zhi.
“Master…” Jiang Zhi’s voice was complex. Even though she had hated Jiang Ning deeply before, now that Jiang Ning was truly in front of her, her heart churned with mixed emotions. Her instinctive reaction was still to respectfully call her Master. It wasn’t out of fear of her power, but because she knew deep down that everything she now possessed came from Jiang Ning. If not for Jiang Ning, she would have been a corpse two thousand years ago.
“Oh, you can still call me Master. I thought you’d pounce on me to duel.”
“I can’t win.” Perhaps it was Jiang Ning’s approachable tone, unlike her previous cold and aloof demeanor, that led Jiang Zhi to instinctively grit her teeth in response.
“Good that you know. Hmph.” With that, Jiang Ning suddenly grabbed Jiang Zhi’s face again, looking angrily into her eyes. “I told you not to call him brother, not to call him brother. The more I forbid it, the more enthusiastic you get, right? Huh?”
Jiang Zhi’s face was contorted into various comical shapes by her hands, but her eyes showed no fear. Instead, a hint of mockery appeared. “I called him that because I called him that. What, isn’t this helping you get him used to it early?”
“I don’t need your help.” Jiang Ning pouted slightly, but she released her hand and sat on the bedside. They stared at each other for a few seconds before she suddenly asked softly, “So, do you still hate me?”
Jiang Zhi looked earnestly into her eyes. She thought she would need time to ponder this question, but what finally came out was, “I don’t hate you.” Perhaps there had been a mix of love and hate before, but now that she no longer resisted it, she felt especially content. Jiang Ning reached out and ruffled her hair. Although she was now in a youthful form, the gesture felt slightly strange.
“It’s okay. I wouldn’t feel guilty even if you did hate me. Really not hateful?”
“Not hateful.”
“So obedient.”
“But Master, you’re still so annoying.”
“Just joking. Don’t be so petty.” Jiang Ning playfully winked at her, then said, “Hurry up and get up. I asked Yuzhu to cook noodles for you too.”
She skipped to the door, her steps so light it was as if she might sprout wings. Jiang Zhi watched her slender back, and after a while, she slowly came back to her senses and asked, “You… you weren’t like this before.”
“This is my true self. I was afraid that time would pass too slowly, so long that it would drive me mad. So I hid this side of me away. Only when I knew I was about to see him again did I slowly find my way back to my former self.”
She walked out the door. Jiang Zhi slowly got up and went to the courtyard. Ning Yuzhu had already cooked the noodles, but she still felt a little flustered seeing Jiang Ning standing there. After all, she rarely saw her Master in such a smiling, cunning, and charming youthful state. She was unaccustomed to it.
Looking at the Yangchun noodles on the table, Jiang Ning sat down and happily picked up her chopsticks, eating the noodles with gusto, without any regard for grace. After eating her fill, she rubbed her belly and then looked towards Fang Moye’s room door, glancing at the two people beside her. “When do you think they’ll wake up?”
“Probably still a while. They always make trouble for a long time at night.” Jiang Zhi replied quietly beside her, adding a bit of fuel to the fire. Ning Yuzhu, however, replied gently, “It’s been a while since Jiang Huai and Senior Disciple Sister engaged in Dual Cultivation. It’s reasonable for them to be a bit more lingering. They should wake up later.”
“Sigh.” Jiang Ning pinched Ning Yuzhu’s cheek again and suddenly grumbled, “Yuzhu, you too. Why did you let your Senior Disciple Sister completely devour him? Senior Disciple Sister has such a proud personality. You should have provoked her more, made her continue to struggle with her desires. How could you just surrender to your own desires like this?”
Ning Yuzhu was speechless for a moment, unsure how to respond. After a while, she realized that this was just Jiang Ning’s joke. She looked at Jiang Ning in front of her and slowly said, “So, Master is ready to see him now, isn’t she?”
“Yes.” Jiang Ning nodded slightly. Perhaps it was because she had quietly overheard the phrase “She is my sister, after all” last night that she finally gathered the courage to decide to meet him in the courtyard. Nevertheless, she still felt an inexplicable sense of unease. She was also unaccustomed to her current appearance. For the past ten thousand years, she had presented herself as the Divine Emperor. The Divine Emperor was cold and aloof, rarely smiling, like an emotionless, icy machine, seemingly indifferent to everything in the world, without pity. But now, she was no longer the Divine Emperor. She was Jiang Ning. She never wanted to be the Divine Emperor; she only wanted to be Jiang Ning.
Jiang Huai slowly woke up from his dream. He looked at Fang Moye, who was sleeping soundly beside him, and reached out to gently pinch her cheek. Fang Moye slowly opened her eyes, and they looked at each other for a moment. Jiang Huai softly asked, “Should we get up, or should we do it one more time, then get up?”
Fang Moye’s eyes showed a hint of a grumble. Instinctively, she interpreted Jiang Huai’s words as a challenge. Just as she was about to accept his challenge, she suddenly sensed a presence in the courtyard. The next moment, she burrowed her entire body into the quilt, wrapping herself tightly. Even her voice trembled slightly. “I won’t get up yet… you get up.”
“Huh?” Jiang Huai was confused. He sat up and heard her say, “I want to sleep a little longer.” Jiang Huai scratched his head, unsure what she was thinking. He got up and put on his clothes. After getting out of bed, he looked at Fang Moye, who was tightly wrapped in her quilt, and softly asked, “Then shall I bring your breakfast to you?”
“No, don’t. I won’t eat.” Fang Moye’s voice was now trembling with shyness. Jiang Huai became even more confused. He scratched his head and silently opened the door, looking out at the courtyard. Jiang Zhi and Ning Yuzhu should both be up by now, but why were there three people at the table? One was Ning Yuzhu, one was Jiang Zhi, and the last… he suddenly understood what Fang Moye was shy about.
A girl in a white dress, her jet-black hair spread out behind her, her dark eyes, her bright and cute cheeks, her slender figure like a budding willow branch. She sat there obediently, but the moment her eyes met his, they were momentarily stunned. Their eyes almost trembled simultaneously, and neither spoke. Jiang Zhi and Ning Yuzhu watched the scene before them curiously, wondering what would happen next.
One second, two seconds, three seconds. They stared at each other for over ten seconds, yet neither said a word. Finally, Jiang Ning pouted slightly, her eyes showing a hint of grievance, and a trace of repentance. She walked to another stone table and suddenly leaned her upper body onto the cold stone table, resting her cheek on it. She tilted her head to look at Jiang Huai, her voice becoming timid. “Just, just ten hits… no, don’t add any more… After you hit me, don’t be angry with me anymore, okay? Promise.”
Jiang Huai slowly walked up to her, gently pulled her arm, lifted her up, and then hugged her into his arms, looking down at her. Jiang Ning tilted her head up, her eyes bright. The timid eyes from before now became playful again. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to bear it, Brother…”
“No.” Jiang Huai shook his head. “It was too easy to get away with it like this.”
“Huh?” Jiang Ning instinctively covered her little butt, but Jiang Huai just gently hugged her waist, holding her close. Her body was held tightly by Jiang Huai, and gradually her eyes became moist, her eye sockets turning red.
“Welcome back.” He said softly.
Jiang Ning could no longer hold back her tears. They rolled down like pearls falling from a broken string, and she hugged Jiang Huai tightly with her slender arms, as if trying to merge him into her own body.
