After Xiao Die left, Pei Lianxue obediently went to warm the bed. She lay on the bed in the bedroom, her clear, bright eyes fixed on Ye Anping, who was sitting at the desk. She blinked occasionally, deep in thought.
Ye Anping took a moment to clear his mind and focus his energy. He gripped the brush in his right hand, moistened his nose tip with saliva, and lightly tapped the inkstone. Standing tall and straight, he lowered his gaze to a blank piece of Xuan paper and wrote the title in nine characters:
— “Moon Shadow Sword Sect” Strategy Plan.
Then, he wrote three more lines.
— Eldest Miss of Moon Shadow Sword Sect, Yun Yiyi, Mid Foundation Establishment.
— Second Miss of Moon Shadow Sword Sect, Yun Jiujiu, Late Foundation Establishment.
— Third Miss of Moon Shadow Sword Sect, Yun Xi, Mid Foundation Establishment.
After writing this, Ye Anping placed the brush back on the brush stand, his eyes fixed on the words, his mind racing through deductions.
If he followed the game’s timeline, the plots of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect and the “Imperial Sect” would happen simultaneously. However, this world had already undergone changes.
— Yun Xi appeared at Chi Long Mansion, nearly dying under the Scarlet Snow conjured by a demonic cultivator.
— Yun Yiyi sent a Jade Slip to the Hundred Lotus Sect, hoping for him, the Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect, to marry into their family.
In the game, once players received the rumor “Sect Master of Moon Shadow Sword Sect, Yun Tianchong, will soon exit seclusion,” the Sword Sect’s quests would begin, and they could receive tasks from the Moon Shadow Sword Sect.
Ye Anping hadn’t heard this news yet, but he had a premonition that this event might happen earlier due to the butterfly effect.
In the Moon Shadow Sword Sect’s storyline, players could choose one of three paths, corresponding to the three Yun family young ladies. There would be three different endings. While the endings wouldn’t significantly impact the main storyline, they would greatly influence the survival of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect and the rewards the player received.
The three endings were: “One dies,” “Two die,” and “All three die.” Who died depended entirely on the story path the player chose. In the game, most players chose to let “Yun Jiujiu” be the sole survivor because this ending yielded the most generous rewards. However, if one were to ask who among the three sisters was the most popular, it would be “Yun Xi.” This seemed contradictory, but considering that most players focused on strength, the result was understandable.
In the game, players could only follow the officially set routes. But this world was not a game. From both a profit and an empathy perspective, Ye Anping desired to achieve a perfect “all alive” ending. Furthermore, the “all alive” ending would likely positively aid the later major plotlines. The incident at Chi Long Mansion was proof enough that he could deviate from the established plot and take shortcuts, using the intelligence in his mind to refine a more perfect process.
However…
“Tsk…” Ye Anping frowned deeply. After running through dozens of plans in his mind, he realized that to implement any of them, he was missing a crucial trump card. He needed someone to cooperate with him. Ideally, this person should be a man, exceptionally shrewd, capable of adapting to circumstances, able to execute any command without a single mistake, and possess decent combat ability, with a cultivation of at least Mid Foundation Establishment. Most importantly, this person needed to be absolutely obedient and loyal, never to betray him.
… …
Ye Anping searched for candidates in his mind. After thinking for a while, he suddenly realized that everyone he had met this past year was a “peach blossom,” with only Liang Zhu being a “camellia.” Although Liang Zhu met most of the conditions, his “obedience and loyalty” remained questionable. He was the type of person who would only work for money, slacking off if the pay wasn’t sufficient. Ye Anping dared not use Liang Zhu for the Moon Shadow Sword Sect matter. Ye Anping scribbled and doodled on the paper, listing dozens of names, but in the end, they were all crossed out with a single stroke of ink.
“Huuu— Do I really have to let one of the three daughters of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect die? Then who should it be? From a profit standpoint, losing Yun Xi would yield the greatest return. Then… it’ll be Yun Xi?”
As he muttered this, Ye Anping’s brow furrowed. He felt a pang of inner turmoil, as if his Dao heart were being interrogated:
— Do you truly have the right to decide someone’s life or death?
He couldn’t answer the question. It was at this moment that Ye Anping felt the spiritual energy within his meridians surge, a heaviness in his chest. He immediately realized:
— Not good!
— My Dao heart is wavering!
— Something’s going to happen!
Ye Anping frantically tried to clear his mind, but it seemed too late. The next moment, a sharp pain emanated from his Dantian in the lower abdomen. He gritted his teeth tightly, recalling methods to deal with inner demons.
“…Hiss—”
At this moment, a pair of hands wrapped around his neck from behind, intending to pull him from the chair. Pei Lianxue’s voice reached his ears:
“Senior Brother, it’s time to sleep~~~ We can do this again tomorrow~~~”
Upon hearing her voice, Ye Anping’s expression tensed. He suddenly felt the sharp pain in his Dantian vanish completely, replaced by the feeling of suffocation from being tightly gripped around the neck.
“Ah…”
Pei Lianxue had gotten off the bed at some point and was embracing him from behind, attempting to forcibly pull him onto the bed.
“Junior Sister, stop pulling, my neck will break. I’ll sleep now!”
Pei Lianxue knitted her brows and said seriously:
“Not now, but right now!”
“Alright, alright! Sleeping now! Sleeping now…”
Ye Anping couldn’t help but laugh and cry, yet he was also grateful. His Junior Sister’s embrace had indeed cleared his thoughts. The shock and sudden suffocation could effectively halt one’s train of thought.
Seeing Ye Anping agree, Pei Lianxue released him and returned to the bed. She pulled back the covers, burrowed underneath, then propped herself up with the quilt and patted the bed, pouting and urging him:
“Hurry! Hurry!”
“Mmm…”
Ye Anping glanced at the strategy document on the desk, flipped it over, and pressed it down with some miscellaneous books. He then walked to the bedside, sat down, took off his shoes, and lay down.
Without a word, Pei Lianxue pulled the quilt down and snuggled into his embrace.
“I’ve been waiting for so long.”
“How long?”
“I silently recited ‘Ye Anping’ one thousand two hundred times,” Pei Lianxue complained, puffing out her cheeks. “And you were still sitting there…”
Ye Anping relaxed, raised his hand in a sword finger, and extinguished the candle lamp on the desk. He then slipped his arm under Pei Lianxue’s shoulder, pulling her into his embrace.
“Sleep now.”
“Mmm… Senior Brother, did Sect Master and Madam say anything today?”
“Say what?”
“It’s just… that you and I slept together, so… do they approve?”
“Silly girl.”
Ye Anping shook his head helplessly and lightly tapped her. No wonder this girl had been so anxious when she returned today; she was afraid Ye Ao and Kong Yulan wouldn’t permit them to be together? His Junior Sister seemed to have always felt she was from a common farming family, not worthy of her Senior Brother who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, worried about their unequal social standing?
After a moment of hesitation, Ye Anping asked:
“If they don’t approve, what will you do?”
“If they don’t approve, we’ll do it secretly; if they approve, we’ll do it openly.”
“… Pfft—”
Ye Anping couldn’t help but burst into laughter at his Junior Sister’s words. But Pei Lianxue couldn’t laugh. She looked at him with her teary eyes and asked earnestly:
“So… should we do it secretly?”
Ye Anping rubbed her cheek.
“Don’t worry, it will be open and aboveboard.”
“Mmm… Heehee—”
“Sleep now, goodnight.”
… …
