Chapter 172: Junior Sister, Beat Ating Until Bruised and Swollen
The sun and moon rotated, and seven days passed in a blink—
Today is the beginning of autumn, and the Hundred Lotus Sect was covered in golden yellow overnight. Many disciples added a thicker layer of autumn clothing to their sect uniforms, making them look a bit plumper.
The sun was high in the sky. Ye Anping was sitting in the pavilion at the edge of the training ground, drinking tea and enjoying the cool breeze, while also making himself familiar to the newly admitted junior brothers and sisters.
Just as he picked up his teacup, he heard a senior brother and sister walking from the mountain path to the east:
“Senior Brother, who is that handsome young master sitting in the pavilion? Why is he wearing our Hundred Lotus Sect uniform? I’ve never noticed such a handsome junior brother in the sect before.”
“What junior brother? That’s Young Master Ye of the Hundred Lotus Sect.”
“Oh, so it’s the Young Master.”
“Junior Sister, stop looking. I heard some senior brothers say that the Young Master has a bad temper. When Young Master Ye was a child, he loved to bully junior sisters in the sect every day, beating them until they were bruised and swollen…”
Hearing this, Ye Anping paused, a dark line appearing on his face. However, he said nothing and even raised his teacup to salute the two. The pair of senior brother and sister were so startled that they immediately stepped aside, cupped their hands in a salute, and then quickly ran away.
A breeze blew past, and he put down his teacup in embarrassment, sighing.
“Sigh—why is my reputation spreading like this?”
Ye Anping vaguely recalled that when he first began cultivating rigorously with his junior sister, most of the senior brothers and sisters in the sect spread rumors: “The Young Master not only likes self-harm but also likes to bully Junior Sister Pei!”
Not long after, it changed to: “The Young Master likes to bully Junior Sister Pei!!”
And now, it has become: “The Young Master likes to bully junior sisters!!”
This was clearly the same incident, but why did the meaning change after passing through dozens of mouths?
Ye Anping had to lament the profoundness of Chinese culture. A single word missing from a sentence could lead to a world of difference.
“Sigh—forget it. It’s better to be fierce, so I don’t get hit on every ten steps.”
He refilled his teacup and then looked at the two people wreaking havoc on the training ground. The previous gloom immediately returned to his heart.
“Sigh—”
—”Help! My aunt is trying to kill me!!”
On the training ground, Ating, wearing the Hundred Lotus Sect uniform, was now bruised and swollen, running around other Hundred Lotus Sect disciples who were practicing sword forms and martial arts.
Just as King Qin once ran around pillars, now there was Ating running around senior brothers.
Pei Lianxue followed behind, carrying a blunt sword without an edge, chasing after her:
“Ating, don’t be afraid. If my aunt breaks your bones, she’ll fix them for you later. Don’t be afraid!”
“Waaah—I don’t want to! I don’t want to!!”
These seven days, besides her own cultivation, Pei Lianxue had also been taking care of Liang Ating’s training.
She mimicked Ye Anping’s old methods and applied them to Liang Ating, omitting some of the more targeted aspects, such as soaking in ice water or feeding her potent cold-toxic liquid.
Ye Anping had actually expected this. Ating’s personality was different from Pei Lianxue’s when she was young.
Pei Lianxue, as a child, was completely compliant, only crying and begging for mercy, but she would still do everything he told her. But Liang Ating…
For the past seven days, she had been strategizing against Pei Lianxue every day, trying to dodge her for as long as possible. Once, she even hid in a lotus pond and stayed underwater for an hour using a reed. Pei Lianxue and her searched for a long time before finding her.
It had to be said that that girl was full of clever tricks, and her movement technique was particularly brilliant.
Her junior sister’s movement technique was not bad, and her speed was also very fast, but at the training ground now, Liang Ating could still use other Hundred Lotus Sect disciples as pillars to avoid being caught.
This fact alone was enough to show…
—”Ah!! Aunt! Wuwu—I was wrong!! Ah—!”
Alright, she was caught.
Ye Anping sighed faintly again, ignoring the scene. It wasn’t a bad thing, after all. It was good for his junior sister to gain some experience in dealing with children, which might be useful later.
He glanced sideways over the pavilion railing, looking at the distant mountains, and continued to ponder the matter of selecting someone.
It was at this moment that a person wearing the inner disciple’s uniform of the Hundred Lotus Sect walked into the pavilion.
Liang Zhu had just finished his business with Elder Qian and sat down, leaning one hand to the left. He glanced sideways at Liang Ating, who was being beaten and was crying rivers of tears on the training ground:
“Mhmm↗?”
Ye Anping blinked and replied, “Mhmm↘!”
“Tsk…” Liang Zhu clicked his tongue, his eyes twitching. “You really are my sixth brother. You don’t even consider Ating your daughter?”
Ye Anping smiled slightly, turned his head to glance over there, and said with a smile:
“Of course, I don’t consider Ating my daughter.”
“…You’d be even harsher?”
“You know me well, Brother Liang.” Ye Anping cupped his fists in a salute, took out a new teacup from his storage bag, and poured a cup for Liang Zhu, explaining, “Well, the bones of cultivators are different from those of mortals. The more they are hammered, the more resilient they become. It’s like forging iron into a sword. Forging iron removes impurities, and hammering bones also purifies the bones.”
“Mhmm, so… the rumors are true?”
Ye Anping tilted his head: “What rumors?”
“When you were young, you made your junior sister eat poisonous insects, soak in cold pools, break her knee bones, and dislocate her joint tendons?”
“…”
“Why didn’t your junior sister stab you dozens of times in the chest while you were sleeping at night?”
Ye Anping’s eyes twitched. He could hear the sarcasm in Liang Zhu’s voice, so he smiled and said:
“My junior sister loves me, and I love my junior sister.”
“…”
Liang Zhu’s eyes twitched. He didn’t know how to retort. No matter what he said, his sixth brother could always counter with “love.”
One force can overcome ten abilities, and one partner can conquer all things. Moreover, this guy doesn’t have just one “partner.”
“Heh, be careful you don’t get divided by women.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Brother Liang.”
Liang Zhu rolled his eyes at him, then stood up, preparing to take Ating to eat.
Seeing him about to leave, Ye Anping, thinking about the matter of “selecting someone,” suddenly decided to probe. He truly couldn’t find anyone more suitable than Liang Zhu.
“Brother Liang, how have you been doing at the Hundred Lotus Sect these past few days?”
“…”
Hearing this, Liang Zhu stopped in his tracks and turned his head back.
This guy is actually showing concern for him?
—It must be trouble.
After thinking for a moment, Liang Zhu sat back down and stared into Ye Anping’s eyes, saying, “Old rules.”
—First the business, then the price.
Ye Anping pouted his lips, remained silent for a while, and then asked:
“Brother Liang, we’re brothers. The anniversary of our sworn brotherhood is approaching. Can’t you show just a little bit of respect?”
Liang Zhu’s expression was unreadable as he replied:
“Yes, the death anniversaries of your second, third, fourth, and fifth brothers are approaching…”
What a great footwork… Ye Anping was inexplicably impressed. He wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Liang Zhu, but Liang Zhu shut him down with a single sentence.
He cupped his fists in acknowledgment of defeat, smiled, and shook his head:
“Brother Liang, you’re really good at changing the subject. Sixth brother is impressed… Let’s arrange to go offer incense to Second Brother and the others another day and burn some things for them.”
“Heh…”
Liang Zhu chuckled, then re-examined Ye Anping’s question.
He sensed that Ye Anping was likely in some kind of trouble, and this trouble probably required manpower, and he needed someone to be in a key position.
Thinking of this, Liang Zhu added:
“Sixth brother, I can’t help you with this matter.”
“Hmm?” Ye Anping feigned surprise. “You figured out what it is?”
“I can’t guess,” Liang Zhu shrugged slightly and said sincerely, “But I can tell from your words that you need… someone like a confidant or a loyal soldier.”
“Hmm, that’s right.”
“Heh heh… I’ve lived a life on the edge of a knife for a long time. I’ve long passed the stage of chivalry. Liang is now a retainer of your Ye family. You pay me, and I’ll do the work. This kind of relationship is beneficial to both of us, meeting each other’s needs.”
“Your words are undeniable.”
Ye Anping closed his eyes, lowered his head, and nodded. Then he raised his teacup:
“It’s rare for Brother Liang to be so candid with me. I’ll toast you, Big Brother.”
Liang Zhu smiled slightly, a rare sight, and raised his cup in return.
They both tilted their heads back and drank.
The tea entered their mouths.
Bitter—
Then, a sweet aftertaste.
