Chapter 440: Senior Brother, A Romantic Affair
The night was quiet, reflecting on the garden pond were the waning moon and stars in the sky, and the handsome face of the youth standing by the pond.
Ye Anping, dressed in the Hundred Lotus Sect’s Young Master’s uniform, stood alone at this moment, holding Gu Mingxin’s hand by the pond, as if contemplating something.
Splash—
A carp’s tail slapped the water in the pond, creating ripples among the stars and moon in the water, and his face began to ripple slightly.
Ye Anping snapped out of his thoughts, cast his gaze down at the “small hand” that was currently gripping his left hand tightly, and couldn’t help but sigh softly:
“Alas…”
Earlier, in the middle of the banquet, something seemed to have happened to Gu Mingxin, and this hand suddenly became restless, even leaving a scratch on his arm.
Since he couldn’t put it in a storage bag, he had been hiding the hand inside his sleeve.
Sensing that Gu Mingxin’s hand was beginning to move erratically, he quickly informed his junior sister, excused himself from the banquet, and came here. He gently held Gu Mingxin’s hand to calm her down, then wrote again with a bamboo strip:
—Go find Mo Chi Ling.
Ye Anping did not have his heavenly eye open, and Gu Mingxin could not tell him what exactly had happened through this hand. However, judging by its current reaction, he had a rough idea.
It was probably that He Buqun had caused some trouble again on the way…
As for what kind of trouble, it was either that He Jiming encountered something on the road and was buried, or that Yu Yan believed He Buqun and had abandoned Gu Mingxin…
But no matter the situation, the conclusion was the same.
—Gu Mingxin couldn’t return to the Tian Mo Sect.
At this moment, Gu Mingxin seemed to have calmed down. The small hand holding his left hand had also calmed down, gently stroking the calluses on his left fingertips that had formed from sword practice with her index finger and thumb.
Sensing this touch, Ye Anping’s face showed a hint of complexity. He watched the koi in the pond gather towards him, as if they thought he was going to feed them.
Ye Anping had a sudden idea and used his spiritual power to lift a koi. Then, he grabbed its body and put its mouth into Gu Mingxin’s middle and ring fingers.
“Play slowly.”
At this time in the game, Gu Mingxin already had several friends by her side who were close to her and could trust her unconditionally.
Without exception, those people were all troublesome individuals who could create obstacles for Feng Yu Die. For example, Wu Tian Ci, whom he had killed in the Northern Region’s Hantian Kingdom; “Wu You,” who had fled after slaughtering the Hundred Lotus Sect; and Fu Yuan Hua, the elder of the Tian Mo Sect during this trip to Donghuang…
However, now, because of him, those people had almost all perished. Even that old man Yu Yan no longer liked her.
Gu Mingxin had now become a pitiful girl, alone and without support.
—I am truly wicked… Haha…
Ye Anping lamented inwardly, shaking his head with a helpless smile.
But then again, he had not initially expected that his actions would lead Gu Mingxin to her current predicament.
However, no matter how pitiful Gu Mingxin appeared, he had no reason to pity her.
Gu Mingxin was the Heavenly Sha, and Feng Yu Die was the Heavenly Shu.
One would prove the demonic path, and the other would prove the immortal path.
The more pitiful Gu Mingxin was, the more it proved that the immortal cultivators had won more.
Ye Anping had no interest in the grudges between the immortal families and demonic cultivators in the Four Domains, which had existed for tens of thousands of years and had accumulated to this day.
But the Hundred Lotus Sect was an immortal family sect, and his cultivation partners were also immortal cultivators…
Therefore, he would stand on the side of the immortal cultivators.
That was all.
As he gazed at the moon and mused, Gu Mingxin seemed to have realized that she was not digging into Ye Anping’s mouth with her fingers, but into the mouth of a koi. She immediately flung the suffocating koi away and angrily dug her nails into the back of Ye Anping’s hand.
“Heh…”
Ye Anping chuckled, gently patted her hand, and then hid her hand back into his sleeve, preparing to return to the banquet to eat roasted chicken and drink wine.
However, as he passed through the corridor and was about to return to the front of the Sword Sect’s main hall, a pair of master and servant of similar height turned the corner from the end of the corridor.
Yun Yiyi, wearing a golden skirt, saw Ye Anping and quickly lifted her skirt and hurried over. Beside her was the little maidservant that Yun Yiyi had arranged to take care of her when Ye Anping first came to the Sword Sect.
A few years had passed, and Yun Yiyi hadn’t changed much, but the little maidservant had grown significantly taller than Ye Anping remembered.
Ye Anping stopped and looked at her, asking with some uncertainty:
“I remember, it’s Huang Quan?”
The little maidservant, who thought Ye Anping had forgotten her, her eyes lit up. A blush appeared on her cheeks, and she shyly lowered her head to bow, saying:
“My lord remembers this servant, I am very honored, hee hee—”
Yun Yiyi ignored her, stepped forward, and directly grabbed Ye Anping’s hand, pouting and complaining:
“I went to the main hall for a while and couldn’t find you, so you ran to the garden.”
“Just getting some fresh air, I’m not very comfortable with such a lively atmosphere,” Ye Anping shrugged slightly and asked, “Is there anything urgent you need me for?”
Yun Yiyi reprimanded:
“Can’t I come find you if there’s nothing urgent?”
“Mm…”
Yun Yiyi pulled Ye Anping’s hand and led him towards the garden.
“Before, I was with Young Master Xiao at Yi Shui Peak. She wasn’t comfortable appearing in this kind of setting, so I accompanied her for a drink because I was afraid she’d be lonely. She got drunk, so I put her to bed and let her sleep. So I came to find you.”
Ye Anping felt that Xiao Yunluo had been deliberately gotten drunk by her, but he didn’t point it out. He chuckled awkwardly and walked with her, hand in hand, to the pond where he had just been playing with the koi.
Yun Yiyi looked around, took out a pair of wine cups and a wine pot from her storage bag, used spiritual power to lift them, poured two cups of wine, and handed one to Ye Anping.
“Have some?”
Ye Anping took the wine cup and inexplicably recalled that night he was forced to unleash his dragon upon Yun Yiyi. He lowered his head and looked at the reflection of the waning moon in the wine, and was stunned, saying with a smile:
“You didn’t drug it, did you?”
“… …”
Yun Yiyi pouted slightly, then directly snatched his cup of wine, tilted her head back, and drank it. After swallowing, she opened her mouth and showed him to prove she had really drunk it, then poured him another cup.
“Do you believe me now?”
“Hehehe…”
Ye Anping shook his head and smiled, then also tilted his head back and drank the wine. Then, Yun Yiyi continued:
“The thousand-odd disciples of the Sword Sect that Jiu Jiu and I took to the Central Domain were scattered by a sandstorm on the way. I inquired earlier, and they said they met you and Young Master Xiao on the road, and you let them return to the Sword Sect ahead of time?”
“Mm… we ran into a few, I told them to look along the way.”
“Then let me toast you on their behalf.” Yun Yiyi narrowed her eyes, smiled, and drank another cup of wine. “I don’t know why, but Yun Xi is always unlucky. I’m afraid I’ll have to keep her within the Sword Sect from now on. Every time she goes out, she encounters some undeserved disaster.”
Ye Anping was also helpless about Yun Xi’s constitution, so he could only reply:
“Perhaps good deeds from chanting scriptures and beating wooden fish?”
“Zhang Yihe helps her to do that every day.”
“Uh…”
Yun Yiyi glanced sideways at Ye Anping’s face, slightly lowered her chin, pursed her lips, and shook the wine cup in her hand, saying shyly:
“You have to spend more time with me these few days. You and Young Master Xiao will be leaving in a few days, right? When we meet again, who knows when that will be?”
“Shall I accompany you to the Sword Sect marketplace to wander the night market then?”
Yun Yiyi closed one eye, leaned a step closer to him, nudged him with her shoulder, and said:
“It’s not bad for cultivation partners to stroll through the marketplace hand in hand, but now that there’s a banquet in the Sword Sect today, shouldn’t cultivation partners who sneak out of the banquet, fueled by wine, do something more meaningful in the garden? You know… romance~ wind~ flower~ snow~ moon~”
Ye Anping naturally understood her meaning, but he turned his head to look at Huang Quan, who was blushing deeply and didn’t dare to look at him and Yun Yiyi. After a moment of silence, he asked:
“Isn’t it inappropriate? What if someone bumps into us later? Shall we go back to the room?”
“We can continue in the room later. What do you think I brought Huang Quan along for?”
?
Ye Anping was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to react. Just then, Yun Yiyi suddenly took his hand and walked towards a small patch of grass on one side of the garden.
Huang Quan followed closely, but after Yun Yiyi led him into the grass, she quickly turned her back, crossed her arms like a guardian, and stood there, her cheeks red, paying attention to every rustle in the surroundings.
Seeing Huang Quan like this, Ye Anping realized that Yun Yiyi had brought her along to keep watch for her…
As expected of the Eldest Miss of the Sword Sect…
Ye Anping, unaccustomed to such a scene, was sighing when Yun Yiyi suddenly threw herself into his arms and promptly unbuckled his belt.
“Anping, do you know?”
“…What?”
“My mother used to tell me that she and my father conceived me in this very garden.”
?
“… …”
“So…”
Peck~
Before Ye Anping could fully recover, she leaned in and kissed him, her lips touching his, pushing him down onto the soil where a few spiritual flowers were planted in the garden.
Their figures were completely hidden by the flower bushes beside them.
Huang Quan stood with her back to them in front of the flower bushes, her cheeks flushed with curiosity and wanting to look back, but out of respect for the master-servant relationship, she dared not. She could only focus her attention on other parts of the garden.
She saw a pair of butterflies, emitting faint spiritual light, fluttering and rising from a dogwood flower in the garden.
Behind her, in the grass, she could hear soft and rhythmic whispers…
Occasionally, Sword Sect disciples delivering wine to the banquet, or men and women coming out of the banquet to get some air, would pass by. But Huang Quan would quickly run over and scold them away.
Clouds rolling and unfurling, the waning moon in the night sky had unknowingly moved twenty degrees. The initially lively atmosphere in the banquet hall had quieted down considerably with the passage of time.
Huang Quan guarded the grass, sighing inwardly. The young lord was so capable. He had talked about being impotent before, and now it had been half an hour…
She diligently kept watch, driving away at least twenty people who had accidentally passed by.
Suddenly, a weak voice calling out came from the direction of the corridor:
“Senior Brother, are you here?”
Pei Lianxue looked around the garden, calling out softly with each step.
Seeing Pei Lianxue, Huang Quan quickly tiptoed over and blocked her, saying:
“Esteemed senior, you can’t go this way! Please take a detour…”
“Oh…” Pei Lianxue was stunned for a moment, looked at Huang Quan, and asked, “Have you seen my Senior Brother? He said he came to the garden for some fresh air earlier.”
Huang Quan felt a little sheepish and quickly replied, “No.”
“Hmm?” Pei Lianxue tilted her head slightly, “Do you know me?”
“Ah?”
“If you don’t know me, how do you know who my Senior Brother is? If you don’t know who my Senior Brother is, why did you say no without even asking me who he is? Are you trying to fool me…”
Suddenly, with a light hum, the clump of grass hiding Ye Anping and Yun Yiyi in the garden trembled slightly.
“Mmm~”
Rustle rustle—
Pei Lianxue’s ears twitched, and she quickly looked over there, asking:
“Senior Brother, are you there?”
Ye Anping’s slightly nervous voice came from behind the grass:
“Mm… I’m here.”
Upon hearing this, Pei Lianxue disdainfully glanced at the maidservant blocking her way, quickly bypassed her, and ran towards the flower bushes. She parted the flowers and looked inside, only to see Ye Anping and Yun Yiyi sitting in the flowerbed, appearing to be admiring the moon and drinking wine.
Seeing Yun Yiyi’s flushed face, she pondered for a moment, thinking it was due to drinking, but then looked at Ye Anping questioningly and asked:
“Senior Brother? Didn’t you say you came for fresh air? Why are you drinking here with Sister Yun…”
Ye Anping hesitated for a moment, saying:
“We just ran into each other. Mm… Junior Sister, why have you come here?”
“Er Shazi kissed my face in front of that crane just now, so I ran out.”
?
Ye Anping was still slow to react and was stunned. Yun Yiyi next to him had the same reaction, not quite understanding. She asked, “Sister Pei, what crane kissed your face…”
Pei Lianxue repeated:
“In front of that red-crowned crane, he kissed my face.”
“… …”
Ye Anping remained silent for a long time, then suddenly understood what had likely happened. He sighed, “As expected of Feng Yu Die,” but then he was a little puzzled…
He remembered asking Yunluo to educate Feng Yu Die about those things. Why was Feng Yu Die still thinking about cranes delivering offspring?
Yun Yiyi, not having understood, didn’t dwell on it. She looked at Pei Lianxue, couldn’t help but adjust her collar, took a deep breath, and asked:
“Sister Pei, do you have time? I have something I want to tell you…”
“Mm? What is it…”
“It’s just…”
Yun Yiyi recalled what Xiao Yunluo had said last time – that as long as Lian Xue agreed, it would be fine. She had actually thought about the wording for a long time and felt she could convince Pei Lianxue. Taking a deep breath, she began:
“It’s about Young Master Ye…”
However, before she could finish speaking, Yun Jiujiu’s loud shout came from the end of the corridor again:
“Ye! Ye surnamed!!”
Seeing Pei Lianxue standing by the grass, she rushed over without a word. Seeing Ye Anping and her elder sister sitting behind the grass as if admiring the moon, she frowned slightly and went forward to grab Ye Anping’s clothes:
“Ye surnamed, come with me!! I can’t console people! Hurry up!!”
“?”
“That Feng Yu Die, with no dignity, is crying her eyes out. Hurry up and come with me, let’s go!!”
Before Ye Anping could agree, Yun Jiujiu picked him up and hurried towards a side hall of the Central Peak.
Pei Lianxue was stunned and quickly prepared to follow, but Yun Yiyi stopped her:
“Sister Pei, it’s alright, let Anping go with Jiu Jiu. Coincidentally, I have something to tell you…”
“Anping…”
Yun Yiyi took a deep breath, stood up with trembling legs, asked Huang Quan for a hand, and then gestured with her open palm:
“Sister Pei, let’s find a room to sit down and talk…”
Pei Lianxue looked at her Senior Brother, who had already been taken away by Yun Jiujiu, and then at Yun Yiyi, who seemed to be unable to stand steadily. She pouted slightly and nodded:
“…Oh.”
… …
