Chapter 64: A Night Talk in the Forest
Under the glow of a half-moon, the two people flew back to Tianyun Peak on their swords.
Xiao Yunluo then returned to her own Three-Bay House to get some pastries and sour plum juice.
The two sat before a stone table in the courtyard of the Three-Bay House, eating in silence for a while.
Afterward, Xiao Yunluo finally spoke:
“Lian Xue, what’s going on between you and your Senior Brother?”
“Well… I was brought back to Hundred Lotus by the Hundred Lotus Sect Master. I grew up with Senior Brother, so we’re… childhood sweethearts.”
“Then what about what you said, that your Senior Brother beat you and poisoned you?”
“That was training,” Pei Lian Xue said, pressing her lips together. “Senior Brother said it was very helpful for my cultivation.”
“Training?” Xiao Yunluo looked astonished. She had never heard of such a training method before. “But… wouldn’t you get hurt that way?”
“With Senior Brother there, I wouldn’t die,” Pei Lian Xue said proudly.
“…”
“No matter the situation, Senior Brother would watch me intently. The moment he saw I couldn’t hold on, Senior Brother would come to save me. And several times, to save me, he almost lost his own life… Senior Brother loves me very much.”
Xiao Yunluo found it completely incomprehensible.
But looking at Pei Lian Xue’s eyes, she could feel that she genuinely seemed to think so.
In fact, these past few days, she had secretly come over to observe Pei Lian Xue practicing her sword from time to time.
Xiao Yunluo wanted to know why Pei Lian Xue was so much more powerful than her.
She was younger, had a worse Spiritual Root, yet she had been calm and fearless when that group attacked them. Her swordsmanship had completely surpassed hers.
To be honest, she used to be quite proud of her cultivation achievements.
The Elders praised her.
Her Senior Brothers and Sisters called her a genius.
She had never slacked off either.
Whether it was swordsmanship, alchemy, talismans, or formations, her grades at Xuan Xing Sect were top-notch. And this was achieved by taking the exams with other cultivators who were ten to twenty years older than her.
Even among all the immortal sects, she was considered excellent.
Not many people could reach Qi Refining Completion at the age of fifteen.
This was until she met Pei Lian Xue and Feng Yu Die.
“Then… then besides that? How else did you cultivate before?”
“Hmm… Senior Brother would help me clear my meridians, and he would break my bones, apply ointment, and then set them back. He said it would make my bones more flexible and sturdy.”
“Wh—”
Xiao Yunluo frowned. She had originally wanted to follow Pei Lian Xue’s methods for her cultivation, but just hearing about it now made her feel terrified.
Xiao Yunluo bit her lip and asked, “Then why did you lie to me before and say your Senior Brother was very bad?”
At this question, Pei Lian Xue’s face suddenly flushed, and she found it difficult to speak for a moment.
But Xiao Yunluo’s gaze made her flustered.
Finally, after hesitating for a long while, Pei Lian Xue blurted it out directly.
“I was worried… you would steal my Senior Brother away.”
?
“Huh?”
Pei Lian Xue furrowed her brows, took a deep breath, stared at her, and said seriously,
“You are the Young Miss of Xuan Xing Sect, rich, beautiful, and you even have a Heavenly Spiritual Root. Unlike me… I have no background and owe Senior Brother so much money.”
“…”
“Besides… it’s not the first time. That idiot before also wanted to snatch my Senior Brother. When we were at Hundred Lotus, he kept giving me flirtatious glances and even secretly met with Senior Brother behind my back.”
Xiao Yunluo narrowed her eyes, looked at her, and whispered, “Lian Xue, could it be that you…”
“Hm?”
“Like your Senior Brother?”
“…”
Pei Lian Xue froze, lowered her eyes, and slightly curled her ear hair with her fingers.
She nodded slightly.
But then she shook her head.
Finally, she nodded again.
Xiao Yunluo looked at her lovestruck appearance and felt like laughing for a moment.
“Is that why you lied to me then?”
“Yes, that’s why. I didn’t want you to get close to my Senior Brother.”
Xiao Yunluo seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and said, “I won’t steal your Senior Brother.”
“But… what if Senior Brother takes a liking to you?”
“Then I’ll explain to him clearly that he already has you.”
“Ah?!” Pei Lian Xue froze and quickly waved her hands, “You can’t say that…”
“Why not?”
“…Feelings need to be expressed personally to have meaning,” Pei Lian Xue muttered, sounding like she was worrying unnecessarily. “I don’t need anyone to express my feelings for me. I understand Senior Brother’s feelings for me, and he understands mine… probably.”
“…”
“Besides, Senior Brother definitely doesn’t have the time to think about marrying me right now. You are not allowed to say it!”
Pei Lian Xue furrowed her brows seriously, leaned closer, and threatened:
“Don’t say it, understand? Tonight’s conversation is our secret.”
“…”
Xiao Yunluo ducked her head, then snickered, finding her demeanor very endearing, completely different from the Pei Lian Xue who had killed the attackers from Seven Kill Gate during the body tempering test.
“Heh heh—”
Pei Lian Xue frowned and said seriously, “What are you laughing at? Did you hear me?!”
“I heard you,” Xiao Yunluo replied with a smile, then extended her right hand. “Pinky promise, I swear I won’t tell anyone what we talked about tonight.”
Pei Lian Xue extended her right hand, and her pinky finger intertwined with hers.
The two pinkies hooked, and they shook them.
Then, Xiao Yunluo took a sip of the sour plum juice and asked, “Do you want me to help you?”
“Help me with what?”
“Help you probe your Senior Brother’s thoughts, see how he feels about you.”
“No need… I know his feelings for me.” After a pause, Pei Lian Xue warned again, “You’re not allowed to go.”
“If you don’t want me to go, then I won’t go.”
Xiao Yunluo shrugged her shoulders, then looked up at the sky. Seeing that the moon had risen by almost a quarter, she stood up.
“Alright, it’s getting late. I’ll go back to rest, and you should rest early too. Keep these pastries; you can have them for breakfast tomorrow morning.”
“Mm…”
After watching Xiao Yunluo leave the courtyard, Pei Lian Xue breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced at the unfinished pastries on the table, then quickly got a dustpan from the kitchen to cover them, planning to share them with her Senior Brother tomorrow morning.
She had originally intended to take a quick bath and go back to her room to rest, but looking at the starry sky, she suddenly remembered Ye Anping, who was covered in bandages.
Senior Brother had been protecting her since they were young, but now he couldn’t beat her anymore.
So…
Now it should be her turn to protect her weak Senior Brother.
However, with her current abilities, it was still not enough.
Pei Lian Xue hesitated in the courtyard for a while, then went back into the house to get her Spirit Sword. She ran out of the courtyard again, into the bamboo forest next to the Three-Bay House, and began to swing her sword again.
She wanted to become a Junior Sister who could protect her Senior Brother in any situation.
Whoosh—
The silver light of her sword cut through the bamboo forest, creating arc after arc.
She repeated the same movements continuously.
In the vast bamboo forest, the only sounds were the whistling of the sword through the air and her steady, rhythmic breathing.
“Hiss— Huff—”
Before long, Pei Lian Xue’s T-shirt, which had already dried, was once again soaked through with her sweat.
Her waist-length black hair floated and danced with her movements. Dusted with sweat drops, it glowed with a crystalline brilliance under the moonlight.
And perhaps because she was too focused on her Sword Practice.
From beginning to end, she did not notice that in a pavilion about thirty feet away, a girl had been watching her for a long time.
…
