Chapter 38: Junior Sister, Senior Brother is Super Bad
Ye Anping casually found a pretext to send Bai Yuexin back to Xuanxing Sect, then locked the door of his physical therapy centre. He posted a note on the door, stating, “Urgent matter, stepping out for a while.” Following Liang Zhu, he took his sword and headed to a dilapidated mountain temple on a nearby hill, where he met four other individuals.
Once everyone gathered, Liang Zhu exchanged the Seven Killing Sect’s secret code with the newcomers to confirm their identities. After a brief introduction, Liang Zhu unexpectedly produced a jug of wine, leading everyone to the Daoist statue in the temple. There, they paid respects.
This situation left Ye Anping somewhat speechless, but the other four readily agreed. Unable to decline, he reluctantly picked up a bowl of wine, becoming the “sixth brother” in this group.
After some pleasantries, Ye Anping guided them through a hidden path, avoiding Xuanxing Sect’s defensive formations and patrolling disciples, finally reaching the back mountain.
Inside a cave on the summit of Lingxue Peak in the back mountain of Xuanxing Sect, The crackling campfire echoed within the cave while the icy wind from the entrance sent shivers down their spines.
Lingxue Peak, a gathering place for the cold energy of Xuanxing Sect, had one of the harshest environments among the various peaks in the back mountain.
For the disciples participating in the physical trial, reaching the main peak within five days from any randomly assigned back mountain peak was the requirement for passing.
Though Feng Yudie and her companions could handle it even without flying swords, the moment they ascended Lingxue Peak, it began snowing heavily, seemingly with an appetite for human flesh.
With no other option, Feng Yudie and her group found a cave, expelled a monster family residing there, and took refuge. They planned to wait until the snow lessened before continuing their journey.
Even within the cave, near the warmth of the campfire, the intense cold energy on Lingxue Peak was not easy to withstand. Pei Lianxue, accustomed to the cold due to her senior brother, was unfazed. However, Xiao Yunluo, shivering, couldn’t bear it.
From the moment they arrived, she kept rubbing her shoulders, and her teeth chattered incessantly.
“Suck—”
Xiao Yunluo sniffed, glancing at Pei Lianxue, who seemed composed despite her lips turning blue. Unable to hold back, she asked, “Aren’t you cold?”
Pei Lianxue opened her eyes, observing Xiao Yunluo’s slightly reddened face, and after a moment of contemplation, she suggested, “Why not warm up with some exercises?”
“I am, or else I’d be frozen by now.” Xiao Yunluo bit her lip, then moved next to Pei Lianxue, awkwardly asking, “Can I join you?”
“Are you that cold?”
“My hands are almost frozen.”
Pei Lianxue sighed, took off her outer garment, moved closer to Xiao Yunluo, and wrapped them both in the garment. She then took Xiao Yunluo’s hand and gently rubbed it.
Xiao Yunluo, caught off guard by the hand-holding, blushed slightly and lowered her head. However, her embarrassment was not due to shyness but rather a sense of shame.
As the daughter of Master Danyue, the heiress of Xuanxing Sect, and possessing Heavenly Spiritual Roots, Xiao Yunluo had enjoyed abundant cultivation resources from a young age. The elders praised her exceptional talent, which she had diligently cultivated for ten years. So, when she first met Pei Lianxue, Xiao Yunluo assumed she was an inexperienced cultivator. The conversation that day was intended to satisfy her vanity and show off her skills.
“Humph, am I awesome? I lasted a quarter of an hour in front of Senior Sister Bai, who’s in the foundation-building stage, before being knocked off the stage!”
During the sword test, she had intended to say something, but when she witnessed Pei Lianxue effortlessly knocking Senior Sister Bai off the stage, she was left speechless.
Now, observing Pei Lianxue behaving nonchalantly in the chilly weather, Xiao Yunluo felt a renewed sense of shock. Biting her lip, she asked with a hint of jealousy, “How do you manage to be so skilled…”
“Hmm?” Pei Lianxue didn’t catch it clearly and tilted her head, “What?”
“I’m freezing, but your hands are warm like a stove.” Xiao Yunluo frowned, staring at her face. “How are you so powerful?”
“Am I?” Pei Lianxue replied casually.
“Are you pretending? Do you need me to praise you?” Xiao Yunluo pouted, saying, “Even though your cultivation is a level lower than mine, how did you knock Senior Sister Bai off the stage? What sword technique have you been practising?”
“The sword technique my senior brother taught me.”
“Your senior brother…”
Xiao Yunluo, seeing Pei Lianxue’s silly smile whenever she mentioned her senior brother, raised an eyebrow. She had witnessed this expression many times before.
For a moment, Xiao Yunluo’s curiosity about Pei Lianxue’s senior brother got the better of her. She asked, “Junior sister Pei, tell me about your senior brother?”
“Talk about my senior brother?” Pei Lianxue was surprised. “What do you want to know?”
“What kind of person is he? What do you both enjoy doing?… and so on.”
“He’s actually…” Pei Lianxue thought for a moment, intending to speak positively about her senior brother. However, upon seeing Xiao Yunluo’s beautiful face, she changed her mind and said, “My senior brother is a bad person!”
“Bad person?” Xiao Yunluo looked confused.
“Yes, a bad person. He barges in when I’m bathing, beats me up, breaks my bones, feeds me to monsters, poisons me…”
“???” Xiao Yunluo was dumbfounded. “What kind of villain is he?”
“Yes, my senior brother is a big bad guy.” Pei Lianxue nodded seriously.
Seeing Pei Lianxue’s serious expression, Xiao Yunluo paused and asked, “Didn’t you suffer a lot before?”
“Yes! I have suffered a lot…”
“In that case…” Xiao Yunluo nodded and, after some thought, said, “Let me help you. After the physical examination, I’ll inform the elders about your senior brother. The elders of the Xuanxing Sect will arrest him. I guarantee he’ll spend the rest of his life in the sect’s prison.”
Hearing this, Pei Lianxue looked horrified and took a sharp breath. She quickly shook her head, denying, “No! No!”
“That scum should be in prison.”
“No… I…” Pei Lianxue fumbled to defend herself. In the end, she grabbed Xiao Yunluo’s collar, staring at her and threatening, “Don’t touch my senior brother!”
“… ” Xiao Yunluo shrank her neck in fear.
“Ah, sorry.” Realising she had overreacted, Pei Lianxue quickly apologised and hesitantly explained, “Um, actually, my senior brother is not bad. He’s quite nice.”
???
Xiao Yunluo raised an eyebrow, asking, “Is your senior brother good or bad? Didn’t you just say…”
“Well…” Pei Lianxue was vague, hesitated for a moment, and then as if breaking the jar, she threatened with a frown, “Anyway, you’re not allowed to let anyone catch my senior brother!! He’s mine!! Otherwise…”
“Otherwise… what?” Pei Lianxue looked around, noticed Xiao Yunluo’s pale hands from the cold, and said, “Otherwise, I won’t warm your hands!”
“…”
Xiao Yunluo was unsure of the appropriate expression but, after a moment’s thought, understood Pei Lianxue’s meaning.
“Oh! I get it. You want to take revenge yourself, right?”
“Ah?”
“You don’t want me to help you get revenge. You want to rely on yourself. When your cultivation level is high, you can go back and take back all the things your senior brother did to you before.”
“???” This time, Pei Lianxue was stunned.
After a pause, Pei Lianxue said, “Anyway, just don’t catch my senior brother.”
“…”
“Don’t arrest my senior brother! Did you hear that? What’s your answer?”
“I heard…”
Xiao Yunluo sighed, feeling a bit sympathetic towards Pei Lianxue.
Then, she looked towards the cave entrance and asked, “By the way, why hasn’t that white-haired fool come back yet? It’s been half an hour, hasn’t it?”
Pei Lianxue curled her lips and said, “A bear might have eaten those two fools.”
“In that case…” Xiao Yunluo shrugged, stopped thinking about the idiots, hesitated for a moment, then tried to move closer to Pei Lianxue and asked, “Is it uncomfortable if I stick to you like this?”
“No, if you feel cold, just stick closer.”
“That’s what you said…” Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips, smiled, and simply hugged Pei Lianxue, putting her face on her shoulder. She said, “By the way, you are my friend now. If you encounter any trouble in the Xuanxing Sect later on, just mention my name. That way, no one will dare to bully you.”
“Ah… um.”
…
