Chapter 348: Big heroine, big victory!
The candlelight on the desk cast their silhouettes on the curtain beside the bed, resembling a shadow puppet show, accompanied by the creaking sound of the bed and Pei Lianxue’s rhythmic bird-like chirping.
Xiao Yunluo hunched over and lay on her side beneath the bed, covering her mouth and nose with her hands. The wood shavings under the bed fell softly on her face as she strained to hear the sounds from the other side of the board.
Creak, creak, creak—
“Senior brother, do you like it? Yun Luo taught me…”
“…Well, junior sister, please take it easy… Senior brother is fine.”
“Don’t underestimate me! Huh~ Senior brother, see what I can do…”
Creak, creak, creak—
“Junior sister, why don’t we just stop here? Your body has warmed up, and you have a lot of vitality this time… It’s better to do it multiple times. You’ll need to rest in bed all day tomorrow.”
“No… It’s okay… I… I’m okay!”
“You can’t even speak clearly.”
“Wu—Senior brother, just lie down! Leave it to me! I can do it…”
Creak, creak—
Chirp—
“Senior brother, don’t you want to continue? Your vitality hasn’t been fully relieved yet.”
“Junior sister, you can’t even sit up straight, why continue?”
“But… I haven’t had my fill yet. Besides, I have nothing to do tomorrow and the day after. If I can’t get out of bed, so be it.”
“Hey… You girl, you became hooked after indulging, huh!”
“Hehe… Who told me that Senior Brother only visits me once a month? The book says that Senior Brother is at the age of vigor and needs to relieve himself every day.”
“Every day?… What have you been reading?”
“The book given by Mrs. Kong.”
“Hiss–“
Creak, creak, creak—
The moonlight illuminated the room outside the window, while the candles on the desk flickered intermittently, and whispered conversations mingled with a faint floral scent drifted throughout the room.
After an unknown duration, the candle burned out completely, and tranquility returned to the room. Xiao Yunluo heard the silence above and waited for a while before cautiously rolling out from under the bed. Her emotions were complex at the moment, but she was also quite amazed.
When she entered the room earlier, there was still half a tube of lamp oil in the candle lamp on the desk, yet Ye Anping and Pei Lianxue fought until the oil ran out, which must have taken at least an hour.
Ye Anping didn’t appear tall or robust, but he was unexpectedly skilled in this aspect. No wonder he said he couldn’t take it anymore.
Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips slightly as she stood up from the floor, not feeling much initially. However, when she turned to see Pei Lianxue sleeping on Ye Anping’s shoulder, she suddenly felt a twinge of jealousy. She also wanted to sleep on Ye Anping’s shoulder like that.
But then again, Ye Anping, that scoundrel, knew she was hiding under the bed yet still lingered with Lianxue for so long. Her legs were numb…
“…”
Xiao Yunluo frowned slightly, feeling inexplicably annoyed. But as she looked at Pei Lianxue’s peaceful sleeping face, she took a deep breath and made a bold decision.
Approaching the bed, she placed her hands on the edge and gazed at Ye Anping’s sweaty face. With closed eyes, she leaned forward.
Chirp—
A gentle brush of lips. The first time she kissed Ye Anping was somewhat different from what she had envisioned. There was a subtle sweetness on the edge of Ye Anping’s lips, reminiscent of the scent of fragrant flower blush…
Fragrant flower blush…
She had previously bought a fragrant flower blush while shopping with Pei Lianxue in Tainan City and gifted it to Pei Lianxue…
That was the taste of Pei Lianxue’s lips…
With this thought, Xiao Yunluo couldn’t hold back any longer, biting her lip tightly, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Sob…”
She whimpered softly, covering her eyes with her arms, then swiftly turned and rushed out of the room.
Snap–
Tap tap tap–
The sound of footsteps gradually faded away.
Ye Anping, who had drifted off to sleep, was roused by the noise. He slowly opened his eyes and, upon seeing his junior sister sleeping on his shoulder, a hint of fondness appeared on his face as he kissed her forehead. But as he turned to see the wide-open door, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have forgotten something…
Xiao Yunluo seemed to have been hiding just now…
“Hiss–“
Remembering Xiao Yunluo, Ye Anping took a deep breath. Due to his junior sister’s overwhelming charm and the sudden burst of energy, he had unconsciously forgotten about Xiao Yunluo under the bed.
Initially, Ye Anping had planned to control his energy and take his junior sister back, but he hadn’t expected to be entangled with her for so long. He sighed with some frustration, carefully withdrawing his hands from his junior sister’s embrace, getting out of bed, and delicately covering her with the quilt.
“Sigh… Senior brother…”
“I’ll be back soon, sleep peacefully.”
“Mm…”
Ye Anping helped her adjust her fringe, then picked up the clothes from the floor, put them on, and followed Xiao Yunluo’s path out of the room.
…
On the open-air platform at the front of the boat, Si Xuanji and Tong Zilan were chatting and playing chess under the starry sky to pass the time.
Suddenly, a golden-feathered parrot flew in from outside the boat, squawking, “Letter from the Immortal Alliance!! Letter from the Immortal Alliance!!”
Tong Zilan paused her move upon hearing the sound and turned to see the parrot landing on the chessboard with a golden jade slip clasped in her claws.
Si Xuanji took it off and glanced at it with her consciousness, then sighed helplessly.
“Immortal, it’s important, do you need me to step aside for a moment?” Tong Zilan asked.
“No, it’s not important,” Si Xuanji replied with a shrug. “Just some old men getting restless.”
She handed the jade slip to Tong Zilan, indicating for her to read it.
Tong Zilan hesitated for a moment, then took it and skimmed through. Although the jade slip contained a lot of writing, it boiled down to one sentence.
—Invite Immortal Danyue to attend the Immortal Alliance meeting at the end of this year at Mount Daoxing in the Southern Domain.
It seemed that all five sects of the Xian family were now aware of the fall of Nangong Cheng. This was a significant event, not to be taken lightly.
Si Xuanji pondered for a moment before asking, “Would you like to accompany me to see what’s happening? After all, as a former empress of the Emperor’s sect, you will have a voice in matters concerning Nangong Cheng.”
Tong Zilan quickly understood her meaning. Si Xuanji wanted her to conceal the true cause of Nangong Cheng’s death as the empress.
“Since it’s an invitation from the Immortal, I’ll accompany you. I’ll just need to say that Nangong Cheng died at the hands of the Demon Emperor!” Tong Zilan suggested.
“Of course, there’s no connection between me and Nangong’s death,” Si Xuanji confirmed.
The two exchanged smiles, reaching a consensus. At that moment, a sudden rush of footsteps echoed from the boat’s deck. Si Xuanji turned to see Xiao Yunluo hurrying up in a light nightgown, covering her eyes.
Just as Si Xuanji was about to inquire what had happened, Xiao Yunluo dashed over, extending her arms and throwing herself into Si Xuanji’s embrace, burying her face against her belly.
“Mom!! Oh-boo-hoo—sob—sob—”
“… …”
Si Xuanji seldom witnessed Xiao Yunluo crying so intensely. Sensing her distress, Si Xuanji sighed with resignation and gently stroked her hair with her small hands.
“What’s wrong? Did Master Ye mistreat you?” Si Xuanji asked.
Xiao Yunluo knelt in front of Si Xuanji, clinging to her waist, and sniffled, “Mom… sob… Aren’t you planning to marry me to Ye Anping? Can you talk to him? Make him marry me…”
“… …”
Hearing this, Si Xuanji furrowed her brow slightly. Though she didn’t know the specifics, she could guess that this girl had probably done something foolish again and felt aggrieved. She couldn’t help but sigh. Before she could say anything, Si Xuanji noticed Ye Anping walking up from below the cabin.
Surprised to see that Ye Anping had also reached the infant core formation realm, she remarked, “Master Ye, have you reached the infant core formation realm?”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yunluo was suddenly shocked. Wasn’t he asleep? Why did he suddenly wake up? Could it be that he came to find her?
She pursed her lips and weakly turned her head to look behind her, meeting Ye Anping’s gaze before quickly averting her eyes.
“… …”
Seeing her flushed eyes, Ye Anping felt somewhat helpless and politely greeted, “Miss Xuanji, senior Tong, good evening.”
Ye Anping, although he didn’t articulate his purpose for coming when Si Xuanji noticed his gaze fixed on Xiao Yunluo, she understood instantly. Placing her hand on Xiao Yunluo’s shoulder, she pulled her up from the ground and spun her around,
“Master Ye came to see the young lady! Yun Luo, hurry up…”
With that, she gave Xiao Yunluo a gentle push, causing her to stumble into Ye Anping’s embrace before she could regain her balance.
Ye Anping held her shoulders, silent for a moment, then nodded to Si Xuanji and Tong Zilan before taking Xiao Yunluo’s wrist and leading her back below deck.
“Ah… Ye Anping, why are you out here? Aren’t you…”
Ye Anping interrupted, “Senior Sister Xiao, come with me. I need to talk to you.”
Watching the two youngsters return to the cabin, Si Xuanji breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Ye finally made a move. If that girl had been more assertive, this would have happened sooner.”
Tong Zilan shook her head and smiled, remarking, “When I met Nangong Cheng years ago, I was just like Young Master Xiao, too shy to express myself. It was Nangong Cheng who took the initiative to bring about our long-standing connection.”
“Is that so?”
Looking at Si Xuanji, Tong Zilan hesitated for a moment before tentatively asking, “I must admit, I’m quite curious about the Immortal’s past affairs. If you don’t mind, could you share…”
“There’s not much to say,” Si Xuanji shook her head, smiling faintly. “There were plenty of men who pursued Immortal Xuanji in the past.”
“Just consider it idle chatter, would you share, Immortal?”
Si Xuanji pursed her lips, silent for a while, rare in her recollection of events thousands of years ago.
She was once a prominent figure in the immortal realm, proud to say that those who pursued her ranged from the highest ranks of the Xuanxing Sect to the Immortal Sect. However, she was solely focused on her pursuit of enlightenment at the time and had no interest in romantic entanglements.
And when she felt lonely, she realized that many of those who had pursued her in the past had met unfortunate ends.
“Let’s not dwell on that. How about a game of chess?”
…
On the lower deck’s promenade, Ye Anping gently took Xiao Yunluo’s wrist and led her to one side of the railing. Outside the railing, the moon and stars shone brightly. The silver moonlight illuminated Ye Anping’s face, highlighting his bright features.
Walking beside him, Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips and leaned closer, asking, “Ye Anping, do you have something to tell me? Are you asking for my help because you still feel sympathy for Lianxue?”
Ye Anping paused, turned to look at her, and closed his eyes for a moment. Then, with a subtle gesture, he took out the Yin Yang jade pendant Si Xuanji had given her.
“Do you recognize this, Senior Sister Xiao?” He asked.
Xiao Yunluo glanced at it, then looked away, her eyes widening slightly as she met Ye Anping’s gaze.
If he was showing her this, could it mean…
“Ye Anping, have you made up your mind?” She asked.
“Yes,” he nodded. “I obtained this Yang pendant from your sister. She mentioned you also have a Yin pendant.”
Xiao Yunluo hesitated for a moment, then hurriedly tried to retrieve her jade pendant. However, she had nothing underneath her skirt since she had been naked when she went to Ye Anping’s place earlier, let alone a storage bag.
“Wait here… I’ll go get it,” She said.
She smiled, about to run back to her room to fetch the bag. However, Ye Anping grabbed her shoulder with a look of helplessness and pulled her back.
“This pendant is just a token. By showing it to you, you should understand what I mean,” He explained.
Xiao Yunluo nodded blankly, feeling both happy and uncertain at the same time. The previous night, when she overheard her mother and Ye Anping talking, she realized that Ye Anping had never mentioned the jade pendant to her, indicating that he hadn’t fully accepted her yet.
Now that he suddenly brought it up, she was truly at a loss…
Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips and slowly lowered her head, leaning forward and placing her forehead on Ye Anping’s chest.
“Ye Anping, but Lianxue, how are you going to explain to her?”
“When the time comes, we can sit down together and talk slowly. Junior sister and you have a very good relationship. Didn’t you still talk to me about you when we just joined the Dao? Didn’t you hear?”
Xiao Yunluo was stunned for a moment, suddenly a little embarrassed, and said,
“That’s what Lianxue asked me, so I taught her… I didn’t take the initiative to teach her.”
“Really!”
Ye Anping stared at her and said nothing.
Xiao Yunluo was frightened by the stares, and lowered her head with a red face,
“…Okay. I took the initiative to tell her, but I just… Wanted to make you feel better. You didn’t teach Lianxue yourself… Lianxue told me before that you never taught her those things since she was a child. That must not be…”
“Instead of teaching me, Junior Sister, it’s better to teach Senior Sister Feng. She still wants to borrow a sparrow from me.”
“Ah! What? What does she want to borrow from you?”
Ye Anping sighed helplessly and said, “Yunluo, I’ve finished my words, it’s your turn. Whether you agree or refuse, just say it after you’ve decided. Don’t act so arrogant. I want to hear it from your mouth.”
“Ah…”
Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips, gently squeezed Ye Anping’s collar, and pondered for a while, then took a deep breath, raised her head, and said,
“Marry me! Ye Anping, I want you to marry me!! I have liked you for a long time! Ever since you were my companion at Xuanxing Sect, I have fallen in love with you and want you to be my partner! I want you to hold me! Kiss me!! I want to be intimate with you!! I…”
“Then I will respond to you.” Ye Anping closed his eyes, hugged her into his arms, and said, “I will be responsible for you in the future.”
With a faint fragrance on her petite body, Ye Anping couldn’t help but relax and lowered his chin to the top of her head and rubbed it gently.
Feeling Ye Anping’s breath blowing on the back of her hair, Xiao Yunluo couldn’t help but scratch the ground with her toes. She was so excited that she just wanted to jump ten feet on the spot, but she still held back as much as possible.
“Ye Anping.”
“What?”
“I’ll handle things with Lianxue myself. You don’t need to worry about it,” Xiao Yunluo said, pressing her lips together. “I understand Lianxue’s personality. I can convince her to accept me. You can leave that to me. I wanted to intervene between you two anyway, so you don’t need to bother.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
Xiao Yunluo nodded firmly, lifted her head to look at Ye Anping’s lips, thought for a moment, then simply closed her eyes and stood on tiptoes.
“Woo~~”
Seeing her actions, Ye Anping shook his head in resignation, reached out, and embraced her around the waist, lifting her.
As their lips met, Xiao Yunluo, due to her height, wobbled on her toes to find stability, eventually stepping on Ye Anping’s foot. But just as they were kissing, a golden object floated over.
Ye Anping felt something catch his eye, and when he opened it, he saw Xiao Tian floating in front of him with a puffed-up face and crossed arms.
“…”
Noticing Xiao Tian’s demeanor, Ye Anping paused and gently placed Xiao Yunluo back on the ground.
Xiao Yunluo looked puzzled and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Xiao Tian glanced at Xiao Yunluo, rolled his eyes, and silently pointed behind a pillar in the corridor.
Following its gesture, Ye Anping and Xiao Yunluo looked over. They saw Feng Yudie crouched behind the pillar, peeking with her head out, apparently having been eavesdropping for a while.
Realizing she had been caught by Xiao Tian, Feng Yudie awkwardly chuckled, “Uh, hehe…”
Then, she quickly turned and ran off in the opposite direction. Watching Feng Yudie suddenly appear and disappear, Xiao Yunluo’s intention to help Ye Anping faded completely.
Ye Anping breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Senior Sister Xiao, why don’t you go back to your room and rest? The sun will rise soon.”
“Oh… um. Do you want…”
“Not today. We can discuss it when we return to Xuanxing Sect.”
…
