“Senior Sister!”
Following the direction of the voice, Shen Yun Yuan saw a familiar figure running toward her from the entrance of the Sword Training Pavilion not far away.
The youth hurried along, and in the blink of an eye, he had reached her.
“Senior Sister, what brings you here?”
He had probably just finished practicing his sword. He was breathing slightly hard, and a thin sheen of sweat glistened on his faintly flushed face. When that familiar presence drew near, Shen Yun Yuan first noticed the wound on his face.
“What happened to your face?”
Meeting the concern in the young woman’s eyes, he instinctively raised a hand to touch his face, but Shen Yun Yuan stopped him.
“Don’t touch the wound. It’s dirty.”
Xie Zhao obediently withdrew his hand and said, “I must have been accidentally grazed by sword qi during the spar just now.”
That was what Xie Zhao said, but the truth was that he had been sparring with another disciple when he suddenly heard someone below mention that Senior Sister Yun Yuan was outside. He had been distracted for a moment and accidentally got hurt by his opponent’s sword qi. Fortunately, he had still won that round.
Xie Zhao said, “Although I received a small injury on my face, I still won that round, so Elder Kongwu let me leave early.”
Xie Zhao did not explicitly ask her to praise him, but Shen Yun Yuan could still hear the hint of expectation in the youth’s tone.
She did not know why, but looking at the youth before her, with his expression that seemed to be asking to be praised, Shen Yun Yuan inexplicably thought of a phrase: a smug little puppy.
Ordinarily, Shen Yun Yuan would certainly have praised him properly, but now…
“Mm.”
The young woman merely responded faintly.
Although he did not hear the praise he had imagined, Xie Zhao did not mind. He still revealed his usual dazzling smile, caught hold of the young woman’s sleeve with one hand, and said, “Senior Sister, let’s go back.”
Back home—to the home he shared with Senior Sister.
*
The whole of Floating Cloud Peak belonged to Shen Yun Yuan. Because her body was weak, and Floating Cloud Peak had the richest spiritual energy in all of Qingxuan Sect, she had always lived there.
Later that evening, Chu Yue had to return home down the mountain because something had come up in her family, so the task of preparing dinner fell to Xie Zhao.
Although cultivators with abundant spiritual power did not need to eat mortal grains, that only applied to cultivators at a high level.
Xie Zhao had not yet become a high-level cultivator. Like Shen Yun Yuan, he still needed to eat.
Shen Yun Yuan watched the youth bustling about in the kitchen. She tightened her grip on the key in her hand and said, “There’s still some chilled soup Chu Yue made this morning in the kitchen. I can just have some soup.”
“How can that be?” Xie Zhao said. “Senior Brother Wujiu said that you need to eat more foods that replenish your qi and blood.”
As he spoke, he walked several steps forward and gently pushed her away from the doorway.
“Senior Sister, go outside for now. There’s a lot of smoke in the kitchen; don’t let it bother you. It’ll be ready soon.”
Shen Yun Yuan opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she could not resist the youth’s actions. After thinking it over, she tightened her grip on the key in her hand.
Forget it. She would talk to him after they finished eating.
The youth was very quick. Before long, he had cooked food for the two of them: a steaming bowl of multigrain porridge with several nourishing spirit herbs added to it.
Because of her health, Shen Yun Yuan could not eat greasy or spicy food, so Chu Yue always prepared light meals for her.
“How is it, Senior Sister? Is it good?”
Shen Yun Yuan had just picked up her spoon and taken a small taste when she heard the youth sitting across from her ask.
The porridge was fragrant, soft, and delicious, perfectly suited to her tastes.
Shen Yun Yuan nodded. “Mm. It’s delicious.”
Hearing that, the youth smiled. “As long as Senior Sister likes it. When I have time in the future, A-Zhao will make it for you again.”
Shen Yun Yuan held the spoon in her hand and stirred the porridge in her bowl. She did not answer him.
Even someone as slow to notice things as Xie Zhao realized that something had been wrong with the young woman all day.
Xie Zhao set down the spoon in his hand and could not help asking, “Senior Sister, did I do something wrong?”
Shen Yun Yuan came back to herself and looked at him with those beautiful eyes of hers. “What?”
The youth lowered his head, his fingertip lightly tracing the rim of the bowl. His tone was somewhat aggrieved and at a loss.
“You seem to have been very cold toward me today…”
On the way back earlier, he had said many things to her. Usually, Senior Sister would respond to him warmly. Once she learned that he had won the spar, she would certainly praise him, and might even pat him on the head to encourage him.
But today, she had done none of that. The whole way, he had been talking to himself while she merely responded with an occasional “mm.”
At first, he had thought that she was feeling unwell, but now it seemed that was not the case.
Xie Zhao raised his eyes, his gaze settling on her face.
“Senior Sister, did I do something wrong? If I did something that made you angry, you must tell me. I’ll change.”
The youth stared intently at her with those pitch-black eyes. Shen Yun Yuan watched as they visibly grew moist and reddened, as though he might burst into tears the next moment.
Shen Yun Yuan’s mind went blank with a sudden buzz.
Then, when she realized what she had done to him, an indescribable, dense ache of bitterness spread through her heart.
“No…” Shen Yun Yuan bit her lip and looked at him. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s my problem. I was thinking about something and wondering whether I should tell you.”
“What is it?” Xie Zhao asked uneasily.
Then he saw the young woman extend her hand and place something in front of him.
Xie Zhao lowered his eyes and saw that it was a key.
“This is the key to Wandu Peak. I want to give it to you as your birthday gift next month,” Shen Yun Yuan said.
A birthday gift?!
At those words, a trace of delight rose in Xie Zhao’s heart. Had Senior Sister already started preparing his gift so early this year?
But before his excitement could settle, he looked at the key to Wandu Peak before him and realized that if Senior Sister gave Wandu Peak to him, and he had a residence of his own, would that mean he could no longer continue living here with Senior Sister?
“I don’t want it,” Xie Zhao refused decisively.
Shen Yun Yuan had expected Xie Zhao to refuse, but she had not expected him to reject it so completely.
“You don’t like this gift?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it!”
Anything Senior Sister gave him, no matter what it was, he would like. It was just that…
“It’s just…” Xie Zhao turned his face away, somewhat angrily. “If I accept this gift, does that mean I won’t be able to live with you anymore, Senior Sister?”
Shen Yun Yuan had not expected his thoughts to turn so quickly. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the youth continue.
“I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave Senior Sister or be separated from you. I don’t want to leave Floating Cloud Peak.”
Besides, Wandu Peak was several mountains away from Senior Sister’s residence. It was too far. He did not want to be that far away from her.
The youth raised his wet, glistening eyes and looked at her pitifully.
“Senior Sister, don’t drive me away, all right?”