Shen Yun Yuan had thought she could harden her heart, but when the young man looked at her with those damp eyes, the words she had intended to say became lodged in her throat.
She opened her mouth, only to find that she could not say anything at all.
He shouldn’t be like this!
The reason he was so attached to her and felt favorably toward her now was entirely because there was his spiritual blood in her body.
Shen Yun Yuan’s hands, hanging beneath her sleeves, clenched tightly. Her fingernails dug into her flesh, sending waves of pain through her and clearing her mind somewhat.
Then she chose a gentler approach.
“A-Zhao, I don’t mean to drive you away.” Shen Yun Yuan looked at him and spoke softly. “I just feel that you’ve grown up and should have a place of your own. After all, we aren’t biological siblings. If you continue living here, other people will gossip.”
“I’m not afraid of that, Senior Sister!” Xie Zhao blurted out instinctively. He wasn’t afraid of what others might say.
But only when his eyes met those of the beautiful girl before him did he belatedly realize that it was not he who was afraid—it was Senior Sister.
Although he also knew that it was indeed improper for an unrelated man and woman to live together, he and Senior Sister were not without a relationship.
He and Senior Sister had grown up together from childhood and could be considered childhood sweethearts. Although the two of them had never said it openly, amid the teasing of their senior brothers when they were young, Xie Zhao had long since placed himself in the position of Shen Yun Yuan’s child husband.
Once he came of age, he would be able to become cultivation partners with Senior Sister and stay together with her forever.
The next moment, Xie Zhao suddenly realized that this might be Senior Sister’s test for him!
He had once heard several fellow disciples say that women all liked men who could stand tall and strong and protect them.
Although he could protect Senior Sister now, he was still not enough.
Among the common people, when a marriage was arranged, it was also the man’s side that needed to present the three betrothal documents and six betrothal gifts before taking the woman into his home.
Everything he had was given to him by Master and Senior Sister. He could not rely on them forever. He had to depend on himself so that, in the future, he could protect Senior Sister even better!
“I understand, Senior Sister. I’ll move out!”
He would cultivate diligently, slay demons and eliminate fiends diligently, and work diligently to give Senior Sister a good life.
Shen Yun Yuan looked at the young man who had been utterly unwilling to yield just moments ago, only to suddenly loosen his stance.
Seeing the seriousness in his eyes, Shen Yun Yuan faintly felt that he might have misunderstood her intentions.
“Senior Sister wants me to become independent, so I’ll listen to you. In a few days, I’ll move to Qiyun Residence and eat and live together with the senior and junior disciples. But Wandu Peak is too valuable a gift. A-Zhao can’t accept it.”
After saying this, the young man seemed to think of something and stammered, “Since Senior Sister wants to give me a gift, can I ask Senior Sister for something as a gift?”
“What do you want?” Shen Yun Yuan asked.
The young man turned his gaze toward the dressing table in the distance. Following his line of sight, Shen Yun Yuan saw the hair ribbon she had recently removed from her long hair and casually placed on the dressing table.
“A hair ribbon?” Shen Yun Yuan was somewhat surprised.
He did not want the enormous Wandu Peak, yet he wanted a hair ribbon instead?
The hair ribbon was a pale blue-green, and when it swayed slightly, it shimmered like rippling water.
Shen Yun Yuan thought he had taken a liking to the fabric of the ribbon and said, “That hair ribbon is one I’ve used before. If you like it, I’ll give you a new one another day.”
“It’s all right. I… don’t mind.” Xie Zhao lowered his head and spoke in a small voice. “It’ll be fine after I wash it.”
Seeing that the young man truly seemed to like this hair ribbon made from Floating Radiance Brocade, Shen Yun Yuan gave it to him.
Shen Yun Yuan had thought he would not readily agree to move out of Floating Cloud Peak, but unexpectedly, a single hair ribbon was enough to make the young man yield.
Xie Zhao accepted the hair ribbon the girl handed him and gripped it tightly in his hand.
*
Late at night.
A side courtyard on Floating Cloud Peak.
The young man lay on his back on the bed in plain clothes. In his fair, slender hand, he held a pale blue-green hair ribbon. His fingertip slid across the cloud patterns embroidered on it, and the corners of his lips could not help curving into a smile.
Senior Sister’s thing. Senior Sister’s hair ribbon.
His.
Xie Zhao stared at the cloud-pattern design on the hair ribbon with his pitch-black eyes, thinking of how it had looked when it was tied in Senior Sister’s hair earlier.
Then he faintly caught a familiar fragrance.
Xie Zhao’s nose twitched. Only afterward did he realize that the familiar scent came from the hair ribbon in his hand. He gazed at the ribbon for a moment, then, as if possessed, raised it to the tip of his nose and gently sniffed.
The familiar fragrance from the girl’s body entered his nostrils and seeped into every part of his internal organs.
It was the scent of Senior Sister!
Xie Zhao pressed the hair ribbon against his nose and took another deep breath. Senior Sister’s scent surrounded him, as though Senior Sister herself were lying on his bed.
Senior Sister herself was on his bed…
The thought that suddenly arose in Xie Zhao’s mind startled him badly. His fingers loosened, and the hair ribbon he had held against his nose slid across his face.
A rush of heat rose through Xie Zhao’s entire body, even turning the roots of his ears bright red.
He hurriedly pulled over the quilt beside him, covered himself with it, and closed his eyes to sleep, casting the thought from moments ago to the back of his mind.
Before going to sleep, Xie Zhao did not forget to fold the hair ribbon neatly and place it carefully beside his pillow. Then he fell peacefully asleep…
*
Over the next several days, Shen Yun Yuan kept waiting for news from Ye Wujiu. She had thought he would be able to calculate the result within a single night.
Unexpectedly, five full days passed in the blink of an eye, and Ye Wujiu, who had shut himself inside his residence, still showed no sign of activity.
Shen Yun Yuan began to feel faintly anxious. She recalled what the original text had said about Ye Wujiu’s father.
He had originally been the greatest diviner under Heaven, but because he had spied upon something he should not have, he had been struck blind in both eyes during a lightning tribulation, barely managing to preserve half his life.
Shen Yun Yuan had thought that, with his father’s example before him, Ye Wujiu would show at least some restraint.
But what if…
What if that fellow Ye Wujiu had no sense of restraint at all?
Just as Shen Yun Yuan was wondering whether she should send someone to force their way into Ye Wujiu’s residence the next day and see whether he was dead or alive, the door to the bedchamber suddenly rang with a knock.
“It’s me.”
Hearing Ye Wujiu’s voice, Shen Yun Yuan hurriedly opened the door.
But when she saw what Ye Wujiu looked like, she could not help being startled. Utterly shocked, she said, “Senior Brother, how did you end up like this?”
The Ye Wujiu she remembered had always been dignified and handsome. Yet now, his hair was disheveled, heavy dark circles showed beneath his eyes, his face was pale, and his lips were utterly bloodless. Even the clothes he usually wore were now wrinkled and disordered.
“You’re sure you want to talk here?”
When Ye Wujiu raised his eyes, Shen Yun Yuan saw that they were filled with thick red veins, making him look especially frightening.
Shen Yun Yuan stepped aside to make way for him. “Come in and talk.”
Only after Ye Wujiu had walked inside did Shen Yun Yuan notice, as she looked at his back, that several strands of silver were mixed into his originally jet-black hair.
Shen Yun Yuan was astonished.
“I finally understand what my father once meant when he said, ‘Calculate another’s life, bear its burden.’” Ye Wujiu had just sat down in a chair when he suddenly said this seemingly out of nowhere.