Ah Jiu seemed to be quite familiar with everyone present. Whether they were older or younger, it felt as though she could chat with each and every one of them for a bit.
Mu Yao felt that having been in the Tianqing Sect for so many years, she did not seem as familiar with the people of the sect as Ah Jiu was.
It almost felt as though she was the disciple who had only recently joined the sect.
Aside from Nan You, who occasionally spoke a few words to Mu Yao, the rest of the time it was basically still Ah Jiu coming over to find Mu Yao for various things.
The wine that Nan You brewed herself, even for cultivators, was extremely easy to get drunk on.
After drinking about three or four cups, Mu Yao began to feel a hint of intoxication.
The food on the table was almost finished, and the jar of wine brought over by Nan You was basically all gone too.
Except for Fu Yan, everyone else seemed somewhat drunk, including Mu Yao.
Fu Yan looked at these drunken disciples and shook her head, reaching out to take the very last jar of wine and taking a sip.
“Little Ah Jiu, keep an eye on your senior brothers and senior sisters so they do not start a fight.” With that, Fu Yan left.
Ah Jiu scratched her head. Nan You was still chattering endlessly with Mu Yao. Ah Jiu sat in her own seat and glanced around a circle; two of the senior brothers had already drawn their swords and started sparring.
She wanted to call Senior Martial Aunt back to ask what she should do if they started fighting.
However, Senior Martial Aunt seemed to already have left.
Ah Jiu tugged on the corner of Mu Yao’s robe: “Senior Sister, what should we do if the senior brothers start fighting?”
Mu Yao raised her gaze to glance over, seeing that the two of them appeared to be merely engaging in ordinary sparring, and raised her hand to rub Ah Jiu’s head: “It is fine.”
Ah Jiu tilted her head slightly: “But Senior Martial Aunt does not allow them to use their weapons.”
Nan You placed a hand on Ah Jiu’s shoulder, perhaps using a bit too much strength due to being drunk: “Master has already left, just ignore them. They will not beat each other to death anyway, and if they do beat each other to death, that is just as well. It is good practice, and who knows, maybe they can still be saved.”
Yue Yue let out a deep sigh nearby: “Senior Martial Sister, you are drunk again and starting to talk nonsense.”
Other than Ah Jiu, Yue Yue was the youngest here, so Yue Yue did not have the qualification to drink alcohol.
“What does a little brat understand? You were the one Senior Martial Sister here saved with acupuncture back then; won’t you thank your Senior Martial Sister?” Nan You reached out to pinch Yue Yue’s cheeks. It was obvious she was truly drunk and failed to control her strength properly, leaving Yue Yue’s cheeks red all over.
Ah Jiu watched while hiding behind Mu Yao, resting her small face against Mu Yao’s shoulder: “Is Senior Martial Sister Nan You bullying Senior Martial Sister Yue Yue again?”
“How can this be called bullying? This is called fraternal love among fellow disciples,” Nan You unhappily retorted.
Mu Yao was after all not as heavily intoxicated as her, and feeling Ah Jiu’s small hand resting on her shoulder, she reached out to cover it with her own.
“Do not listen to your Senior Martial Sister Nan You’s random chatter; fraternal love among fellow disciples is certainly not like this,” Mu Yao said softly.
Yue Yue chimed in by nodding alongside her.
Nan You became even more dissatisfied upon hearing this. She glared at Mu Yao: “This wine of mine was specially brewed according to your physical constitution, and you still say I lack fraternal love among fellow disciples? If not for me, you would not be able to touch a single drop of alcohol at all. Aren’t you going to thank your Junior Martial Sister?”
Ah Jiu blinked her eyes slightly as she listened from the side, but Nan You did not give her a chance to speak and immediately resumed her endless chattering.
After listening for a little while, Mu Yao could not help frowning and cast a silencing spell on Nan You: “Noisy.”
Yue Yue nodded along beside her: “Eldest Senior Sister is right.”
Meanwhile, on the other side, the two sparring fellow disciples had grown increasingly fierce in their exchange, having already fought their way outside the courtyard. Not only did they use physical moves, but they also started arguing, making a bigger and bigger commotion.
When Ah Jiu looked over, she happened to witness the two of them destroying a tree on Xiaoyao Peak.
Mu Yao’s slightly cold gaze swept across the scene, and immediately afterward Ah Jiu saw Frost bind both senior brothers in place, while their swords also uncontrollably slid back into their scabbards.
“Go fight outside, do not make a racket here.” Mu Yao, who was drunk, only felt internal irritation upon hearing all this commotion.
With a wave of her hand, she tossed the two of them right off Xiaoyao Peak. The other drunken fellow disciples, upon witnessing the fate of those two, seemed to sober up by a fraction or two, each of them swallowing nervously. Eldest Senior Sister was indeed as cold as ever.
Aside from Nan You and Yue Yue, the others began telling Ah Jiu one by one that they were leaving first. Ah Jiu stood there like a little ornament, waving goodbye to each of them individually.
Only after everyone had left did Mu Yao feel that it had become much quieter. Nan You shot a couple of dissatisfied glares at Mu Yao.
Mu Yao cast a calm glance at her, then recalled Frost and waved her hand: “You go back too, you are too noisy.”
With that, she unceremoniously tossed Nan You off Xiaoyao Peak as well.
Yue Yue blinked her eyes at Mu Yao, and then said to her: “Eldest Senior Sister, do not throw me out, I will walk by myself.”
With everyone gone, only Mu Yao and Ah Jiu remained on Xiaoyao Peak.
Ah Jiu looked with wide, pleading eyes at Mu Yao: “Senior Sister, do not throw Ah Jiu out, Ah Jiu will not be noisy.”
Mu Yao gently nodded: “Why would I throw you out?”
Only then did Ah Jiu crack a smile, before scrambling onto Mu Yao’s back.
Mu Yao was startled, but did not say anything either, merely reaching back to gently pat Ah Jiu’s back: “Be good.”
Ah Jiu leaned against Mu Yao’s back for a little while, then cautiously moved around to the front to hug Mu Yao.
Before long, she had fallen asleep nestled in Mu Yao’s arms.
Mu Yao lowered her head to look at the quietly sleeping little person and could not help chuckling softly. She shifted slightly, wanting to carry Ah Jiu back to her bed to sleep.
Yet the moment Mu Yao moved even slightly, Ah Jiu reached out and grabbed her collar: “Senior Sister.”
“Very sleepy?” Mu Yao lowered her head and asked softly as she looked at Ah Jiu, whose eyes were half-open and exceptionally drowsy.
Ah Jiu buried her face back into the crook of her arm: “Sleepy.”
Ah Jiu’s sleep was never very stable when Senior Sister was not around. She did not know why, for Xiaoyao Peak was clearly very safe and nothing would disturb her sleep.
“Then Senior Sister will carry you back to sleep,” Mu Yao said in a gentle voice.
Although her drunkenness had not completely dissipated, she remained remarkably indulgent toward Ah Jiu. Furthermore, since the little one was not making noise, Mu Yao did not feel that there was anything wrong with it.
Instead, Ah Jiu clutched her collar a bit tighter: “No, I want Senior Sister to hold me.”
It was a somewhat unreasonable and spoiled act of petulance, but Mu Yao remained silent and did not refuse her.
Walking leisurely toward the fifth floor of Chengfeng Pavilion, Mu Yao ultimately did not put the sleeping person in her arms down, but simply sat down inside the pavilion while holding Ah Jiu, letting Ah Jiu lie across her lap while she leaned lightly against the screen, gazing at the scenery outside Chengfeng Pavilion.
Her gaze carried a rare trace of languidness, perhaps influenced by Ah Jiu, as Mu Yao herself gradually grew a hint of sleepiness.
Ah Jiu did not wake up until deep into the night, and upon waking up, she saw Mu Yao leaning against the screen with her eyes closed.
Senior Sister’s body was far too cold. During the day it was slightly better, but once night fell, Ah Jiu still felt a chill when leaning against her.
She gently sat up, and then, looking at Mu Yao’s sleeping form, Ah Jiu reached out to lightly touch Mu Yao’s cheek, feeling that it was rather cool.
Senior Sister’s body temperature was abnormally low compared to ordinary people. Ah Jiu rested her fingertips against the blindfold tied across Mu Yao’s eyes, and then stretched out her own hand to compare it with the matching ribbon tied around her own wrist.
Ah Jiu’s eyes curved into crescents as she leaned over to gently kiss Mu Yao’s eyes.
Afterward, the little one scampered away, but after a moment she ran right back, holding a small blanket and a quilt in her hands.
She draped the quilt over Mu Yao’s body, then wrapped the blanket around herself, reached out to pull a bit of the quilt over to cover herself as well, and finally leaned back against Mu Yao. Although it was somewhat cold, she still refused to leave Mu Yao’s side.
Mu Yao slept exceptionally deeply this time around, likely due to some sleep-aid ingredients Nan You had added to the wine.
When she woke up the next day, Ah Jiu was still leaning against her side. Mu Yao had no recollection of the events from the previous night, but she could feel the blanket draped over her body.
She could also feel the little person snuggled up beside her.
Mu Yao released her spiritual sense and saw that the little fellow had fallen asleep leaning against her, hugging her entire arm as a pillow.
Such a posture could not possibly be comfortable, yet after shifting slightly, she ultimately decided to carry the child back to bed so she could sleep more comfortably.
However, the moment she tried to gently withdraw her arm, Ah Jiu woke up, rubbing her eyes slightly: “Senior Sister.”
The voice of the newly awakened little person was still somewhat low, soft, and milky.
“Mm, you are awake?” Mu Yao gently rubbed her head.
“Mm.” Ah Jiu gave a low acknowledgment as well, but tightened her hold around Mu Yao’s arm by a fraction more.
Mu Yao gave up on withdrawing her arm: “Are you not cold?”
“With the quilt over me, I am not cold anymore,” Ah Jiu answered in a whisper.
Mu Yao actually wanted to ask why, if she was cold, she insisted on leaning against her anyway.
Yet recalling the events of yesterday, she figured there was probably still a bit of lingering insecurity, a fear that she would suddenly enter seclusion for a long period again. After all, she was still young, and always being alone was indeed something to worry about.
“It is time for morning classes.” Calculating the time, it was indeed time for the little fellow to get up.
Sure enough, the moment Mu Yao mentioned morning classes, Ah Jiu pouted her lips with a face full of reluctance.
“Did you not manage your morning classes well enough by yourself when Senior Sister was away? Why are you unwilling now?” Mu Yao asked with amused exasperation.
Ah Jiu let out a soft huff and did not reply, but still reluctantly released Mu Yao’s arm.
Mu Yao folded up the quilt and small blanket they had shared, carried them back inside the room, and Ah Jiu walked downstairs looking still half-asleep.
She walked down the stairs with her eyes completely closed, and Mu Yao was even afraid she might trip herself.
“Walk properly, look at the path when going down the stairs, what will you do if you fall?” Mu Yao asked with lingering concern.
Ah Jiu suddenly turned her head to look at Mu Yao: “Can Senior Sister see Ah Jiu now?”
Mu Yao shook her head: “I can see, but not with my eyes.”
“When Ah Jiu’s cultivation is higher in the future, I will be able to do it too.” Mu Yao explained to her in a gentle voice.
Ah Jiu nodded, but still continued walking downward with her eyes closed: “Senior Sister cannot see and can walk by herself, so Ah Jiu certainly can too. If Senior Sister does not believe me, watch, I will not fall.”
She genuinely walked all the way down with her eyes closed. For some reason, as Mu Yao followed behind and watched her, the calm lake of her heart seemed as though a leaf had suddenly fallen onto its surface.
The leaf slightly disrupted the stillness of the water’s surface, yet the lake water still gently supported that light, thin leaf, refusing to let it sink to the bottom.
This feeling was far too subtle, leaving Mu Yao feeling even somewhat at a loss.
She followed closely behind Ah Jiu, watching over her carefully for fear that she might trip, but Ah Jiu seemed already completely familiar with all of this, and safely reached the bottom of the stairs without incident.
She even turned around and said happily to Mu Yao: “Look, Senior Sister, Ah Jiu can do it.”
Her pair of eyes was bright and sparkling, like the brightest star in the starry night sky, luminous yet not dazzling, giving Mu Yao the urge to protect her for the very first time.