Volume 1 Chapter 52: The Overprotective "Old-Father" Senior Brother
After closing the therapy pavilion and forcibly sending Bai Yuelin away—despite her insistence on staying to have dinner with him—Ye Anping returned to his bedroom. As he worked his abacus, he carefully sorted through the items he planned to give his junior sister later.
Spirit stones, pills, talismans…
Back when his junior sister had left Hundred Lotus Sect together with Feng Yudie, he had already stocked her storage bag with supplies. But two months had passed since then—whatever he gave her back then should be nearly used up by now.
His junior sister was the type who would never say anything unless you asked her directly.
Things like Gathering Spirit Pills, which were practically essential for cultivation at the Qi Refining realm—every time he gave them to her, he would tell her to inform him once she finished them.
And every single time, after she used them up, she would rather go into the mountains to dig up medicinal herbs and brew her own crude medicine than proactively ask him for more.
There was even one time when Ye Anping forgot that her fire stones and water stones had run out. To save spirit stones, she spent several days bathing directly in the lake by the mountain near the Hundred Lotus Sect.
Ye Anping had been thoroughly helpless about that.
So this time, he had no choice but to calculate everything carefully, lest she once again do something unbearably awkward just to save money.
After counting everything, Ye Anping made a simple record.
He then carried a reclining chair into the backyard, sat cross-legged on it, and began to meditate and circulate his spiritual energy—absorbing the essence of the sun and moon while waiting for his junior sister to arrive.
He didn't know how much time had passed when two light tap-tap footsteps suddenly entered his ears.
Ye Anping immediately pricked up his ears. Judging by the length of the footsteps—about seven inches—and a weight no heavier than eighty-seven jin, he relaxed slightly.
In the next moment, two small hands covered his eyes.
"Senior brother, guess who I am?"
"Ah…" Ye Anping grabbed her wrists and sighed helplessly. "How did I end up with such a silly junior sister? You already called me senior brother, and you still want me to guess?"
"Hehe~~"
Pei Lengxue laughed foolishly, then sat down beside the reclining chair. Tilting her body, she leaned directly against his shoulder and asked,
"How long have you been waiting for me, senior brother?"
"I've been waiting…"
Ye Anping paused. Only then did he notice the bright half-moon hanging in the sky above.
So, he had actually been meditating for three whole hours.
It would be midnight soon.
After a brief pause, he replied, "Not long. I just closed up and rested. Did you and Xiao Yunluo wander around the marketplace until now?"
"No. We went back to Profound Star Sect after eating. I took a bath, changed clothes, and then came over."
As she spoke, Pei Lengxue spread her arms and pounced onto Ye Anping.
"Smell me—do I smell nice?"
"Sniff~" Ye Anping leaned in and sniffed lightly near her neck. "Rose Dew?"
Pei Lengxue's face flushed red, but she didn't dodge. Distracted, she replied, "So that's what it's called? Senior Sister Xiao gave me a bottle and said to pour it into the bath. She said I'd smell nice afterward, so I tried it."
Ye Anping gave a bitter smile.
Rose Dew went for five to six hundred spirit stones per bottle in the marketplace—it was a luxury item.
Judging from the intensity of the scent, his junior sister had poured in at least most of the bottle, if not the entire thing. She practically smelled like a pear tree in full bloom.
But hearing her say this, Ye Anping suddenly felt a bit nervous.
Xiao Yunluo clearly lived an extravagant life. Now that she and his junior sister had become friends—what if she ended up influencing Lengxue into living like that too?
How was he supposed to afford that?
It was easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but hard to go back.
Still, seeing how happy his junior sister looked, Ye Anping didn't want to dampen her mood. He could only hope she remained sensible and didn't turn into a four-legged spirit-stone-devouring beast.
Ye Anping then stood up and said,
"Sit there. I'll help massage your feet."
"Ah…"
"Perfect timing—I'll also check whether you've been slacking off these past two months, skipping your daily sword practice and meditation."
"Of course not."
Ye Anping smiled, then went into the room and brought out a wooden basin filled with hot water. He knelt on one knee beside the reclining chair, reached out, lifted his junior sister's small foot, and helped her remove her embroidered shoe and sock.
Just like before.
After soaking her foot in the warm water for a while, Ye Anping supported it in his palm, circulated his spiritual energy, and used the tip of his thumb to gently stimulate the individual meridians along the sole of her foot.
Unlike how he treated the customers at the therapy pavilion—where comfort was the top priority because he was earning spirit stones—the strength and amount of spiritual energy he used on his junior sister were far deeper.
This method of clearing the meridians was actually extremely dangerous.
It was equivalent to using a small knife to scrape away hardened blockages inside the meridians, clearing clogged vessels. A single mistake could result in damaged meridians and permanent injury.
But his junior sister was someone he had watched grow up since childhood.
Ye Anping knew exactly how many knots existed in her meridians by heart.
After a while, he noticed Pei Lengxue clenching her small hands tightly around her skirt, biting her lip as she endured the pain. He spoke up to distract her:
"Does it hurt?"
"I'm used to it. I'm fine."
"Hang in there a bit longer. It'll be over soon."
...
After about a quarter of an hour, a fine sheen of cold sweat had formed on Pei Lengxue's forehead. Only when Ye Anping released her feet did she finally exhale deeply.
She drew her knees up on the reclining chair, crossed her arms around her legs, rested her face against her knees, and smiled sweetly at her senior brother.
"Senior brother, how did you get to know that Senior Sister Bai?"
Ye Anping poured the foot-washing water beneath the willow tree in the backyard and replied, "She helped review my shop application."
"And then?"
"And then?" Ye Anping sat back down beside her. "Then you and Feng Yudie beat her so badly during the sparring trial that she basically shut down mentally. I comforted her a bit, and that's how we met. When she has time, she comes over on her own to help out."
"So… senior brother wants to marry her?"
…?
Ye Anping shot her a sideways glance, frowning in confusion.
"How did you jump to that conclusion? How did this suddenly turn into marriage?"
"Ah… I mean…" Pei Lengxue grew nervous and looked away.
"A man and a woman alone together all the time—doesn't that mean you want to marry her?"
Ye Anping raised an eyebrow and asked back,
"Isn't that pretty normal? Weren't the two of us together every day before?"
"..."
What did that mean?!
Pei Lengxue buried her face a little deeper into her thighs. Her index finger hooked around a strand of hair by her ear, and her two small feet curled together, rubbing against each other.
She felt both relieved—and unsettled.
Relieved, because his words seemed to confirm that he had no interest in Senior Sister Bai.
But if that was what he meant… didn't that also mean he had no interest in her?
After hesitating for a moment, Pei Lengxue gathered her courage and asked:
"So… you won't marry her?"
—Pei Lengxue was asking about herself.
"Of course I won't."
—Ye Anping was answering about Bai Yuelin.
"..."
Pei Lengxue lowered her head, her eyes filled with disappointment.
Seeing that it was already late, Ye Anping prepared to send her back.
He returned to his bedroom, packed the items he had sorted earlier into a storage bag, and brought it out to hand to Pei Lengxue.
"Besides the pills you take daily, there are two thousand spirit stones in this bag."
"T–Two thousand?!" Pei Lengxue accepted the storage bag nervously and peeked inside.
"Mm. Your tuition." Ye Anping nodded. "You entered Profound Star Sect as a companion disciple, so you have to pay miscellaneous academic fees. Once the sect selection results are out, take the spirit stones to the main peak and hand them in. Besides that, there's also food expenses and such. Don't be too frugal inside the Profound Star Sect—if you run out, just come tell me. Your senior brother can afford to support you while you cultivate there."
"…Then doesn't that mean I'll owe senior brother a huge amount again?"
"Owe what? Your senior brother is willing to give it."
Ye Anping smiled helplessly. Remembering the joke he had made to her last time—and realizing she had taken it seriously—he hurried to explain:
"When I said before that you were spending my money, that was just a joke. Your senior brother isn't that petty. Don't think about paying me back—cultivating properly is repayment enough."
"Mm."
"Alright, it's getting late. Head back to the Profound Star Sect. If your senior brother needs to find you later, I'll have Senior Sister Bai go call you— I can't enter the mountain gates of Profound Star Sect myself."
Pei Lengxue pouted and grabbed the corner of Ye Anping's robe.
"I want to stay with senior brother a bit longer. I haven't seen you for two months."
"Fine." Ye Anping shook his head and sighed as he looked at her. "You're almost at the age of coming-of-age already—why are you still so fond of acting spoiled?"
Pei Lengxue puffed out her cheeks. "I just want to act spoiled—can't I?"
"Of course you can." Ye Anping laughed softly. "What kind of senior brother wouldn't let his junior sister act spoiled? Come on—I'll take you to stroll around the market."
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Link for character illustration:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1PdkaxAXCm0CjLL3M58xxLd1KyiUxEjjh