Volume 1 Chapter 50: "Ye An Lengxue" and "Paired Wings, Intertwined Branches"
Listening to the two senior sisters talk about someone else's Dao companions, Pei Lengxue couldn't help but press her lips together in a soft smile.
She couldn't stop herself from imagining whether, in the future, others might gossip about her and her senior brother in the same way.
Maybe there would even be poets who composed verses for the two of them.
For example…
"Ever envious of Hundred Lotus' Ye An, Heaven itself bestows him upon Lady Lengxue."
—Forever envying that leaf-like, elegant young master of the Hundred Lotus Sect; even the heavens favor him, gifting him a gentle, clever girl, pure as snow, to accompany him.
Aren't loving couples often likened to paired-wing birds or entwined branches in poetry?
If one day, when poets of the world wrote love poems and verses of affection, they no longer used "paired wings" or "intertwined branches," but instead used the names "Ye An" and "Lengxue" as stand-ins for devoted lovers—how wonderful would that be?
"Haa…"
Of course, these were nothing more than beautiful fantasies about the future.
Suddenly, Pei Lengxue recalled the name "Xiyue" that her senior brother had mentioned back in Martial Creek Town, and a trace of unease crept into her heart.
What if, one day, it became—
"Ever envious of Hundred Lotus' Ye An, Heaven itself bestows him upon Lady 'Xiyue'"?
What would she do then?
And it wasn't just Lady Xiyue either.
Now there was also… Lady Yudie…
At this thought, Pei Lengxue's gaze abruptly turned cold.
Xiyue was still manageable—but that Feng Yudie in particular…
"Tsk…"
She also wondered whether her senior brother had ever thought about marriage. He'd turned fifteen—come of age—last year, yet there was still no sign of him taking a wife. Every day it was cultivation! Sword practice! Beating up his junior sister!—even though he could no longer beat her now.
Thinking of this, Pei Lengxue suddenly remembered that her own birthday would be coming up before long.
Her fifteenth birthday—her coming-of-age ceremony.
A girl could be married at fifteen, whether among mortals or cultivators; the rule was the same.
In past years, on her birthday, her senior brother would always come by early in the morning to wish her a happy birthday and give her a gift. Last year, he'd given her a pretty little potted plant.
She wondered what he would give her this year, on her coming-of-age birthday.
Would her senior brother give himself to her?
Maybe that "Xiyue" thing was just a name he'd made up, all part of setting up a surprise for her—deliberately lowering expectations so he could later raise them. Then, on her birthday, he'd appear at her doorway dressed in festive red robes and say:
"Junior sister, you've finally come of age. Your senior brother has been waiting for this day for over ten years! Come—let's go pay our respects at the hall!"
But… what if that "Xiyue" wasn't something her senior brother had fabricated after all?
In just a short moment, Pei Lengxue's expression changed seven or eight times—first a sweet, restrained smile, then a look of dejection, then icy eyes, then smiling again, then dejection once more.
Watching these rich shifts of expression from the side, Xiao Yunluo felt utterly confused.
"Junior Sister Pei, what are you thinking about?"
"Ah… nothing." Pei Lengxue hurriedly lowered her head, tossing aside those sweet-and-sour fantasies. After a brief pause, she suddenly asked, "Senior Sister Xiao, what was your coming-of-age like?"
"Coming-of-age?"
Xiao Yunluo paused—then suddenly widened her eyes.
She'd always thought Pei Lengxue was about the same age as herself, maybe even a bit older, given how formidable Pei Lengxue was.
"You haven't come of age yet?"
"I would in a little over three months."
"..."
Xiao Yunluo fell silent for a moment, feeling yet another blow to her confidence. After thinking it over, she replied, "On my coming-of-age day, the Profound Star Sect held quite a grand banquet. The Young Mistress of Shadow Moon Sword Sect, the Young Master of the Stormrain Island, and ministers from the Frigid Heaven Kingdom all came. They gave me quite a lot of gifts."
"So impressive?" Pei Lengxue said with an envious look.
Seeing her reaction, Xiao Yunluo put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest. "Of course. I'm the Young Mistress of the Profound Star Sect, my coming-of-age ceremony was bound to be a grand affair."
Seeing Pei Lengxue's expression, Xiao Yunluo couldn't help but humblebrag again. "But honestly, it was pretty annoying too."
"Why was it annoying?"
"I had to talk to so many people. And that day I received a lot of personal letters—quite a few sect masters wanted to marry their sons into my Xiao family as live-in sons-in-law. It was such a hassle. Those people kept sucking up to me, putting on airs in front of me."
Pei Lengxue tilted her head. "Putting on airs?"
"Like showing off poetry in front of me, or deliberately going somewhere I could see them and performing sword dances—just to attract my attention. Super pretentious."
"I see."
Xiao Yunluo put on a come on, admire your Senior Sister Xiao! expression, but after a moment of silence, she suddenly lowered her head shyly and asked in a mosquito-like voice:
"Junior Sister Pei… we're friends now, right?"
Pei Lengxue nodded, half-understanding. "Mm… I guess so."
"…Then can I call you Lengxue? And you call me Yunluo?"
"Mm… if Senior Sister Xiao doesn't mind, I don't."
Hearing Pei Lengxue agree, Xiao Yunluo was so happy she could barely contain herself and immediately pointed a finger at her.
"Lengxue…"
Then she pointed at her own face. "Yunluo…"
"Lengxue–Yunluo, Lengxue–Yunluo… friends… hehe—"
After smiling to herself for quite a while, Xiao Yunluo felt that her legs had mostly recovered, so she stood up.
"Let's go back. Once we're back, call that idiot over—I'll take you guys to stroll around the Profound Star Sect's marketplace."
"Ah, okay."
With that, the two of them returned separately to the courtyard they were staying in.
Pei Lengxue went back to her room to change into cleaner clothes, then headed to Feng Yudie's bedroom to tell her about Xiao Yunluo treating them.
However, Feng Yudie wasn't in her room. The only thing on the table was a few half-eaten roasted chickens.
"Where did she go? Not staying put to recover—where did she run off to?"
Not thinking much of it, Pei Lengxue simply returned to her own room to sit down and circulate her spiritual energy, passing the time and resting at the same time.
After a while, Xiao Yunluo came over as well, already changed, to call her. Hearing that Feng Yudie wasn't around, she didn't mind and took Pei Lengxue alone, riding their swords toward the marketplace.
...
The Profound Star Sect's marketplace was as lively as ever.
There were many things along the street that Pei Lengxue had never seen before—she looked like a country bumpkin wandering into a grand garden.
Seeing this, Xiao Yunluo naturally took on the role of tour guide, proudly introducing the Profound Star Sect's local specialties to her.
Every time they entered a shop, the owner would respectfully address Xiao Yunluo as "Young Mistress" and treat her courteously. Xiao Yunluo, in turn, put on the air of a big spender, telling Pei Lengxue to just say the word if she liked anything—she'd buy it for her.
But Pei Lengxue felt embarrassed to ask for anything the entire time. In the end, under Xiao Yunluo's persistent urging, she casually said she wanted to try the candied stir-fried sour spirit fruits sold by a street vendor.
She'd thought they'd be cheap. But when Xiao Yunluo went to pay and she saw that one serving cost twelve spirit stones, she immediately didn't want them anymore. Xiao Yunluo still bought them anyway.
Over the past ten years, she had saved up quite a few spirit stones.
When she'd come to the Profound Star Sect, her senior brother had even mentioned that prices here were relatively high and told her to bring along her little savings jar.
Pei Lengxue had always thought that the spirit stones she had saved over ten years would last her a very long time.
But after wandering around the market for a while, she suddenly realized that if she didn't spend carefully, her little savings pouch might not even last a single month.
She clutched the candied stir-fried sour spirit fruits in her hand, reluctant to even take a bite.
Seeing this, Xiao Yunluo asked, "What's wrong? Weren't you the one who wanted to eat it? Why aren't you eating?"
"Ah… are things here really this expensive?" Pei Lengxue said hesitantly. "At the Hundred Lotus Sect, a skewer of candied stir-fried sour spirit fruit only costs two spirit stones. How can this be twelve?"
"Huh? Two spirit stones? That cheap?"
Xiao Yunluo stared blankly at the candied stir-fried sour spirit fruits in her own hand. "I remember this thing always selling for twelve."
"..."
"Forget it, Lengxue. Is there anything else you want to eat? My treat."
"Ah… no, no. I'm fine just looking around."
The two continued strolling along the street.
Suddenly, a man and a woman—both disciples of the Profound Star Sect—walked out of a nearby shop. Their complexions were rosy, and they looked unusually relaxed and refreshed.
Xiao Yunluo glanced up at the signboard.
"Ye Therapy Pavilion? What's a therapy pavilion?"
The moment Pei Lengxue heard the word "Ye," her heart skipped a beat. She immediately followed Xiao Yunluo's gaze toward the sign.
Could it be… Senior Brother?!
Before she could think any further, Xiao Yunluo grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the shop.
"Lengxue, let's go take a look too. I've no idea what kind of place this is."
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Link for character illustration:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1PdkaxAXCm0CjLL3M58xxLd1KyiUxEjjh