After closing the door of the therapy hall and firmly sending away Bai Yuelin, who insisted on having dinner with him, Ye Anping returned to his bedroom. He started counting the items he was going to give to his junior sister while using an abacus.
Spirit stones, elixirs, talismans, and so on...
When his junior sister, at the time when she and Feng Yudie left Hundred Lotus Sect, he had prepared some things in her storage pouch. But two months had passed, so it was about time to restock.
His junior sister was the type who wouldn't say anything unless asked. For example, something essential like the Gathering Spirit Pill for Qi cultivation.
Every time he gave it to her, she would eat it without saying anything, and only after finishing it, she would mention it herself.
One time, Ye Anping forgot that she had run out of fire stones and water stones to use to bathe herself. To save the spirit stones that would be used to buy those two items, she even bathed in the lake next to Hundred Lotus Sect for days.
Ye Anping couldn't help but feel helpless about it, so he had to keep track of everything now to prevent her from doing such awkward things just to save spirit stones.
After counting the items, Ye Anping made a simple record.
He took a bottle of wine and moved to a reclining chair in the backyard. He sat cross-legged, meditating to gather Qi while absorbing the essence of the sun and moon.
He was also waiting for his junior sister.
He didn't know how much time had passed when suddenly he heard two pairs of footsteps.
Ye Anping perked up his ears and discerned that the person had feet about seven inches long and weighed no more than eighty-seven catties. This made him relax a bit.
The next moment, two small hands covered his eyes.
"Senior Brother, guess who I am?"
"Ah..." Ye Anping grabbed her hands and sighed somewhat helplessly, "Why do I have such a silly junior sister? You already called me Senior Brother, and yet you want me to guess."
"Hehe..."
Pei Lengxue giggled innocently, then directly sat on the side of the reclining chair, leaning against his shoulder, and asked, "Senior Brother, how long did you wait for me?"
"I waited for you for..."
Ye Anping was stunned for a moment, and then he noticed the bright half-moon above his head.
It turned out that he had been meditating for three hours.
It was almost dawn.
After a pause, he replied, "Not long, I just closed the door and rested. Did you and Xiao Yunluo roam around the market all this time?"
"No, we went back to Profound Star Sect after dinner. I took a bath, changed clothes, and then came over."
With that, Pei Lengxue opened her arms and pounced on Ye Anping.
"Senior brother, can you smell me? Do I smell nice?"
Sniff, sniff Ye Anping brought his nose to her neck and nodded, "You smell nice, is it Rose Dew?"
Pei Lengxue blushed but didn't hide. Absent-mindedly, she replied, "So it's called Rose Dew, huh? Senior Sister Xiao gave me a bottle and said to pour it in the bathtub. After I used it, I smelled so good, so I gave it a try."
Ye Anping smiled wryly. Rose Dew had a market price of five to six hundred spirit stones a bottle, which was considered a luxury item. Judging by the intensity of the fragrance he smelled, his junior sister had probably poured half a bottle into her bath, and she almost smelled like a blooming pear tree.
However, hearing Pei Lengxue's words, he suddenly felt a little nervous.
Xiao Yunluo seemed to live a luxurious life, and now that she had become friends with his junior sister, if his junior sister also turned into someone like her in the future, how would he be able to afford it?
It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to go from extravagance to frugality!
However, seeing that his junior sister seemed to be very happy, Ye Anping didn't want to dampen her spirits. He just hoped that she would be sensible and not turn into a money-devouring beast.
Afterward, Ye Anping stood up.
"You sit here; let me check your pulse for you."
"Ah..."
"Let's see if you've been slacking off for the past two months, have you been practicing swordsmanship and meditation on time every day?"
"Of course," Ye Anping smiled upon hearing her response, then went inside to fetch a wooden basin, filled it with hot water, and knelt beside the reclining chair. He reached out to lift his junior sister's petite feet, helping her remove her embroidered shoes and socks.
Just like before, he soaked his junior sister's feet in the hot water for a while. Then, Ye Anping lifted her feet with the palm of his hand and channeled his spiritual energy to the tips of his thumbs. He gently manipulated the meridians on the soles of her feet.
Unlike when treating guests at the therapy hall, where the priority was the guest's comfort to earn spirit stones, he used a deeper level of strength and spiritual energy on his junior sister.
This method of clearing meridians was actually very dangerous, akin to using a small knife to remove excess blockages in the meridians, clearing blood vessels. One slight mistake could damage the meridians.
But his junior sister had grown up under his care, and he knew every node in her meridians like the back of his hand.
After a while, he saw Pei Lengxue's forehead covered in sweat, and she clenched her skirt tightly with her hands, trying to endure the pain. Ye Anping decided to divert her attention:
"Does it hurt?"
"I'm used to it. It's fine."
"Hang in there a little longer; it'll be over soon."
...
After about fifteen minutes of treatment, Pei Lengxue had broken into a cold sweat on her forehead. When Ye Anping released her feet, she let out a sigh of relief.
She sat on the reclining chair, knees pulled up, and her face against her knees, smiling sweetly at her senior brother.
"Senior Brother, how did you get to know Senior Sister Bai earlier?"
Ye Anping poured the foot-washing water under the willow tree in the backyard and answered, "She helped me review the store's application before. Then, during the Sword Trial, you and Feng Yudie defeated her, and she became a bit withdrawn. I comforted her, and that's how we got acquainted. Whenever she has time, she comes over to help."
"So... does Senior Brother want to marry her?"
Ye Anping gave her a puzzled look, furrowing his brow in confusion, "Why are your thoughts so scattered? How does that relate to getting married?"
"Uh... I mean..." Pei Lengxue nervously averted her gaze, "A man and a woman alone together like this, isn't that a sign of wanting to marry?"
Ye Anping raised an eyebrow, asking, "Isn't that quite normal? We used to be together every day."
"..."
What does that mean?!
Pei Lengxue buried her face slightly into her own thighs, her index finger twirling her ear, and her two small feet rubbing against each other nervously.
She was both relieved and uneasy...
Relieved because it seemed that her senior brother wasn't interested in Senior Sister Bai.
But if her senior brother's words meant that, then didn't it mean he wasn't interested in her either?
After hesitating for a while, Pei Lengxue gathered the courage to ask, "So... you won't marry her?" — She was asking about herself.
"Of course, I won't marry her." — Ye Anping was answering about Bai Yuelin.
"..."
Pei Lengxue hung her head in disappointment.
By now, the sky had darkened, and Ye Anping prepared to let Pei Lengxue return.
He returned to his bedroom, packed the items he had counted earlier into a storage pouch, and handed it to Pei Lengxue.
"In this pouch, besides the elixirs you eat daily, there are two thousand spirit stones."
"Two... two thousand?!" Pei Lengxue received the storage pouch with shock and peeked inside.
"Yes, it's your tuition fee. You entered Profound Star Sect as a companion, so you have to pay tuition and miscellaneous fees. After the results of the sect's selection are announced, you should hand the spirit stones over to the main peak. Besides that, there are food expenses and such; you don't need to be too frugal within Profound Star Sect. If you run out, just come and tell me. Senior Brother can afford to support your cultivation within Profound Star Sect."
"...So, I'll owe Senior Brother a large sum again?"
"What do you mean by owing? Senior Brother is willing to provide for you for free."
Ye Anping smiled helplessly, recalling the joke he made to her last time. It seemed she took it seriously, so he quickly explained, "When I said you were spending my money last time, it was just a joke. Senior Brother doesn't have such a small heart. Don't think about repaying me. Your dedication to cultivation is the best repayment for Senior Brother."
"...Okay."
"Alright, it's getting late. Let's go back to Profound Star Sect. If Senior Brother needs to find you in the future, I'll ask Senior Sister Bai to call you. Senior Brother can't enter Profound Star Sect's mountain gate."
Pei Lengxue pouted, holding onto Ye Anping's sleeve and said, "I want to stay with Senior Brother a little longer. It's been two months since I last saw Senior Brother."
"Okay, fine. You're almost an adult; why are you still so fond of being spoiled?"
Ye Anping shook his head, sighed, and patted her on the head.
Pei Lengxue puffed up her cheeks, "Spoiled is fine, right?"
"Sure, it's fine. Why wouldn't Senior Brother let his junior sister be spoiled? Come on, I'l take you for a stroll around the market."
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