Third Update
-Is miss Yuyan taking me up the mountain just for those few chess manuals?-
-Besides the main storyline of 'Fallen Immortal', how many more secrets are hidden?-
Yino returned home to pack his luggage, while once again feeling suspicious about Yuyan's strange behavior.
He had actually been curious last night while playing chess, but thinking that he would soon part ways with Yuyan, Yino couldn't be bothered to worry about others.
But now... Yino was actually recruited by Yuyan to join the Wuji Sect because of chess.
So he had to take this matter to heart again.
"These are all chess manuals I read when learning from the elders in the mansion as a child."
"But given Yuyan's level, I guess it's enough for her to study for a few months."
Yino sighed, stuffing a few old chess manuals from the corner of the bookshelf into his chest.
At the same time, there was another knock on his door. Yino looked up to see his young aunt standing in the doorway, dressed in a light skirt.
She was backlit by the sun, half of her beautiful face in shadow, with the golden phoenix pattern on her jade legs particularly eye-catching.
"Yino."
"Although I don't know what happened last night, congratulations on being chosen by that woman."
The girl stepped forward, her smile radiant in the sunlight.
Yino wanted to speak but hesitated, feeling guilty. He thought his aunt must be disappointed that he was so easily bought off with a jade pendant.
"What's wrong? Since when is it your turn to worry about your aunt?"
Xinyao's tone was somewhat resentful. She stepped forward, cupped the young man's face, and made him look directly into her eyes.
She ruffled Yino's hair as usual, then smiled and said:
"Silly, I'm not angry at all!"
"I was actually helping you gain bargaining chips in front of that bad woman!"
The girl said with upturned lips, her narrowed phoenix eyes looking like a little money-grubber, quite pleased with herself.
Yino was stunned to hear this. He really hadn't anticipated this angle.
"You can do that?"
"Why not? Isn't a free jade pendant nice?"
"But, Auntie, didn't you say you didn't want me to leave?"
"Of course I'll miss you, but I never said you couldn't go!"
Xinyao smiled meaningfully.
Seeing that Yino still didn't understand, she stood up, put her hands behind her back, and her phoenix eyes reflected some gentleness and tactfulness in the slanting sunlight: "A phoenix is not meant to be caged, I never thought of keeping you by my side forever... I didn't agree last night just because Yuyan's attitude as an adopter was poor, but she changed her view of you today, didn't she?"
"So I'm being adopted..."
Yino commented flatly, continuing to pack his luggage.
Xinyao was also amused by him.
Seeing that Yino seemed to have something on his mind, she suddenly hugged the young man from behind, reaching out her jade hands from under his arms to pinch his cheeks—
"Why so unhappy?"
"Could it be that just thinking about leaving your aunty makes your heart sour and uncomfortable, unable to resist wanting to hug your aunt and have a good cry?"
She playfully teased in Yino's ear.
"Cut it out, I'm not a child anymore."
He scoffed, waving his hand.
The girl's phoenix eyes were slightly stunned, then softened again from playfulness to tenderness.
She opened her arms to Yino and said with a relieved smile:
"Stop pretending, cry if you want to. After today, you won't have the chance to act spoiled with your aunty anymore~"
"..."
Yino turned around, somewhat at a loss, but Xinyao took the initiative to pounce on him and embrace the young man.
"Still a tsundere silly boy!"
She patted his head, pouting and humming.
Yino, immersed in his aunt's tenderness, only had his mouth left to be tough: "I'm worried that without me, Auntie will feel bored alone in the Grand Tutor's Mansion."
"That's true."
At some point, the smile on Xinyao's face gradually faded, and even her hand stroking Yino's head slowed down.
But after just a moment of dejection, Xinyao chuckled again:
"Without Yino, I don't know who I'll bully in the future~"
"Tch, then I'd better leave early."
Yino sighed with feigned disappointment, using this opportunity to bury his face a bit more in his aunt's embrace.
Actually, Yino was feeling quite pressured about this trip to the Wuji Sect.
For him, the Grand Tutor's Mansion was a safe starting village, while going to the Wuji Sect meant switching to a hellishly difficult main storyline, where he would directly face the story's protagonist.
Facing the protagonist was the inevitable fate of every villain.
Although the protagonist was gifted and had unlimited potential, he wasn't invincible.
The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish.
If Yino went to the Wuji Sect now, the story's protagonist would still be a newly admitted junior brother. He might be able to use Yuyan's jade pendant or his memories from his previous life to nip the protagonist in the bud.
This was also why Yino agreed to go up the mountain with Yuyan.
But Yino couldn't confide these thoughts to Xinyao, so he could only savor his aunt's tenderness one last time before parting.
"Yino, why haven't you shed a single tear?"
After a long embrace, Xinyao perhaps also realized she was being taken advantage of, and couldn't help but puff up her cheeks, grumpily pushing Yino away from her bosom.
She felt her feelings were hurt. She had thought Yino would have a good cry in her arms, but this brat didn't shed a single tear, he just wanted to nuzzle against her chest...
"Even though I didn't cry, the feelings are all in my heart."
Yino turned his face away, raising his hand to wipe his nose, his face still slightly flushed.
Seeing his blushing face, the girl's face inexplicably reddened as well.
Xinyao stared at Yino with eyes full of embarrassment and anger, but in the end, she hesitated and sighed.
-Thinking carefully, he had indeed reached the age of youthful stirrings...-
Xinyao snorted lightly, then said:
"Auntie will give you something good, which might come in handy when you're out in the world in the future."
As she spoke, she handed a bottle of paper kites to Yino.
Yino took the bottle full of handmade paper folds and examined it in the sunlight, his eyes full of confusion.
He didn't remember such an item from his previous life. It would be nice if he could check the item description like in a game.
"What is this... a thousand paper cranes? For good luck?"
"You can think of it as wishing you good luck."
The girl's upturned lips were somewhat mysterious.
But soon, worried that being too mysterious would make Yino not take the paper kites seriously, she cleared her throat and added earnestly:
"If you encounter any difficulties in the Wuji Sect in the future, you can take this bottle of paper kites to Xi Zhou City at the foot of Wuji Peak, then find a girl named Jinyu in the Immortal Alliance Tavern in the city..."
"When you show this bottle of paper kites, she will take you to see a powerful person."
"That powerful person is an old friend of your aunt's. She owes your aunt many favors, and each paper kite in this bottle represents one favor. You can exchange these paper kites for many treasures with her, or use them to ask for her help. She will unconditionally agree to your requests for your aunt's sake!"
At the end, Xinyao poked Yino's cheek, checking if he had been listening carefully.
Yino nodded, seeming to understand but not quite.
-Another plot and item that never appeared in the original story...-
Looking at the bottle of paper kites, Yino couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
But he didn't ask more, because he knew his aunt had a special identity, and there were many secrets she wouldn't tell him even if he asked.
For the rest of the time, Xinyao didn't disturb him, just sitting on the edge of the bed, swinging her jade feet, silently watching Yino pack his luggage.
Until everything was ready, she finally stopped the jingling of the bells on her feet.
"Are you leaving now?"
She blinked innocently.
Memories of the past sixteen years flooded her mind, and for a moment, she seemed to see that little boy running back home crying and clinging to her spoiled.
But in the next moment, the young man had already shouldered his bag and was standing at the door.
His back was getting taller and broader, blocking the sunlight from outside, and also hiding the reluctance on Xinyao's face.
"Time flies so fast."
"In the blink of an eye, my little nephew who wasn't even as tall as my leg ten years ago is finally becoming an independent cultivator."
Her smile was a bit forced, but she still raised her small foot, commenting with a teasing tone.
But as Yino walked away, Xinyao couldn't help but bite her lip, her eyes gradually moistening.
She finally couldn't sit still and jumped off the bed, quickly chasing after him.
But just at this moment, Yino turned around—
"I'm not leaving, I'm just going to fetch a bucket of water."
"Ah!"
Xinyao was moving quickly, and when he suddenly turned around, she couldn't stop in time and fell into his arms.
Yino didn't mind and held her in his arms steadily.
"I thought you were going to leave without even saying goodbye!"
Realizing it was a misunderstanding, Xinyao's face couldn't hide a trace of resentment.
She suspected Yino did it on purpose, but she had no proof.
Xinyao struggled out of Yino's arms, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, then puffed up her cheeks and curiously examined the wooden bucket in the young man's arms.
"What are you fetching water for?"
"This parting might mean we won't see each other for ten years..."
Yino said somewhat shamefully, his eyes lowering, "I thought, before I leave, I'd like to wash Auntie's feet one last time, to repay you for taking care of me all these years."
He spoke sincerely, and this sudden show of gratitude made Xinyao's phoenix eyes widen, her face full of pleasant surprise.
"I... I never thought you'd be so proactive..."
Xinyao was a bit incredulous. In her memory, it was always her bullying Yino, using leverage to make him wash her feet.
And when Yino was young, he would always crouch by the wooden bucket with a reluctant face, but no matter how much he disliked it, he would still obediently pick up Xinyao's feet and wash them.
This was the first time in Xinyao's life that Yino had voluntarily offered to wash her feet!
"If you mind, then forget it."
Yino shrugged, his cheeks slightly red with disappointment.
After all, he wasn't a child anymore, and his sense of shame had gradually matured.
Xinyao stared at him blankly, hesitating only for a moment before hurriedly nodding and smiling:
"Why would I mind? You've been washing my feet since you were little!"
She put her hands on her hips, pretending to be smug, but beneath her cute and playful face, there was also a hint of redness from embarrassment.
The sense of shame itself was mutual.
When Yino was young and didn't understand, Xinyao naturally had no guard up.
But now that Yino was blushing first, Xinyao was also influenced by him, and couldn't help but let her imagination run wild.
After all...
The last time he washed her feet was two years ago, and for a boy of Yino's age, just two years could make a world of difference in his growth.
In the end, Xinyao told herself to overcome her embarrassment and not refuse.
After all, this was the first time in Yino's life that he had voluntarily offered to wash her feet as a way of repayment, which meant that Xinyao's years of spoiling her little nephew hadn't been in vain!
"Go quickly! Remember to put some herbs in the water!"
The more Xinyao thought about it, the redder her face became, and she couldn't help but push Yino, urging him on.
After sending Yino off, she returned to Yino's room, sitting on his bed, humming and swinging her jade feet.
In her idle moment, Xinyao felt the sheets and quilt under her skirt with her hand.
Then...
She looked down at her hands, now full of scent, and finally fell into a mental struggle.
After a long silence.
Xinyao still raised her hand, gently bringing her palm to her nose and sniffing.
"There really is a smell..."
"But this is to be expected... after all, Yino has reached that age..."
She murmured, her cheeks blushing, her beautiful eyes becoming strangely misty.
And just at this moment, Yino pushed open the door, carrying a bucket of hot water—
"Auntie, what are you doing?"