Chapter 290: Belong To Me
A young body lay sprawled on the soft grass under the sun, a martial arts manual covering his face as a form of protection against the sun.
"I should really get out of the sun," the boy thought lazily, feeling the warmth beginning to make him drowsy despite the book’s protection.
"But I’m too lazy to move..."
He then sighed in resignation as he turned onto his side. The movement caused the martial arts manual that had been resting on his face to slip and fall onto the grass beside him. The sudden exposure to the bright sunlight made him squint reflexively.
"Well, the sun will go away at some point," he thought, accepting his fate rather than expending the energy required to retrieve the book or find proper shade just a few meters away.
He suddenly felt a cool shadow fall across his face, blocking out the intense rays of the sun.
He slowly opened his eyes, blinking several times to adjust to the change in lighting. His gaze met that of a young girl who stood directly above him. Her silhouette was backlit by the sun, creating an angel like appearance.
"Well would you look at that, it actually did go away," he thought.
"Senior brother, what are you doing?" Li Yao asked.
"I’m practicing, can’t you see?" he replied, turning to point at his martial art manual but was surprised when he couldn’t find it.
"I could’ve sworn it was here just a second ago," he thought, becoming a little concerned since losing cultivation materials was generally frowned upon in the sect. If his master found out about this, he would never hear the end of it.
"Looking for this?" Li Yao asked with a smile, holding up the manual that he had been using as sun protection just moments earlier.
He sighed in relief, his shoulders relaxing as the panic subsided.
"Ah, I thought I lost it," he said gratefully, then promptly lay back down on the grass.
"Senior brother, why don’t you like practicing? Don’t you always say you want to live forever?" Li Yao asked.
"I don’t have the talent for it, so I don’t bother," he said.
He then raised his eyes once again to look at her.
"Why do you try so hard?" he asked.
Li Yao immediately puffed out her chest with pride, her eyes sparkling with determination and confidence. "I want to conquer the whole world and become an empress," she declared.
Xiang Yu couldn’t help but chuckle at her declaration.
"What? You don’t think I can do it?" she asked.
"You think the heavens will let you do that?" he asked.
"Well, if they don’t, then I’ll simply conquer the heavens too," she said matter-of-factly.
"It’s nice to have dreams," he said with a smile, then turned around and closed his eyes again.
"Now if you’ll excuse me..."
Li Yao showed a pout at his dismissive response before reluctantly leaving him to his rest.
Some time passed, and when she returned, it was already dark outside.
"Senior brother, wake up, it’s already night," she said, gently shaking his shoulder to wake him up.
"I’m too tired, I’ll just lie here for a while longer," he mumbled without opening his eyes.
"You’re always tired. Get up before the monsters come and eat you," she said.
"But that’s too much work," he protested weakly.
Li Yao sighed in defeat, then walked over and picked him up in a princess carry. With her cultivation, she could easily pick him up despite his protests.
"What are you doing?" Xiang Yu protested.
"Taking you back," she said. "I brought you out here so it’s only fair I return you"
"Put me down, I’m not some animal you can carry around whenever you want." he said, but she didn’t seem to be listening at all.
"I’ll walk on my own," he said, seeing his protests weren’t working.
"And when is that?" she asked.
He paused for a moment. "Maybe after resting for a while," he admitted sheepishly.
"Then I’ll carry you back to your house and you can rest there," she said as she started walking up the mountain path.
"Okay fine, I’ll walk. Put me down," he said, thinking to himself that this was simply too embarrassing, even for someone with his notably low standards for personal dignity.
Li Yao smiled victoriously and gently set him down on his feet. Both of them started walking slowly up the mountain.
They walked in silence until they reached Xiang Yu’s modest dwelling. As they were about to part ways for the night, Li Yao suddenly spoke up hesitantly.
"Do you really think so?" she asked quietly.
Xiang Yu paused mid-step, confusion evident in his expression. "What do you mean?" he asked, turning to look back at her.
"I mean, do you think I’m just dreaming?" she asked.
She’s still thinking about that? Xiang Yu thought with surprise. He walked up to her and placed his hand gently on her head.
"Of course not. I believe Yao Yao can conquer the heavens. After all, our Yao Yao is the greatest genius in the world," he said confidently.
She blushed slightly at the praise, then pushed him back.
"Don’t call me that," she said.
"What about you?" she asked, her tone becoming more serious again. "Why don’t you practice? Even if you don’t have talent, why don’t you try? You look like you’ve completely given up on everything. You don’t even care enough to wake up, and you don’t even remember to eat..."
He smiled at her. "Why should I care when I have such a nice junior sister to take care of me?" he said teasingly.
"Hmph, I won’t take care of you anymore," she said.
"Ah!" Xiang Yu acted dramatically shocked, placing his hand over his heart in dismay. "You rebellious child! You want to cut off your roots and kill your ancestors?"
Li Yao couldn’t help but chuckle at his theatrical display.
"Senior brother, I don’t mind taking care of you," she said with a smile.
"But I have a condition..." she began, moving closer to him.
Her expression then became unusually intense. "That is, you belong to me from now on..."
...
Li Yao slowly opened her eyes, the memory fading as she returned to the present.
[You okay?] the Empress asked.
"Yeah, just remembered something interesting," she said, closing her eyes in concentration once more as she attempted to refocus on her training.
"I wonder how senior brother is doing," she thought.
She had been feeling increasingly uneasy for a while now, but she firmly pushed aside those troubling thoughts. She didn’t want to create an opening for her mind to split once again before she was done with what she was doing.
"Senior brother is much stronger than me now. He should be fine on his own," she thought determinedly, using all her willpower to suppress the uneasy thoughts.