The sun and the moon rotated, and seven days were gone in a flash---
Today was the beginning of autumn. Overnight, the mountains turned golden, and many disciples added a thicker layer of autumn clothes to their uniforms, which made them appear plumper.
At this moment, the sun was shining brightly, and Ye Anping was sitting in the pavilion at the edge of the martial arts training ground, drinking tea and enjoying the coolness while getting to know the newly joined fellow disciples.
He had just lifted his tea cup when he heard a man and a woman coming from the mountain path to the east. "Brother, who is that handsome young man sitting in the pavilion? Why is he wearing our Hundred Lotus Sect's uniform? I never noticed there was such a handsome brother in the sect."
"What brother? That's the Hundred Lotus Sect's Young Master Ye."
"Oh, so he is Young Master Ye."
"Sister, stop staring. I have heard from some elder brothers that Young Master Ye has a bad temper. When he was younger, he used to bully the sect's junior sisters every day, beating them black and blue..."
... ...
Hearing this, Ye Anping's movements stopped, and his face suddenly darkened, but he said nothing. He even specially raised his teacup to greet those two. Frightened, the two disciples immediately stepped aside, cupped their hands, and then quickly ran away.
A breeze blew past him, and somewhat awkwardly, he put down his teacup and sighed.
"Ah... How did my reputation become like this?"
Ye Anping vaguely remembered that when he started cultivating hard with his sister, most of the disciples in the sect were spreading rumors like: "The Young Master not only likes to hurt himself, but he also hurts little sister Pei!"
In time, this became: "Young Master likes to bully Sister Pei!!"
And now, it had directly turned into: "Young Master enjoys bullying the sect's sisters!!"
It's clearly the same thing, so why did it change its meaning after passing through several mouths?
Ye Anping couldn't help but sigh. The human language was like this; one changed word could make a world of difference in meaning.
"Ah... forget it. It's better to have a fierce reputation, then I won't be accosted every ten steps."
He filled his cup with tea and turned to look at the two people fighting on the martial arts field. The frustration he had just expelled with a sigh instantly returned to his heart.
"Hey--"
---"Help!! My aunt is going to kill me!!"
On the martial arts training ground, Ating, who was wearing the uniform of the Hundred Lotus Sect and had a bruised nose and face, was darting among disciples who were practicing sword and boxing.
In ancient times, there was a king of Qin circling a pillar*; now, there was Ating circling her fellow disciples.
Pei Lianxue, holding a blunt sword without an edge, chased after her. "Ating, don't be afraid. I'll just pull your bones and put them back later. Don't be afraid!"
"Waahh--- I don't want it!! Nooo!!"
...
During these seven days, Pei Lianxue, in addition to her own training, also took care of Liang Ating's training.
In fact, Ye Anping had expected Liang Ating to be different from Pei Lianxue as a child.
Pei Lianxue didn't resist at all when she was a child; she just cried and begged for mercy but still did everything he asked. Liang Ating, however...
For the past seven days, she had been playing mind games with Pei Lianxue every day, always finding ways to hide or escape. There was even one time when she ran into the lotus pond and stayed underwater for an hour using a reed. It took Pei Lianxue and him a long time to find her.
It had to be said that this girl had many tricks up her sleeve, and her physical abilities were particularly strong.
His sister's physical abilities weren't bad either, and she was also very fast, but now, on the martial arts training ground, Liang Ating used the other disciples as pillars to avoid being caught.
And this proved his point...
-- "Ah!! Aunt! Wuu wuu--- I was wrong!! Ah---!"
Well. In the end, she got caught.
Ye Anping sighed softly again but didn't bother with it anymore. It wasn't a bad thing for his sister to gain some experience with children anyway. It should be useful in the future.
He looked sideways from the pavilion's fence to the distant mountains, continuing to think about his candidate.
At this time, a man wearing the clothes of an inner disciple of the Hundred Lotus Sect walked into the pavilion.
Liang Zhu had just finished dealing with Elder Qian's matters and sat down, leaning on his left hand. He glanced sideways at Liang Ating, who was being beaten to tears on the martial arts field. "Hmm↗?"
Ye Anping paused for a moment and replied, "Mm-hmm↘!"
"Tsk..." Liang Zhu clicked his tongue and said, "You are my sixth brother. Don't you see Ating as your daughter?"
Ye Anping turned his head to look in that direction and smiled. "I don't think you want me to regard Ating as my daughter."
"...Would you be even more ruthless?"
"You know me well, Brother Liang." Ye Anping cupped his hands, then took out a new teacup from the storage bag. He poured tea for Liang Zhu and explained, "Well, the bones of cultivators are different from those of ordinary people. The more they are hit, the tougher they become. Just like forging iron to make a sword. Forging iron removes impurities from it, and beating bones will also make them purer."
"Hmm, so... the rumors are true?"
Ye Anping tilted his head. "What rumors?"
"That when you were children, you made your sister eat poisonous insects, soak in freezing water, break her bones, dislocate her joints?"
"..."
"How come your sister didn't take the opportunity to stab you dozens of times in the chest while you were sleeping at night?"
Ye Anping's eye twitched, hearing the sarcasm in Liang Zhu's words, and he said with a smile, "My sister loves me, and I love her."
"..."
Liang Zhu's eye twitched as well. He didn't know how to retort for a moment. Anyway, no matter how he retorted, his sixth brother could always bring forward the so-called "love".
A strong man can subdue ten opponents; a couple can conquer anything. Moreover, this guy had more than one "companion".
"Well, being shared by several women is troublesome. You should be careful."
"Thanks for reminding me, Brother Liang."
Liang Zhu rolled his eyes, then got up to take Ating to dinner.
Seeing that he was leaving, Ye Anping thought about the "candidate" matter and suddenly decided to test it out since he really couldn't find a more suitable candidate than Liang Zhu.
"Brother Liang, how have you been in the Hundred Lotus Sect these days?"
"..."
Hearing this, Liang Zhu paused and turned to look back.
This guy actually took the initiative to ask about him?
There was definitely trouble.
After thinking for a while, Liang Zhu sat back and stared into Ye Anping's eyes. "Same rules. First, talk things out, then set the price."
After a moment of silence, Ye Anping asked, "Brother Liang, we've been brothers for a while. It's almost the anniversary of our sworn vows. Why don't you show some feelings?"
With an expressionless face, Liang Zhu immediately replied, "Yes, the death anniversary of our second brother, third brother, fourth brother, and fifth brother is coming soon..."
Nice technique ... Ye Anping was inexplicably impressed. He wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Liang Zhu but was rebuffed with a sentence.
He cupped his hand, admitting defeat, and shook his head with a smile. "Brother Liang, you are really good at ruining people's topics. I look up to you... Let's meet some other day to burn incense or something for the second brother and the others."
"Heh..." Liang Zhu smiled and then reevaluated Ye Anping's previous question.
He sensed that Ye Anping had more than likely encountered something difficult and more than likely, he needed manpower, specifically, someone to stand in a crucial position.
Thinking of this, Liang Zhu added, "Little Brother, I can't do what you want from me."
"Huh?" Ye Anping pretended to be surprised, "Have you guessed what it is?"
"I can't guess." Liang Zhu shrugged, speaking frankly. "But from what you just said, I can tell that you now need someone... like a confidant or loyal subordinate."
"Well, not bad."
"Hehe... I'm used to living on the edge and have long passed the stage of chivalry. I am now a retainer of your Ye family. You provide money, and I handle things. This kind of relationship is beneficial for both sides; we each get what we need."
"There's no denying that."
Ye Anping closed his eyes and nodded, then raised his teacup. "It's rare for you to open your heart to me, Brother Liang. Let me toast to you."
Liang Zhu gave a rare smile and raised his cup in return.
Both tilted their heads back simultaneously.
They downed their tea.
Bitterness--
Then, sweetness again.