Thump - thump - thud---
"Hey! Be careful! If this jade sofa gets damaged, you'll be sent by Master Pei to the mountains to dig in the mine."
"... Sorry, Brother Zhang... we will be more careful..."
Inside the compound, dozens of Qi Refining stage disciples, under the command of Zhang Yihe, carried pieces of furniture through the courtyard to the house in a well-organized manner, arranging the new mansion.
In a pavilion in the courtyard, Pei Lianxue, with an expressionless face, leaned on a stone table as she absentmindedly spun an empty teacup with her index finger in boredom.
Her dark brown hair cascaded down her back, and the ribbon of golden feathers on her shoulder swayed gently in the wind. She wore a set of silk clothes in gold and white colors. Under the morning sun, she looked radiant, almost glowing.
Pei Lianxue now had the highest rank in the Moon Shadow Sword Sect, surpassing even the Elders. According to the sect's rules, the weight of her words was second only to Yun Tianchong. However, due to her young age and lower cultivation level, the Elders did not grant her significant authority.
Nevertheless, despite not having much power, she still held a certain status.
Night Tide Peak disciples now had to respectfully address her as 'Master Pei'.
This large house and the jade sofa the disciples brought in just now were all gifts from the Elders of the Sword Sect.
They even allocated her a mountain peak with exceptional spiritual energy within Sword Sect's territory for accepting disciples in the future and establishing a cave for cultivation.
It was like a girl who had lived in poverty for over ten years suddenly being told that she was actually a wealthy heiress and that she no longer needed to worry about food and clothing expenses. It was like hitting the jackpot.
Of course, Pei Lianxue also knew that this was a huge pie falling from the sky.
But she didn't feel happy about it.
---There was a flavor missing in this pie.
When she was five years old, Ye Anping took her to the temple fair in the Hundred Lotus Sect's marketplace, where there was a game similar to drawing lots. They each bought a lottery ticket, and she got a necklace worth thousands of spirit stones, while Ye Anping lost all his money.
Pei Lianxue still remembered the surprised look on her brother's face at that time. It was the first time she saw the emotion of "surprise" on his face, and it was also the first time she won over her brother at something.
She was so happy that she couldn't sleep for several days, and she even sold her necklace and proudly invited her brother to the Hundred Lotus Sect's marketplace to eat candy canes and candied fruits for a whole day.
Although they both suffered from toothache for half a month afterward...
It was the same unexpected pie falling from the sky, be it a mountain peak, a large mansion, or several thousand spirit stones, and it didn't matter which one was bigger and which was smaller.
The latter could make her so happy that she wouldn't be able to sleep for days, while the former could only make her feel like, "Oh... well."
Pei Lianxue could tell that this 'pie' was specially prepared for her by her brother.
But as far as she was concerned, it was actually just like any meal; it made no difference if it was there or not, as she wouldn't starve anyway if she ate one less meal.
Compared to that very powerful spiritual sword, compared to this valuable mansion and mountain peak, she would rather have her brother give her more tasks than place her in the safest place to sit back and collect rewards.
Pei Lianxue knew exactly what she wanted.
---She wanted to help her brother!
However, Brother always had everything prepared for her without leaving room for her to use her brain or show off in any way. She even worried that if she acted on her own initiative, she might hinder his plans instead of helping him.
But she also wanted her brother to take note of her efforts.
She wanted his approval.
She wanted him to know that she was no longer the ignorant little girl who didn't understand anything.
---She had grown up! She has reached maturity! She's self-reliant!
---She can protect her brother now!
---Brother! Rely on me now!
---Come on! Rely on me!!
Thinking of this, Pei Lianxue inexplicably felt very unhappy in her heart and vented her feelings with a flicking motion of her hand over the teacup on the table.
Bang---
With a crisp sound, the ceramic teacup drew a parabola in mid-air and flew into the yard.
Just then, a disciple of the Sword Sect carrying a box stepped on the teacup. His foot slipped, and he dropped the box, causing kitchen knives inside to scatter and fly in all directions.
Almost immediately, Yun Xi's shout came from the courtyard gate.
"Ouch!!"
After being stepped on by the disciple, the teacup rolled to the entrance of the courtyard and was stepped on by Yun Xi, who had just entered the gate. She landed flat on her ass, falling hard.
As if she was used to this, Yun Xi was about to stand up when she saw dozens of small knives flying toward her. She took a sharp breath and quickly pulled out a giant turtle shell from her storage bag to block all those knives.
"Phew." Yun Xi breathed a sigh of relief, then took another deep breath and yelled, "Zhang... Yi... He!!!"
"...Huh?"
... ...
Pei Lianxue, who witnessed the entire chain reaction, blinked dumbly.
Yun Xi, like Xiao Yunluo, was a good girl in her eyes who did not covet her big brother. So, feeling a little guilty, she apologized inwardly with an "I'm sorry," before pulling a small notebook from her sleeve and writing a line. "Yun Xi walked into the courtyard and stepped on a teacup, almost getting stabbed by the falling kitchen knives. It's unknown who threw the teacup."
As she finished writing this sentence, Yun Xi also finished scolding Zhang Yihe.
Just as Pei Lianxue got up and was about to hand Yun Xi a handkerchief, suddenly, a flying sword streaked across the sky and landed at the compound gate.
Yun Xi turned her head, and when she saw the person coming was Yun Yiyi, she frowned, thinking that her sister's sudden arrival couldn't mean anything good.
So, when Yun Yiyi had just stepped over the threshold with one foot, she ran in front of the wide-open gate and blocked her from entering.
Annoyed, Yun Xi raised her head to look at her sister. "What are you doing here?"
Yun Yiyi also frowned, but her tone was gentler. "We need to talk."
"If you have something to say, just say it here. I'm not in the mood to serve you tea."
"... It's not very convenient here. We are still sisters after all. Even if we don't have tea, can't we have a chat?"
Yun Xi gave her a disdainful look and said impatiently, "I wonder who tried so hard to kill me when I was a child? Aren't you surprised that I have lived for more than twenty years?"
Yun Yiyi fell silent for a moment and defended herself. "I may have been mean to you before, but I've said many times that those attempts on your life were all done by my mother. I was never involved in any of them."
"Aren't you in the same boat as your mother?"
Yun Yiyi pursed her mouth, and after a moment of silence, she said, "What do you want then? Should I kneel down and kowtow to you?"
"Yeah, go ahead and kowtow."
"..."
The two sisters stared at each other, and Zhang Yihe beside them could feel the sparks between their eyes. He quickly took a few steps back and did not dare to intervene.
In the pavilion, Pei Lianxue watched all this and frowned in thought.
The task assigned to her by her brother was to stay by Yun Xi's side, protect her, and record her whereabouts.
However, when she was in the Hundred Lotus Sect, she had secretly flipped through the plan written by her brother. Because of his scribbling and intermittent writing, she could not understand the details of the entire plan, but she was able to understand that her brother's fundamental purpose was to make the relationship between Yun Xi, Yun Yiyi, and Yun Jiujiu better.
Perhaps feeling that she was not competent enough for the task, Brother did not ask her to improve Yun Xi's opinion of her two sisters.
But...
Pei Lianxue was undecided.
She was worried that if she did something other than what her brother had instructed her to do, it might disrupt his original plan...
However, if she could help her brother or share even a little portion of his burden, he would definitely praise her for her maturity.
Pei Lianxue gently bit her lip and finally made up her mind to do something more than what her brother asked her to do.
But how should she do it?
What would it take to make those two people reconcile?
Pei Lianxue recalled what her brother had done in the past and suddenly had an idea. She took out the Snow Jade Spirit Sword from the storage bag.
Because this sword had previously feasted on the spiritual veins of the Jade Snow Peak , the moment it touched Pei Lianxue's hands, the entire courtyard was instantly covered by a cold energy.
The disciples moving the furniture started shivering all of a sudden, and the two people who were confronting each other at the doorway, turned to look horrified in Pei Lianxue's direction after noticing this.
The next moment, Pei Lianxue arrived beside them in one step and inserted the sword into the stone gate.
Swish---
Yun Xi and Yun Yiyi both shivered involuntarily from this cold air. Just as they wondered why Pei Lianxue was angry, they heard her weakly say, "Don't fight."
"..."
"..."
Seeing that the two were silent, Pei Lianxue pursed her lips. "If you argue again, I'll... I'll spank your butt."
"?"
"?"
Pei Lianxue frowned and added, "Until it's swollen!"
Yun Xi and Yun Yiyi's eyes were full of disbelief at this moment, but Pei Lianxue's expressionless face looked so stern that they didn't dare make any more trouble.
Zhang Yihe, who had retreated to the side, quickly stepped forward to be the peacemaker. He cupped his hands and said, "Eldest Miss, Third Miss, Master Pei has spoken. Better sit down and have a chat. Shall I go prepare some tea for you?"
Hearing this, both Yun Xi and Yun Yiyi glared at him angrily.
Yun Xi scolded him. "Zhang Yihe, this is none of your business! Get lost!"
Zhang Yihe discreetly gestured to Pei Lianxue and winked at the two people, hinting not to upset the boss.
Although Yun Xi did not know why Sister Pei suddenly became angry, she could only nod in response to the situation and give way. "For Sister Pei's sake, you can come in."
"... Thank you."
Yun Yiyi looked at the ' Black Ice Spirit Sword ' stuck into the ground and then glanced at Pei Lianxue's face. With some hope in her heart, she walked past her, stepped over the threshold, and followed Yun Xi inside.
Unfortunately, Yun Xi, probably absentmindedly thinking about Pei Lianxue's strange behavior, completely failed to notice the ceramic teacup that she had just stepped on before and stepped on it again.
Thump---
Losing balance, she leaned back, and the back of her head directly hit Yun Yiyi's face, who was behind her.
Both of them sprawled onto the ground, entangled together.
Yun Yiyi couldn't help cursing. "Aren't you watching where you're going?!"
"Why the hell did you get so close... hiss---"
And just as they got up...
Whack -- whack!
Two crisp spanks echoed throughout the yard.
Pei Lianxue held a branch picked up from the ground, frowned, and forcefully gave them each a whip on their buttocks. The speed was so fast that it took Yun Yiyi and Yun Xi two breaths before they felt the pain. Gritting their teeth, they covered their buttocks, jumping back a small step.
Sister Pei, did you really hit us? ... Yun Xi couldn't believe it, turning her head to look in shock at Pei Lianxue behind her.
Yun Yiyi even felt that Pei Lianxue was taking revenge because she had snatched her brother, and that's why she hit her so hard, but she did not dare to say anything.
Pei Lianxue reiterated. "No fighting."
The two sisters pouted and glanced at the disciples, who had stopped working in the courtyard and were gawking. Enduring the pain, they walked with small steps toward the inner room.
Seeing that Pei Lianxue had really smacked both of them, Zhang Yihe hurriedly came over and gave her a thumbs-up. "Master Pei, you are so cool, I will follow you from now on!"
"..."