The silver moon hung high in the sky, and most houses in Brilliance City had their lights turned off. Only stray cats and the disciples of the Justice Division in groups of five patrolled the streets.
In a room on the third floor of the inn, a dim candle was still lit.
In a white dress, Pei Lianxue was leaning against the window sill, supporting her chin with both hands and pouting. She stared blankly at the flashing stars in the sky and occasionally let out a whimper that had an unclear meaning.
"Hmm..."
On the bed in the room, Xiao Yunluo was sleeping soundly facing the ceiling. Perhaps because she was the Young Miss of the Black Star Sect, her sleeping posture was quite restrained, with her hands on her belly, like a mummy.
Xue Tianqiao had built a nest on Xiao Yunluo's stomach and curled herself into a fox ball. In order to prevent her from sneaking out in the middle of the night, the demon binding rope was now tied to Xiao Yunluo's neck at the other end.
Probably because of the candle lit by Pei Lianxue, Xue Tianqiao looked up in a daze, then turned her butt toward Pei Lianxue, who was standing at the window and protested. "Yip..."
Pei Lianxue turned around and looked at her helplessly. After hesitating for a while, she blew out the candle, stood up from the window, and opened the door, quietly leaving the room.
Creak---
Even though Pei Lianxue's movements were very light, the wooden door was old and its slight creak still woke Xue Tianqiao up.
She looked up again and, seeing that Sister Pei was gone, she immediately slapped Xiao Yunluo in the face with her tail, which made her sit up with a jerk. "What... are you hungry again?"
Xue Tianqiao blinked, grinning. "Sister Xiao, Sister Pei went to steal your Brother Ye~"
"Huh?" Xiao Yunluo looked around the room in confusion. "What do you mean by stealing my Brother Ye, Brother Ye... Anping originally belonged to Lianxue..."
Xue Tianqiao tilted her head suspiciously. "Then, Sister Xiao stole Brother Ye from Sister Pei before?"
?
"That's not stealing... That's..."
Xiao Yunluo, who didn't seem to be fully awake yet, felt that she was being tricked by the fox. She simply hugged her and turned over. "Do you think human cultivators are like you fox demons, stealing other people's partners for fun all day long? Lianxue and I are... I can't explain it to you, go to sleep."
"I'm hungry. I want to eat roasted chicken."
"It's the middle of the night. Who's going to roast chicken for you?"
Xue Tianqiao frowned and complained. "Sister Fox will tell Master when she goes back..."
Xiao Yunluo pinched her mouth. "I'm not afraid of your master. It's good enough that I didn't put you in a cage. Just bear with it..."
"Yiip..."
...
Rustle---
Pei Lianxue, who had entered the corridor, tiptoed around the top corner. She reached the door of a room on the third floor, gently pushed it open a crack, and looked around twice.
Lights were still lit in the room, and the screen placed at the door reflected the silhouette of a young man with disheveled hair soaking in the bathtub while waves of steam rose to the ceiling.
Pei Lianxue smiled and squeezed through the door like a little mouse. Padding around the screen, she came to the side of the bathtub, leaned slightly, and brought her head to Ye Anping's ear.
"Brother~"
!!
Ye Anping was soaking in the hot water, his eyes closed as he fully concentrated on his plan. This sudden sweet whisper really startled him.
"Hiss--"
When he turned around and saw his sister's smiling face, Ye Anping heaved a sigh of relief. He raised his hand and knocked her forehead. "Sister, why did you come here in the middle of the night to scare me instead of resting?"
"I couldn't sleep." Pei Lianxue shifted her gaze and looked into the tub. Her cheeks flushed slightly. "Brother, I saw you..."
?
Ye Anping was taken aback. He followed his sister's line of sight and suddenly felt that his cheeks were getting hot, and a slight sense of shame appeared in his heart.
He didn't know what was going on. Pei Lianxue had clearly seen him naked many times, but when she said it out loud... It was embarrassing...
Ye Anping looked away. "Didn't you already see everything?"
Pei Lianxue covered her mouth and smiled. She tilted her head, bringing her face closer to him.
"Hee hee-- Brother, are you shy?"
"..."
Ye Anping grabbed her face, reprimanding her. "You've learned to tease your brother late at night? Your wings are getting harder and harder, girl."
Pei Lianxue laughed and shook his hand away before sitting on the edge of the tub with a pout. "Brother, do you still remember the night you brought me out of the Hundred Lotus Sect?"
Ye Anping recalled that he had made a plan to kill Wu You that day. After packing his luggage and leaving a letter for Ye Ao, he went to Pei Lianxue's room, but it turned out that she was bathing at that time...
"...Yeah."
"You were such a hooligan back then, saying that I had no breasts and no butt, but you stared at me for a long time."
"You really hold a grudge..."
"That's not true... You were a blockhead and I was very anxious."
Ye Anping smiled helplessly. "Sorry."
"Well~ Alright, I forgive you!"
"Huh..." Ye Anping saw that Pei Lianxue seemed to be quite happy today and asked, "What's wrong? You want to practice dual cultivation, that's why you came here in the middle of the night..."
Pei Lianxue complained. "Brother, do you think I am Yunluo?"
"No..."
Pei Lianxue sighed faintly as she gently stirred the hot water with her hand. Lowering her eyes, she revealed a lonely expression. "There are more and more girls around you, brother."
"You're jealous..."
"It would be a lie if I said I wasn't jealous, but... as long as you like it."
Pei Lianxue moved behind Ye Anping, squatted down, and gently massaged his shoulders with both hands. "I'm just worried that you won't be able to handle it. I read Yunluo's books that said that excessive loss of yang energy will lead to the emptiness of meridians, which will cause a lot of diseases."
"Sister, do you think I am not powerful enough?"
"Well, if you can do it, don't go behind my back to practice dual cultivation with Yunluo..." Pei Lianxue twisted Ye Anping's head as she said fiercely, "Back at Jade Pass , the second idiot said that you and Yunluo were doing leg training in the middle of the night and didn't even call me..."
"?"
"Yunluo's legs were weak for several days after that, and I had to support her." Pei Lianxue was a little shy, and she looked away. "If you can do it, remember to call me along."
Ye Anping felt like laughing for some reason. Could it be that Sister had forgotten the time when she couldn't get out of bed for several days in Sword Sect? He shook his head. "I used to worry that you couldn't bear it."
"Then, go all-out next time.
"Next time..."
Pei Lianxue narrowed her eyes, smiling. She held Ye Anping's face, making him lean back a little, then moved closer and kissed him.
"I feel like you've changed a lot, brother."
"Really?"
"You're more composed than before."
"Sister, you are also becoming more and more mature. I remember that when you were a child, you only spoke one or two words and acted a little spoiled. I don't know when you stopped being that spoiled little girl to me."
"In the future, I will give you a baby. Will I act like a spoiled child together with the baby?"
Ye Anping looked at Pei Lianxue's face. Her clear amber eyes remained the same as if nothing had changed, yet he felt something was different. He closed his eyes, let out a long sigh, and stopped talking.
He calmed down for a while, then stood up from the bathtub and used his spiritual ability to dry away the water droplets on his body.
Pei Lianxue took some clothes from the clothes rack and walked behind him.
The brother and sister looked at each other without saying a word.
The room was quiet, only the sound of the cold wind caressing the paper windows could be heard.
Ye Anping shook his head and spread his hands. Pei Lianxue smiled and squatted down slightly, putting the clothes on him one by one. She then helped him tidy his collar and fasten his belt.
Wrapped in a black brocade robe, he looked solemn.
Ye Anping opened the door leading to the balcony and took out a thick cloak from his storage bag. He placed it on Pei Lianxue's shoulders and sat with her at a low tea table on the balcony.
The balcony faced the Eastern Great Wall, which stretched for hundreds of miles. Above the tower, a curved moon hung high.
Ye Anping sat cross-legged on the mat, while Pei Lianxue also crossed her legs and leaned on his shoulder. The two of them looked at the city guards holding torches and patrolling back and forth on the top of the Great Wall without saying a word.
After a while, he turned to look at his sister who was leaning on his shoulder. "Sister, in a few days, when the Justice Division is ready you, Yun Xi, and dozens of Sword Sect disciples will take those Qi Refining stage cultivators and those freelance cultivators who are willing to follow, and lead them to the Sword Gate Pass ."
"Well, I know. I've seen your plan."
"I provided the Justice Division with a fake route map before, and I think it should have been leaked to the Ghost Spirit Sect. However, the fake route can only help us delay for a while before the demonic cultivators realize there's a trap..."
Whoosh---
His words stopped abruptly.
Ye Anping's ears twitched slightly, and he narrowed his eyes, shifting his gaze from Pei Lianxue's face. He turned to look in the direction of the Great Wall again.
After the breeze earlier, the air seemed to have frozen.
The sandstorm that never ceased and the yowls of the demon cats in the streets of Brilliance City stopped.
Everything was deadly calm, and not a sound was heard.
Pei Lianxue seemed to have sensed something and a hint of alarm flashed in her eyes. "Brother..."
"Huh... It's happening faster than expected."
As soon as he uttered this sentence...
Dong---!
Dong---!
Dong---!
A dull drum sound that seemed to shake the sand dunes came from the Black Rock Great Wall dozens of miles away, breaking the silence in the city once again.
Beacon fire spread from one of the towers on the Great Wall to both sides, breaking through the night sky.
Ye Anping immediately stood up.
"Sister, wake Yunluo and Feng Yu Die and go to the Justice Division ."
Rumble---
The sand violently rolled across the sky like a yellow tsunami. Accompanied by waves of green lightning, it came from the east and crashed into the protective spiritual wall outside the Black Rock Great Wall.
Even Vermilion Bird Pavilion , nearly twenty miles away, shook violently due to the impact.
"Hey! Young Master Ye!!"
Dressed in a thin white nightgown, Feng Yu Die tumbled straight out of the window and flipped inside over the balcony's fence, sword in hand.
Seeing Pei Lianxue was there, she froze for a moment, then touched the back of her head, chuckling. "Sister Pei and Young Master Ye are together, hehe..."
"..."
Ye Anping looked at her disheveled appearance as if she had just jumped up directly from a dream. He sighed faintly, took out a piece of clothing from the storage bag, and threw it to her. "Put it on and go to the Justice Division ..."
The next moment, a burst of hurried footsteps came from behind her.
Xiao Yunluo, carrying Xue Tianqiao, crashed through the door. "Anping, talk to Lianxue first..."
She was mid-sentence when she saw that the room was full. Seeing that Ye Anping was fully dressed, her first thought was that he had finished so quickly...
"Anping, that..."
In her arms, Xue Tianqiao rolled her eyes and said, "Brother Ye, Sister Xiao thought... Mmm--"
As a result, Xiao Yunluo held her mouth and she couldn't finish her words.
Ye Anping sighed and took a deep breath. Waving his sleeves, he gravely ordered. "Go back to your rooms, get dressed, pack your luggage, and go to the Justice Division ."
"Alright!!!"
The three nodded in agreement, and then almost simultaneously flipped over the railing.
Ye Anping glanced at the door that Xiao Yunluo had knocked open and sighed slightly. Looking toward the tower in the western district, he frowned and muttered, "The demonic cultivators' actions started a few days earlier than I expected. I hope Commander Qu and Master Yue are ready."
Then, he turned around and took out the Snow Jade Spirit Sword from his storage bag, wrapped it in bandages, and hung it behind his back with a shoulder strap. He put on a bamboo hat and veil and went downstairs to the lobby on the first floor. Finding a chair, he sat down and waited.
One after another, the other guests in the inn also ran out of their rooms in a panic. They ran downstairs with large and small light magic tools.
The originally quiet inn seemed to have reopened, with panicked shouts ringing in the air.
"What happened?"
"What was that big noise just now..."
"I saw the beacon towers on the Great Wall were lit up. Are the demonic cultivators attacking?"
"Quiet, quiet! Don't panic, with the Justice Division here, the demonic cultivators can't attack..."
...
However, when everyone ran to the lobby on the first floor and saw a mysterious Core Formation cultivator wearing a bamboo hat and veil, leaning on a bandaged sword, they all stopped in their tracks.
Ye Anping swept his spiritual sense over them and found that the highest cultivation among them was only in the middle stage of the Foundation Building . He lowered his voice, applying pressure to spread the message with spiritual energy.
"If you want to live, prepare to leave the city immediately. Later, you'll be on your own."
"..."
At this moment, Pei Lianxue and the others had finished packing up and flew down from upstairs.
The three of them didn't wear the skirts they usually liked. Instead, they were dressed like rangers and wore riding boots and bamboo hats. Their hair was tied into ponytails. Xue Tianqiao was lying on the bamboo hat on the top of Feng Yu Die's head.
"Brother."
"Anping."
"Young Master Ye, hehe..."
"..."
Ye Anping was a little speechless. He sighed again. "Okay, let's go."
Ye Anping put the Snow Jade Spirit Sword on his back again. He glanced sideways at the stunned cultivators and, without saying anything else, he turned around and opened the door of the inn before flying on his sword toward the western district with Pei Lianxue and others.