Volume 1 Chapter 51: Junior Sister's Emotional Roller Coaster
As the two of them stepped into the therapy pavilion, Bai Yuelin happened to be seeing a senior brother of the Profound Star Sect out from one of the side rooms.
"Senior Brother Zhou, that'll be sixty spirit stones in total."
"Junior Sister Bai, I've been seeing you here every day lately," Senior Brother Zhou said as he took sixty spirit stones out of his storage bag and handed them to her. "What's this—are you and your dao companion planning to run the business together from now on?"
"What dao companion?" Bai Yuelin replied helplessly. "How many times do I have to say it? I'm just helping out. He can't manage everything by himself, so he hired me to collect payments."
"Alright, alright. Still, I have to say, after getting this therapy done, I really feel a lot lighter when practicing swordsmanship these past few days. I'll come again when I have time."
"Mm."
After seeing Senior Brother Zhou off, Bai Yuelin turned around, intending to greet Pei Lengxue and Xiao Yunluo.
She hadn't noticed who they were at all while talking just now.
But the instant she saw their faces, she froze in place.
The moment her eyes landed on Pei Lengxue, Bai Yuelin felt as if she had been dragged back to that day on the sparring trial stage—once again experiencing the fear of being utterly dominated by Pei Lengxue.
At the same time, Pei Lengxue also recognized her as the senior sister who had served as her examiner during the sparring trial. She paused briefly, then hurriedly cupped her fists in greeting.
"Greetings, Senior!!!"
Bai Yuelin was so startled by her energetic shout that she took an involuntary step backward.
Seeing her reaction, Pei Lengxue thought she hadn't been recognized and quickly added, "Senior, you were my examiner during the sparring trial before. Do you… still remember me?"
"Ah… I remember."
Bai Yuelin broke into a cold sweat. How could she forget? Even if she turned into a ghost, she would never forget Pei Lengxue's face.
At this moment, Xiao Yunluo looked around the shop and asked curiously, "Senior Sister Bai, I heard Senior Brother Zhou say earlier that this place is run by you and your dao companion?"
"Ah… Young Mistress Xiao, he's not my dao companion," Bai Yuelin said with an awkward laugh. "I'm just helping out. Once the senior brothers and sisters started passing it around, it somehow turned into this. Would you two like to give it a try?"
"Sure. How does it work?" Xiao Yunluo asked.
"It's very simple. Just take off your shoes and sit over there. The owner will massage the acupoints on your soles, using spiritual energy to stimulate your meridians. It feels really comfortable afterward, and it's good for cultivation too."
"Good for cultivation?" Xiao Yunluo raised an eyebrow and immediately nodded. "Then let's try it."
"Though if it's your first time and you're not used to it, it might hurt a little."
"That's fine."
Seeing Xiao Yunluo agree, Bai Yuelin called toward the back room, "Anping! Two young ladies!"
However, the moment Pei Lengxue heard the name "Anping," she froze completely.
Before coming in, she had seen the words "Ye's" on the signboard and felt a faint sense of anticipation—wondering whether it might be her senior brother.
If she suddenly showed up, maybe she could even surprise him.
But after entering and hearing someone say that the shop was run by Bai Yuelin and her dao companion, she had felt momentarily disappointed. It probably wasn't her senior brother after all.
And now, hearing Bai Yuelin call out "Anping"…
In the span of just a few short sentences, Pei Lengxue went through three completely different emotional states:
"Could it be Senior Brother?"
"It's not Senior Brother."
"It is Senior Brother—but Senior Brother has become someone else's dao companion."
At that moment, Ye Anping's voice came from the back room.
"Got it. Senior Bai, please bring them inside and have them sit down. I'll wash my hands and come over."
It was her senior brother's voice.
Senior Brother… had become the dao companion of this Profound Star Sect disciple named Bai Yuelin?
Pei Lengxue looked back at Bai Yuelin, utterly unable to accept this reality.
After a brief pause, Pei Lengxue asked with trembling lips, "Senior… are you two dao companions?"
"Hm?"
Hearing Pei Lengxue ask again, Bai Yuelin was stunned for a good while. Hadn't she just explained this to Xiao Yunluo a moment ago? Why was she being asked again?
Left with no choice, she explained once more, "No, really. He and I are just friends—maybe more like an older sister and younger brother. We're truly not dao companions."
"…Really?"
"Really."
"Really really?!"
"Really." Bai Yuelin sighed helplessly and simply raised her hand. "I swear. I am not his dao companion."
"..."
Seeing Bai Yuelin swear, Pei Lengxue finally managed to lower the half of her heart that had been hanging in her throat.
"Lengxue, what's wrong? Why did you ask so many times?" Xiao Yunluo asked.
"Nothing."
After that, Bai Yuelin led the two of them to the room designated for female cultivators and had them wait there.
…
After washing his hands, Ye Anping came in from the back courtyard carrying two clean basins filled with hot water. But the moment he pulled the curtain aside and saw who was inside, he froze.
The two guests were actually his junior sister and Xiao Yunluo?!
Today, the Profound Star Sect's physical trial had ended. He had originally planned to have Bai Yuelin go fetch his junior sister tomorrow so he could give her the tuition and lodging fees. Since she had come early on her own, it saved him the trouble.
It wasn't a problem that his junior sister had come—but why was Xiao Yunluo here with her?
And why did Xiao Yunluo seem to be on such good terms with his junior sister?
In the game, Xiao Yunluo had been extremely aloof at the beginning, with a fiery temper and a solitary personality—a proud young mistress who always walked alone. She never took the initiative to make friends and hated people getting close to her.
Even Feng Yudie, with her silver tongue, had spent an entire month shamelessly buttering her up before finally melting that iceberg.
But that wasn't the main issue.
The real issue was that Xiao Yunluo was the key to unlocking the main storyline.
It could be said that the beginning of Heavenly Sword Chronicles's main plot was triggered by Feng Yudie meeting Xiao Yunluo, and then, through Xiao Yunluo, meeting her mother—the immortal known among players as the "Lolibaba," the Moon Dan Master, Sima Xuanji.
Right now, Ye Anping was genuinely worried that the protagonist's role might be snatched away by his junior sister from Feng Yudie.
After all, his junior sister did not possess Feng Yudie's "Immortal Emperor bloodline."
If his junior sister were to step onto the protagonist's path, then even with him guiding her, it would still be impossible to avoid a BAD END in the future.
Of course, for now, this was only his worry.
Even if his junior sister had obtained the key, it didn't necessarily mean she would be the one to open the door to the main storyline.
Just then, Xiao Yunluo saw him carrying the basins inside. Remembering what Bai Yuelin had said earlier about taking off shoes and massaging the soles, she immediately frowned and asked, "Senior Sister Bai… is he the one who's going to massage our feet?"
"Ah…" Bai Yuelin hurriedly explained from the side, "Yes, Young Mistress Xiao, please don't misunderstand. It really isn't anything improper…"
"How can this be allowed?" Xiao Yunluo's cheeks flushed red as she protested. "A man touching a woman's soles—this is far too—!"
She questioned sharply, "How did this shop even pass inspection? How could the Profound Star Sect allow such a place to exist in the marketplace? This is utterly corrupting public morals!"
"Ah—this…" Bai Yuelin hurriedly said, "Young Mistress Xiao, the elder in charge of the marketplace personally came by earlier. He said there was no problem with it. And when he massages your soles, he'll also be wearing gloves."
"That still won't do! Lengxue and I aren't doing it!"
With that, Xiao Yunluo stood up at once, grabbed Pei Lengxue by the hand, and pulled her toward the door.
Bai Yuelin didn't really know how to stop them. Before Ye Anping could even put down the foot basins in his hands, the two had already walked straight out of the room.
As Pei Lengxue was dragged along, she turned her head to look back at her senior brother. After hesitating for a moment, she said:
"Ji-ji-ji~~ ji-ji~~ ji-ji~~"
Ye Anping couldn't help but smile when he heard it.
What his junior sister meant was: I'll come back later—wait for me.
"Hm? Lengxue, what are you doing?" Xiao Yunluo asked, completely confused.
"Nothing."
"Come on, I'll take you to eat at the restaurant across the street."
With that, the two of them ran straight out of the therapy pavilion and dashed into the street.
Ye Anping followed them out and watched as the two girls ran hand in hand down the road. For some reason, it made him feel a little warm inside.
Although he was worried that his junior sister might end up stepping onto the protagonist's path, seeing her make such a good friend genuinely made him happy for her.
At that moment, Bai Yuelin also walked out and sighed.
"Anping, can't you think of some other solution? Touching other people's feet… a lot of people really can't accept that."
Ye Anping shrugged and smiled. "New things take time. Once people get used to it, they'll accept it. No rush—and if there are too many people, I won't even be able to handle it anyway."
"Hm? What are you smiling about? You just lost such a big customer, and you're still smiling?"
Ye Anping paused, quickly wiped the smile off his face, and said, "I wasn't smiling. Let's close early today—I'm going to rest."
"Huh? It's only the afternoon. Why so early today?"
"Isn't resting early a good thing?" Ye Anping replied. "It's not like I'm docking your pay."
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Link for character illustration:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1PdkaxAXCm0CjLL3M58xxLd1KyiUxEjjh