When Ye Ran reached the table and drank a cup of water, her sense of uncertainty grew even stronger.
“System, do you think it’s really reliable for me to hitch my wagon to Lu Li?”
Judging by all the signs recently, Lu Li not only enjoyed that kind of activity but was actually quite enthusiastic about it. For her when her constitution acted up, that was a welcome thing. But for her on normal days, it was simply too much to handle.
“Of course it’s reliable!”
The system’s voice snapped Ye Ran back to reality.
She watched as it wiggled its chubby body, hopped off the bed, and came over to her. With a nimble leap, it landed firmly on the table.
“Think about it, host. He’s the big villain. With his strength, neither the male lead nor any of the side characters can get close to you. That saves us a lot of trouble.”
With that, the system looked up at Ye Ran with an expectant expression, its tail swishing back and forth.
It looked just like a salesperson, enthusiastically pitching Lu Li to her.
But its words weren’t without reason. After thinking it over, Ye Ran nodded.
“You’re not wrong, system.”
A small part of her still held onto the hope that Lu Li was simply new to this and still riding the thrill of novelty, which was why he clung to her so tightly.
Once that novelty wore off, she would only need to go to him when her constitution flared up.
At that rate, completing her mission would be just around the corner.
Just as Ye Ran was fantasizing about this bright future, a paper crane flew in through the window and landed on the table.
Recognizing her master’s paper crane, Ye Ran immediately straightened up, tidied herself, and hurried to her master’s bedchamber.
This time, as she entered the grand hall, she noticed an unfamiliar face.
It was a young man with delicate features. He looked quite young, with an air of freshness about him. When he saw Ye Ran, he smiled at her shyly.
Ye Ran returned a polite smile before turning to her master.
“Master, you summoned me?”
“My dear disciple, you’ve come just in time. Let me introduce you. This is your junior disciple. I just took him in.”
“Jing Xing greets senior sister.”
No sooner had Li Qiuyu finished speaking than Jing Xing obediently stepped forward and bowed to Ye Ran.
This pleased Li Qiuyu greatly. She walked over to Ye Ran, put an arm around her shoulder, and said with a smile:
“What’s wrong? Isn’t he adorable?”
Ye Ran glanced back at Jing Xing. He stood quietly in place, his expression full of respect.
“He is adorable. But Master, why did you decide to take another disciple?”
Ye Ran turned back to Li Qiuyu, her face showing some confusion.
“To be honest, I hadn’t planned to. But he was just so adorable, I couldn’t help myself.”
As she spoke, Li Qiuyu suddenly flashed a guilty smile. Then she affectionately took Ye Ran’s hand.
“I was going to have your senior brother Qi take him, but he blamed me for accepting disciples recklessly and told me to send the boy back. But since I’ve already taken him in, sending him back wouldn’t be very appropriate, would it?”
“Master is right.”
Normally, accepting a disciple involved a series of evaluations. It was rare to take someone in simply because they caught your fancy. So it was no wonder that Senior Brother Qi had told their master to send him back.
But looking at her master’s gleaming eyes, Ye Ran suddenly had an ominous feeling.
Sure enough, Li Qiuyu continued: “So, my dear disciple, how about I leave this little junior brother in your care?”
Knowing her master’s temperament all too well, Ye Ran wasn’t the least bit surprised when she heard this. She could only nod helplessly.
“Don’t worry, Master. I’ll do my best to teach our little junior brother well.”
“You really are my good disciple.”
Li Qiuyu patted Ye Ran’s shoulder, then waved at Jing Xing.
“Jing Xing, come here. This is your senior sister. From now on, you’ll study under her guidance.”
“Yes.”
Jing Xing first bowed obediently to Li Qiuyu, then turned and bowed to Ye Ran.
“I’m grateful for senior sister’s guidance.”
“Junior brother, you’re too kind.”
Ye Ran smiled, a little embarrassed.
This was her first time mentoring a junior disciple. Looking at Jing Xing’s obedient, well-behaved demeanor, she unconsciously felt a sense of accomplishment.
After Li Qiuyu finished giving her instructions, Ye Ran took Jing Xing back to her quarters.
She wanted to assess his abilities so she could plan how to teach him going forward.
But after testing him, she found that Jing Xing only knew a few simple formations. So she found him a basic formation manual and told him to study it on his own first.
Ye Ran sat under a tree and began repairing the swords that had been sent over recently.
But before long, Jing Xing came over with the book and approached her again.
“Senior sister, there’s something here I don’t quite understand.”
Jing Xing pointed to one of the formations. When he looked at Ye Ran, his eyes were bright and sparkling, giving him an air of innocence that made him seem easy to bully.
Now Ye Ran finally understood why her master had wanted to take Jing Xing as a disciple.
Such an obedient young disciple—even she wouldn’t have been able to resist taking him in.
Her eagerness to play the role of teacher surged. She took the book from Jing Xing’s hand and immediately waved for him to sit down.
“Sit down first. I’ll explain it to you slowly.”
“Thank you, senior sister.”
Jing Xing’s face lit up with joy, and he immediately sat down beside Ye Ran.
But as he sat, whether intentional or not, he deliberately moved a little closer to her.
Though not overly intimate, the distance still seemed somewhat inappropriate for two people who had just met.
His unfamiliar scent washed over her, making Ye Ran feel a bit uncomfortable. She frowned and turned to look at Jing Xing, but his expression was natural, his eyes still filled with a thirst for knowledge.
He didn’t seem to realize he was too close at all.
“Senior sister, what’s wrong?”
When Jing Xing saw Ye Ran looking at him, he immediately grew nervous. His bright eyes took on a hint of caution.
“It’s nothing.”
Never mind—maybe he just hadn’t noticed.
“Listen carefully.”
Ye Ran shifted her body a little to the side, then carefully explained the key points of setting up formations to Jing Xing.
This time, Jing Xing sat obediently without coming any closer and listened very attentively.
Seeing this, Ye Ran’s lingering discomfort gradually faded.
But after she handed the book back to him, Jing Xing immediately put it down, stood up, and poured a cup of tea.
“Senior sister, you’ve been explaining for so long—you must be tired. Please have some tea.”
“Thank you.”
Ye Ran hadn’t expected Jing Xing to be so considerate. She was pleasantly surprised and immediately reached for the tea.
But when she had a firm grip on the cup, Jing Xing’s hand lingered for a moment before pulling back. As he withdrew, his fingertip lightly brushed against her fingers.
Ye Ran froze. That strange feeling surged up again.
But when she looked up at Jing Xing, she still couldn’t find anything unusual on his face.
Suddenly losing her desire for tea, Ye Ran set the cup aside and said, “Go ahead and give it a try now.”
“Yes.”
Jing Xing took the book and went off to practice setting up formations. His words and actions betrayed nothing out of the ordinary.
Ye Ran wiped the finger he had touched, her expression growing more puzzled.
No matter how she looked at him, Jing Xing seemed perfectly well-behaved. Was she overthinking things?
“Junior sister, enjoying the view?”
Just as Ye Ran was lost in thought, a familiar voice sounded in her ear. The deep voice, accompanied by a crisp cool breath, fanned against her ear, making her shiver.
Turning her head, she saw Lu Li standing behind her. He had appeared out of nowhere and was leaning close to her ear, a faint sneer on his face.
Ye Ran’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. She felt as if she’d been caught in the act.
But then she reminded herself that she wasn’t Lu Li’s cultivation partner, and she hadn’t done anything wrong—there was no reason to feel guilty.
So she gathered her confidence.
“Senior brother, why are you here?”
“If I hadn’t come, how would I know that junior sister was so lost in the land of tenderness that you’ve forgotten all else?”
Putting aside whether that statement twisted the truth, the sheer jealousy emanating from it was enough to drown Ye Ran.
Feeling somewhat helpless, but remembering that she still depended on Lu Li when her constitution flared up, she quickly invited him to sit down and poured him a cup of tea.
“Senior brother, you’ve misunderstood. This is a new disciple my master just took in. She asked me to teach him for a while.”
“Senior sister! I did it!”
Just then, Jing Xing successfully set up a formation and came running over, his face full of excitement.
But when he saw Lu Li sitting there, he immediately stopped in his tracks, looking nervous and uneasy.
“This is Lu Li, the head disciple of our sect leader, and also our senior brother.” Ye Ran broke the silence.
“Jing Xing greets senior brother.”
Jing Xing obediently stepped forward and bowed to Lu Li, his manner cautious.
This drew a cold snort from Lu Li. His gaze swept over the newly formed formation in Jing Xing’s hand, and a disdainful smile curled his lips.
“A formation this simple is worth showing off? How did you even get into Wanxian Sect?”
(Wanxian Sect= Ten Thousand Immortals Sect)
Though it was just a fairly ordinary taunt, Jing Xing seemed startled. He quickly hid the formation behind his back and looked pitifully at Ye Ran.
“Senior sister, senior brother is so mean.”
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