novelraw Page 53
Page 53
She landed beside Yun Chu'an, seemingly having just finished exercising; her neck and shoulders still had some sweat that she hadn't had time to wipe away, steaming hot.
Even though she was actually a little shorter than him, in Yun Chuan's eyes at this moment, she appeared so tall and imposing.
Big sister, you're here to save the day again!
He was moved to tears. With Ye Jinglan sharing the burden, things were much easier for him.
Conversely, the second sister's face instantly turned visibly unpleasant: "Ye Jinglan, what do you mean? What, you don't even want me to enter this door today?"
Ye Jinglan's expression remained unchanged, her eyes fixed on the ring on the ring finger of her right hand: "Then let me ask you, what is that?"
"Green Snake, how come we didn't know about your marriage?"
Upon hearing this, Yun Chu'an realized something was amiss. He had never met his second sister before, nor had he heard whether she was married or not. When he saw her just now, he assumed it was because his fourth sister hadn't mentioned it to him.
Now that Ye Jinglan said it, he belatedly realized that his second sister had not gotten married before, but in the past few days, she had suddenly gotten married without saying a word.
"you--"
The second sister touched her fingers, her narrow eyes flashing with hatred: "What's it to you? What, whether I get married or not is none of your business?"
Ye Jinglan said in a deep voice, "We are family, and I am your eldest sister. You didn't even consult us about such an important matter?"
Before she could finish speaking, a wisp of green smoke arrived late, landing behind her second sister. It was none other than her fourth sister, Zhu Yunqing: "Is this the Huang Mang family?"
The second sister turned her head and glanced at her sideways: "Zhu Yunqing, did you tell on me?"
Zhu Yunqing's expression remained unchanged: "Second sister is wearing a ring on the ring finger of her right hand. How could I dare to hide such a big event as getting married from my family? If my mother-in-law weren't still in seclusion for recuperation, I would have informed her as well."
Immediately, the green snake spirit gritted her teeth. But suddenly, she smiled again, raised her finger, and showed off the ruby on her ring finger, looking smug: "Yes, I have married into the Yellow Python family. They have promised to marry me with the blood of a true dragon as a dowry, and we will transform into dragons together."
"I've found such a powerful backer for our family, why aren't you two sisters thanking me, the one who has done so much good, instead of putting on this kind of act?"
She said sarcastically, but these words immediately made Yun Chu'an's expression change drastically.
Oh no! The Huai Shan family is colluding with those snake demons. This is completely unspeakable now!
Inside the room, Hua Caiyan was also listening to the conversation outside. Upon hearing it, her face turned pale and her heart jumped into her throat.
She disregarded everything else, even the possibility that the Buddhist monks might attack her directly. Suddenly, she pushed open the door and rushed out, shouting, "Second sister, how could you do this? That python family is not trustworthy!"
She made sure to close the door behind her. Across from her, the Green Snake Demon's pointed face looked even colder: "We're talking, what right do you have to interrupt? Go back!"
Zhu Yunqing was surprised to see her come out. He never expected that Hua Caiyan, who always disliked Yun Chuan, would be in his room at this moment.
She didn't ask any more questions, and said, "Caiyan, go back first, and don't say anything more."
Hua Caiyan was anxious, but Ye Jinglan spoke up instead: "No, we are all sisters, there's no need to shut up now. Caiyan, please continue."
The fox spirit breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, "I was hunting in the mountains some time ago and saw many other cultivators from various races who had fled from the Zhao Kingdom. I also inquired about a lot of information."
"According to them, the Yellow Python Clan is insatiable and only cares about themselves. They don't consider others at all, not even their allies. If you are useful, they can cooperate with you. But if you are slightly weak or powerless, they will betray you for the first time and swallow up their allies!"
The author says:
Author's note: This is an extra chapter to acknowledge the 360 monthly votes received. Please vote with more monthly votes!
Chapter 121 Sudden Intimacy
"That's why the snake demon family offended too many people, and their allies dwindled until they were finally driven out of Zhao and came to our land. Alliance with them will only lead to our demise; whether they win or lose, we will not have a good ending!"
Hua Caiyan said anxiously, and Ye Jinglan nodded repeatedly. It wasn't that she didn't have her own information channels, but her conclusion was not much different from that of the fox spirit: "Isn't that very well said, Fourth Sister? Although Caiyan's cultivation has not yet caught up with ours, her information channels and experience are not necessarily worse than ours. We should listen to her opinions more."
Zhu Yunqing agreed, echoing her sentiment: "Eldest sister is right. According to Caiyan, our family's previous strategy was actually the most correct: to establish contact with the python family, but maintain a distant relationship, neither too close nor too far apart. In this way, whether they are at their peak or decline in the future, we can protect ourselves or stay out of it and not be implicated."
Ye Jinglan agreed, "That's right. So, Second Sister, the family has already made a decision, but you took it upon yourself to marry into their family. Isn't that undermining the family's strategy?"
"Are you still so spineless, never thinking that we should make our own decisions about our own family affairs, and so willing to become their vassal?"
She questioned him, which only fueled the green snake spirit's anger. She glanced at Ye Jinglan, then at Zhu Yunqing, and with a cold laugh, mocked him, "Short-sighted fools, you have no idea how strong the Yellow Python Clan is now, or how strong it will be in the future."
"The secret techniques of the Yellow River Dragon Clan, and the bloodline within the Wei River Dragon Clan, are now all going to them. It's good to have a powerful backer. If you don't muster the courage to invest now, you won't have the chance to befriend them in the future!"
As she spoke, she turned and left in a cold voice: "Two women with long hair and short brains, short-sighted and narrow-minded. I won't stoop to your level."
"One day, you will admit your mistakes. At that time, an apology won't be enough to make up with me!"
With an extremely arrogant remark, she then turned and leaped away, her body transforming into a streak of blue light, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Yun Chu'an witnessed the argument firsthand, his expression quite complex, and the others' expressions were also unpleasant. Zhu Yunqing's face was the most grim; she hadn't expected that simply sending her second sister to establish connections with that wealthy outsider would result in her sister ultimately choosing to submit to them and even marry into their family!
At least discuss it with us. If you really want to get married, we can help you prepare a dowry so you can have a grand wedding. What kind of talk is this?!
Having come from a prominent family of demon cultivators, she valued these rules and regulations quite a bit. Now that her second sister had suddenly gotten married, she felt it was all absurd.
Ye Jinglan was also quite angry. Her chest, covered by her vest, heaved violently: "This girl has the nerve to say we're short-sighted. She's clearly blinded by greed. She was bought off with just a little bit of benefit!"
Zhu Yunqing didn't speak, but walked straight to Yun Chuan, frowned, and suddenly looked quite surprised: "You've reached the fifth level of Qi Refining?"
Yun Chu'an breathed a sigh of relief and cupped his hands in response, "Yes, Fourth Sister, a couple of days ago I thought that with the help of elixirs, I might be able to give it a try, so I asked Fifth Sister to protect me, and luckily I succeeded."
Hua Caiyan nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, that's why I've been here with him these past few days, just to help him with this!"
Ye Jinglan turned her head, looking slightly incredulous: "You're protecting him? Caiyan, didn't you dislike humans? How come you're suddenly so close to him?"
Hua Caiyan's heart skipped a beat. She turned her head away and said with an awkward laugh, "Haha, I was just being stereotypical before. Now it seems that Fourth Sister is right about people. Chu An does have quite a few likable qualities..."
Her words came from the bottom of her heart. His previous display of loyalty and wit had already completely changed her impression of him, and those few humorous jokes just now had further enhanced her impression of him, bringing it to a new level.
Zhu Yunqing didn't think anything of it; this was exactly what she wanted to see. However, her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the man, wondering to herself, could her son-in-law really be a little genius?
She was intrigued by his talent, but remembering his behavior just now, she immediately scolded him, "Didn't I tell you, when you see Second Sister, don't confront her directly. Just let her have her way with whatever she wants. Then come find me later, and I'll get it back for you."
"If you stubbornly stop her like you did today, what if she suddenly gets angry and attacks you? Next time, your older sister might not be able to fly over to save you in time!"
Yun Chu'an had no way to express his bitterness. He was clearly protecting his second sister, whom he had just met, so that she would not seek her own death.
Beside him, Hua Caiyan quickly spoke up to defend him, "Fourth Sister, please don't ask. It really isn't appropriate for her to see inside. Chu'an has his reasons for doing this; he's also afraid of causing even bigger trouble..."
Ye Jinglan looked over here, and immediately became somewhat suspicious: "Caiyan, aren't you being a little too protective of him?"
Hua Caiyan was speechless, sweat beading on her forehead, unsure how to explain herself.
Zhu Yunqing noticed more details. Seeing the man and woman so close together, she suddenly had some doubts: "So, in the room..."
Yun Chu'an blinked wildly at the spider demon: "Hahaha, it's nothing, I just didn't tidy up, and I was afraid my second sister would hate me if she saw it..."
He was giving her frantic hints, which Zhu Yunqing couldn't understand at first. She frowned, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them, and suddenly realized that they were incredibly close, practically touching.
This kind of close contact, without any sense of distance, best reveals the true closeness or distance between two people. A flash of inspiration struck Fourth Sister, and she immediately realized, "Oh, I see."
After saying that, she grabbed Ye Jinglan's arm, turned around and walked away, saying, "Everything's alright here, big sister, let's go, don't ask anymore..."
Ye Jinglan didn't understand what his gaze meant at all. She wanted to ask more, but Zhu Yunqing pulled her back, so she had to shut up and they turned into a whirlwind and a wisp of smoke, disappearing into the distance.
Hua Caiyan was completely oblivious to the strange emotion hidden in Zhu Yunqing's sudden change in attitude. She felt only relief; having seen the two off, she let out a long sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from her brow, and muttered, "Safe now. Ah, thank goodness they won't be as unlucky as me, stuck here..."
Chapter 122 Don't you think he's actually quite handsome?
Yun Chu'an recalled Zhu Yunqing's last look and suspected that she did not actually understand what he was implying, but instead had her own misjudgment.
Unfortunately, even if he wanted to explain, he no longer had the chance. He sighed, gently patted Hua Caiyan's shoulder, and said, "It's too late to regret it now. Let's go back first, and explain things clearly after this period has passed."
Hua Caiyan nodded, agreeing with his idea. The two turned and walked back into the room. The group of seven people were in the living room, some standing and some sitting, but all of them had solemn expressions as they looked at the two of them.
Yun Chu'an cupped his hands and sighed, "It's a misfortune for our family, and you've all become a laughing stock. As you can see, none of us in our family actually agree with Second Sister's rash social approach, but we didn't expect her to be so stubborn... Alas, please don't misunderstand."
Monk Huijing said, "It's alright, Benefactor Yun. Sometimes, due to the necessities of reality, even the Buddhist community cannot be so lenient. We will remember your life-saving grace and never forget it."
He had no objection to the strategies employed by the Huai Shan family and the Yellow Python family in their interactions. As the eldest among them, he also knew about some past tragedies: some demon cultivator families living deep in the mountains and forests wanted to convert to Buddhism, but their family settlements were too far from Buddhist temples. As a result, most of these families were attacked by powerful demon cultivators who were hostile to Buddhism and lived nearby, thus bringing about their own annihilation.
As a Buddhist disciple, he would recognize reality in such matters. Families like the Huai Shan family, who live deep in the mountains and forests, are already on good terms with Buddhism as long as they are not hostile to it.
The others nodded slightly, agreeing with his statement. Hearing this, Yun Chu'an and Hua Caiyan both breathed a sigh of relief. He then cupped his hands in thanks and said, "Thank you all for your understanding!"
Meanwhile, on the other side, Ye Jinglan was being pulled by Zhu Yunqing and flew up to another mountain peak. After they stopped, she turned to look at her younger sister with a puzzled expression: "Fourth sister, what are you doing? Why are you in such a hurry to pull me up?"
Zhu Yunqing said, "Shouldn't I pull you away quickly and let you stay there as an eyesore, disturbing their good time?"
This question immediately left Ye Jinglan even more confused: "Huh? What did you say?"
Zhu Yunqing rolled her eyes at her, sighed, and said, "Big sister, are you really that oblivious? Didn't you notice anything at all?"
Ye Jinglan shrugged: "How could I have noticed? My dear sister, stop keeping me in suspense, okay? Just tell me."
Instead of speaking directly, Zhu Yunqing asked her a question: "Big sister, don't you think Chu An is actually quite handsome?"
Ye Jinglan said, "No, I think it's just... uh, okay, okay, it's acceptable."
Seeing her sister's expression change, she changed her words and gave a different evaluation. However, the way she looked at her sister unconsciously became a little strange, and various guesses involuntarily surfaced in her mind.
Isn't she a spider demon? How could she find a human male attractive?
Have we been human for too long, causing our aesthetic sense to become distorted?
Or is it the legendary...?
“So, you see,” Zhu Yunqing’s originally stern expression gradually softened, “he’s not bad-looking either, and Caiyan is about the same age. It’s not unexpected that something would happen, but it’s also reasonable. Although it’s a bit surprising, it’s not entirely unpredictable.”
Now Ye Jinglan understood: "Wait, you mean they also... no, doesn't Caiyan particularly hate humans? How come..."
Zhu Yunqing shrugged: "Meng Shen is still a willow tree with no thoughts, isn't she the same? Big sister, you should have heard some strange tales. They are all around this age, so it's not surprising."
Ye Jinglan suppressed her shock and revealed a look of understanding: "I see, thinking about it carefully, that makes sense..."
As she spoke, her gaze fell on Zhu Yunqing, and she suddenly gave a mischievous smile, making the latter uneasy: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"It's nothing, I just suddenly thought of..." Ye Jinglan couldn't hold back her laughter as she spoke, and finally laughed so hard she almost fell over, "You, aren't you also this age? You were just saying that he's quite handsome..."
Zhu Yunqing was stunned for a moment, then her face turned red rapidly, and she became angry and embarrassed: "What nonsense are you talking about? My cultivation is so much higher than his, how could I possibly fall in love with him?"
"I was just telling the truth. I've studied aesthetics. What kind of thinking are you, you crude fellow!"
She was furious, which only made Ye Jinglan laugh even harder: "Then what was wrong with you that day? You were shirtless and had his head wrapped around your chest..."
Zhu Yunqing angrily punched her shoulder: "It's my heart! I was just showing you my injury! If you keep talking nonsense, I'll disown you as my sister!"
While dodging, Ye Jinglan laughed and said, "Okay, my good sister, I was wrong. But then again, age isn't a reliable factor. You see, I'm young too, but I don't have any feelings for him like love or anything like that."
Full of confidence, she finally came to her conclusion: "That little fox is too unrestrained and can't control his youthful impulses! Ah, but it's their business as a junior, we'll just handle it ourselves and leave it to them!"
Leaving those words behind, she leaped again, her body transforming into a whirlwind as she raced towards the distant mountain peak.
Zhu Yunqing remained alone, the blush on her face gradually fading. She looked up at the azure sky, her expression turning slightly wistful.
Then, she turned and flew back to her cave, saying no more.
The storm seemed to have subsided, but selfish people will always seek revenge, a fact that Ye Jinglan and Zhu Yunqing were well aware of.
After leaving the Huai Shan family, the second sister turned around and went straight to the Huang Mang family to cultivate her inner energy with her husband.
Inside the vast, dark cave, a green snake and a yellow python, both about three feet long, were intertwined like two ropes, channeling their spiritual energy and converging on their bodies.
This should have been a beneficial act for both snakes, but the green snake acted even more violently, greedily devouring the spiritual energy, even absorbing the yellow python's own cultivation to replenish itself.
After a dual cultivation session, the yellow python not only did not gain much benefit, but also suffered a loss in its own cultivation.
After the dual cultivation ended, both of them returned to human form, lying on the stone bed, pulling the blankets over their naked bodies. The burly man's face was deathly pale as he looked at the woman beside him in disbelief: "Why did you do that, Madam? Dual cultivation is supposed to be a mutually beneficial thing, why did you still absorb my cultivation?"
Chapter 123 Hobbies and Interests
Second Sister Zou Min cursed him inwardly for being stingy. "Now that I'm married to you, what's wrong with taking half of your cultivation?" But she sensed her husband's dissatisfaction and didn't confront him directly. Covering her face as if about to cry, she said, "I've suffered grievances outside, and yet you still yell at me like this!"
The burly man asked, "What's wrong? You didn't say anything."
The green snake spirit said, "I went home today to tell my elder sister about our marriage. I originally wanted the family to provide a dowry to send to our new home."
"But who knew that my eldest sister, taking advantage of my mother's absence, was jealous of my good marriage. Not only did she refuse to pay the money, but she also spoke ill of me, looking down on the Huang family. I felt very wronged."
She lied without batting an eye, lowering her head and feigning grievance: "It's just a pity that my cultivation level is lower than hers, so I could only let her bully me and come back empty-handed. I also want to break through to the later stage as soon as possible, so that I can go back and let her know that the family I married into is not to be trifled with!"
She was adept at disguising herself. In fact, when the Huai Shan family was first established, she also said the same thing, claiming that she had been humiliated by her ex-husband and lived a miserable life.
The sisters also failed to see through her true intentions at first, genuinely believing that she had various difficulties and took good care of her. It was only much later that they realized that she just wanted to use this to obtain more resources.
At this moment, the yellow python demon cultivator was no exception. Hearing this, he frowned and continued, "Competing for resources? Heh, since your eldest sister is so ungrateful, she really should be taught a lesson."
"I'll mention it to the elders. Coincidentally, I remember you're about to break through too? In the next few days, once you reach the late Foundation Establishment stage, I'll apply for a post, and then we'll go to your house together to let them know our strength!"
The second sister's eyes lit up: "My husband is truly heroic! But what kind of assignment is this?"
The burly man smiled slightly: "Pursue Yan Shuiyi."