Chapter 127.1: Demon Realm Soul Seizure (Part 20)

But this junior sister does have her difficult moments.
When they went to see the master, Xu Qianyu lagged behind. Seeing that they were about to be late, he had no choice but to turn around, grab her sleeve, and pull her to walk faster.

Xu Qianyu stumbled along, kicking at her shoes. “The buckle on my shoe is broken. I can’t walk anymore.”

Shen Suwei asked lightly, “What logic is that? Just tie it back; I’ll wait for you.”

Xu Qianyu’s glass-like eyes turned slightly, looking at him as if it were only natural. “I can’t tie it.”
Shen Suwei glanced at her. “This is your own shoe.”
Xu Qianyu said, “I really can’t tie it.”

“…” He bent down, pulled the buckle on her shoe up, looked at it for a moment, then tied it.
“It’s not like this,” Xu Qianyu’s voice came from above.
Shen Suwei pinched the buckle, thinking for a moment. He untied it and tried a different crossing method before tying it again.

When he stood up, he found Xu Qianyu staring at him intently, her gaze soft in a strange way.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Xu Qianyu reached out to him. He instinctively stepped back. Xu Qianyu lightly tapped the ground with her toes, took two steps forward, undid the magical artifact at his waist, and tied it back properly.

The two of them stared at each other for a while, nothing amiss, before continuing toward the master’s pavilion.

Later, Shen Suwei realized that his junior sister probably wanted to thank him, but she wouldn’t say the words. However, that realization came much later.

Xu Binglai was extremely satisfied with his training results. “You’ve really taught this wild girl well. Whatever I say, she doesn’t listen, but you just give her a look, and she becomes extraordinarily obedient.”

Xu Jiansu asked him if he often disciplined Xu Qianyu. Xu Baopu advised him, “Junior sister is young; don’t be too harsh on her. She listens so well because you probably scared her.”
Shen Suwei remained silent, feeling perplexed.

He had never laid a hand on Xu Qianyu nor had he ever intimidated her. He didn’t speak much to her either because he wasn’t one for words. But with his blood-stained hands and cold demeanor, many within the sect were indeed afraid of him.

So, did Xu Qianyu actually fear him?

Though the task of looking after his junior sister was assigned to him by the master, he didn’t want her to be harmed because of him.

He could only think of ways to act more gently toward Xu Qianyu.

Every morning, he would comb Xu Qianyu’s hair in front of the mirror. Her hair was thick, and the hairpin made a full, beautiful bun. The hair at her temples curled slightly, and when pressed down, it would lift up again, so a little hair tonic was needed.

Xu Qianyu tilted her head and said, “There’s a senior sister, Bai, in the high-level sword cultivator arena. Her hair is really beautiful. Can you comb it like hers?”
She spoke quietly, holding her breath, and when she saw his silence, she quickly added, “Forget I said anything.”

Shen Suwei then spoke: “Which Bai senior sister?”

Xu Qianyu replied, “I don’t remember her full name, just that her surname is Bai.”

Shen Suwei said, “You don’t even know her full name?”

Xu Qianyu probably thought it was absurd, so she didn’t say anything more.

Later, when he thought about it, Shen Suwei decided to look up Bai senior sister in the tournament’s list during his free time, but he couldn’t find any female cultivator with the surname Bai. Later, when he was spectating at a competition, he saw a female cultivator wearing a layered white gown and two buns with small braids on her shoulders. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he called her over. “What’s your name?”

The female cultivator was delighted and shyly responded, “Greetings, Senior Brother Shen. My name is Meng Yu.”
The next day, he helped Xu Qianyu tie her braids and, from the increasingly bright look on her face, confirmed that he had probably found the right person. “Is this it?”
Xu Qianyu gave him a quick glance and nodded repeatedly, the butterfly wings on her hairpin trembling.

Shen Suwei calmly said, “That senior sister’s surname isn’t Bai, she just likes wearing white dresses. Her surname is Meng. Don’t get it wrong the next time you see her.”

Xu Qianyu seemed confused. “Oh.”

Due to the large difference in their cultivation levels, they didn’t spend much time together except for daily sword practice. Shen Suwei was personally dispatched by the sect leader, while Xu Qianyu had to go to the pavilion to receive wooden task tokens and join other disciples on autumn tasks.

After Xu Qianyu reached the ninth level of foundation establishment, they went on their first mission together, which was in Nanling.

Shen Suwei finally understood why his junior sister always went off on her own during the autumn tasks. Every time they passed by a candy seller, she would always run over to buy some; a little while later, when she saw sugar-coated hawthorns being sold, she would buy a bunch.
Shen Suwei asked her, “Were you always like this before?”

Xu Qianyu held three colorful sugar figurines in her left hand and bit into a sugar-coated hawthorn with her right. “Yeah. It’s not easy to go home; I can’t even go shopping.”

“What if others are in a hurry with their tasks?”

Xu Qianyu froze for a moment. The hot weather caused the sugar to melt on the back of her hand, and she licked it. “Then I’ll just go on my own. Should I make them wait?”

Shen Suwei remained silent.
In the distance, lanterns were hung up in a festive display, and sounds of applause and congratulations shouts drifted over. Xu Qianyu went to join the crowd, and Shen Suwei took the opportunity to buy a lot of snacks, placing them within the boundary. When Xu Qianyu ran back, he grabbed her and said, “Next time, you don’t need to go buy anything. Cultivators shouldn’t expose themselves too much; it’s better to save time. If you want to eat something, just tell me.”

Xu Qianyu stared at him in shock as he took out a candied hawthorn from within the boundary, holding it in his hand and not eating it for a long time.

They passed by the majestic Howling Tiger Sky Lantern on Nanling Temple Street.
It was the time of the Tianzhu Festival, and in Nanling, there was a tradition of wishing upon lanterns with wooden plaques. The frame of the lantern was adorned with peachwood plaques, and when the breeze passed, the plaques fluttered like scales. The earlier noise from the crowd had been people hanging their wishing plaques on the lantern.

Shen Suwei glanced over and asked, “Did you make a wish just now?”
“Yes,” Xu Qianyu replied. “The plaques hung at the bottom are often blown off by the wind or taken down by others. If they’re taken down, they lose their power. So, I used sword qi to hang my plaque at the highest point, on the tiger’s paw.”

Shen Suwei followed her finger and indeed saw that the other plaques were densely hung around the tiger’s feet and tail. But on the tiger’s raised paw, where no one could reach, there was a lone small plaque, spinning with the wind.

Several months later, he passed by this place alone again and saw those wooden plaques, battered by rain and wind, scattered under the lantern. But the one Xu Qianyu had placed at the highest point was still proudly spun in the wind.

He didn’t know what prompted him, but he flew up on his sword and turned the plaque over to see what Xu Qianyu had wished for.

It read: “Sigh, I originally wanted to wish not to be a cultivator, but after cultivating until now, I suddenly feel that this life isn’t so bad. So, I wish that in my next life, I leave home a little later.

This way, I can enjoy a few more years of wealth and prosperity and meet Senior Brother and Junior Brother Ruan.”

Shen Suwei looked at it for a long time, then silently returned the plaque, reinforcing it with sword qi.

He still remembered Xu Qianyu saying that if the plaque fell, it would lose its power.

When he returned, a disciple informed him that his master had taken on a new junior sister. This Junior Sister Lu would probably be entrusted to him for guidance.

Shen Suwei said nothing.
Six months ago, after entering the Unfeeling Dao, his perception of worldly matters seemed to have dulled. Nothing stirred his emotions. Without attachments, his cultivation advanced rapidly—Golden Core, Yuan Ying, the stages beyond Yuan Ying… His long-held wish was fulfilled.

In terms of both reason and emotion, he should repay his master.
But hearing about this new junior sister, he glanced back.
The lanterns of Zhaoyue Palace swayed, casting light on the scattered water sacs, wristbands, and mustard seeds, with a cloth doll leaning crookedly against the door.

Xu Qianyu had probably gotten tired and rested long ago. He wondered if she would be angry when she heard about this.

But what followed was like an unstoppable flood, cascading down relentlessly.
At first, he saw signs of Xu Qianyu’s decline in Lu You. This junior sister Lu, who carried strange luck, showed no sign of breakthroughs. Even the sect leader had grown strange. Whenever faced with Lu You’s matters, he lost his composure and took his anger out on others, and Xu Jiansu was the same.

Elder Wuzhen, who had been in seclusion to recover from injuries, had returned to normal and started interfering with sect affairs.

Shen Suwei had no idea when Xu Qianyu had become acquainted with Wuzhen or when their relationship had become close.

At first, there had been peach blossoms on her collar, but then other people’s auras began to cling to her. He had to hold his breath when combing his hair, pretending not to see it.

Xu Qianyu no longer looked at him, no longer smiled at him.
By autumn, Xu Qianyu passed him by and took Wuzhen’s hand, playing the role of the bride. He opened the door and took her away, but she turned back to glance at Wuzhen in the wooden house. It was a look filled with concern.

He yanked the bridal veil from behind, but Xu Qianyu snatched it away, wringing it in her hand, the bright red cloth clenched tightly.

There was no conversation between them. But in that instant, his blood turned cold, and he fully understood.