Chapter 105: The Cave (Part 5)

Xu Jiansu’s temper flared, and Xu Baopu could do nothing to stop him. The Lingbo Sword cut through the wind, and the fine thread blocked it heavily.

Xu Jiansu slid back a few steps, furious: “So you’ve broken through and become an infant soul, huh? Feels great, does it? Got some wings now?”
Shen Suwei lightly pointed his sword at him: “Stay out of Xu Qianyu’s affairs from now on.”

Xu Jiansu sneered and pushed Xu Baopu aside, advancing toward Shen Suwei: “Is she only your junior sister? She’s also my junior sister. During the formal disciple ceremony, she called me ‘Second Senior Brother.'”

The two were like two magnets about to collide. Shen Suwei grabbed his collar and, almost face-to-face, whispered, “You think you’re a senior brother just because you gave her a cherry? Do you even know her attributes? You didn’t acknowledge her back then, so don’t acknowledge her now.”

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Baopu forcefully separated the two of them, pushing them to opposite sides.
Xu Jiansu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. “You stop me, but don’t stop him, huh?”
He genuinely suspected that Shen Suwei had been silently enduring a lot of past grievances, and now that he had reached the Nascent Soul stage, he was taking revenge all at once.

“Truly, a gentleman’s revenge is never too late.”
“You too,” Xu Baopu scolded Shen Suwei. “First you destroyed Wuzhen’s pavilion; now you’re wrecking this place. You should recite the ‘Calming Heart’ mantra a few times—I’m not saying you’re wrong for noticing something wrong with the Demon King.”

Shen Suwei calmly apologized to the elder brother, sheathed his sword, and left.
Xu Jiansu, vexed and flustered, straightened his collar. Suddenly, he recalled something Lu You had said. She had mentioned that Shen Suwei and the junior sister shared an unusual relationship.

Xu Jiansu fell into deep thought and, after a long pause, said, “Do you think Shen Suwei feels a kind of maternal love for the junior sister?”
Xu Baopu, exhausted, spat out the cold tea he had just drunk: “What?”
“I only fed the junior sister a Snow Soul Pill, and look at how he acted, like a mother hen guarding her chicks. What’s the difference?” Xu Jiansu muttered, then scolded, “Do you remember when he fed the cat back then?”
“I don’t remember.” Xu Baopu replied, “Can you speak more politely? Mother hen, rooster, no wonder Third Junior Brother beat you. You’re asking for it.”

Xu Jiansu continued, “When Shen Suwei first entered the inner sect, he lived by the woods.”
Occasionally, wild cats would wander into the disciples’ quarters to beg for food. There was one white cat, extremely greedy and not afraid of people, often barging into Shen Suwei’s room. Xu Jiansu was surprised to discover that Shen Suwei sometimes sat by the door feeding the cat.

Sometimes, he was injured, but still casually fed the cat with precious pills given by their master, turning the cat from a scruffy, dull creature into a well-fed, healthy one.

Shen Suwei didn’t seem particularly fond of the cat; he never petted it or even took it in to keep as a pet. He just quietly watched it eat until it was full and left, then closed the door and returned to his business. He even seemed a little indifferent.

But the next time the cat broke in, meowing at the door, he would feed it again.
Occasionally, female cultivators would come by to offer sachets of fragrance, but Shen Suwei wouldn’t accept them. Instead, he would just stare at them with a clear, steady gaze until the shy and timid girls turned pale and fled in horror, while he simply turned away to practice swordplay.

No one in the sect dared to be too familiar with him.
At one point, Xu Jiansu suspected that Shen Suwei had a cold heart, completely detached from the world. But to his surprise, that wasn’t the case.

“Still feeling sorry for the weak, huh? You can’t even protect yourself, but you’ve got a strong sense of protection,” Xu Jiansu muttered.

“The cat was heartless too,” he continued. “Later, the cat ran off to the outer disciples’ area. They hadn’t undergone the pill-cleansing process yet, so they had more food. It never came back. I noticed that Shen Suwei didn’t go looking for it, as if the cat had never existed. Then one day, I purposely told him that I had caught and killed the cat. I wanted to see his reaction.”

At that moment, Shen Suwei had looked at him with the same calm expression as today, then suddenly made a move.

“He slapped me in the face. Do you know how hard he hit me? At the time, he couldn’t even beat me, but I dodged, though my neck was scratched up,” Xu Jiansu showed Xu Baopu the scar on his neck. “See? The scar’s still there.”

The two had fought with no cause other than a small quarrel, and both were punished with twenty lashes each. That was the moment they officially became enemies.
Xu Baopu pushed him away in disgust. “You’ve got no filter, do you?”
Xu Jiansu retorted, “But he knew I was joking, and still he hit me.”

That was when Xu Jiansu realized that Shen Suwei, who appeared so patient and restrained, actually harbored a hidden force within him. And when it came to the cats’ departure, Shen Suwei wasn’t unaffected. He just buried those emotions deep, and if someone didn’t stir up the surface, those dark currents would remain hidden—until they suddenly erupted and swallowed everything.

“The cat ran away, but instead of hitting the cat, he hit me.” Xu Jian Su said, “Do you think that makes any sense?”
“That’s a different matter,” Xu Baopu said. “Forget about the cat. It’s wrong for you to be feeding the little junior sister like that. From now on, just like Suwei said, stay out of her business.”

“But what about the clothes and hairpins I gave her?”
“Those are fine to give, but food should be avoided. The little junior sister joined late and is still naive about many things. She’s likely to make mistakes. If you’re free, spend more time with Qianqian.”
Xu Jian Su snorted coldly, adjusting his collar.

This time, he truly couldn’t forget: the little junior sister, like him, had a Lei Linggen (Thunder Spirit Root).

---

When Shen Suwei returned, Xu Qianyu was already asleep with the fire pearl in her hand. He extinguished the lamp and sat in meditation outside the Zhaoyue Palace.
Xu Qianyu woke up from a nightmare, tentatively calling, “Senior brother?”
“What’s wrong?” Shen Suwei asked from behind the curtain.

“Nothing.” Xu Qianyu stared at the top of the bed, feeling comforted by the fact that someone had responded. Her tense mind relaxed. “You’re back, huh?”

It wasn’t a wasted wait; she was satisfied. Unfortunately, she was so tired her brain couldn’t function anymore.

Earlier, Xu Qianyu’s voice had been soft and weak, unlike her usual energetic self, and she had shown rare signs of fear.
Shen Suwei sat for a while, then suddenly stood up, lifted the curtain, and touched her hand. Xu Qianyu’s hand was icy cold.

Xu Qianyu turned over to sleep again, vaguely feeling that her senior brother had covered her with a blanket, and then took out the now cold fire pearl from under her bed, placing a new fire pearl inside the blanket.

---

Inside Zhaoyue Palace, there was a screen that divided a corner, where Xu Qianyu usually changed clothes.

She grabbed the four strings of the new menstruation belt but forgot how to tie it around her waist, so she fumbled with it for a long time.

Shen Suwei stood outside the screen, listening to her hesitant movements, but did not rush her.
When Xu Qianyu finally came out hurriedly, he glanced at the faint stain on the back of her white disciple’s robe. His gaze sharpened, and without a sound, he used his techniques to clean it.

Outside the door, Shen Suwei said to mother-in-law, “It seems she still can’t do it.”
mother-in-law said, “I’ve taught her twice already. She learned it then.” She sighed. “This child is delicate, maybe too pampered when she was young. So now, when it comes to taking care of herself, she’s quite clumsy.”

Saying “clumsy” was a polite way of putting it. Only the words “awkward” and “clumsy” could sum it up.

Shen Suwei remained silent.
mother-in-law, feeling pity for Xu Qianyu, said, “If it really doesn’t work, can’t we send someone from the sect to take care of her? I’ve seen that the sect leader has two young boys who fan his fan.”

Shen Suwei interrupted, “The sect leader’s boys are not servants; they’re disciples who receive his guidance and offer their service in return. Those in the immortal sect are self-reliant. Once you become a cultivator, how could you allow others to serve you?”
mother-in-law sighed, impressed by the strict and upright rules of the sect. Seeing Shen Suwei’s serious expression, she hurriedly added, “I was just saying, I’ll teach her again.”

Xu Qianyu didn’t mind much.
Because Lin Shuyue had told her that there was nothing to worry about. After a female cultivator’s first menstruation, as long as she mastered the cultivation method, before the next Gui Shui (water of the lunar cycle), she could use the cultivation technique to “cut the red dragon,” which would temporarily stop the menstruation.

She only had to endure it for a few more times, so she didn’t focus much attention on it.
During this time of changing clothes, she fumbled with the four ties on the menstruation belt for a long time, then haphazardly tied them at the back, but they fell in the front. She tried to fix it with her legs, but as she did, a few cold sword qi pierced the screen and tied up the four corners.
In an instant, the four ties were neatly and securely fastened.

Xu Qianyu was startled, and by the time she reacted, the menstruation belt was already tied at her waist.
She paused, seeing that it had been done for her. She quickly put on her underwear and went out.

---

As soon as she stepped outside, she saw Shen Suwei standing with his back to the screen, the window half open. His white robe fluttered lightly, clean and aloof, like the wind brushing against a jade tree.
Xu Qianyu suddenly thought of the dim corner where she had just changed, the pile of clothes, and the four narrow red straps at her waist.

The two things seemed unrelated, but in her mind, they kept overlapping.
It was very annoying.
After all, it was an intimate item.

Xu Qianyu didn’t yet know when Shen Suwei had learned how to tie knots, but she couldn’t help paying attention to the feeling of the ties around her waist. It felt like an itch, and she awkwardly walked a few steps, adjusting the belt to suppress this strange emotion. Her cheeks began to flush.

“Let’s go,” Shen Suwei said, probably to avoid making her feel embarrassed. He acted as if nothing had happened and said nothing.

Xu Qianyu hurried a few steps, grabbed his hand, and then realized that his palm was also cold with sweat.

As soon as she touched it, Shen Suwei placed a fire pearl into her hand while subtly pulling his hand away.
Xu Qianyu felt a subtle shift in her heart, as if she had touched a secret.
It turned out that her senior brother was not as calm as he appeared. Just now, he had been just as nervous as she was.

---

That night, the sound of distant thunder rumbled near, crashing against the window.
Xu Qianyu wasn’t afraid of thunder, but probably due to her spiritual root’s connection with nature, whenever there was thunder and rainy, humid weather, she always felt a sense of emptiness and suffocation in her heart. She tossed and turned, unable to find peace.

“Senior brother,” Xu Qianyu sat up, pulled back the curtain with a swish, and looked at Shen Suwei meditating outside. “Can I…?”
She met his gaze and carefully said, “Can I sleep here with you?” She promised, “I’ve got it under control this time. I won’t get it on you again.”

She remembered that the last time she slept in Shen Suwei’s arms, she had slept peacefully, cool and comfortable, from noon until night.

Shen Suwei looked at her silently for a long time, then carefully said, “The ground is too cold; it’s not good.”

“I can’t be any hotter.” Xu Qianyu felt hot, her temples sweating, and she fanned herself with her hand. Because of the heat, her tone was a bit irritable. “Or should we meditate together?”
She was domineering by nature, and without waiting for his reply, she quickly put on her shoes and prepared to move over.

Shen Suwei stopped her, stood up, and walked to the bed: “You’re sleeping sitting up. Isn’t that uncomfortable? Lie down.”
Xu Qianyu looked up at him, her eyes wide, filled with surprise.
It seemed that Shen Suwei was preparing to lie beside her in bed.

In the flickering light of the lightning, Shen Suwei noticed the hesitation in the girl’s eyes and gently asked, “Are you scared?”
Xu Qianyu choked on her words, her throat tight, and her heart seemed to thump violently in her chest. It wasn’t so much fear as it was nervousness.

This felt different from sitting up to sleep. Her bed wasn’t very big; just one person, like her senior brother, could occupy most of the space. The distance between them on a bed was still a bit too close.

Shen Suwei didn’t speak again. He brought two fingers together and pressed them to his forehead. After a moment, his figure shrank and transformed into a slender, feminine form.
The tension in Xu Qianyu’s chest eased the instant she saw the female form, and she immediately shifted further into the bed.

Shen Suwei lay beside her and lowered the curtain.
Xu Qianyu lay there for a while, unable to resist turning her head to observe this unfamiliar yet familiar female form.

Her eyelashes were long and curved, her nose was high and delicate, and her body was tall but with soft curves. There was an air of cool elegance about her, but Xu Qianyu didn’t feel afraid.
Suddenly, Xu Qianyu rolled over and found herself in Shen Suwei’s arms, tightly hugging him. The suffocating feeling in her chest seemed to vanish, replaced by a soothing comfort.

The body she was holding stiffened instantly, but after a moment, it relaxed and remained still, letting her hold tight.

It was as if she were hugging her sister from the flower mirror, or perhaps the mother from her fantasies.
But knowing this was her senior brother in disguise, with his scent lingering on the body, it still felt somewhat different.
Lost in thought, Shen Suwei gently patted her back.

Xu Qianyu’s lashes trembled. She had never been treated like this before. She felt so happy that she couldn’t stop trembling.

Outside, thunder rumbled, and the rain kept pounding on the window.
Shen Suwei lowered his lashes, quietly patting her for a long time, until Xu Qianyu finally relaxed and stopped trembling. Her lashes still occasionally quivered, showing she was still awake, not yet asleep.

It was at that moment that he reverted to his original form.
Her waist stretched, her legs lengthened, and the air around her shifted from gentle to cold and imposing. It had an entirely different aura, yet it seemed to blend in an odd way.

Xu Qianyu sensed the change and instinctively wanted to pull away, but Shen Suwei tightened his arms, trapping her in his embrace.

Xu Qianyu lay stiffly, sweat forming on her forehead as she transitioned through the confusion.
She heard Shen Suwei ask softly, “Are you still scared?”