Chapter 111

Chapter 111: The Cold and Unfeeling Eldest Senior Brother

“Who are you?” Li Yan repeated, and the newcomer paused.

The man wore a long robe of blue with white patterns. From the round motifs, it was clearly a sect uniform. His features were fine and fair, his eyes were long and narrow, and he was, by looks, handsome. His manner seemed gentle. Yet the light in his smiling eyes made Ye Wan Wan uncomfortable. That gentle air felt like a thin veil that a breeze could blow away.

Acting innocent, he saluted Li Yan and said: “Daoist brother, have you forgotten how we parted at Great Marsh Mountain not long ago? You saved my life and my sister’s.”

Seeing that Li Yan didn’t remember, he added: “The Fifth Rank Ice Purple Spider. Daoist brother, do you not recall?”

Li Yan frowned. He had indeed killed a Fifth Rank purple spider. There had been other cultivators nearby, but he wasn’t there for them. He was there for the spider’s Amethyst Core. With all his junior brothers and junior sisters watching, Li Yan said calmly: “Maybe it was a coincidence. I wasn’t trying to save you.”

It was very direct, only a step short of saying they had nothing to do with each other, so don’t come to repay kindness.

The man didn’t seem embarrassed. He even smiled and said: “That only shows daoist brother’s selfless heart. My sister and I can’t forget. We didn’t get your name then, but we can now. I am Lu Yang, and that is my younger sister, Lu Xuan. We are cultivators of the Origin Return Sect.”

Li Yan didn’t even glance at the so called sister. He simply returned the courtesy: “Heavenly One Sect, Li Yan.”

After greetings, Lu Yang saw they had no wish to invite him to stay, so he tried hard to find a topic: “These must be daoist brother’s junior brother and junior sister. They are very good looking.”

Li Wan Zhi and Fang He An gave awkward smiles. Shen Nan Zhou ignored him.

Ye Wan Wan spoke up: “Heavenly One Sect, Ye Wan Wan.”

Having someone answer made Lu Yang’s eyes brighten. He looked at Ye Wan Wan and said with a smile: “Hello, Junior Sister Ye.”

Ye Wan Wan’s lips curved as she said: “Hello, Senior Brother Lu. Since you are so friendly, I won’t treat you like an outsider. There’s something I am quite curious about.”

Lu Yang said: “No need to hold back. Ask. I will tell you everything I know.”

Still smiling, Ye Wan Wan said: “Your cultivation method looks a bit special. What is that fragrance on you made of? It even has a hallucinatory effect.”

Lu Yang’s expression stalled, but he covered fast. He looked down at a sachet at his waist and said: “It’s just something I made myself. It has no hallucinatory effect. Junior sister, you must have smelled wrong.”

Ye Wan Wan laughed. Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi sensibly left her the field. Seeing Li Yan move to step in, they both pulled their eldest senior brother back.

“Eldest senior brother,” they whispered, “no rush. Just watch.”

Li Yan: “…”

Ye Wan Wan took two steps forward and said: “To be honest, I have studied illusion a little. When you came close just now, my spirit pets and I felt a bit dizzy, and I even thought…” She looked over his handsome face and said: “You’re really good looking.”

Lu Yang hadn’t expected such blunt praise. He froze a moment, then smiled modestly and said: “Not as heroic as junior sister.”

“Yes. You’re only average. You don’t compare to my eldest senior brother or my fifth senior brother. You don’t even match my fourth senior brother. So why did I think you looked good?”

Her eyes were sharp, as if they could see through a person’s heart. She fixed on Lu Yang and said: “How could you be worthy?”

Lu Yang’s face shifted several times. He curled his lips with a hint of cruelty and said: “Junior Sister Ye, isn’t that going too far?”

Ye Wan Wan chuckled and said: “You use illusion to lure hearts and a strange scent to push desire. The moment we met, you used these tricks on me and my second senior sister. Why should I be polite to you?”

She looked at him coolly and said: “If I don’t kill you, you should already be grateful.”

Li Yan’s face changed. He turned to look at Bai Jian and found her staring at Lu Yang, dazed, her expression wrong.

“Junior Sister Bai,” Li Yan called, voice sharp.

The little black stone on her shoulder opened its mouth and said: “She’s fine. I’m just showing her something else.”

Only then did everyone notice the small stone. It was black, with four skinny limbs like little matchsticks, yet it spoke human words. Bai Jian wiped the corner of her mouth and said: “So much food.”

Li Yan: “…” Good. Junior sister was fine.

Li Yan’s eyes swept Lu Yang, cold now. He didn’t need Ye Wan Wan to say anything more. He reached out and drew Ye Wan Wan behind him. Seeing that, she could only stand at his back. Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi stepped forward too, shielding her and Bai Jian in the middle. Shen Nan Zhou stayed close to the two girls without moving a step away.

For a moment, the four male disciples of Heavenly One Sect stood with Li Yan at their head and pressed down on Lu Yang. Their presence alone stilled the flow of people. The noise on the mountain path dropped several degrees.

Li Yan spoke. His voice was calm but carried its own authority: “I don’t remember you. When I train outside, I have a habit. I never use my real name. You called my identity out as soon as you walked up, so we did not meet at Great Marsh Mountain.”

Lu Yang’s expression went stiff.

Li Yan said coldly: “I didn’t expose you earlier because many people here are from the Alliance. I was giving you a little face. But if you plan to use that false identity to get close to us and plot against my junior sister, don’t blame me for acting.”

As his words fell, Li Yan released his aura. A strong Nascent Soul Stage pressure burst over the mountain path, startling many cultivators into looking their way.

“Nascent Soul Stage!”

“So young!”

Shock spread through the crowd. On the Elders’ Terrace, someone also felt the disturbance and looked over in surprise, saying: “The matches haven’t even started. Are they going to fight already?”

Crunching seeds, Lu Qing Xuan said: “Good. If they fight, that’s one less rival.”

Everyone else thought: “…” They might agree in their hearts, but he didn’t have to say it out loud.

Lu Yang’s face was rigid now. The warmth and spring breeze had vanished. Only cruelty and gloom remained. His sister, Lu Xuan, rushed over anxiously.

“I’m sorry, Senior Brother Li,” she said, near tears. “It was me. I asked my brother to come speak to you. I saw you at Great Marsh Mountain and couldn’t forget you afterward, so I had him make up a reason to approach you. I didn’t know it would cause this misunderstanding. My brother’s cultivation method is a bit special. The scent on him comes from that method. There was absolutely no malice toward the two junior sisters. As for your name, I asked around. I heard the first disciple of Heavenly One Sect has the surname Li, so I guessed it was you. That part is true. We meant no harm.”

Only then did Li Yan look straight at Lu Xuan. He studied her face and said: “I haven’t seen you either.”

Lu Xuan’s face went white and her eyes turned red. She said: “I was the female cultivator who tried to kill the purple spider and got my shoulder pierced by its leg. I fainted from the poison. If you hadn’t stepped in, I might have died.”

“You really saved me,” Lu Xuan said quickly.

Li Yan said coldly: “I forgot.”

Lu Xuan tried to say more, but Li Yan said in a flat voice: “Miss Lu, I don’t regret killing the spider. If you keep talking, I will regret acting at that time.”

The crowd fell silent. [It is one thing to fight, another to crush a person’s heart. This senior brother is ruthless.]