Outside the gate of the Qingyun Sect's residence, a new gatekeeper had been assigned.

Seeing this, Jing Zhe resorted to the same trick again.

"Is Lady Pei of the Kunlun Mirror still alive?"

"Here I am…"

Even though they disliked Jing Zhe, with the double protection of their senior sister and master, the disciples of Qingyun Sect no longer dared to be disrespectful to Jing Zhe.

"Look, isn't that it?"

Hearing a noise behind him, the male disciple turned around and saw Pei Yunxi walking out accompanied by Qingqiu. Although Qingqiu was injured and her face was slightly pale, she was in good spirits.

The two chatted and laughed, seemingly unaffected by their injuries, and did not notice the commotion at the door. Seeing this, the male disciple pointed out the way to Jing Zhe.

"Senior sister..."

At this moment, Qingqiu and Pei Yunxi had arrived at the door. The male disciple didn't usually have many opportunities to speak with Pei Yunxi, so after thinking for a moment, he still smiled and said, "Miss Pei, it just so happens that President Jing came to see you..."

Looking for me?

Pei Yunxi asked with some suspicion, "Where is he?"

"Right here—"

As he spoke, he was still slightly suspicious. Why ask where the person was when they were right in front of him?

When he turned around, he found that there was no one in front of him, and there was no sign of Jing Zhe.

"It was just here a moment ago, how could it be gone in the blink of an eye?"

The male disciple scratched his head, puzzled.

Qingqiu seemed to have figured something out. She glared at the male disciple and said coldly, "If I told you to guard the gate, then guard it properly. Stop thinking about all sorts of nonsense. There's clearly no one here, but you say there is!"

"But senior sister, just now it was clearly—"

"Stop with the 'buts,' just focus on guarding your gate!"

Then she looked at Pei Yunxi and said, "Fourth brother, you have a competition tomorrow, so go back and rest early. Third sister won't keep you here today!"

Pei Yunxi glanced at Qingqiu, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"Third sister, how about I stay with you tonight?"

"ah…"

Qingqiu was taken aback by Pei Yunxi's words and quickly said, "Fourth brother, I'm fine. I just need to rest. You don't need to stay with me!"

"Really? Third Sister isn't deliberately trying to get rid of me, is she?"

"No...nowhere!"

Thieves are most prone to feeling guilty. Qingqiu could barely speak properly, so she quickly retorted, "Why would I deliberately chase you away?"

"Of course..."

At this moment, Pei Yunxi leaned close and whispered in Qingqiu's ear, in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Of course it's about doing bad things with someone!"

"I...I didn't!"

Upon hearing this, Qingqiu's chest heaved: "Didn't I just tell you? Neither of us practiced any martial arts at all!"

I'm still trying to figure it out. I haven't practiced yet, but after tonight…

"I haven't even said who 'someone' is yet, and Third Sister already thinks it's Zhe'er. Tsk tsk, it's hard not to be suspicious!"

"..."

Qingqiu realized she had been tricked, and her face instantly turned bright red.

"boring!"

After saying that, he ignored Pei Yunxi and turned around to walk straight into the Qingyun Sect.

Pei Yunxi stood at the door, watching Qingqiu disappear inside. She turned around and looked around again, her gaze landing on a certain mound. After looking at it for a while, she shook her head, muttered something under her breath, and then left.

...

That was close!

Tonight is for serious business like healing or practicing martial arts with Qingqiu. Jing Zhe doesn't want to be disturbed, especially by his beloved yet fearful fourth sister, so he dares not show his face.

But he had a feeling that Pei Yunxi had looked in the direction of his hiding place for a long time before leaving, as if she had guessed something...

Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore!

Jing Zhe shook his head. Anyway, you'll all have to go through this eventually. As long as I'm not embarrassed, it's you who will be embarrassed!

After saying that, he came out from behind the mound and strode to the outside of Qingyun Gate.

"President Jing... President Jing!"

Seeing Jing Zhe return, the male disciple immediately looked in the direction Pei Yunxi had left. Finding no trace of her on the road, he sighed, "Why did President Jing leave just now? Lady Pei just left. If you want to find her, you'll have to go to Kunlun Mirror!"

"oh."

Jing Zhe agreed and said calmly, "Let's go then. I came to find your senior sister!"

"..."

Watching Jing Zhe disappear through the door, the male disciple was still somewhat confused: Since he came to find my senior sister, why ask about Lady Pei?

"Jing Zhe is here?"

At this moment, the sun was about to set, and the meal at Qingyun Sect was ready. Sect Master Mingji, accompanied by Qingqiu, was about to go to the side hall for a meal when he happened to see Jing Zhe.

"Sect Master Mingji, you've come to bother us again!"

Jing Zhe cupped his hands in greeting and then smiled, "My third sister's meridians are disordered, and I've been restless and uneasy in the Prince of Jin's residence. I was worried about her, so I came here to give her some more true energy later!"

After listening, the sect leader of Mingji nodded repeatedly, looked at Qingqiu, and smiled gently: "Qingqiu, it's rare for someone to care about you so much. You have a good younger brother!"

Qingqiu pursed her lips and remained silent, a blush rising on her face, but her eyes were filled with satisfaction and contentment.

"Since you're here, please have a meal with me first!"

Jing Zhe nodded in agreement, and the three of them went to the side hall together.

The food at Qingyun Sect was naturally not comparable to that at Prince Jin's residence. While it wasn't exactly meager, it wasn't exactly good either, as there wasn't even any meat.

Thinking about how his third sister grew up eating this kind of food, Jing Zhe felt a little sorry for her and joked, "Sect Leader Mingji, the food your Qingyun Sect serves to guests is not very lavish!"

"What are you saying! Who knew you'd come to eat?"

Qingqiu glared at Jing Zhe. If her master hadn't been there, she probably would have reached out and twisted Jing Zhe's ear.

Jing Zhe wasn't afraid and said with a grin, "Just kidding!"

The sect leader of Mingji smiled and shook his head: "Jing Zhe is right. The food in our Qingyun Sect is indeed not very lavish. In fact, even when we were in Jiangling, the food was just like that."

Qingyun Sect is not a nunnery, so there is no rule against eating meat. Jing Zhe thought for a moment and said, "Is it because the sect's expenses are high that we have to cut back on food costs?"

The sect leader of Mingji nodded and said, "Yes, the Qingyun Sect also has several hundred people, and unlike the Wuxian Pavilion, it does not have its own property like the Wuxian Garden. Therefore, the sect's silver reserves are tight, and we must be very careful with our food and drink expenses!"

Then, as if remembering something, she laughed and said, "So when Qingqiu first met you in that fake Taoist temple, she heard that you helped the Qingyun Sect obtain several thousand taels of silver, and Qingqiu gave you her token without asking any questions. But now it seems that it was all fate!"

Jing Zhe nodded with a smile, and at the same time he could confirm that it seemed that all the sects and factions, despite their high prestige in the martial arts world, were facing increasingly tight budgets.

"Since things are so tense within the sect, why are all the major sects still thinking about expanding their influence, recruiting more disciples, and opening branch sects?"

Jing Zhe asked curiously.

————