Favoritism

As soon as the words left their mouths, they both froze, their faces turning red in unison.

Lin Yun lowered his eyes and stared at the weeds between the rocks, racking his brains to think of something to say to salvage the situation. Unexpectedly, the person in front of him frankly admitted, "I do admire my junior sister."

Before Yun could reply, he added, "I don't expect you to give me an answer right now." He gently stroked the snowball, "You've never seen the diverse people from all corners of the world. Asking you to make a choice now is not the act of a gentleman."

His words were sincere, but he harbored a different plan in his heart.

What he did today was merely to break the ice between the two of them. Whether she agrees or not, he will leave a significant mark on Yunwang's life.

More importantly, a faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared on Zhou Hengyan's lips. Since Junior Sister Yun Wang had no romantic feelings for him at the moment, he was even more determined to seize the initiative. "Even if Junior Sister chooses another partner in the future, I will still be here waiting, just as I am today, just as I am now."

He spoke frankly, but if that day ever came, he would definitely kill that person secretly.

Lin Yun was lost in thought during the time she was silent. Senior Brother Zhou's words gave her an indescribable strange feeling, like the magnanimous wife in a storybook speaking to her flirtatious lover.

But when you actually point out a mistake, every sentence is perfectly polite.

“My heart is not a stone, it cannot be turned.” He raised his hand and pressed it to his chest, his knuckles turning white from the force.

This movement made it easy for the snowball to slip through the air; it suddenly broke free from the arm and ran forward.

Lin Yun instinctively wanted to give chase, but Zhou Hengyan stopped him, saying, "I've already planted a tracking talisman on it."

Tonight, in his search for the cat, he had spread his divine sense across most of the sect, leaving his Qi Sea completely empty. When he finally saw Xue Tuan, he forced himself to set up a tracking spell, and then barely managed to activate a Shrinking Earth Talisman to send his two senior sisters back.

Not a short time has passed since then, but he can still feel the thinness of spiritual energy in his mind, the intense burning pain, and his heart pounding violently.

However, he naturally knew in his heart what was causing his heart to beat.

After a long pause, Lin Yun finally spoke.

“This doesn’t seem fair to you, Senior Brother.” Even though this unfair situation was neither caused by her nor desired by her, “What you said is exactly what I wanted to say. People come from all walks of life and have all sorts of personalities. I hope you can roam freely in the world and not be confined to this small place.”

Zhou Hengyan's jade-like fingers curled slightly, and he gave a bitter smile. "Junior sister is insightful, so it should be this way, but the word 'emotion' is the most difficult to control."

The two continued walking. Upon hearing this, Lin Yun paused and said, "Senior brother, your words put me in a very difficult position. It seems I shouldn't refuse you, because you are so devoted—"

“I am only speaking from the heart,” she replied earnestly. “Since I have already said it, I will be frank. I regard my senior brother as my closest relative, but I have no romantic feelings for him whatsoever. I have none today, and I will have none tomorrow. So, senior brother, you don’t need to wait for me.”

One is an axe and a halberd, the other is an impregnable fortress.

"Whether it's unrequited love or waiting in vain, it's all my own choice."

The black cat circled around and returned to the two of them. Its tail swept across Zhou Hengyan's boots. He bent down to hug it, but missed. The dark cat lightly leaped into Lin Yunwang's arms.

"Senior Brother Zhou, I'll carry you then."

In truth, Lin Yunwang didn't understand his stubbornness, and seeing that she couldn't persuade him, she stopped trying. When they reached the courtyard gate, she said softly, "I just don't want Senior Brother Zhou to be sad in the future. If I agree perfunctorily now, it will be even more hurtful if he goes back on his word later."

Zhou Hengyan took the curled-up cat, his fingertips touching the lingering warmth of its body. This scene was reminiscent of the beginning of their meeting tonight, before he uttered those ambiguous words, and before Yun Wang had openly revealed the truth.

As the courtyard gate was about to close, he suddenly stopped at it and asked with slight urgency, "Junior sister, do you think I'm being persistent and annoying?"

The development of events tonight exceeded Zhou Hengyan's expectations. It turns out that love is not like playing chess, where every move can be controlled.

"I just didn't expect..." Lin Yun carefully chose his words, trying his best to avoid saying the abrupt thing he said earlier, "I didn't expect that someone like my senior brother would be troubled by matters of the heart."

“In your eyes, I am just the most ordinary of all the senior brothers, and naturally I also have emotions and desires.” He looked at Lin Yunwang with a pleading look that he himself did not realize. “If you feel awkward, just pretend that what happened tonight did not happen. I just hope you will not distance yourself from me.”

"Of course not." Lin Yunwang couldn't help feeling a little guilty. Just now, she had been thinking about how to keep her distance without making a sound. "I will always remember your kindness, Senior Brother."

Her voice was so soft it almost drifted away in the night breeze, “Whether it’s kinship or love, worldly emotions are hard to force.”

Perhaps he misspoke, or perhaps he spoke the truth; Zhou Hengyan's face suddenly turned pale, like a used, crumpled rag. In an instant, he composed himself. His hands, hidden in his sleeves, remained clenched tightly, his nails digging into his palms until they were bloody and raw.

"Go to sleep early tonight." Zhou Hengyan closed the wooden door for her.

A soft click shattered his carefully constructed facade, and he couldn't hide his disappointment, hanging his head. A wave of melancholy washed over him, engulfing him completely. He should have dealt with it more gently, like brewing tea slowly. What made his throat ache even more was that his junior sister, Yunwang, truly felt no romantic feelings whatsoever.

The snowball silently licked Zhou Hengyan's cheek; it was salty.

He was undoubtedly arrogant; at least, he never imagined he would be rejected so decisively, leaving no way out. It turned out that all those carefully laid plans were nothing more than a trap that had imprisoned him.

"I should have thought of that sooner," Zhou Hengyan murmured.

From the moment they met, a thin veil always separated them; there was a lack of intimacy and trust. He watched as Lin Yun discussed swordsmanship with newcomers and shared the latest trends, while he remained within the realm of others, someone who didn't want to owe favors and needed to consider how to repay them.

Not to mention her fellow disciple Sang Zhao, even the menial disciples who swept and cleaned in the mission pavilion could joke with her. But only with him, she always kept her gratitude gifts perfectly measured, calculating that neither of them owed the other anything.

Zhou Hengyan meticulously depicted each moment, hoping to extract something different from them. At their first meeting, he witnessed her unwavering resilience; in the Soul Breath Hall, he saw her devoutly praying; on the sword-fighting stage, he watched her stubbornly fall; tonight, in despair after exhausting her spiritual power, he heard the message she sent.

But there's no point in regretting what happened today; it's just that we need to plan carefully for the future.

A wooden door separates two people with unspoken thoughts.

Lin Yun had been weaving sword tassels these past few days, originally for Senior Sister Bai and Senior Brother Zhou. But after tonight's events, she was caught in a dilemma—whether to give them away or not. She placed the half-finished product on the table and suddenly sighed, "I've made a mistake."

She wasn't regretting her rejection, but rather regretting her rashness in bringing it up. If she had pretended not to know and quietly distanced herself, she could have preserved their dignity.

"You really have absolutely no feelings for him?"

The system, which had been silent all night, suddenly spoke, startling her so much that she almost knocked the candle over.

"What, System, are you as eager as Grandpa to entrust me to someone else?"

"No, it's just that I don't understand human emotions. What kind of person do you like?"

"Perhaps he is gentle and refined, knows proper etiquette and keeps his vows, and treats my family with sincerity..." she recounted, her fingers circling on the table. "Although I would love to have such standards, unfortunately, I can't answer that. If I were to meet that person, I'm afraid no standard would matter."

"And what about Zhou Hengyan? What do you think of him?"

Lin Yun thought for a long time before answering: "He is a leading figure among the younger generation and a rising star relied upon by the sect. However, the difference between admiration and infatuation is as small as one word, yet they are worlds apart."

"Are you worried about his cunning and scheming nature?"

"In other words, it's about planning before acting." She couldn't help but defend herself when she saw the system say this about her senior brother Zhou. Although she could sense that Zhou Hengyan was not simple, he had never harmed her and had even helped her a lot. Therefore, she couldn't presuppose the answer and then think about other people's behavior. That would be unfair.

Why are you still siding with him?

"This is not favoritism. Regardless of whether he expressed his feelings tonight, he is still my senior brother first and foremost, nothing more." That is enough.

Moonlight streamed through the window, filling the room with a brightness greater than the small candlelight. She extinguished the candle and walked to the window, still troubled by her love.

In her past, she seemed isolated from the world, without close friends to whisper in her ear or family to hold hands with. She only began to "taste" the concept of relationships after arriving in this world, but that doesn't mean she was ignorant. Despite his illustrious family background and extraordinary talent, to her, he was merely a brilliant senior brother she had glimpsed on the edge of a sword, capable of ignoring even the slightest romantic feelings.

Lin Yun chuckled, "If everyone in the world chooses their lover based on their conditions, then the current number one cultivator in the cultivation world, Immortal Venerable Qiming, should be admired by everyone."

Before tonight, she had never thought about love.

Finally, I cleared up my thoughts and felt much lighter. With the slightly chilly night breeze, I hummed a melodious tune.

In the Bojian Temple, there was another person gazing at the distant moon, just like her.

The snowball nestled obediently on his lap. Zhou Hengyan stroked the silver hairpin he hadn't given away yet. There were many similar ones in the drawer, all of which he had carved in the past few days, and this one was his favorite.

He sat upright, without saying a word, as the crescent moon was about to set.

Tonight, some people will find it hard to fall asleep.

The next morning, as fate would have it, the two left their doors at the same time. With a creak of the wooden door, their figures bumped into each other in the morning mist—a first for them. There was no awkwardness between them; their greetings were as casual as ever.

"Junior Sister Yunwang."

"Senior Brother Zhou."

Suddenly, Xue Tuan darted out of Zhou Hengyan's arms. Lin Yun subconsciously bent down to catch it, only to see that the person in front of him was still wearing yesterday's boots, with varying shades of dew stains on the boots, remnants of last night's dew. Upon closer inspection, he realized that he had simply changed his outer garment.

As the snowball jumped into her arms, she felt its weight in her arms, and her heart sank.

Zhou Hengyan remained calm and asked, "Junior Sister, where are you going?"

"Go practice sword control." I originally wanted to invite Senior Sister Bai to give me some pointers, but considering that she was still hungover, I gave up the idea.

"Is she accompanied?" Seeing her nod, Zhou Hengyan asked again, "Is it Senior Sister Bai?" Seeing her shake her head, "Then it must be Junior Sister Xie."

Zhou Hengyan advised, "Neither of you has any experience in sword flight. Why don't I accompany you and guide you from the side? It's always slower to figure it out on your own."

The words of refusal were about to roll off his tongue when he softly cut them off: "Since you said last night that you would treat me as an ordinary senior brother, you should allow me to fulfill my duties as a senior brother."