Valley of Flowers

"what you up to?"

Nan Yi's expression wasn't very pleasant; his dark eyes stared at the other person.

Lu Heqi waved his hand: "Don't overreact—"

Then, as if realizing something, he immediately asked, "You don't know which sect I belong to, do you?"

Nan Yi was already getting impatient. If the other party hadn't mentioned his senior sister earlier, he would have left immediately.

What sect you belong to has nothing to do with me?

Seemingly sensing the coldness in Nan Yi's tone, Lu Heqi instead laughed and said, "Don't get angry so easily. Getting angry makes you less likable to your senior sister. I thought my features were quite obvious..."

His body was covered in flowers; wasn't it obvious which sect he belonged to?

Nan Yi's expression stiffened after hearing only the first two sentences. He quickly composed himself before looking at the other person again.

I thought about it carefully this time: "Hundred Flowers Valley?"

Although Hundred Flowers Valley is also a first-class sect, their first-class status is different from that of other sects.

They are so enthusiastic about finding partners that many of them are partners in various first-class sects and families.

Thinking of this, and connecting it to his earlier question, Nan Yi was on high alert: "What do you want to do?"

"Tsk tsk, don't worry so much. Our disciples from Hundred Flowers Valley always study our opponents thoroughly before each sect competition—like me, I learned about you from some of my fellow disciples."

Hundred Flowers Valley does indeed study other sects' opponents before the sect competition, but their focus is completely different from other sects. They only focus on disciples who do not yet have partners. Speaking of which, their disciples are very moral, and they never touch those who have partners.

Among the information they gathered, the most eye-catching were these two from the Myriad Manifestations Sect—and perhaps a little Azure Phoenix as well. However, that Azure Phoenix was rather young and seemed to not quite understand what liking was.

Therefore, many female disciples in the valley focused their attention on this fox, initially assuming that the fox knew a lot...

But now it seems that she's nothing special, incredibly innocent.

As for the fellow disciples, they noticed the senior sister of the Myriad Manifestations Sect who had suddenly appeared not long ago.

After observing her for a long time, I found that this senior sister was good in every way, except that she didn't seem to be enthusiastic about love. Of course, there were also a few junior brothers who wanted to try and hit a wall.

However, there were rumors that this fox was very close to that senior sister. Lu Heqi glanced at Nan Yi, who seemed a little stiff in front of him, and suddenly laughed: "Why are you so nervous? We just want to choose a partner, not poison your senior sister."

Nan Yi steadied himself and retorted, "You can't beat her at all; at best, you'll just be her defeated opponents."

Lu Heqi glanced at him quietly, his eyes filled with pity. Before Nan Yi could react to the meaning of his gaze, he heard him sigh softly: "I have never seen such an insensitive fox before. If you are not worried about your senior sister's strength at all, why did you stop to listen to me?"

He didn't miss the impatience that flashed in Nan Yi's eyes when he first met him.

"I just wanted to hear what you all had to say." His senior sister was the best, and he couldn't tolerate anyone talking about her in a joking tone.

"Huh?" Lu Heqi suddenly laughed exaggeratedly. "You don't mean you want to respect your teachers, do you? If you want to respect your teachers, you need to interfere to this extent. Isn't that a bit too much interference?"

He remembered that the previous information clearly stated that Nan Yi had been cultivating with his senior sister. In a sense, wasn't that senior sister Nan Yi's master?

Lu Heqi suddenly looked up, and a fiery red afterimage grazed his face by a hair's breadth. Although it was just a tiny bit short, the force of the wind it generated cut several small gashes on his cheek.

He hissed a few times, "Hey, you little brat, don't you know you can't hit someone in the face? I need to find a partner because of my looks. Your temper is exactly as described in the information. You start fighting at the slightest disagreement... Hey, that's enough. If you keep hitting me, I'll really get physical."

The fox tail flew high in the air, and Nan Yi's expression was completely cold. Ever since the other party mentioned respecting teachers and valuing the way, his expression had completely changed.

A senior sister is just a senior sister, not his real master, so how can he talk about respecting his master?

He almost inevitably wanted to end everything with a fight, just like when he was a child. In any unexpected situation, he could end everything with his own strength, including here. He didn't want to hear any more words about his senior sister from the other party.

But why he didn't want to hear it was something he no longer had the energy to investigate.

In a daze, he felt as if something was about to burst forth from the depths of his heart, something he had never thought of before, but its shadow was still hazy and indistinct, and even he himself did not know what it was.

"Alright, alright, it seems you don't like me being nosy. In that case, I can only wish you a speedy awakening. Don't let my junior brothers catch up with you, or you'll regret it later... but no one will listen then."

Nan Yi listened to the other person's words without saying a word. Only after the other person had walked away did the tail on his back droop down as if it could no longer support him.

His previously decent mood had vanished without a trace; now he only felt an urgent desire to go back—

Was the noise he heard earlier made by the disciples of Hundred Flowers Valley?

Will the disciples of Hundred Flowers Valley go to find their senior sister?

Would they ask their senior sister such a direct question?

After seeing them, what will happen to that senior sister...?

His face gradually turned pale, but he didn't stop walking for a moment, worried that he might see disciples of Hundred Flowers Valley at his senior sister's place.

"Senior Sister!"

Nan Yi hurried into the house, the sound of his own heart pounding still echoing in his ears. He heard himself calmly ask, "Were any disciples from Hundred Flowers Valley visiting just now?"

Chu Li was slightly taken aback, then quickly shook her head: "Junior brother, you've only been out for a short while, aren't you going to play a little longer?"

She had just heard that the scenery outside was quite nice.

"No, Senior Sister, I want to rest for a while," he said, intending to return to his room, but his hand rested on the door, and he hesitated to take a step. Suddenly, he turned back and asked, "Senior Sister, may I continue to stay here with you for the next few days?"

Before Chu Li could say anything, he immediately added, "I won't bother you, but the competition is coming up soon, so it's more efficient to cultivate with Senior Sister."

Chu Li frowned. She was used to cultivating alone, so it was strange that there was suddenly another person. When she was on the spirit boat, she was willing to let Nan Yi stay in the room because she thought that Nan Yi might not spend much time on the spirit boat and might feel insecure. Besides, the days spent on the spirit boat were relatively few.

But this time... looking at Nan Yi's pleading eyes, her heart softened. It didn't seem like a big deal to just let Nan Yi cultivate on the side.

And it should only be during the competition period, less than a month.

Nan Yi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Chu Li nod. He was worried that someone would sneak in as soon as he left, which was why he was so concerned and decided to stay here.

As night deepened, Nan Yi lay on the soft cushion he carried with him, his gaze constantly drifting towards Chu Li, who was meditating cross-legged halfway between them.

He's only at the Foundation Establishment stage now and needs to sleep, so he can't cultivate until dawn like Chu Li. But he's having trouble sleeping tonight.

Such a situation was rare for him. Apart from the period when he first entered the Myriad Manifestations Sect, when he couldn't rest well due to the unfamiliar environment, he gradually trusted his senior sister and was often able to sleep well next to her.

But today, he couldn't fall asleep no matter what. He was thinking about what the Hundred Flowers Valley disciple had said during the day.

The meaning behind his words was not hard to understand. After all, other foxes in their fox clan often used their superior appearance to lure humans or other beasts.

And what about him?

He never put his mind on these romantic relationships. When he was young, he had no interest in them at all, as even survival was a problem. As for later when he came to the fox clan, he only focused on cultivation, hoping to repay the fox clan with the resources he had obtained as soon as possible in exchange for his future freedom. He never thought about staying in the fox clan forever.

So he continued to cultivate and had already cultivated eight tails, but an unexpected change occurred just as the last tail was about to grow. From then on, he stopped thinking about anything other than his injury.

But now... now...

Nan Yi lowered his eyes, his troubled thoughts leaving his heart pounding in the air.

He didn't want his senior to find a partner. Amidst his jumbled thoughts, he suddenly remembered that person's words, which he strongly opposed, even though the answer to that question was no.

But he now understands very well that he doesn't truly reject the question, but rather harbors a sense of panic, worrying that one day the answer to that question will change.

In that instant, it was as if a bolt of lightning had cleaved through his chaotic thoughts.

Yes, he started to feel jealous, jealous of the person who would stand by her side in the future, someone who could stay by her side forever, drawing warmth from her, and perhaps even doing more intimate things with her.

By then, he had probably already left the Myriad Manifestations Sect and was far away from his senior sister...

He didn't want that; he wanted to stay by his senior's side forever.

After realizing his own feelings, he transformed back into a fox. The soft pads of his paws made barely a sound as they touched the ground. He moved closer to his senior sister, lay down, and closed his eyes.

He didn't see Chu Li open her eyes, glance at him, and then continue cultivating.

For the next few days, Chu Li observed that her junior brother would always go out mysteriously, only to return late at night, sneaking back. When asked, he would only stammer that he was going out to play.

Chu Li didn't take it to heart. She had long thought that her junior brother could play with more people his own age, so she didn't notice the blush on Nan Yi's face.

These past few days, he mainly felt he lacked experience, so he secretly slipped away to the neighboring Hundred Flowers Valley to investigate. He even used a high-level treasure to conceal his presence, but he never expected—

He unconsciously patted his slightly warm cheeks with his paw, only then realizing that humans could be so uninhibited.