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"Food is our top priority here. This is where we usually eat, but meals are served on time. No one will be served after the time is up."
Chang Xia blinked, placed his hand on the little girl's shoulder, and said seriously, "Li Bai, because of the special nature of our Yunting dining hall, you must learn two skills as quickly as possible: grabbing food and clinging to the food cultivators."
The girl nodded obediently and said timidly, "Yes, Senior Sister, I'll take note of it."
Changxia sighed inwardly as she gazed at the little kid before her. This was already the fifth time she'd brought fellow apprentices to visit the sect. Her master, though a swordsman, was avid fortune teller. He'd often find a child, claiming they were destined for him, and then take them under his wing. He'd be willing to teach the first few, but with the rest, he'd simply leave them to the care of his already trained disciples.
Changxia wasn't the eldest disciple that the master taught. She was the second disciple that was given to the eldest disciple. True to her father's teachings, even her brother had the same habit of leaving his children to be raised by others. She was the one who taught the master's five subsequent disciples.
The four junior brothers and sisters before her each had their own personalities, giving her a headache for many years, but the one in front of her seemed well-behaved and obedient. Chang Xia regained some confidence, took the girl's hand, and said as they walked, "Let's go, Senior Sister will take you to see Qianji Tower and Ruomu Valley."
Yunting, located north of Cangxuan, earned its title as the Lord of the North thanks to its millennia-long legacy. Following the fall of the state system, it assumed control of all matters within the northern border. As such, the territory was exceptionally vast, and it was impossible to guide Song Libai through the entirety of Yunting in a single day. Therefore, after visiting a few key sites, Changxia took her back to Cangfeng Mountain.
Even though she'd sent kites to her fellow disciples ahead of time to let them know the younger sister was coming, she didn't know how many would show up this time. Last time, six younger sisters went into the mountains, only the fifth younger brother showed up. Changxia couldn't figure out what went wrong with her approach to teaching her younger brothers and sisters. While the other younger brothers and sisters were clearly devoted to each other, she was incredibly disengaged. She always envied the brothers and sisters in the Privy Council, who always hung out together and seemed so close.
"Including you, our master has a total of seven disciples. Besides me, there are the eldest brother, the third sister, the fourth brother, the fifth brother, and the sixth sister. Their personalities... can be considered good, but you don't see them very often." Chang Xia said as he used his left hand, which was not holding the sister's, to open the mountain gate. "It doesn't matter if I can't see everyone today. We will get to know each other better later..."
Changxia casually glanced at the road up the mountain, but suddenly froze.
One, two, three, four, five, three men and two women, led by a sword fairy in green, stood in an orderly manner behind the mountain gate.
She looked up at the sky, but the sun hadn't risen from the west. Chang Xia looked at her third junior sister, who usually hated going out the most. She helplessly spread her hands and looked at the leading Qing Yi Sword Immortal, their senior brother, Xie Fengxue.
Chang Xia turned his gaze to Xie Fengxue again, who explained calmly, "Master sent me a message this morning saying that this is his last disciple."
Changxia recalled that Master had said something like this when he handed Li Bai to her yesterday. He had always assured her that this was the last one, but after that, fellow apprentices appeared one after another, like gourds growing from a vine, so she hadn't taken it seriously. Now that she'd heard it from her senior brother, it seemed much more believable.
Xie Fengxue squatted in front of Li Bai first, pulled out a bunch of bottles of pills, large and small, from his sleeve, handed them to her and said, "I am your senior brother."
The little girl had clearly never experienced anything like this before, and she stared blankly at Changxia with wide eyes. Changxia smiled and said, "Take it. Didn't I give you a hairpin as a gift yesterday?" Li Bai then accepted it and whispered, "Thank you, Senior Brother." Xie Fengxue stood up and gently patted her head.
The other junior brothers and sisters followed suit, kneeling down to greet her. Third Junior Sister Huo Tinglan presented Li Bai with an exquisite mechanical bird, Fourth Junior Brother Jiang Bailu with a stack of self-defense talismans, and Fifth Junior Brother Chu Xian with a small black iron sword. As for Sixth Junior Sister Zhu Lingyao, her gift was a bit more special: some four-season clothing, tailored for Li Bai's measurements, which would take some time to complete.
Changxia waited for Libai to finish accepting the gifts, then untied a storage bag from her waist. She had prepared this yesterday, containing some spirit stones and daily necessities, including but not limited to the Cangfeng Mountain school uniform, a disciple's handbook, bed sheets, and even some small snacks that girls would enjoy. After all, as a senior sister who had raised several children, these preparations were a piece of cake for her. After carefully teaching Libai how to put the gifts into the storage bag, Changxia felt a little tired of squatting all the time to talk, so she picked up Libai and asked, "Do you want me to accompany you for some more shopping, or do you want to go to your accommodations and rest first?"
Li Bai's small hands climbed onto her neck and whispered, "Senior Sister, let's go shopping again tomorrow."
Changxia agreed and signaled his eldest brother to lead the way for them.
Yesterday, the master came and left in a hurry. He summoned Changxia in the middle of the night and threw Li Bai to her without even entering the mountain gate. He didn't say much. Changxia only had time to settle down in the outer city for one night before bringing her back to Cangfeng Mountain today. She asked her senior brother to arrange a place for her in the mountains, and she didn't know if it would suit her. Changxia thought about it and said gently, "Your courtyard is ready. If there is anything that doesn't suit your taste, please tell me and I will make it for you."
Xie Fengxue, who was walking in front, suddenly turned around and looked at her. There was clearly nothing special in her expression, but Changxia could see some questioning in it.
She felt a little guilty at first, but then she changed her mind and realized that she was telling the truth. If her junior sister didn't like it, she should have changed it. Why should the courtyard prepared by Xie Fengxue be the best? So she glared back with confidence. Xie Fengxue said nothing more and continued to lead the way. The other junior brothers and sisters either looked at the sky, the ground, or stared at the wild flowers on the roadside.
The group of seven was quite impressive, a group their sect hadn't seen in decades, drawing frequent glances from the other disciples of Cangfeng Mountain. Changxia, holding Li Bai in her arms, absorbed all the stares, lamenting once again her failure as a senior sister. It was just a group action, yet even their sect rarely exhibited such a scene, making it seem odd. So, she quickly walked over to Xie Fengxue and whispered, "Brother, don't you think we're missing something compared to the others?"
Xie Fengxue looked straight ahead, "Is it less boring?"
Chang Xia didn't want to pay attention to him, so he ran over to Huo Tinglan and asked, "Junior sister, do you feel that we brothers and sisters don't communicate as much as others?"
Huo Tinglan was raised by her after all, so she answered obediently, "I communicate with my senior sister quite a lot."
Does "exchanging a lot" refer to the daily greetings, morning and evening? Changxia sighed. Third Junior Sister, born into a royal family with strict rules, had been greeting her elders daily since she was little. Ever since she came up the mountain, as if adhering to the principle that an eldest sister is like a mother, she had directed both greetings to Changxia.
Behind her were her fourth junior brother drawing talismans as he walked, her fifth junior brother polishing his sword, and her sixth junior sister reading a storybook. She no longer wanted to communicate with them. Looking at Xiao Qi, who had fallen asleep in her arms, Chang Xia thought to herself that she should at least ask Senior Brother Shen from the Privy Council for advice on how to make people like her junior sister more popular. At least she couldn't be like the previous ones, who hadn't been seen for several years.
When they arrived at the courtyard, Li Bai was still asleep. Chang Xia didn't have the heart to wake her up, so he took out another set of bedding from his storage bag and spread it on the bed, then carefully placed Li Bai on the bed.
Seeing this, several of her junior brothers and sisters took their leave. Xie Fengxue, however, stayed. For a moment, only Changxia and Xie Fengxue were awake in the courtyard. After she settled Li Bai, she finally had time to take a good look around. She had to admit, despite her senior brother's hands-off nature, he was a reliable person. The courtyard was meticulously maintained. A gravel path meandered past the gate, flanked by exotic flowers and plants. In the center, a massive pear tree flourished. Xie Fengxue had no idea what magic she had used, but the pear blossoms fell like snow, disappearing into the ground. The eaves were meticulously hung with octagonal lotus lanterns, painted with a rabbit embracing the moon, adorable in the candlelight. She had just inspected the house, and aside from some of the girl's most intimate belongings, everything else was perfectly stocked. There was also a faint, soothing aroma in the air; it was normal for the little girl to have restless sleep in the first few days after arriving.
There's really nothing to criticize.
"Master said her name is Li Bai." Xie Fengxue looked at the pear tree and said, "I found one from Ruomu Valley."
Chang Xia snorted lightly, "You weren't so meticulous when you took care of me back then."
Xie Fengxue smiled and said, "Your name is Changxia, and I can't possibly move the entire summer here for you."
Chang Xia sneered, "You wouldn't throw me into a cave for three years, would you? I slept on a stone bed, couldn't even cook, and I ate wild fruits for three years."
"What do you want me to do? This is how my master raised me." Xie Fengxue said helplessly, "When you first came, I was only fifteen years old. Cangfeng Mountain hadn't even opened a training ground yet. I grew up in the mountains, and my common sense is not even as good as the children living down there..."
He continued, "The wild fruits you eat are all ones I risked my life to test to make sure they are edible."
Chang Xia turned her head away and ignored him. Third Junior Sister joined the sect much later. Before that, she and Xie Fengxue had indeed lived a life of dependence on each other for many years.
"Anyway, you just feel sorry for me." She said firmly at last.
After a futile argument, neither she nor Xie Fengxue could convince the other and they parted unhappily.
Before leaving, Chang Xia looked at the octagonal lantern, hesitating whether to put out the light for his junior sister. Before he could do anything, Xie Fengxue's voice came from the distance, "Put it out, why not? When the little girl wakes up and sees darkness, she will cry and call for her senior sister, asking her to hold her. What a wonderful thing."
. . .
"Xie Fengxue!" Chang Xia shouted angrily, but because he cared about his sleeping junior sister, he had to lower his voice, "Why are you so annoying!"
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