Chapter 60 Senior Brother Confesses Because I Like You
Shi Liuying's question, filled with anger and heartache, was resounding, like a stone thrown into the still, stagnant waters of the Chuanshu Bureau.
The surrounding books seemed to freeze for a moment, and several nearby staff members cast complicated and helpless glances at them.
The bureau chief remained silent, his sparse beard trembling slightly, his eyes filled with an indescribable heaviness.
He did not refute it.
"That's right! Your Book Bureau has always been this selfish and self-serving!"
A clear and loud voice suddenly cut in from behind, filled with indignation.
It's that girl in the red dress, Chen Sui'an.
She had wandered back sometime earlier, standing with her hands on her hips, cheeks puffed out, and an expression that said, "I've finally got my chance."
As soon as she finished speaking, she moved swiftly and darted to the director's side in the blink of an eye, her small hand reaching out as nimbly and quickly as a cat's.
"Ouch!" the bureau chief cried out in pain, clutching his chin and staggering backward.
Chen Sui'an opened his palm, revealing a few snow-white whiskers.
She winked slyly at Shi Liuying, lowered her voice, and spoke rapidly: "Quick, while he's in the wrong and worried about his beard, hurry up and ask for something! Don't miss this opportunity. That's how I got the chance to travel between two worlds."
Want...benefits?
Shi Liuying's grief and indignation were partially dispelled by this sudden action, leaving her completely bewildered.
Honest Shi Liuying: Benefits? What benefits? How do I get them?
Seeing her stunned, Chen Sui'an stamped his foot in frustration, moved even closer, lowered his voice, and asked with bright eyes, "Don't you want to be with your senior brothers and sisters forever?"
"Oh dear, silly goose, once the mission is complete and the system reclaims them, they'll have to leave your world. This old man has a 'pass' that allows transmigrators to freely travel between the two worlds!"
"I'll be with you forever! Do you understand?"
Forever...to accompany?
She looked at Chen Sui'an, then at the bureau chief who was tenderly touching his chin and trying to smooth his disheveled beard, and a surprising light suddenly flashed in her clear eyes.
Forever. To be with you.
She didn't want her senior brothers and sisters to disappear just because some ridiculous mission was over.
She wanted them to always be there. Like they had been for the past five years, like they had been long ago, always at Wanxiangzong, by her side.
Shi Liuying is a stubborn and somewhat rigid girl who doesn't understand complicated things. When she's angry, she's angry; when she's happy, she's happy.
But at this moment, Chen Sui'an's words seemed to open a crooked but sparkling side path next to her straight thought process.
Her strong learning ability has always been one of her strengths.
Almost instantly, she "went astray".
The pale blue figure left a trail of afterimages in the same spot.
The next second, Shi Liuying appeared right in front of the bureau chief.
Without drawing his sword, Bu Ling used the tip of the scabbard to quickly, accurately, and steadily tap the director's neck.
At the same time, with lightning speed, she grabbed the sparse, white beard that the bureau chief had left on his chin!
The movements were executed in one smooth motion, displaying the decisiveness and efficiency characteristic of sword cultivators.
It even... had the air of a ruthless bandit kidnapping.
"Don't move!" Shi Liuying's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear. Her gaze swept over the staff members who were now flustered and trying to move forward because of the sudden turn of events. "Otherwise..."
She used a barely perceptible amount of force with her wrist to lift the tuft of beard in her hand upwards.
"Ouch—be gentle! Be gentle!"
The bureau chief immediately grimaced and quickly raised his hand to stop his subordinates who were crowding around him, "All of you, step back! Step back! Don't be rude!"
The entire Transmigration Bureau instantly descended into a strange chaos.
The flow of the starry sky stopped, the projection of the light orb was interrupted, and those waiting to pass through were dumbfounded.
Some people wanted to secretly use underhanded tactics, but when they saw their bureau chief grimacing and having his beard being grabbed by that young girl, they held back.
Chen Sui'an clapped his hands with glee, adding fuel to the fire: "That's right! That's it! You guys at the Bookstore have caused such a huge mess, making those senior brothers and sisters suffer for two hundred years. Now that the victims' families are asking for some justice, what's wrong with that? That's how it should be!"
Shi Liuying gripped the tuft of beard, feeling the soft yet fragile touch on her fingertips. The slight unease she felt due to "kidnapping the old man" was quickly suppressed by her firm belief in "for her senior brothers and sisters."
She looked up at the bureau chief, her gaze shifting from initial anger and confusion to calm and sharp.
"Let's make a deal."
She spoke, her voice calm yet carrying an undeniable power.
"As you know, no one but me has the ability to restore order to the cultivation world and eliminate that 'Number Ninety-Seven'."
"No one but me can do what you, the Transcendent Book Bureau, have failed to achieve in two hundred years."
Chen Sui'an chimed in, hands on her hips, chattering, "Did you hear that? Attitude! Show the same attitude you have towards your customers, no, towards your saviors!"
"If this were in our Great Liang, someone who does things so poorly and harms others would have been beheaded eight hundred times over by Chu Jichuan!"
With a sword sheath pressed against his neck and his beard held in someone's hand, the director listened to the accusations and threats from the two girls, one big and one small. His wrinkled old face changed expressions, finally settling into a long, deep sigh filled with relief.
"Yes……"
He admitted that his voice sounded old: "The Chuanshu Bureau has worked hard for nearly a hundred years and spent countless resources, but it has only found two people with firm enough character and pure enough soul."
"The last one... failed. All hope rests on you."
He raised his eyes, his gaze no longer seeing her as a junior who needed guidance, but truly looking at her as an equal, as if she were a key figure who could be negotiated on equal terms and who would determine the fate of the world.
“Speak,” the director asked, his tone formal and cautious, as if he were speaking at a negotiating table, “what do you want in exchange?”
"I will help you restore order to the cultivation world and eliminate System 97."
Shi Liuying spoke each word clearly: "Give them passes. Passes for all my senior brothers and sisters. Let them choose to stay or leave freely, they can... stay forever."
“No.” The director shook his head, his expression serious. “Too many souls that do not belong to this world, or even those that frequently travel between worlds, will also overload the world’s barriers, causing new chaos and collapse.”
“If that’s the case, maintaining the balance becomes meaningless, and I have no reason to make this deal with you.”
He looked at Shi Liuying's slightly widened eyes, softened his tone, but made it sound even more cruel: "I can only give you one time travel spot."
"In other words, after all the missions are completed and the system reclaims the data, only one person can choose to return to the cultivation world and stay with you long-term after returning to their original world, using this anchor point."
He paused, then asked the most crucial, and also the most cruel, question:
"Who do you intend to give this only chance to?"
-
The night was as still as water, soaking the tranquil mountains of Wanxiangzong.
In Shi Liuying's small courtyard, on the roof of that simple but clean thatched house, two figures sat side by side.
Shi Liuying hugged her knees, rested her chin on her knees, and turned her head to look at Jun Lintian beside her.
The moonlight outlined his handsome profile, his straight nose, his slightly pursed lips, and his eyes that always held gentleness and composure.
At this moment, he looked up slightly at the starry sky, lost in thought, a faint, lingering weariness shrouding him.
A faint, subtle ache suddenly rose in her heart, like a tiny needle gently pricking the tip of her heart.
"Senior brother," she whispered, breaking the silence of the night, "Will you always stay with me?"
Jun Lintian turned his head upon hearing the sound, his gaze falling on her face.
Under the moonlight, her clear eyes reflected the starlight and a hint of expectation that was barely perceptible, perhaps not even fully understood by herself.
His eyes flickered almost imperceptibly, like a tiny pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating delicate ripples.
“…Of course,” he replied, his voice still gentle, showing no sign of anything amiss.
But Shi Liuying didn't miss that moment of hesitation. It was very brief, almost fleeting, but it definitely existed.
She tried to force a smile, but the hidden pain in her heart suddenly intensified and spread dully.
"My senior brother is lying," she thought to herself.
Jun Lintian seemed unwilling to continue the topic. He shifted his gaze to the distant mountain shadows shrouded in the night, and naturally changed the subject: "Have you found a way to deal with Ao Hao in 'Sword Heart Reflecting the Dao'?"
Shi Liuying nodded, suppressing the inexplicable sadness in her heart, and cheered herself up: "Okay. Tomorrow, I will go and rescue Chen Hanzhou."
“This time…” Jun Lintian paused, then turned his gaze back to her, his eyes filled with clear apology, and a deeper, more unfathomable emotion, “I’m afraid I can’t go with you, Senior Brother.”
"Why?" Shi Liuying was taken aback and subconsciously asked, her tone revealing an urgency she herself was unaware of.
Jun Lintian looked at her, the moonlight falling on his pale face, making his weariness even more apparent.
“The system within me… may have been exploited by Ao Hao. This final battle hinges on you. I cannot risk being interfered with by him, or even being dragged down by him.”
His voice was soft, but carried an unyielding resolve: "So, you'll have to face it alone."
Shi Liuying opened her mouth, wanting to say "I'm not afraid of being a burden," wanting to say "we can find a solution together," but looking at the calm and resolute look in her senior brother's eyes, which showed his deep consideration for her, all the words stuck in her throat.
An indescribable feeling spread through my heart. A bittersweet feeling, a sense of loss, and a touch of emptiness and bewilderment.
She seems to have grown to a very capable level, enough to stand on her own.
But when she heard her senior brother say that he couldn't accompany her to the most important battlefield, she still felt a pang of sadness.
Unbeknownst to her, her senior brother had long since become more than just a swordsman; he had become an integral part of her life.
Jun Lintian seemed oblivious to the turmoil in her heart. He turned slightly to the side, his gaze falling on the simple roof of the thatched hut at his feet, a faint, nostalgic smile playing on his lips.
“It was on this rooftop,” he said softly, as if talking to himself, “that the second time I saw you… I slept the first good night’s sleep in over two hundred years.”
Shi Liuying's attention was drawn back. "The second time you saw me?" She thought for a moment, "Was it the day my senior brother taught me swordsmanship?"
"Hmm." Jun Lintian nodded, his gaze distant, as if he could see through time to that evening. "Back then, I wanted to see what kind of person could imitate my swordsmanship to seven-tenths."
He paused, his smile deepening, "But unexpectedly, as soon as I got close to you, my body reacted before I even realized it, and I just fell asleep on your roof like that."
Shi Liuying whispered, "From that day on, I knew that my senior brother was a very good person."
Upon hearing this, Jun Lintian chuckled softly, a hint of self-deprecation mixed with relief: "Then you should really be thankful that I'm your senior brother who taught you swordsmanship. If someone else had taught you swordsmanship before you..."
He said in a joking, relaxed tone, "Then my senior brother's status in your heart is probably going to be greatly diminished."
This was originally a joke meant to lighten the mood.
But Shi Liuying listened very attentively.
She turned her head and looked directly into Jun Lintian's eyes, the moonlight illuminating the pure and unwavering clarity within them:
No, it won't.
She said it softly, but with unwavering conviction.
"My senior brother is the most important person in my heart."
"No one will ever again insist on teaching me swordsmanship when they are injured themselves."
Injured? Jun Lintian was slightly taken aback.
He suffered too many injuries, big and small, many of which have become blurred in his long memory.
“Senior brother’s hand is injured,” Shi Liuying pointed out, gesturing with her hand. “There’s a deep cut on the web of his right hand. I… I even put the shiny stamens of lantern flowers on it.”
Junlintianxia consciously lowered his head and looked at the palm of his right hand.
The thin calluses from years of sword practice covered the wounds, obscuring any trace of the old injuries.
He looked up again, gazing at the cluster of lantern flowers in the corner of the courtyard, which emitted a soft glow in the night.
If it's about being injured, he really can't remember which specific time it was. But if it's about lantern flowers...
Those subtle memories, obscured by busyness, tasks, system notifications, and long periods of loneliness, quietly surged into my mind like a tide awakened by moonlight.
The little girl's clumsy yet earnest eyes, her fingers smelling of grass and flower juice, and the flower stamen she carefully applied, with its strangely cool touch...
“Actually,” Jun Lintian suddenly spoke, his voice even softer than before, like an evening breeze rustling through bamboo leaves, “when I taught you swordsmanship, you also taught me something.”
"Me?" Shi Liuying asked in confusion.
"Hmm." Jun Lintian nodded, his gaze falling on the glowing lantern flowers. "Teach me how to crush the lantern flowers and apply them to the wound. It will feel cool and soothing."
"This hardly counts as teaching you anything..."
Jun Lintian paused, then turned his gaze back to Shi Liuying's face. Those eyes, which were always gentle and calm, seemed to have shed all the composure that belonged to "Senior Brother," revealing a hint of reality and a touch of loneliness beneath.
"I've been busy in the cultivation world for two hundred years, completing tasks and dealing with the system... and I've never paid attention to such trivial matters that have nothing to do with cultivation or life and death."
His gaze lingered intently on Shi Liuying's face, as if he were depicting a lost treasure that had been recovered.
"Only you will discover these things."
"Only you would 'teach' me these things."
"Only you would care about a wound on my hand that might heal on its own tomorrow."
"Only you...would want me to get a good night's sleep."
The gentle and composed senior brother had never spoken so frankly, or even so openly.
Shi Liuying felt her heart skip a beat, then start pounding wildly against her chest.
She unconsciously gripped the hem of her skirt at her knees, the fabric crumpling in her palms.
Her cheeks burned, her gaze darted around, and she dared not meet her senior brother's eyes, which seemed to see right into her heart.
"Others will also care..." Her voice was a little dry as she tried to refute, but she lacked confidence.
Jun Lintian gently shook his head, his gaze still fixed on her, his voice low and clear:
There was no one else.
He said.
"It's because of your existence. Only your existence makes me feel that I am not a passerby in this cultivation world driven by missions and monitored by the system, but a real person who is alive, flesh and blood, who can get hurt, and who is also worried about whether he has slept well."
Shi Liuying suddenly looked up and met his deep eyes.
Beneath that usual gentleness, she clearly sensed a deep-seated, long-standing loneliness.
Like a traveler who has walked alone across a long snowfield, finally finding a small lamp lit for him in some corner.
"Senior brother..." she murmured, the bitter pain in her heart being washed away by a more surging and unfamiliar surge of warmth.
Not only did she need her senior brother's company, but her senior brother also needed her just as much as she needed him.
This two-way, profound need was like a boulder thrown into a lake in her heart, stirring up a thousand waves, making her heart beat so fast it felt like it was about to leap out of her throat, and her breathing became involuntarily rapid.
Jun Lintian had already shifted his gaze, looking back at the vast starry sky, as if those words were just casual whispers under the moon.
His tone regained its usual calmness, carrying a faint sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion) and a sense of relief at having faced his true self:
"When I first saw you through the teleportation stone... I was immediately drawn to your eyes."
Shi Liuying was taken aback.
Transmission Stone?
“You’re so small, and your opponent is more than a head taller than you when you stand on the ring.”
Jun Lintian recalled with a smile, "Even though he was almost exhausted, his eyes were incredibly bright, full of defiance and unwavering determination that he could do it."
He paused, his voice carrying a tenderness he himself was unaware of: "My heart, which had been dry for hundreds of years, seemed to be suddenly scalded by that gaze, and stirred with emotion."
"It's like...like longing to see what a particularly stubborn cub will eventually grow into."
"I want to see how far you can go in this vast and complex world of cultivation, with your stubbornness and purity."
Shi Liuying listened intently.
So... that early.
It turns out that every step she took, in her ignorance and stumbling, was under the watchful eye of her senior brother.
This kind of gaze transcends the care of ordinary fellow students; it is more like a long, silent vigil and expectation.
A strange feeling, like a tender bud breaking through the soil in early spring, quietly sprouted in her heart.
She wanted to be the best in her senior's eyes. Every step she took was meant to be firm, stunning, and worthy of this weighty expectation.
She took a deep breath, and the cool night breeze calmed her racing heartbeat.
She gazed at Jun Lintian's profile, her voice as soft as if afraid to disturb the moonlight that shone on her senior brother's face at that moment:
"Have I disappointed my senior brother on this journey?"
Upon hearing this, Jun Lintian slowly turned his head.
The moonlight fell on his handsome features, gently fading away the last trace of weariness on his face.
He looked at Shi Liuying with an unprecedented seriousness and focus, and her somewhat nervous yet expectant face was clearly reflected in his deep eyes.
"Your senior brother will never be disappointed in you."
His voice was soft, yet it carried an unwavering firmness.
Almost instinctively, Shi Liuying asked, "Why?"
Jun Lintian gazed at her, the usual gentle smile on his lips gradually fading.
This time, he did not refer to himself as "senior brother".
He looked at her, his eyes reflecting the stars, the moon, and her image, and said clearly in a tone that was more direct and solemn than ever before, "Because you are good enough."
"Also because..."
He paused slightly, as if gathering his courage, or as if confirming an answer that had long been ingrained in his heart.
A night breeze rustled through the lantern flowers, causing them to whisper softly, and their gentle glow swayed gently.
He looked into her eyes, each word clearly reaching her ears and into the tranquil night.
"Also because... I like you."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Chen Sui'an, who appears in this chapter, is the female protagonist of another completed novel, "Can Unsold Blind Boxes Also Win Over a Black Lotus?" Those interested can check out the author's page.
Random red envelopes will be dropped in the comments section [pat on the head]
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