Chapter 12 Just Friends 12
Yan'er originally planned to tell her brother about what she had seen and heard at the market that day, so that he would be more vigilant and have a sense of urgency. If he continued to dawdle like before, her brother Ren might run off with someone else!
However, the Xuanqing Sect has been extremely busy these past few days, with all the disciples working non-stop. Yan Shuoyun, the sect leader's eldest disciple, is at the forefront of this. He hasn't had a chance to talk to his sister properly, let alone sleep; he's barely managing to stay awake, relying entirely on his cultivation to keep going.
Yan'er hadn't managed to catch anyone for several days in a row, and the little girl's lips were pouting so much they looked like they were about to hang an oil bottle.
Five days later, she finally realized that she couldn't rely on her brother!
Little Sister Yan decided to rely on herself.
As the art of war says, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." Medical texts also say, "Observe, listen, inquire, and palpate; prescribe the right medicine for the right ailment." No matter what you want to do, the first step is to have a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the enemy.
After Yan'er determined the basic course of action, she began running towards Yingsong Peak.
Yan Shuoyun was busy and had no time to take care of his younger sister.
Ren Yi had some free time to look after Yan Er. Of course, he knew where the little girl was, but he didn't think much of it. After all, they had been together for so long, and Ren Yi knew all about Yan Er's little quirks. Considering the charm of the Chosen One that transcended age and gender, it was perfectly normal for Yan Er to run to Ying Song Peak.
Ren Yi wasn't too worried about Yan Er's safety. After all, Ying Song Peak was within the Xuanqing Sect, and with so many outsiders arriving all at once, the sect leader had sent three elders to guard it just in case, and countless disciples were patrolling. Yan Er was unlikely to get into trouble on this turf, so Ren Yi simply let her be.
With the tacit approval of all parties, the news about Yan'er was obtained very smoothly.
She's young and has a sweet tongue; no one could bear to refuse a girl who speaks to them in such a soft and sweet voice.
In just a few days, she had asked about almost everything she could, and even the disciples from the Eastern Continent, seeing that she was young and not wary of her, had inadvertently revealed a lot of the fighting techniques commonly used by various families.
While the latter wasn't exactly a secret, the cultivators who came here tacitly kept it to themselves. After all, the upcoming competition was related to the quotas for the two continents to enter the secret realm, and revealing it in advance would not do them any good.
Fortunately, Yan'er wasn't really interested in these things, and if the topic came up by chance, she would deliberately avoid any appearance of impropriety. This attitude made the Dongzhou disciple, who initially thought he had caused trouble, feel embarrassed, and he naturally became more and more open about everything he knew elsewhere.
Over the past few days, Miss Yan has made a lot of progress, but she is not happy about it at all.
The more she learned, the heavier her heart became.
After descending from Yingsong Peak that day, Yan'er rubbed her face, which had been stiff from smiling, and her expression suddenly turned bitter. She sighed deeply in the corner and collapsed. You see, although she didn't want Brother Ren to be taken back to Dongzhou, Yan'er would still feel sad for him if he misplaced his affections.
The thought of Brother Ren possibly suffering because his affections were unrequited made her heart ache.
The little girl stared at the wildflowers peeking out from the roadside grass and sighed for a long time. Finally, she dragged her feet and slowly walked back, her back view showing a somewhat desolate appearance.
Yan'er was heartbroken, but her brother was too busy to even comfort her (taking advantage of the situation).
Yan'er felt increasingly choked up as she thought about it.
Why is this guy so disappointing?!
Ren Yi soon discovered that after a few days of novelty, Yan Er stopped going to Yingsong Peak.
This wouldn't have been a problem; teenagers are at a stage where they're not very settled, and it's normal for their interests to shift quickly. It's just that Yan'er stopped running towards Yingsong Peak and instead started chasing after him.
Ren Yi?
In fact, Yan'er had often come over before, waking up at the same time every morning and evening. Ren Yi sometimes wondered if he was the girl's real older brother. But even during the period when she came most frequently, it wasn't like these past few days. She even brought her homework over, as if she wanted to stay at his place.
It wouldn't be a problem if she just followed along, since Yan'er is a well-behaved child who rarely causes trouble for others.
However, the girl looked worried and hesitant, clearly indicating that there was something going on.
Ren Yi waited for several days but Yan Er didn't speak. He only noticed that the expression on Yan Er's face grew heavier day by day. Anyone who didn't know better would think that Yan Er had some incurable disease.
On this day, Ren Yi originally planned to go to the Listening Thunder Platform at the top of Yuefeng Peak, but after taking only a few steps, he found a little tail following him.
You must know that the Thunder Listening Platform is a place with fierce winds. Ren Yi used this environment to temper his body, but even so, he could not stay there for long. If only Yan Er, who was in the Qi Refining stage, had gone there, he would have been sent directly to the Medical Peak after coming down.
Judging from Yan'er's absent-minded appearance these past few days, she probably doesn't even know where she's going.
Ren Yi was filled with helplessness. He couldn't just take the person to Ting Lei Terrace like that, so he turned around and stopped at the pavilion halfway up the peak.
Seeing that the girl wouldn't speak up, Ren Yi simply asked, "What's wrong? Is there something you want to tell me?"
Yan Er, who had been following behind with a serious expression, almost jumped up when Ren Yi asked her that question. Her face was full of "How did you know I had something to say?!" She really wore her heart on her sleeve, which made Ren Yi's eyes involuntarily smile.
The beauty's smile made Yan Die forget everything else. Ren Yi asked the same question again, and she completely forgot her previous hesitation. She blurted out, "Brother Ren, you and that Xiao family head from Dongzhou, are you...?"
Ren Yi hadn't expected that Yan Er's troubles were related to the Chosen One. He was taken aback when he suddenly heard her mention Xiao Hanzhou.
Yan'er noticed Ren Yi's unusual expression and suddenly snapped back to reality. She bit her tongue hard, not knowing her own strength, and the pain almost brought tears to her eyes. But she managed to swallow the rest of her words. Looking at her brother Ren's expression, she wanted to slap herself. How could she have so bluntly brought up her brother Ren's painful memories?!
To say that Ren Yi's expression was anything special at this moment wouldn't be an exaggeration; he was simply a little surprised to hear Xiao Hanzhou's name unexpectedly.
Yan'er's complex inner thoughts were simply the result of a young girl reading too many storybooks; her imagination ran wild, and her thoughts wandered off into who-knows-where.
But Ren Yi couldn't even care less about his own accident at this moment, and hurriedly went over to check if the little girl had bitten him.
Yan'er had really hit hard just now, and blood was seeping from her tongue. However, the girl was very skilled at treating wounds. She took some medicine powder from her storage bag, put it in her mouth, and then looked at Ren Yi with a worried expression, looking anxious as if she wanted to speak but was afraid of saying the wrong thing. Sweat was even on the tip of her nose.
Ren Yi was both amused and exasperated by Yan Er's actions, but after thinking about it, he understood her concerns a little better.
It was probably because of what happened when he met Xiao Bai and the other person at the market that day. His behavior made Yan Er guess something, which is why she has been so worried these past few days.
Once he understood, dealing with it became much simpler. Ren Yi smiled calmly and said, "I am friends with Patriarch Xiao. We had some acquaintance back in Dongzhou. After a long separation, we chatted for a while."
Yan'er was taken aback by his nonchalant attitude and subconsciously asked, "Just friends?"
He blurted it out, then realized he'd misspoke. If Brother Ren didn't want to bring it up, wouldn't her words be like stabbing him in the heart?
Ren Yi didn't react in any particular way. He looked at Yan Er with a puzzled expression, as if he didn't know why she asked that question.
Yan Erleng looked doubtful. Could it be that she really saw it wrong that day?
Having worked at the Transmigration Bureau for so many years and played all sorts of roles, Ren Yi could easily coax a young girl if he wanted to. Before long, Yan'er was convinced and even felt embarrassed about her previous wild guesses. She breathed a sigh of relief and blurted out, "That's great!"
After she finished speaking, she immediately covered her mouth and carefully looked at Ren Yi's expression. When she saw that Ren Yi did not seem unhappy, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, stammered an explanation of her previous misunderstanding, and then apologized with her head down.
Ren Yi's previous actions were intended to give Yan'er a way out and let the matter drop, but he didn't expect the girl to be so straightforward, actually telling him everything about her "misunderstanding." This made it difficult for Ren Yi to speak, because in a sense, Yan'er hadn't actually misunderstood anything.
Although Ren Yi's actions just now were a roundabout way of leading Yan Er to think in the wrong direction, if possible, Ren Yi still didn't want to lie directly to the Yan siblings. Now, faced with the girl's direct question, he was caught off guard.
However, Ren Yi was experienced in missions and quickly realized what was going on. He casually said "It's alright" and then deliberately steered the conversation away from the topic.
The Yan siblings are both very perceptive, but it's clear that the little sister Yan is still a bit less skilled than her brother. Ren Yi's approach might not work on Yan Shuoyun, but it's different with Yan Er. The little girl was easily distracted, and because she had put her worries aside, her expression became noticeably lively.
However, this relaxed and pleasant mood didn't last long. Before long, Yan'er was "reminded" by Ren Yi that she had fallen behind on her studies because she had been focusing on Ren Yi and Xiao Hanzhou these past two days. She immediately became dejected and didn't want to follow Ren Yi around anymore. She hurriedly said goodbye.
However, just before leaving, whether out of concern or a desire to completely dispel Ren Yi's thoughts, the little girl grabbed Ren Yi's sleeve and emphasized again, "Although the head of the Xiao family is indeed handsome, it's not easy to like him."
Ren Yi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
There's nothing inherently wrong with what she said, but coming from Yan'er's mouth, it gave one the feeling that "the sun rose in the west." You have to understand, this young girl was completely clueless back then, yet she dared to take him into the sect based solely on her looks. From what Ren Yi has seen over the years, Yan Shuoyun has put in a lot of effort to correct his sister's bad habit, but in the end, the results have been minimal.
Yan'er could also see the disbelief in Ren Yi's expression, and she became a little anxious. "It's true! The Xiao family head and the Bai family head are in love with each other, but back then someone forced the Xiao family head to swear an oath by using a favor to prevent him from becoming a Daoist partner with anyone else."
Ren Yi was truly stunned.
The Bai family head that Yan'er mentioned was naturally Bai Jinliu.
Ren Yi only discovered after their last meeting that three whole years had passed, and Bai Jinliu had not only not become a Daoist couple with Xiao Hanzhou, but had instead become the head of the Bai family. He was actually a little surprised by this, but due to his awkward position, he didn't want to inquire too much, and he hadn't expected there to be such a story behind it all.
But at the same time, Ren Yi couldn't help but have a bad feeling: could this "someone" be referring to him?
Heaven can bear witness.
He really didn't do such a despicable thing!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
