Early in the morning three days later, while Lin Zhiyue was practicing her swordplay in the courtyard, she suddenly felt a surge of spiritual energy from the direction of the side peak. Three distinct auras burst out of their secluded cultivation caves one after another, intertwining and clashing in the morning light, sending a visible shockwave through the air.
She sheathed her sword and looked up to see three figures walking down the stone steps of the side peak side-by-side, heading toward her courtyard.
Walking at the very front was a tall young man with thick eyebrows and bright eyes. His face was tanned to a light honey color by the sun, and he wore dark red disciple robes. A broad-bladed heavy sword hung at his waist, and he walked with a vigorous, energetic stride.
Behind him followed a girl with a high ponytail, sporting a heroic look and a straight posture. Her Gold Spiritual Root aura was slightly weaker than the young man's but exceptionally solid, and her gaze was calm and bright.
At the very back was a youth not much older than her. He was half a head shorter than the other two, with a slightly pale complexion and delicate features like an ink painting. His eyes held the lightness and sharpness characteristic of wind spiritual root cultivators.
Before Lin Zhiyue could even speak as the three of them lined up at her courtyard entrance, the young man at the front strode in and slapped her shoulder, sending her reeling back half a step.
“Are you the new little junior sister Master took in?” He grinned, revealing a neat row of white teeth, his voice quite loud. “I'm Chu Zhixun, your Eldest Senior Brother. While in seclusion, I heard that Master had actually broken his own rules to take in a disciple with a dual ice and wind Heavenly Spiritual Root. I thought to myself back then—finally, someone has caught Master's eye!”
Cen Xi'er followed him in, much more polite than Chu Zhixun. However, her gaze swept Lin Zhiyue from head to toe before she nodded, saying with certainty, “Solid skeletal structure, smooth spiritual energy flow. No wonder Master made an exception.”
Xiao Yuan stood at the courtyard gate without coming in, only tilting his head slightly to look at her. His gaze carried a hint of light aloofness, but the corners of his mouth curved up slightly as a greeting.
Only after Chu Zhixun and Cen Xi'er had entered the courtyard did he slowly walk in, turning back to close the gate behind him.
Surrounded by the three of them, Lin Zhiyue was still trying to figure out how to interact with her senior brothers and sister when Chu Zhixun suddenly slung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her toward the exit. “Come on, your senior brother will take you to eat the roasted spirit beast meat at the back of the mountain. I've been craving it like crazy after three months of seclusion—”
Cen Xi'er reached out from behind and smacked the back of his head. “Gentle! Junior Sister is only at the fourth level of Qi Refining. Do you think she can handle your brute strength?”
Xiao Yuan walked at the very back, unhurriedly adding, “And don't step on Junior Sister's feet. Last time, you broke two of an outer sect junior brother's toes.”
With their constant banter, the three of them swept her out of the courtyard, heading toward the back of the side peak.
Sandwiched in the middle, Lin Zhiyue felt Chu Zhixun's warm elbow on her left, Cen Xi'er's hand occasionally reaching out to support her on her right, and Xiao Yuan occasionally passing her a sweet spiritual fruit pill from behind. Though her head was spinning, the corners of her mouth curled up unconsciously.
Indeed, senior brothers and sisters were the easiest people to get along with in the world. In her past life, she had also been looked after by her seniors all the way under her academic advisor.
Their affection for her was truly genuine.
Chu Zhixun treated her to three meals of roasted spirit beast meat, Cen Xi'er gifted her a bottle of top-grade meridian-nourishing spiritual liquid, and Xiao Yuan infused a withered old pine tree in her courtyard with a burst of wind spiritual energy to coax out new buds.
The three of them were unreservedly good to her, taking turns to familiarize her with every corner of Tiance Palace. When she practiced her swordplay, one would offer guidance from the side, another would demonstrate in front, and the third would correct her posture from behind.
But Lin Zhiyue quickly noticed something.
When Chu Zhixun was around, Cen Xi'er's gaze lingered on his profile thirty percent more than on his face. And every time Chu Zhixun turned to speak to her, Cen Xi'er's earlobes would flush a very faint pink—so quickly that if Lin Zhiyue didn't have such sharp eyes, she wouldn't have caught it at all.
When Xiao Yuan was present, he would always quietly stand half a step behind Cen Xi'er's left shoulder. If Cen Xi'er moved forward, he moved forward; if Cen Xi'er stopped, he stopped, like an invisible ripple following a small boat.
Yet, Chu Zhixun was completely oblivious to the two of them. He would pat Cen Xi'er's shoulder when he felt like it, bicker with Xiao Yuan as usual, and occasionally scratch the back of his head and complain, “Why do you two always block my path?” entirely unaware of how many years the undercurrents had been swirling behind his back.
Lin Zhiyue quietly observed this for three days, finding it more and more amusing the more she watched.
On the morning of the fourth day, the system screen popped up with a new quest: 【Limited-Time Quest: Investigate the full picture of the romantic entanglements among the host's three senior brothers and sister. Reward: Premium Draw Ticket x 5. Time Limit: 3 days.】
Lin Zhiyue stared at the quest for two seconds, quickly closed the screen, and made a decision for herself without any hesitation.
She unfolded a piece of paper and wrote a brief message: “Master, I am going down the mountain with my senior brothers and sister for a two-day journey. I will make up for my swordplay lessons myself when I return. —Your disciple, Zhiyue.”
She folded the letter into a paper crane. With a nudge of her spiritual energy, the paper crane flapped its wings and flew toward the main peak. Then, she stood up, patted her robes, pushed open the door, and went out to find Chu Zhixun, who was sitting on the stone steps of the back mountain, munching on a spiritual fruit.
“Eldest Senior Brother,” she sidled up and sat down, her tone casual. “Why don't we go down the mountain for a stroll? I've been here for so long, and I haven't even stepped out of Tiance Palace yet.”
Chu Zhixun tossed the fruit core away and wiped his mouth. “Sure, Cen Xi'er and Xiao Yuan aren't busy either. Let's go together. But what about Master—”
“I've already sent Master a message,” Lin Zhiyue said, her expression unchanging.
So the four of them immediately packed their things and flew down the mountain on Chu Zhixun's broadsword.
The market at the foot of Tiance Palace was bustling. Chu Zhixun led the way enthusiastically, pointing at this and that. Lin Zhiyue followed behind, with Cen Xi'er walking slowly beside her on her left, and Xiao Yuan trailing at a comfortable distance on her right.
Along the way, she used various excuses to observe, drop hints, and create opportunities.
When they ate, she deliberately arranged for Chu Zhixun and Cen Xi'er to sit together, while she sat opposite them in the same row as Xiao Yuan. She saw with her own eyes how Cen Xi'er didn't dare to look Chu Zhixun in the eye when placing food in his bowl, while Xiao Yuan lowered his head to eat his rice, holding his chopsticks a bit tighter than usual.
While traveling, she intentionally lagged a few steps behind. She saw Xiao Yuan, when Cen Xi'er wasn't paying attention, gently tuck a stray strand of hair blown by the wind behind her shoulder. His movement was so gentle, as if he was afraid of waking a bird, before he nonchalantly retracted his hand and looked away.
On the evening of the second day, the four of them settled down in an inn at the market.
Lin Zhiyue found an excuse to send Chu Zhixun away to buy spiritual wine, then dragged Cen Xi'er to sit in the backyard. After beating around the bush for a while, her probing skills, honed during her graduate school admission interviews in her past life, kicked in automatically.
“Second Senior Sister,” she poured herself a cup of tea, asking as if casually, “what do you think of Eldest Senior Brother?”
Cen Xi'er's earlobes flushed red again. She lowered her head and stirred the tea in her cup. Only after a long while did she squeeze out a sentence: “Reckless, careless, speaks without thinking, and the first thing he does every time he comes out of seclusion is eat roasted meat...”
She paused, her voice suddenly dropping, so quiet that only Lin Zhiyue could hear. “But he is a very good person. Since the day I first entered Tiance Palace ten years ago, he was the very first person in the entire sect to speak to me.”
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