Volume 1 Chapter 55: Junior Sister — Killing Intent Comes and Goes
While the clothing proprietress was wrapping a measuring tape around her, Pei Lengxue's mind was completely occupied with the thought of her senior brother giving clothes to Feng Yudie.
She had already begun drafting a murder plan.
— Wait until Feng Yudie falls asleep.
— Sneak into her bedroom.
— Smother her face with a pillow.
— Take a dagger and stab her chest dozens of times.
— Wash the dagger clean and put it back in the kitchen.
— Wash the blood off her body and return to her room to sleep peacefully until morning.
— The next morning, pretend to be the first witness and proactively report to the Profound Star Sect elders that Feng Yudie had been mysteriously murdered overnight.
…
"Alright, young lady, I'm done measuring."
The proprietress wrote down Pei Lengxue's measurements in her little notebook. When she looked up and saw the murderous, demon-like intent in Pei Lengxue's eyes, she immediately shrank her neck in fright.
"Yo-young lady? What's wrong with you?"
"Huh…?" Pei Lengxue snapped back to her senses and brushed her bangs aside. "Is something wrong with me?"
"Never mind," the proprietress said, waving it off. "Come take a look—pick whichever fabric and color you like. You can choose the pattern too."
Shrugging, she went to fetch several sketches and bolts of cloth, letting Pei Lengxue choose according to her preferences.
After everything was settled, she led Pei Lengxue back out of the inner room. She originally wanted to discuss the price with her senior brother, but upon finding him nowhere in sight, she felt puzzled.
"Where did that young master go?"
"..." Pei Lengxue froze for a moment, then said, "Maybe he went out to stroll around the street?"
"Honestly…" the proprietress sighed. "Accompanying a girl shopping and not even willing to wait—honestly."
"It's fine, it's fine," Pei Lengxue replied quickly. "I don't mind."
"Then sit here and wait for a bit. I'll go organize the fabrics in the back."
"Mm…"
Pei Lengxue sat down casually and resumed reviewing her murder plan, trying to find loopholes. But then another thought struck her—
What if her senior brother really did like Feng Yudie?
If she buried Feng Yudie, wouldn't senior brother be heartbroken?
And if senior brother ever found out it was her… would he abandon her?
"No, no, that won't do…"
Pei Lengxue lowered her head, troubled. Suddenly, a lightbulb went on over her head, but a moment later, it went out again.
The lightbulb over Pei Lengxue's head flickered on and off repeatedly.
"This won't work… that won't work either…"
At that moment, Ye Anping returned. Seeing her sitting alone on the bench by the shop entrance in a daze, he walked over and asked, "What won't work? What are you thinking about?"
"Ah… Senior Brother, I wasn't thinking about anything."
"Sorry," Ye Anping said. "I ran into an acquaintance just now and got pulled aside to chat for a bit. I didn't get a chance to tell you—did you wait long?"
"No." Pei Lengxue immediately grabbed his hand. "I didn't wait long."
"Good. Is everything with the clothes settled?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll go pay the deposit. I'll come pick them up for you in a few days."
Ye Anping shrugged, then took her hand and went back inside to find the proprietress. After discussing the price and setting a pickup date, he brought Pei Lengxue to wander around other places again.
Before long, the evening bell rang at the center of the street, signaling the arrival of the next day.
Dong—dong—
Ye Anping hurriedly urged her, "Junior sister, hurry back. If it gets any later, you won't be able to enter. You don't have sect robes or an identity token yet. If the Profound Star Sect night patrol sees you, it'll be troublesome to explain—and there's a curfew these days."
"Ah… okay." Pei Lengxue nodded. "Then I'll come over after I wake up tomorrow."
"Tomorrow…" Ye Anping thought for a moment. "No, tomorrow won't work. Senior brother has something he needs to take care of."
"Ah…"
"You're almost an adult already—you should learn to be independent." Seeing her gloomy expression, Ye Anping couldn't help but smile helplessly. "Come back after the sect disciple selection event. Senior brother will still be in this marketplace—I'm not going anywhere. Once you get your sect robes and disciple token, you can come whenever you have time."
"…Hug me."
"..."
With a sigh, Ye Anping slowly opened his arms and pulled her into a brief embrace. After that, he reminded her again:
"Remember—don't scrimp on the spirit stones and pills I gave you. Use them when you should. Buy whatever you need. Profound Star Sect disciples can purchase quite a few good things directly from the sect. The Scripture Pavilion also has many cultivation techniques. If you see one you like, just buy it. If you're unsure, come back and ask me—I can tell you whether it suits you."
"Mm. Then I'll head back."
"Go on."
Pei Lengxue smiled with pursed lips, then summoned her flying sword and stepped onto it. She turned back reluctantly to look at him one more time before riding her sword into the air and leaving.
Watching his junior sister fly away, Ye Anping let out a long sigh, suddenly looking like an old father seeing his child off. Only after she had completely disappeared from view did he turn around and head back toward his therapy pavilion.
…
Although it was already past curfew, he was lucky and didn't run into any night-patrol disciples on the way back.
After flying for about a quarter of an hour, Pei Lengxue's sword landed steadily at the entrance of the small courtyard residence. She stood at the gate and took a deep breath.
Perhaps because she'd been exposed to the cold night wind for so long, she had calmed down considerably. The thought of "killing Feng Yudie" was flung far beyond the clouds.
"Senior brother will definitely marry me someday! Pei Lengxue is the best!"
With that, she pushed open the courtyard gate and walked inside.
But the moment she entered, she ran straight into Feng Yudie, who was just coming out of the bathing room.
Feng Yudie was wearing a light green gauze-layered dress. Her silver hair hung damply down her back, and a towel was draped over her shoulders—it was obvious she had just finished bathing.
When she saw Pei Lengxue, her eyes lit up and she greeted her warmly, "Junior Sister Pei, where did you go so late at night?"
"..."
Pei Lengxue's gaze locked tightly onto the dress Feng Yudie was wearing.
Light green… cloud patterns…
Wasn't this exactly the dress the proprietress had described earlier?
All of a sudden, the thought of "killing Feng Yudie," which had just gone off on a long vacation beyond the clouds, came flying straight back.
Seeing Pei Lengxue staring fixedly at her dress, Feng Yudie grinned and walked over, spinning in place once as she asked, "Junior Sister Pei, doesn't this dress look familiar?"
Pei Lengxue narrowed her eyes slightly. "F-familiar?"
Feng Yudie nodded. "Yeah! Isn't this something you wore when you were little? Young Master Ye sold it to me a few days ago…"
—When Ye Anping sold the dress, he wanted to recover a bit more money, so he lied to Feng Yudie and said it was an old outfit Pei Lengxue had worn as a child. He knew that would make Feng Yudie pay more.
?
A question mark popped up in Pei Lengxue's mind.
She didn't quite understand what was going on—but hearing that Feng Yudie had paid for it instantly put her at ease.
The thought of "killing Feng Yudie" whooshed away on another vacation.
"You bought it from my senior brother?"
"Oh right, you don't know yet." Feng Yudie quickly added, "Your senior brother is here. He opened a shop in the Profound Star Sect marketplace—it's called Ye Therapy Pavilion."
"…Mm."
"How do I look in this? Is it nice?"
"Mm."
Pei Lengxue nodded, then turned around and walked straight back to her room.
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Link for character illustration:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1PdkaxAXCm0CjLL3M58xxLd1KyiUxEjjh