Chapter 19: Two Dreams-Part 6

Jiang Xuehe’s gaze fell on “Senior Brother only dotes on little Ying.”

Ti Ying immediately hunched over, using her arm to block, her fingers picking at a knot in the fabric. It seemed to be a wild quail.

After a moment of silence, the question he eventually asked was utterly lacking in any cutting edge: “Do you know that tearing up a letter means you can’t see the contents anymore?”

Ti Ying was brimming with malice: “Didn’t you read it all? I just like to read letters like this!”

Jiang Xuehe’s gaze lingered on her face for a moment or two, and Ti Ying thought he would sigh and lament like their former master.

Jiang Xuehe spoke slowly, “As long as Junior Sister is happy.”

He turned away, continuing to rummage through their master’s pouch for little toys to play with Ti Ying, no longer mentioning the letter. He was indifferent, but Ti Ying felt a bit resentful because of his lack of concern.

Jiang Xuehe still remembered the light that flew into Ti Ying’s arms from the pouch just now, and seeing Ti Ying not mention it at all, he had a sense of what it might be.

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Mk Zkdt: …Txrb, usw jdso lhlauvbkdt, esd’v usw? Gddsukdt.

Feeling a bit down, Ti Ying heard Jiang Xuehe ask her, “Junior sister, I said I’m senior brother, you only asked a few questions and believed me? What if I’m an impostor?”

Ti Ying played with a piece of paper, head down.

He took a small artifact from their master’s pouch that could travel for ten miles and placed it on her bedside.

Ti Ying played with the small toy, saying, “You’re so good-looking, how could you be a bad person?”

Jiang Xuehe: …

He began to ponder, wondering if he had made a mistake.

If Little Ying started to believe that good-looking people were all good from now on, would that be his fault?

Mischievous Ti Ying peeked up from the bed, enjoying his troubled expression immensely—

One of her joys was teasing people.

Former master used to sigh a lot because of her antics.

But…

This senior brother truly remains as calm as ever.

Even when she’s being such a jerk, he just sits there quietly, with only a slight furrow of his brow, still looking remarkably serene.

Ti Ying pouts.

What’s even more concerning to Ti Ying is—

She stares at Jiang Xuehe’s hand, suddenly sitting up from the bed, “What are you doing!”

Jiang Xuehe’s arm is pressed down by her, the girl’s soft and warm breath tilting over crookedly. He stiffens for a moment, maintaining his usual composure, before he has the chance to reach out and prevent her from falling into his arms. He lowers his head to follow her gaze.

In his dry and scarred hands, he picks out a large stack of yellow talisman papers from their master’s pouch.

And Ti Ying’s face shows anger.

Huh?

What’s wrong with the talisman papers?

Ti Ying kneels before him.

Perhaps she feels that being fierce might not be effective, so she shows both anger and pleading in her eyes, tugging at his sleeve.

Ti Ying grumbles, “Kind Senior Brother, I don’t want to learn how to draw talismans; I don’t want to continue learning the Vast Dream Spell.”

The Vast Dream Spell is related to ghosts; it’s so scary.

Tears well up in Ti Ying’s eyes: she wanted to join the Yujing Sect precisely to avoid learning these talisman-drawing techniques and stay away from the Vast Dream Spell.

Jiang Xuehe understands.

Hmm, he recalls the contents of their master’s letter—indeed, their master did mention that he should spare some time to teach Ti Ying Taoist practices and supervise her thorough study of spells.

Jiang Xuehe looks down at Ti Ying and asks, “Is this why you tore up the letter just now?”

“It’s not!” Ti Ying explodes, grabbing his sleeve and pinching his hand like an angry rabbit with red eyes. “I’m just telling you, I don’t want to learn how to draw talismans, even if you teach me! Don’t try to use senior brother’s identity to pressure me. Even with Master here, I won’t learn!”

Jiang Xuehe’s hand moved slightly.

Ti Ying quickly moved away her hand that was pinching his, put her hands on her hips, and glared at him, showing a strong stance of refusal and determination to resist him to the death.

Jiang Xuehe seemed to smile for a moment.

But before Ti Ying could see clearly, she heard him still speaking calmly, “Alright, I won’t teach you, and I won’t pressure you. You can learn whatever you want on your own.”

Ti Ying looked at him skeptically—really?

He nodded.

He always had this calm and gentle demeanor. Ti Ying hesitated for a moment, still not entirely convinced that he would go against their master.

She reached out and poked the talisman paper in his hand, maintaining a serious expression, “So, what are you planning to do with this?”

Ti Ying added, “I know, you definitely want to pacify me now and stop me from making a fuss. Then, when we get along well, you’ll deceive me into learning how to draw talismans and the Vast Dream Spell. You obviously have a lot of tricks to deceive people, but I won’t fall for it.”

Their former master used to do this all the time!

Jiang Xuehe’s lowered eyelashes resembled resting butterfly wings, touched by sparks from the candle, elegant yet hazy. “I don’t have many tricks to deceive people. I also don’t have the spells or techniques you want to learn. How could I possibly trick you?”

Ti Ying was at a loss for words for a moment. “…Whatever. You’ll definitely do it; I don’t trust you!”

After Ti Ying’s fuss, Jiang Xuehe remained silent for a while.

Ti Ying felt a bit tired. She sneakily turned her head to look at him and saw him placing the talisman paper aside, beginning to tidy up other items, and putting them back into the pouch.

Her glance caught his attention.

Ti Ying quickly averted her gaze.

Jiang Xuehe said, “Junior Sister, you’re injured; you should sleep.”

Ti Ying retorted, “You’re a liar, and I’m a villain—I won’t sleep.”

If not sleeping meant being a villain, the standards for being a villain were a bit low. Jiang Xuehe’s hand reached halfway into the air, and Ti Ying thought he was going to hit her, so she instinctively moved back.

His fingers drew a few strokes in the air, and a brush appeared in his hand.

This made Ti Ying even more cautious—he could draw talismans out of thin air, indicating extraordinary talent and skills that surpassed hers. In that case, she should be even more cautious.

Jiang Xuehe’s brush landed on a stack of talisman papers.

As the brush touched the topmost talisman paper, the candlelight flickered, casting shadows over the curve of the canopy, then falling onto Jiang Xuehe.

The young man leaned down, his wrist suspended as he wrote. A strand of hair grazed his cheek and fell onto his loose black robe. And the candlelight eventually settled on his wrist.

His wrist, bearing scars, resembled snow jade, causing Ti Ying to glance at it several times.

Jiang Xuehe wrote a few words completely unrelated to talismans on the talisman paper—”Ying’s Care Manual.”

Ti Ying’s eyes widened, shining like jade water.

Jiang Xuehe spoke gently: “Senior Brother won’t teach you spells, but he’ll take care of you for a few days. The talisman paper will be used to write a few diary entries. How does that sound?”

The wolf hair disappeared from his hand.

(T/N: A brush made primarily from the fine hairs of the yellow weasel. The hairs are thicker and stiffer compared to sheep hair, which is categorized as stiff hair. Also known as “wolf hair.”)

Ti Ying tilted her head back, “…But why?”

He carefully tucked the girl into the bedding without touching her—

“I’ve never spent time with you before and wanted to get to know you better through this. When your second senior brother arrives, I’ll give the diary to him and won’t interfere with you anymore.

“So, is Little Ying ready to sleep? Not sleeping well won’t make you grow taller.”

Ti Ying was covered with a blanket and placed on the bed. Her dewy eyes met his deeply.

The candlelight cast his face in half-light, and she noticed the wound on his neck. No one said a word. Ti Ying turned her head and buried herself under the blanket—

Ready to sleep.

But what did it mean to hand her over to second senior brother? Was second senior brother going to accompany her to the Yujing Sect as well?

—

The next day, Ti Ying woke up refreshed, only to realize with regret that, because her senior brother was too gentle, she had forgotten about the divine consiousness that had entered her sea of consciousness last night.

Hmph, given the cultivation level of her former master, at most, he could only convey a sentence or two.

Ti Ying lazily entered her own sea of consciousness and, as expected, found her former master’s divine consiousness floating around in the form of a letter.

Really, what couldn’t be said in front of senior brother?

Ti Ying reached out to take the letter, but when she touched the paper, she got furious—

Her former master had locked this letter.

It involved several complex talismans.

In other words, if she couldn’t unlock the talismans, she couldn’t read the letter.

…What the heck!

After all the trouble of secretly delivering the letter, it turned out she had to pass a test of her talisman studies!

She wouldn’t read it!

Ti Ying angrily stuffed the letter back into her sea of consciousness.

—

Jiang Xuehe was standing on the second-floor railing of the inn, looking out at the scenery outside, when he heard a “bang” behind him.

Turning around, he saw Ti Ying looking unhappy. He was concerned about her injuries, but she was still hopping around.

Jiang Xuehe stood still, his gaze falling to her abdomen, adjusting the corner of his hood where the wind had blown.

Ti Ying’s frustration turned towards him: “When I’m in a bad mood, I even scold dogs a couple of times!”

Suddenly, Jiang Xuehe wanted to laugh.

But he simply ignored her calls. After confirming that she seemed to be really fine, he retained his doubts and gently extended his hand.

Ti Ying lowered her head and saw the neatly folded long cloth strip he handed her:

The pink hairband had been washed clean by him, with the scent of soap.

Ti Ying thought of that night when this hairband had tied up Suan Yu, touched the blood and filth of Suan Yu… Senior Brother kindly cleaned it for her.

Suppressing her reluctance, she looked disgusted. “I don’t want it.”

As she passed by Jiang Xuehe, intending to bump into him and tease him, she heard the lively sounds outside the window next to Jiang Xuehe.

Turning her head, she was instantly drawn in, leaning against the window sill of the inn.

Jiang Xuehe said, “Personal belongings of a girl should not be casually discarded.”

Ti Ying didn’t respond.

There was a breath of wind behind her, and time seemed still and long. After a while, she heard her senior brother’s gentle and slightly hoarse voice coming closer: “You really don’t want it?”

Ti Ying covered her ears and said, “Just throw it away.”

Jiang Xuehe fell silent for a moment.

He tucked the hairband back into his sleeve.

Soon after, he heard Ti Ying’s clear laughter.

Ti Ying’s frustrations come and go quickly: “Senior brother, it seems like disciples from the Yujing Sect are coming down the mountain to register! Were you standing by the window to watch this? I killed… we killed Suan Yu, so powerful, let’s go down and register, tell them!”

Ti Ying turned back, puzzled, “You’ve been watching for a while, why haven’t you gone down? Could it be… you’re shy?”

Ti Ying reached out to pull his hand, patting her chest to assure him, “I’m not shy. I can handle people.”

—

Fifteen minutes later, on the long street outside the inn, the crowd of people waiting to be tested by the disciples of the Yujing Sect was bustling with excitement.

In the crowd, Jiang Xuehe watched as Ti Ying and Hua Shi argued, belatedly realizing: When you say you can handle people, do you mean you provoke them?

Jiang Xuehe silently made a note in the “Ying’s Care Manual”: Beware of Ying’s “handling people” skill.