Chapter 89 - It's Me
Clouds were floating above their heads, within reach.
In the sky above the Heavenly Cloud Peak, Ye Anping was flying on his sword, following Xiao Yunluo.
He had just come out of the tailor workshop after receiving his Black Star Sect's uniform and was currently led by Xiao Yunluo to his future residence.
However, he was more concerned about his sister's Foundation Building progress than where he would live in the future.
After he and Xiao Yunluo came out of the cave in the back mountain of the Hundred Lotus Sect, they rested for several days, and then it took about half a month to get back to the Black Star Sect.
Adding the first half month when he and Xiao Yunluo came from the Black Star to the Hundred Lotus Sect, it turned out that his sister had remained inside the Black Star Sect's Spirit Gathering Array for nearly four and a half months.
Indeed, the time for Foundation Building varied from person to person, ranging from one to six months. Still, his sister had pure water spiritual roots, and before entering the Spirit Gathering Array, he had done enough preparations.
Now that four and a half months had passed, and she had not yet come out of the cave, he, as a brother, naturally was worried.
But he was just a little worried.
The current situation was still within normal limits.
There should be about three months until the incident in the Dragon House.
When he left the Hundred Lotus Sect, he also got the route map to the Dragon House from his father. So, once his sister built the foundation and stabilized her cultivation for a few days, they could set off and make preparations in advance.
After flying with Xiao Yunluo for a while, they landed at the door of a not-too-big three-house courtyard.
He surveyed the compound with some doubts in his eyes.
Xiao Yunluo said she would take him to his residence, but this was a courtyard with three houses...
Although Black Star was a large sect, it would be a bit extravagant for a mere companion disciple like him to live in such a place.
"Sister Xiao, will I live here from now on?"
"Ah..." Xiao Yunluo hesitated for a moment and nodded. "Yes... yes! What? Are you not satisfied?"
"I'm not dissatisfied. I'm too satisfied, and if you're too satisfied, there's usually something wrong with it."
Xiao Yunluo averted her eyes with some anxiety and replied, "Well... you will live here for the next ten days or half a month. After that, you will move to the foot of the mountain. There are some small yards there. I will help you find a single house."
"Then, why can't I move there now?"
"Now..." Xiao Yunluo thought for a while and said, "The place is full now!!"
Ye Anping understood that this was probably where Xiao Yunluo lived, and she planned to have him live in the same courtyard.
Although it was quite common for companions to live with their masters, in most cases, only people of the same sex lived together. After all, if a man and a woman lived in the same yard, 'accidents' might happen.
However, he didn't expose her. After all, living in a better place was not a bad thing.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Xiao Yunluo thought that he believed her words, and cheerfully introduced each room to him.
"Ye Anping, this is your bedroom. It was originally empty, so I usually use it to store sundries. You can clean it yourself later. Help me move the things inside to the main hall, and I'll take them in a while."
"Fine."
Walking to another room, Xiao Yunluo paused slightly, turned her head, and said seriously, "This is the bathroom! But I'm telling you now that if you dare to peek at me bathing, then..."
Ye Anping nodded and added, "Sister Xiao, I will never peek at you bathing, but please, you also don't peek at me bathing, okay?"
"I... I will not peek at you bathing!!" Xiao Yunluo blushed and whispered, "How can a woman peek at a man bathing... What do you take me for..."
Ye Anping understood. It seemed that he would have to prepare some anti-peeping charms later.
Tonight, when he took a bath, this girl would definitely come to peep.
Ye Anping nodded. "Got it. Now, what's in the next room..."
"Ah... well, here is..."
...
Just like this, after taking Ye Anping to visit all the rooms aside from her bedroom, Xiao Yunluo brought him back to the courtyard. She then crossed her arms and looked at him, asking, "By the way, Ye Anping, you know what you need to do as a companion, right?"
"Yeah." Ye Anping thought for a while and asked, "But are you sure you want me to do those things for you?"
"..."
"Help you bathe and rub your back, wash your clothes and underwear, come into your bedroom every morning, and come to your bedside to wake you up when you're sleeping soundly, and also help you change your clothes and comb your hair..."
"I... I... " Xiao Yunluo blushed and replied sheepishly, "...You don't need to rub my back and do the laundry. You could just practice swords with me once in a while, and well... At most, I can let you comb my hair, and you don't have to do the rest. After all, as the saying goes, 'Men and women should not touch hands when they give or receive things'*..."
Before Xiao Yunluo finished speaking, Ye Anping nodded, took out a towel from his storage bag, and turned towards his bedroom.
"Alright, then, I'll go clean up my room."
"Oh..."
Xiao Yunluo clenched her skirt while looking at Ye Anping going to clean his room.
These past few days, she had been thinking about one thing.
How was she going to explain to Lianxue when she returned that her brother had become her companion?
Previously, she had sworn to Lianxue that she would never fall in love with her brother.
However...
When she said she didn't like him, she knew she was lying.
After spending these last months alone with Ye Anping, Xiao Yunluo finally realized her feelings towards him.
In her own words, that was-- three points of admiration, three points of liking, two points of dependence, and one point of dislike.
------She liked Ye Anping's voice.
------She enjoyed spending time with Ye Anping.
------She liked Ye Anping's usual cold demeanor.
------She hated that Ye Anping had no interest in her.
...
Now, seeing Ye Anping busy cleaning his room, Xiao Yunluo felt her heart pounding just thinking about this.
Anyway, Lianxue had not come out of the Spirit Gathering Array yet. Wasn't it quite good to bring him to live here so that she could see him every morning when she woke up?
As for when Lianxue would come out, this arrangement would no longer work. She would help Ye Anping find a good place for him to move in.
Anyway, as long as she pretended in front of Lianxue that she had no interest in Ye Anping, she probably wouldn't kill her.
"Well..." Xiao Yunluo bit her lip and nodded, then walked forward and said, "Ye Anping, let me help you with the cleaning."
"Thanks for the kind offer, but it's not necessary. This room is not big, one person is more efficient than two."
Ye Anping declined politely, then picked up the broom and went into the room to sweep the floor.
At this time, there was a sudden knock on the courtyard door.
Bang--bang---
"Sister Xiao! It's me, Feng Yu Die! I'm out!"
Xiao Yunluo was startled and quickly ran into the yard to open the door.
Outside the gates was a disheveled Feng Yu Die, her silver hair uncombed for several months and looking like a messy bird's nest, dragging on the ground.
"Where's Lianxue?"
"Sister Pei... Sister Pei is still in the Spirit Gathering Array. She should get out soon."
"Phew-- that's good." Xiao Yunluo breathed out a sigh of relief, looked back at the yard, and asked, "Didn't you go to your own house first? Why are you here?"
"Ah, no... When I came back, I heard that your companion was here. I wanted to see who is your companion?" Feng Yu Die pushed her hair aside and asked curiously, "Is it a beautiful big sister? Is she inside?"
"?"
Seeing Xiao Yunluo stunned, Feng Yu Die asked again, "Could it be that she is a little sister?"
At this time, Ye Anping, who was cleaning the house, heard Feng Yu Die's voice and walked out.
"It's me."