Chapter 13: It Is Not Advisable to Spoil Your Junior Sister So Much
Liu Guanyun lowered his head to look at the note; the handwriting was beautiful.
“Owe Liu Guanyun, Celestial Master, one talisman paper. Left by Lu Qingfei of the Celestial Extremity Sect.”
Liu Guanyun mused, “Lu Qingfei of the Celestial Extremity Sect…”
Which sect was the Celestial Extremity Sect?
In the entire Daoist world, he had never heard of such a name.
“Master, she didn’t write when she’ll return it,” his apprentice said, looking as if something terrible had happened. “This is like Sun Wukong borrowing the golden cudgel—borrowing with no intention of returning it! Master, you got swindled right at the police station entrance!”
“Have you learned the Eight Trigram Talisman yet? How dare you joke around if you haven’t!” Liu Guanyun’s face hardened. “Copy it a hundred times when we’re back. You can’t sleep until you’re done.”
The apprentice’s face fell immediately. “Master, I was wrong!”
*
In the bustling city, with endless streams of traffic, Lu Qingfei turned a corner and sat down on a bench by the roadside.
Unhurriedly, she unfolded the talisman paper in her hand and then folded it into a tiny origami crane.
If Liu Guanyun knew she had borrowed the talisman paper just to make a paper crane, he would probably frown and call it absurd.
Beside her, Shen Nanxiang was bored. Like a magical girl transforming, she spun around, and suddenly a robe of gold thread and jade adorned her neatly.
Lu Qingfei was speechless. Being a ghost certainly had its perks—changing outfits was a matter of seconds.
She placed the paper crane in her palm, the yellow talisman paper making her skin look as white as jade.
She asked Shen Nanxiang for a strand of her hair and wound it around the crane’s head.
“Xun Wind, nine paths, Illusion Art.”
Energy gathered at her core, qi guiding the paper.
Radiant light wreathed the paper crane, and before long, the little crane gained a spark of spirit, its wings fluttering up and down.
“Follow the paper crane. It’ll take you to the porcelain,” Lu Qingfei said.
“Really?” Shen Nanxiang’s eyes sparkled with hope.
Lu Qingfei nodded. “Yes.”
Shen Nanxiang clapped her hands in delight. “That’s so advanced—I love it!”
She was utterly thrilled.
“I’m off, then.”
Shen Nanxiang waved cheerfully at Lu Qingfei. “Goodbye!”
“Goodbye.”
The hot, dry wind brushed against her face as she watched Shen Nanxiang leave. Lu Qingfei first went to mail the Fasting Pills and paintings.
She’d originally thought to have them picked up, but there was no Celestial Extremity Sect on the map.
As it was on her way, she spared the deliveryman the trouble.
*
The sky was azure, clouds drifting leisurely, the dry wind bringing heat.
Zhong Qin had a towel stained with dirt draped around his neck, the sun baking him until oil shone on his skin.
He was chatting with another worker about his age.
The other man feigned a wounded look. “Doesn’t your conscience hurt?”
“Wait, let me ask my heart.” Zhong Qin solemnly placed a hand over his chest.
A couple of seconds passed in silence.
“It says it doesn’t.”
His coworker sighed, “...You win.”
Zhong Qin caught a small bag of candy the other tossed him. Turning his head, he saw Lu Qingfei and strode briskly toward her.
“Junior Sister, you’re just in time. Here, for you.”
Lu Qingfei looked down. It was wedding candy.
“Where did you get it?”
Zhong Qin straightened his back, the look in his eyes full of youthful vigor. “Won it in a brick-moving contest with a coworker.”
Lu Qingfei gave a soft “oh” and handed him the savory pancake she’d bought on the way.
Zhong Qin took it, raising his brows. “I never accumulated good karma in my life, only a love for savory pancakes.”
Lu Qingfei couldn’t help but laugh. “But karma must be cultivated.”
“Junior Sister, has your spiritual power increased?” Zhong Qin looked at her, hesitating.
Gentle sunlight hung in the air as Lu Qingfei stretched out her right hand. Her slender fingers were dazzlingly white.
“A little.”
“As expected of Second Senior Brother’s little junior sister—amazing! Spiritual power comes to you at your fingertips.” Zhong Qin spoke with passionate fervor, as if delivering a speech. “No! Even if you don’t reach for it, the spiritual power would come running to you by itself!”
“...Second Senior Brother, enough with the praise.” Lu Qingfei withdrew her hand. “It feels like my spiritual power’s all gone.”
“Just a few words of praise and it disappears? That’s not very reliable spiritual power—might as well not have it at all. Real spiritual power shouldn’t be so fragile.”
Lu Qingfei couldn’t help but smile.
Second Senior Brother was a walking praise machine.
“Second Senior Brother, hold out your hand.”
Zhong Qin knew what she intended. “Junior Sister, keep your spiritual energy for yourself. Your Second Senior Brother’s tough—brick-moving doesn’t need spiritual power.”
Lu Qingfei looked at him and called again, “Second Senior Brother.”
“All right.”
Obediently, Zhong Qin extended his right hand, palm up; Lu Qingfei reached out, palm down.
Their hands hovered a few centimeters apart, faint spiritual energy swirling between them.
Second Senior Brother’s injuries weren’t fully healed, yet he was already back at work, setting aside his cultivation.
This bit of spiritual power could help heal part of his primordial spirit.
In the cultivation world, they’d once left the Celestial Extremity Sect, traveling the human realm to temper themselves.
Wandering away from the sect was basically the cultivator’s version of a business trip.
Zhong Qin had moved bricks more than once; for him, it wasn’t any hardship at all.
A moment later.
Zhong Qin plopped onto the wooden steps, reclining with his arms stretched out along the railing, legs crossed, relaxing as he shared stories with his little junior sister.
Lu Qingfei sat obediently beside him, eating candy and laughing so hard her eyes curved.
Her phone rang. It was about a job.
She didn’t stay long, saying a quick goodbye to Zhong Qin.
A coworker came over, slapping Zhong Qin’s shoulder twice.
“Who was that?”
Zhong Qin brushed his hand away irritably. “My little junior sister.”
“Little junior sister?” The coworker was surprised.
Zhong Qin raised his brows smugly. “Don’t be too envious.”
“Come on. That girl’s clothes, manners, and bearing—she’s clearly a rich heiress. How could she possibly be your little junior sister?”
As he reconsidered, enlightenment dawned. “So that’s why you spend all your wages on her every month!”
“It’s only right for an older brother to spend money on his younger sister,” Zhong Qin said, not understanding the shock. “Anyone who’s stingy with his sister will never prosper.”
His coworker shook his head. “Wouldn’t advise spoiling your junior sister so much.”
“Why?”
His coworker enunciated each word, “Because I don’t have one!”
*
Lu Qingfei went to interviews, partly to glean tips about livestream operations from experienced professionals, and only secondarily to actually find a job.
But the work hours and intensity at these companies weren’t quite what she was hoping for.
Leaving the industrial park, she sat by the bus stop. The setting sun, like a wash of rouge, slanted westward, casting warm orange light on her pale profile.
Lu Qingfei, weary, lifted a hand to rub her face.
Suddenly, a chill breeze brushed the back of her neck.
She blinked, unfazed.
The Princess Consort of Rui.
Sure enough, the next second, Shen Nanxiang appeared before her, bubbling with excitement.
“I found it!”
“The polychrome dragon-patterned porcelain jar! Found it—it’s with the gravekeeper, Mei Kaihan!”
Lu Qingfei reached out, and the paper crane returned to her palm. She put it away, rose to her feet, looking ahead, her expression relaxed.
“Let’s go report it.”
The whole way, Shen Nanxiang chattered to Lu Qingfei: Mei Kaihan had hidden the porcelain in the study’s safe, and as soon as he got home, he took it out, carefully polishing it.
His eyes were enraptured, completely obsessed.
Anyone who didn’t know might think he was scrubbing someone’s body.
Lu Qingfei turned to glance at Shen Nanxiang.
“You… don’t know him?”