Chapter 4

Chapter 4

My protest was overruled.

Xie Lingyu kept saying he was sorry, that he felt bad, but he still dragged me off to the bamboo grove where he practiced swordsmanship.

A skinny arm couldn’t win against a sturdy thigh, so all I could do was comfort myself with the thought that anything I learned was a profit.

Maybe one day, I could even use these sword moves to hook a few pure, innocent little sword cultivators?

Clinging to that wildly unrealistic and beautiful hope, I forced myself to get up early for three days straight and followed Xie Lingyu out to learn the sword.

But the Sword Sect’s way of training was far too life-consuming.

By the fourth day, I couldn’t take it anymore.

Aching all over, I sprawled in bed, so sleepy I couldn’t even open my eyes.

Xie Lingyu didn’t rush me. He simply picked up my clothes with practiced ease and carefully dressed me from head to toe.

When he saw that I was still lying there motionless, he lifted me straight into his arms, letting me wrap my arms around his neck and sit on his forearm.

“It’s all right. Big Brother can carry you to the bamboo grove. Yanyan can sleep for another fifteen minutes on the way.”

Was he really that determined to make me practice the sword?

My mind instantly spiraled into conspiracy theories.

Could Xie Lingyu be deliberately wearing me down, using this high-sounding method to force me to leave on my own?

It wasn’t impossible.

…This hypocrite!

Furious, I grabbed a fistful of his long hair.

“Are you torturing me on purpose? Are you happy seeing me suffer?”

Xie Lingyu looked completely stunned by the sudden accusation.

“Yanyan, Big Brother never thought that.”

But I had already sunk too deep into the script where I was the persecuted victim. I didn’t believe a word he said. I only felt like he was still putting on an act.

He liked pretending to be a good big brother, did he?

Fine. Then I’d act along with him.

I covered my face with both hands, pitched my voice higher, and started fake-crying.

“You don’t have to explain. I know you just look down on me, and that’s why you refuse to be my cultivation vessel.”

“But I don’t have a choice either. I’m seriously ill. Only dual cultivation with someone full of yang energy can keep me alive… If you don’t want to save me, you could just say so. There’s no need to beat around the bush and torment me like this.”

Xie Lingyu hurriedly carried me back to bed. As he patted my back to soothe me, he asked anxiously, “How could you be sick? Yanyan, what exactly is wrong? Tell Big Brother. Big Brother will find a way to fix it.”

Fix what? I had made the whole thing up on the spot.

Don’t be fooled by my delicate, willow-in-the-wind appearance. In reality, I was so healthy I could punch three bulls to death.

But because I really had been frail and sickly as a child, Xie Lingyu didn’t suspect a thing. He easily believed my lie.

After struggling with himself for a long time, he finally asked in a strained voice, “Is dual cultivation truly the only way?”

I buried my face against his chest, hiding my wicked grin. “It is.”

Xie Lingyu closed his eyes. “…I understand.”