Chapter 35: Misfortune of the Household

"Yidao, sigh! It's not that Senior Sister wants to lecture you, but how could you, this child, be so heavy-handed?"

Jing Yueqin had finally managed to get a hold on Ren Yidao, and whenever she had the time, she would sigh and lament repeatedly in his ear.

She displayed the look of a petty person who had achieved their goal to the fullest extent.

Ren Yidao: "..."

Ignoring Jing Yueqin, Ren Yidao turned around and continued to look down at the documents in his hands.

But Jing Yueqin had no intention of letting him off; she followed him, turned to face him, and continued speaking:

"She is still just a little girl! You made her lose so much face in front of so many people; do you think that was appropriate?"

Jing Yueqin blocked Ren Yidao's path, hands on her hips, chest puffed out, head tilted back, poking his cheek with her finger.

Poke, poke, poke!

"Is it appropriate? Appropriate... Hey!"

Jing Yueqin's palm was grabbed in one go, and Ren Yidao, who had been looking down at his book, suddenly exerted force, pulling her entire body directly into his embrace.

With his other hand covering Jing Yueqin's eyes, Ren Yidao lowered his head without a moment's hesitation.

He kissed her directly!

"Mmph!? Mmph mmph mmph—haah, ha..."

!!!

A moment later, a released Jing Yueqin stared with wide eyes, lying quietly on Ren Yidao's lap.

Rustle.

A gentle evening breeze blew across Luoyue Peak, causing the leaves to sway and make a rustling sound.

She blankly raised her hand, touched her still-damp lips, and stared distractedly at the white clouds in the sky.

"Ah, I... ah!?"

What happened?

Unable to say a complete sentence, her already limited brain capacity had completely crashed.

What just happened?

Licking his lips, Ren Yidao lowered his head and whispered in her ear:

"If what I did to her was inappropriate..."

"Then what about this? Is this appropriate?"

"Yueqin."

Whoosh!

As soon as Ren Yidao spoke, Jing Yueqin sprang up like a cat whose fur had been ruffled, jumping far away in a flash.

Her entire cheeks were stained a deep crimson, and Jing Yueqin's eyes were filled with panic. She feigned composure, glared at Ren Yidao, and threatened:

"You! Don't you come over here!"

"Let me calm down!"

Thud.

But Ren Yidao didn't listen; he stood up and took a step toward her of his own accord.

Whoosh!

The vigilant Jing Yueqin jumped backward again.

Thud!

Whoosh!!!

He took a step, she fled a step.

She fled, he pursued.

Then, finally, during the third pursuit, Jing Yueqin realized the problem, jumped fiercely toward the edge of the cliff, and flew directly off the peak.

As her figure flew away in a wobbly manner, she added:

"You!"

"You are not allowed to come find me!!!"

Her words were fierce, but that retreating figure looked for all the world like she was fleeing in a panic.

"..."

Standing at the cliff's edge without following, Ren Yidao withdrew his gaze after confirming that Jing Yueqin's destination was Lingxu Peak.

He shook his head and then laughed out loud:

"Usually so handsy, but when it actually comes to this, the result is just this?"

Talking such bold talk, yet her body is very honest!

"Heh, as expected, no matter how stubborn the mouth is, it's still soft when you kiss it."

"And why, even now, does she still have such a huge reaction? She is always so girlish in strange places."

A girl's heart, truly hard to understand.

After sighing for a moment, Ren Yidao didn't turn back and spoke out of the blue:

"I say..."

"You've watched the show for so long, aren't you going to come out yet?"

Rustle!

The bushes not far behind him shook, followed by a deathly silence.

"Playing dead won't work; I know you're there."

The bushes were silent for a moment, and then a weak voice came from within:

"... Meow, meow meow~"

Ren Yidao turned, took a step, reached out, and gave a lift.

"Meowing like a cat won't work either, come out."

He plucked a young girl in the prime of her youth directly out of the grass.

Having been grabbed by the back of her collar, the collar of fate, Yu Yu could not care about anything else; she covered her eyes with both hands and shouted:

"I didn't see anything!!!"

She insisted firmly, attempting to deceive her wise and martial Foster Father.

Ren Yidao: "..."

He was not actually angry, but in his mind, a deafening question was swirling:

Is it destined that the female disciples of my Luoyue Peak all have this level of intelligence?

How are they all so wise.

Master!

What a misfortune for the family!

Setting Yu Yu down, Ren Yidao sighed and asked:

"Confess honestly, how much did you see?"

Yu Yu: (steals a glance)

Stealing a glance at Ren Yidao's expression through the gaps in her fingers, Yu Yu discovered that although he seemed a bit helpless, he really did not seem angry.

Feeling relieved in her heart, she hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively:

"Do you promise you're really not angry?"

"Go ahead and say it, I'm not angry."

Ren Yidao promised as such.

"Actually, I was there since you grabbed Senior Sister..."

Yu Yu looked at the unchanging smile on Ren Yidao's face, her voice growing smaller and smaller.

What to do?

My intuition is acting up...

Someone is trying to harm me!

Gulp.

Swallowing her saliva, Yu Yu pulled her shoulders in and retreated slightly, when suddenly her peripheral vision caught an unusual reflection.

Hm?

Following that light, her gaze moved, looking all the way behind Senior Brother.

"Eh?"

Behind Ren Yidao, a mace dripping with blood.

"Yu Yu! Look over there! There's a cat that can do somersaults!"

"What, where... ah!"

Thump.

A pain in the back of her head, darkness before her eyes, and Yu Yu knew nothing more.

At the very last moment, Yu Yu only heard a vague, soft sigh:

"Don't blame Foster Father for being heartless; if you must blame someone, blame yourself for knowing too much."

"And I really wasn't angry."

"..."

Yu Yu lay on the soft grass, blankly gazing at the white clouds drifting in the Heaven, feeling as if she had had a dream.

She vaguely remembered the content was quite exciting, enough to make one's eyes red and heart race, and it even hurt a little at the end.

But what exactly it was, she could no longer remember.

"I..."

She tried her best to recall the content of the dream, but every attempt ended in failure.

"You're awake?"

Just as she intended to try once more, Yu Yu heard her Foster Father's voice coming from above her head.

Above her head?

Looking up, Yu Yu realized she was resting on Ren Yidao's lap.

!!!

She hurriedly wanted to get up, but was gently pressed back down by Ren Yidao.

"You fainted just now."

With one hand pressing on Yu Yu's forehead and the other turning a page of a book, Ren Yidao's gaze focused on the page as he said gently:

"It was my fault for not noticing your physical condition; rest a while longer."

Although she could not figure out the situation, the rare gentleness of her Foster Father made Yu Yu feel somewhat surprised.

Today's Foster Father is so gentle.

Feeling the evening breeze that still carried warmth from the sunset, the soft sensation beneath her head, and the rustling sound of book pages turning in her ears.

"... Mm."

Yu Yu's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, her consciousness sinking once more toward the world of dreams, as she mumbled vaguely:

"Foster Father, you are so good..."

Ren Yidao turned his head, looked at the girl's sweet sleeping face, pinched the space between his own eyebrows, and shook his head with a wry smile.

He placed his finger gently on Yu Yu's Heart Star, softly smoothing out her furrowed brow for her.

"This really is something."

He did not know who he was speaking to, whispering softly:

"A misfortune for the family."