Tap tap---
With his shoes embroidered with the totem of the Hundred Lotus, Ye Anping walked up the stairs in the Heavenly Pavilion step by step.
As he climbed up the stairs, he frowned at the jade scepter that Sun Juehu had given him.
In the eyes of the Elders from various Western Region sects, the fact that the Empress Sun Juehu of the Cold Country came in person to congratulate him on his marriage really brought honor to him, Ye Ao, and even the entire Hundred Lotus Sect.
Moreover, the Empress smiled throughout the whole process and publicly declared that she would not bear grudges and would not care about the grievances between Si Xuanji and the Sun clan.
However, he saw Sun Juehu's intention very clearly.
Sun Juehu came to the Hundred Lotus Sect to attack him indirectly.
---Even if the Hundred Lotus Sect was located in the heart of the Western Region, Si Xuanji would never be able to protect them completely.
Void Returning cultivators could enter the Western Region and come to the Hundred Lotus Sect as they pleased. Even if Si Xuanji knew about it immediately, no matter how powerful she was in the Western Region, she would never be able to kill a Void Returning cultivator in one strike.
However, a Void Returning cultivator could instantly overthrow a quasi-first-rate small sect like the Hundred Lotus Sect with a single spell.
To put it bluntly, she meant:
---"Young Master Ye, you are a smart person, so you should know that it is not the best choice for you to help Si Xuanji deal with me or help me deal with Si Xuanji. For the sake of the Hundred Lotus Sect, your best choice now is to remain neutral and stand on the side of whoever has a greater chance of winning in the end."
---"Young Master Ye, you and the Hundred Lotus Sect are merely pawns that Si Xuanji can discard at any time."
It was a plot to sow discord, but it was also a warning and a rebuke to him.
Although the words were rough, the reasoning was not.
Si Xuanji had always been cautious, and she had lived for so many years.
If she was nice to someone, it was probably because that person was very useful to her.
Ye Anping had initially thought that Si Xuanji had approached him because she had seen his fate as the "Reverse Star" and felt that he had a promising future ahead of him, so she wanted to cultivate him as a pawn loyal to her.
In a nutshell, she was just using him because he had some value.
Giving him opportunities, protecting him, or even handing Yunluo over to him, were all just a means to make him loyal to herself.
But that was in the beginning.
When he first went to the Black Star Sect, Si Xuanji's intention to approach him might indeed have been simply because she thought he had value to use and he was also handsome.
However, he was certain that Si Xuanji's feelings for him were sincere now!
He recalled the girl who came to him every twelve days when he was forming the core, used the dual cultivation technique to help him recover, and accompanied him to relieve the loneliness of seclusion...
He recalled the girl who moaned under him, in front of the Golden Buddha in the Awareness Sect, and did not want to get off of him at all except when he was undergoing his tribulation...
Ye Anping's frowning brow slowly relaxed.
Si Xuanji was also his cultivation partner. Although her cultivation was much higher than his, he should assume some things as her partner as well.
For example, help her fulfill her long-cherished wish: to unify the entire Heavenly Immortal Realm.
Ye Anping slowly walked up the stairs to the door of the study room on the top floor of the Heavenly Pavilion with a faint smile on his face. He gently knocked on the door twice and pushed it open.
"Xuanji..."
?
Ye Anping just called out her name and instantly froze at the door.
In the room, Si Xuanji was standing by the desk in the study, holding Xiao Yunluo by her armpits and lifting her up...
Xiao Yunluo was really embarrassed but didn't dare to move.
Si Xuanji pursed her lips as she stared at Xiao Yunluo's face with her head tilted, then saw Ye Anping coming up. Her yin-and-yang eyes narrowed slightly. "Anping, are you here?"
Hearing her master calling "Anping", and remembering the "Xuanji" she just heard, Xiao Yunluo seemed to wake up from a dream. She widened her eyes, and looked back and forth between her master and Ye Anping.
"Huh???"
Ye Anping didn't know why Xiao Yunluo was there. Looking at her shocked eyes, he didn't know how to respond, and he nodded awkwardly. "Yes, I'm here."
Si Xuanji pursed her lips, smiled like a cat, and let Xiao Yunluo down on the ground. She moved the tea table by the window, sat down cross-legged, and patted the mat beside her. "Anping, you sit here."
She then pointed to another mat, across the table. "Yunluo, you come over too, sit there."
Ye Anping was silent for a while, and then he followed Si Xuanji's request and sat cross-legged beside her. Xiao Yunluo, with her dragon eyes widened in shock, walked over silently and sat opposite the two of them.
For a while, the room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.
Xiao Yunluo knelt beside the tea table, and her mouth could not close for a long time as she looked between her master and husband, who leaned against each other, rubbing their shoulders and their feet crossed under their buttocks.
"..."
Although Ye Anping knew that sooner or later, he would have to confess his relationship with Si Xuanji to Xiao Yunluo, he did not expect it to be so awkward.
"Anping has always wanted to practice triple cultivation with you and me."
?
I didn't...Ye Anping's mouth twitched, and he almost shouted out.
Xiao Yunluo's cheeks were getting redder and redder at this moment. It was unknown whether she wanted to do that or really believed Si Xuanji's words. She answered shyly in a low voice, "Ah? Then... if Anping wants to..."
?
Hiss-- you too, dragon!!
Ye Anping glanced at Si Xuanji and it seemed that she found Xiao Yunluo's appearance quite funny. Sighing, he turned the topic back. "Xuanji, Sun Juehu came to the Black Star Sect this time claiming to have reconciled with you. Most likely it's in preparation for the unified counterattack of the immortals in the Eastern Region. How do you plan to deal with it..."
Si Xuanji shrugged and sighed helplessly. "The matter of Zu Yuan's return to the ordinary world has aroused public indignation among the immortals in the four regions. In recent days, the Black Star Sect has received many petitions denouncing the demonic cultivators in the Eastern Region. Most of them are from Sun Juehu who is behind the scenes. She wants to unite with the Black Star Sect and the Southern Region sects to attack the Eastern Region from three sides."
Ye Anping nodded in agreement.
Sun Juehu's purpose was actually very simple: to avenge her father and eliminate Si Xuanji.
However, Si Xuanji was invincible as long as she was in the Western Region.
Knowing that she could not fight her in the Western Region, Sun Juehu has been thinking of ways to lure her out and create a situation where she could fight her one-on-one.
However, Si Xuanji was cautious and very stubborn. Even if the sky fell, she would not leave the Western Region.
Last time in the Central Region, she went incognito and hardly dared to use her spiritual energy on the road, for fear that Sun Juehu would know.
Before going to the Southern Region to help him, she also carefully went to find Yun Tianchong first, then asked the leader of the Awareness Sect to follow, and only then did she dare to show her spiritual power in a big way.
This time, Sun Juehu used the matter of Zu Yuan and the demonic cultivators to stir up the hatred of the immortal cultivators in the four regions against them and force the immortals to attack the demonic cultivators in the Eastern Region.
If Si Xuanji didn't agree now, the entire Black Star Sect would be labeled as "cowards".
"This is an open conspiracy, and it cannot be avoided."
"So, Anping, do you want me to follow the wishes of that Sun witch?"
"Xuanji, if you trust me, follow her this time and take the Black Star Sect to the Eastern Region. Anyway, it's time to settle the matter between the immortals and the demonic cultivators."
Si Xuanji pursed her lips and was silent for a while, then asked, "How's it going with Feng Yu Die and Gu Mingxin?"
Ye Anping thought in his heart.
One is silly and the other is crazy.
He sighed. "Huh... it should be fine."
"Well... that's it." Si Xuanji lowered her eyes and sighed. "I'm going back to the Black Star Sect. Yunluo, practice well and eat more. This egg hasn't grown at all..."
Xiao Yunluo came back to her senses and nodded blankly. "Ah... oh."
Then, Si Xuanji gently kissed Ye Anping's cheek, stood up, and turned into a little light before dissipating from the room.
After she left, Ye Anping raised his hand to open the window and looked at the sky. Seeing that the sun was about to set, he stood up. "Yunluo, let's go..."
"Ah... uhm."
Xiao Yunluo nodded, straightened her skirt, and followed Ye Anping down from the study. When she came to the first floor, she couldn't help but pull Ye Anping's sleeve and ask, "Anping..."
"Hmm?"
"Anping, when did you and my master..."
"Let's talk about it another day."
Speechless, Ye Anping raised his hand and knocked her head, changing the subject. "Did you understand what Xuanji and I just said?"
"Ah... yes, I understand, the matter of the Cold Country Empress..."
"Go back and think about it."
The two pushed open the door of the pavilion and walked out.
However, just when Ye Anping was about to go to the side hall to pick up Pei Lianxue and return to the Eastern Peak, suddenly two or three Hundred Lotus Sect disciples flew over from the direction of the back mountain and landed in front of the pavilion with anxious faces.
Seeing Ye Anping, they immediately stepped forward. "Young Master!!! It's bad. Something happened in the back mountain!!!"
"Huh?" Ye Anping frowned and asked with narrowed eyes, "What happened?"
"Someone dumped a body!! Several servants found a severed hand in the corner of the cave where chickens were kept in the back mountain. It looked like it had just been chopped off, and that hand..."
"..."
Ye Anping took a breath of cold air. "Hiss---"
Oops! Forgot about it.
He rubbed his forehead with a frown. "Yeah, I know. Lead me there..."