Chapter 126: Ch 126 - What Reward Do You Seek from Senior Sister?
-Why does Yuyan suddenly seem to have a higher level of affection for me?-
"Senior Sister..."
Yino felt a bit overwhelmed and softly called out with a glimmer of confusion.
He noticed that more and more cultivators and even elders were drawn to the scene. His already racing heart, nestled against Yuyan\'s chest, began to beat even faster. Yino quietly swallowed, his hands restless as he cautiously lifted them, then wrapped his arms around the immortal lady in his embrace, gently patting her back to soothe her. He feared this gesture might alarm Yuyan, but he couldn\'t help wanting to hold his senior sister, to feel the fulfillment of enveloping her in his arms... After all, this was a storyline Yino had never dared to hope for in two lifetimes.
If only Yino had known Yuyan wasn\'t so aloof and that her affection could increase so easily, he wouldn\'t have let the Nine-Colored Deer rescue her back then. Why bother with picking up scraps from Gu Wanglan? Next time, he should just personally swoop in to heroically save the beauty!
"Senior Sister, I\'m okay."
Seeing that time had passed a bit, Yino softly spoke again.
Upon hearing his words, the woman in his embrace trembled slightly, as if snapping back from a sense of security, and slowly opened her icey blue beautiful eyes.
She parted from Yino.
Under the moonlit sky, the immortal gazed into the young man\'s beautiful eyes with a tenderness that felt mesmerizing and intoxicating.
"..."
Yuyan hesitated before finally nodding.
She actually wanted to say thank you because, by overhearing Yanran and Wangxue\'s conversation just now, Yuyan suddenly realized that when she had initially sent the Nine-Colored Deer to take Yino away, it was Yino who, halfway through, heard the sound of explosions and, without worrying for his own safety, decisively ordered the Nine-Colored Deer to turn back to the battlefield.
Later, when Yino saw Yuyan struggling to hold on with her fading breath, he hastily had the Nine-Colored Deer take action to block a fatal strike aimed at her.
However, Yuyan didn\'t realize this until long after the battle had ended.
Due to previously bearing serious injuries, Yuyan had been preoccupied with the fight against Gu Wanglan, so she had let Yino and the Nine-Colored Deer assume she was surviving through sheer luck, without carefully considering who had been secretly worrying about her and coming to her aid during her critical moment.
Even though Yino had done so much in secret, Yuyan never noticed, and later she scolded Yino harshly for crying for her sake.
Why did he embrace me and cry at that moment?
Could it be that he was truly weak inside?
Or was it simply because he had always been secretly worrying about his senior sister!
Now, Yuyan thought about it again, her lips pursed lightly, hesitating to speak.
She wasn\'t unfeignedly serious.
She just felt that since she had already said thank you once for the treatment, the weight of saving her life couldn\'t be equated to healing, so she didn\'t want to say the same words a second time.
Yuyan thought about the reward she had promised Yino earlier, feeling touched internally. Compared to a casual "thank you," she felt she should express her gratitude in a way that would genuinely make Yino happy.
"Senior Sister, why does your eye look a bit red?"
Yino spoke unexpectedly.
His voice was soft, not loud enough for passersby to hear, but his words directly struck Yuyan\'s somewhat guilty heart.
Yuyan slightly froze, involuntarily raising her sword with her hand, then glanced at herself in the mirror under one eyebrow.
In the mirror, the immortal dressed in white, though her injuries had mostly healed, her makeup and attire still appeared somewhat messy, and the blush at the corners of her beautiful eyes made her look even more poignant.
"..."
Yuyan fell into a brief silence.
She hadn\'t expected that since the clan was destroyed when she was nine, she would one day still be moved to tears for someone else.
"Isn\'t it because you abandoned your senior sister and ventured alone into the deep mountains to hunt down Gu Wanglan?"
Yuyan took a deep breath, finally feeling a bit relieved and spoke with a hint of resentment.
Back then, she was genuinely scared by the young man\'s killing intent in his eyes as he smiled goodbye and walked away without looking back.
That young man\'s silhouette vaguely reminded Yuyan of the day when she was locked alone in a room, facing the heavenly fire with her father and clan members who had been overwhelmed by flames...
Once reality merged with that memory, Yuyan\'s mind buzzed, her heart uncontrollably pounding, always feeling like Yino was never going to return.
Fortunately, Yino was at least more reliable than her father, who would always lie to her, saying he\'d come back but never did.
"... I didn\'t expect Senior Sister to worry about me like this."
Yino felt guilty in his words, but his glance toward Yuyan couldn\'t hide his astonishment and curiosity.
In the game, he had seen Yuyan cry once when Yanran fell into a pool of blood to protect her.
Unexpectedly... Now, experiencing a high-cold immortal fairy shedding tears was something Yino had the rare fortune to witness in two lifetimes.
For Yuyan, unlike Yino, who had a clear battlefield understanding, she didn\'t know about Yino\'s hidden strengths and still had some uncertainty over Gu Wanglan, which genuinely scared her, worrying that Yino might die at Gu Wanglan\'s hands.
But even with this explanation, Yino still felt that Yuyan was so different from her original character.
-So, could it be possible that deep down, Yuyan was inherently weak?-
-In the original story, she only cried for Yanran once because, besides Yanran, she had no one else she truly cared about.-
"To put it that way..."
"Have I already entered Senior Sister\'s heart?"
Yino wandered thoughts internally, speaking quietly to himself.
Beside him, Yuyan also slightly froze, then turned to look back.
At this moment, they had already left the rear mountains with the team. The redness in Yuyan\'s eyes had significantly faded, her mood no longer as wildly fluctuating as before, returning to her former calmness.
"If you truly came to the Wuji Sect just to enter my heart..."
"Then congratulations, you\'ve already succeeded halfway."
Yuyan spoke whispery, also unexpectedly giving Yino a reply.
Yino shivered all over in an instant, only then realizing that Yuyan had already heard him talking to himself.
He didn\'t know what to say, so he just stared blankly at his senior sister.
"How come? Didn\'t you say yourself that you came to Wuji Sect because of Senior Sister\'s body? If Senior Sister dies, what\'s the point of you living?"
At some point, Yuyan suddenly interjected.
Upon hearing that, Yino felt even more awkward.
He had improvised that line, but it was like a dark history—Yino never expected Yuyan would actually remember every single word.
Originally, Yino didn\'t feel any shame, but if the same lines were recited by Yuyan herself...
"Blushing?"
Under the moonlit sky, the white-clad immortal smiled gently, though without any romantic intentions. her attitude had already shifted from initial disdain to indulgence.
After all, she was seven or eight years older than him, Yuyan saw him more like a lovesick, handsome younger brother in his adolescence.
"Me!? Blushing?"
"That just proves, Yino, that everything you said was from your heart, right?"
"Senior sister... how is that possible... I was just joking..."
Under the moonlight, the young man placed his hands behind his back, pouting reluctantly.
He and Yuyan walked side by side, gradually moving away from the crowd, along a mountain path toward the not-too-distant Ranmo Peak.
But at some point, Yuyan suddenly reached out and took Yino\'s hand--
"?!!"
Gulp!
In an instant, Yino grew even more nervous; even the sound of swallowing his saliva made him feel especially awkward in the silent night.
"If it was a joke, why did you shade tears for me?"
Yuyan didn\'t explain anything; she just held the young man\'s hand and leisurely walked with him under the moonlight.
She clearly could have directly summoned her sword and returned to Ranmo Peak, but instead, she chose to walk alongside Yino to enjoy the leisure of hiking together.
"Senior sister... stop teasing me..."
Yino blushed furiously.
This feeling was so strange; if Yunjin or Jinyue had teased him like this, he could have maintained his composure, but when it was Yuyan speaking—even if it was a subtle, gentle teasing—it was enough to make Yino\'s heart race.
Yuyan glanced back at him, scrutinizing the young man\'s reddened face, but her beautiful eyes still carried a glimpse of surprise, though more of rational discouragement. A faint blush colored her face, but thanks to the faint moonlight, it was barely noticeable and wouldn\'t be perceived by Yino.
"..."
At some point, Yuyan took the initiative to release Yino\'s hand.
She stopped her steps, clasped her hands behind her back, and stood there, earnestly gazing into the young man\'s eyes.
"Yino…."
When pronouncing his name, Yuyan intentionally paused.
She hesitated, adjusted her phrasing, and then gently and sincerely smiled:
"After tonight, you should have grown."
"I wish you achieve great cultivation one day."