Zihan's Sister

"Gurgle, gurgle." Zhuang Xingyu's stomach rumbled.

Only then did Zhuang Xingyu realize that after being busy for so long, he still had not eaten.

Just then, a knock sounded at the courtyard gate. "Xingyu, little brother, Xingyu, little brother, are you awake?"

Zhuang Xingyu hurriedly replied, "Zihan's Sister, I'm awake! I'll open the door right away!"

A woman beautiful as an exquisite painting walked in. Her long hair was dark as night, silky and lustrous, every gentle sway seeming to play a beautiful melody. Her eyes resembled dazzling stars, deep and bright, every flicker seeming to tell her story. Her features were soft and delicate, her skin fair as jade, and every smile bloomed like a flower in the sunlight, radiant and captivating.

Zhuang Xingyu happily ran up to Zihan, spread his arms, and tightly hugged Zihan's Sister. He buried his head against her abdomen. It was soft, and she had a unique fragrance that was very comforting.

Seeing Zhuang Xingyu run over, Zihan hurriedly reached out to catch him, afraid he might trip and fall. She lightly tapped his head with a finger. "You, slow down when you run." Her eyes narrowed slightly at the corners, and it was clear that she was very happy.

Although Zihan was only ten years old, people on Douluo Continent matured rather early because of Soul Power. Both mentally and physically, she was roughly equivalent to a fifteen-year-old from Blue Star.

As everyone knew, girls developed faster than boys in their early years. Thus, Zihan was already 163 centimeters tall, while Zhuang Xingyu only reached her waist.

Zihan was Zhuang Xingyu's "personal maid." She possessed Innate Level 9 Soul Power, and her martial soul was the Bright Space Butterfly. She controlled the powers of space and light and also possessed some healing attributes, though overall, she was a space-type battle soul master. She was already a level 24 Soul Master, one of the most exceptional young geniuses on Douluo Continent.

Five years ago, after giving birth to Zhuang Xingyu and completing her postpartum confinement, his parents had gone traveling and rescued Zihan, then a five-year-old child, from a Soul Ancestor family. (Large families like Zhuang Xingyu's had many wet nurses and maids, as well as quite a few auxiliary healing soul masters within the clan, so the parents did not need to stay with their child every day.)

After all, for the child's safety, they had remained within the family grounds for the entire ten months of pregnancy without stepping outside even once. Now, they naturally wanted to go out and look around.

Sure enough, children were accidents. Only one's parents were true love!

At the time, Zihan's family had been besieged by a group of Bandit Cultivators. They had been driven by greed and wanted to seize a Forty Thousand Year Soul Bone that Zihan's family had obtained by chance.

When Zhuang Xingyu's parents saw the scene, they recalled the tragic fate their own family had suffered back then. Overcome by sympathy, they stepped in to help.

However, they arrived too late. There were two level 55 Soul Kings among the Bandit Cultivators. Though their Combat Power was inferior to Zhuang Jingxing and Li Xuanhua, who had already reached levels 59 and 56 respectively, they were still no weaklings. After a brief struggle, the Bandit Cultivators were successfully killed, but Zihan was the only child left alive in that small family.

With their final breaths, Zihan's parents begged Zhuang Xingyu's parents to take in their child, offering that Forty Thousand Year Soul Bone as payment.

Zhuang Xingyu's parents pitied them greatly. Though the couple had only been Soul Ancestors, they were still young, so their child's Innate Soul Power presumably would not be low. Moreover, the child was rather pretty, and even at such a young age, it was obvious that she would grow into a great beauty. They thought it would be good to take her in—she could be Zhuang Xingyu's playmate and look after him as well.

In fact, the great families of Douluo Continent, as well as the great families of ancient Nine Provinces, all had a habit of taking in orphans with clean backgrounds and decent talent. These adopted orphans were divided into two types. One type was raised as deathsworn warriors and ordinary disciples. For example, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect took in a large number of orphans.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect raised orphans as outer disciples. After all, most of their core disciples were auxiliary soul masters and needed battle soul masters to protect them.

However, in order to prevent the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile martial soul from being passed outside the sect, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect did not permit its core disciples to marry out. If a woman of the clan married an outsider, she could only take in a Matrilocal Son-in-law!

Yet the status of a Matrilocal Son-in-law was low everywhere. Furthermore, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had high requirements for a Matrilocal Son-in-law's appearance and talent; they would not accept just any crooked melon or cracked date. As a result, very few people met their standards.

Moreover, most soul masters with such talent and looks had respectable backgrounds and strong pride. They were desirable wherever they went. Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix—wasn't it better to be one's own master? There was no need to become a Matrilocal Son-in-law and be someone else's dog. Thus, there were almost no talented individuals willing to become Matrilocal Sons-in-law at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. In the current generation of the entire sect, there were only two or three.

In truth, soul masters in Douluo Continent were very scarce. Because the original work focused on soul masters and rarely described ordinary people, it gave people the mistaken impression that there were many soul masters. But in reality, soul masters were one in ten thousand.

Therefore, outsiders could not be trusted, and no talented young men came forward. Only orphans raised from childhood could truly put them at ease, which was why the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect took in so many orphans with clean backgrounds.

The other type was carefully nurtured as core disciples! For instance, A Zhu, Murong Fu's chief maid in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, or Diao Chan, Wang Yun's adopted daughter during the Three Kingdoms era.

Although people such as A Zhu and Diao Chan were maids in name, they enjoyed treatment far superior to that of ordinary maids. They were generally raised as trusted confidants and grew up alongside the direct descendants of the family, meant to assist the family's true heirs or serve as high-end bargaining chips.

Zhuang Xingyu's parents had the second idea in mind. They placed this child at Zhuang Xingyu's side and raised her as his trusted confidant. In the future, she would most likely become Zhuang Xingyu's concubine.

Although Zhuang Xingyu's father had only his mother as a woman, when it came to their son, they naturally wanted to find him several more wives. They were waiting to hold grandchildren!

After all, Zhuang Xingyu was the sole direct descendant of the third generation of a Soul Douluo family. His parents were also talented soul masters. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Zhuang Xingyu's Innate Soul Power would not be low, and he would manage the family in the future. It was necessary to cultivate some trusted confidants for him. Otherwise, how could a lone commander manage the family?

Thus, Zihan was publicly Zhuang Xingyu's chief maid, but after awakening an Innate Level 9 Soul Power martial soul, the family granted her the status of a direct disciple. His parents had always treated her as an adopted daughter and had never truly made her serve Zhuang Xingyu as a maid.

However, to repay Zhuang Xingyu's parents for saving her life, Zihan had stubbornly insisted on staying at Zhuang Xingyu's side and personally caring for him as his personal maid.

No matter how they tried to persuade her, she would not listen and insisted on caring for Zhuang Xingyu. Later, seeing that they could not change her mind, Zhuang Xingyu's parents stopped trying. Yet their affection and trust for Zihan rose to an even greater level than before.

Sure enough, no one in this world disliked someone kind-hearted who knew how to repay kindness.

Logically speaking, Zhuang Xingyu should have had quite a few maids by his side, and his courtyard should have had a dedicated kitchen. Yet in reality, Zhuang Xingyu lived alone in the courtyard. Zihan lived in a neighboring courtyard.

It was not that Zhuang Xingyu did not want to enjoy such comforts, but that he needed to cultivate! With too many maids around, it would be troublesome if they discovered his secrets, so he had not kept maids or a kitchen.

Besides, Zhuang Xingyu cultivated the Tai Chi Xuanqing Dao! Those who had cultivated the Tai Chi Xuanqing Dao knew that this cultivation method emphasized tranquility, noninterference, self-reliance, and following one's heart. Being waited on by a group of maids every day would instead be detrimental to cultivation.

"By the way, Zihan's Sister, is there something you need?"

"Can't I come see you if there's nothing? What, are you sick of your sister now?" Zihan pretended to be hurt.

"How could I be? I like you too much for that, Sister!" Zhuang Xingyu lifted his head and looked at Zihan's delicate face with an adorable, sincere expression, tightening his arms around her.

Zihan pinched Zhuang Xingyu's fair, smooth cheeks. His face scrunched into a ball, making her giggle.

"Come on, Zihan's Sister. I'll treat you to something good! But no matter what you eat later, don't tell anyone. This is our little secret." With that, he took Zihan's hand and quickly led her toward his room.

Upon hearing that, Zihan froze in surprise. Then, as if she had thought of something, her face immediately turned bright red.

What should I do? Xingyu is only five years old, he's still so young. If it's too early, it'll be bad for his body. But if I refuse, will it leave him with some kind of psychological trauma? Should I refuse later?