"Again! Last time, your senior sister let her guard down and you took advantage of it, Little Yun'er. That won't happen this time. Take this!" Tian Ling'er cried. Amber Vermilion Ribbon surged toward Ye Yun once more, and he could only defend himself again. Having learned from last time, Tian Ling'er had gotten clever: she stood atop Amber Vermilion Ribbon and rode it through the air, protecting herself with it before launching her attack.
Seeing Tian Ling'er's approach, Ye Yun immediately realized he couldn't pull the same trick as before. This time, he had no choice but to meet her head-on. He pointed his fingers like a sword, and the three-foot green blade floating beside him rushed toward the fiery-red Amber Vermilion Ribbon with a whistling sound.
The sword shot out quickly, but returned even faster. A normal sword was no match for Amber Vermilion Ribbon; the ribbon, carrying tremendous force, smacked it right back. But although the sword had been knocked away, Amber Vermilion Ribbon had also come to a halt.
Tian Ling'er wasn't annoyed that Amber Vermilion Ribbon had been stopped. Instead, she smiled broadly and said, "Not bad, Little Yun'er. You actually managed to block my Amber Vermilion Ribbon with an ordinary iron sword. But let's see how you block this one: Long River Setting Sun!"
As she spoke, Tian Ling'er formed a hand seal. Amber Vermilion Ribbon blazed with red light, rolling toward Ye Yun like a surging river. Ye Yun was startled. He formed a sword seal, and the unremarkable blade standing before him suddenly shone brilliantly, like an iron dam blocking the river. But even then, Ye Yun wasn't at ease. He knew the sword was made of ordinary steel and couldn't possibly stop Amber Vermilion Ribbon in its current state.
His thoughts racing, Ye Yun pushed off lightly and drifted backward like a willow fluff. At the same time, yellow light flashed in his hands, and walls of earth suddenly rose from the ground before him, each more than two meters high and three meters wide, glowing yellow.
When the third earthen wall stood before Ye Yun, a thunderous crash rang out. Even with the walls in front of him, he saw light flare up ahead, and he lost his connection to the iron sword. That meant the blade had likely been destroyed.
After sending Amber Vermilion Ribbon flying, Tian Ling'er saw Ye Yun hold the iron sword before himself, drift backward, and raise wall after wall of earth to shield himself. The corners of her mouth curled up. "Trying to run? Dream on," she murmured, then poured even more power into her attack. Amber Vermilion Ribbon lived up to her expectations, smashing through the iron sword before crashing into the earthen walls behind it, demolishing them with ease.
Ye Yun had thought three earthen walls would be enough, but, just to be safe, he'd put up one more. As it turned out, he'd been right to do so: Amber Vermilion Ribbon only stopped after smashing through three walls and hitting the fourth. The final wall had stopped it, but was already covered in cracks. Just as Ye Yun prepared to strike back, figuring that Amber Vermilion Ribbon had lost its momentum and Tian Ling'er hadn't yet gathered strength for another attack, a flash of red darted into the corner of his eye.
"Not good!" Realizing something was wrong, Ye Yun pushed off the ground to get away, but it was already too late. The red Amber Vermilion Ribbon had wrapped around his feet, pinning him in place, while more ribbons coiled around his body. In the blink of an eye, he was wrapped up like a red rice dumpling.
Just as Ye Yun was wrapped up like a dumpling, Tian Ling'er came skipping over with her hands behind her back. "Ha ha! You fell for it, didn't you, Little Yun? Now let's see you run. You've been wrapped up like a dumpling by your senior sister!"
"Fell for it?" Ye Yun suddenly realized what might have happened. "Senior sister, Long River Setting Sun was just a feint. The real attack was another ribbon hidden behind it, wasn't it?"
Though Ye Yun had phrased it as a question, his words were full of certainty.
Tian Ling'er nodded. "That's right. But if you hadn't been able to block Long River Setting Sun, that would have been the real killing move."
"You're amazing, senior sister! But I have one more question. Could you let me go first?" Ye Yun gave her a pleading look.
"Letting you go is a small matter, but before that, you have to agree to one condition." Tian Ling'er's eyes gleamed with mischief.
"What condition?" Ye Yun eyed her warily. He'd been caught out like this before: he'd agreed to her request without even hearing the condition, and afterward, he'd spent an entire month digging bamboo shoots and pickling a whole crock of sour bamboo shoots for her snacks. Since then, he'd never agreed to Tian Ling'er's demands without thinking.
Tian Ling'er gave him a wicked smile, lowered her head, and leaned close to his ear, her breath soft and fragrant. "Little junior brother, have you ever heard the saying, 'When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head'? Right now, you're meat on my chopping board, and you have only one choice: agree. Otherwise, I'll call the senior brothers over, and I'm sure they'll be more than happy to help."
"Senior sister, what are you talking about? If you ask it of me, I, Ye Yun, will brave fire and water without hesitation." Ye Yun immediately caved. After all, as Tian Ling'er had said, when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.
Tian Ling'er knew the two of them were very close and got along wonderfully, but she couldn't bully Ye Yun all the time. So, after giving him a taste of the stick, she offered him a carrot: with a quick smack, she kissed him on the cheek, then loosened the Amber Vermilion Ribbon binding him.
"All right, that's enough training for today. You don't have a decent magic treasure, so I don't want you saying your senior sister picked on you. Tomorrow, I'll bring you one that's just as good as Amber Vermilion Ribbon. I promise you'll like it. Then we'll have a proper fight." Before Ye Yun could reply, Tian Ling'er pulled him onto Amber Vermilion Ribbon and flew toward the dining hall.
After lunch and a short rest, Ye Yun headed for Tai Chi Cave. Now that he had obtained a cultivation method that would take him all the way to the third level of Upper Purity, he could cultivate without worrying that he'd progress too quickly and run out of techniques.
Cultivation knew no time. The afternoon passed in the blink of an eye. Having lost track of time yesterday, Ye Yun made a point of coming out a little earlier today. When he happened to spot wild chickens in the woods, his eyes lit up. A famous delicacy from his old world began to circle through his mind.
Half an hour later, Ye Yun had cleaned five plump wild chickens and wrapped them in lotus leaves. Before him sat a pile of mud mixed with the mountain spring water.
That's right, Ye Yun was making the famous Beggars' Chicken. All he had to do now was coat the marinated chickens, wrapped in lotus leaves, with mud, then build a fire and roast them.
There was no shortage of firewood on the mountain. The trees, left untrimmed by human hands, had plenty of dead branches beneath their shade. If you were willing to gather them, it was easy to find a big pile. It might not be enough to haul back for cooking, but it was more than enough to roast a few Beggars' Chickens.
The first load of firewood he'd brought back hadn't been enough. So, when the fire was nearly out, Ye Yun had no choice but to venture farther away to gather more. He wanted enough to roast the chickens until they were crisp on the outside and tender within.
A little over ten minutes later, Ye Yun returned with an armful of dry branches nearly as tall as he was. But when he carried the firewood back to the campfire, he froze. The fire, which should have been blazing, had been raked apart, and the Beggars' Chickens inside were gone. Unwilling to give up, Ye Yun poked around with a stick, then finally confirmed that not a single chicken remained.
"Who stole my chickens?" Ye Yun's furious voice thundered through the woods, sending flocks of birds into the air.
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