Cloud Mist Sect Calls Off the Engagement? Xiao Yan and I, This Pair of "Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix," Should First Squeeze into a Seat Together

Still, the little wooden stool was far too short. With his height of over five and a half feet, An Yi looked both ridiculous and oddly well-behaved curled up on it.

Seeing him like that, Xiao Xun'er could not help but let out a soft laugh, like a hundred flowers blooming at once, leaving the surrounding Xiao Household youths dazzled.

"Brother An Yi, you should sit up here instead. The chair is big enough—we will not touch each other." A hint of mischief flashed through Xun'er's autumn-water eyes.

"No. Not even if you beat me to death." An Yi kept his gaze straight ahead and stared solemnly at the floor. "I am afraid someone will throw a sack over my head."

Xiao Xun'er was one of the greatest opportunities in the Xiao Household—no, in all of the Battle Qi Continent.

Back when he was little, An Yi had not been without thoughts of cutting in first.

After all, those nearest the water got to enjoy the moonlight first.

Unfortunately, the gears of fate had turned in an utterly absurd direction.

That dark and windy night, An Yi had snuck into Xiao Xun'er's courtyard, preparing to put on a little performance of "nurturing her meridians"...

Only to collide head-on atop the wall with Xiao Yan, who had also come creeping over in secret.

As the saying went, when enemies met on a narrow road, the brave won!

Without a second word, An Yi had thrown Xiao Yan over his shoulder and pinned him down for a brutal, merciless beating.

As he beat him, he had hollered at the top of his lungs, "Help! Catch a thief! A hooligan is climbing over Sister Xun'er's wall in the middle of the night!"

That single shout had alarmed the entire Xiao Household.

The outcome was obvious.

From that day onward, several guards had been stationed outside Xiao Xun'er's courtyard around the clock.

Xiao Yan could no longer get in, and naturally, neither could An Yi.

Because of that incident, Xiao Yan had become the complete laughingstock of the Xiao Household, and the two had forged an irreconcilable grudge.

As a doting father, Xiao Zhan naturally disliked An Yi, the instigator behind it all, even more.

Later, however, Xiao Yan had surged ahead and become Wutan City's greatest genius in a century, while An Yi had continued advancing at the useless pace of one stage every two years. Gradually, they became people from two different worlds and had little contact with each other.

As for Xiao Xun'er, although the midnight wall-climbing plan had fallen through, An Yi's exceptionally likable face, coupled with the fact that he spent every day fooling around outside, meant that he often took little Xun'er running all over the hills to catch birds and fish.

That, in turn, stirred up a hornet's nest among the Xiao Household's younger generation.

The entire younger generation of the Xiao Household erupted in unprecedented public outrage, jointly submitting a petition that strongly condemned An Yi for leading the household's precious jewel astray.

Several particularly stubborn ones had even directly brought people to block An Yi in an alley and challenge him to a duel.

In the end, under the elders' intervention, An Yi was ordered to remain confined for several months, supposedly out of consideration for his deceased parents and to urge him to cultivate diligently.

In reality, it was an explicit ban on him associating with Xiao Xun'er.

Seeing that trying to hook up with a rich girl brought so much trouble—and had even robbed him of the time to leave the city and temper his body by smashing waterfalls—An Yi reflected deeply and decisively gave up on that shortcut.

What if those old fogies got jealous and, in a moment of impulse, resorted to underhanded methods against him?

Living off a woman might be nice, but his life was more important!

Especially over the past two years, as Xiao Xun'er gradually grew up, her thoughts had become ever deeper and sharper. Those autumn-water eyes of hers seemed capable of seeing straight through people's hearts.

An Yi keenly realized that the girl was no longer easy to fool. If he kept forcing familiarity, he might end up playing with fire.

Thus, An Yi's attitude toward Xiao Xun'er was now very clear: keep his distance and treat her with respectful caution.

Just as An Yi sat on the little stool with his mind wandering, a commotion arose outside the hall. Then, a black-clad youth with a slightly thin frame but a perfectly straight back slowly walked in.

It was Xiao Yan.

"The show is starting." Sitting on his little stool, An Yi quietly adjusted into a more comfortable position and prepared to watch.

Xiao Yan stepped over the threshold and swept his gaze around the hall.

He did not see his father, Xiao Zhan. Instead, he saw the three elders who had always disliked him sitting high above, while the chairs lining both sides of the hall were packed with the Xiao Household's younger generation. Not a single empty seat had been left for him, the former "young master."

A familiar sense of desolation and self-mockery had just risen in his heart, before it could spread...

"Well, if it is not Brother Yan."

A clear voice, carrying a touch of teasing and laziness, drifted abruptly from the corner. "It has been many days. Why do you look even more haggard?"

Xiao Yan's body stiffened, and the melancholy he had been carefully working up instantly caught in his throat.

Following the voice, he looked over and saw An Yi curled up on a palm-sized little stool in the corner, smiling at him.

Beside him sat Xiao Xun'er, struggling not to laugh.

Come to think of it, An Yi had been born a month before Xiao Yan.

By rights, Xiao Yan should have properly addressed him as "Brother An Yi" every time they met.

Of course, with the pride of someone who had lived two lives, Xiao Yan would never say that title aloud, not even if beaten to death.

"So you finally know how to come back?" The corner of Xiao Yan's eye twitched as he replied irritably.

"What?" An Yi raised an eyebrow, his tone full of heartfelt sorrow. "Could it be that during yesterday's annual test, without your big brother here to hold down the bottom with you, you stood out all alone on the stage again? Ah, why did you not tell me sooner? If you had, I definitely would have rushed back to embarrass myself alongside you!"

Xiao Yan's face instantly darkened. Through gritted teeth, he said, "...No need!"

Seeing Xiao Yan look like he wanted to hit someone but could not act out, An Yi chuckled.

He casually brushed a hand over his Storage Ring, and a flash of light appeared.

Smack.

Another little wooden stool appeared in his hand, and he set it steadily beside himself.

An Yi patted the tiny backless stool and beckoned generously. "Come on, Brother Yan. Stop standing there like a post. Come sit down—your big brother will keep you company."

Looking at that absurdly short stool, Xiao Yan's lips twitched wildly.

But seeing that none of the snobs in the hall intended to give him a seat, he took a deep breath, strode over, and plopped down.

Unlike An Yi's "well-behaved kindergarten child" posture, with his knees together and hands laid flat, Xiao Yan sat with his legs spread wide and arms crossed over his chest. Even seated on such a tiny stool, he somehow exuded an unyielding, sullen defiance.

The two of them huddled side by side on stools in the corner. That bizarre sight made Xiao Xun'er cover her mouth and laugh again.

The moment he sat down, An Yi leaned over and nudged Xiao Yan with his elbow.

"Hey, Brother Yan, give your brother the truth. How did yesterday's battle go? Still Third-Stage Qi Disciple?"

Xiao Yan rolled his eyes and gave a helpless hum.

"Ah..." An Yi let out a long sigh, then reached out and patted Xiao Yan's shoulder with the earnestness of an old father. "Do not worry. Your big brother is here with you in everything."

"Oh, no, that is not right."

An Yi abruptly changed his tone, shaking his head with a regretful expression. "Your big brother cannot keep you company anymore. To be honest, I am already a Sixth-Stage Qi Disciple! By a rough calculation, I am now... worth two of you!"

"..."

Xiao Yan's fists immediately clenched. Taking a deep breath, he squeezed out a few words through his teeth. "Can you shut up?"

Looking at An Yi's punchable face, Xiao Yan felt a complicated mixture of emotions.

In the current Xiao Household, the two of them were publicly known as the "crouching dragon and fledgling phoenix," the two greatest wastes.

The difference was that Xiao Yan had suffered an unforeseen change. His cultivation had regressed and stagnated at Third-Stage Qi Disciple, turning him into a laughingstock everyone could trample on. That was pure mockery.

As for An Yi? This guy spent all day loafing around and running everywhere, yet he happened to have a face that attracted young girls, provoking the fury of his peers. That was naked jealousy.

By that reckoning, the two could be considered fellow sufferers.

Strictly speaking, An Yi, who had been cursed at since childhood, was even a "senior" to Xiao Yan, who had only been insulted for three years, on this path of being a waste.

Moreover, the grudge between them had a long and storied history.