Has Big Sis's Love Become That Kind of Love?

Had even someone as slow to catch on as Mo Xue realized her feelings?

Qiu Yun's breathing grew ragged. For a moment, she felt as though she could barely stand.

She watched Mo Xue for a long time with her dewdrop eyes, then noticed something amiss. Her willow brows drew together as she ventured a question.

"What kind of love do you mean, Mo Xue?"

"What do you mean, 'what kind'? Love is love."

Mo Xue tilted her head in confusion. Qiu Yun's unease vanished at once, and a hopeful thought stirred in her heart. She probed further.

"For example?"

"Hmm..."

Mo Xue scrunched up her face and thought hard for a long while. Even she grew uncertain, and her voice softened.

"J-just like Qiu Yun. I love Master Luo the same way Qiu Yun does!"

"Really, Big Sis? The way I love him... might be a little different from yours~"

Qiu Yun froze, then felt her suspended heart settle safely back into place. Her face grew serene, while Mo Xue looked puzzled and spoke more hesitantly.

"What kind of love does Qiu Yun mean?"

Qiu Yun's brows relaxed. Rather than answer at once, she took Mo Xue's hands between her own and gently guided her.

"Do you love Uncle Luo like family, Big Sis?"

"Yes! I love Master Luo the same way I love Qiu Yun!"

Understanding dawned on Mo Xue. She nodded, and the knot in her heart loosened considerably.

She understood now!

Master Luo loved her most, and Qiu Yun loved her most too. She loved Master Luo and Qiu Yun most of all. That was the security she wanted!

"Is that so? You're still a child, Big Sis. My love isn't the same as yours."

Qiu Yun smiled and reached to stroke her big sister's hair, but Mo Xue pouted and swatted her hand away.

"I'm the older sister! Qiu Yun, you bad girl."

"I really am a bad girl."

Qiu Yun shook her head lightly. Then her smile faded, and she said earnestly, "I love Uncle Luo in the way that makes me want to become his cultivation partner and spend my life beside him. Even then, would you have no objection, Mo Xue?"

Mo Xue's relaxed brows suddenly knitted tight. The knot in her chest, which had just begun to ease, tightened all the more.

Her first instinct was to refuse. But when she thought it through, she could find no reason to.

Qiu Yun and Uncle Luo were the two people most precious to her. If they married, their bond would deepen, and all three of them could live together for years to come.

When it came to being a wife and raising children, or even to looks, she could never compare with Qiu Yun. She was a born killing star.

This should have been a good thing.

Then why did her heart feel so tightly twisted it might break? It was as if a thief had set their sights on what she treasured most, and she was powerless to stop them.

Possessiveness and jealousy surged toward a breaking point. If the person before her had been anyone but Qiu Yun, she might have drawn her sword and struck.

"No... As long as Qiu Yun puts me first, it's fine. It's Qiu Yun's choice."

Mo Xue gripped the front of her robe until it wrinkled. Every word seemed squeezed through her teeth.

Qiu Yun was the wife best suited to Master Luo. With Qiu Yun beside him, no other woman would lure him away.

"Really? You don't mind, Big Sis?"

"If it's Qiu Yun..."

Mo Xue forced a smile, her face so stiff it was nearly contorted.

But I came first. I came first...

She wanted to say more, yet stopped herself. She should be happy. Uncle Luo and Qiu Yun were the family she cherished most.

Becoming family twice over should be a good thing.

"You're so generous, Mo Xue. But I won't count that answer."

Qiu Yun shook her head and gently caressed her big sister's cheek. Her palm felt a touch of feverish heat, and Mo Xue's breaths came quick.

Clearly, Mo Xue had lost her composure. Even her cheeks had gone red from holding it all in.

If Qiu Yun wanted, she could probably take Uncle Luo from her completely. Once the rice was cooked, Big Sis would have no tears left to cry.

But this was her big sister. She would hold back for her, and her alone.

To Qiu Yun, was Mo Xue any less important than Uncle Luo?

"Once you understand what this ache in your heart is, answer me again."

Qiu Yun wrapped her arms around her big sister and stroked her back. After murmuring gentle words of comfort into her ear, she added seriously,

"But when that time comes, even if you do mind, I won't back down. We'll compete fairly then, all right?"

Qiu Yun let her go, her voice warm and flowing as water. "Of course, even if I win, I'll still put you first. You're willing to share Uncle Luo with me, so I'm willing to share him with you."

"Only you, Big Sis."

With that, Qiu Yun privately called herself a cunning woman. She turned and walked away without looking back, leaving Mo Xue alone and lost in the wind.

Mo Xue watched Qiu Yun enter the cave. Soon she heard Uncle Luo's startled cry, followed by somewhat hurried breathing.

"An ache? What is this feeling?"

The breaths reaching her ears battered her heart. Mo Xue gripped her sword hilt until her knuckles went white, then let go helplessly.

Her insides seemed ready to catch fire. Her heart pounded ever more wildly as Master Luo tried to cover his mouth, yet muffled sounds still slipped through his fingers. In the end, all her tangled feelings became a bitter smile.

Wasn't becoming family twice over a good thing? It shouldn't feel like this.

Yet she had plainly forgotten: why couldn't she be the one to become family with him twice over?

The next day, as Luo Fanchen washed up, he looked at the fresh red marks on his neck and felt a little helpless.

Qiu Yun had come to him in the night. She had seemed different from usual, her feelings unusually intense. She had made no attempt to stifle her breathless moans. With all that noise, Mo Xue had probably been kept awake.

He had no idea how to explain it.

"Morning, Mo Xue. Get ready, and come with me to deal with the bandits nearby."

Luo Fanchen greeted her first, but Mo Xue kept her eyes lowered. Her sidelong gaze lingered on the red marks on his neck, and she said nothing.

He moved to speak with her, but she lifted her chin, turned, and walked away.

She remained quiet along the way. Luo Fanchen rubbed the marks on his neck, too guilty to explain himself to Mo Xue right away.

It seemed Qiu Yun had made too much noise last night. Mo Xue had noticed after all.

"Actually..."

"You don't need to explain, Master Luo. I know. As an Artifact Spirit, Qiu Yun needs your essence blood to keep her mind clear and replenish her Soul Essence."

"Well..."

"I'm not upset. I'm not sulking."

A faint smile touched Mo Xue's lips, but Luo Fanchen could see the bitterness in it no matter how he looked.

How strange. Why was Mo Xue wearing that odd smile I'd only occasionally seen on Ling Youdao's face?

"You and Qiu Yun..."

"Qiu Yun and I are fine. We've already had a heart-to-heart. You don't need to worry, Master Luo."

Mo Xue's hands clenched inside her sleeves until her knuckles went white. Unlike the comfort she had felt before, the closer she stood to Master Luo, the sharper the ache in her heart became. A restlessness she had never known lingered there.

She lowered her head and fell silent. If they kept talking, she feared she would lose her temper with him.

Master Luo had done nothing wrong. The problem lay with her.

She needed time to make sense of the ache in her chest and understand what she and Master Luo were to each other—what she hoped they might be.

The bandit hunt went smoothly. Mo Xue descended like a god of slaughter, leaving Luo Fanchen no chance to act.

Her sword flashed like a startled swan. She seemed intent on pouring every pent-up dark feeling into the bandits. Nothing stood against her blade, and with the Soul Banner's Illusion Formation to aid her, the bandits were nearly wiped out.

They cleared four bandit dens, but found no cultivators among them. After Luo Fanchen used the Soul Banner to put the wronged souls to rest, he and Mo Xue took the abducted commoners and the survivors from the Treasure Pavilion's trade route to a point along the merchants' path.

"A pity. We didn't encounter any cultivators."

On the carriage formed by the Soul Banner, Mo Xue's almond eyes were cold as she calmly wiped the blood from her sword.

The flashes of savage killing intent that occasionally surfaced in her eyes left the nearby commoners trembling with fear.

Luo Fanchen frowned at the four grains of Spirit Dust in his palm. A vague sense of foreboding rose within him.

The bandits in all four dens were ordinary people. Why, then, had each of their leaders carried Spirit Dust?

Were they with the Water Marsh Gang? But if the Water Marsh Gang was involved, why hadn't they sent cultivators? How could these ordinary bandits delay any reinforcements?

Luo Fanchen thought hard but found no answer. Even Soul Search yielded few clues.

The ordinary bandits were too low-ranking. They had merely followed orders and knew nothing of value.