Sharing a Bed

Nan Nan had made a point of cleaning the other room and bringing out fresh bedding and quilts.

"Minghui, Wanyu, get some rest early."

After the three exchanged goodnights, the door closed, leaving Dongfang Minghui and Dongfang Wanyu staring at each other.

The cramped room was only about thirty square meters, with a simple chair and a small bed a meter and a half wide and two meters long. There was nothing else.

Dongfang Minghui suspected the heroine would kick her straight out of bed that night. After all, although they interacted as sisters, they had never been this close.

An inexplicable sense of awkwardness swept through her heart.

Dongfang Wanyu took her hand and removed the spatial ring from her own finger. "My spatial ring can't compare to a high-grade one, but it has fifteen cubic meters of space. Use it for now. When I find a better one someday, I'll buy it for you."

As Dongfang Wanyu emptied everything out of the ring, she erased the soul imprint she had left inside. "Here, drip a drop of blood onto it, and it will recognize you as its master."

Dongfang Minghui's eyes went round as saucers. She stared blankly at the heroine, hardly daring to believe it. "Seventh Sister, are you giving this ring to me?"

Dongfang Wanyu smiled and drew her hand closer. With a light stroke of her finger, a bead of blood welled up, which she smeared onto the spatial ring.

Dongfang Minghui soon saw the interior of the spatial ring clearly. As the heroine had said, it held around fifteen cubic meters of space-plenty of room for all sorts of odds and ends.

The face of the ring was beautiful too, shaped like a peony in full bloom.

Excited, she held her bundle and silently willed it inside. When she opened her eyes again, the bundle had vanished. She sent her awareness into the spatial ring and found it lying quietly inside.

Watching her enjoy herself, Dongfang Wanyu could not help feeling a little puzzled. Ninth Sister was, after all, the most pampered young lady of the Dongfang Family. Why did she find even a spatial ring so novel, and behave so much like a child?

She undressed while pondering Ninth Sister's strange behavior of late.

"Ninth Sister, it's time to rest."

Dressed in only her underclothes, the heroine sat on the edge of the bed and beckoned to her. Dongfang Minghui's scalp prickled slightly. "Seventh Sister, go to sleep first. I'm not tired yet. I want to sit for a while longer."

Sharing a bed with the heroine put her under far too much pressure. She was sure she would spend the whole night having nightmares of the heroine hunting her down.

She imagined herself tossing and turning in bed, surely disturbing the heroine's sleep. What if the heroine flew into a rage and cut her down? That made Dongfang Minghui even less willing to sleep in the bed. She would rather sit.

Her thoughts galloped off into the wilds, and somewhere along the way, she fell asleep sitting up, her head bobbing like a little chick pecking as she dozed.

Dongfang Wanyu opened her eyes and could not help laughing at the sight. She got out of bed, scooped her up, and laid her on the inner side. Dongfang Minghui smacked her lips and rolled over, slinging one leg over the quilt before sinking into deep sleep.

The bed was already rather small, and Dongfang Wanyu found her sprawling occupation of it a little funny. She arranged her arms and legs before carefully drawing the quilt over them both. Their skin touched, each able to feel the warmth radiating from the other.

Dongfang Wanyu was not used to sleeping with someone else either, but she forced herself to close her eyes quickly. More important matters awaited them tomorrow.

When Dongfang Wanyu woke the next day, she found a fair, slender leg draped across her waist, a hand resting on her chest, and a head nestled against her shoulder. Breath brushed her neck, tickling slightly. No wonder she had slept so poorly.

The culprit knew nothing of this and was still sleeping soundly, what looked like a trail of white liquid trickling from the corner of her mouth.

Dongfang Wanyu sat bolt upright, nearly flinging Dongfang Minghui, who had been nestled against her, into the wall.

Unable to sleep, Dongfang Wanyu simply got up and left the room. She noticed that the door to Nan Nan's room opposite was still open, so she pushed it farther open and went inside. Nan Nan's room was furnished almost exactly like theirs: simply, with just a bed and a chair.

Nan Nan had her back to her as she tended a furnace, constantly watching the strength of the flames and tossing medicinal herbs inside without pause.

After watching for a little while, Dongfang Wanyu understood. Nan Nan was refining pills.

"Wanyu, I can hardly keep from envying your luck. Nan Nan is clearly an alchemist. Whatever you wish for comes right to you. Aren't you in need of a pill?" Qing Mo said in her mind.

Dongfang Wanyu had come quietly and left just as silently.

"She deliberately let me see."

The Nan siblings gave her a strange feeling. Neither seemed like someone who had grown up in hardship. There had to be a story here that they did not know.

"Since she deliberately let you see, she must want something from you. Besides, you saved her yesterday." Qing Mo left it at that.

"The one who truly saved her was Ninth Sister," Dongfang Wanyu murmured.

"Miss Qian, why didn't you sleep a little longer?" A pleasant voice suddenly sounded behind her.

Dongfang Wanyu turned to see Nan Fei wheeling himself toward her with some difficulty. She went over and pushed him from behind.

"I'm used to getting up early. Where are you going? I'll push you there," Dongfang Wanyu offered kindly.

"The vegetables are ready to harvest. We can add something to your meal." Nan Fei pointed to the little vegetable patch behind their house.

Dongfang Wanyu headed there. The vegetables in the garden were all fresh and lush, without a single weed in sight. It clearly received regular care.

"Let me help."

"Miss Qian, do you think I'm useless too? I can't walk, and I really have caused Nan Nan a great deal of extra trouble." Nan Fei smiled bitterly.

Dongfang Wanyu had not expected Nan Fei to be so sensitive. She withdrew the hand she had extended. "You're her only close family. She has never considered you a burden."

The siblings worried about each other, yet neither was willing to say it aloud.

Nan Fei nodded. "You're right, Miss Qian. I was being overly sensitive."

Dongfang Wanyu glanced at his legs. "They'll be getting up soon. We'd better hurry."

Nan Fei produced a pair of scissors from somewhere, bent as far forward as he could, and snipped at a vegetable. Seeing how practiced his movements were, Dongfang Wanyu relaxed.

Rubbing her eyes, Dongfang Minghui walked to the doorway and saw a warm scene in the sunlight. The two occasionally exchanged smiles, apparently getting along very well.

"The plot is finally heading in the right direction."

"Minghui, what are you muttering to yourself about?" Nan Nan asked from behind her.

Dongfang Minghui turned with a beaming smile. "Good morning, Nan Nan. Nothing much. I was saying that Seventh Sister and your elder brother are picking vegetables in the garden."

Nan Nan also hurried to the doorway for a look. "They certainly got up early."

As Dongfang Minghui helped her carry the porridge, she asked, "Nan Nan, how did your elder brother hurt his legs? What did the physician say? Is there any chance he'll be able to stand again?"

Nan Nan's hand paused as she ladled out the porridge. "My elder brother is a water-element Spirit Practitioner. He had an accident while cultivating. The physician said he missed the best window for treatment. There's no hope."

Dongfang Minghui tilted her head. This was clearly wrong. Nan Fei's legs would recover; otherwise, he could not end up with the heroine.

"Brother, Wanyu, come have some porridge."

The meal was a simple bowl of porridge and a large basin of cold wild greens. Dongfang Wanyu pushed Nan Fei into place, then sat down, ready to eat.

Dongfang Minghui's gaze flitted between their faces. She ate while pondering, finishing a bowl of porridge before she knew it.

"Minghui, Wanyu, did you two also come to enroll at the Royal Academy?" Nan Nan suddenly asked during the meal.

Dongfang Minghui glanced at the heroine and, seeing nothing unusual in her expression, nodded. "Nan Nan, you're so clever. How did you figure it out?"

Yesterday, she had recognized at a glance that they were from out of town. Clearly, her powers of observation and insight were impressive.

Nan Nan smiled faintly. "There's nothing clever about it. When I was running my stall, I saw lots of people heading to the Royal Academy. You looked travel-worn when you arrived in Snow Capital yesterday, so I guessed you'd come to enroll."

"Running a stall?" Dongfang Wanyu repeated.

Before Nan Nan could explain, Nan Fei said beside her, "To support our household, Nan Nan often refines pills and sells them in the Northern District."

Dongfang Minghui's eyes suddenly lit up. "Are you going today too?"

Nan Nan nodded. "Yes. I'll leave in another hour."

Under the table, Dongfang Minghui tugged at the heroine's hem and looked at her, blinking imploringly.

She wore this expression every time she wanted something. Dongfang Wanyu was already used to it. "Nan Nan, if it's convenient, could you take us along to have a look?"

"Of course." Nan Nan looked delighted at first, then cautioned them, "But the Northern District is where fish and dragons mingle in Snow Capital. People from many mercenary groups like to go there, so you should still be careful."

Dongfang Wanyu thought of Young Master Lu Peng, whom she had beaten yesterday. Since Nan Nan had said the Lu Family was a major power in Snow Capital, they would clearly come looking for them again.

Judging by Nan Nan's confidence last night, Lu Peng probably did not yet know where she and Nan Fei lived. He would most likely wait for Nan Nan at her stall.

If they appeared so brazenly in the Northern District, wouldn't that be practically telling everyone she was the one who had beaten him?

After the meal, Dongfang Wanyu took Nan Nan thirty meters away from the doorway. "What do you make of what happened yesterday?"

Nan Nan froze, and a pained expression immediately surfaced on her face. "I'm sorry. I've dragged you into this. I didn't think it through. Perhaps you shouldn't go to the Northern District today. Hurry to the academy to register instead."

Dongfang Wanyu looked at her coldly. "Ninth Sister is a little naive. If she hadn't insisted on saving you yesterday, I would never have intervened. I've never liked beating around the bush. What is it you want?"