"Senior sister."
The youth edged closer again, until only a finger's breadth separated their faces.
Their breaths mingled, and he was so close that Ning Xiang could smell his crisp, clean scent.
His skin outshone snow, enough to make even women feel inferior; his face was like spring blossoms, his eyes like autumn waters. Ning Xiang's gaze settled on his rouge-red lips. This was deadly. He looked positively... delicious.
He drew nearer little by little, and Ning Xiang couldn't help bending backward.
The youth steadied her slender, supple waist.
Then Ning Xiang saw his ears quietly turn red.
Now that was strange. She hadn't even blushed, so what was he blushing for?
Ning Xiang tilted her head at him. "Junior brother, are you feeling hot?"
Yu Tingchao hurriedly averted his gaze. "You... put your clothes on properly first."
As it turned out, Ning Xiang was wearing only a thin nightgown, exposing the luminous, jade-white skin of her chest.
Ning Xiang honestly didn't think anything of it. Never mind the twenty-first century-even in the cultivation world, plenty of female cultivators wore revealing clothes. Cultivators didn't place much importance on such worldly conventions.
She leisurely tied her clothes closed.
[I didn't expect him to be such an innocent. Well, he is part of the heroine's harem. How could he possibly get too intimate with a supporting female character?]
Yu Tingchao's brows drew together almost imperceptibly, then relaxed.
Ning Xiang didn't notice. She pushed Yu Tingchao away. She was only a cannon-fodder supporting character; she wasn't blessed enough to lay a finger on the heroine's man.
"What are you doing here?"
Honestly, anyone who didn't know Yu Tingchao's cultivation level might mistake him for some wealthy family's young master. He looked completely out of place in this dark, damp cave.
"I was worried you wouldn't be used to living here, senior sister, so I came to keep you company."
The young boy's smile was bright and sly.
As the vicious supporting character, Ning Xiang had enough self-awareness not to believe Yu Tingchao had sincerely come to visit her.
In the original novel, if Demon Venerable Mingyuan was the most arrogantly self-important and Demon King Zhu Yu the most deranged and cold-blooded, then the seemingly innocent, harmless Yu Tingchao was a black lotus through and through. After all, everyone else was openly wicked; only this brat hid his malice.
Although Ning Xiang had a god's-eye view, she knew she was no match for these protagonists blessed with Heaven's halos. Better to tread cautiously.
"Are you unhappy to see me, senior sister?"
Yu Tingchao lowered his eyes slightly, looking a little forlorn.
Ning Xiang's heart melted instantly. "How could I be? Your senior sister dotes on our little Yu most of all. I was just worried this place was too cold and damp, and you'd catch a chill." Oh, who wouldn't love such a sweet, soft little puppy?
[Junior Sister Jiang, you're not here anyway, so let me steal a little treat just this once. Sweetheart, big sister will spoil you!]
Ning Xiang stretched out her wicked claws and gave Yu Tingchao's beautiful face a squeeze. His skin felt so good. Oh, how she envied Jiang Miaomiao!
Beauty could bewitch the heart. Ning Xiang nearly forgot to wonder why Yu Tingchao had come here in the first place.
Logically, since she had framed Jiang Miaomiao, Yu Tingchao should be doing everything he could to avenge her. Why had he come here to get all touchy-feely instead?
[This brat has ulterior motives. What other tricks does he have waiting for me?]
Yu Tingchao raised his hand. Ning Xiang went on guard and ducked backward.
But his fingers, tender as spring bamboo shoots, merely picked a long hair off Ning Xiang's shoulder. He smiled brightly. "What did you think I was going to do, senior sister?"
Ning Xiang: What a disgrace! I'd actually been teased by some greenhorn brat.
She raised her hand to slap Yu Tingchao, but in the end, it only settled lightly on his shoulder. Looking at him earnestly, she said with heartfelt gravity, "Tingchao, I'm your senior sister, ten years older than you. An eldest sister is like a mother. You should listen to your senior sister in everything."
Yu Tingchao gazed at her with bright, amber eyes.
Ning Xiang cleared her throat and put on a kindly smile. "At this hour, eldest senior brother and second senior brother are both practicing their swordsmanship. Why are you running over here instead of cultivating? Aren't you afraid Master will find out and blame you?"
"I'll take your earnest teachings to heart, senior sister. But isn't the one who still hasn't gotten out of bed with the sun already high in the sky you?"
Ning Xiang's smile froze.
She hastily clutched her chest in a show of repentance. "Exactly. Isn't my laziness the very reason Master sent me to the Dao-Seeking Slope to reflect?"
"Reflecting under the covers?" Yu Tingchao raised a brow.
[Are you the senior sister, or am I? How can this brat be so infuriating? If I'd known, I should've given you a few more beatings when you were little!]
Ning Xiang bristled, but outwardly, she still humbly accepted his instruction. "I was wrong. Just take your senior sister as an example of what not to do."
Yu Tingchao said, "Then you should lead by example, senior sister. Get up and give me some pointers on my swordsmanship."
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. Everyone knows our master is the finest swordsman in the Profound Heaven Sect. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask him. Failing that, don't you still have eldest senior brother and second senior brother?"
[What damn pointers could I give you? You came here first thing in the morning just to mess with me, didn't you?]
"When you drew your sword yesterday, senior sister, you looked so valiant and dashing. Your bearing truly left me in awe," Yu Tingchao sighed softly.
[So he did come to avenge Jiang Miaomiao after all?]
Why was it Jiang Miaomiao again?
"Senior sister, do you like Master that much?"
"Huh?" Ning Xiang caught on and gave him a smile mingling sweetness and bitterness. "Yes. Even getting one more glimpse of Master would be wonderful. If I could become his Dao companion and ascend with him, nothing could be better."
[Pah, pah, pah! Who wants to be with him? Honored patriarch above, nothing your disciple just said counts!]
Yu Tingchao: I heard what you were really thinking!
In the past, his senior sister had been deeply infatuated with their master. She clung to him every day and couldn't bear to see another female cultivator say even one extra word to him.
In Yu Tingchao's eyes, all her actions had undoubtedly been foolish in the extreme.
After Jiang Miaomiao joined the sect, his senior sister had bullied her incessantly, using every devious, vicious trick imaginable.
Yu Tingchao didn't much care for Jiang Miaomiao's frail, delicate manner either. He imagined their master wouldn't fall for a woman like that.
If his senior sister wanted their master, she had no need to concern herself with Jiang Miaomiao. She only needed to win him over.
But now, he found he couldn't fathom what his senior sister wanted to do.
It never occurred to Yu Tingchao that Ning Xiang had changed on the inside.
After all, the Ning Household's eldest daughter carried countless protective magical treasures. No one would dare attempt to possess her.
Yu Tingchao was indolent by nature, and few things stirred him. Now, however, he found himself growing curious about this senior sister full of secrets.
"Senior sister, how about I help you win Master?" He leaned close to Ning Xiang's ear, his voice gentle.
Yet to Ning Xiang, those words were nothing short of a thunderclap.
[Yu Tingchao, you've really made me see you in a new light! How impressive of the heroine's harem to have you. Harmony and stability are out of the question now.]
Ning Xiang put on a conflicted, hesitant expression. "How could I trouble you with that, junior brother?"
"It's no trouble." Yu Tingchao's smile was tender, his eyes brimming with affection. "How could doing something for you ever be trouble, senior sister?"
Before you continue