Why are you so good to me?

After the sect masters left, Gao Ze came down and looked at the battered hall doors, still swaying from the impact, his heart aching.

"You brat, you'd been eavesdropping outside for ages! If you wanted to come in, you could've just come in! Why ram the doors?"

The Sword Sect was dirt-poor. Only the main peak's great hall, used for ceremonies and entertaining guests, looked presentable.

But Ning Ke's collision had left a dent in it, making it hideously ugly.

"Don't worry, Master!" Ning Ke raised his hand. "I'll pay for it. I'll pay, all right?"

He didn't have much going for him, except plenty of money.

At those words, the anguish vanished from Gao Ze's face. He coughed twice and said, "I think the doors aren't the only problem..."

"Not just the doors! I'll renovate the entire hall! Happy now?"

"Yes." Gao Ze instantly beamed, struggling to maintain even a semblance of his usual stern expression.

Before leaving, he patted Ning Ke's shoulder and said earnestly, "I'm entrusting your senior brother to you as well. I believe you can take care of everything."

"I know, I know." Ning Ke spread his hands helplessly.

To think that he, a mighty Demon Venerable, had abandoned a harem and mountains of wealth just to throw money at this impoverished Sword Sect while chasing the male lead. What a sorry state of affairs.

Still, Gao Ze's behavior also showed him that the Sword Sect's master had indeed been protecting Lou Yunxiao all along.

Otherwise, Lou Yunxiao wouldn't have shouldered the burden after Gao Ze disappeared in the future and built the Sword Sect up so well.

"A Ke, thank you."

Only when Ning Ke and Lou Yunxiao were alone in the hall did Lou Yunxiao solemnly thank him.

Ning Ke unlocked his shackles with the key the steward elder had given him, while pondering how to become a loyal simp without making Lou Yunxiao hate him.

Hearing that, he instinctively said, "No need to thank me. It's my duty as your simp-oh, no, your junior brother."

Damn! I almost let it slip!

Ning Ke hurriedly changed the subject, asking Lou Yunxiao, "So, uh, eldest senior brother, can you not see?"

"No."

Lou Yunxiao had grown accustomed to the darkness over the past two years, so he answered naturally when his eyesight came up.

"Then let me hold your hand and lead you."

Ning Ke smoothly put the first rule of being a lovestruck fool that Xiao Yuan had taught him into practice: care for the person you loved in every little detail, whether he needed it or not.

Giving was better than not giving, anyway.

"I..." Lou Yunxiao had intended to say he could find his way using his divine sense, but before he could finish, Ning Ke had already firmly taken his hand.

The young man's palm was warm and soft. Held like this, Lou Yunxiao couldn't bring himself to refuse, so he could only let him have his way.

Holding Lou Yunxiao's hand, Ning Ke led him all the way back to the courtyard residence.

Then he took Lou Yunxiao to the room he had renovated and explained every last detail of what was inside and where to find anything he might need.

Lou Yunxiao listened quietly, warmth welling up in his heart.

He had never really had a true friend.

Great expectations had been placed on him since childhood. His life had consisted of nothing but cultivation, and his talent far surpassed everyone else's, leaving others his age inevitably awkward and restrained around him.

Now that the Flowing Cloud Sect had been wiped out and he had taken up demonic cultivation, even fewer people were willing to approach him.

This was the first time he had met someone like Ning Ke, who kept chattering away, worried he wouldn't settle in comfortably and constantly thinking of his needs.

"Phew!" Ning Ke had talked until his mouth went dry. He gulped down some tea and asked Lou Yunxiao, "By the way, senior brother, are you hungry?"

"Not really." Lou Yunxiao took out a porcelain bottle. "I took a Grain-Avoidance Pill."

Grain-Avoidance Pills were substitutes cultivators ate when they had no other food.

They tasted like wax and did nothing more than suppress hunger.

"Don't tell me you've been living on Grain-Avoidance Pills for all those months in the Demon-Sealing Pagoda?"

"...Yes."

No one had brought him meals in the Demon-Sealing Pagoda. These were all he had to eat.

Ning Ke felt his heart ache.

Goddammit! The kid I'd fed all those spirit fruits and delicious meals in the Demon Abyss had come out only to live on pills! This was no different from seeing someone abuse the child I'd raised!

So he told Lou Yunxiao, "Wait here."

Then he flew down the mountain on his sword, ordered a whole tableful of dishes at a restaurant, stuffed them all into his Storage Ring, and brought them back for Lou Yunxiao!

Lou Yunxiao sat on the stool in a daze. Ning Ke put chopsticks into his hand and said, "Senior brother, eat all you want today. If it's not enough, I'll get you more!"

But even after waiting a long while, he didn't see Lou Yunxiao move his chopsticks.

Then he heard Lou Yunxiao ask him.

"A Ke, why are you so good to me?"

Such kindness asked for nothing in return, just like that beautiful older sister's.

Lou Yunxiao longed for this kind of care, yet feared receiving it.

Because he understood that he couldn't grieve for something he had never had, but once he had it and lost it, the pain would be endless.

"If it's because you pity me, there's no need," Lou Yunxiao said. "There are plenty of people in the cultivation world more pitiful than me. Someone as insignificant as I am isn't worth all this care."

"So?" Ning Ke asked. "Are you planning to reject my kindness forever and never have anything to do with me again?"

Lou Yunxiao froze. "I..."

"I'm good to you because I want to be, and because you're worth it."

"All you need to do is accept it without worrying."

"If you really feel bad and want to repay me, spar with me." Ning Ke smiled, revealing his little canine teeth. "None of the disciples here can take a beating. If you become my regular sparring partner and help me improve, I'll be smiling in my sleep."

He knew Lou Yunxiao had simply been isolated for too long, which was why the boy hesitated so much in the face of kindness.

As a proper lovestruck fool, he needed to get Lou Yunxiao used to his devotion.

After all...that's how I'd complete the mission!

Besides! Only this way could I cling to Lou Yunxiao all the time! And get him to leave my little sister alone!!

Hearing his thoughts, Xiao Yuan rolled their eyes and said:

[Hah, so that's your real goal.]

[As expected, a sister-obsessed man will sacrifice himself for the greater good.]

Ning Ke: You can even compose verse?

[Hah, easy. Third best in the world.]

Ning Ke: *...*

Lou Yunxiao quietly considered Ning Ke's words.

His grip on the chopsticks tightened. Only after a long while did he finally smile in relief.

"All right. Then I'll work hard to become a worthy opponent."

He had made up his mind.

Since Ning Ke was willing to be good to him, he couldn't keep hesitating. Instead, he needed to return that kindness without delay.

He had never made friends before.

But he would learn as he went.

Meeting sincerity with sincerity couldn't go wrong.