!
Reminded of it, Ning Ke held out his hand and discovered that the silk ribbon was indeed still wrapped around his palm.
But judging by Lou Yunxiao's attitude, why did he not seem angry at all?
Wasn't that strange?
No matter how puzzled he felt, Ning Ke still shook out the ribbon and moved closer to Lou Yunxiao.
He was a little shorter than Lou Yunxiao. With the other man seated, he could only rise onto his knees and reach around either side of Lou Yunxiao's face to tie it, bringing his chest and waist far too close to him.
"There, all tied... ah!"
Lou Yunxiao had reached out and taken hold of his waist.
"?" A question mark practically appeared above Ning Ke's head.
Lou Yunxiao's hands moved, one gripping the side of his waist, the other resting against the hollow of his lower back, drawing them even closer.
"???" Ning Ke felt there was something a little off about this atmosphere.
He ventured, "Senior brother?"
"Your sash is crooked."
Lou Yunxiao's voice remained calm as he answered. The hand gripping Ning Ke's waist shifted slightly toward his stomach. "You helped me, so I should help you too."
With that, he really did tie Ning Ke's sash with painstaking care.
He seemed entirely unaware that their position was far too intimate.
Even after they left the Fragrant Condensation Courtyard, Ning Ke was still somewhat dazed.
He asked Xiao Yuan, [Did something else happen yesterday that you didn't tell me about?]
Xiao Yuan recalled what Lou Yunxiao had done. He seemed to have merely held Ning Ke for a while before carrying its host to bed, so it said, [No. You just flirted with him. He behaved himself.]
[All right, then I'm overthinking it.]
They walked back to the inn and spotted Ning Xiaoxiao waiting for them at the entrance from a distance.
Zhuang Yusheng stood beside her.
The instant Zhuang Yusheng saw Ning Ke, he sprang up from the steps and waved wildly at them. "A Ke!!!"
As soon as he shouted A Ke's name, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight heads popped out at the inn's entrance. All of them wore Music Sect disciple robes and called, "Where? Where? Where's the gorgeous A Ke?"
Ning Ke said, "..."
He instinctively stopped in his tracks.
Then he saw a dozen or so Music Sect disciples charging toward him!
"Holy shit, isn't this a bit much?"
Startled, he ducked straight behind Lou Yunxiao and leaned close to the young man's ear. "Eldest senior brother, shield me! I seriously can't handle this crowd!"
Lou Yunxiao paused briefly.
The next moment, icy energy poured out. Rather than forming an ice wall, the wave of cold cleared the disciples' heads.
When they looked at Lou Yunxiao again, they felt considerably more wary.
"My junior brother is not an object for your amusement. I would ask you all to show some restraint."
The disciples meant no harm. After seeing how utterly distracted Zhuang Yusheng had been back at the Music Sect, they had simply been desperate to see what Ning Ke looked like, hence their excitement.
Now they hurriedly said, "Sorry, sorry. That was rude of us."
"You lot! You're infuriating!" Zhuang Yusheng pushed through the crowd and struggled to reach the front. After scolding his junior brothers and sisters, he turned to Ning Ke and blushed. "A Ke, it's been so long. H-have you been well?"
"Very well." Before Ning Ke could speak, Lou Yunxiao actually answered for him.
"Last night, my junior brother drank with me at a restaurant until late, and we spent the night out together."
Both Ning Ke and Zhuang Yusheng froze.
Ning Ke had caught it: Lou Yunxiao had deliberately emphasized the word "together."
Zhuang Yusheng frowned, staring at Lou Yunxiao's expressionless face.
For some inexplicable reason, the onlookers sensed a strong whiff of hostility between the two.
"I just got carried away and drank too much," Ning Ke said, stepping in to smooth things over.
Zhuang Yusheng immediately brightened. Taking Ning Ke's hand, he said, "A Ke, next time you go drinking, could you invite me too? After all, we played 'Spring Breeze' together and toured Nantong City. That makes me your friend, doesn't it? Surely you can't always invite your senior brother but leave out your friends?"
He deliberately stressed the words "senior brother."
The onlookers immediately felt the hostility grow even stronger!
The next instant-
Smack-
Lou Yunxiao seized Ning Ke's hand and pulled it out of Zhuang Yusheng's grasp.
"Friends need not be so intimate."
Zhuang Yusheng scowled. "Neither do senior and junior brothers!"
With that, he tried to snatch Ning Ke's hand again, only to find Lou Yunxiao had beaten him to it, clasping Ning Ke's entire hand and holding it behind his own back.
He parted his lips.
And spoke.
"I cannot see. My junior brother fears I won't be able to find my way on my own, so it is perfectly reasonable for him to hold my hand like this."
"!!!"
Wasn't Lou Yunxiao blatantly telling Zhuang Yusheng that if he wanted to hold Ning Ke's hand, he should go blind first?
This man! How could he make being blind sound so justified?
For a moment, a whole spectrum of expressions played across the faces of Zhuang Yusheng and the watching disciples.
Clearly, none of them had expected the normally aloof and proud Lou Yunxiao to come out with such a flimsy argument.
"Haha..." Ning Ke hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over again. "None of you have had breakfast, right? Why don't we go inside and eat together?"
Zhuang Yusheng came back to himself and suppressed his jealousy. His gaze moved between Ning Ke's and Lou Yunxiao's hands several times before he said, "Sure, A Ke. Let's eat together."
The large group of disciples entered the inn and ordered food on the ground floor.
Ning Ke sat down, and Lou Yunxiao took the seat beside him. When Zhuang Yusheng tried to sit on Ning Ke's other side, Lou Yunxiao gave a thoughtful hum and said to Ning Ke, "Junior brother, Xiaoxiao wants to sit beside you too."
Ning Xiaoxiao, who had planned to share a table with the female disciples, thought, *?*
Wasn't eldest senior brother acting a little strange today?
She sat down on Ning Ke's other side.
Ning Xiaoxiao glanced at Zhuang Yusheng gritting his teeth nearby, then at the expressionless Lou Yunxiao on Ning Ke's opposite side.
Once again, she confirmed that something really was off.
Back in Nantong City, their eldest senior brother had not been particularly warm toward Zhuang Yusheng, but he had never been this hostile.
This time, however, she could see it clearly.
Given their eldest senior brother's aloof temperament, his current behavior already counted as openly targeting Zhuang Yusheng.
Could eldest senior brother have not only discovered my brother's feelings for him, but accepted them too?
Girls were much more sensitive to emotions than boys.
So after their visit to Nantong City, Ning Xiaoxiao had deliberately observed Ning Ke and Lou Yunxiao once they returned to the sect.
She discovered that her brother treated their eldest senior brother differently from both her and the other disciples.
With her, her brother was strong and steady, always doting on her.
With others, her brother was gentle and easygoing, even something of a people-pleaser, as though he had put on a mask.
Only in front of their eldest senior brother did her brother's personality become exceptionally vivid.
Her brother would "provoke" their eldest senior brother, looking excited every time they sparred.
Her brother would tease their eldest senior brother until his face turned bright red, then grin like a fox that had stolen a tasty morsel.
Her brother would also lean on their eldest senior brother.
Her brother never relied on her, on the sect, or on anyone else.
Only their eldest senior brother.
More than once, she had seen Ning Ke resting his head on Lou Yunxiao's shoulder and smiling.
That relaxed demeanor would make her smile along with him.
So she was certain that Ning Ke liked their eldest senior brother.
And that was why she hoped their eldest senior brother would understand it too.
The current situation seemed to confirm her suspicions.
Naturally, she smiled to herself.
Before you continue