Crackle!
The oil lamp gave off a faint crackling sound from within its pink shade.
The light in the hall flickered.
Suddenly.
Tang Yin's eyes snapped open, and he turned toward the night sky outside the window.
As he channeled the internal energy of the Mysterious Heaven Skill into his eyes, a violet-gold sheen spread over them.
In an instant.
Pinpricks of starlight "lit up" the utterly ordinary, pitch-black night sky.
It was as though the stars above had descended into the mortal world.
White, yellow, purple, and black intertwined, each color illuminating the others.
"What is-?"
Abruptly, Tang Yin's pupils contracted.
Streams of light poured down like a waterfall, flashing incessantly.
Soul Skills unleashed by countless Soul Masters came one after another, surging forth like a torrent.
His spiritual power, far beyond that of an ordinary person, allowed Tang Yin to sense the immense fluctuations of energy even from this great distance.
As his Mustard Seed-level Purple Demon Eye activated, Tang Yin seemed, for one fleeting moment, to see a brilliant golden sword light plunge from the clouds to the earth.
There was no earth-shaking boom.
With that, every fluctuation of soul power vanished without a trace.
It was as though nothing had happened at all.
But Tang Yin knew that something momentous must have happened there.
This was yet another turn of events that differed from the original story he knew.
A butterfly flapping its wings could stir up a hurricane on the far side of the ocean.
Even the slightest change could alter the course of the entire situation, or even bring about an outcome that overturned everything.
This was the famous butterfly effect.
And Tang Yin, this particular butterfly, had already been flapping his wings in this world for twelve years.
The original course of the story had long since begun to change unnoticed.
I need-greater strength, enough to give me the confidence to face any change.
Tang Yin understood this clearly.
Click!
A soft sound came from the turning lock.
Small, tender-pink toes, lustrous as white jade, stepped onto the floor.
Azure strands of hair were bathed in layers of bright moonlight.
Like a waterfall cascading three thousand feet, they flowed along her waist and fell over her pert, peach-shaped bottom.
Little San Niang twisted her delicate hands behind her back, her sapphire-clear eyes shimmering with moisture.
"Brother."
Tang Yin gazed gently at his younger sister.
He waited for her to continue.
Two hours earlier.
"Xiao Wu, you mustn't say such nonsense again. It'll put Brother in a very awkward position."
Fresh from her bath, Tang San Niang sat on the edge of the bed in a thin night robe.
Her exquisitely beautiful face had a little more softness and allure about the brows and eyes than Tang Yin's, lending her an extra touch of feminine grace.
Her cherry-red lips were full and plump, their beauty tender and captivating.
A face like hers had no intimidating power whatsoever, even when she tried to look stern.
Especially in front of Xiao Wu.
"San Niang, I wasn't talking nonsense."
"A girl has to get married when she grows up, but where in this whole world could you find a man as out-
standing as my brother?"
Xiao Wu had her own logic.
She began counting off her points on fingers as pale as scallion shoots.
"My brother is handsome, has a great figure, and is gentle and considerate toward me. Most importantly, he loves Xiao Wu so much-"
Tang San Niang could not bear to listen any longer and hurriedly interrupted.
"But he's our brother, Xiao Wu. Stop talking nonsense."
Xiao Wu's pink eyes sparkled.
"But I was taken in. I'm not his biological sister."
"San Niang, actually, back when Brother got hurt helping me absorb the whale brain, I'd already decided to marry him when I grew up."
Her clear voice, like an oriole's song, fell upon Tang San Niang's ears with the deafening force of a great bell.
It left her rooted to the spot, as though she had been struck by lightning.
Tang San Niang's eyes were rather bewildered.
Once let loose, Xiao Wu's beautiful hair fell all the way to her calves.
It swayed gently as she rose.
That dark silk carried a faint fragrance, sweet and rich.
A look of longing rose on Xiao Wu's fair face, as fresh and luminous as a honey peach.
"In this world, apart from Mom, no one has ever cherished me, cared about me, or protected me the way Brother does."
"Do you know, San Niang-"
Xiao Wu was now tall and slender, even slightly taller than Tang San Niang. She gently pushed Tang San Niang back onto the bed and leaned over her.
Burying her head in the crook of Tang San Niang's neck, she breathed in that familiar scent unique to the Blue Silver Emperor.
It was a scent very close to Brother's.
If Brother carried the fresh scent of medicinal herbs,
then Tang San Niang carried a fragrance that seeped soothingly into the heart.
The girl's soft, warm voice murmured as though in a dream.
"My mom said that if I found a man I loved when I grew up, I should have him brush my hair once."
"I've been saving that comb of mine for Brother."
"When I'm old enough, I'll ask Brother to brush my hair and give him everything I am."
"So, you see."
Their smooth foreheads touched, and her pale-pink eyes brimmed with tenderness and love as she whispered, "Xiao Wu isn't treating her own happiness as a joke."
Her tone was as firm as an oath. "I'm definitely going to marry Brother someday."
Warm breath, richly sweet, washed over Tang San Niang's face.
Tang San Niang's eyes darted away in panic, and she instinctively pushed Xiao Wu aside.
Her heart pounded wildly, like a little deer careening about inside her chest.
"Y-you-you-you're being far too ridiculous!"
Tang San Niang had never been so flustered.
She felt as though something had blocked up her chest.
She dared not follow that thought any further.
"I'm going to the bathroom. Hurry up and get some sleep."
"Once we've finished buying supplies over the next couple of days, it'll be time to leave for Heaven Dou City. We need to get as much rest as we can."
With that, Tang San Niang hurriedly shut the bathroom door.
Looking into the mirror above the washbasin, she discovered that her cheeks were already crimson.
After several deep breaths, she finally calmed herself with the foundation built through years of internal energy cultivation.
"Whew..."
"Xiao Wu really is being ridiculous-"
"Something like that-how could it be allowed?"
Tang San Niang murmured to herself.
Her tone gradually grew firm.
"Yes, I can't be as willful as Xiao Wu."
Having settled her emotions, Tang San Niang lay down on the bed.
Xiao Wu asked with some concern, "San Niang, are you all right?"
"Actually, you don't have to worry so much. I'm sure you'll find a man as wonderful as Brother someday too."
"Xiao Wu."
"Hmm?"
"Shut your mouth, or I'll give you a beating."
Xiao Wu pouted and dared not speak again.
Tang San Niang really had spanked her before.
An eldest sister was like a mother; that was no joke.
Her brother could not bear to hit her, but Tang San Niang still believed in the old saying that filial children were raised beneath the rod, and had spanked her several times in private.
"Go to sleep!"
Tang San Niang turned onto her side, her back to Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu was so carefree that she never took anything to heart, and soon fell asleep.
Half an hour later.
Tang San Niang rolled over, opened her eyes, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
How could something like that ever be possible?
She shook her head and closed her eyes again.
An hour later.
Tang San Niang opened her eyes once more, sat up, and looked at Xiao Wu with a complicated expression.
For a long time, she said nothing.
Something like that-
Tang San Niang sighed and stood up.
She picked up the Twenty-Four Bridge Bright Moon Night, intending to organize the various hidden weapons inside the storage soul tool.
Brush her hair-marry Brother-
Xiao Wu's words lingered in Tang San Niang's ears.
When she came back to her senses, she somehow found herself holding a comb, as though guided by an unseen hand.
Tang San Niang's gaze grew a little hazy.
Time returned to the present.
Under her brother's gaze, Tang San Niang lightly bit her lip with her pearly teeth.
She held the comb before her.
Her voice was soft and sweet, its final note warm and gentle.
"Brother, brush my hair."
"Huh???"
Tang Yin froze.
What on earth was she doing coming to him to have her hair brushed this late instead of sleeping?
Were girls these days really so unpredictable?
Tang Yin felt as though, despite his youth, he had already become an old man.
He was starting to find his younger sister's thoughts impossible to fathom.
At the questioning sound from her brother,
the girl tightly clasped the red sandalwood comb he had given her several years ago in both hands.
Holding it before her full bosom, she trembled slightly.
Seeing this, Tang Yin felt his head throb.
What else could he do with the little sister he had raised himself?
"All right, all right. I'll brush it for you."
The girl looked up in delighted surprise.
Before you continue