Ye Yiyi Was a Girl

"I'll go," Lin Yuan said coldly.

He knew exactly what Lin Hai was thinking. His grandfather had always wanted him to forget Gu Yi and find a new Dao Companion.

"Xiao Yuan, if you're forcing yourself..." Xiao Cheng spoke up too.

Both of them had seen how much Lin Yuan had suffered over the past three years searching for Gu Yi.

"Brother, eldest senior brother, I'm really fine." Lin Yuan raised his head and looked at the sky.

Sunlight fell right across his face. Back inside the barrier, Gu Yi had always liked finding a sunny spot to sit in.

At the time, he had thought it too hot and scoffed at it.

Now, he too had fallen in love with the feeling of sunlight on his body. It was warm, like Gu Yi's body heat, carrying the faint scent of sun-warmed grass and trees.

"Lots of sects will be attending the Orthodox-Demonic Friendship Conference, won't they?" Lin Yuan asked slowly.

"Of course. This concerns peace between the orthodox and demonic paths." Lin Ning rubbed her chin, then suddenly chuckled. "Maybe I'll even find a girl who likes me and become her Dao Companion~"

Xiao Cheng rapped her on the head. "You're always so slovenly. What girl would like you?"

"Then I won't look for a girl. I'll find a male cultivator to be my Dao Companion~" Lin Ning ducked behind Lin Yuan and stuck her tongue out at Xiao Cheng. "If girls don't like me, having a handsome cultivator like me wouldn't be bad either~"

"Absolutely not!" Xiao Cheng's face suddenly grew stern. "Wouldn't that leave the Lin family without descendants?"

Lin Yuan had already fallen for a man. If Lin Ning found a man too, the sect leader would probably cry himself unconscious in the privy...

"Eldest senior brother, we cultivators live long lives. Finding someone we love is hard enough. Why worry about offspring? If Grandfather doesn't want to be sect leader anymore someday, you'll be the one inheriting the sect anyway. Neither Xiao Yuan nor I am interested."

Lin Ning poked her head out from behind Lin Yuan and patted his shoulder. "Don't you agree?"

The corners of Lin Yuan's mouth rose almost imperceptibly. "Mm."

Xiao Cheng frowned as he watched the two of them echo each other.

He had never imagined Lin Ning would say something like "find a man to be my Dao Companion."

Lin Yuan going missing and having his soul stolen by that Demon Venerable Gu Yi was one thing, but why was Lin Ning also...

Had he failed to teach her properly?

Or did Lin Ning already have someone in mind?

Which sect's disciple was it?

Or was it a disciple of our own sect?

Why had I never noticed?

He had thought before that Lin Ning would someday settle down and become someone else's Dao Companion, but for some reason, hearing her words today left him feeling rather uncomfortable.

No!

Even if Lin Ning wanted to find a Dao Companion, as her senior brother, he had to vet the person for her. Not just anyone could become the Dao Companion of the Qingling Sword Sect's young lady. It had to be someone exceptionally outstanding.

No!

Cultivation alone wasn't enough! They also had to treat her well.

Though Lin Ning and Lin Yuan were siblings, and Lin Ning was the older sister, Lin Yuan had been strong-willed and independent since childhood, hardly ever giving Xiao Cheng cause to worry.

Lin Ning had always been delicate. Unsuitable food gave her stomachaches, yet she was greedy for treats. Despite being a cultivator, she refused to practice bigu and insisted on eating. Every time, he had to cook snacks himself for her to take along...

Her constitution was even more delicate. If she slept on something hard, she would complain of back pain the next day. Cultivators ought to meditate and regulate their breathing, but Lin Ning never meditated at night or protected her body with spiritual energy. She was a restless sleeper too. She would catch a chill if she kicked off the covers, and fall out of bed if she moved too much...

Lin Ning's Dao Companion had to be good-looking-at least no uglier than himself-and had to dote on her, indulge her, and put up with her delicate ways.

If they treated her badly, he would not allow it, even if Lin Ning liked them!

With an arm around Lin Yuan, Lin Ning chattered away about going to the Illusory Demon Sect for "matchmaking" and which sects would attend.

She did not notice Xiao Cheng's rather dark expression at all.

"Eldest senior brother? Eldest senior brother?"

Lin Ning suddenly called to Xiao Cheng twice. "What are you thinking about? Who else from our sect is going besides the three of us?"

Only then did Xiao Cheng hear Lin Ning calling him. "The sect leader said it would just be the three of us."

Lin Hai mainly wanted Lin Yuan to find a girl. He had specifically instructed Xiao Cheng not to bring any other disciples and to keep an eye on Lin Yuan the entire time. If they met a nice girl, he could use appropriate means to bring them together!

Once Lin Yuan had someone new, he would forget that fiend Gu Yi.

"I see~ That works too~"

Grinning, Lin Ning suddenly seemed to remember something and pulled out her upgraded, real-time-updating copy of the Cultivation Realm Beauty Rankings. "Eldest senior brother, Xiao Yuan, want a sneak peek at the beauties?"

"No!"

"No need!"

Lin Yuan and Xiao Cheng spoke at the same time.

"Tch! Why don't either of you have an eye for beauty? How boring."

Lin Ning pursed her lips. "I've got men and women from both the orthodox and demonic paths in here, and every one of them is a beauty. We might meet them at this Friendship Gathering. If you see them then and don't even recognize them, you won't be able to greet them. Wouldn't that be awkward?"

Xiao Cheng reached out and took the illustrated book, saying rather helplessly, "You have a point. Let's have a look, then."

As he opened it, Lin Ning squeezed between him and Lin Yuan, slung her arms around their necks, and began pointing at the beauties in the book. "This man~ Jiang Lingzhou, ranked eighteenth. I think he looks pretty average. Why is he ranked higher than me?"

"And this one, Xie Wenyun from the Tianmu Sect, ranked seventeenth. I think he's nothing special either!"

"Eldest senior brother, look, you're in here too. You're fourteenth, hahaha! This portrait isn't as good-looking as you are in person. I think you ought to be in the top ten at least." Lin Ning snatched the book and compared it with Xiao Cheng's face.

Xiao Cheng hastily turned his head away. "Weren't we looking at other people? Why are you looking at me?"

Lin Ning chuckled. "We can look at you too. Look, my little brother's here as well. We're siblings, so why is my brother second while I'm twentieth?"

Expressionless, Lin Yuan turned a few pages, stopping at number ten-the Demon Venerable, Gu Yi.

Even though everyone believed he was gone, he still firmly held tenth place in the rankings.

Seeing Lin Yuan staring in a daze, Lin Ning thought he was growing sad again and quickly turned several pages. "Let's look at the girls. What's so interesting about looking at nothing but men?"

"Oh? This one in second place-isn't she that junior sister of Xie Wenyun from the Tianmu Sect, Ye Yiyi, the one involved in all that fuss with Jiang Lingzhou?" Lin Ning brushed her fingers over the picture in the book.

It was a portrait of Gu Yi wearing the robes of a Tianmu Sect disciple.

"You certainly know a lot." Xiao Cheng was about to turn to the next page when Lin Yuan held his hand down. "Wait."

That chin... those lips...

They looked so much like...

He reached out and covered the portrait's eyes and brows with his fingers. A gleam flashed through his eyes. "Gu Yi..."

"Xiao Yuan, have you gone mad? This Ye Yiyi is a girl, not your Demon Venerable!" The corners of Lin Ning's mouth twitched as she looked at Lin Yuan.

She looked up and silently gestured to Xiao Cheng, tapping her temple before rolling her eyes. Here. Hopeless...

Over the past few years, Lin Yuan had searched for anyone with even the slightest resemblance. He had even found several people with names that sounded the same, Gu Yi written with "also" or "ancient meaning," and the like...

Xiao Cheng smiled. "All right... Not everyone in the book will necessarily come. Let's go back and prepare. We'll fly to the Illusory Demon Sect on our swords when the time comes."

"Eldest senior brother, I want to go now." Lin Yuan suddenly raised his head. "Let's set out today..."