Xu An stared, transfixed.
The girl before him had a faint blush on her cheeks, seemingly embarrassed by what had just happened.
A memory flashed through his mind. He remembered Senior Sister Fufu telling him and Belle a couple of days ago that if they met a girl with a big, fluffy tail, long light-brown hair, and a pretty red hair ribbon, they had to call her Senior Sister immediately.
A little uncertain, Xu An called out, "Senior Sister?"
At that, the girl's bashful expression froze, and she turned her head.
She stared straight at Xu An's handsome face. "What did you just call me?" Her words came out haltingly, as though she couldn't believe what she'd heard.
"I said... Senior Sister!?" Xu An wasn't quite sure. Huh? Did I really mistake her for someone else? But how could there just happen to be two people with exactly the same features in this world?! What a joke.
"You mean?!" As she spoke, the girl hurried toward Xu An, her little heels thumping against the ground.
Once she reached Xu An, she leaned her face extremely close to his, as though she wasn't the girl who'd just been embarrassed over their hands touching.
As though she wanted to etch Xu An's face deep into her mind.
"I have a junior brother now!" She even began waving her arms and dancing about as she spoke.
Watching the girl hopping with delight before him, Xu An couldn't bear to interrupt. He simply watched her quietly with a smile.
Seemingly noticing that Xu An was watching her, the girl slowly blushed again, and her tail swayed involuntarily.
After taking a few deep breaths, she seemed to mutter, "...Phew... calm the mind... restrain the self... phew... all right. Sorry, I lost my composure a little just now."
As she spoke, the girl still didn't dare meet Xu An's eyes, her gaze wandering over the ground instead.
"Ahaha, it's fine, Senior Sister. You're very cute," Xu An said.
Once he'd said it, he felt he might have been a little too forward.
At that, the girl went, "OAO! Calm the mind! Restrain the self!" Had Xu An startled her? She recited those words twice more.
"Huh? Um, sorry, Senior Sister. I was just following Eldest Senior Sister Fufu's instructions. She said that if I saw a cute girl with a red hair ribbon, a big fluffy tail, and long light-brown hair, I had to call her Senior Sister. I... didn't get the wrong person, did I?" He opened with a long, complicated sentence. Xu An sounded a little worried too. (00·3·")
"No! You didn't!" The girl hurriedly raised both hands in front of her chest and waved them.
"I just didn't expect to gain so much from coming out for a stroll. I'm already... someone people can call Senior Sister..." Her eyes remained fixed on the ground, not daring to move upward.
Was this senior sister a tiny bit socially anxious?
Probably. She can't even look me in the face when she speaks.
As he was thinking this, the girl before him seemed to emerge from savoring being called Senior Sister. She raised her eyes to Xu An. "Oh! My name is Ye Shunguang. What's yours?"
Ye Shunguang blinked her large eyes as she looked at Xu An.
"My name is Xu An, a disciple who joined not long ago! Right
now, I'm studying under Master Yixuan (0.0D). I'm nineteen, a Cancer, and my birthday is..." Xu An seemed a little nervous too.
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, good. Junior Brother Xu~ From now on, you can call me Senior Sister Shunguang. Second Senior Sister works too." She paused midway through speaking again. "Hmm~ Just Senior Sister sounds more imposing!" Her tone brimmed with satisfaction at Xu An calling her Senior Sister.
And judging from this junior brother's reaction, he seemed
to like her a lot too. He was stumbling over his words so much he'd almost recited his ID details. He was... rather cute?
Seemingly after settling into her role as his senior sister, Ye Shunguang's usually somewhat timid manner of speaking to others grew a little bolder.
Seeing how happy Ye Shunguang was, Xu An felt relieved too, so he told her some good news. "Actually~ You have another junior brother and a junior sister, Senior Sister. The junior brother isn't here at the moment, though. As for the junior sister, she should be in her room? I'll go get her!"
As he spoke, Xu An was about to head to Belle's room, haul her over, and present her like a treasure.
Hearing this, Ye Shunguang hurriedly declined. "No need~ I still have something to do, so I have to go. Don't tell Master about tonight, Junior Brother Xu~"
He didn't know whether it was because of his charm stat, but this senior sister had a very good impression of him at their first meeting and seemed very approachable. Though she seemed socially anxious, that was actually only around outsiders. Once she knew he was her junior brother, she became a rather impish girl.
"Understood! I shall obey Senior Sister's instructions!" Xu An's expression was as determined as someone aiming to pass the civil service exam.
"Mm-hmm~ I'm off~ I have a feeling we'll meet again very soon, Junior Brother Xu~"
Ye Shunguang's figure soon vanished into the night.
Just like that, a single encounter one evening had given him another senior sister in his life as a cultivator.
He was done for. This senior sister seemed to have left an indelible impression on Xu An's heart.
Xu An watched her retreating figure until it disappeared, feeling somewhat empty inside.
Ah, so that was Senior Sister Ye Shunguang?! Sure enough, she's stunning. I like her so much!!!
A place in his heart had already been completely and firmly occupied by that retreating figure.
Oh no, I think I've fallen for her!!
Xu An shook his head, soothing his heart that had just
trembled. Calm the mind, restrain the self.
Oh no, I've already started copying her muttering.
You're done for, kid.
"Senior Brother Xu? What was that sound over
there just now?" Belle came out of her room. Having just finished a small task on the Inter-Knot, she'd heard the commotion in the courtyard, but when she opened the door, she saw only Xu An standing there.
"Belle! I just saw Senior Sister!" Xu An said excitedly.
After he excitedly recounted everything that had happened, Belle looked at Xu An with a strange expression.
"Don't tell me... you've fallen for that senior sister?" Belle asked, her face full of suspicion.
"Possibly, probably, maybe, yes?" Xu An admitted it quite openly.
Belle, however, froze in place as though she'd suddenly turned to stone. Her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died.
Damn it, my romance ended before it even began? No, no, that's not right. They aren't together yet. As long as I try a little harder, I should be able to succeed, right?
Belle's thoughts began running wild.
"But Senior Sister wasn't wearing the temple's attire,
and she asked me to hide the fact that she'd been here. She must be carrying out some secret mission and needs to conceal her whereabouts?"
As Xu An spoke, he looked toward Belle again.
"Don't worry, I'll keep it absolutely secret!" Belle said, even raising
one hand to swear an oath.
"That's three, not an oath. Besides, since I told you, of course I trust you completely. That look just now didn't mean I didn't trust you, so don't misunderstand," Xu An said.
OAO! He explained himself! He trusts me completely!
"Of course I didn't misunderstand. I trust you too," Belle replied a little bashfully, while an entirely different scene played out in her heart.
Meanwhile, on Xu An's end, the system notifications were chiming like crazy.
(System, mute the notifications.)
At last, the world was quiet.
"All right, go get some rest. It's late. Good night, Belle." As he spoke, Xu An stretched and returned to his room.
"Good... good night," Belle said softly, then turned and went back to her room to sleep as well.
After returning, however, she couldn't sleep, so she called her brother.
"Hello? Belle, can you hear me?" Wise's voice came from the other end.
Hearing her brother's voice finally brought her scattered thoughts back into focus.
"Yep, I can hear you. But you've got the form of address wrong~ Ahem! You should call me Junior Sister Belle!"
"Belle... How can you still be joking at a time like this?!" Wise's tone was serious, carrying a hint of reprimand.
"Master messaged me earlier and said your airship had an accident and crashed into a Hollow... and someone attacked you. What exactly happened?! I couldn't get in touch with you for so long. I was really worried."
"I'm never taking an airship again! The Cunning Hares had an accident when they took an airship before too... Are airship accidents really that serious a problem in New Eridu?"
Seemingly noticing Wise's displeasure, Belle hurriedly continued explaining. "After we fell into the Hollow, a bunch of unidentified people were tracking Xu An and me. Luckily, Master was there, so nothing happened to us.
"And let me tell you, Xu An is incredibly talented. It's only been a few days, but he could immediately use spells that took me ages to learn, and he mastered them in no time. I've only picked up the basics even now."
"It's only been a few days, hasn't it? There's no need to rush," Wise comforted her.
"Mm-hmm! As for why I didn't contact you, I was too tired! After getting back, I was busy with all sorts of things, so it got delayed.
"Oh, right, you should stay home and not come over, Brother. It's really dangerous here," Belle said somewhat seriously.
"How could I do that?! What if something happens to you over there again and I can't get there in time?!" Wise decisively rejected Belle's suggestion.
The two of them talked late into the night.
Wise felt that his little sister seemed about to fall in love. Nine out of every ten sentences were about that Xu An. She'd only gone to his shop for a few more delicious meals, and his little sister had already been stolen away?
If I'd known, I'd have gone to Waifei Peninsula first and left her at home to calibrate the HDD equipment.