"Yeah! Master's right, so I'm heading out to play!" As though something had occurred to him, Xu An waved and hurried away.
Xu An first went to the kitchen.
He looked over some of the ingredients there.
"Tsk, damn it. Nothing but all those carrots Senior Brother bought because they were cheap. Ah, forget it. I'll go find Hongdou at Yin Tea House instead."
True to his word, Xu An quickly got moving.
Before long, he arrived outside Hongdou's shop.
"Boss Hongdou! Good afternoon." Xu An smiled and waved.
"Young disciple from Yunkui Summit, care to try today's special?"
"Hm? Sure, sure. Pack me a serving. Also, there's something I'd like to discuss with you, Hongdou." Xu An waggled his eyebrows.
Hongdou raised an eyebrow at that. "Go right ahead, young disciple."
"Could I borrow your kitchen? Don't worry, I'll pay. I want to make some desserts myself," Xu An said, a little embarrassed.
Seeing him like this, Hongdou couldn't help wanting to tease him. "For your sweetheart?"
Xu An readily admitted it. "Yep. Why else would I come all the way here to borrow your kitchen?"
Xu An looked as though it were only natural.
"Hahaha, of course, of course. I'll let the kitchen staff know. Clean up before you leave. As for the fee-forget it."
Xu An hurried to say, "Thank you, Boss Hongdou. You're as kind as you are beautiful. Then I'll head over?"
Hongdou nodded, gently waving her palm-leaf fan as she watched Xu An head toward the kitchen. She wondered to herself, Who could it be? That cute junior sister from the Summit too?
Xu An entered the kitchen, put on an apron, and got to work. Yin Tea House's kitchen was spacious, and everyone was busy with their own tasks.
Business is booming, Xu An couldn't help marveling as he watched the middle-aged men bustle about. Then he thought of his own shop on Sixth Street. Having to do everything himself was honestly... fantastic. He only served a few customers a day anyway; he ran it purely for fun.
"Chef, do you have any chocolate here?" Xu An stopped one of the kitchen chefs to ask.
"Over there. Remember to close the cabinet door after you take it."
Xu An looked in the direction he pointed, thanked him, and went over to take out some chocolate.
Xu An wanted to make chocolate mousse. It was simple to prepare, and he thought it tasted delicious. He wanted to share it with his senior sister, to let her try that slightly bitter yet sweet flavor. Xu An thought it was wonderful.
As he worked, Xu An wondered whether his senior sister would like it.
Half an hour soon passed.
Xu An had finished making it too.
Once he was done, Xu An took out some Denny at the front counter and pointed at the packed takeaway box containing today's special pastries, indicating that the money was for them.
Of course, before paying, he checked whether Hongdou was around. Fortunately, she seemed to have gone off to attend to something else and wasn't near the entrance, so he left a pile of Denny and hurried away.
When the waiter noticed that the amount was wrong, far more than it should have been, he wanted to find Xu An and return the money, but Xu An was already nowhere to be found.
Afterward, he told Hongdou.
Hongdou was rather helpless too. The disciples of Yunkui Summit really were all good people.
Meanwhile, Xu An headed toward Mount Yunkui, carrying the pastries.
Standing on a flying sword condensed from metal-attribute energy, with a barrier formed from mental power, he flew without any sense of drag. Although flying into the wind felt great too, he was carrying food. What if the wind ruined it?
As he thought, Xu An kept picking up speed, seemingly wanting to see the person in his heart sooner.
Soon, a figure landed before Mount Yunkui's mountain gate.
He glanced at the gate, and the two junior brothers inside, dressed in yellow Daoist robes, froze for a moment.
Puzzled, they asked, "You are?"
Although the newcomer wore the disciple robes of Yunkui Summit, they seemed never to have seen him before. Fulfilling their duty as gatekeepers, they asked anyway.
"Oh, oh, I'm Master Yixuan's new disciple. I haven't been up the mountain before, so I thought I'd come have a look during my break." As Xu An spoke, he peered through the gate.
Hearing Xu An's introduction, the two Daoists hurriedly opened the mountain gate wide to welcome him.
"By the way, do you know where Senior Sister Shunguang is?" Xu An first followed the two around for a look, then asked.
"The Swordmaster is practicing her swordsmanship on the back mountain," a disciple replied.
Xu An's eyes lit up at that. The trip hadn't been for nothing.
"Could you take me there?!"
The disciple replied, "Please follow me, then."
Under this disciple's guidance, Xu An soon reached the place where Ye Shunguang was.
As they approached, he could already faintly hear the ringing of a sword from the courtyard.
"Swordmaster, Master Yixuan's disciple wishes to see you."
Xu An looked at him. Does Shunguang have a rather high standing on Mount Yunkui? The disciple's eyes were full of respect.
No wonder Ye Shunguang was always thinking about going down the mountain to play. Aside from her master wanting her to stay put and keep away from the dangers below, she was bored here herself. There probably weren't many people on the mountain she could talk to and confide in, were there?
As Xu An was thinking this,
the door before him suddenly opened.
The figure he had been longing for all this time appeared before his eyes.
Red ribbons, large fluffy ears.
"Junior Brother! What brings you here?" Upon seeing who it was, Ye Shunguang's previously placid expression changed dramatically, her face full of surprise and excitement.
"I missed you, Senior Sister, so I came to see you." Xu An walked through the doorway as he spoke.
After closing the door, the disciple tactfully left.
"Senior Sister, these are some pastries I brought from Yin Tea House. And this, I made myself. Would you try it for me?" As Xu An spoke, he watched his senior sister's large tail swaying constantly with excitement and thought, I really want to pet it. It must be so comfortable to hug while sleeping.
"Thank you, Junior Brother. Come, have a seat." Ye Shunguang led Xu An into the room.
The interior was very cozy. Several notebooks sat on the table, their pages densely covered in writing, but Xu An didn't look closely.
Some plush toys and figurines sat on the cabinet, the kind depicting those special little Bangboo. Xu An remembered a little Bangboo had run a stall selling them in Lumina Square before.
Judging by her collection, she must have spent a lot of time gathering them.
But it seemed she hadn't completed the collection. He could keep an eye out in the future.
"Junior Brother, why did you suddenly come up the mountain?" Ye Shunguang asked as she sampled Yin Tea House's pastries. Her eyes narrowed slightly in enjoyment as she ate.
"First, I missed you, Senior Sister. Second, I wanted to have a look around the mountain. Although Master took me as her disciple, I don't think I've ever come up here to look around. I've always stayed at the Summit.
"After I finished my work today, Master said that besides cultivating, I should also get proper rest and relax my body and mind, so I thought I'd come see you."
As Xu An spoke, he stared at Ye Shunguang with a burning gaze.
Noticing that her junior brother kept looking at her, the tips of Ye Shunguang's ears reddened slightly. "Junior Brother... is there something on my face?" As she spoke, she stopped eating her pastry too.
Realizing his rudeness, Xu An came back to his senses.
"Sorry, Senior Sister. You're so beautiful that I got lost staring for a moment," Xu An said honestly.
[Ye Shunguang felt shy. Attribute points +30] [Ye Shunguang felt pleased with herself. Attribute points +20] [Ye Shunguang was at a loss. Attribute points +15]
"Um... well, Junior Brother, I still need to practice my swordsmanship. Have a look around on your own for now." Ye Shunguang sprang to her feet, seemingly stunned by Xu An's words. Somewhat at a loss, she could only find an excuse to leave.