Off to the Movies

The three headed out together. Upstairs in the video store, Ye Shiyuan and Wise watched them leave for a stroll and sighed deeply.

"Tsk, the more I look at him, the more he gets on my nerves."

Wise couldn't help grumbling.

Ye Shiyuan watched his younger sister smile without saying anything, though his expression softened considerably.

The two stopped watching the trio a short distance downstairs and went back to the arthouse film Wise had just found.

Meanwhile.

"Belle, Inky is so well-behaved." Ye Shunguang gently stroked the kitten lying on the ground.

"Right? My brother and I get along really well with Inky. But for some reason, that changed after Xu An showed up. Inky seems to like Xu An more." There was a hint of reproach in Belle's eyes.

For some reason, Xu An raised a finger and rubbed the tip of his nose. "I just... fed the cat a few tasty things."

Who knew why that little fellow liked him so much? Hadn't he just cooked some fish for the cat every time he'd increased his cooking skill back then? What was wrong with that?

After letting Ye Shunguang pet him for a while, Inky seemed to grow bored and ran over to circle Xu An's feet.

Xu An crouched down and gave him a few strokes too. "No food today."

As though he had understood Xu An.

Inky turned and left without so much as a glance at him, leaving Xu An's petting hand hanging in midair.

Ye Shunguang secretly chuckled at the sight.

Anger seemed to rise in Xu An's heart, giving him the nerve to do something wicked.

He stood up, ruffled his senior sister's hair, and fled.

O_o?

"How dare you! A junior brother defying his senior! Belle, catch him!"

In the end, the three-way clash ended in Xu An's, uh, defeat.

"Well, junior brother? Dare to do that again?" Ye Shunguang smugly ruffled Xu An's hair.

"I was wrong! I was wrong!" Xu An cried, while inwardly shouting, I'll definitely dare next time.

"But senior sister, what are we doing this afternoon? Wise already called Belle back to help," Xu An asked.

Belle had still been over here enjoying Xu An's hair along with Ye Shunguang.

Then Wise had come to call her away, apparently to stock up on new videotapes?

But the look Wise had given Xu An, uh, ahem... he hadn't dared meet his eyes.

"Hmm, I don't know. Do you have any suggestions, junior brother?"

At the question, Ye Shunguang's hand paused, and Xu An seized the chance to escape.

"Let's go see a movie at Lumina Square (≧∇≦)ﾉ," Xu An suggested.

Ye Shunguang didn't mind him wriggling free. Her eyes simply lit up.

"Yes, yes!" Ye Shunguang could hardly wait.

The two hurried toward Lumina Square.

"Wait here for me, senior sister. I'll go buy some popcorn and stuff."

Ye Shunguang's attention had already been caught by all the different movie posters, and she merely gave a distracted "Okay."

Xu An shook his head, then went out to buy cola and some popcorn before quickly returning.

"Junior brother, junior brother! While you were away, I looked through all the posters.

"But the one I want to see most is Wandering Footprints... it seems to be about a puppy...

"Before you came to the mountain, little junior brother, I often talked to the animals there. So I really like little animals! After all, they made cultivation less lonely."

"Huh? My senior sister needs me. Understood. Let's watch this one today~" Xu An said solemnly.

Ye Shunguang didn't deny it and continued, "Really? Ah, you're willing to watch this kind of movie with me, little junior brother? Won't it be a bit boring for you?"

"I'd be happy to. Besides, just being with you makes me incredibly happy, senior sister," Xu An said.

o＞_＜o Ye Shunguang said nothing more, and Xu An didn't continue either. They bought their tickets and went inside.

The moment he sat down, Xu An felt that the lovely figure beside him seemed to be sitting incredibly close.

Xu An's eyes widened. We're touching.

"Ahem." Xu An coughed twice and stopped looking.

The movie soon began, and Xu An couldn't help glancing at Senior Sister Xiaoguang again.

Senior Sister Xiaoguang looked very serious, seeming to be eagerly anticipating the film's story.

Xu An studied her hand, which was already clenched tightly into a fist.

Although Senior Sister Xiaoguang looked perfectly composed, it turned out she was a little nervous too.

Was it because she didn't watch movies often?

Xu An wondered, but his hand had already reached over unconsciously. He gently took her hand.

"Feeling a little nervous, senior sister?" Xu An leaned closer and asked softly.

Ye Shunguang turned her head away in embarrassment. "Mm... a little. You must think I'm silly. I haven't seen many movies, so I'm feeling a little uneasy right now." But she didn't let go of Xu An's hand.

Xu An seemed to notice a little sweat on her palm too.

"Don't worry. Once the movie properly starts, I'm sure I'll settle down," Ye Shunguang said, giving herself some encouragement.

Xu An smiled and nodded without saying anything else, merely brushing his fingers gently over her soft, delicate hand.

"Looks like I can't hide anything from you in the future. You'd definitely notice..." Ye Shunguang continued.

"But even when it's something I've never done before, thinking about doing it with you suddenly makes me feel really reassured..." After speaking, Ye Shunguang glanced at their still-linked hands. "Um... little junior brother, I'm feeling better now. Your hand..."

Hearing this, Xu An released her hand.

Then, seemingly feeling that rejecting Xu An outright wasn't very nice, she added, "Phew... because if we keep holding hands, I won't be able to concentrate on the movie!"

Neither said anything more, and they both began watching the movie seriously, though their hands still hadn't parted.

(The movie soon began. A puppy was swept into a Hollow by a sudden incident, beginning its life of wandering...)

Soon, the plot reached a tense moment.

Just as the puppy was about to be snatched away by an Ethereal's claws, Senior Sister Xiaoguang involuntarily let out a soft gasp. "Hss..."

She couldn't help leaning forward in her seat, as though wanting to get closer to the screen, murmuring, "Ah? Don't hurt it..."

"Don't worry, senior sister. Someone will come to save it," Xu An said with a smile.

o＞_＜o Hearing this, Ye Shunguang's tense heart eased a little.

"If you say so, little junior brother, then it'll definitely be fine."

They continued watching. Sure enough, a fully armed Hollow Investigator appeared in front of the puppy and blocked the Ethereal's attack for it.

"Thank goodness," Ye Shunguang said. "I was still a little worried just now. Even though I knew it would be rescued, my emotions still followed the story."

"What matters is the movie's journey," Xu An reassured her.

"Mm-hmm~ What matters isn't the journey's end, but what you see and feel along the way..." Ye Shunguang seemed to think of a few things.

Then she agreed, "You're right. No matter what kind of story it is, it can't escape those similar structures. But even so, every story is still different, because the lives within it each have their own unique qualities."

"Mm-hmm, so everyone in our lives matters. Just like how, to me, you matter, senior sister. Belle and Master matter too, and so do Senior Sister Fufu, Junior Brother Wise, Senior Brother Ye, Senior Brother Pan..."

Wise-Ye Shiyuan: ? Why are we so far down the list? We seriously suspect Xu An only put us ahead of Senior Brother Pan because he stole our younger sisters...

The two chatted quietly for a while before returning their attention to the movie.

Before long, the movie reached its climax.