She wore a faint smile, exactly like Tingyun's.
"Going straight to the Luofu Starfaring Vessel won't be easy. That general has some skill. Perfect—while she's out, and the war has thrown everything into chaos, I can pull off a switcheroo."
She spoke softly.
At that moment, several Buli Ren seemed to spot her and immediately charged over.
But after taking only two steps, she lightly snapped her fingers.
The Buli Ren froze in place. Then the wind blew, and they all turned to ash.
Threatening Tail Master
Guinaifen had plans that afternoon. After finishing her meal, she went back to Exalting Sanctum to set up her street performance stall.
Sushang had patrol duty that afternoon too. She had spent the morning watching a show over there, and now she still wanted to slack off in the afternoon. The Cloud Knights would never tolerate that level of laziness.
After patrolling for an entire afternoon with his utterly "disobedient" little sister, Ji Yuan, Sushang, and Tingyun prepared to head home.
Tingyun wanted to visit Ji Yuan's home again, but this time she had no suitable excuse, so she could only obediently return home.
Her expression was somewhat dejected.
At that moment, Ji Yuan did not forget to remind her:
"Be careful on your way back. Don't let anything happen! It'd be best if you went back with a few other people."
"Okay!"
Tingyun turned back and smiled at Ji Yuan. Her dejected expression became radiant once more.
Beneath the setting sun, the falling light made the corners of her alluring eyes seem even narrower. Her exposed legs gleamed smoothly in the sunlight.
Ji Yuan stared for a few seconds longer.
When he came back to himself, he saw Sushang looking at him suspiciously.
"Big bro, you really won't start dating early, right?"
Sushang asked Ji Yuan.
As she said that, she received another chop to the head.
"I won't start dating early. You're the one who shouldn't be dating early."
"Which one of us even looks like we'd be dating?" Sushang grabbed his arm. "As long as you don't date, I won't date either."
"Don't worry, I won't. At least, not for the next hundred years."
Ji Yuan said to Sushang.
"Really?" Sushang looked at Ji Yuan skeptically.
"Really. If you don't believe me, I can make a bet with you."
"What kind of bet? I'm not educated, so don't trick me." Sushang looked at Ji Yuan warily.
Ji Yuan said indifferently, "If I date anyone within the next hundred years, I'll agree to any one request you make. As long as I can do it, I'll agree."
If he could fall in love, it could only mean he had escaped the problem of life and death. When that time came, he would not mind granting Changchang one request while he was in a good mood.
Ji Yuan did not believe Sushang would make an overly difficult demand of her brother.
The siblings bought groceries at the market and headed home together.
Carrying a heavy bag in her hand, Sushang walked ahead briskly. After a few steps, she turned to Ji Yuan and said nostalgically, "Back when Mom and Dad were busy with Cloud Knights work, the two of us used to buy groceries together every evening after school. I don't even know how long it's been since I last felt like this."
"If your grades hadn't been so terrible later on that Mom and Dad couldn't stand it anymore, they wouldn't have sent you to boarding school."
Ji Yuan could not help rolling his eyes at his sister.
Please don't make it sound like some cruel twist of fate that your terrible grades separated us siblings, okay?
Sushang lifted her foot and stomped at Ji Yuan's. But with Ji Yuan's reflexes, he easily dodged.
The siblings bickered and played all the way home. By then, it was completely dark. Ji Yuan unlocked the defense system and entered the house with Sushang.
Seeing the lights were off, Ji Yuan thought something had happened to Huohuo and hurriedly pushed the door open. After turning on the lights, he let out a sigh of relief.
Huohuo had not disappeared. She was merely asleep on the sofa.
Still wearing an apron, she had curled into a ball like a young beast that had only just grown up. Her little feet, covered in cotton socks, dangled over the edge of the sofa and trembled lightly along with her soft snores.
It made one want to tickle them.
She really was cute.
Ji Yuan thought to himself.
Then he walked over, but before he could reach Huohuo, Tail suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Hey, don't even think about hurting Huohuo."
She shouted irritably.
"What am I hurting? I was just worried she'd catch a cold, so I wanted to cover her with a blanket."
"If your eyes hadn't been staring at Huohuo's feet the whole time, I might have believed you."
Ji Yuan: "..."
Their argument woke Huohuo up. She rubbed her eyes and saw Ji Yuan confronting Tail. Her little face was blank for a few seconds before she realized what was happening and sprang off the sofa with a whoosh.
"T-Teacher, I overslept."
She had intended to nap for a while before making dinner, but she had slept straight through it. Huohuo, Huohuo, how could you fail at something so simple?
Seeing how nervous Huohuo was, Ji Yuan could not help smiling.
"So you overslept. How do you feel? Are you still tired? If you are, you can go back to sleep after Changchang finishes cooking."
"Yeah, yeah. Let me tell you, I'm not bad at cooking either."
Sushang said from the side.
"Um, I should do it." Huohuo muttered softly.
"No need. Changchang likes cooking. Back when she lived at home, she wouldn't be happy unless she made more than a dozen meals a day."
Ji Yuan waved his hand.
Sushang glared fiercely at Ji Yuan from behind Huohuo.
Ji Yuan responded with a smiling face.
"Ah? Really?"
"O-Of course it's true."
Sushang gritted her teeth and nodded.
"Then you should go cook."
"Don't use honorifics. Just call me Sushang. It's fine if you call me Changchang like my big brother does." As Sushang headed for the kitchen, she spoke to Huohuo.
"Mm... I understand."
Huohuo nodded as if she understood, though she still secretly glanced at Sushang. Only after seeing her enter the kitchen did she finally relax.
Ji Yuan looked at her and wondered how such a shy girl had become the Chief Adjudicator in just a hundred years.
"But this is good too. It'll make educating her easier."
He thought to himself.
Then he looked at Huohuo and said, "While we have time, I'll teach you how to deal with Suiyang."
At that, Huohuo immediately sat up straight and looked at Ji Yuan seriously.
This was why she had come here—to learn this.
"Humph!"
The moment Tail heard that, she prepared to fly off to the side.
As a Suiyang, she could not stand listening to this.
But just as she was about to leave, Ji Yuan called out to her.
"Tail, you can't leave. I'll need you as a demonstration when I teach Huohuo later."
"Hey, brat, don't insult your Tail Master." Tail said angrily.
"I'm giving you two choices. First, I'll do it myself and demonstrate for Huohuo. Second, I'll teach Huohuo the theory and have her use it on you. Pick one."
Ji Yuan said with a smile.
Even though you're stronger than me, unfortunately, you're a Suiyang. As long as you're not absurdly powerful, dealing with you won't be difficult.
Looking at Ji Yuan's smiling face, Tail felt extremely angry.
After staring for a long while, she finally floated over to Huohuo's hand.
"I-I'm only doing this for this girl's studies..."
She even found herself an excuse for it.
Huohuo Who Loved Warmth
"Huohuo, Huohuo, hurry up and make me stop!"
After doing more than a hundred consecutive backflips in midair, Tail could no longer endure it and shouted loudly at Huohuo.
"Oh, okay."
Hearing Tail say that, Huohuo hurriedly stopped controlling her and let her return to her side. Seeing Tail's angry expression, Huohuo immediately said apologetically, "Um, Tail Master, are you okay?"
"Humph!"
Tail snorted coldly.
Yet inwardly, she was utterly shocked.
Ji Yuan had taught Huohuo how to use the Suiyang Subjugation Art, then used Tail for practice. Ji Yuan demonstrated it once empty-handed, then had Huohuo imitate him and use it on Tail.
Watching Huohuo's clumsy movements, Tail sneered inwardly.
With skills like that, she thought she could control me?
Tail could easily dodge such movements. But she wanted to see just how much Huohuo could accomplish, so she simply watched her perform it.
Then she realized something was wrong.
Tail felt her body begin to slip out of her control. Instinctively, she wanted Huohuo to stop, but remembering that she had agreed to be Huohuo's test subject, she gritted her teeth and endured it.
In the end, she felt her body become completely controlled by Huohuo.
At that moment, Ji Yuan said maliciously, "Huohuo, to demonstrate how reliable this command is, why not have Tail perform some backflips?"
"Oh, okay..."
Hearing Ji Yuan's words, Huohuo gave the command without even thinking.
Tail did several consecutive backflips in midair. Only after hearing Tail shout did Huohuo let her down.
Huohuo released the restraints, and Tail panted heavily in lingering fear.
"N-Next time you use it, I'm dodging."
"Oh, okay."
Huohuo hurriedly nodded.
Ji Yuan watched from the side, then commented, "Huohuo, this is how you restrain a Suiyang before it enters a body. Mm, you're still not very proficient. You'll need to practice more over the next few days."
"Mm-hmm."
Huohuo nodded repeatedly.
She wanted to keep practicing.
While controlling Tail just now, she had suddenly felt a sense of confidence rise within her. She, too, could deal with Suiyang. She had her own abilities. She was not completely useless.
Before you continue