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The meaning being that evil prevails over the good and it takes constant vigilance to stave it off.
Xiao Yunluo, who was standing at the door, was not wearing the clothes of a Black Star Sect disciple but an azure full-length dress and a chested jacket. Her long lavender hair was tied in four ponytails, and she also wore a pair of blue jade earrings.
Ye Anping looked at her blankly.
Today, his sister and Feng Yu Die should be starting the training for the Foundation Building, so Xiao Yunluo should do the same. Why did she suddenly come to him?
"Sister Xiao, are you here for a physiotherapy session?"
Xiao Yunluo walked over to him and put her hands on her hips. "I'm not here for physiotherapy. I'm here to see you."
Ye Anping raised his eyebrows. "Well... What can I do for you?"
Why was he not surprised at all? She obviously put on makeup and changed into nice clothes before she came... With a grimace, Xiao Yunluo took out a letter from the storage bag and said, "I want to send this letter to the Hundred Lotus Sect..."
Ye Anping was a little puzzled. Sending letters was a trivial matter. According to common sense, it was not something Young Lady Xiao Yunluo should be asked to do.
So, he quickly scanned the letter with his spiritual sense but found that there was a very high restriction on it. It appeared to be a written order delivered only to his father, and he could not read the contents.
After pondering for a while, Ye Anping shrugged and answered, "Okay. It just so happens that I'm going back to the Hundred Lotus Sect. I'll help you deliver it."
Ye Anping reached for it, but Xiao Yunluo immediately stopped him and explained. "Ah... No, I'm not asking you to run errands for me."
?
Ye Anping cocked his head. "Then?"
"I have never been to the Black Star Sect, and I don't know the way. I just came to ask you to take me there."
"But wouldn't it be better if you gave me the letter directly to take it back with me? It's going to take more than a month to fly over there on the flying swords. My sister and the others should have already begun the Foundation Building training. What about you?"
"..."
After a moment of silence, Xiao Yunluo took a deep breath and said earnestly, "Hiss---Ye Anping! I'm asking you..."
"Yes?"
"You... you..." Xiao Yunluo didn't dare to look directly into Ye Anping's eyes and asked coyly, "Would you like... to be my companion?"
?
Ye Anping narrowed his eyes slightly and asked with suspicion, "You want me to be your companion?"
Xiao Yunluo was startled and hastily shook her head in denial. "Huh? That's not what I want! I don't want any companion. I've always been alone in the past. I don't even want a maid, let alone a companion. I don't want a companion at all!"
Go on... Ye Anping looked at her without saying a word.
Xiao Yunluo was a bit flustered by his stare and hurriedly repeated herself. "What? It's true! Really! There is no need for a companion! Not to mention that you almost killed me last time."
"Then, what are you asking here?"
"That's not... it's because Mr. Qi decided it. I couldn't refuse."
?
Ye Anping frowned. "... Mr. Qi?"
"The dean of the Black Star's Academy, a highly respected elder in the sect."
"I know... but why me? I haven't even met Mr. Qi."
"Mr. Qi said it was because Lianxue got full marks on the written test. And she told him that you taught her, and then he recommended you to my mother, and my mother agreed."
So that's how it is...
Ye Anping felt that there was something wrong with this logic.
It turned out to be Si Xuanji's fault.
He could even imagine Qi Baishi and Si Xuanji playing chess while going in circles around each other.
"..."
Ye Anping took another look at the letter in Xiao Yunluo's hand, and now he could roughly guess its content---it was probably the title deed of a spiritual land or a letter of appointment or something like that.
Thinking about it, when he was strolling with Si Xuanji earlier, she almost forcibly betrothed Xiao Yunluo to him, and she must have seen that he was not very interested in her daughter.
Therefore, she tried to tie him and Xiao Yunluo together by appointing him as her companion.
To prevent his refusal, she even bribed his father with something. She basically 'bought' him from his father to be Xiao Yunluo's companion in exchange for a little benefit.
There was even a possibility that the letter would mention the 'betrothal'.
If his father knew that Si Xuanji wanted to give her only daughter to him... He would go crazy with joy, and would definitely launch a ferocious campaign to urge him and Xiao Yunluo to hurry up and form a cultivator couple.
Moreover, this betrothal was Si Xuanji's intention, not his own arrangement.
Ye Anping couldn't stop a sigh---the woman was truly worthy of being called 'Old Loli'. This set of combination punches really caught him a bit off guard.
But!
As the saying goes, virtue is one foot tall, the devil ten feet*.
If Si Xuanji made a move, he would follow it up. It wasn't like he couldn't counter her.
Ye Anping silently looked at the innocent face of Xiao Yunluo, who had no idea that she had been sold by her mother.
"All right. Have you packed your things? I'm going to leave soon."
Xiao Yunluo's eyes lit up with joy, and she asked, "Do you agree to be my study companion?"
"Why are you so happy? Didn't you say you don't want a companion?"
Taken aback, Xiao Yunluo coughed awkwardly. "Ahem---I don't want you to be my companion. I just stopped by to ask."
"Since you are so unwilling, then forget it."
"Ah..." Xiao Yunluo was stunned for a moment, then clutched her skirt and gulped as if regretting her arrogance. She looked at Ye Anping longingly, as if she was about to cry.
Sometimes I really envy the innocence of young people... Ye Anping shook his head slightly, and let her off the hook, replying, "Well, never mind. There are many benefits to being your companion. In the future, I can open the physiotherapy center directly inside the Black Star Sect. Anyway, those who come are all inner disciples. And it will be easier for me to communicate with my sister, so she won't have to keep running in and out."
"Yes..." Xiao Yunluo breathed a sigh of relief. "Then, I can help Lianxue take you in, hmm..."
Ye Anping waved his hand. "I'm going to pack my things. You should go back and pack as well. When you're done, come back here, and we'll set off."
"Oh, okay..."
"By the way, if you come with me to the Hundred Lotus Sect, what about your Foundation Building?"
"Mr. Qi told me to practice for the Foundation Building in the Hundred Lotus Sect. After all, I'm a heavenly spiritual root, and my Foundation Building practice does not require a certain time and place..."
"I see..."
Then, Ye Anping went to pack in his bedroom, while Xiao Yunluo flew back to the Heavenly Cloud Peak on her sword and packed her luggage too.
When she returned to the physiotherapy center, Ye Anping had changed into a red brocade robe and was waiting for her at the door.
Seeing Ye Anping's noble appearance, Xiao Yunluo's cheeks suddenly blushed.
Normally, Ye Anping would basically wear casual and simple clothes, making him look like an energetic young man. But now, Xiao Yunluo felt that he was really the Young Master of a sect.
Even though it was a small sect.
Xiao Yunluo shook her head and approached, weakly asking, "Why are you dressed like this?"
Ye Anping rolled his eyes and replied, "You are dressed like a wealthy lady. If I don't wear this kind of clothes when I am with you, others will think that I am your pretty boy."
"..."
"Okay, let's talk about it on the way. It will take at least a month to reach the Hundred Lotus Sect, and then it will take another two or three months to practice for the Foundation Building. The sooner we leave, the sooner we return."
With that, Ye Anping summoned his flying sword and stepped on it, ready to set off.
At this moment, Xiao Yunluo hurriedly interrupted. "Ye Anping... I brought a divine traveling boat. We can ride it together, and we should be able to arrive in half a month."
With a gesture, a pink boat flew out of her storage bag.
Ye Anping looked in a daze at the boat she'd taken out. "...Is this made of cherry wood?"
"Century-old cherry wood."
"..."
Ye Anping wanted to say something but could only sigh in his heart. Indeed, she was a worthy Young Lady of a great sect.
The spirit stones that he and Feng Yu Die spent time and effort on taking from the Seven Slayers Sect were not enough to buy one of Xiao Yunluo's flying magic items.
He thought for a while and asked, "Well... can you drive it?"
"I've tried it, but I'm not familiar with it," Xiao Yunluo replied. "This was a gift given to me by the elders when I was one year old. I don't usually have a chance to use it."
Ye Anping sighed, stepped on it, and extended his hand to Xiao Yunluo. "I'll drive it. Come up."
"Um... thank you."
Xiao Yunluo took his hand and jumped onto the divine traveling boat.
The next moment, there was a 'whoosh', and a strong wind shook the gates of the physiotherapy center.
The two were catapulted like arrows from a bow and reached an altitude of 300 feet. Then, the ship turned slightly and darted to the northwest.