Long Kangnian had a poor alcohol tolerance; a little fruit wine was enough to make him drunk. He clung to his brother's leg and complained, "Wuwuwu, you don't tell me anything. I'm already grown up... What exactly happened back then...?"
Long Aotien kicked him away in disgust.
"It doesn't matter if you don't tell me. Anyway, Father wrote me a letter. He said he'll tell me everything if I go home!"
"Don't go back!" Long Aotien's face darkened. He kicked the troublesome boy again.
But Long Kangnian was drunk at this moment and couldn't hear him. He just kept mumbling, like a wronged kindergarten child.
Xiao Roushu, having secretly drunk Fu Hongming's wine, was now tipsy. She hugged a tree in the courtyard and confessed, "Senior Sister Tian Ning, do you know how much I like you? Your Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin Sword Tomb move was incredibly cool! I've never seen anyone so cool in my life! You're even better than the seniors recorded in the incomplete scrolls! I regret becoming my father's disciple. Aaaaah, I should have joined your sect later!"
"Or you could be my second master. Here, you would be of the same generation as my father!"
"No, no, no! How can my father compare to you!"
Tian Ning: "..."
Sect Leader Xiao would probably die of anger if they heard this.
Fu Hongming, with malicious intent, tried to feed wine to the deceased in the coffin. Shi Qinxin discovered him and raised her sword to cut down this unfilial senior brother. The two chased each other in the courtyard, putting on a show more exciting than any play!
Tian Ning found a tree to sit on and enjoy the moon. She chuckled as she watched the amusing scene below.
Before she could take out her storybook, she saw Jiang Xi, who was blind, slowly and clumsily climbing the tree, inching his way towards her.
"What's wrong, Second Senior Brother?" Tian Ning thought he was drunk.
"Junior Sister..." Jiang Xi was clearly uncomfortable being in a tree, his voice a little unsteady. However, he still made an effort to speak calmly:
"I wanted to say... you can think of me as a brother, and your Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Brother are also brothers, Third Senior Sister is a sister... or if you want, you can even think of me as a mother!" He paused, suddenly realizing, "That doesn't seem right either, otherwise, Master's and Third Junior Sister's seniority would be messed up..."
Tian Ning: "..."
"In short! We don't want that biased Fourth Brother! Junior Sister, if you need anything, just tell us senior brothers and sisters. Sword Protecting Mountain is your home, Junior Sister. If anything happens, you must tell us…" Jiang Xi blurted out a lot of words.
Tian Ning listened attentively. Second Senior Brother was the most thoughtful among the senior brothers and sisters. He must have been worried about her because of Wenren Yang's partiality towards Wenren Xue that day.
A warm feeling filled her heart. Compared to the Wenren Family, where blood was thicker than water, the Sword Guard Mountain family felt more like a real family.
Rather than treating her as a daughter, the Wenren Family treated her more like a pet cat or dog, ensuring she had food and clothing and could survive, occasionally calling her over to tease her.
Tian Ning never considered that place home.
"Second Senior Brother, don't worry. I don't care what they do," Tian Ning said.
Jiang Xi couldn't see Tian Ning's expression, but he knew that a young girl who hadn't grown up with her parents and was suddenly taken home must yearn for love. He felt that his Junior Sister was trying to be strong.
Jiang Xi wanted to say something to comfort Tian Ning, but Long Aotien, having somehow shaken off Long Kangnian, jumped up. He said resentfully, "Second Senior Brother! Are you secretly giving Junior Sister something good again?"
"You can't always be so biased! Don't you know that your Junior Brother will also be heartbroken?"
"..."
Jiang Xi didn't know whether he was heartbroken or not, but he was disgusted and silently backed away to climb down.
Second Senior Brother had difficulty moving, so Tian Ning wanted to help him down, but Long Aotien stopped her. "Second Senior Brother can't see, but his hearing is excellent, Junior Sister. Don't worry, he can go down by himself."
You're a really good Junior Brother.
"Come, come, come, sit down, Fourth Senior Brother has something to tell you," he said expectantly. "Junior Sister, do you remember what you said to me the first time we met!"
Tian Ning: "?"
What did she say?
Long Aotien didn't care. "It's nothing, Fourth Senior Brother knows that Junior Sister is a busy person..."
"Fourth Senior Brother, what are you trying to say?" Tian Ning couldn't stand his strange, annoying tone.
"Oh dear... it's just that... you said that you would give me all the trash in your courtyard! As long as you are here for a day, I'll have a day of trash to pick up!" Long Aotien blinked, hinting madly. "I'm not greedy, Junior Sister, just a little from your fingertips will do!"
He had witnessed Junior Sister's vast wealth firsthand, enough to crush him.
So that's it.
Tian Ning thought he had an eye disease!
Tian Ning took out a High-Grade Spirit Stone and gave it to him. "Here, Fourth Senior Brother, do me a favor. This is your payment."
"Junior Sister, just command! Fourth Senior Brother will do anything!" Long Aotien held the High-Grade Spirit Stone, his soul almost floating to heaven. For this one favor, how many years of trash would he have to pick up?
"It's nothing major." Tian Ning said, "I've been in the Cultivation World for some time. I went to many shops on the way to the Secret Realm with Third Senior Sister, but I haven't found any storybook shops along the way. Fourth Senior Brother, do you know where I can buy storybooks in the Cultivation World?"
It wasn't that Tian Ning had run out of storybooks; she had hoarded a lot when she left home.
But one less is one less. Cultivators live for at least several hundred years. Tian Ning's hoarding habit told her she needed to stock up, but she hadn't seen any storybook shops in the Cultivation World.
"Storybooks? Junior Sister, you haven't been in the Cultivation World long enough to know. As cultivators, everyone focuses on cultivation. Things that affect the Dao Heart were eliminated thousands of years ago."
"Plus, hardly anyone writes them, so even fewer people sell them." Long Aotien put away the High-Grade Spirit Stone and thought carefully. "I remember there seems to be a shop near the Long Clan that sells storybooks. They have storybooks accumulated over thousands of years..."
Tian Ning was immediately interested. Storybooks from the Cultivation World! What kind of stories would they be?
"Be honest and don't think about going to the Long Clan. Things haven't been peaceful there these years," mentioning the Long Clan, Long Aotien extinguished the small flame of excitement. "I'll have someone bring you the storybooks. Just wait patiently."
Since Fourth Senior Brother said so, she would wait patiently.
However, since that dinner, Tian Ning hadn't seen Long Kangnian again. He probably went back to the Long Clan. She didn't know when he would return. Look at Fourth Senior Brother, he was so worried every day that even picking up trash made him distracted.
Tian Ning lived a fulfilling life as usual. As long as she hadn't finished her storybooks, she was the happiest person in the world!
That day, Third Senior Sister was going down the mountain to buy some new fabric, and Tian Ning went with her. On their way down the mountain, they were stopped by a man.
"Two Fellow Cultivators of the Wanjian Sect, please stop. I see the words embroidered on your clothes, you should be from the Sword Protecting Mountain lineage."
Shi Qinxin asked, "What is it?"
"I am Long Xin, from the Long Clan. I have a letter for Sword Guard Mountain Disciple Long Aotien. If it's convenient, please take me to Sword Protecting Mountain."
The Long Clan?
Long Aotien's attitude towards the Long Clan was extremely hostile. Even Tian Ning knew this. Speaking of which, quite some time had passed, and Long Kangnian hadn't returned yet.
The senior sisters exchanged a glance, both knowing that this person's intentions were not good.
They lost their desire to buy fabric and took Long Xin to Sword Protecting Mountain.
"