Chapter 35: Guilt
Hearing Xun Er’s words, Xiao Mei paused and weighed her thoughts carefully. If it was any other girl within the clan, Xiao Mei was confident that she could come out on top based on her beauty and talent, but towards Xun Er, Xiao Mei could only admit defeat.
Seeing that Xiao Yan’s face was impassive, Xiao Mei gave a self deprecating smile and could only leave in defeat.
The crowd within the training field stared at Xiao Yan who was being leaned on by Xun Er and they all felt twinges of jealousy. When had Xun Er, being the brightest pearl of the entire clan, been so close with another male?
Watching Xiao Mei awkwardly walking away, Xiao Yan was stunned and turning his head to see the smiling Xun Er, he taunted: “Girl, what are you doing?”
Xun Er still hung onto Xiao Yan’s arm as she glanced over at the staring crowd and innocently said: “Wasn’t Xiao Yan ge-ge about to reject her anyways?”
Hearing that, Xiao Yan rolled his eyes - the excuse he had in mind was completely different from what Xun Er implied with her excuse. Remembering the awkward expression on Xiao Mei’s face, Xiao Yan helplessly shook his head while thinking: Did Xun Er do that on purpose?
“It’s just that Xun Er doesn’t like how fast she changed. Haha, going to Dou Technique Hall to learn a Dou Technique together… she never invited you in the past three years.” Xun Er dragged Xiao Yan out of the training field slowly as she ignored the gazes around her. At the same time, she muttered words that only Xiao Yan could hear, looks like she really didn’t like how quickly Xiao Mei changed.
Lightly shrugging, Xiao Yan agreed with Xun Er with a bitter smile. Three years ago, Xiao Mei was quite close to him but when Xiao Yan received the title of “cripple”, he was able to see how “realistic” Xiao Mei was.
Watching Xiao Yan and Xun Er leave the field, Xiao Ning’s face twitched while his hands clenched so hard that bone cracking sounds could be heard. His jealousy even made his eyes slightly red.
“Brat, one month from now, I’ll break all of your teeth!” Xiao Ning spat the words out as he angrily left the training field.
On the high platform, Xiao Zhan was about to leave when he saw the scene and intently stared at Xun Er and Xiao Yan while a hint of worry flashed across his eyes. Yan Er, he… does he like Xun Er? Xun Er’s background… not even Nalan Yanran can compare to her. Even with genius level talent, it would be extremely difficult to be approved of by the power behind her.
After thinking for a while, Xiao Zhan let out a sigh as he slowly left.
….
While walking, Xiao Yan would suddenly blank out as he recalled what had just happened.
Turning a corner, Xun Er suddenly let go of Xiao Yan’s arm with a red face. Pushing out her cheeks, she stared at Xiao Yan accusingly.
Losing the momentum that was dragging him forward, Xiao Yan felt at a loss as to what to do and even sighed for no reason. His eyes moved to Xun Er as he thought about what Xun Er implied.
Feeling the blank stare of Xiao Yan, Xun Er small face flushed red as her hands instinctively raised up and she said: “Xiao Yan ge-ge, you…”
“Ahem...ahem…” Waking up from his stupor, Xiao Yan violently coughed while his face became an unhealthy red and he thought: When did I go so low, to think that towards my own sister?
Even though Xun Er and Xiao Yan didn’t have an actual blood relationship, they both lived with each other for over a decade and their relationship wasn’t much worse than that of a blood brother or sister. It wasn’t surprising that Xiao Yan had already thought of Xun Er as his little sister and felt guilt and repulsion towards himself when he realized what he was thinking about...
With that sudden realization, the atmosphere became quite awkward.
Xun Er lowered her head and her usual elegance had been replaced with a girl’s embarrassment. Occasionally, she tilted her gaze to peek at the side of Xiao Yan’s face who was looking straight forward.
Under the awkward atmosphere, the not very long path felt like a great conquest that took forever to get to the end.
Of course, despite how long the conquest felt like, it had an end, where the path split in two directions. At here, Xiao Yan softly said bye and started fleeing.
“Xiao Yan ge-ge.”
Watching the panicked Xiao Yan, Xun Er was stunned by the sight before she called out.
“Huh?” Stopping, Xiao Yan looked back to see Xun Er standing beneath a willow and his heart started beating quickly again.
Xun Er had a green robe with a purple belt that fluttered in the wind. She and the willow behind her made a picture that didn’t seem earthly.
“Tomorrow… will you accompany Xun Er?”
Under the branches of the willow, the girl’s delicate face had a red flush as her jade teeth bit her pink lips. A pair of beautiful eyes were watching Xiao Yan with a hint of anticipation...