Bing Huoyuan had to admit that Ji Wutong’s beauty was peerless even to a man like him. His beauty wasn’t a charm created from some technique like Lovesopt’s beauty mark but an innate charm. Every movement had a sense of charm to it, just a glance from Ji Wutong was seductive yet not vulgar.
Bing Huoyuan immediately hated the man.
Bing Huoyuan jerked his gaze towards Bai Ningwei to see her staring forward with a dazed expression. His heart lurched as he saw the expression with a sour feeling he couldn’t explain, but upon closer inspection, he released a sigh of relief. Bai Ningwei’s expression wasn’t one of lovestruck but shock and surprise. Or perhaps it was closer to disbelief.
He turned his gazes towards the focus of Bai Ningwei’s eyes. His breath hitched as his heart beat erratically, like injecting a newfound source of power into his body. Bing Huoyuan felt in his current state that he could even defeat a unity venerable. Bai Weiwei was exactly the same as the one in his memories, time had not left a single mark on her. Clean and pure, without any hint of darkness, that was Bai Weiwei.
Bing Huoyuan had dreamed of this moment for years, the reunion between him and Bai Weiwei. He had so many questions for her.
Are you living well?
How have you been?
Have you been eating well?
Did you suffer any grievances?
Did anyone dare to bully you?
And most of all…
Did you miss me?
But when Bing Huoyuan tried to speak, he found that words failed him. When he tried to walk forward, his legs felt weak as if he could collapse onto the ground at any moment. It was instead Bai Ningwei who took action first. Her feet seemed to glide on the ground as she appeared before Bai Weiwei with watery eyes. Grasping Bai Weiwei in a bear hug, she cried out, “Qingwei! Qingwei! I finally found you.”
Bai Weiwei felt the corner of her eyes start to become teary, and a familiar feeling surged up in her chest. Unconsciously, she returned the hug of the foreign woman who called her Qingwei with shaky hands. “This big sister, might you have been mistaken? My name is Bai Weiwei.”
As soon as Bai Weiwei said that, she paused. Why did she automatically address the woman in front of her as a big sister? Furthermore, where was this sense of familiarity coming from? The sobbing of the woman and suffocating hug was so nostalgic to her.
“Weiwei is your nickname, your real name is Qingwei! I’m your big sister!” Bai Ningwei said through choking sobs as she tightened her hug even more.
The onlookers watched with great interest at this drama, drawing their eyes away from Ji Wutong to this scene. The onlookers attended to develop some connections before the Demon Slaying Expedition. After all, for the next several years, they would all enter the Demon Cage Realm. Even if they didn’t like each other, they had to make sure not to make any enemies during this time., but who would have expected to see such a show?
“I’m an orphan. How could I have a family?” Bai Weiwei said, her eyes showing her endless sadness, making many of the onlookers feel a tinge of pity for the girl.
Bai Ningwei released her hugs as she showed great hatred in her eyes, scaring Bai Weiwei. “Yes! We are orphans, but that’s because of the despicable Hei Clan! They coveted our Bai family’s fortune and schemed against us, causing us to lose our parents! They aren’t even willing to let us two weak girls leave and attempted to kill us numerous times. You were too young, so you can’t remember, but they were many close brushes with death, and we were eventually forced to separate.”
At the mention of the Bai and Hei Clan, Bai Weiwei felt her heart stir, but she was still unconvinced. “How can you be so sure that I’m your sister? You said that we were separated when I was too young, so my appearance should have changed since then.”
Bai Weiwei’s voice was quivering as she spoke as if harboring hope yet fearing disappointment. For many people, what they feared was not having a lineage, being a person without any roots, all alone in the world.
“Our blood is proof. Don’t you feel your body resonating like mine? From the moment I first saw you, I knew you were my sister. Do you not feel it?” Bai Ningwei said.
Bai Weiwei held heard her palm over her heart as she felt her surging blood and excited heartbeat. It was precisely as Bai Ningwei said, her body recognized the woman in front of her.
Bai Ningwei seemed to have thought of something as she took the milky-white jade pendant on her waist and placed it onto her palm for Bai Weiwei to see. The jade pendant had the character “Bai” carved onto it.
“This?” Bai Weiwei reached for the jade pendant on her waist with trembling hands and compared it to the one in Bai Ningwei’s hand.
The two jade pendants were exactly the same.
“Big Sister?” Bai Weiwei’s hesitantly said, her expression full of uncertainty.
With tears of happiness, Bai Ningwei gave a heartfelt smile as she hugged Bai Weiwei once more. Feeling the warmth of Bai Ningwei’s hug and understanding the meaning behind it, tears also begin to trail down Bai Weiwei’s face.
“Qingwei, how have you been all these years?” Bai Ningwei asked, her voice full of affection. She had so much she wanted to ask, so much she wanted to say, but she settled for a single question. As long as Bai Weiwei was fine, that was enough for her.
A flash of hurt flashed through Bai Weiwei’s eyes, but she quickly hid it. “I’ve been good… Big Sister.” Bai Weiwei added big sister at the end of her reply, still not used to having an elder sister. “Also, I’ve been called Weiwei all these years. It’s a bit hard to adjust to being called Qingwei.”
“It doesn’t matter what you want to be called. I’ll call you whatever you want. What’s important is that you’ve been living well all these years. I’m sorry for not being able to protect you all these years.” Bai Ningwei said, too excited to hear the lies in Bai Weiwei’s words.
“Big Sister,” Bai Weiwei’s eyes began to water, touched by her long-lost sister’s deep feeling of affection. “I was lucky to become a disciple of the Bright Ascension Sect. Right now, my cultivation is higher than yours, so I’ll protect you from now on. In the future, we can be together all the time.”
At this, Bai Ningwei hesitated. “Right now, I’m a disciple of Boundless Mountain and swore an oath of loyalty. I can’t leave…”
“What!? But… but…” Bai Weiwei felt her heart almost stop at Bai Ningwei’s words. “But we finally reunited all these years…there’s still so much I want to talk to you about.”
“That’s no problem, Miss Bai,” At this moment, Ji Wutong stepped forward and smiled. “As long as I send word, I can no doubt get you to join as a Bright Ascension Sect outer disciple.”
Bai Ningwei looked at Ji Wutong without any signs of being dazzled by his beauty, making Ji Wutong’s eyes flash in admiration. Before Bai Ningwei could reply, someone else did for her.
“Daoist Ji, aren’t you being too rude?” Bing Huoyuan said as he stepped forward, seeing as Ji Wutong had started to take action. Ji Wutong’s words was obviously trying to seduce Bai Ningwei to the Bright Ascension Sect. How could he allow such a thing?
“Hmmm? What do you mean?” Ji Wutong sent a provocative look at Bing Huoyuan. He heard Bai Weiwei mention how good this was Big Brother Bing was to her. In his eyes, no matter how good Bing Huoyuan was, how could he compare to him, Ji Wutong?
“Bai Ningwei is an inner disciple and member of my Iceflame Mountain. She can’t just leave just because of few pretty words from you.” Bing Huoyuan coldly said to Ji Wutong.
Ji Wutong coldly sucked in a breath. Bing Huoyuan sure was willing!
He appreciated Bai Weiwei’s kind character, but he knew that her talent was subpar at best. Even under the numerous pills and resources afforded to her, she was currently only at the mid Core Formation Realm. But Bai Ningwei was even worse, her foundation shaky. How could she be an inner disciple unless someone paid special attention to her?
“That means that I can’t stay with Big Sister in the future and that we would have to be separated again?” Bai Weiwei looked at Bai Ningwei with watery eyes. “Can’t you come to the Bright Ascension with me?”
Bai Ningwei shook her head. “I can’t. I already swore an oath of loyalty. It’s already our good fortune to meet in this lifetime. In the future, there will always be other chances to meet again.”
“But I want to stay with you forever.” Bai Weiwei tearfully said. Her eyes spun as an idea appeared in her head. “Then, if you can’t come with me to the Bright Ascension Sect, can I come with you to Boundless Mountain?”
Upon hearing this, a flash of hurt flashed through Ji Wutong’s eyes. After all that he had done for Bai Weiwei, she didn’t even hesitate before wanting to leave with a sister she had just met today?
In contrast, happiness erupted within Bing Huoyuan’s chest. “Of course you can!” He said before he could react.
Quickly calming himself down, Bing Huoyuan explained more clearly to the confused Bai Weiwei and Bai Ningwei. “In the future, Boundless Mountain and Bright Ascension Sect will be close allies. To secure our relationship, we may have our disciples stay at the other sect. You can come to Boundless Mountain during this chance.”
A hint of fury flashed through Ji Wutong’s eyes. That bastard, Bing Huoyuan, was trying to steal his person!
“Daoist Bing, although our sects do want to work closer together. The details aren’t set in stone yet. Perhaps Miss Bai could come to our sect instead? Ji Wutong suggested, he expected to see unwillingness in Bing Huoyuan’s eyes but only saw smugness.
“Perhaps, but the details still have to be decided by the elders, after all. How about we sit down? We are catching too much attention by standing here.” Bing Huoyuan suggested as he looked around them. Almost all the participants of the Fortune Banquet were looking at them.
Ji Wutong gave a false smile and introduced himself to the organizer of the event. Daoist Moneybag was still very willing to make friends with Ji Wutong because of his talent in alchemy. As an alchemist, Ji Wutong’s battle prowess was quite high, but it couldn’t compare to his alchemy.
The onlookers from the various sect all jotted down mental notes of the important point of the conversation, especially the few members of the Leakless Sect that were present. There were rumors of the Bright Ascension Sect and Boundless Mountain joining forces, but this was the first time they had heard confirmation from the members of the sect themselves.
It had to be known that the Leakless Sect was situated between the territories of the Bright Ascension Sect and Boundless Mountain. If those two forces joined, then it would pincer the Leakless Sect and push them into a perilous spot. The Leakless Sect disciples used various means to contact their elders with this information. Although these words were spoken by Bing Huoyuan and Ji Wutong, mere disciples, the reliability was high to overlook.
Thanks to Ji Wutong and Bing Huoyuan, both Bai sisters were able to sit down in the central area with Daoist Moneybag, Tianyi, Daoyi, Yi Dongli, Xia Yushan, Hun Jusang, He Luoli, and all the other bright stars that attended the banquet. And when Bai Ningwei sat down once more, her eyes flashed towards Tianyi with gratefulness, giving him an ominous feeling.
His feeling came true as Bai Ningwei brought Bai Weiwei in front of him and said, “Thank you, Young Master Xi, for your kindness. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to reunite with my sister.”
“You were the one who helped my sister reunited with me? Thank you so much, Prince Xi!” Bai Weiwei said, a pink flush on her cheek as she bowed in thanks with Bai Ningwei.
Tianyi sat there stunned. How in the world did I help you? Shouldn’t you thank Bing Huoyuan instead? Look at how he’s fuming and glaring daggers at me right now!
Tianyi coughed into his fist and adjusted his mood. “Miss Bai, I did no such thing. You should thank Brother Bing instead. He is the one who helped you all these years.”
“But had it not been for you, Young Master Bing would not have realized my plight and aided me. Only because you took action was I able to go with Young Master Bing.” Bai Ningwei said, insisting on thanking Tianyi.
“I also have to thank you.” Bai Weiwei said, causing Tianyi to show a surprised expression. “If you hadn’t sent that nascent soul grandmaster to me during the Heavenly Connection Gathering back then, I’m afraid they would have bullied me.”
Tianyi wanted to puke blood. How could he even be thanked for that? How did Bai Ningwei remember the event as him helping her, he was clearly standing against her, okay? And in Bai Weiwei’s case, he only sent Su Bojing to ask some questions, it was Su Bojing’s own actions, okay? Tianyi made a mental note to punish Su Bojing when he got back.
“You’ve misunderstood me, Miss Bai,” Tianyi said once more. But no matter how he tried to refuse, both of the Bai sisters thanked him and returned to their seats. Tianyi could feel the dagger-like eyes of Bing Huoyuan and Ji Wutong.
Tianyi silent looked up in the sky and pleaded innocence.
“Wei’er, last I heard, you were with Lai Erchu. Did something happen?” To direct the sisters’ attention away from Tianyi, Bing Huoyuan asked such a question. Plus, he was curious about the matter himself. Why did Bai Weiwei come here with Ji Wutong, and why wasn’t Lai Erchu here?
Ji Wutong coldly snorted. “That scum, how could he deserve a kind girl like Weiwei?”
“Wutong, don’t say anymore. It was all my fault.” Bai Weiwei said, her voice full of sorrow.
“Hmpf, I’m only speaking the truth. Just because we met a few times, he automatically assumed that we were doing unspeakable things. In my eyes, it’s better that you two separate. Otherwise, you would suffer in the future. He doesn’t deserve a girl like you.”
Bai Weiwei looked down in dejection, causing shadows to cover her eyes. Seeing her sister like this, Bai Ningwei’s heart felt as if it was cut into a thousand pieces as she held Bai Weiwei in a suffocating hug once more.
As for Bing Huoyuan.
Fury was building up within Bing Huoyuan. He had left Bai Weiwei to Lai Erchu because he saw how well he treated her, and they were from the same sect. Who knew that in a few years, such a thing would occur? Sure enough, it was only him that could protect Bai Weiwei and prevent her from being hurt anymore in the future. No matter what, he would believe in Bai Weiwei, unlike that bastard, Lai Erchu.
As Bing Huoyuan looked away from Bai Weiwei, his eyes focused on Bai Ningwei, and a conflicting feeling arose within his heart. What was wrong with him?
If his plan succeeded, he would be able to reunite the Bai sisters permanently at Boundless Mountain, and he would be able to become dao companions with the woman of his dreams.
So why did he feel so conflicted?