Sword Aura to the Heavens
Chapter 45 Senior Sister

Chapter 45: Chapter 45 Senior Sister

Liu Ji followed behind Li Fan sullenly, her gaze at him tinged with a bit of resentment.

Up ahead, the clang of metal sounds could be heard coming from a blacksmith’s shop, its courtyard gate wide open, with sparks flying inside. The blacksmith, shirtless like the others, was one from the village.

"Uncle Yang," Li Fan called out.

"Xiao Fan, how come you’ve been gone for a few days and brought back a woman? Aren’t you afraid your senior sister will beat you up?" The blacksmith said, looking at Liu Ji.

"My senior sister knows." Li Fan replied.

"As long as she knows. Go see her quickly." The blacksmith continued hammering.

Li Fan kept moving forward, and this time, Liu Ji didn’t retort, having learned her lesson.

Ahead, there was a giant ancient tree, lush and full of leaves, its trunk so thick it would take ten people to encircle it, with a huge hole opening into a room in the tree trunk.

Outside the room, two people were cooling off under the tree.

"Hello Aunt Wang, hello Grandpa Huai," Li Fan called out.

"Xiao Fan is back. Haven’t seen you in a few days, and you’ve gotten more handsome," Aunt Wang said, sizing him up, "You’re not getting any younger. How about I introduce you to a match? What do you think about my Xiao Qi? She’s cultivating in the mountains and has become quite formidable."

"Your Xiao Qi isn’t even fifteen yet, and you’re in such a hurry to marry her off?"

An old man lounged in the treehouse entrance, smoking a tobacco pipe and puffing away.

"Not too young, she can have babies already," Aunt Wang said, looking at Li Fan, "Xiao Fan, you and Xiao Qi grew up together, like childhood sweethearts, what do you think?"

"I should ask my senior sister." Li Fan made an excuse.

"As long as you agree, your senior sister will surely listen to you," Aunt Wang grinned.

"Can’t you open your eyes and see? Can your Xiao Qi bear children for anyone else?" Grandpa Huai glanced at Liu Ji beside him, squinting, and smiled at Li Fan, "Xiao Fan has a good eye, she looks fertile."

"Xiao Fan, don’t pick up bad habits out there," Aunt Wang cautioned, glancing at Liu Ji.

"A man must grow up one day; I think this is good," said Uncle Huai, with his hair white as snow and several teeth missing.

"Grandpa Huai, why is your hair all white?" Li Fan asked, recalling that when he was a child, half of the old man’s hair was still black.

"Cough, cough... What do you think?" The old man coughed a few times, glaring at Li Fan.

Thinking to himself, ’After being tugged at for over ten years, would my hair not turn white?’

Li Fan gave a goofy smile, raising his head to look at the tree, which was already bare except for a few fruits.

Liu Ji also looked up at those fruits, vibrant red with ripples of spiritual energy, which stirred restlessness within her as she licked her lips.

"Xiao Fan is quite lucky," Grandpa Huai remarked, eyeing Liu Ji.

Liu Ji fixed her gaze on the old man, smiling sweetly, "Old man, your teeth may be almost gone, but your mouth is still sharp."

This old man was almost half a foot in the grave; he couldn’t possibly be as tough as the butcher, right?

"An old man is not only sharp with his mouth," Grandpa Huai puffed out a cloud of smoke, and suddenly the tree branch above Liu Ji’s head swelled rapidly. She panicked and tried to retreat, but the branch swiftly entangled her tightly, suspending her mid-air no matter how she struggled.

"Tree spirit... you’re a demon," Liu Ji looked at the old man.

"Aren’t you one too?" the old man shot back.

Li Fan watched Liu Ji, feeling somewhat innocent; how could she not learn from experience?

"Grandpa Huai..." Li Fan was about to say something when the branches let go quickly, dropping Liu Ji to the ground as the old man exhaled a cloud of smoke, "Xiao Fan, it was just a joke with her, you don’t mind, do you?"

"I don’t mind." Li Fan said, "Grandpa Huai, I’m off to see my senior sister."

"Hurry up, then," the old man urged.

Li Fan continued moving forward, with Liu Ji trailing dejectedly behind.

"You old fart, ruining my plans," Aunt Wang scolded Old Huai with a glare.

"Weren’t you disdainful when he was a kid? Now why the rush to marry him off?" The old man scoffed.

"Nonsense, I knew from the start this boy would amount to something big."

"Haha, it’s Miss Ye you fancied, isn’t it?"

"Miss Ye is truly kind to Xiao Fan," Aunt Wang admitted.

"Of course, raised him with her own hands, how could she not be?"

"You remember when Xiao Fan first came to the village? He wasn’t well-accepted back then."

"How could I forget? Everyone said Xiao Fan would grow up to become a demon, so what if he’s a demon?"

"I still recall that snowy morning."

"Yes, that day, it was a blizzard, and early in the morning, Miss Ye was leading the young boy, knocking on doors, all over the village."

The old man drifted into reminiscence, still recalling that morning from over a decade ago.

A breathtaking woman, knocking on the treehouse door, a pleading smile on her face, bowing, asking them to look out for the young boy.

That celestial-like figure, lowering her head, pleading for them to care for the boy, asking every family.

Could they refuse?

From then on, the boy stayed in the village.

"Yes, it was Miss Ye, they say she knocked on doors not only in the village but also stormed the mountain."

Since then, on Li Mountain, no one gossiped about the boy or said he’d become a demon anymore.

"Poor old me, since then, I’ve been tugged bald by that boy."

"Weren’t you willing, though."

"It was Miss Ye, after all!"

"Indeed, it was Miss Ye; Miss Ye truly cares for Xiao Fan."

"This senior sister is closer than a real sister."

Li Fan and Liu Ji continued leading the horse, encountering many familiar faces along the way.

Reading sounds came from ahead, drawing Li Fan’s attention. He looked over to see a group of children sitting on the ground, surrounding a young man.

This young man had a scholarly appearance, refined and gentle. Not far from him, a water buffalo was drinking.

"Brother Xiao Fan is back." A child called out upon seeing Li Fan, drawing the attention of the other children who started running towards him.

"Brother Xiao Fan, what’s the outside world like? Is it fun?" a curious boy asked Li Fan.

"Brother Xiao Fan, who is this pretty sister? You’ve only been out for a few days and already got a wife? Can you bring me back such a pretty wife too?"

"You kids, who let you run around like that." The young man walked over, greeted Li Fan, "Little junior brother, you’re back."

"Second senior brother." Li Fan called out to the scholarly young man, scrutinizing him as if seeing him for the first time, curious.

"Why are you looking at me like that, little junior brother?" the scholar asked.

"It’s nothing."

Li Fan shook his head. His second senior brother usually taught the village children to read and write as well as life principles, and Li Fan had never seen him practice cultivation.

The second senior brother claimed he didn’t really understand cultivation, only how to read dead words, often encouraging Li Fan to read, which he eventually did, learning some principles from books.

But after his trip, Li Fan wondered if his second senior brother truly didn’t know any cultivation.

"Alright, everyone return to your places and keep reading," the scholar instructed the children, who reluctantly sat back down to continue their studies.

"Little junior brother, go see your senior sister quickly," the scholar advised.

"Alright." Li Fan nodded and continued on, passing by the water buffalo, which stared at him with its large eyes.

Li Fan halted, gazing at the water buffalo, and a strange thought popped into his mind.

This water buffalo has been raised by his second senior brother since he was a child and hasn’t seemed to age at all?

Man and beast stared at each other intently.

"Brother Water Buffalo, you’re not a demon too, are you?" Li Fan whispered, thinking if it were a demon, he should be able to tell, unless it was a great demon, beyond his level?

The water buffalo gave Li Fan a glance, turned around, and walked away, its tail constantly swaying.

"What does that mean?" Li Fan wondered.

He continued leading the horse, following the village road, moving forward to its end, where a series of mountain ranges interconnected. Li Fan mounted his horse again, galloping along the mountain path, eager to return.

Liu Ji followed behind, curious about his urgency.

Could it be because of his senior sister?

Li Mountain was vast, with rolling ridges and numerous ancient peaks.

Li Fan ascended along the outer edge of an ancient peak on Li Mountain, heading upward till reaching the summit.

Here, ancient trees were lush, like a place out of this world. At the cliff’s edge, there were a few simple and tranquil houses.

Li Fan dismounted and walked towards the back of the houses, with Liu Ji following alongside.

Reaching behind the houses, the cliff lay ahead, offering a view of a sea of clouds, resembling a fairyland.

Beneath an ancient tree at the cliff’s edge, a woman sat quietly on a large rock, only her silhouette visible.

The woman, like Li Fan, wore a pristine white dress.

Li Fan advanced silently, stopping a short distance behind the woman, afraid to disturb her.

"You’re back," came a calm voice, like a sound from beyond, as the woman stood, revealing her tall figure.

When she turned, Liu Ji’s gaze froze on her, as if her heart was struck.

Liu Ji prided herself on her extraordinary appearance, feeling she was a beauty among humans, having met many pretty women; even in Lin’an County, the encounter with Li Hongyi was rare.

But at the sight of this woman, a sense of inferiority rose within her.

She didn’t know what words to use to describe the beauty before her, any adjective seemed dull. The woman seemed to have stepped out of a painting, not like a mortal being.

"Fairy!" A word involuntarily appeared in Liu Ji’s mind.

"Senior sister," Li Fan called out, even though his trip down the mountain hadn’t taken long, it felt like ages.

The woman slowly turned her gaze, landing on Liu Ji.

When their eyes met, Liu Ji involuntarily avoided the woman’s gaze but didn’t know why, instinctively uneasy.

"After going down the mountain, it seems my little junior’s taste has changed?" The woman’s voice was pure music, enchanting to hear, and she looked at Li Fan with interest.

Liu Ji sighed internally at the beauty and voice, thinking how ’fair’ the heavens truly are.

"Senior sister..." Li Fan began to explain, but the woman continued, "If my little junior likes her, she can be a concubine. In the world below, doesn’t everyone, even royals and aristocrats, have multiple wives? A demon isn’t too bad if you like her, but not as the main wife."

"For the main wife, I must meet her and approve first. What do you think, little junior?"

Li Fan stared, baffled, at the woman, "Of course, it’ll have to be with senior sister’s approval."

"Did you meet someone suitable this time down the mountain?" The woman inquired with a smile, "If there’s someone suitable, would you bring her up for me to see?"

Li Fan hesitated, sneaking a glance at the woman.

The woman’s eyes gleamed with humor at his stolen glances, her smile growing more intriguing.

"What is it, do you have thoughts about me?"

"Senior sister, I..." The young man’s heartbeat accelerated as if his secret had been exposed.

Seeing his expression, the woman’s smile grew brighter, "It’s not impossible."

"Ah..." Li Fan blinked.

The woman chuckled at his expression, "That will depend on your skills, though."

Liu Ji, silently listening to their conversation, noted the woman’s radiant smile and thought of the red-dressed girl. Pity.

If she were a man, she’d likely be smitten at first sight.