23: Senior brother... what did you say?

Qin Feng stared intently at the smiling, beautiful face in his arms. The gears in his brain seemed to have been forcibly paused by an invisible hand, leaving it completely blank.

He felt his mind wasn't enough.

In his thoughts, a graceful and ethereal figure slowly emerged, its outline astonishingly clear.

Ye Nianxin.

Dressed in a simple and elegant blue alchemist's robe, always spotlessly clean, carrying the scent of herbs and sunshine. She never wore makeup, yet her plain face was as graceful as a secluded orchid blooming after the rain in an empty valley.

Her long hair was always casually tied with the simplest wooden hairpin, with a few unruly strands falling by her ears, adding a touch of unconscious gentleness.

A faint, fresh scent of herbs always lingered about her, a mark left from her constant companionship with Spirit Medicine.

Her eyes were always so clean and pure, without a trace of Impurities, as if all the world's clamor and filth could not taint that tranquil lake.

Would such a Fairy-like figure fall for him, a 'gentleman (Rebellious Disciple)'?

Qin Feng's first reaction was disbelief.

Absolutely not!

"You Little Vixen, what nonsense are you spouting now?"

Qin Feng snapped back to reality, forcibly dispelling the romantic thoughts in his mind. He reached out and accurately pinched Lin Yao's perky, delicate nose, his tone full of annoyance.

"Don't joke about your Third Senior Sister like that. If she hears it, she might not make you candy beans anymore."

"Ow! It hurts, it hurts!"

Lin Yao immediately cried out dramatically, her two slender arms wrapped even tighter, and her watery eyes instantly filled with a misty 'grievance'.

"Senior Brother, you're bullying me! What I said is true!"

She struggled to break free from Qin Feng's hand, rubbing her slightly reddened nose with her delicate fingers, huffing indignantly, every syllable carrying a cooing lilt.

"How could I joke about Third Senior Sister! I have proof!"

"Proof?"

Qin Feng raised an eyebrow, the lazy feeling in his body dissipating a bit, his interest piqued.

"What proof?"

"Hehe."

Lin Yao's face immediately changed back to that sly, fox-like smile.

She wiggled her soft body, leaning close to Qin Feng's ear, her warm breath like orchids, her voice extremely low, filled with mysterious allure.

"Last time I went to Third Senior Sister's Pill Room to play, I accidentally discovered a portrait pressed under her Pill Furnace."

"The person in that portrait... is you, Senior Brother!"

Qin Feng's heart skipped a beat.

A portrait?

"And," Lin Yao's tone grew more ambiguous, each word like a feather gently tickling his heart, "on the back of that portrait, there was a poem written in delicate, small characters."

"What did it say?"

Qin Feng didn't even realize how eager his question was.

"A man on the path like jade, a Young Master peerless in the world..."

Lin Yao deliberately drew out her words, reciting them one by one, her bright eyes never leaving Qin Feng's face, secretly observing every subtle change in his expression.

"There are two more lines, even more mushy. Senior Brother, do you want to hear them?"

Qin Feng's breathing involuntarily became a little rapid.

He was starting to believe it now.

With Third Senior Sister Ye Nianxin's gentle and introverted, even somewhat timid personality, burying her feelings deep in her heart, then secretly drawing a portrait of her beloved, and writing a few sappy yet affectionate lines of poetry on the unknown back... She was absolutely capable of doing such a thing!

Good heavens!

Truly good heavens!

Qin Feng felt he had inadvertently stumbled upon a huge secret.

The thought of that pure, white lotus-like Fairy Senior Sister, alone in the Pill Room in the dead of night, tossing and turning, burdened with worries while looking at his portrait... just thinking about that scene made his heart burn.

"Little Vixen, what exactly do you want to do?"

Qin Feng forcibly suppressed the surging emotions in his heart, his gaze becoming scorching as he fixed it on this girl in his arms who seemed to delight in chaos.

He didn't believe this Little Vixen would be so kind as to tell him such a big secret for no reason.

She was definitely up to something.

"Senior Brother, you're so smart!"

Lin Yao giggled. Seeing her goal achieved, she no longer concealed anything and laid out her little scheme.

"So, I want to ask Senior Brother for a favor."

"Oh?"

"Third Senior Sister is an alchemist, isn't she? The Medicinal Pills she refines are the most gentle and nourishing."

Lin Yao's eyes darted around, and a mischievous idea she had already planned naturally popped out.

"Senior Brother, aren't you... um... very 'weak' right now?"

She pointedly glanced at Qin Feng's still firm waist and abdomen, her eyes full of mischief.

"You can use this as an excuse to ask Third Senior Sister for some 'Solidifying Foundation and Cultivating Origin' Medicinal Pills!"

"Think about it, Third Senior Sister is so gentle. Seeing you so 'weak,' she'll definitely be heartbroken."

"Then, when she cares for you, if you just take a little initiative... hehehe..."

Lin Yao let out a malicious laugh, full of anticipation for the good show about to unfold.

"As long as you pull Third Senior Sister into this too, two against one, then Revered Master..."

After hearing her 'intention,' which was nothing short of a devil's whisper, Qin Feng's mouth twitched uncontrollably.

What a 'leading the wolf into the house' move!

What a 'vertical and horizontal alliances' strategy!

This Little Vixen, in order to compete for Revered Master's favor, didn't hesitate to drag her own Senior Sister into it as an ally!

Wait, something's not right?

Why does this scene feel so familiar?

Isn't this the exact scenario where Revered Master agreed to let me come to Junior Sister's place to 'Cultivate'?

...The smile on Qin Feng's face was wiped away by an invisible hand, slowly receding.

He gazed at the Little Vixen in his arms, whose eyes sparkled with shrewdness, preening over her astonishing 'brilliant plan,' and a deep, helpless, and exasperated look appeared in his eyes.

This girl's thought process was truly wonderfully unique and breathtaking.

What did she think this was? Children playing house in the backyard, forming gangs to snatch a piece of candy?

What did she take Revered Master Zhao Muxue for? A lonely woman in her boudoir who could be easily outsmarted and controlled by her disciples' clumsy palace intrigue tactics?

"Forget it."

Qin Feng's voice was calm, without a ripple.

These three words, however, were like a basin of ice water poured instantly over Lin Yao's head, making her shiver and extinguishing all the excitement and anticipation in her eyes.

"I don't want Revered Master to 'cleanse the sect'."

Lin Yao's smile completely froze.

She blinked her watery eyes, staring at Qin Feng in disbelief, seemingly unable to connect the cruel words from his mouth with him.

"Senior Brother? You... what are you saying?"

Her voice carried a hint of bewilderment, as if cold water had been splashed on her.

"cleanse the sect... How could that be? Third Senior Sister is so gentle, and Revered Master dotes on her. If the three of us unite, Revered Master will..."

"Junior Sister."

Qin Feng interrupted her laughably naive fantasy and sat up straight.

This action created a little distance between him and Lin Yao.