“Absent-minded?”
“Do you have something on your mind?”
“Talking about it might help ease it!”
Deng Tianyu frowned slightly, then smiled.
This was the first time he’d seen his Junior Sister display such an absent-minded look.
Not even glancing at her favorite Spirit Meals was clearly not like the usual Li Shishi.
“Senior Brother, I’ve been reading some books recently… and also looked back at the books Senior Brother wrote before~”
Li Shishi bit her lip, glanced at Deng Tianyu, wanting to speak but hesitating.
Deng Tianyu was puzzled. “And then?”
How could reading books make her so distracted?
“Then, I started to feel conflicted about romantic feelings between men and women.”
“The books say that kind of feeling is very wondrous. When it’s sweet, it makes you forget everything; when it’s bitter, it makes you cry.”
Meeting her Senior Brother’s gaze, Li Shishi finally spoke, revealing a look of yearning.
Deng Tianyu paused, thoughtful. “Feelings between men and women?”
Li Shishi was now at that wonderful age where first love blooms. It was normal to yearn for such things.
Of course, one couldn’t just blindly suppress it at a time like this, or it could very likely develop into a Devil’s Obstruction.
Looking at Li Shishi’s state now, she already seemed to have formed an attachment.
As her Senior Brother, he should provide proper guidance and resolution.
His thoughts stopping there, Deng Tianyu asked with a smile, “Does Shishi want to experience this kind of feeling?”
“Mhm. I want Senior Brother to spend a day with me, but as Dao Companions. Is that okay?”
Li Shishi took a deep breath and spoke very seriously.
As Dao Companions?
A single day shouldn’t be a problem!
Regarding this, Deng Tianyu pondered briefly before nodding. “Alright!”
He had always been tolerant and easygoing with Li Shishi.
Besides, it was just one day. What couldn’t be accepted?
Furthermore, the Six Sect Martial Tournament was approaching.
Getting a good ranking was secondary. If his Junior Sister developed a Devil’s Obstruction because of this, and an accident occurred during a sparring match, it would be too late for regrets.
“Thank you, Senior Brother!”
Seeing Deng Tianyu agree, Li Shishi’s heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down. Her whole body, no longer tense, relaxed, and she revealed a sweet smile.
In her mind, Mu Wanzhi’s voice came, tinged with laughter. “It wasn’t in vain that we rehearsed so many times. We finally got a return on our effort.”
To speed up their strategy, she and Shishi had spent the entire morning devising this plan, carefully rehearsing it dozens of times.
Mu Wanzhi deeply understood that Deng Tianyu was extremely doting on them, almost like family.
As long as they seized this point, coupled with their previous strategic foundation, this current scheme of yearning for romantic feelings would almost certainly succeed.
Once successful, they would gain the chance to play the role of Dao Companions with their Senior Brother.
Though it was only for one day, the room for maneuver was still vast.
It was as if Deng Tianyu’s words had taken effect. Li Shishi, her brows and eyes smiling, picked up her bamboo chopsticks and began to enjoy the Spirit Meal.
From time to time, she would steal a glance at her Senior Brother, the smile on her lips becoming ever more dazzling and sweet.
Little fox Yingying, however, paid no mind to all this. Finding that Li Shishi wasn’t competing with her for the delicious food today, she was instantly overjoyed. Her two little paws worked left and right, assisted by her three furry tails, as she began to feast, indulging in happiness without restraint.
In a short while, Deng Tianyu put down his chopsticks.
Li Shishi also tacitly put down hers.
“Yingying, when you’re done eating later, just leave the bowls and chopsticks here!”
Deng Tianyu rubbed the little fox’s head and reminded her.
The little fox’s tails swayed, indicating she understood!
She looked at the still-large portion of Spirit Meal on the table, her fox eyes curving into crescents. She even took out a bottle of Superior Purple Jade Marrow from her Storage Ring, letting the happiness come even more fiercely.
Deng Tianyu and Li Shishi walked shoulder to shoulder out of the courtyard. He spoke, “Shishi, you can arrange the schedule for this day!”
Li Shishi raised her head, her eyes shimmering with a strange light. “Really, I can?”
Deng Tianyu chuckled. “Yes!”
Li Shishi thought for a moment, then said charmingly, “I want to go out and play with Senior Brother. Anywhere is fine.”
Hearing this, Deng Tianyu didn’t reply verbally, only summoning the Dharma Boat. He chose a random direction and sped away with her.
A warm breeze brushed their faces. Able to feel her Senior Brother’s presence, Li Shishi secretly glanced at the figure beside her, her fragrant heart beating rapidly.
She slowly extended her hand and gently grasped his warm palm.
Deng Tianyu didn’t refuse. He merely looked at her with a smile. “It’s been so long since I went out to have fun with Shishi like this!”
“Mhm!”
Li Shishi responded softly, her soft, slender fingers slowly sliding into the gaps between his fingers, then slowly intertwining and pressing together.
At this moment, her pupils were visible—one was deep brown, and the other was Red Lotus colored.
To seize this opportunity, she and Mu Wanzhi were cooperating, striving to win in one fell swoop!
Deng Tianyu glanced at the horizon and asked, “Shishi, where do you want to go?”
For this outing today, playing was secondary. The most important thing was to resolve that strand of obsession in his Junior Sister’s heart.
“A hundred miles outside Hundred Flowers Valley, isn’t there a place called Flying Feather Stream?”
“When I was little, Senior Brother even took me there to catch fish.”
Feeling the warmth of his fingertips, Li Shishi and Mu Wanzhi felt as if their entire beings were soaking in a honey jar, their hearts overflowing with sweetness.
“Alright!” Deng Tianyu nodded, steering the Dharma Boat towards the left front.
A hundred miles outside Hundred Flowers Valley lay a mountain stream called Flying Feather Stream!
There was a massive waterfall there. The way the waterfall cascaded down resembled countless feathers falling from the sky, hence the name Flying Feather Stream.
In less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the two had already arrived within Flying Feather Stream.
“Crash… Crash…”
Before them, a waterfall descended from the heavens, plunging down with surging momentum into the pool below, splashing up waves of magnificent water spray.
The scene before them evoked the imagery of “a cascade plunging three thousand feet, as if the Milky Way were falling from the Ninth Heaven.”
Deng Tianyu and Li Shishi walked side by side to a spot where the water spray couldn’t reach.
“Senior Brother, do you still remember this kind of fruit?”
Suddenly, Li Shishi’s beautiful eyes lit up. She went to a nearby flower bush, casually broke off a lotus leaf, and picked several clusters of purple-red fruits, wrapping them up.
These purple-red fruits were called Purple Clusters. Each cluster had distinct grains; the fruits were very small, even smaller than grapes.
As if returning to her childhood, Li Shishi washed the lotus-leaf-wrapped Purple Clusters at the edge of the pool, then brought them to Deng Tianyu’s lips. “Senior Brother, try some!”
Deng Tianyu instinctively opened his mouth. Immediately, a slightly sour and astringent taste, mixed with much more sweetness, washed over him.
Li Shishi also bit into a cluster, her elegant brows arching like crescent moons. She felt only that slight sourness and sweetness filled the fields of her heart.
