By the time Mu Wanzhi came out, Deng Tianyu had already changed his clothes and was sitting leisurely by the pool, fishing.
Fishing was a favorite pastime of his, something that helped calm his mind and temper his patience.
Gazing at that familiar figure, Mu Wanzhi smiled softly. With light, graceful steps, her enchanting figure swayed as she approached slowly from behind, wrapping her jade-like arms around his neck.
“Senior Brother, I’ll help you fish!”
“Are you sure you’re not going to scare the fish away like that?”
A faint, floral fragrance wafted to his nose, and Deng Tianyu chuckled softly.
Having spent so many years with his junior sister, he could naturally identify her unique scent.
“Not at all! Look, Senior Brother, the fish are all gathering around!”
Breathing in her senior brother’s warm scent, Mu Wanzhi shook her head, pointing her slender, fair finger at the fish congregating on the water’s surface.
Deng Tianyu rolled his eyes. “That’s just a lucky fluke!”
“Who knows!”
A sense of unprecedented peace settled in Mu Wanzhi’s heart, a captivating curve gracing her thin lips.
She then smoothed her long skirt, bent her legs to sit on a meditation mat nearby, and nestled against Deng Tianyu, picking up a fishing rod herself.
She loved being this intimate with her senior brother, basking in that faint sense of warmth. It was something she had never experienced during those long, endless years in the Flower Realm.
As the Empress of the Flower Clan, she stood high above all, an unattainable existence. But who could truly understand the chill of loneliness?
Yet, everything changed after coming to the Purple Cloud Sect.
Here, her Senior Brother grew up with her and Shishi, playing together, cultivating together.
So many beautiful memories, so many experiences she had never tasted—all were given to her by her Senior Brother.
Gradually, Mu Wanzhi and Li Shishi grew more and more attached to him.
Perhaps those long, colorless years in the Flower Realm had left a void in her heart, making her deeply crave this feeling that was a blend of familial love and romantic affection.
Over the course of more than a decade, this feeling had only grown deeper and more intense.
Li Shishi had fallen for Deng Tianyu, and so had she—perhaps with even more persistence and obsession.
Thus, an idea was born in Mu Wanzhi’s mind: to keep her Senior Brother by her side forever, no matter the method.
This was how the later “Operation: Conquer Senior Brother,” planned with Li Shishi, came to be!
“Senior Brother, let’s see who can catch more fish.”
“The loser has to fulfill one request from the winner.”
“What does Senior Brother think?”
Watching the shimmering water, Mu Wanzhi’s brows and eyes held a smile as her red lips parted slightly.
“Alright!” Deng Tianyu nodded, agreeing with a laugh.
He had his own insights into fishing. Someone like Li Shishi, who could never truly calm her heart, would never…
“Splash!”
The sound of glistening water splashing rang out as a plump fish was hauled in.
Mu Wanzhi pointed, and True Essence wrapped around the fish, placing it into the nearby fish basket.
Only then did she look at her Senior Brother, a hint of teasing flashing in her beautiful eyes. “Senior Brother, you now owe me one request.”
“Fine!” Deng Tianyu’s expression stiffened. He figured it was a coincidence.
In the Dao of fishing, patience was paramount. Only when…
“Splash…”
Just as he thought this, more droplets splashed on the surface, and an even fatter fish was reeled in.
Sadly, it wasn’t his, but hers!
Ripples of liquid light shimmered in Mu Wanzhi’s eyes. “You owe me two requests now!”
Deng Tianyu took a deep breath and put on a nonchalant look. “It doesn’t matter. Fishing requires perseverance. A brief—”
“Splash!”
In the next instant, yet another fish was pulled up.
“You owe me three requests now!” Mu Wanzhi asked with keen interest, “Senior Brother, what were you just saying?”
Deng Tianyu fell silent.
He felt something was off, but he couldn’t quite place what.
Then he saw it: as his junior sister was baiting her hook, she added a flower petal.
Deng Tianyu was puzzled. “What’s that?”
“Just an ordinary petal. It just adds a bit of floral fragrance to the bait.”
“Does Senior Brother think something is wrong?”
Meeting his gaze, Mu Wanzhi placed a petal into his palm and said softly.
“Let’s continue,” Deng Tianyu said. He didn’t detect anything unusual about the petal. It didn’t even have Spiritual Energy, so it was likely just an ordinary petal, as she said.
He tried adding a petal to his own bait, but it sadly had no effect whatsoever.
Seeing this, Mu Wanzhi covered her mouth with a laugh. “Senior Brother, you still haven’t caught a single fish.”
“No rush,” Deng Tianyu said, still as a meditating monk, calmly waiting for a fish to bite.
He knew this couldn’t be rushed. The more impatient you got, the less the fish would come.
It was just like cultivating the Body Tempering Technique with his Shizun: you needed a solid, steady approach, earnestly comprehending the mysteries within. Only then would success come naturally, allowing you to advance to the next realm.
In his mind, Li Shishi’s voice chimed in: “Wanzhi, how did you do it?”
She was also intensely curious about the petal from earlier.
“Both you and I are Imperial Phoenix Maidens, rulers of the Flower Clan.”
“In someone else’s hands, an ordinary petal might only offer its scent, nothing more.”
“But in our hands, an ordinary petal is different…”
As Mu Wanzhi fished, she explained to Li Shishi.
The Imperial Phoenix Maiden was the Queen of All Flowers. She could not only cause various Spirit Flowers and plants to bloom instantly but also grant them Spirit Nurturing.
That ordinary petal just now had been imbued with her Spirit Nurturing, which was why it emitted a special, clear fragrance.
This fragrance held a fatal attraction for any sentient creature.
“So that’s it?”
“No wonder the fish keep biting our bait.”
Comprehension dawned on Li Shishi’s face.
But as if remembering something, her expression turned excited. “At this rate, Senior Brother will definitely owe us quite a few requests! Then we can…”
“Mhm, we can have Senior Brother do some things he wouldn’t do before!”
A watery light rippled in Mu Wanzhi’s beautiful eyes as she continued.
And so, time passed slowly as they fished.
An hour later, the two retracted their rods.
Deng Tianyu looked at his fish basket: three fish!
Mu Wanzhi looked at hers: seven fish!
She had gotten three plump fish right at the start. Later, she didn’t keep up that pace, only luring fish to bite intermittently so her Senior Brother wouldn’t become suspicious.
Deng Tianyu retracted his gaze and stated, “Offset by three, I owe you four requests.”
He was always a man of his word, so there was no talk of reneging.
“Mhm, four requests.”
“I’ll think carefully about what to make Senior Brother do.”
Mu Wanzhi nestled against his shoulder, her brows and eyes smiling as she spoke softly.
Now, with four requests, she and Shishi could split them evenly.
As for what exactly to make her senior brother do… well, naturally, things that were deeply pleasurable and unforgettable…
