After her acupoints were released, Shui Sheng quickly took a few steps back, watching the two women warily.

Yue Lingshan gave an awkward smile, half-jokingly and half-seriously saying, “Sister Shui, are you going to leave your senior brother just because you found out about this?”

Shui Sheng was taken aback upon hearing this and turned to look into the hall.

Nie Yun had already released Ning Zhongze and was standing next to Zhang Ma, rolling up his sleeves and rolling out dumpling wrappers.

Seemingly sensing her gaze, Nie Yun looked up at Shui Sheng with a slight smile and said, “It’s alright, you guys just have fun, just wait for your meal later!”

As he spoke, he gestured with his lips toward her, making a kissing motion.

The warm smile made her heart skip a beat, and she quickly turned her head, only to see Yue Lingshan and Qu Feiyan looking at her with smiles on their faces.

Shui Sheng sighed, a hint of confusion flashing in her beautiful eyes, and shook her head, saying, “I…I don’t know either.”

Yue Lingshan stepped forward and took his hand, saying softly, “Sister Shui, you once said that your senior brother risked his life to save you. If it weren’t for the dual cultivation technique, I’m afraid your senior brother wouldn’t have been able to return to Mount Hua, would he?”

Shui Sheng blushed slightly and nodded silently.

“If there were no dual cultivation techniques, would you be with your senior brother?” Yue Lingshan asked again.

Shui Sheng recalled Nie Yun’s pale yet resolute face that night, and the confusion in her heart gradually dissipated. She said softly, “When Brother Nie risked his life to save me that day, I already knew my feelings. I would marry no one but Brother Nie in this life. That day, I cultivated with him… with him, firstly to repay his great kindness, and secondly… and even more so because I wished to entrust my life to him.”

She looked up at Yue Lingshan and Qu Feiyan and said firmly, “I have no regrets in this life.” After saying this, she felt a sense of relief, and the shock she had felt when she discovered that Nie Yun and Ning Zhongze were having an affair vanished without a trace.

“As long as I can stay with Brother Nie, I’ll be content!” Shui Sheng thought to herself.

Qu Feiyan smiled sweetly, like a spring flower in bloom. She walked up and took Shui Sheng’s arm, saying affectionately, “Sister Shui, since that’s the case, why bother about this? Brother Nie loves us even more than his own life. There are countless men in the world, but how many are as affectionate and outstanding as Brother Nie?”

Upon hearing this, Yue Lingshan and Shui Sheng both nodded unconsciously.

Qu Feiyan glanced back at Nie Yun, and said with a hint of lingering fear, “Besides, it’s a good thing for Brother Nie to have more women. I don’t want to be stuck in bed again!”

Shui Sheng and Yue Lingshan blushed deeply at her bold words. Shui Sheng stamped her foot and said, “Feifei, you…you really have no shame!”

Qu Feiyan stuck out her tongue and laughed, “After that night, what’s there for us to be embarrassed about! Sister Shan, have you forgotten that you were the one who saved me the first time!”

The two became increasingly embarrassed, exchanged a glance, and immediately started scratching Qu Feiyan.

“Oh dear! You guys are so sneaky… Haha… No, it tickles!” Qu Feiyan was caught off guard and attacked by four little hands at the same time. Her whole body was ticklish and she laughed so hard that she was shaking.

“Time to eat dumplings!”

Nie Yun’s shout relieved Qu Feiyan. She gasped, “Hmph! I’ll tell Brother Nie right now to put you both on the bed and give you a good tidying up.”

Before the two women could react, he leaped into the hall, his graceful figure resembling a swift.

Yue Lingshan and Shui Sheng exchanged a glance, both blushing shyly.

Back in the hall, Nie Yun looked at the two women with flushed faces and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong with you two?”

Yue Lingshan rolled her eyes at him and snorted, “Isn’t this all the trouble you caused!”

Although Shui Sheng had accepted the fact that Ning Zhongze and Yue Lingshan were sharing a husband, she was still a little unhappy that there was another person sharing Nie Yun. She glared at Nie Yun and whispered, “You’re such a bad guy!”

Nie Yun was completely baffled by the two of them, but when he turned around, he saw Qu Feiyan smiling with her eyes crinkling, looking just like a little fox who had stolen a chicken.

********************

On the sixth day, Nie Yun escorted Shi Zhongyu to Huayin County at the foot of the mountain and carefully instructed him: “Second brother, be careful on the road. If anything happens, reveal your identity. I don’t think any foolish thief would dare to risk offending the Huashan Sect and Xuansu Manor to harm you.”

Shi Zhongyu, carrying a bundle on his back, said with a smile, “I understand, don’t worry, brother, I will take good care of myself.”

“Okay, then go and come back soon,” Nie Yun said.

“I’ll be back after the first month of the lunar calendar, brother. I’m leaving now.” Shi Zhongyu mounted his horse and bowed to Nie Yun in farewell.

Nie Yun smiled and nodded, then let out a cold laugh after watching him walk away.

“It seems your second brother is hiding something from you!”

Lan Fenghuang suddenly appeared behind him, her eyes sparkling, her belt swaying gently, her figure slender and charming.

She held the reins of a fine horse in her right hand, with luggage and a long sword resting on it.

He turned around and laughed, “It doesn’t matter. Would a tiger care about a monkey’s secrets?”

Blue Phoenix chuckled, “That’s not like something a sworn brother should say!”

Nie Yun shrugged and said, “If it weren’t for Lady Min’s love for her son, I wouldn’t be willing to acknowledge such a brother.”

Lan Fenghuang rolled her eyes and looked at him with a half-smile.

“What’s wrong?” Nie Yun touched his face. “Is there something on my face?”

“There’s nothing on your face,” Lan Fenghuang leaned closer, her small hand touching his chest, “but you have a guilty conscience! You just said that for the sake of Lady Min, why didn’t you mention Shi Qing? Why didn’t you mention your adoptive mother? Isn’t that…”

Before she could finish speaking, Nie Yun slapped her on the butt.

“You talk too much!” Nie Yun didn’t seem to mind that his thoughts had been exposed. “So what if it is? So what if it isn’t?”

“You know perfectly well that you have me completely under your thumb, yet you still ask me. Do you think my word counts? Humph! You really are a greedy fellow; having us around isn’t enough for you!”

Lan Fenghuang rolled her eyes at him, her eyes sparkling with charm, making Nie Yun swallow hard.

A few days ago, he had already cured Lan Fenghuang of the poison of the Three Corpse Brain God Pill, and he also taught her all the knowledge about poisons he had learned from Ping Yizhi.

Now, the Five Immortals Sect Leader, who is feared by all in the martial arts world, has already firmly tied her heart to him. If it weren’t for the complicated affairs of the sect these past few days, Nie Yun would have already taken her into his belly.

However, Nie Yun was not one to be blinded by lust. He took out a letter from his sleeve, handed it to Lan Fenghuang, and instructed her, “You stay on Mount Hua for the next few days. Yingying and Xiang Wentian will come to Huayin after the fifteenth. Give them this letter then and tell them to act accordingly.”

“How am I supposed to know when they’re coming?” Blue Phoenix asked, taking the letter with a puzzled look.

“Don’t worry, I made an appointment with Yingying when I left Luoyang. When they come to Huayin, they will go to the inn that my Huashan Sect runs here. I have also instructed the outer disciples there to receive them and bring the message to you.”

Nie Yun said with a smile.

Lan Fenghuang nodded, then asked with some concern, “Brother Yun, are you really going to help the Holy Maiden rescue… Leader Ren?”

“That’s right!” Nie Yun nodded. “Now that Songshan and Shaolin both have designs on my Huashan Sect, releasing Ren Woxing will only make things more chaotic in the martial world, so I can take advantage of the chaos.”

Lan Fenghuang remained silent, but her face showed a hint of sorrow.

Nie Yun held Lan Fenghuang in his arms and whispered, “Once the Huashan Sect is completely safe, I will take you all to retire from the martial world and live a carefree life, never to be separated again.”

Lan Fenghuang felt a surge of sweetness in her heart, wrapped her arms around his neck, and said sweetly, “Alright, then I’ll wait for that day! Be careful on your journey, and don’t take any risks!”

Nie Yun kissed her little mouth and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I haven’t taken your little phoenix’s ‘red pill’ yet, so I definitely won’t let anything happen to me.”

“Who told you to be so busy all the time? They haven’t even closed their doors at night for the past few days!”

Lan Fenghuang giggled, snuggling against him and successfully getting Nie Yun’s lower body erect. Then, as Nie Yun’s breathing became heavy, she suddenly let go and ran away, leaving a string of silvery laughter in the air.

“Hey! You little slut!” Nie Yun swallowed hard and said to her retreating figure, “You’d better hurry up and memorize the martial arts I taught you!”

Lan Fenghuang didn’t turn around, but simply waved her snow-white hand.

Nie Yun smiled slightly, turned around, mounted his horse, and left the city.

********************

After leaving Huayin City, Shi Zhongyu did not head south, but instead went straight to Henan.

He recalled what Nie Yun had unintentionally said after returning to the mountain: “On my way back, I heard that Xie Yanke, who had been living in seclusion for a long time, suddenly appeared in Kaifeng City, saying that he was waiting for someone. It’s a pity that I somehow lost the Xuan Tie Token that I got last time, otherwise I would definitely go and pay a visit to this famous martial arts master.”

Shi Zhongyu touched the small piece of iron in his pocket, thinking to himself, “Eldest brother, you’ve really gone to great lengths to pave the way for me. And third brother, don’t blame your second brother for being ruthless, the young master of Xuan Su Manor can only be me, Shi Zhongyu!”

His face contorted in a ferocious expression, his eyes filled with a chilling malice.

Meanwhile, Xie Yanke, who was in Kaifeng, also held a piece of paper, his mind filled with doubt.

On that day, he suddenly heard a long howl coming from below the mountain while he was on the cliff. The howl was clear and high-pitched, like the cry of a crane, soaring into the sky and straight up to the top of the cliff.

Xie Yanke immediately recognized the provocation as coming from someone with profound internal strength, and angrily went down the mountain to investigate. Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the foot of the mountain, he found no one there, only a letter tied to an iron chain.

He opened it and saw that there was neither a title nor a signature, only twelve characters: Xuan Tie Ling, Kaifeng City, January, someone came.

Below the characters were two clearly drawn patterns, which were the front and back of the Xuan Tie token he had given away back then.

This greatly surprised Xie Yanke. He had given away three Xuan Tie tokens back then, and had already received two back, but the last one was still nowhere to be found.

He had heard that the pancakes were in the hands of an old man who sold them in Houjianji, but when he got there, he learned that the old man had been dead for several days, and the trail went cold.

He had been feeling uneasy about this matter, and he never expected to receive such news.

With the mindset of “better safe than sorry,” he immediately rushed to Kaifeng, and even spent the Spring Festival there.

And so, one waited anxiously, while the other came all the way here, unaware that they were being led by the nose by Nie Yun.

After confirming that Shi Zhongyu was heading towards Kaifeng, Nie Yun stopped paying attention to him and instead rode straight to Jiangnan.

Xie Yanke has been waiting for the last Xuan Tie token for more than ten years, and he will surely complete Shi Zhongyu’s request as quickly as possible.

He must get to Xuansu Manor before Xie Yanke, then he can reap the benefits.

********************

As the saying goes: “Above is heaven, below are Suzhou and Hangzhou.”

Since the Tang Dynasty, Suzhou and Hangzhou have been representative cities of Jiangnan, with beautiful scenery and prosperous people.

Countless literary figures have written famous lines here, the most famous of which are Wei Zhuang’s “Bodhisattva’s Charm” and Bai Juyi’s “Remembering Jiangnan”.

In Suzhou, there is a manor called Xuansu Manor, which is famous in the martial arts world. The owners of the manor are a husband and wife who are highly skilled in martial arts, have outstanding character, and are handsome. They are known in the martial arts world as the “Black and White Twin Swords”.

Today, the couple is receiving a guest from afar in the lobby.

“Father, Mother, Yun’er wishes you a Happy New Year. May everything go well for you, and may you enjoy good health and happiness.” Nie Yun respectfully presented New Year’s gifts to Shi Qing and Min Rou.

“Yun’er, there’s no need for such formalities. Please sit down. You must be tired from your journey.”

Min Rou said with a smile, perhaps because she had found her youngest son who had been missing for more than ten years, she now looked less worried and more at ease than before.

Nie Yun’s gaze swept over her, and he saw that she had willow-leaf eyebrows, a beautiful face, bright eyes and white teeth, high breasts, a slender waist and full hips, and exuded a charming mature charm.

Shi Qing smiled and said, “Jian’er was saying the other day that he missed you, his elder brother, and I didn’t expect you to arrive today.”

Standing to the side, Shi Zhongjian said excitedly, “Big brother, I missed you so much!”

Nie Yun chuckled and said with a double meaning, “Big brother misses you too!”

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Nie Yun asked, “Has my second brother not returned yet?”

Shi Qing and Min Rou were taken aback upon hearing this. Min Rou exclaimed with delight, “Yu’er is back too?”

Nie Yun nodded and said, “My second brother said he missed you all, and he was in a hurry to set off right after the fifth day of the month. I was originally going to go with him, but because of the busy affairs of the sect, we set off a few days later.”

Upon hearing Nie Yun’s words, Min Rou immediately became worried and hurriedly asked, “Is Yu’er traveling alone?”

Nie Yun said helplessly, “Yes, I tried to persuade him several times, but he insisted on leaving, saying that he missed you all and couldn’t sleep at night. But don’t worry, Mother, I gave him the Huashan token and prepared travel expenses and a fine horse for him to only travel on the main roads and not to stay overnight in the wild. I think he will be fine.”

“Bang!” Upon hearing this, Shi Qing slammed his hand on the table and roared, “That kid must have taken this opportunity to go out and have fun. I wonder which brothel he’s enjoying himself in right now!”

Min Rou sighed as she recalled that Shi Zhongyu had already had an affair with a maid at such a young age. However, when she turned to see Shi Zhongjian, a feeling of relief and joy welled up in her heart.

“Father! Mother! I’m back!”

Just then, a boy’s voice rang out in the courtyard, and then the group saw Shi Zhongyu rush in excitedly.

Upon entering and seeing Nie Yun, his expression immediately changed, and he stammered, “B-Big Brother, what brings you here too?”

Nie Yun stood up and said with a half-smile, “Although the affairs of the sect are complicated, this is the first Spring Festival since I recognized my father and mother, so I still have to come over, otherwise it would be too impolite.”

He looked at Shi Zhongyu, whose face flushed red and then turned pale, and said casually, “Second brother, you left before me, so why are you here later than me?”

“Ah!” Shi Zhongyu exclaimed, speechless, and stammered, “I… I was so engrossed in the scenery that I walked so slowly. Father, Mother, I missed you so much!”

Nie Yun smiled slightly, letting Shi Zhongyu change the subject, while Min Rou, with tears in her eyes, hugged Shi Zhongyu tightly.

Although Shi Qing had been furious, he had long forgotten his scolding when he saw his son come home. He only gave him a few words of advice before smiling.

“He clearly had murderous intent towards his younger brother, yet he could still act as if nothing was wrong and display deep brotherly affection! Shi Zhongyu, you’re truly remarkable!”

Nie Yun picked up his teacup and took a small sip, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. “Since that’s the case, as your older brother, I’ll naturally help you out and make sure you achieve your wish!”

********************

Over the next few days, Nie Yun stayed at Xuan Su Manor, demonstrating what it means to be a loving and respectful brother and a kind and filial son. This not only pleased Shi Qing and Min Rou, but also left a very good impression on the guests.

The Lantern Festival arrived quickly. Early that morning, Shi Zhongyu was busy running around taking care of Shi Zhongjian, especially acting like a good older brother.

Nie Yun observed coldly and noticed that Shi Zhongyu was wearing a very conspicuous white robe today, while Shi Zhongjian had been persuaded by him to wear a blue robe.

Nie Yun narrowed his eyes, sensing something was amiss. For the past few days, the clothes they had worn had been personally sewn by Min Rou, not only identical in style but also in color.

“Hehe… Interesting. It seems Xie Yanke is going to make his move today. Are you afraid of being mistakenly killed?” Nie Yun guessed Shi Zhongyu’s thoughts and sneered inwardly.

After dinner, Shi Zhongyu suggested going out for a stroll.

In Suzhou, in addition to watching lanterns, solving riddles, and enjoying performances, there is also the custom of “not staying out all night, walking across three bridges, and curing all diseases” during the Lantern Festival.

It is said that walking across three bridges can cure all diseases, hence the name “walking away from all diseases”. Crossing bridges and rivers was seen by the ancients as a symbol of “passing through calamities”. Walking across three bridges meant passing through many disasters in a year and being free from all diseases throughout the year.

In the south, the words “crossing the river” are homophones for “crossing disaster,” so crossing the bridge also carries the implication of overcoming calamities.

Now that Shi Qing and Min Rou are reunited with their family, they are in high spirits and naturally want to bring good fortune, so they nodded in agreement.

The five changed their clothes and went out onto the street. The lantern market was bustling with people, and all sorts of lanterns hung from the branches and treetops. The lights twinkled like a galaxy reflected in the sky, dazzlingly bright.

This was the first time Shi Zhongjian had ever seen such a lively scene. He was dazzled and shouted excitedly, which made Min Rou and Shi Qing feel a pang of sadness. However, thinking that they had found their young son, they felt that they were fortunate amidst misfortune.

The couple exchanged a smile and secretly thanked God.

Nie Yun kept observing Shi Zhongyu. Although he had a smile on his face, his eyes were full of tension, and he kept looking around.

They strolled around until midnight before finally returning home, satisfied.

“The customs of Wuzhong are especially vibrant during the Lantern Festival. Today has truly broadened my horizons!” Nie Yun was not lying. Nowadays, Jiangnan is far more prosperous than the North, and its Lantern Festival is much more lively.

Just then, he suddenly stopped and stared straight ahead.