It took less than half an hour for Su Zhan to return to the sect grounds, two paper bags clutched in her hands.
The bags were stuffed full, with over a dozen wooden skewers poking out, giving her a strange sense of déjà vu from her pre-transmigration days.
They were all sugar-coated hawthorns, bought from the old uncle on the west side of town.
The old man was indeed quite elderly, and his eyesight was poor, but he greeted Su Zhan warmly.
He muttered, “Beiyan girl, it’s been so long since you last came. I remembered your favorite flavor. Here, Uncle saved some just for you.”
The fruits were coated thickly with sugar glaze. Su Zhan thanked him, took a bite, and a burst of sweet and tart flavor exploded in her mouth. It tasted really good.
Seeing Su Zhan eating the hawthorns, the old man beamed with joy.
Then he grumbled that in recent years he had rarely seen any disciples from the Fangcun Sect come down the mountain.
He asked if the sect was facing any difficulties lately and told her to come to him if they needed help.
Su Zhan did not answer. She shook her head lightly, handed him a silver ingot, and had him pack up the rest.
When she delivered the sugar-coated hawthorns to Li Xingyue, the girl was sitting dazed at the stone table.
She smiled and thanked Su Zhan, then looked at the paper bags in her hands and said she hoped Su Zhan’s other junior sisters would like them too.
She added that the hawthorns would melt quickly if not eaten soon and urged Su Zhan to leave right away.
It was a very clumsy excuse, but Su Zhan simply nodded lightly without exposing it.
After leaving the sect, Su Zhan quietly stood at a distance and watched.
Li Xingyue sat in the courtyard, staring blankly at the sugar glaze on the fruits.
She remained as still as a stone statue for a long while without moving.
Finally, Su Zhan saw Li Xingyue lift a hawthorn skewer to her lips.
Then she heard a string of suppressed sobs.
The girl had hurried her away because she probably did not want Su Zhan to see her like this.
Su Zhan watched silently for a few minutes, then turned and left.
By the time she returned to their residence, the sky had already turned a dusky yellow.
The moment Su Zhan pushed open the door to her room, she saw Xia Liu occupying her bed, sitting cross-legged and staring straight at her with pursed lips.
“Why are you only back now, Senior Sister? Where did you go?”
Xia Liu asked expressionlessly.
“I went to the Fangcun Sect to meet Senior Sister Li, then bought some sugar-coated hawthorns in the western part of town. Would you like some, Junior Sister? I bought quite a lot.”
Su Zhan raised the paper bags.
“Sugar-coated hawthorns? Just that?” Xia Liu raised an eyebrow.
“Mhm.”
Su Zhan nodded, feeling somewhat puzzled. She had no idea what Xia Liu’s line of questioning meant.
But from the look on Xia Liu’s face, it seemed she did not want any.
“Sigh… That’s good then.”
Xia Liu let out a long breath.
Her tense expression relaxed into one of resentment.
“You were gone for so long, Senior Sister. If you had come back any later, I would have started worrying that something happened to you.”
“You’re this concerned about me?”
Su Zhan was a little surprised. She had only gone out for a while.
Why was Xia Liu acting so aggrieved, like a wife scolding her husband for coming home late…
Besides, by her calculation, she had only been gone for one or two hours.
The other junior sisters were still playing in the hot springs.
“You silly Senior Sister, do you not take yourself seriously at all? If something happened to you, those little brats—and me—would all be in danger!”
Xia Liu glared at her irritably. “Senior Sister, don’t forget there’s still a man-eating demon lurking around here!”
“There’s no need to worry.”
Su Zhan shook her head. She placed the paper bags on the table and smiled lightly at Xia Liu.
“I was just about to tell you about this.”
“Tell me what?” Xia Liu blinked.
“If you’re going to say you already turned down the commission, while that does ease my worries a bit, we still can’t let our guard down.”
“The man-eating demon has already been suppressed. It won’t come out to cause trouble anymore,” Su Zhan said.
“What!?”
Xia Liu froze, then her eyes widened. She jumped down from the bed.
Su Zhan thought her junior sister must have felt relieved and would excitedly ask for details.
It would be much cuter if this overly mature girl occasionally showed her true childish side instead of always keeping that cold face.
But Xia Liu did not do anything childlike.
After staring at Su Zhan’s face for a long time, she walked straight up to her and reached out to lift her skirt and clothes.
Su Zhan’s plain white robes were lifted, fully exposing her long, slender legs.
Su Zhan was completely stunned by the sudden, inappropriate action.
Confused. Shocked… Her mind went blank.
Junior Sister, why are you lifting my clothes?! Your name is Xia Liu, not “Down and Dirty”! What kind of behavior is this for a young lady?
“Junior Sister, what are you doing?” She quickly pressed down on her skirt and took two steps back.
For the first time, a flustered expression appeared on her usually calm face.
“What am I doing? Checking Senior Sister’s body, of course.”
Hearing Su Zhan’s words, Xia Liu—who had been about to press forward—suddenly paused.
Her expression turned awkward as she finally realized what she had just done.
“I-I was afraid you did something stupid and went to fight the man-eating demon alone… That thing is so troublesome… If you got injured, it needs to be treated right away…”
Xia Liu mumbled her explanation in a low voice, trying to look calm, but the tips of her ears had turned noticeably red.
After all, with Su Zhan’s quiet, keep-everything-to-herself personality, if she thought the man-eating demon posed a threat to her junior sisters, she might really go and kill it herself.
Then she would hide any injuries so they wouldn’t worry.
Xia Liu had stared at Su Zhan for a long time earlier and saw no visible wounds.
She thought the injuries might be on her arms or thighs, so she had acted without thinking.
“…Junior Sister… just let me finish speaking first.”
Su Zhan ultimately chose to believe Xia Liu. After all, in the original story, this girl’s personality was the type to act first and think later.
She took a deep breath, organized her thoughts, and spoke.
“Earlier, I went to the Fangcun Sect to visit Senior Sister Li and returned the commission fee. She told me there’s no need to worry about the man-eating demon anymore. It has already been suppressed. It must have happened recently, so the notice that the commission was completed hasn’t reached the Immortal Alliance yet. That’s why Martial Aunt Cheng accepted it.”
“Besides, even if it hadn’t been resolved, didn’t you tell me to be careful around the man-eating demon? I would have been careful.”
“I know you were just worried, Junior Sister. But next time… don’t do something like that again.”
After all, this time she had directly lifted her clothes. If there was a next time, wouldn’t she just push her onto the bed?
“Ah… So that’s what happened…” Xia Liu remained silent for a long time.
Clearly, she hadn’t absorbed much of what Su Zhan said.
Her mind was still in chaos thinking about her own actions earlier.
“So, you can be at ease now, Junior Sister. There’s no need to worry anymore,” Su Zhan said.
Xia Liu lowered her head, not daring to look at Su Zhan.
She gave a soft hum of acknowledgment, then quickly walked over to the table, grabbed the paper bag containing the sugar-coated hawthorns, and made an excuse.
“Then Senior Sister should rest early too… I’ll go share these with the junior sisters…”
She walked out of the room stiffly, then slammed the door shut.
Immediately after, she squatted down on the ground and covered her face with both hands.
You idiot, Xia Liu! What did you just do to Senior Sister?!