Zhao Lin’s smile froze.
“You…”
“What did you say?!”
His expression turned extremely unpleasant, and the filthy words that were almost about to slip from his lips were forcibly reined in by the girl’s gaze.
Zhao Lin took two steps back, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and couldn’t help but complain inwardly.
What the hell is this?
I actually got cowed by some little girl.
Judging by the look of her, she still doesn’t get the situation?
“Ahem, miss, there’s something you don’t know.”
He cleared his throat, shamelessly starting over, completely ignoring Shen Ye’s increasingly frigid expression.
“That kid Lin Xiangyi isn’t even a full Executor. He failed the last exam outright, and this time he can’t even find teammates for his mission!”
“Do you know why no one will team up with him?”
“It’s all because of that Senior Brother of his!”
“Shen Ye, who became a First-Rank Executor at twelve—his same-school Junior Brother should at least be some kind of little prodigy, right?”
“But him, Lin Xiangyi? He’s nothing but a failure who flunked his first exam and switched to the Life Spirit System halfway through.”
“Even his own Senior Brother never bothers with his affairs.”
“No one has ever seen the two of them appear together.”
“Tell me, what would people think? How would the Association’s members view him, this Lin Xiangyi?”
Zhao Lin clapped his hands once, deliberately leaving a suspenseful pause, as if he were about to drop a bombshell that would shake the entire room.
“This Lin Xiangyi, he was abandoned by the Azure Cloud Sect a long time ago!”
“Heh heh heh.”
He sneered coldly.
“And that Shen Ye—being human, yet he busies himself with Spirit Being affairs all day long.”
“He’s so busy he can’t even look after his own Junior Brother. No matter how strong this Shen Ye is, he’s still nothing much.”
“And his Master? By the looks of it, he’s getting on in years. He’ll be retiring in a few more years at most.”
“So you see, beautiful miss, there’s no need to—”
His words came to an abrupt halt.
Shen Ye’s sharp eyes swept coldly across him.
This time, those eyes no longer held mere warning.
A genuine pressure—the kind belonging to a battle-hardened Executor—spread silently from her.
She tilted her head up slightly. Even though she was sitting, it felt as if she were looking down on Zhao Lin.
Zhao Lin only felt himself growing small under the weight of that gaze.
His face turned ugly, and beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his temples.
Has this chick still not gotten it?
Abandon that brat and follow me.
Isn’t that the choice anyone would make?
But more than any of that—
He stared intently at the girl before him.
Shen Ye’s aura underwent a drastic transformation in that moment.
If their first meeting had been a pitiful, delicate young lotus, then this time she was an icy, thorned blade.
Even with the boost of that cute face, the girl’s current appearance was as lofty and untouchable as a ten-thousand-year snow lotus.
That aura of one standing above all others pressed down on Zhao Lin until he could barely breathe.
This is seriously messed up!
I’ve only ever felt this kind of pressure from my old man back in his younger days.
How could a little girl like this possibly—
Damn it, something must be wrong somewhere.
At that moment, Shen Ye was veiled in a strange, almost supernatural filter in his eyes.
How bizarre. As smart as I am, I can’t figure out why anyone would willingly stick around a good-for-nothing.
“Heh, don’t regret this!”
He left those words, paying no attention to the trembling in his own voice, and turned to walk away.
Shen Ye watched Zhao Lin’s retreating figure, her gaze dark and unreadable.
Beside her, Lin Xiangyi watched Zhao Lin slink off in defeat and thought to himself.
Looks like that punch from the other day wasn’t fast enough, wasn’t hard enough.
Then he turned his gaze to Shen Ye, swallowed, and stayed silent.
Though he didn’t know what had happened between the two, he could tell the aura around Shen Ye had shifted.
All along, he’d thought of Shen Ye as a mild-tempered, slightly mischievous and sly little cat.
She’d act spoiled, play pitiful, and sometimes radiate a charm he couldn’t resist.
But this time…
He glanced at Shen Ye.
The girl kept her head lowered, her hair falling forward to cover her emotionless eyes.
From his angle, all he could see was her tightly pressed lips, curving downward into a sorrowful arc.
This was the first time he’d seen Xiao Ye this angry.
Lin Xiangyi didn’t know whether he should try to comfort her.
Because the key point was—he couldn’t even figure out what had set her off.
Was it because Zhao Lin insulted her Senior Brother?
Or because Zhao Lin mentioned her Senior Brother running around for Spirit Beings instead of minding his own affairs?
Or maybe…
Shen Ye suddenly spoke, cutting through his thoughts.
“Do the others treat you the same way? You’re clearly my—”
She paused just in time and changed her words.
“—Senior Brother Shen’s same-school Junior Brother.”
Shen Ye didn’t turn around. She just kept her back to Lin Xiangyi, speaking to herself.
It was clearly a caring question, yet there was no emotion whatsoever in her tone.
But Lin Xiangyi could hear it—the rage churning beneath, as if crushed under ten thousand meters of ice.
“…Actually, it’s not that bad.”
He chose his words carefully.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Shen Ge not using his status to get me special privileges.”
“Senior Brother is busy. Helping Spirit Beings has always been his conviction. I understand him.”
“And honestly, I think being on my own here actually helps me more.”
Shen Ye’s shoulders trembled slightly.
From the Registration Office staff earlier to this arrogant, spoiled brat now—
Everyone in the Association seems to have a different attitude toward Junior Brother because of who I am.
The regular staff are extra polite to him because of the First-Rank Executor’s name.
And those with ill intent look down on him because of that label—”the failed Junior Brother of a genius Senior Brother.”
Everyone has their own agenda.
None of them actually care about Junior Brother himself.
What they care about is only his identity as Shen Ye’s Junior Brother.
And the fact that I rarely show my face in the Association seems to have indirectly confirmed that I don’t coddle my own Junior Brother much.
That only makes people like Zhao Lin even bolder.
…
When I’m not around.
Have the people beside Junior Brother always been looking at him like that?
I’m so useless.
Always rushing off for missions without ever looking after the people closest to me.
Junior Brother has been treated like this, and I never even knew.
“…”
Seeing Shen Ye stay silent, Lin Xiangyi raised his hand, but didn’t know how to begin, so he lowered it again.
Like soothing a bristling cat, he spoke gently:
“Alright, don’t get angry over someone like that.”
“It’s not that. I was—”
You.
Shen Ye suddenly looked up at Lin Xiangyi. Her jade-like eyes were moist, her lashes fluttering like butterfly wings in a gentle dance.
Those final words were still swallowed back into her heart.
She blinked her eyes, and her voice couldn’t help but choke up:
“I was… worried about your Azure Cloud Sect.”
“Senior Brother Shen, you, little sister Xiao Meng—everyone is a good person.”
“They shouldn’t be slandered for no reason by people like that.”
Seeing Shen Ye looking like she was about to cry, Lin Xiangyi spoke in a tone one would use to coax a child:
“Alright, alright, thank you for looking out for us so much.”
He smiled and continued.
“Actually, what I was about to say is,”
“The reason I chose an A-rank Mission is because I don’t want to embarrass Shen Ge.”
“I’ve always known Shen Ge won’t abandon me. I’d rather believe he’s waiting for me—waiting for the day I can stand shoulder to shoulder with him.”
As if Lin Xiangyi’s soothing tactics had worked their magic, Shen Ye slowly calmed down.
She turned her head away, not letting Lin Xiangyi see her face.
How embarrassing. I almost cried in front of Junior Brother.
What’s wrong with this body? I can’t hide a single emotion.
No wonder Xiao Meng is always bawling when she plays games. Girls really can’t withstand emotional swings.
Shen Ye silently worked on her expression management.
After a long while, she looked up and broke into a smile, as if the icy gaze she’d shown Zhao Lin had never existed at all.
“That’s good, then.”
“…”
Seeing that Lin Xiangyi still wore a concerned look, Shen Ye’s voice trailed off.
She dabbed at the corner of her eyes, her cheeks flushing red, and spoke somewhat shyly:
“Does this happen often?”
“What?”
“You know—people bullying you, not teaming up with you.”
“Oh. I don’t care. Worst case, I’ll switch to a C-rank and solo it myself.”
“Then why do you keep waiting for teammates for so long without giving up?”
“Well… the mission rank I picked is too high. Not many people dare to take it.”
“Then I’ll go with you. Don’t judge me by appearances—once I recover my Spiritual Power, I’m really strong!”
“Even if you want to come with me, you’ll still need to pass the strength assessment first.”