Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Hand Had Distinct Bones, and Its Palm Was a Little Cold, but It Slowly Calmed Her Racing Heart.

The moment An Jin saw Ling Qi’s face, she froze.

Her heart felt as if it were being tightly squeezed, her breath hitched, and she stood completely still.

For some reason, a wave of bitterness and heartache suddenly welled up inside her, making it almost impossible to breathe.

So many emotions surged to the surface at once, threatening to tear her apart, but she couldn’t distinguish them or understand where they came from.

Her lips trembled slightly, and she stared intently at Ling Qi’s profile.

Ling Qi’s voice remained flat, devoid of emotion.

“There’s nothing more to say.”

“Either you listen to our master, or we stick to our previous deal.”

“There is no third option.”

Her voice was calm but carried an undeniable sense of authority.

An Jin noticed that when Ling Qi mentioned the “deal,” Fu Xin visibly trembled, her face instantly turning pale.

She let go of Ling Qi’s skirt with a look of helplessness, as if all the strength had been drained from her body. Her head hung low, and her shoulders shook slightly.

Just then, Ling Qi seemed to sense An Jin’s gaze and turned her head slightly.

Their eyes met directly.

An Jin: “…”

What should I do? She looks like she has a bad temper, and I was the one eavesdropping…

The next second, Ling Qi’s gaze froze, as if she had been struck by something.

She then took a deep breath and slowly turned her body, just enough to block Fu Xin’s view of An Jin behind her.

“You should go back now.” Ling Qi’s voice remained calm, with no hint of anything unusual. “The entrance exam is almost over. If anything goes wrong, even if I don’t say anything, Master won’t let you off the hook.”

Hearing the word “Master,” Fu Xin’s body trembled.

She struggled to her feet, quickly and gracefully smoothing out her clothes despite her earlier distress. She gave Ling Qi a slight nod and walked away.

Her steps were quick yet composed, showing no trace of her previous embarrassment.

Only after confirming that Fu Xin was completely out of sight did Ling Qi turn and walk toward An Jin.

She bent down slightly, her eyes on An Jin, and offered a smile. Her voice carried a hint of concern and teasing. “What are you doing here, looking like this?”

An Jin looked up at Ling Qi’s smiling eyes and felt a shortness of breath. She could feel her heart pounding, ready to leap out of her chest.

Her mind was a blank slate, and she blurted out, “I’m here to see you…”

She hadn’t thought about it at all and didn’t notice the familiarity in Ling Qi’s voice beyond the teasing.

It wasn’t until Ling Qi laughed that she realized something was wrong. Snapping out of her daze, she instantly regretted what she had said and wanted to bite off her own tongue.

An Jin quickly added, “I got lost in the courtyard and don’t know how to get back to the exam hall.”

Ling Qi nodded and let out an “oh,” though it was unclear if she believed her.

Seeing An Jin staring at her blankly, she smiled again and couldn’t help but reach out to pat An Jin’s head. “Follow this path straight to the end, then turn left, and you’ll be there.”

“Ah…” After being patted on the head, An Jin instinctively raised her hand, wanting to swat Ling Qi’s hand away. But halfway through the motion, she remembered the woman’s earlier cold and stern demeanor. She paused, then casually lowered her hand as if nothing had happened.

To her surprise, her action made Ling Qi laugh even harder.

After laughing for a bit, Ling Qi saw that An Jin was still standing there and hurried her along. “Go return the spirit stone first. We can talk about the rest once you’re in the Chongguang Palace.”

At the time, An Jin was confused. How could Ling Qi be so certain that she would pass and get into Chongguang Palace?

It wasn’t until she returned to the courtyard that she saw the familiar white figure standing next to Fu Xin.

An Jin: “…”

The moment Ling Qi entered the courtyard, all the candidates around her were captivated.

Even those who had been sitting quietly, barely daring to breathe, couldn’t help but huddle together and whisper, their eyes filled with admiration and curiosity.

“Is… is she also our senior sister?”

“Was she sent by the Dao of Heaven? I heard that during disciple selections, the Dao of Heaven also sends people to supervise.”

“Are all the people in the upper realm this good-looking? Those people are so tight-lipped!”

Everyone’s voices were low, filled with a mix of reverence and excitement.

Except for Liao Huan, who had just returned.

Her eyes were red, a clear sign that she had been crying. She held a very pale spirit stone and was huddled alone in a corner.

An Jin understood.

Liao Huan had been eliminated once before. Now, with a body full of injuries from the combat trial, she was probably crying in the corner because she felt she had no hope of passing.

An Jin looked up at the front again.

Fu Xin was standing there, calling out names one by one, asking everyone to return their spirit stones.

Her voice was steady, and her expression was normal, showing no trace of her earlier tears.

An Jin pursed her lips.

The order in which Fu Xin was calling the names… was likely the order in which they returned.

…

In the corner, Liao Huan wept silently, her shoulders trembling slightly. The few people who had been with her stood by, trying to offer words of comfort, but nothing was of any use in that moment.

A heavy silence filled the air.

Just then, An Jin walked over from a short distance, her gaze showing some concern.

Liao Huan forced a smile and was about to greet her, when An Jin, seemingly tripping on something, stumbled and bumped right into her.

Liao Huan was jostled, and the spirit stone in her hand instantly flew out and rolled onto the ground. At the same time, the spirit stone in An Jin’s hand also slipped from her palm. The two stones landed almost simultaneously, rolled a few times, and finally stopped.

Both stones were face down, reflecting a faint light, making it impossible to tell whose was whose.

“An Jin—”

Just then, Fu Xin’s voice rang out.

An Jin called back loudly, hastily grabbed the stone closer to her, and walked quickly toward Fu Xin.

Liao Huan was at a loss.

Everything had happened too fast for her to even process what had just occurred.

She slowly knelt down and picked up the other spirit stone. The stone was now glowing with a very vivid, deep red light.

It was clearly not hers.

Liao Huan’s brow furrowed, and she instinctively lifted her foot to chase after An Jin and call out to her.

But the next second, she seemed to suddenly think of something, and her footsteps abruptly halted.

She took a deep breath, her fingers clutching tightly by her side, and in the end, she didn’t run after her.

…

“The second and third from the left in the first row, the one on the far right in the second row, and everyone in the third row.”

As soon as Ling Qi spoke, everyone instantly fell silent.

She scanned the surroundings with an expressionless face and continued, “Everyone whose name I call is eliminated, and the fourth row—”

“Wait!”

Someone from below suddenly interrupted Ling Qi. Everyone in the room turned in unison to look at the person, wondering who was so bold.

The person was standing in the middle of the third row, which had just been announced as completely eliminated. An Jin had seen them wandering in the courtyard before; they were a group who had been sticking together.

“Our written scores were all above eighty, we passed the combat trial, and our immortal bone quality isn’t bad either,” the person said, his neck stiff and his face full of defiance. “On what basis are we all being eliminated?!”

“Didn’t anyone tell you? Cheaters are all eliminated.”

Ling Qi didn’t spare him a single glance. She turned to Fu Xin and said, “From now on, the written and combat trials need to be made more difficult. Not just anyone should be allowed into the final selection.”

“Oh, and.” She seemed to have suddenly remembered something. “The exam grounds also need to have their security strengthened, especially around the Sutra Hall.”

Hearing the words “Sutra Hall,” the few people who had been arguing instantly went pale. The person who had been so defiant even stumbled and collapsed to the ground.

The crowd exchanged glances, partly looking down on the cheaters, and partly feeling a chill down their spines.

The courtyard had only been filled with participants. There were no surveillance cameras, and no one was seen monitoring them. So how did she know someone was cheating?

Or rather, how much did she know about their every move—every action and every word they said here?

Liao Huan, who was standing in the fourth row, was even more shocked, her palms sweating profusely.

If they could be discovered in a secluded place like the Sutra Hall, then what about her taking An Jin’s spirit stone right under her nose…?

Ling Qi’s gaze seemed to linger on the top of her head for a few seconds. Liao Huan didn’t dare to look up. She just stared at the ground as if she could burn a hole through it.

Liao Huan silently made up her mind: if she was the only one eliminated, she would leave quietly.

But if it ended up implicating An Jin, she would have to explain everything.

The next second, Ling Qi’s gaze swept past her and landed on the back of the line. “Fifth row, the first and fourth from the left are eliminated.”

“The rest of you, if you have no questions, please come forward and register in order.”

Liao Huan’s tense shoulders finally relaxed, and she let out a long, slow breath.

Only then did she realize that the cold sweat on her back had soaked through her clothes.

…

After everyone had registered, they all went into the hall’s changing rooms.

The uniform was green. The women wore bright green long skirts. The fabric was light and thin, with simple patterns on the neckline and the words “Chongguang” embroidered in gold thread on the sleeves.

The pockets in the sleeves were large. Although they weren’t allowed to bring any luggage, if there was anything they absolutely had to take, they could stuff it in the sleeve pockets.

An Jin was the first to come out in her new clothes.

She had very few things on her to begin with, and all her cash had been given to the taxi driver who brought her here.

She searched her pockets and found she only had the invitation to the selection and a few coconut candies she had bought at the supermarket before leaving.

This was her entire wealth.

As she stepped out of the changing room, An Jin and Ling Qi’s eyes met.

Both of them were clearly taken aback. One had expected to see Fu Xin waiting outside, and the other…

…The other hadn’t fully recovered since the moment they met a few hours ago.

The changing process was particularly slow, as everyone seemed to have endless things to pack.

By the time everyone was out, the sunset had painted the sky pink.

In the soft glow of dusk, everyone walked together. Fu Xin and Ling Qi were one in front of the other, and An Jin was just ahead of Ling Qi.

As they walked, a phone even fell out of someone’s sleeve.

“Why did you bring that? There’s no signal in the upper realm,” the person next to him said, utterly exasperated.

The person replied with a look of deep injustice. “I hadn’t finished the novel I started yesterday… It can still be read without an internet connection.”

The others: “…”

…

An Jin had many wild guesses about “how to get to the upper realm.”

From Azure Dragons and Vermilion Birds descending from the heavens and her riding on their backs to flying through the clouds or using a flying sword—

She had never, however, imagined the current situation.

In the empty courtyard behind the temple, a solitary elevator had appeared out of thin air.

There were no high-rises or any signs of buildings around.

As she got closer, she saw a sign next to the elevator that read:

Capacity: 13 people. Load: 1000 kg.

An Jin: “…”

Did you calculate this too?

There were eleven candidates who passed, plus Ling Qi and Fu Xin, making exactly thirteen people.

One more person would have to wait for the next elevator.

As the last person stepped into the elevator, the space became even more cramped. Everyone was pressed tightly together, and even breathing felt difficult.

With a loud rumble, the elevator door suddenly closed.

Before they could even react, the elevator abruptly launched, shooting straight into the sky like a rocket.

“Ahhhh—!”

“Grab me! Quick, grab me!!”

“Help meeeeee!”

All sorts of screams filled the tiny elevator.

An Jin was also startled.

She had a fear of heights, and the elevator’s speed was so fast that she nearly screamed out loud.

Before she could recover, her left hand was suddenly gripped tightly by another hand.

She wanted to turn her head to see who it was, but the elevator was so crowded that there wasn’t even a gap to turn around.

The hand had distinct bones, and its palm was a little cold, but it slowly calmed her racing heart.

It was as if the whole world had become quiet.