How to Be the Perfect Junior Sister to a Reborn Villain - Chapter 7

Chapter 7 

Beside Emerald Mountain stood a modest courtyard surrounded by small vegetable plots, still lush and green a sight in the early days of winter.

Yan Jiuzhi stood frozen before the gate, staring at the crumbling walls and the weather worn plaque hanging above.

This place… was exactly as he remembered it.

His hand rested on the door handle for a long time, yet he didn’t dare to push it open.

He feared that once he did, he’d find nothing behind it, just a dream conjured from longing.

He was still overwhelmed by that bittersweet ache of returning home when a bright, clear voice cut through the air.

“Excuse me, young master who are you looking for?”

He turned to see a young girl in a pink jacket and skirt, lively and sweet-faced, hopping down from a carriage.

Her eyes, wide and curious, shimmered with life as she looked him over.

And behind her, five entire carriages stood neatly lined up.

Yan Jiuzhi blinked, momentarily confused. What on earth was going on?

Just then, with a creak, the sect gate opened from the inside.

Tao Wen, who had come to answer the door, froze for a heartbeat then his face broke into a wide, joyful smile.

He spun around and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Third Brother’s back!”

In the next instant, hurried footsteps thundered from within, and a crowd of familiar faces came pouring out.

They surrounded Yan Jiuzhi at once, voices overlapping in warmth and laughter, every word brimming with excitement.

Li Xi finally understood so this was her third senior brother.

It was, without question, the most beautiful sight she had ever seen in either of her lives.

For a long moment, Li Xi simply stared, dazed.

It wasn’t until the horse beside her neighed impatiently that she snapped back to her senses and hurried to direct everyone to unload the supplies.

Master Lin Shan beckoned her over and introduced, “This is your Third Senior Brother, Yan Jiuzhi.”

Then, smoothing his beard with satisfaction, he turned to Yan Jiuzhi and said,

“Jiuzhi, this is your new junior sister, Li Xi. She has dual water and wood spiritual roots and has already reached the second level of Qi Refining in just two months.”

Yan Jiuzhi inclined his head politely. “Junior Sister.”

“Greetings, Third Senior Brother.” Li Xi smiled and saluted in return.

For some reason, seeing his new junior sister reminded Yan Jiuzhi of the strange, amber-like bead he had found in the Mulberry Forest’s secret realm.

After a moment’s thought, he took the bead from his storage pouch and offered it to her.

“This was something I obtained in the secret realm. Junior Sister, take it, it’s my gift to you.”

The bead did have an unusual origin, but it wasn’t destined for him. Giving it as a meeting gift felt just right.

Still… in his previous life, he didn’t recall ever having a junior sister.

If he had, why hadn’t Second Brother ever mentioned her?

“Thank you, Third Senior Brother,” Li Xi said sincerely, accepting it with both hands.

The bead was exquisite, radiant and translucent like fine crystal, its surface glowing with soft, shifting colors. It felt smooth and gently warm against her palm.

For some inexplicable reason, she had the oddest urge. To swallow it.

Not literally, of course, but she wanted to keep it so badly it almost hurt.

Her eyes sparkled. This bead was definitely something extraordinary.

“Junior Sister, you brought back so many blankets?!” Senior Sister exclaimed in delight.

“Of course! Two for everyone one to sleep on, one to cover with. Winter’s freezing, so I also brought charcoal and padded coats!”

Li Xi looked up at her Third Brother with a bright, teasing smile. “You have yours too, Third Brother.”

Yan Jiuzhi watched the mountain of food, clothes, and daily necessities piling up, and couldn’t help feeling a flicker of warmth.

They might be ordinary mortal goods, but for the destitute Yunxiao Sect, they were treasures.

“Thank you, Junior Sister,” Yan Jiuzhi said sincerely.

“No need to thank me! I did it for myself, really, I can’t stand living poorly,” Li Xi replied breezily, waving her hand.

She meant it too she’d never been one to suffer hardship.

Yan Jiuzhi’s lips curved slightly. For someone who claimed she couldn’t bear hardship, she had managed to bring enough to care for everyone in the sect, even old Aunt Wu in the kitchen.

Watching his sectmates laugh and bustle about, so lively and full of warmth, softened something deep inside him.

This was the life he remembered. The warmth of family, the simplicity of belonging.

Second Brother still looked like the gentle scholar he once was not the gloomy, hollow man he had become in that other life.

Master, Elder Gao, Senior Sister, and all his fellow disciples were still alive and well.

It was all still here.

But the shadow of that future hadn’t yet passed.

In just a few days, the seventh-tier Snow Soul Fox would come and Yunxiao Sect would be annihilated.

In his previous life, he had returned too late, only to find ruins and ash.

The Snow Soul Fox had razed the sect, then stormed toward Ang City.

His master, bloodied and broken, had fought desperately to stop it and fallen.

Yan Jiuzhi knew why his master refused to retreat. Behind him were the countless lives of Ang City’s common folk.

And though disciples from the Changyue Sect eventually arrived and subdued the beast, it had all been too late.

His sect was gone, his master dead and all it earned was a few hollow sighs from her.

Why had the Snow Soul Fox appeared here at all?

Who had driven it to madness?

And how had it ended up as her spiritual pet in the end?

Yunxiao Sect had been trampled into dust and still, they dared to act as though nothing had happened.

Whether this was a dream, a second chance, or an illusion this time, they would pay.

“Third Brother, come take your blanket!” Senior Sister Lin Ruo called, directing everyone as they sorted through the supplies.

“Oh dear, this coat might be too short have you grown taller again?” she fussed, holding the padded jacket up against him and muttering about lengthening the sleeves.

It was just a simple mortal garment, without any enchantments or arrays.

But when Yan Jiuzhi slipped it on, he felt a warmth he hadn’t known in so long.

This mundane, human comfort, he had nearly forgotten what it felt like.

Thankfully, this time, there was still time to change fate.

Though his cultivation now was only at the tenth level of Qi Refining, his spiritual sense from his former Nascent Soul stage remained intact.

Even limited by his current body, his consciousness was still strong enough to arrange a defensive array.

And if it came to it, he could break through his restraints and unleash his divine sense in full.

Pushing aside the dark thoughts that lingered, Yan Jiuzhi joined the others, helping carry supplies inside.

His fellow disciples chatted cheerfully about their free clinics and mundane stories that lofty cultivators would never care about.

That night’s dinner was a true feast in celebration of his return. The table overflowed with food. Lin Ruo (senior sister) and Tao Wen (second brother) had even hunted a low-grade spirit beast on the mountain, and together with the cured meat Li Xi had brought back, it made for a perfect meal.

After weeks of eating nothing but pickled vegetables and radishes, everyone ate like they’d been starved for years.

It was Li Xi’s first time tasting spirit beast meat; she could sense that the faint spiritual energy within it was truly different.

She was a cultivator now. If she had the chance, she should definitely eat more of it in the future.

Maybe one day, when she was stronger, she could even go hunting herself!

To her delight, dinner wasn’t the end of the surprises.

Before the night was over, each of them, Master and disciples alike, received a gift from Yan Jiuzhi.

Li Xi’s present was a low-grade spirit sword and a storage pouch.

“Thank you, Third Senior Brother.”

Li Xi’s face was radiant, her eyes sparkling with delight.

She’d been dreaming of owning a storage pouch for ages now that her wish had finally come true, she happily scampered back to her room to play with it.

After the disciples dispersed, Yan Jiuzhi stayed behind. He saw no need for pretense and went straight to the point with his master.

“Master,” he said calmly, “I’ve divined that a great calamity will soon befall our sect. I suggest we move everyone to Ang City for a while.”

Lin Shanlai was utterly taken aback. “A calamity?! When should we leave?”

Not a trace of doubt crossed his face he believed his disciple’s words without hesitation.

“The sooner, the better,” Yan Jiuzhi said quietly, lowering his gaze. “I have a bad feeling.”

Elder Gao frowned, already thinking ahead. If they stayed at an inn, the expenses would be far too high.

The three of them discussed through the night, and by dawn, they had reached a decision: the younger disciples would first be sent to Ang City to stay at an inn for safety, while the rest of them would remain behind to arrange defensive formations.

Lin Shanlai was at the early stage of Core Formation, but his damaged core limited his strength.

Elder Gao had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment, Lin Ruo was at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, and Yan Jiuzhi himself had reached the tenth.

Tao Wen, the least gifted, had barely reached the fifth layer.

And as for Li Xi, she had only just begun cultivating.

Lin Zewu was still a child, and the remaining disciples were ordinary mortals. Sending them all to the city was the safest choice.

Ang City was a small place with thin spiritual energy and no resident cultivators. Naturally, the Yunxiao Sect was responsible for its protection.

Yan Jiuzhi knew his master well Lin Shanlai, would never abandon the city’s people to save himself.

Even if Yan Jiuzhi lied to make him flee, once his master learned the truth, guilt and heart demons would consume him.

This time, Yan Jiuzhi wouldn’t let that happen.

He would fight alongside them until the very end.

He was no longer the powerless boy who could only watch as his sect burned.

Li Xi returned to her room, immediately bound the storage pouch with a drop of bl00d, and gleefully tested it twice over.

Then, unable to resist, she pulled out the bead her Third Senior Brother had given her.

Something about it drew her. Surely this had to be her golden cheat, her destined treasure!

All right then first step, bind it with bl00d!

She raised her brand-new spirit sword and pointed it at her fingertip.

The blade gleamed sharply, and her finger looked painfully delicate.

She took a deep breath, focused her qi several times, but in the end, she just couldn’t do it.

Wasn’t this a little too cruel to herself?

Without hesitation, she switched tactics and pulled out one of Elder Gao’s silver needles, thin, shiny, and wickedly sharp.

Choosing the least intimidating one, she steeled herself, pricked her finger hard, and watched a bead of bl00d just the size of a green bean well up instantly.

Li Xi pressed her bleeding finger to the bead, waiting for the mysterious “pull” she’d read about in countless tales.

But nothing happened.

She lifted the bead, examined it, then looked down at her finger.

Great. The wound had already healed.

Fine! She gritted her teeth, stabbed again, and smeared bl00d all over the bead.

Still nothing.

Again and again she tried, until all ten fingers were swollen and throbbing, yet the bead remained cold and silent, utterly unchanged.

Tears welled in her eyes as she looked up at the heavens, her faith shaken to its core.

Where was her storage space?

Where was her ancient mentor spirit?

Where was her divine beast companion?!

If there were no sacred artifact, a powerful inheritance or a secret cultivation technique, would it do but something, surely?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“Dear heavens,” she cried out in despair,  did you forget to give me my protagonist halo.