The Journey of a Passerby's Elder Brother Being Courted by Feng Ao Tia

"Tap."

"As long as he lives, I will never find peace."

Only after the black chess piece landed on the chessboard did the woman speak, her words cold and calm.

"Sigh..."

Seeing this, the old man let out a helpless sigh, shook his head, and decided not to persuade her any further.

"Well, it's all up to you. Just don't do anything stupid."

"Right now, he holds an extraordinary and special position in the imperial court. He stands in opposition to the supporting forces of the young emperor. Even I, as your master, find it difficult to take action against him."

The woman's voice remained flat throughout: "What Master said, Qing Luo naturally understands."

The old man nodded slightly.

"By the way, you think highly of that young man named Jiang Ling?"

"He is the direct disciple of Qing Yue. He possesses the innate sword bone, and his talent and understanding are both top-notch. He is a rare prodigy in the way of the sword."

"If he doesn't die young, his future achievements will surely surpass those of me and her."

"It's rare to hear you praise a younger generation."

A touch of vicissitudes appeared in the old man's eyes as he sighed with a bit of sentiment: "Alas. It seems that this will be a golden age filled with brilliant talents."

...

An inn outside the Wine Sword Villa.

After making several inquiries, Shen Mu's brows gradually furrowed with worry when he learned the true identity of that young man.

F*ck... I'm really out of luck!

"Sigh~~"

Shen Mu propped his head on one hand on the table, sighing, looking completely dejected.

He never expected that, after more than a month, the male lead would end up in this place.

And here, he had put on an impressive show, breaking through during a battle and comprehending a special sword intent, a classic plot.

Finally, he successfully defeated his opponent by leaping over a whole great realm, entered the Heavenly Sword Spirit Ranking, and became the first Foundation Establishment Realm sword cultivator to be on this ranking in its history.

This won the exclamations and admiration of almost everyone present.

Typical. Shen Mu could only say it was so typical.

Truly worthy of being the main character. Wherever he goes, he can always attract everyone's attention. There's a world of difference between him and an "ordinary person" like Shen Mu.

One is in the sky, the other is on the ground.

However, although this matter was indeed a bit unexpected, fortunately, not long after the battle, it seemed that Jiang Ling had already left this city. There wasn't even a chance for other cultivators to get to know him.

This was also good news for Shen Mu.

At least, he didn't have to worry about any special changes happening.

"Sir, your beef and wine. Please enjoy."

At this moment, a waiter brought a plate full of beef and a pot of clear wine and placed them on the table.

"Thank you."

Since things had come to this, it was better to eat something first.

Shen Mu stopped thinking about so many things, poured himself a cup of wine, picked up his chopsticks, and put a piece of beef into his mouth.

Casually, a beautiful figure of a young girl entered the inn. Her waist-length black hair fluttered gently, and her clear and lively eyes swept around before locking onto the handsome man sitting in an unobtrusive corner.

With a slight upward curve of her pink lips, she walked briskly and gradually approached his table...

"Brother Shen Mu, long time no see!"

Hearing the charming voice of the young girl ringing in his ears, Shen Mu's fingertips, which were about to pick up the wine cup, paused. He raised his eyes with a hint of confusion...

In front of him was a lovely young girl wearing a light purple fairy dress, with a slender and graceful figure.

"Miss, do we know each other?"

He asked in confusion, having little impression of the graceful young girl in front of him.

"I'm Ning'er!" The girl bent down, bringing her flawless and pretty face close, only three inches away from his eyes, as if a bit eager.

"Don't you remember me?"

"Ning... Ning'er?"

Surprise filled Shen Mu's eyes. He was forced to lean back slightly, and a thin and small figure of a girl in cloth clothes gradually emerged in his mind.

Is this... such a coincidence?

"Jiang Ning'er?"

He tentatively said her full name, and at the same time, he looked at her face carefully again for comparison...

"Yeah!"

The girl nodded, then immediately sat down on the empty bench next to him, just like a little neighbor girl who loved to be close to him, showing no sense of distance at all.

"..."

Shen Mu pinched his chin and quietly moved a little to the side, carefully sizing up the young girl in front of him, who was beautiful and charming.

There was still an expression of disbelief in his eyes.

"Are you... really her?"

In his memory, that thin and scrawny little girl only reached up to his waist. Her face was sallow and emaciated, showing obvious signs of malnutrition.

She was worlds apart from the fresh and lovely young girl in front of him now.

"Two years ago in Luoxing Village, Brother Shen Mu held me to sleep for about half a month. Almost every night, he held me in his arms."

"And sometimes, when he was free in the evening, he even helped me wash my body ten times. Almost every inch of my body was..."

"Okay, okay, okay!"

Feeling several strange looks from the people in the inn, Shen Mu quickly interrupted the young girl's extremely detailed recollection.

"I believe you... Don't say any more."

If he let her continue, he might get beaten up.

"Hmph."

The girl let out two cute little snorts from her nose. She hugged Shen Mu's arm even more affectionately, a bright and happy smile blooming on her tender face like a spring flower.

Shen Mu just rubbed his forehead, a hint of helplessness on his face.

It was like the helplessness of an older brother when facing his little sister's coquettish attachment.

...

Two years ago.

Shen Mu received a simple demon elimination mission from his sect and went to a village near Luoxing Village to deal with the demons.

That year, a once-in-a-century severe drought hit, and many village farmers had no harvest at all, suffering greatly.

Luoxing Village happened to be one of the areas most severely affected by the drought.

Its fields were visibly cracked and dry, with no green plants growing. It was all a desolate brown, completely devoid of life.

Walking on the country path outside the village, one could even feel the heat waves mixed with scorching dust blowing towards them.

Originally, after eliminating the demons, Shen Mu wanted to avoid Luoxing Village and take a detour to prevent meeting the main character who was born here prematurely and getting involved in unnecessary causal entanglements.

However.

When he passed by a wasteland outside the village and saw a thin little girl in tattered cloth clothes, with disheveled hair, using her bony arms like firewood to dig up the grass roots in the wasteland...

That heart, which had always chosen to be indifferent to the drought victims, maintaining an attitude of minding its own business, yet had always been extremely oppressed and gloomy...

Finally, at the moment when he saw the little girl raise her blood-stained fingertips and show a tired smile, it was torn open by an invisible force.

Then, under the ruthless sun that scorched the earth, he let out a deep breath, took a step towards her, and his tall and slender shadow gradually covered her stunted and underdeveloped body...

Bending down, he gave a gentle smile and said softly to her: "Is there anything I can do for you?"

The little girl was slightly stunned. She raised her sallow and emaciated face, which was stained with a bit of dust...

With those clear eyes, which were clouded by hardship and hunger yet still held a glimmer of hope, she saw the white figure that shielded her from the merciless sun.

And she also saw that handsome face, as beautiful as a painting, which was deeply engraved in her heart.

From then on, the two formed a special bond.