When Mo Yi woke up again, he found himself in a room faintly scented with graphite. The layout around him was very simple, with bamboo chairs, bamboo stools, and a freshly brewed cup of tea. From the fragrance, Mo Yi could tell it was high-quality Longjing tea.
Mo Yi lifted the quilt and discovered that his clothes had been changed. The silk outfit with golden threads was nowhere to be found, replaced instead by a loose-fitting, pure white garment.
Mo Yi recognized this outfit; he had seen many strong young men wearing it while training in the martial arts hall in the North Courtyard, laughing and joking as if preparing for the martial arts examination three months later.
Frowning, Mo Yi got out of bed, put on his shoes, and looked around the room.
The door creaked open, and in walked a beautiful girl who seemed to have stepped out of a painting. She was tall and had a pair of long legs, though they were completely covered by her skirt. The designer who created this outfit, preventing male admirers from appreciating the beauty of the human form, truly deserved to be punished.
Mo Yi's eyes lit up; he recognized this girl as his own younger sister, the second most favored daughter of the Mo family after him—Mo Luo Xue.
Although she was his sister, Mo Luo Xue was actually a year or two older than Mo Yi, which was why she had been displeased with him since childhood. When they were five, Mo Yi had almost been beaten into the medical hall for lifting Mo Luo Xue's skirt. Since that day, the original owner of Mo Yi's body had kept his distance from Mo Luo Xue.
If Mo Yi was an unparalleled scoundrel, then Mo Luo Xue was an unparalleled beauty, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, as well as swordplay and fighting. Now at the age of 17, she was in full bloom, and suitors were practically breaking down her door, but she looked down on them all, proud as a swan. Years ago, the engagement arranged by Mo Tianjiao for Mo Luo Xue had been unilaterally annulled by her.
Mo Luo Xue was truly the apple of everyone's eye, loved by all, and flowers bloomed at her presence.
"What’s the matter? Are you interested in coming here?" Mo Luo Xue's face seemed frozen by frost, her voice cold enough to make Mo Yi shiver, as if he were a stranger.
Mo Yi nodded and looked at Mo Luo Xue, saying, "I have three questions I want to ask you."
"I won't accompany you, so get lost." Her reply was simple and brutal.
Mo Yi ignored Mo Luo Xue's refusal and raised a finger, saying, "First, did that guy you forcibly broke off the engagement with say anything strange three days ago, like 'Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west'?"
Mo Luo Xue's beautiful brows furrowed as she stared at Mo Yi. She didn't speak, but her expression already told him the answer.
"Damn, he really said that?" Mo Yi's heart sank as he asked.
"Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, don't bully the young and poor," Mo Luo Xue said flatly, "his exact words, ignorant and foolish."
Mo Yi slapped himself in the face, fell silent for a few seconds, and continued to ask, "What’s his name?"
Mo Luo Xue frowned at Mo Yi and said, "Is this your second question? Once I answer, can you please leave?"
"I suppose so. Once I finish my three questions, I'll leave without looking back," Mo Yi fixed his gaze on Mo Luo Xue.
Mo Luo Xue was somewhat unaccustomed to being stared at like this by the coward who used to fear her to the core, but she took a deep breath and continued, "His name is Xiao Yan, a boy with no self-awareness."
"……" Mo Yi picked up a cup of tea and drank it, mixing it with the various exclamations in his heart.
"For the last question, once I answer, please leave. Aren't you supposed to participate in the imperial examination in three months? I care about it very much, as I have to take both the martial and civil exams, so please don’t waste my time," Mo Luo Xue said with a tone laced with sarcasm.
"Don't pretend to be a bitch trying to drive me away; it's useless. You're not suited to be a bitch; a sharp-tongued woman is not your role," Mo Yi set down his teacup and stared at Mo Luo Xue, his eyes clear as a mirror. "For the third question, do you have a way to cultivate immortality? If you don't recommend it, at least give me some guidance. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we embarked on the path of cultivation together?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of sword light appeared, and a gleaming sword was pressed against Mo Yi's throat, with Mo Luo Xue's bright eyes seeming to shoot out sword light.
“……” Mo Yi calmly sipped his tea, appearing as if he were lost in thought.
"Who told you!" Mo Luo Xue's voice was like it had been tempered by a thousand years of frost, chilling to the bone. Only a handful of people in the world knew about her chance of immortality, and Mo Yi was definitely not one of them!
In an instant, Mo Luo Xue's killing intent reached its peak.
"Dad told me I should find you if I wanted to cultivate immortality," Mo Yi casually stated, breaking through Mo Luo Xue's murderous intent with a single sentence. The word "Dad" seemed like a decree, shattering all disobedience and rebellion.
"How is that possible!" Mo Luo Xue was nearly driven mad. This proud daughter of heaven rarely lost her composure like this; although she appeared calm on the surface, inside, she was a raging storm.
"As for the chance of immortality, cutting it in half to make charcoal-grilled ribs to share with me isn't a big deal," Mo Yi said, playing with the deep purple teacup, seemingly indifferent. "If you’re reluctant, just give me a spoonful; you can always give me a bit of wisdom when you stew it into soup, right?"
Though it was shameful to pick someone else's wisdom, Mo Yi went against the grain and took shamelessness to the extreme. In his past life, he had a PhD in psychology from Cambridge; how could a naive little sister, pure as a blank sheet of paper, possibly outsmart him?
"You're shameless!" Mo Luo Xue gritted her teeth.
"Oh." Mo Yi set down the teacup and began to play with the teapot, occasionally showing an expression of admiration.
Mo Luo Xue was exasperated, unable to find a way to deal with Mo Yi. With her sword in hand, she felt stuck, and the whole situation was incredibly awkward.
Ultimately, the awkwardness ended with Mo Luo Xue raising her sword to chop the bamboo table in half.
"Don't destroy the tea set; I care about it. A good-quality purple clay teapot set can sell for hundreds of thousands," Mo Yi said, grabbing the entire set of purple clay teapots and placing them on the bed.
With a cold expression, Mo Luo Xue stared at Mo Yi and said, "Did Dad really say that? If you’re lying, I will definitely kill you, and no one can stop me."
Mo Yi shrugged in response, and Mo Luo Xue turned and left without saying another word.
Mo Yi sat calmly on the bamboo stool, watching Mo Luo Xue walk away without following her, a sense of "the world is under my control" filling the entire room.
Mo Luo Xue turned back to glance at Mo Yi, becoming even angrier. Suppressing her fury, she growled, "Keep up."
The camera zoomed in, and Mo Yi desperately gripped his thigh. He wasn't trying to act cool or pretend to be a big shot; he genuinely couldn't stand up because his leg had gone numb... Don't mention courage to modern people; when the sword was at his throat, Mo Yi almost knelt down.