Chapter 45: Stances

"No!!" Xu Ning'an cried out instinctively in opposition.

Everyone looked at her, including Shen Yanchhu.

A flicker of imperceptible disappointment crossed the depths of his eyes, but his voice remained gentle nonetheless: "Why is that?"

Xu Ning'an pouted slightly and muttered, "Eldest Senior Brother has so many important matters to attend to. How can he be bothered with such a trivial thing..."

For the very first time, Shen Yanchhu interrupted Xu Ning'an before she could finish: "Your Senior Sister's life is in danger. Do you call this a trivial thing?"

His gaze and tone left Xu Ning'an, who had intended to act spoiled and throw a tantrum, completely stunned, her eyes beginning to turn red.

Jiang Huaiyu spoke up: "Eldest Senior Brother, you've frightened An'an. She was only feeling distressed for you."

Out of respect for their Master, Shen Yanchhu had always been relatively polite to Jiang Huaiyu, never causing him to lose face in front of others.

Yet today, Shen Yanchhu was deeply unsettled, and his temper was slipping past his control.

He looked at Jiang Huaiyu with a gaze that carried a trace of sharpness: "Do you always indulge and shield her so indiscriminately?"

Jiang Huaiyu's expression remained tranquil: "What does Eldest Senior Brother mean by this?"

Shen Yanchhu said, word by word: "The An'an I know is a sensible, well-behaved, kind, and innocent Junior Sister. If she knew her Senior Sister's life was in danger, she would never have uttered such cold-hearted words just now."

"An'an is always claiming how much she cares for her Senior Sister, yet why have you tried to obstruct me every time I attempted to mend my relationship with Junior Sister? Do you truly care for Eldest Senior Brother?"

A ray of light pierced into the dim and winding corridor.

Though the beam was slender, it was resolute and bright, faintly illuminating a few things previously hidden in the darkness.

After keeping his distance from Xu Ning'an and the others, Shen Yanchhu, through constant self-reflection, gradually began to perceive the distortions and anomalies.

For instance, his Junior Sister sometimes seemed... not quite the person he had originally believed her to be.

Tears instantly gushed from Xu Ning'an's eyes. She shook her head and sobbed in explanation: "I didn't mean to obstruct you. I—I truly felt that Eldest Senior Brother was working too hard, that you are so busy every day..."

Under normal circumstances, seeing An'an sob like this would have filled Shen Yanchhu with utter heartache, making him abandon all reason and simply pull her close until she was coaxed into smiles.

Yet today, he did not do so. Instead, he continued to question Xu Ning'an: "So, your Senior Sister's life and death matter so little in your eyes, entirely overshadowed by whether or not I am tired?"

Left speechless, Xu Ning'an flushed red with suppressed emotion and threw herself into Jiang Huaiyu's arms, clasping him tightly as she wept bitterly.

Jiang Huaiyu patted her back and looked at Shen Yanchhu: "An'an simply didn't think things through in the heat of the moment. Jiang Heng has deliberately kept her distance from us lately, so it's only natural that An'an grew somewhat distant from her as well. In such a situation, thinking first of the much closer Eldest Senior Brother is human nature."

"Why is Eldest Senior Brother not the least bit comforted, but instead flying into a rage?"

Shen Yanchhu lowered his gaze in silence, but Xia Zhiyu could no longer hold his tongue.

"Third Senior Brother, leave others out of it, but how can you say such words? You clearly—forget it. No matter what reason one finds, An'an's remark just now was indeed rather thoughtless."

At first, he had only felt a vague sense of unease, but upon hearing the Eldest Senior Brother's words, it suddenly dawned on him.

Who could possibly worry about someone being tired at a time like this? To call it thoughtless was putting it mildly; to call it by its true name, it was willful and cold-blooded!

Huo Shiqing narrowed his eyes: "Zhiyu, are you starting to pick faults with An'an now too?"

Instantly, the atmosphere became taut with tension.

An invisible river stretched across the space between these five people: on one side stood Shen Yanchhu and Xia Zhiyu, while on the other were Huo Shiqing, Jiang Huaiyu, and Xu Ning'an.

Shen Yanchhu had no heart to continue the argument. He merely glanced at Xia Zhiyu.

Xia Zhiyu understood implicitly: "Eldest Senior Brother, go ahead. I will handle the affairs within the peak for you."

The Endless Sea was such a perilous place; Junior Sister was truly daring to go there all by herself.

Even if Eldest Senior Brother did not go, he would have secretly followed along to protect Junior Sister anyway.

As a Nascent Soul cultivator, Eldest Senior Brother was certainly far stronger than he was at the Core Formation stage, and having Eldest Senior Brother around gave him much greater peace of mind.

Shen Yanchhu nodded and turned away in a hurried stride.

Upon arriving at the Elders' Hall, he was surprised to find Han Jie there as well, seemingly reporting his departure for a journey.

As Shen Yanchhu stepped through the threshold, he happened to hear Elder Lu saying with a chuckle, "I simply don't understand you young people. Why must you secretly follow behind instead of openly telling Fellow Apprentice Jiang that you are worried about her?"

Han Jie replied, "If I told her directly, she would likely only feel that I look down upon her. It is better to follow in secret and intervene only if something happens; that way, once she learns her lesson, she will be all the more cautious in the future."

Elder Lu nodded in deep admiration: "No wonder Fellow Apprentice Jiang is closest to you! To consider her feelings with such thoughtfulness is truly rare indeed!"

Shen Yanchhu's footsteps halted in their tracks.

An indescribable sense of loss washed over his heart.

Junior Sister seemed to have found an elder brother who was far more reliable and worthy of dependence.

She no longer needed an Eldest Senior Brother like him—one who was hypocritical, cold, and had failed the years of their past.

The present relationship between him and Jiang Heng required excuses even when reporting a journey here, unlike Han Jie, who could state his intentions so openly and righteously.

Having finished reporting his destination, Han Jie turned around and caught sight of Shen Yanchhu.

He paused slightly, then guessed the reason: "Is Senior Brother Shen also heading to the Endless Sea?"

Shen Yanchhu gave a bitter, self-deprecating smile: "It seems that won't be necessary now."

Han Jie smiled: "Rest assured, Senior Brother Shen. With me there, Fellow Apprentice Jiang will come to no harm."

Shen Yanchhu murmured an assent.

Returning to his own dwelling, Shen Yanchhu stood beneath the plum tree in the courtyard, gazing at the hazy gray light in the distance.

Suddenly, the crisp sound of a zither drifted over—someone was requesting an audience outside his dwelling's barrier.

Guessing who it might be, Shen Yanchhu pulled back his thoughts and gaze, and lifted the barrier of his dwelling.

Sure enough, a moment later, Jiang Huaiyu appeared before him.

He said to Shen Yanchhu, "Eldest Senior Brother should go see An'an. This time, she is truly heartbroken because of you."

Answering the question with another, Shen Yanchhu said, "Ever since you returned, An'an has become less and less sensible than before. Do not interfere in this matter; let her reflect properly on herself."

Jiang Huaiyu asked, "Reflect? What did An'an do wrong, simply because she tried to stop you from protecting Jiang Heng?"

Shen Yanchhu retorted, "Was she not wrong? Come to think of it, I shouldn't have joined you all in indulging her last time. It was Senior Sister's momentous occasion of great joy, yet purely because An'an felt it made her lose face, she forced Junior Sister to suffer indifference once again."

That had clearly been a golden opportunity to mend their relationship.

Simply because of Xu Ning'an's endless obstruction and his own lack of firmness, they had let it slip right through their fingers.

Had Junior Sister not spoken of it aloud, only to harbor extreme disappointment within her heart?

That must be why she grew closer and closer to Han Jie, treating them entirely as outsiders in the end.

Jiang Huaiyu said calmly, "Eldest Senior Brother, have you perhaps mistaken your own position?"