Chapter 64 - Girls in a Matriarchal World Are Just Too Scary

Ling Ling was deep in her cultivation when a servant suddenly informed her that her junior brother had brought a woman home. Upon hearing this, Ling Ling was utterly bewildered. "A woman? What kind of woman?" she asked. "I don’t know," the servant girl replied, shaking her head. Ling Ling frowned. Her junior brother had no acquaintances here, so how could he suddenly bring a woman home? Wait!! "Could it be… a hired escort?" she speculated, springing up at the thought. Could it be that her junior brother, feeling lonely due to her neglect, had sought out a woman from outside? "No, that can’t be it," she told herself, trying to dismiss the nonsensical thought. Her junior brother had always had impeccable taste; the women he had shown interest in were all beauties. Like herself, her senior sisters, and the numerous junior sisters. It was simply impossible. Though she told herself this, she could not help but be reminded of her junior brother's potentially promiscuous ways. She couldn't resist any longer. "I have to go see what's going on." Ling Ling left her room and headed towards Su Yan's quarters. All the while, she kept telling herself that she must have misunderstood him. But when she opened the door and saw the scene inside, she was utterly shocked. "What on earth are you doing?!" Ling Ling exclaimed, covering her mouth in disbelief. There lay a half-dressed woman on the bed, her fair skin exposed. Su Yan was sitting on the bed, bent over her, seemingly occupied with something. Ling Ling felt extremely angry. A man undressing a woman in such a position was a clear indication of what was happening, surely he was… "You've let me down, junior brother!" In her memories, what she thought was a distorted reality was now clearly true; she had completely misjudged him! He had actually brought a woman home and was doing such things in broad daylight. Did he have no shame? Why has Senior Sister shown up as well? And why is she being so erratic again? Su Yan had long grown immune to Ling Ling's erratic behavior and paid her no heed as he continued to apply medicine to the young woman's wounds. Ling Ling was fuming inside. She had caught him in the act, and yet he didn't care, instead continuing to tend to the woman. "Stop it right now!" "Could you please not interrupt me?" Su Yan's words were spoken with righteous indignation, with even a hint of anger. Ling Ling couldn’t stand it anymore. Doing such a thing in broad daylight and having the nerve to get angry about it—he might not be ashamed, but she certainly was. She had to stop him! With that in mind, Ling Ling strode forward. Her emotions were in turmoil. Even if she acknowledged her junior brother’s promiscuous nature, witnessing him getting close with another woman didn’t infuriate her as much as she thought it would. Instead, she felt a strange sense of acceptance. "Am I being influenced by my memories?" Ling Ling was perplexed. The sudden memories she acquired hinted that her future self had grown used to this sort of behavior—from being shocked, to resignation, to eventually joining in. "No, I can’t let myself end up like that!" Her memory indicated she was deeply affected then, but her current self wasn’t in love with him to that extent. "I must draw a clear boundary with him!" Even though she felt reluctant, Ling Ling knew it was time to decide to avoid future betrayal. "Junior brother, how did you end up like this? I'm unable to accept your behavior, so you should..." Mid-sentence, Ling Ling stopped abruptly. As she got closer to the bed, she realized that things weren’t as she imagined. Her junior brother wasn’t doing what she thought; he was merely holding a medicine bottle, applying it to the woman’s wounds. "What are you doing?" she asked, eyes wide with surprise, her gaze flicking between Su Yan and the woman. After a moment, Su Yan let out a sigh. "What am I doing? Can’t you see? Okay, the medicine is applied, now to bandage her up." Then turning to her, Su Yan asked, "By the way, Senior Sister, what was it you said earlier about being unable to accept something? Was there something you wanted to tell me?" "N-No, nothing," Ling Ling stammered, her face flushed with embarrassment. She had misunderstood. Her junior brother wasn’t doing anything inappropriate, leaving Ling Ling both surprised and relieved. But wait! "Even if you weren’t doing that, the situation here is still peculiar, isn’t it? Who is this woman? Why is she injured? Why did you bring her back home?" "I’ll explain everything later." Su Yan retrieved bandages from his storage ring and calmly removed the girl’s clothes, revealing her snowy white shoulders. "This... this is..." Ling Ling was taken aback. Rationally, she understood the girl was a wounded person whom Su Yan was helping, not doing anything inappropriate. But watching the one she liked having physical contact with another woman and not being able to intervene left her feeling as if she was being betrayed. "Do you want to bandage her up? Or should I, or perhaps let the servants do it?" Ling Ling couldn’t bear it any longer and decided she had to act. "No, Senior Sister's skills might be good for wielding blades, but you can’t treat injuries. The maids aren’t skilled in medicine either, so I should do it." "The maids might not know, but surely the doctors outside do. I could pay them to come." "Nobody else can know she’s here!" Ling Ling was startled by Su Yan’s insistence. Why couldn’t anyone know? Could it be that the girl held a unique status, or was she a fugitive? "Pretty much." Su Yan nodded. Though the girl wasn’t a fugitive, she was gravely injured and pursued by disciples of the Hehuan Sect, making her situation comparable to that of a fugitive. Ling Ling had nothing left to say and could only watch Su Yan tend to the girl in silence. Darn it! Don’t use your hands to bandage her! Ahem, well, if not hands, then with what exactly... Anyway, using hands isn’t appropriate! She had seen it—her junior brother’s hand had touched the girl’s back. It must have; she saw the wretched woman’s face flush! Ling Ling breathed heavily with anger. If not for knowing the girl was unconscious, she would surely draw her sword and strike! Su Yan attempted to be as careful as possible while bandaging, but because the girl was unaware, some things couldn't be avoided. "I'm not doing this on purpose," he thought, feeling the softness against the back of his hand yet remaining unmoved, clinging to his integrity. "Hey, junior brother, why is your nose bleeding?" Ling Ling queried. "The lunch must have been too spicy, making me overheat." Su Yan lied with a straight face, using a towel to dab his nose. Though his words convinced others, he couldn’t deceive himself. Why was his nose bleeding? Su Yan was puzzled. Was the girl simply too enticing for him?