Chapter 2625 - 2689: Xu Shanshan’s Little Grievance

What did that old man mean by this? Not making things hard for me? Just glossing over it like that and letting it go... Li Yifei naturally didn’t believe it would just end here. From what he’d heard, Ma Guang was absolutely a hothead, the kind of guy who starts swinging the moment a word doesn’t sit right. Now he’d come out, left those few words, then turned around and left. Sure, he was going to save his grandson, but... this reaction was way too abnormal.

It wasn’t that Li Yifei was judging a gentleman with a petty mind, it was just really too abnormal.

Half the people in Ma Village quickly dispersed; those folks chased after Ma Guang, clustering around him as they went to see Ma Xingyun, while the others... a portion of them stayed "dutifully" watching Li Yifei, like they were afraid he’d run off.

"Both sides have faults in this matter"? That line was worth chewing over. What the hell did I do wrong? Li Yifei stood where he was, savoring those words. The meaning was they were going to settle accounts later, right... Thinking of this, Li Yifei let out a cold snort, shook his head, and muttered to himself, "Fine, then we’ll hash it out and see who’s actually right and who’s wrong."

With that, Li Yifei stepped forward and walked into the village. The Ma Family people surrounding him all let out a collective sigh of relief. The old ancestor had tossed out a sentence and left; if this vicious-looking Li Yifei didn’t listen... they really had no way to deal with it. They couldn’t very well attack him; with his strength, they’d be the ones to suffer.

Fortunately, he didn’t do anything crazy and really did go into the village, so these people could at least report back.

Li Yifei walked into a guest room and casually glanced around at the interior. Compared with modern society, this place was indeed quite primitive, there was only an electric light, and many common household appliances were missing. It had a bit of that near–Republic of China feel, which matched Ma Guang’s age; the era he got famous in was exactly that period.

Li Yifei nodded to himself, grabbed a cushion and sat directly on the floor. Since he was already here, he might as well settle in. He felt that if he’d insisted on leaving just now, the other side would probably have made a move.

Thinking it over, Li Yifei took out his phone, turned it on, and saw there was no signal. He figured there must be some kind of blocking Formation Method here, so it looked like he couldn’t inform Murong Yuanqing and the others. But since he hadn’t left just now, there was no point in leaving now.

Ma Guang was a Grandmaster; in the end he still had to care somewhat about face, right? Li Yifei chuckled at that thought, then immediately corrected himself: to hell with face. These people were all crafty old foxes; sometimes they really didn’t care about rules at all, because many of the current rules—at least the ones between Cultivators—were set by people like them in the first place.

But on second thought, Ma Xingyun’s sins were more than enough, so why the hell should I be afraid.

While the other side wasn’t coming to cause trouble, Li Yifei felt he should first sit down and cultivate, recover as quickly as possible, to be ready for whatever came next.

That cultivation session lasted several hours. During this time, Li Yifei was openly relaxed and didn’t put up much of a guard. Of course, "not guarded" definitely didn’t mean he was oblivious; for an average Cultivator to get close to him without being detected was impossible.

During this period, a small incident also happened over at the Li family.

Xu Yingying was sitting opposite her parents with the baby in her arms. The Xu Family couple sat facing their daughter, and there was one more person in the room: Xu Shanshan, who had just come back. She had a sword strapped to her back, and several months of closed-door cultivation had changed her bearing. Her aura was restrained, hard to read, and from the feel of it, Xu Shanshan seemed already a bit stronger than Jiang Ningxiang and Su Lio.

As for exactly what had changed in her, what progress she’d made under Elder Qingqiu’s training, nobody knew yet.

Anyway, as soon as Xu Shanshan got home, her parents found out and immediately drove over to see their daughter. This second daughter hadn’t even come back at New Year; in all these years it was the first time, so it would be strange if the old couple wasn’t thinking about her.

Originally there was nothing much, everyone was having a warm family moment, but then Xu Shanshan’s mother suddenly brought up her boyfriend situation. Xu Shanshan casually replied that she wasn’t looking in this lifetime; cultivating was great!

Her mother got anxious and said, "How can you not look? Are you planning to spend your whole life alone?"

"Why not? Mom, just stay out of this. Even if I spend my whole life alone, that’s my own choice and I’m happy with it."

"You child... We can give in to you on other things, but not on this one." Mother Xu said immediately. Father Xu heard and came over too, frowned, then said, "Shanshan, on this matter... listen to your mom, don’t be too stubborn. Your sister’s kid is already this big, and you still don’t have any news at all!"

"Dad, how can you say that too!" Xu Shanshan shot to her feet, looked at her parents, and said in confusion, "My sister is my sister, I’m me. She chose her life, I chose mine. They’re completely different!"

"Your mom and I are getting old, our bodies are worse day by day. You were gone over half a year this time, with no word at all. Your mom and I... how could we not worry? The more we worried, the more we wanted you to find someone, settle down and build a home." Father Xu said this and sighed.

Mother Xu picked up the thread: "You’re a young woman, running off into the deep mountains to cultivate—what for? We don’t stop you from cultivating, that’s your hobby, but can’t you at least not go into the mountains? We can’t see you, can’t hear your voice, and for such a long time there was not a single word from you. Your dad and I... we both thought we’d lost this daughter."

So in the end, the two old folks were happy to see their daughter, but they still couldn’t help grumbling. Actually it wasn’t like they had no news of their daughter at all; there had been a few contacts, but once it went through the mouths of the two elders, it turned into "no word from her whatsoever."

This was just parents’ nagging; Xu Yingying could understand it. But today, Xu Shanshan was acting a bit off. Her reaction was intense, she kept shaking her head and said, "Dad, Mom, that’s what you two think. I’m not like you, I like this kind of life. Cultivation is a kind of enjoyment! As for a partner... a partner can’t stay with me for my whole life anyway. Right now my lifespan can reach a hundred and fifty years, that’s extremely rare. Do you still want me to look for someone who’s the same kind of expert? Up to now I’ve only ever seen one man with that kind of cultivation, and that’s my brother‑in‑law. All the others are geezers over a hundred. So if you want me to look for a partner, he has to be someone like that. What, do you want me to go after Li Yifei?"

"Your brother‑in‑law..." Mother Xu was just about to say something, but suddenly stopped short, glared at Xu Shanshan, and said, "Don’t talk nonsense. Men as outstanding as your brother‑in‑law do exist, it’s just a matter of whether you can find one."

"Mom, easy for you to say. I already told you, I haven’t even seen one, where am I supposed to find him? Okay, let’s not talk about this topic anymore, or we’ll end up arguing."

"Your wings have gotten hard; what else can Mom say? Forget it, I’m tired!" Mother Xu looked a bit disheartened. With that, she turned and went upstairs. Father Xu opened his mouth, wanting to say a few words to smooth things over, but in the end he only shook his head and went upstairs as well.

All of a sudden, Xu Shanshan felt a bit wronged. This time she hadn’t come back as someone who’d completed her studies; she just happened to pass by and decided to come home. She’d already missed seeing Li Yifei, and now her parents came home only to act like this. She couldn’t help feeling a little sad.

What had she done wrong this time? She’d come back all happy and excited, only to be treated like this...

"Sis!" Xu Shanshan pouted in grievance, just about to say something, when she saw the little baby was asleep, so she had no choice but to hold it in.

Xu Yingying whispered, "I’ll take the baby to Mom’s room first, we’ll talk in a bit."

"Mm!" Xu Shanshan nodded hard.

A few minutes later, Xu Yingying came back downstairs. By now, Xu Shanshan had already calmed herself down. When she saw her sister, she scooted over on the couch, making room for Xu Yingying to sit.

Xu Yingying sat down and held her younger sister’s hand. After more than half a year apart, this blood sister of hers had changed a little, but the two of them still weren’t distant. Plus... the two of them had that strange physical connection. When Li Yifei and Xu Yingying were making love, Xu Shanshan could feel it too. That kind of secret matter was something Elder Qingqiu could never know about. So... in this past half year, Xu Shanshan had had several bouts of physical discomfort during cultivation, which really puzzled Elder Qingqiu, who had no idea what was going on.

Of course, Xu Shanshan herself was very puzzled too. Beyond being shy, she absolutely couldn’t tell anyone the real reason.

"Sis." Xu Shanshan called softly. Xu Yingying patted her sister’s hand and said, "Don’t blame Dad and Mom. They’re only worried about you, that’s why they talk like that."

"I understand them, but I can’t accept it." Xu Shanshan said, nodding as she spoke.

Xu Yingying nodded as well and said, "Exactly. Let them say what they want. Just because you hear it doesn’t mean you have to do what they say."

"I know. It’s just that right now I really like this lifestyle, and I don’t plan to change it for the time being..." Xu Shanshan went on. In her heart there was a faint sourness. She was also doing this for the Li family. If the Li family could produce another true Innate Expert, that would definitely be the family’s good fortune. Besides... if Xu Shanshan didn’t go out, now that Li Yifei’s body had fully recovered, the two of them would probably end up doing it many times. Then Xu Yingying would be able to feel it too, and... that thin layer of paper between them would probably have been torn already.

After over half a year apart, seeing her sister again, Xu Shanshan was still a bit shy about that kind of thing.

Xu Yingying pressed her lips together in a smile and said, "Sis supports you, no matter what you decide to do. Sis believes even more that you’ll be able to handle the relationships between all these things, that you’ll be able to look after Dad and Mom while you cultivate. And your brother‑in‑law worries about you too. Though cultivating with Elder Qingqiu is a good thing, you must pay close attention to safety and don’t take unnecessary risks."

When she heard the words "brother‑in‑law," Xu Shanshan’s heart warmed. She nodded lightly and said, "I know. When I’m out, I’ll be careful about all that."

"That’s good. You just got back; you should at least stay a few days before you leave again. I’ll call Yifei in a bit, see if he can spare some time to come back for a visit, so you can see each other. He actually misses you a lot; he talks about you all the time." Xu Yingying said.

Hearing that, Xu Shanshan was even happier, though what she said out loud was, "No need, he’s out on business too. Making him rush back and forth wouldn’t be good!"

"Let me ask first. If he can come back, that’d be perfect." Xu Yingying said.