Chapter Twenty: Prioritizing Romance Over Brotherhood

If these brothers kept messing around any longer, dawn would surely break. Yu Youwei had no choice but to say, “Mo Fei, let’s go inside first.”

“Alright,” Ning Mo Fei replied obediently. Suddenly remembering something, he added, “Third Brother said you should call me ‘husband,’ and I should call you ‘wife.’ Isn’t that right, Third Brother?”

Ning Bai Xia nodded reflexively, completely forgetting that the arm his fourth brother was clutching had been injured.

“Third Brother forgot to mention, if I call you Mo Fei, you can call me Youwei,” Yu Youwei said softly. She felt calling each other ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ was far too embarrassing. But Ning Mo Fei seemed to misunderstand, his eyes beginning to glisten with tears. Noticing that this simpleton became particularly fragile in front of his brothers, she felt a headache coming on. “Mo Fei, I just like your name, that’s why I call you that. If you don’t like it, I can change.”

“Oh, let’s stick with Mo Fei. I think Mo Fei sounds really nice,” Ning Mo Fei replied, his face breaking into a happy smile.

“Then hurry inside,” Yu Youwei urged in a low voice.

“You want to sleep, right? I’ll take you, I’ve been here before.” Ning Mo Fei released his third brother’s arm, took Yu Youwei’s hand, and led her into the house, not noticing how he’d overexerted himself. Poor Third Brother winced in pain, teeth gritted and sucking in cold air.

Ning Zhong Wu supported his third brother, making a fuss, “How come I never knew Fourth Brother was so easy to coax?”

Ning Bai Xia rolled his eyes helplessly, his icy expression darkening, “Second Brother, are you bored? If you don’t believe me, I’ll beat you so hard you won’t be able to walk for three months!”

“I believe you, just not right now.” Ning Zhong Wu whistled shamelessly and threatened, “Don’t say Second Brother didn’t warn you, Third Brother—you’re wrapped up like a dumpling. You’d better behave for a while. And don’t call me ‘Second Brother,’ you should say ‘Elder Brother,’ or else I’ll beat you so you won’t be able to walk for half a year.”

On her way upstairs, Yu Youwei overheard this exchange and nearly missed a step. Now she felt that marrying into the Ning family was turning out better than she’d expected; perhaps she could stay longer than she’d originally planned.

After a steaming hot, fragrant petal bath, Yu Youwei lay on the large carved pearwood bed, surrounded by pink gauze curtains. Staring at the flickering lamp shadows above, she recalled the epiphany that had been interrupted in the woods earlier, sighing regretfully, “If Second Brother had arrived just a bit later, I might have already formed my foundation.”

“An ant is just an ant. Is there any real difference between Qi Refining and Foundation Building?”

A muffled voice rumbled from the corner of the bed. Yu Youwei pulled aside the scented brocade quilt and found the little white bear sprawled there, clutching a plate of milk cakes. She slapped her forehead and groaned, “Good grief! Couldn’t you wait until you finished eating before coming up here? The bed’s filthy now, people will think I’m hiding under the covers snacking.”

“Just say it was that blockhead Ning Mo Fei,” the little white bear suggested shamelessly.

Yu Youwei couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. Just as she was about to scold this scheming bear, a commotion erupted in the next room, apparently Ning Mo Fei throwing a tantrum. Thinking for a moment, she put on the brand-new ceremonial gown the maids had left by her bedside and went next door.

Ning Mo Fei stood barefoot on the floor, hair loose, dressed in only his inner garments. Seeing Yu Youwei enter, he immediately pouted, “I’m cold—the brazier smoke stings my eyes.”

Looking at the brazier, Yu Youwei saw it was burning white charcoal. This blockhead was complaining about smoke, truly spoiled! Besides, it was only August—how could it be cold? She barely suppressed a frown and spoke gently, “Take the brazier outside and add another quilt. It’s too early in the season to burn braziers indoors.”

The maids, seeing that Ning Mo Fei had no objection, carried the brazier and incense burner outside.

“I want to sleep with you—it’ll be warm,” Ning Mo Fei demanded confidently, his eyes clear and free of any ulterior motive.

Two soft coughs sounded outside the door, clearly from different people. Yu Youwei turned to look and saw Ning Mo Fei’s three brothers lined up at the entrance. As soon as she glanced their way, the trio turned in unison and left. Soon, Ning Zhong Wu’s sly laughter echoed outside.

Mortifying! Yu Youwei felt her cheeks burning. She and Ning Mo Fei stared at each other for a while, before she finally found a reasonable excuse to refuse, “I need to practice and heal—I can’t be disturbed. Mo Fei, could you sleep alone for the next few nights?”

“You’re hurt?” Ning Mo Fei’s concern was genuine and, thankfully, he didn’t press further.

“It’s nothing—when Second Brother and the others arrived, I was just having an epiphany, got startled, and my qi and blood surged. It’s a minor injury, it’ll heal in a few days,” Yu Youwei replied, half-truthfully, taking the opportunity to blame Ning Zhong Wu. Back in her room, she heard Ning Mo Fei shout at the top of his lungs, “Second Brother made Youwei get hurt—you need to pay!” Imagining Ning Zhong Wu’s frustrated expression, Yu Youwei felt secretly delighted.

She had no idea what happened next; soon, she entered deep meditation. A faint red glow suffused her body, ebbing and flowing with her breath, gradually forming ripples centered around her. Since her earlier epiphany, her cultivation speed had increased, and the usual resistance in her spiritual energy circulation had eased considerably.

None of the Yu family knew that her Azure Frost sword was a growth-type artifact, a blood-inherited treasure capable of passing down cultivation techniques. Her cultivation followed the “Fire Derivation Manual” stored within the Azure Frost sword.

According to the general precepts of the Fire Derivation Manual: Heaven is composed of five elements—water, fire, metal, wood, earth—each nurturing and transforming in its own time, thus forming all things. The qi of the five elements corresponds to five colors: wood is green, fire is red, earth is yellow, metal is white, water is black. Cultivation is the refining of qi, requiring the soul to remain centered and the mind to guide the free-floating spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body, circulating it along the prescribed pathways, storing the essence of spiritual energy as magical power.

Moonlight filtered through the dense banyan tree branches, forming pillars of light around her that lingered without dispersing. Tiny red particles danced and pulsed within these beams, making her beauty seem almost unreal.

The little white bear stretched lazily, assuming the classic five-heart-to-heaven cultivation posture, absorbing the fire element spiritual energy surging around her. Strangely, its pure white fur remained bright and snowy, unaffected by the red glow.

Ning Zhong Wu, having been disturbed, came to apologize, bringing his brothers along. When Ning Bo Wen noticed the red glow leaking from the window, he stopped the fourth brother from knocking. Once guards were posted, he led his brothers back to his own room.

The four brothers sat around the table. The eldest, Ning Bo Wen, remarked, “Fourth sister-in-law’s strength is quite impressive!”

“Of course—she dared threaten me even with a row of god-killing crossbows aimed at her,” Ning Zhong Wu replied with genuine admiration. Casting a glance at his unusually silent third brother, he added seriously, “After Xiang Cun Ze was badly wounded, she managed to escape a hundred miles with Fourth Brother and Xiang Cun Ze. That’s more than just impressive strength; Fish Fourth Lord’s daughter is indeed remarkable.”

“So she’s not willing to marry—” Ning Bai Xia glanced at his bewildered fourth brother and swallowed his words.

Ning Bo Wen spoke solemnly, “She’s already married. In that situation, she didn’t abandon Fourth Brother. We should not doubt her. Treat her well from now on.”

“How could we not? I haven’t even done anything to her yet, and Fourth Brother already wants to eat me alive.” Ning Zhong Wu scowled at his fourth brother. “Classic case of favoring his wife over his brothers.”

[Author’s Note]: New project—favorites, comments, clicks, and all kinds of support are the source of motivation and inspiration for Ice Flame’s writing.