If you really get into serious trouble, don't ever count on us to take the fall for you.

The mountain path was a bit rugged, but Yun Ying pushed the wheelchair steadily. Apart from that one intentional jolt, he barely caused Su Ji to feel any bumps.

"If I'm not mistaken, Brother Su, you escaped from the Wasteland, didn't you?" Yun Ying suddenly spoke again.

"You could say that. I already told your senior sister, didn't she tell you?" Su Ji answered vaguely.

"Things aren't peaceful over there right now." Yun Ying stared ahead, almost as if talking to himself. "I hear a lot of people have died. Not only was the mine destroyed, but the escaped slave laborers are causing chaos everywhere. Even those clansmen cultivators who usually throw their weight around have been slaughtered, their blood flowing like a river."

He paused, then his gaze suddenly fell on Su Ji's hands, which rested on the blanket.

All told, Su Ji had been cultivating for less than a year.

There were none of those thick knuckles or calluses that came from years of gripping a weapon.

"Brother Su's hands don't look like a miner's hands either," Yun Ying said.

Su Ji's heart stirred slightly.

This kid was testing him.

Su Ji replied with a completely unfazed expression, "That's just because I'm a spell cultivator. Not like you, Young Master Yun, coddled here in this immortal mountain paradise, with hands smoother than a young lady's."

Yun Ying didn't take offense; he just let out a soft laugh. "Brother Su's tongue is sharper than most people's blades."

"Touche."

Su Ji squinted at him and gave a low whistle. "Every word out of your mouth has a hook in it. On the surface you're all polite, but every sentence is a dig. For days now, I've been wondering why your sect is called the Yin-Yang Sect."

"Now I get it."

"So this 'Yin and Yang' thing isn't about some grand cosmic truth—it's about your family's traditional brand of passive-aggressive sarcasm, huh?"

Yun Ying's hand pushing the wheelchair paused briefly.

He looked down at Su Ji, a flicker of surprise in those clear eyes, which then softened into a helpless smile.

"Brother Su jokes. I can't represent the sect."

"I just... have a habit of saying the unpleasant things up front."

Yun Ying resumed pushing the wheelchair, his voice lowering a bit. "Senior Sister is kind-hearted and trusts people too easily. Over the years, she's brought back countless strays—cats and dogs, this one and that one—to the mountain."

"Some were grateful and left after their debts were repaid."

"But there were others with ill intentions. They broke her heart."

As he said this, a trace of barely perceptible chill crept into Yun Ying's tone.

"So I don't have any special demands for you, Brother Su."

"Heal up, then leave as soon as possible."

"I don't ask that you repay us for anything. I just ask that you don't cause her trouble and don't make her sad."

Listening to this, Su Ji actually gained some respect for this kid.

Sure, his mouth was caustic and his mind calculating, but when it came to protecting that naive senior sister, he was genuine and sincere.

"Alright, alright, I get it. You've got your protective instincts," Su Ji waved a hand dismissively, looking disgusted. "Why all the beating around the bush? After all that buildup, isn't this exactly what you wanted to say?"

"Can't you just speak plainly?"

"What, are you afraid I'll try to steal her away?"

Su Ji turned his head, staring into Yun Ying's eyes, a mischievous smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"You really like that silly girl, don't you!"

As these words left his mouth, the air seemed to still.

Even the wind around them appeared to stop.

Yun Ying's face, always bearing that proper smile, froze for a rare moment.

His earlobes reddened at a visible pace, spreading all the way down to his neck.

But he didn't deny it.

Nor did he react with the anger and embarrassment of a young man whose secret had been exposed.

Instead, he just kept pushing the wheelchair, slowly moving through the trees.

The snow underfoot made a crunching sound.

A long moment passed.

Then Yun Ying let out a soft sigh.

He lifted his head, gazing at the snow-covered peaks in the distance, his eyes holding a tenderness Su Ji had never seen before.

A tenderness that looked as if it could melt the very snowstorm around them.

"She is the light in this chaotic sea of stars," Yun Ying said, his voice soft yet steady.

The mountain wind tousled the young man's tied-up hair. His sect's black-and-white robe swayed gently in the breeze.

His face still carried a touch of youth, yet it also bore a calm that came from experience.

At that moment.

Watching this boy pushing the wheelchair, a phrase popped into Su Ji's mind.

A man like jade, flawless and true.

"Tch."

Su Ji clicked his tongue, feeling a bitter taste rising up.

"If she's the light, then what are you?" Su Ji asked with irritation. "A moth chasing the flame?"

Yun Ying smiled but didn't answer.

He pushed Su Ji to a spot by a boulder at the bottom of a slope on the cliff's edge and stopped.

From there, they could see the view below.

It was a sea of clouds stretching endlessly, with a few peaks poking through like something out of a fairyland.

"Brother Su," Yun Ying suddenly spoke, his tone turning serious.

"Since you're from the Wasteland, you should know the rules there."

"The strong prey on the weak; survival of the fittest."

"This Chaotic Sea of Stars has the word 'chaotic' in its name for a reason—it's clearly no place of good custom."

He pointed toward the deceptively peaceful sea of clouds below.

"There are no rules here, only fists."

"Although the Yin-Yang Sect bears the title of a sect... in truth, there are barely a hundred people in the whole sect, counting everyone."

Su Ji was stunned.

He'd guessed the sect was small, but he never imagined it was this destitute.

For comparison, even the handyman disciples at Si Men Sect numbered over a thousand.

Su Ji's eyes widened. "Then how do you manage to survive in this Chaotic Sea of Stars?"

"Because we're poor," Yun Ying answered with unabashed honesty.

"The Empty Hanging Mountain has no spirit veins, no rare treasures—just a pile of rocks and a bunch of snow."

"The big powers don't bother with it, and the small powers can't break through the protective mountain formation the master laid down."

"So we've managed to scrape by until now."

At this point, Yun Ying turned to face Su Ji.

"So, Brother Su, if you really do stir up some huge trouble..."

"Don't ever count on us to shield you."

"We can't take it."

Su Ji looked into his earnest eyes and was silent for a moment.

"Don't worry."

"If some enemy does come after me..."

Su Ji slapped the hard armrest of the wheelchair.

"I'll just ride this thing over here and take a detour out the side."

Yun Ying was amused by his unserious reply and shook his head helplessly.

Just as the two were about to head back.

BOOM—!!!

A thunderous roar suddenly erupted from the direction at the foot of the mountain.

Immediately after, a streak of light, carrying a frantic aura, shot out from the sea of clouds and raced straight up toward the mountain peak.

"Junior Brother! Help!!!"

Yun Yao's unmistakable booming voice carried all the way from afar.

Yun Ying's expression shifted instantly.

"Senior Sister?!"

Without sparing a thought for Su Ji, he moved his feet, and his entire body turned into a blur as he sprang to meet her.

Su Ji, sitting in the wheelchair, felt a sudden pang of foreboding.

Wasn't this a downhill slope?