"Y-you..." Yu Xianan was stunned by that boy. She had truly been tricked by someone younger than herself, which made her pout as she covered her face, feeling foolish.
"My baby has turned into a cunning little devil, good with words," she sighed, blowing a puff of air through her lips in mock lament. "Congratulations, Devil Xuan, on your courage. I'll grant your request."
Hearing her answer, Yu Xuan couldn't help feeling pleased. In his mind, Xianan was easy to handle. To him, that older sister was the type of person who liked to be in control of every situation, a natural dominator. But once that control was broken, she became easy to intimidate and even easier to influence.
Perhaps Xianan didn't notice, but whenever she lost an argument, she was subtly influenced. Not out of stupidity, but due to an unconscious adaptation—a way to learn how to deal with whatever destabilized her. It was the weakness of a controller, one that could be easily exploited.
'I planted a seed of doubt in her mind. She'll definitely try to figure out why her innocent little brother is trying to catch a Green Butterfly. Hahaha... and maybe something more fiery?'
Yu Xuan was fifty percent sure that the woman, older than him, had developed a faint, unconscious desire to test the words he had said earlier.
A small flame had been lit within her heart, one he could feed slowly.
'I'm not a pervert. I just find it amusing to tease this person. If things take a different turn in the future... so be it.'
He would neither force a relationship nor remain bound to one. After all, only strength truly mattered. Seeking happiness before becoming invincible would be nothing but a lie to himself, because problems would always arise—especially when enemies existed. Yet, he wouldn't deny possible relationships either. They could serve as motivation to stay firm and never stray from his goal.
"I'm garbage," Yu Xuan sighed, disapproving of his own selfish thoughts. He understood himself well enough. If he were to describe his nature, he would call himself a human demon—someone with a kind appearance on the surface, but malicious thoughts buried deep within.
An insatiable demon hungry for power, a monster willing to do anything. Yu Xuan restrained himself to avoid being consumed by that side. Kindness was one of his self-imposed limits.
"Thank you for your help, sister," Yu Xuan said, stopping his inner monologue and returning to reality.
"Tch! You perverted brat with grown wings, don't get cocky. Your older sister is not that easy to handle," Yu Xianan snorted, looking at Yu Xuan with a cold gaze, asserting her authority as the elder.
"But I'm not being cocky," Yu Xuan shrugged, giving her a curious look. "Big sister, what were you thinking earlier? When I said I wanted to taste your sweet? Don't tell me you were thinking that. Poor sister, such an indecent mind."
"...."
Yu Xianan fell silent, her expression shifting from startled to shy, and finally to resolute. "Who cares what I was thinking? And it's not 'sweet'... maybe it's 'core'? Is it? Whatever."
"Are you sure? Why not let me taste it, so we can confirm its authenticity?"
"Bring me a Green Butterfly first," Xianan replied. "The dew pollen candy is made from bamboo dew, and it doesn't taste very good. I think it's bitter, don't you?"
"You're right, sister. I've never tasted it, but since it comes from rain, it's probably salty, not bitter. It's far from that. Did you know that everything in this world has a taste? Even you and me?"
"Yu Xuan, stop with the double meanings already," Xianan said, already tempted to hit him.
"Admitting defeat?"
"Yes, just stop," Xianan gave up trying to counterattack. She tried to deal with that devil, but he always had a stone to throw back. If it continued, things might escalate beyond a simple debate.
Thinking about that, a blush spread across Xianan's face, her cheeks turning red.
'I was right. The fire is spreading,' Yu Xuan thought, struggling not to laugh.
Xianan, noticing Yu Xuan holding back laughter, frowned. Her embarrassment vanished, replaced by a vengeful expression. "So that's how it is, brat? You think I'm a woman who's easily intimidated? Your wings may have grown, but they're still smaller than mine."
She had once seen Yu Xuan as just a child, harmless and unthreatening. Now that he had grown, she saw him as a dangerous predator who could actually capture her.
"I'll capture you first," Xianan said. She didn't deny his advances. It was interesting to see a boy two years younger than her trying to play such games. For someone who liked being in control, it was a pleasant distraction from boredom.
Yu Xuan, who saw Xianan as a blank vessel, shook his head. "She's so easily influenced... just a few words made her see me differently and start a strange kind of relationship."
He had never courted her with his words; he merely responded to each of her provocations, and each answer had led to this outcome.
"What are you thinking, sister? If you're thinking about me, it won't be easy to win me over. In the future, I'll be the immortal who walks the world."
"You? Do you have any idea how hard it is to cultivate immortality? In our village, for centuries, only the ancestor was a cultivator."
"I have my ways," Yu Xuan said with a faint smile.
"Huh?" Yu Xianan looked him up and down. She knew Yu Xuan well enough to recognize one of his qualities—he never lied. So the probability of him telling the truth was a full hundred percent.
'Mysterious, huh?' She found it surprising, but not impossible. Since childhood, Yu Xuan had never been destined for mediocrity. At school, he was smarter than those in his grade. By middle school, he had already surpassed students two or three years ahead. A person born for greatness.
"You're full of yourself. If you can do it, then so can I. Do you think your wings are bigger than mine? My connections are far greater than you imagine, brat. Let me tell you a secret: on the last moon of my eighteenth year, my lineage will awaken."
That was a secret her mother had told her. She wasn't from this village but had stumbled upon it while wounded, where she met Xianan's father. They fell in love, but in the end, her father died because he was mortal. He was poisoned by Qi through their intimacy.
A cultivator and a mortal are fundamentally different beings. The Qi of Heaven and Earth is the life force of a cultivator but the poison of a mortal, slowly destroying the body if not refined.
Xianan's father suffered because of that. Due to his old age, he had no means of purifying the Qi. Her mother, who was weak at the time, couldn't do it either.
"My father still died happy. He was a truly hardworking man," she said with a faint smile.
This time, Yu Xuan made no deductions about Xianan. Her expression was unreadable, except for that small smile. Especially when she looked at him with a strange glint in her eyes.
"Did I just walk into a wolf's den by accident? And Xianan really has a special lineage? Why didn't Old Xuan mention this? Or is this a unique event... the first butterfly effect in the timeline?"
It made sense. In the normal course of things, Yu Xuan wouldn't have come to the warehouse to buy supplies. If he needed provisions, it would be cheaper to go to the city. As a poor man, he would have avoided this place and kept his money away from this greedy woman. If she disappeared one day, it wouldn't have changed his life.
"I see... just as Old Xuan said. We have opportunities before us, but instinctively, we walk the opposite path. A strange coincidence, yet still part of fate. Now that I'm moving freely, without a predetermined path, all coincidences no longer hold sway."
In that moment, Yu Xuan realized that the butterfly effect wouldn't occur as he changed the timeline. It had already begun the moment he received the diary.
For him, the river of time was now flowing in an uncertain direction.