"She's my elder sister."
"What?"
Zhao Shuning was momentarily stunned and failed to react.
"She's my elder sister, related by blood."
Zhao Shuning then came to her senses, and the smile on her face began to turn exuberant.
Even her speech started to stutter a bit.
"This, this, I knew it! The Saintess is so beautiful. There's no way she could have that kind of relationship with you."
Yan Ruyu slightly raised his eyebrows, quite puzzled.
What did his elder sister's beauty have to do with what Ning'er said next?
"Master, I'll leave first. If there's anything, I'll contact you through the Red Lotus."
"Okay."
Seeing the smile on Zhao Shuning's face, Yan Ruyu smiled gently.
He felt truly gratified to see the little girl smiling so happily.
After learning that the Saintess was Yan Ruyu's elder sister, Zhao Shuning's mood inexplicably became much brighter. It wasn't that Zhao Shuning was self - abased. It was just that her master was so outstanding that she always felt inferior in front of him.
Now, this body was almost fifteen years old.
Zhao Shuning's appearance had become even more stunning.
If Feng Lingtong was like a white magnolia in winter, elegant and noble, making people feel unapproachable,
then Zhao Shuning was like a poppy growing among weeds. In the beginning, she was no different from the weeds, but as time passed, the moment she bloomed, it would surely be a breathtaking sight.
Zhao Shuning's kind of beauty was deadly.
At present, no one knew that such a warm and tolerant little girl would one day become such an unrivaled beauty.
Zhao Shuning was in such a good mood that even her steps were lighter than before.
As soon as she left the door, humming a song, she bumped into Xia Wanning before long.
At this moment, Xia Wanning looked extremely worried.
When Zhao Shuning bumped into her on purpose, she even failed to maintain her gentle image. After seeing that it was Zhao Huai's younger sister, Xia Wanning's mood became even worse for no reason.
Every time she saw this little girl, Xia Wanning always felt a sense of familiarity, but she didn't know where this familiarity came from.
"Careless girl. Where are you going?"
Zhao Shuning didn't answer.
Xia Wanning looked in the direction behind Zhao Shuning, and her eyes became even more severe.
"Don't tell me you've gone to see the Emperor?"
"Elder Xia, why do you have so much hostility towards me?"
Hearing this, Xia Wanning's voice became a bit kinder.
"I just want to tell you that a great figure like the Emperor is very busy on weekdays. Even if you have nothing to do, don't always think about seeing him. If you have this time, it's better to practice your mental methods more and improve your spiritual realm. Do you understand?"
Zhao Shuning said, "If Elder Xia puts it this way, I can understand a bit."
Xia Wanning nodded and slowly walked past Zhao Shuning.
Zhao Shuning didn't move her feet.
Just now, she smelled a familiar and dangerous scent on Xia Wanning.
When the palace was captured back then, most of the leaders of the four major families were contaminated with this scent.
She stood still.
Her voice was firm as she said,
"I wonder if there's anyone Elder Xia feels sorry for in her life?"
Xia Wanning stopped in her tracks.
The two were two or three meters apart, with their backs to each other.
"Elder Xia, have you ever done anything to hurt the people around you?"
Xia Wanning said, "Zhao Shuning, you're a disciple of our sect. I've always been very lenient towards you all, but that doesn't mean you can act against your superior and not take me, an elder, seriously."
"I didn't know Elder Xia had such a big temper."
Was the little girl who once lay in a pool of blood, tremblingly stretching out her little hand and desperately begging, "Please, save my father" still Xia Wanning now?
"What do you mean?"
Xia Wanning turned around and stared at Zhao Shuning's back, demanding an answer.
Zhao Shuning just smiled indifferently.
"Nothing. I just feel that Elder Xia is nothing like the person in my memory."
Zhao Shuning took a few steps forward and then stood still, still not turning back.
"However, I want to say something sincere to Elder Xia. In this life, it's really not easy to find someone who truly trusts you. If you push the people around you into the abyss for your own self - interest, you may feel happy and satisfied for a while, but in the long run, everything obtained through improper means will eventually be repaid in another way."
Zhao Shuning slowly turned back.
Looking at Xia Wanning, she continued seriously, "Heaven's law is fair. Do you think so, Elder Xia?"
Zhao Shuning's eyes were so firm and so familiar.
In an instant.
Xia Wanning felt as if she saw the dead Ye Ling.
She was standing opposite, looking at her levelly.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I also hope that Elder Xia doesn't understand what I'm talking about."
Zhao Shuning hoped more than anyone else that the child she had saved with great effort back then wouldn't turn out to be the way she had imagined.
To be betrayed by someone close. If that was really the case, Ye Ling's death back then would have been truly unjust.
"Elder Xia has something to do. I won't disturb you. In a few days, I'll leave the sect and return to my own place. I do hope that in the future, all the news I hear about Elder Xia will be about her promising future and universal admiration."
After saying this, Zhao Shuning left.
Xia Wanning stared at Zhao Shuning's back for a long time without coming back to her senses.
Many years ago, she grew up under Ye Ling's command.
Ye Ling taught her martial arts and how to control her spiritual power.
Ye Ling once said such words to her too.
"In the future, Wanning will surely achieve great things in terms of spiritual power. By then, you and that little brat Ji Qinglin will be great masters. You're bound to have a promising future and be universally admired."
These words were so familiar.
It took Xia Wanning a full quarter of an hour to come to her senses.
By this time, there was no sign of Zhao Shuning in the place where she was.
She snorted.
"Promising future and universal admiration? Everything I have is obtained by myself. No one can stop me."
She, Xia Wanning, wouldn't believe a single word of these bewitching remarks.
Xia Wanning flicked her sleeve and left.
Ji Qinglin witnessed the whole scene under the tree.
The words Zhao Shuning said just now not only shocked Xia Wanning but also had a huge impact on Ji Qinglin.
Because these were the words Sister Ling once said to all of them kids.
"Sister Ling, are you okay over there?"