My Twin Sugar Mommies and Two Systems are 100 Years Late! Volume 2 – Chapter 14.
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Yan Lingrong finally found what she believed was the perfect time to excuse herself. But, just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by a knock at the Courtyard's gates.
Everyone's heads simultaneously turned in the entrance's direction.
Yan Anle glanced at Dou E, intending to signal her to get it, but Sun Ziyun actually moved first.
"I'll get it, Young Master," she said, after already taking several steps.
Yan Anle mentally shook his head, thinking, The Righteous Flame Dynasty, no, the whole Vermilion Bird Continent should create the Best Actress Award.
He also wondered who the newcomer was. The possibilities were far from finite. He really had no worthwhile guesses.
Soon, a scream came from the entrance.
Yan Anle, his sister, and their attendants were startled, their hearts jumping to their throats.
They already started preparing to utilize their cultivation bases when they suddenly heard Sun Ziyun exclaim happily.
"Sister, it's you?" She shouted emotionally. "You are actually still alive!"
Someone else, who sounded just like Sun Ziyun, but with a different temperament, retorted, "You aren't dead yet, how could I be?"
"Senior Sister, how did you find me here?" Sun Ziyun laughed and posed a natural-sounding question.
Yan Anle looked back, over his shoulder, intent on sating his curiosity, as did everyone else.
Next, Sun Ziyun closed the gates and walked in with the newcomer as they chatted enthusiastically.
Soon, two Sun Ziyun returned, eliciting strong reactions from everyone. Though, they quickly realized that they were likely looking at twins.
One wore red and the other black, with two different temperaments, like winter and summer.
Sun Ziyun hurriedly pulled her twin before everyone and introduced her enthusiastically, "Master, this is my elder sister, Ruoyun! It has been a long time since I last saw her. I thought she had gone down to meet our parents, but who would have thought? The Heavens were merciful!"
"Sister, this is the Master who took me in, Yan Anle." she continued. "That one is Dou E, his close maid. That is his younger sister, Eleventh Young Miss, Yan Lingrong. There is also Pan Ting who…"
After her younger sister finished, the Burning Mountain Demon Empress did not bow or show any sign of subservience even as she greeted:
"This Empress…" She started with her ingrained way of addressing herself, but quickly corrected it. "I am Sun Ruoyun. Thank you, for taking my sister in."
Her intonation gave one a sense of frigidity and aloofness. Especially since her chosen cultivation base, Core Formation Level Two, was on full display.
Yan Anle's eyes narrowed slightly and he could not help but clench his fists hidden in his sleeves. System, is her cultivation also…
The systems did not even wait for him to finish.
[Yes, Master. Her cultivation base is no weaker than her younger sister's.]
Their words were deliberate. They avoided mentioning that hers was even higher, and not by a small margin!
At the side, Yan Lingrong also felt like her mind had been submerged in water.
Although there were no voices in her head to confirm, she had strong confidence in her guess which was similar to Yan Anle's.
Now, her brother will have a connection to not only one but two powerhouses.
Alas, none of them would have guessed that Sun Ruoyun's inner landscape was nothing like what she displayed outwardly.
Coming face-to-face with Yan Anle made her Spiritual Qi tremble. Although she continuously reminded herself that the current him was but a small fry, the impression the future him left on her was too deep.
That was someone who suppressed the whole world; all continents! Even those who descended from the higher worlds to cause trouble were easily subdued or killed by him!
"So, it is Elder Miss Sun." Yan Anle exhaled audibly and forced his lips to curl upwards as he rose to his feet. As the weaker party, both on the surface and hidden level, greeting her while seated seemed improper. "Honestly, I have not heard much about you, but seeing you today, no words need to be said. Your extraordinary bearing is glaring for all to see."
Sun Ruoyun's breath hitched in her throat. If all who dreaded mentioning his name in her previous life saw this scene, their Dao Hearts probably would not be able to take it!
Yet, she steeled herself and maintained her demeanor, "Young Master Yan overpraises me. I have simply cultivated for a little longer is all." She even slipped in some encouragement for good measure, "Attaining the mid-stage Iron Skin and Bronze Bone Realm at such a young age is not easy. Many fail to bear the pain, falling before getting here."
Unlike Spell, Weapon, Talisman, and other cultivators, Body Cultivators had to endure a lot of pain and consume a lot more resources to forge their bodies.
To thread this path, one would have to endure being pushed to the edge of madness regularly to achieve breakthroughs.
Yan Anle could not help but wonder, If she knew I got this all with a click, would she accidentally release her whole cultivation and crush me to death?
He may have disdained pay-to-win players in his past life, but in that moment, he could not deny that the feeling was pretty good.
Finally, he said a few more superficial words to Sun Ruoyun and then turned to Sun Ziyun, "Miss Ziyun, you can show your sister around. If she wishes to stay, you can prepare a room for her."
"Thank you, Master!" The younger twin seemed quite pleased with that. She turned to the Demon Empress and spoke like they had been apart for years. "Sister, come! Tell me how you have been all this while!"
"Mm," Sun Ruoyun nodded and allowed her younger sister to pull her away.
Even after they disappeared from sight, the Yan siblings kept staring, their heartbeats uneven.
Yan Lingrong was the first to speak, "Tenth Senior Brother, I will take my leave now."
Yan Anle turned and gave a smile that showed only a few of his upper teeth, "Oh? So soon? It has been so long since we last met. Aren't you going to accompany me a little longer?"
"Tenth Senior Brother, to be honest, I was actually in the middle of something very important when I received news about you and rushed over," Eleventh Young Miss Yan chuckled awkwardly, "Once I am through with handling that matter, I will naturally return to visit you more often."
She did not wait for him to reply. As she walked past him, she added, "It is my fault all these years. Don't worry, Senior Brother. I will be sure to make it up to you."
Watching her slender figure approach his residence's gates at a pace that was almost like running, Yan Anle said, "In that case, this Senior Brother will look forward to it."
After Zhaozhao closed the gates behind them, the upward curve of his lips stiffened, then disappeared.
He turned to Dou E and said, "Good job."
The girl, pleased by to receive praise, replied, "It is my duty, Young Master."
Yan Anle reached out to pat her head, as he did in the past, but his fingertips halted an inch from her hair.
Instead, his hand fell down to her shoulder, and he looked down into her eyes as he spoke, "Go pack your things. After we get your Indenture Contract, we will be leaving."
As Dou E jogged away to pack up her things, Yan Anle walked around the parts of his residence that he frequented a lot in the past several decades.
The dining room where he had all his meals, the bedroom he slept on, the kitchen Dou E practically barred him from entering, the bathroom.
There was also his favorite place of all, the central courtyard. Forget the rocking chair he had made himself, there was the Fragrant Blood Flowers.
These beautiful flowers looked like sunflowers but with white petals and a blood-colored center. As implied by their name, they thrived on blood. His blood.
As for why he took an interest in these things back then? It was for that younger brother of his, Yan Wuji.
He had been inflicted with a poison and Yan Anle read somewhere that Fragrant Blood Flowers could alleviate the pain. So, he found and raised one.
Later though, his parents spent a fortune and got the antidote from the Alchemy Association.
Yan Anle could have stopped raising them, but he just continued absentmindedly feeding them heavily diluted bowls of his blood whenever he felt like it. Sometimes he would not feed them for months, yet, they survived till this day.
Standing at the center of the courtyard, he sighed deeply and stretched out his hand, intending to store the rocking chair in the system.
Putting it in the Myriad Worlds Auction House's Warehouse did not work but the shared Inventory created by the systems did.
Then, he turned his gaze to the flowers. His thumb caressed his index finger as he thought, How I wish I could bring these things along as well.
Whether to make himself better or not he actually meant it, he added, Forget it. The past is the past. Leaving them behind will be my way of moving on.
Myriad Worlds Auction House System chimed in at this point, "Master, you can pull them out and store them individually. Time doesn't flow in the Inventory space, so they will be fine. Later, you can just transplant them."