Even If You're My Senior, It's Still Forbidden - Chapter 3

“As for me, I absolutely love meat, but for us common folk, meat isn’t an easy thing to come by.” The elderly vegetable vendor couldn’t help but sigh.

Looking at Su Jin’an’s delicate, slender hands clearly those of someone from a wealthy family, it was likely there wasn’t anything in this town she hadn’t tasted before. Ji Weining decided not to dwell on it and casually bought some vegetables from the old man’s stall. “These look fresh, I’ll take some of these.”

“You have a good eye, Immortal. These were picked just this morning,” the old man said with a smile as he packed them up and placed them in her basket.

She also bought some preserved fruits. She had always enjoyed eating them while reading sweet with a hint of salt, they stimulated saliva, aided digestion, and were perfect to have after a meal.

“Senior Sister, what brings you down the mountain?” Zheng Juhe, who had come down with some others to make purchases, happened to run into Ji Weining.

Ji Weining casually waved him off. “I came because I felt like it. Don’t mind me.”

Zheng Juhe rarely saw Ji Weining and was worried something might be wrong since she had come down the mountain. “If you need anything, Senior Sister, you can come to me.”

“No need, I don’t require anything. You can go ahead with your shopping, Junior Brother,” Ji Weining said, waving her hand as she went to another stall to pick out ingredients.

“It’s late spring now, and in a month, we’ll have our quadrennial Selection Competition. Are you really not going to take a look?” Zheng Juhe, who had been in charge of recruiting new disciples in recent years, naturally wanted to invite more senior brothers and sisters to show support and lend a hand. After all, not everyone was willing to take on the task of mentoring new disciples. Ji Weining, with her formidable power, no disciples of her own, and no significant backing as an orphan, was the most suitable candidate he had in mind.

Ji Weining countered, “Then tell me, Junior Brother, what reason do I have to go?”

She hadn’t participated in such events for over a hundred years. In the first century, she needed to improve her strength and make a name for herself among cultivators, hoping that when her junior sister appeared, she would have the ability to protect her. But in the latter century, she had grown lax. Her abilities were already nearly unmatched in the world, so there was no need to continue. She had learned culinary arts, mastered the qin, but still hadn’t waited for her junior sister.

Now that she had finally met her, she felt somewhat at a loss about where to start.

“The winning disciples in this Selection Competition will have the chance to choose a master. I’ve long heard that you, Senior Sister, are qualified to take on disciples. I wonder if you have any intention of doing so?”

Ji Weining sighed. It was all because of her master, the big mouth, telling everyone that she was ready to take on disciples. She finally understood that Zheng Juhe had approached her with this in mind, to use her as a draw to attract more participants.

“I have no such intention. I’m busy lately and need to teach my junior sister.”

Hearing her refusal, Zheng Juhe knew this path was closed to him and had to try another. “I wonder if you could ask your junior sister if she has any interest?”

Zheng Juhe was skilled at handling such matters under the sect leader’s arrangements. Since the sect leader took him in, he had been wholeheartedly dedicated to managing the sect’s affairs.

“My junior sister is new here. I think she should focus on her cultivation first and probably won’t have time. Why don’t you go ask Liu Xiling instead?” Although Liu Xiling wasn’t as capable as her in fact, she was far from it, her connections were better than Zheng Juhe’s.

“Thank you, Senior Sister Weining.” Zheng Juhe hadn’t heard about Liu Xiling’s return, only that she had left the sect. Upon hearing Ji Weining’s words, he learned she was back, his face instantly blooming like peach blossoms, radiant with joy. He then took his arranged companions to purchase the items he needed.

The ingredients Ji Weining had bought weren’t particularly rare, but she had some unconventional cooking methods in mind to experiment with. She also wanted to prepare a variety of regional dishes to see which flavors her junior sister preferred or perhaps even discern where she might be from.

Returning to Qianling Residence, she found her junior sister still resting, her delicate brows furrowed as if trapped in a nightmare. It seemed the journey had exhausted her greatly.

“Se…Senior Sister?” Su Jin’an woke up, her lips still pale, and pushed herself up to sit on the bed. Dressed in Ji Weining’s slightly oversized plain clothes, she looked pitifully fragile.

Just as Ji Weining was about to turn and head to the kitchen, she noticed Su Jin’an had awakened.

“What is Senior Sister planning to do?”

Ji Weining replied softly, “I’m going to prepare lunch for you, Junior Sister.”

“Would you like to come out and watch? If there’s anything you’d like to eat, you can ask me to cook it.” Over the years, her culinary skills had become so refined that even renowned restaurants in the capital would praise them. She had full confidence in her current abilities.

“Alright, it’ll be good to get some fresh air,” Su Jin’an agreed.

The “kitchen” was situated between their master’s courtyard and her own. Half of it was used by their master for alchemy, while the other half served as Ji Weining’s cooking space. The two areas were well-separated and didn’t interfere with each other. Ji Weining drew a bucket of water from the well to use.

Su Jin’an stood nearby, watching her. There were no chairs around, and standing idle didn’t seem right. In the distance stood the peach trees planted long ago. Ji Weining conjured two vine ropes hanging down and, with a wave of her hand, used her magic to add a wooden plank, creating a swing right in front of Su Jin’an.

“Give it a try,” Ji Weining suggested.

Su Jin’an looked curiously at the swing. She was no stranger to spiritual power, but she hadn’t imagined it could be used in such a way, it felt somewhat wasteful. Hesitantly, she asked, “Won’t this drain your spiritual power, Senior Sister?”

“It hardly consumes any. Don’t worry, Junior Sister. Just sit on it.”

Su Jin’an walked over and reached out to touch the swing. The vines felt entirely real, indistinguishable from those crafted by spiritual power. She sat down smoothly on the swing. Ji Weining, feeling something was missing, pointed her finger again, and vines began to grow beneath the plank, weaving into a backrest.

Understanding the gesture, Su Jin’an leaned back, her back resting against the vines as if cushioned by soft cotton surprisingly comfortable.

Ji Weining entered the kitchen, where Su Jin’an could clearly see her tying on an apron and carefully separating leaves to wash in the prepared water.

Su Jin’an glanced around. This place was truly a scenic spot of spiritual mountains and clear waters. In the distance, she could see a mountain spring cascading down from the peaks, with solitary cranes soaring across the sky, a breathtaking view of natural splendor.

It was an ideal place for recuperation.

Su Jin’an couldn’t sense the spiritual energy here, but she felt in her heart that this place was definitely what those cultivating immortality would yearn for. She had long heard of Qingheng Mountain, the number one major sect in the world. However, in this era of the sect’s gradual decline, the weight of being the top sect had also diminished.

Ji Weining turned her head and called out, “Junior Sister, do you prefer noodles or rice?”

Su Jin’an replied, “I’ll follow Senior Sister’s arrangement.”

After a moment of thought, Ji Weining took out a bag of rice she had bought when she went down the mountain. If it were up to her, she would choose to cook rice, along with a few more dishes. She wondered whether her junior sister preferred salty, sweet, or spicy flavors.

Qingheng Mountain was located in the southeast, and it seemed there weren’t many particularly spicy ingredients available. Nevertheless, Ji Weining had bought an ordinary chili pepper, chopped it into fine pieces, and prepared a small side dish to add some flavor.*

After organizing the ingredients to be cooked, she turned her head and saw Su Jin’an with her eyes closed, leaning on the swing. The sunlight filtered through the peach blossom tree, with a few clusters slipping through the gaps, warmly resting on her. The gentle breeze of late spring brushed by, causing her hair, which rested against the vines, to flutter lightly.

Junior Sister had fallen asleep.

Ji Weining scooped some water to wash off the stains on her hands, took off her apron, removed her outer robe, and quietly walked over to her junior sister to drape it over her.

Returning to the kitchen, her eyes fell on a bundle of firewood in the corner, it hadn’t been used in a long time. If it were for her junior sister, she thought she would have to use firewood. Remembering that her junior sister didn’t yet know how to use spells, she glanced at Su Jin’an and, for a moment, inexplicably felt like abandoning spells altogether and living as an ordinary person, just like her junior sister.

As she thought this, she bent down to pick up the firewood from the corner and took out a long-unused fire starter from her Qiankun bag. Ji Weining couldn’t even remember the last time she had used that fire starter. She had indeed become too reliant on spiritual power and spells, partly because her own spiritual power seemed limitless. Why not use it when it could solve problems?

But at this moment, she didn’t feel like using it. She blew on the fire starter for a while, but alas! It didn’t ignite, it must have broken.

Better to use spells after all. How convenient spells were! She could even control the temperature of the fire and master the heat, why worry about the dishes not turning out delicious?

When she first started learning to cook, Ji Weining had also used the most basic methods. But after a day, she realized that the dishes she made were either burnt or still burnt. So from then on, she introduced the spiritual fire used for refining elixirs to cook meals. With such a method, how could she not master the art of cooking?

Through repeated experimentation, she had figured out the precise heat control for cooking. During her travels in the mortal world, she focused on the cooking process, while the heat was naturally regulated by her spiritual power.

She poured oil into the wok, and it warmed up in moments. Adding the vegetables, she stir-fried them briefly. Glancing at the other pot, she saw the water had already boiled. She blanched the meat to remove impurities and prepared to start making the soup.

“Junior Sister, it’s time to wake up and eat,” Ji Weining called out softly.

She leaned in to look at her junior sister’s face and couldn’t resist stretching out her hands to measure the size of it. It seemed only slightly larger than her own hands so small.

Suddenly, Su Jin’an opened her eyes, and the two found themselves staring directly at each other.

“Junior Sister, you’re awake,” Ji Weining said awkwardly, her body stiffening before she forced a smile and added, “The food is ready.”

Su Jin’an, still drowsy and unaware of what had happened, pressed her lips together without saying a word, which made Ji Weining even more uneasy.

Had she done something she shouldn’t have? But no, it didn’t seem like she had done anything wrong.

After a moment of reflection, Su Jin’an had already gotten up and headed into the room.

Ji Weining had already prepared the meal and set it on the table, waiting only for Su Jin’an to arrive.

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