My Green Tea Junior Sister Smells So Good - Chapter 1

That year, Shen Qingyi had just turned one hundred years old. For a cultivator, this was considered the prime of one’s youth.

As the only daughter of the Sect Leader of the Yunyin Sect, she was young but possessed profound cultivation. Aside from the first disciple, Senior Brother Jiang Linchuan, others, even those a hundred years her senior, could not match her.

Jiang Linchuan was the Sect Leader’s first disciple and the most naturally gifted. Possessing the appearance of a celestial being, he was deeply favored by the Sect Leader, even holding more responsibility than Shen Qingyi herself.

Naturally, Shen Qingyi was defiant. Since childhood, she loved competing with this Senior Brother, yet she had never once won.

When she lost, Shen Qingyi didn’t cry, but she would sulk. Jiang Linchuan would then lower himself and act humble to coax her back into good spirits.

As they grew older, Jiang Linchuan stopped competing for dominance in cultivation and swordsmanship. In their matches, he would exert his full strength, but at the critical moment, he would intentionally leave a flaw for Shen Qingyi to exploit so she could win.

After it happened many times, Shen Qingyi eventually noticed his little scheme. She would naturally pester him to go again, while Jiang Linchuan would laugh and beg for mercy, saying, “My skills are inferior; please spare me, Junior Sister.”

Both the disciples and elders of the Yunyin Sect were certain that these two, the most outstanding of the younger generation, were childhood sweethearts, a match made in heaven.

At her age, Shen Qingyi didn’t truly understand what it meant to be Daoist partners. She indeed had the best relationship with Jiang Linchuan, and while she hadn’t thought about who she would eventually pair with, she never refuted the rumors.

Over time, everyone defaulted to the idea that Shen Qingyi and Jiang Linchuan were a pair, simply waiting for the right moment to officially become partners.

Regarding this notion, Shen Qingyi was neither expectant nor resistant.

Later, the Sect Leader gave Jiang Linchuan an opportunity for a trial. Evil spirits were causing trouble at the foot of Yunyin Mountain, and the villagers had offered incense and prayers, begging the Yunyin Sect for help. Since they received the people’s offerings, they were duty bound to bless them.

Despite Shen Qingyi’s repeated requests, the Sect Leader gave the opportunity to Jiang Linchuan. This was his first solo mission.

If he completed it successfully, it would prove he was a qualified cultivator, the equivalent of coming of age in the mortal world.

Everyone said that if Jiang Linchuan returned successful, he would surely ask for Shen Qingyi’s hand in marriage. Even the Sect Leader didn’t oppose this talk.

However, Shen Qingyi thought: Why wasn’t such a good opportunity given to me? I am the Sect Leader’s own daughter. Must I always be suppressed by him just because I’m a tiny bit behind in talent?

Jiang Linchuan was gone for three days. While the Yunyin Peak was not the Immortal Realm, it was not the mortal world either by the flow of time, more than three months had passed in the human realm.

For a fledgling cultivator, this mission was undeniably heavy. But failing to return after three months meant something had surely gone wrong.

Shen Qingyi couldn’t sit still. Though she was a junior, she had always taken the protection of the Yunyin Sect as her responsibility. She couldn’t allow a disciple to remain in danger.

She took up her Ice Peak Sword and headed for the mountain gate, but just as she stepped out, she ran into the triumphantly returning Jiang Linchuan.

He looked just as high-spirited as when he left, his robes fluttering in the mountain wind.

Shen Qingyi also saw Du Yuanluo in his arms.

It had to be said that Du Yuanluo possessed a truly breathtaking face. Yunyin Peak was a blessed land that gathered the essence of the sun and moon, the people raised there, while not quite immortals, were worlds apart from commoners.

Yet Du Yuanluo’s beauty managed to overshadow them all.

However, her face was deathly pale and devoid of vitality, carrying the weak, fragile air of the mortal world.

Beautiful as she was, Shen Qingyi shifted her step slightly to block the way: “Senior Brother, Yunyin Peak does not allow mortals to enter.”

For the first time, Jiang Linchuan did not follow Shen Qingyi’s lead. He brushed past her without stopping: “I can’t. I owe Yuanluo a life. I must repay it. I need to see the Sect Leader.”

Just like that, Du Yuanluo burst into the Yunyin Sect without warning and into Shen Qingyi’s life.

For a long time afterward, she was like a thorn stuck in Shen Qingyi’s once carefree days. Not fatal, but causing a sharp sting from time to time.

Jiang Linchuan knelt at the Sect Leader’s door for three days. Through his tearful, blood-earnest pleas, Shen Qingyi finally understood what had happened.

It turned out a group of evil spirits had suddenly appeared at the foot of the mountain, demanding the villagers sacrifice a bride every year.

That poor sacrificial bride happened to be the orphan, Du Yuanluo, who was fortunately saved from the fire by Jiang Linchuan’s sudden appearance.

But Jiang Linchuan was, after all, a young cultivator with shallow foundations. He was severely injured in the fierce battle and couldn’t return to the peak immediately. During his time in the mortal world, Miss Yuanluo had cared for him meticulously until he recovered.

What Jiang Linchuan didn’t know was that in the mortal world, there was a tradition of “repaying a life-saving debt with one’s body.” Furthermore, after spending days and nights together during his recovery, in the eyes of the world, they were already husband and wife in all but name.

So, when he prepared to return to Yunyin Peak, Du Yuanluo insisted on following him no matter what. Even Jiang Linchuan’s logic and reasoning couldn’t persuade her otherwise.

Finally, he had no choice but to leave her behind sternly. Little did he know, Du Yuanluo was a devoted soul. Seeing her lover abandon her left her with no one to rely on and subjected her to public ridicule.

In her despair, she attempted to end her life. Jiang Linchuan hadn’t expected his mortal trip to incur such a heavy karmic debt of a human life, so he had no choice but to bring her back to the sect to beg the Sect Leader to save her.

But after kneeling for three days, he still hadn’t received the Sect Leader’s grace.

Rumors began to spread through Yunyin Peak. Among the outer disciples, it was whispered that the Senior Brother had gone to the mortal world and brought back a beautiful mortal bride, kneeling for three days to beg for the Sect Leader’s blessing.

Most voices condemned Jiang Linchuan and pitied Shen Qingyi. But Shen Qingyi never wanted pity, pity was for the weak, and it represented losing.

Cultivators struggle against fate itself, if one shows weakness or admits defeat, there is no point in cultivation.

However, Shen Qingyi felt that since Jiang Linchuan owed Du Yuanluo a life, it was only right to repay it.

Since the Sect Leader refused, she, as a member of the sect, also had a responsibility to settle this debt.

When she resurrected Du Yuanluo, Jiang Linchuan was not only incredibly grateful but also shocked: “Junior Sister, your cultivation has reached such a high level? You can bring the dead back to life?”

Shen Qingyi said nonchalantly, “Didn’t Senior Brother know that an internal alchemy core with a hundred years of cultivation can bring a person back to life?”

Jiang Linchuan turned pale with fright: “Junior Sister, you actually used your own internal alchemy? Damaging your alchemy hurts your body and destroys your cultivation! How could you do this?”

“If the body is hurt, it can be healed. If cultivation is lost, it can be re-cultivated. Since Senior Brother is so intent on repaying the favor, are you unwilling to make even this much sacrifice?”

Jiang Linchuan looked ashamed: “I am ashamed. I didn’t think of that. I owe you for this, Junior Sister.”

“We are both disciples of the Yunyin Sect. To outsiders, this is the sect’s debt and the sect’s repayment. Now that the favor is returned, it’s better to send her back to where she belongs soon.”

But once Du Yuanluo woke up, she was certain that Jiang Linchuan was her husband. In life, she was his person in death, she was his ghost. She would rather die at the gates of the Yunyin Sect watching him than leave.

Cultivators are usually indifferent to honor or disgrace, coming and going as they please. They had never seen such bone-deep obsession.

No one would wantonly take the life of an innocent mortal, so they could only allow her to linger at the mountain gate, refusing to leave.

Later, the Third Junior Sister couldn’t stand it anymore and scolded Du Yuanluo: “Do you know that the ‘Brother Jiang’ you crave is the fiancé of our Second Senior Sister? Their affection has been witnessed by the disciples for a hundred years. You, a mortal girl with nothing but empty words of ‘love,’ are trapping Senior Brother in dishonor and making Second Senior Sister lose face. Do you even know what love is?”

After hearing this, Du Yuanluo stopped pestering Jiang Linchuan, but instead knelt at Shen Qingyi’s door: “I beg Immortal Shen to give me a place to stay. Since I have given my heart to Brother Jiang, I will never have a second thought. I am willing to be a concubine or a maid to serve Immortal Shen, if only you will tolerate my presence.”

Shen Qingyi was born on Yunyin Peak, she had always been free and straightforward. She had never dealt with the tactics of mortal women.

She immediately dragged Jiang Linchuan over: “Senior Brother, this mortal girl has stated her heart. What say you? If you two are in love, I will beg the Sect Leader to fulfill your wishes. Though the Yunyin Sect doesn’t keep mortals, it’s a different story if she is your Daoist partner.”

Jiang Linchuan waved his hands frantically: “Junior Sister, don’t you know my heart? Since I love you, how could there be anyone else in my eyes?”

Jiang Linchuan was the most proud disciple of the sect, always carrying himself with natural arrogance. This was the first time Shen Qingyi saw him look panicked.

It was also the first time he had openly confessed his feelings to her, but in this setting, the confession sounded somewhat ironic.

She turned to Du Yuanluo and said: “Did you hear that? He said he has no room for you in his eyes. Why haven’t you left?”

Du Yuanluo bit her lip with her pearly teeth, her eyes welling with tears: “I know I cannot compare to Immortal Shen. I don’t dare to fight for a title. I only ask to stay by Brother Jiang’s side.”

Shen Qingyi always believed that if love exists, stay together, if the heart is gone, let it be. Encountering Du Yuanluo was like dealing with maltose, you can’t shake it off, and it leaves your hands sticky.

She flicked her sleeves in anger and walked away, seeking peace of mind.

To her surprise, Du Yuanluo really did cling to Yunyin Peak like a creeping vine.

Not only did she take root, but she also won the favor of many disciples.

Whether it was because the cultivators had never been exposed to the mortal world, or because Du Yuanluo was naturally born with a talent for charm, it didn’t take long for everyone in the sect to allow her to come and go freely. Many young disciples even followed her around eagerly.

Only Shen Qingyi and the Third Junior Sister, who shared the deepest bond with her, disliked Du Yuanluo.

Although Shen Qingyi had deep cultivation, she was terrible at guessing people’s hearts, she hadn’t even fully figured out her own.

At first, she thought she just couldn’t stand Du Yuanluo’s lowly, pitiful act, until the Third Junior Sister said: “Every time she acts pitiful, it’s to make you, Second Senior Sister, look like the villain.”

Shen Qingyi finally realized. Every time Du Yuanluo saw her, she would shrink like a frightened rabbit, not daring to look her in the eye. Even though Shen Qingyi had done and said nothing, it looked as if she were bullying the girl.

Sometimes Du Yuanluo would appear in public covered in bruises. When asked, she would shake her head with a look of suppressed grievance: “It’s nothing… I was just careless. It’s not a big deal.”

As she said it, she would faint.

The disciples of the Yunyin Sect were sympathetic to the weak, and Du Yuanluo was skilled at being sweet and diligent. She had already won their hearts. Since everyone except Shen Qingyi liked her, everyone assumed they knew who the “culprit” was, even if they didn’t say it out loud.

Shen Qingyi was a straightforward person. If she didn’t do it, she didn’t do it. She disdained explaining herself and felt no need to prove anything, but the looks the other disciples gave her became increasingly strange.

Once a role model for the juniors alongside her Senior Brother, she was now seen as a bully who relied on her status.

Although Du Yuanluo forced herself to stay on the peak, she stopped pestering Jiang Linchuan after he said he needed to focus on his cultivation. Instead, she tried to be diligent toward Shen Qingyi, but Shen Qingyi wouldn’t have it.

Not accepting her kindness was one thing, but bullying her because she was the Sect Leader’s daughter was a disgrace to the sect’s reputation.

Others didn’t dare speak up, but the Fifth Junior Sister, who was outspoken and righteous, grabbed Du Yuanluo’s sleeve one day, revealed the many bruises, and questioned Shen Qingyi in front of everyone.

Du Yuanluo cried and begged the Fifth Junior Sister: “Immortal Sister Five, it has nothing to do with Immortal Shen. It’s my fault, blame me, it’s all my fault.”

Originally, people only suspected Shen Qingyi. This tearful plea sounded like she was exonerating Shen Qingyi, but in reality, it sealed her guilt.

Shen Qingyi didn’t even know where to begin her defense, since Du Yuanluo had technically said it wasn’t her fault.

Not only did the disciples have opinions of her, but even the Sect Leader called her in for a lecture, warning her that cultivating the heart requires cultivating virtue.

In the entire Yunyin Sect, aside from the Third Junior Sister who was inseparable from her, only Jiang Linchuan trusted her.

“Junior Sister, we are cultivators, don’t lower yourself to the level of a mortal. Those are just the dirty, scheming tricks of the mortal world. Others don’t know, but having spent time there, how could I not? Just consider it a tribulation in your cultivation. I believe in your integrity.”

This allowed Shen Qingyi’s chaotic emotions to settle slightly.

But before they could truly be still, her heart was thrown into a turbulent storm once again.