"Sleep?" Xu Xian seemed taken aback. All of Ye Wen's strenuous climbing was just so he could reach the mountain gate sooner and get back to bed.

While that wasn't the only reason Ye Wen was pushing himself up the mountain, the thought certainly crossed his mind: "Of course. Do you want to stand out here in the biting cold and wait foolishly for the sun to rise?"

He certainly didn't want to do that; in his opinion, it was utterly idiotic.

Seeing the seriousness on Ye Wen's face, Xu Xian knew he wasn't joking. He could only shake his head and offer a wry, helpless smile before shifting his attention to the imposing main gate before them.

Especially the plaque inscribed with the three characters Shu Shan Pai (Shushan Sect), hanging above the gate with undeniable grandeur, giving the impression of a major established sect at first glance.

Yet, who could guess that this sect currently consisted of only two people, and their sect leader was the young man standing right in front of him?

"Brother Ye's sect truly possesses great presence," Xu Xian said with genuine sincerity, his eyes sweeping repeatedly over the towering walls on either side, further emphasizing his words.

Although Ye Wen felt a secret surge of satisfaction, he kept his expression perfectly neutral, showing no sign of delight. Instead, he said dismissively, "Stop loitering here; I'll take you in."

He inwardly mused, I hope he isn't scared when he sees the inside.

Because the Shushan Sect gate was newly established, although a significant sum had been spent repairing the entrance, the actual living quarters constructed were few. They hadn't even built residences for disciples, storage for martial arts manuals, or the 'classroom' for literary studies—none of it was finished.

Ye Wen had only erected the large perimeter walls and built his own dwelling, aside from the two main halls. The rest was vast, open ground. Entering the Shushan Sect gate offered only one immediate impression: emptiness.

Indeed, as Ye Wen led the way inside, Xu Xian was visibly astonished by the sheer emptiness, opening his mouth as if to ask something, but ultimately holding the question back.

Since Xu Xian didn't ask, Ye Wen naturally wouldn't offer an explanation. He walked ahead silently, completely ignoring the curious Xu Xian craning his neck to look around behind him. After all, there were only a few rooms here, and not a single valuable item. The few slightly refined objects present were hardly the sort a young master from the Xu family would notice anyway.

But the unexpected always arrives suddenly. As Ye Wen walked forward preoccupied, he suddenly heard a sharp cry from ahead: "What rogue dares trespass upon the gate of my Shushan Sect!" From the sound of the voice, he knew it was his utterly insufferable junior sister, Ning Ruxue.

Before Ye Wen could reply, he heard the sound of objects slicing through the air, rushing directly toward him. Ye Wen immediately realized these were hidden projectiles thrown casually by Ning Ruxue. In this deep darkness, distinguishing anything by sight was impossible. In a panic, he drew his long sword and swept it in front of him, creating a blinding curtain of silver light, disregarding any form or technique, focusing only on tightly guarding all his vital points.

Even so, a few items managed to penetrate the guard, striking him with soft thuds—one on his Jianjing acupoint and another on his thigh. The strike to the thigh was insignificant; being well-fleshed there, it missed any critical meridians. However, the impact on the Jianjing point nearly cost him his life.

The instant the Jianjing acupoint was hit, Ye Wen felt his shoulder instantly numb, his arm went slack, and his internal energy seized up, making him nearly drop the sword he held.

What sent a cold sweat down his face was the sight of a flash of silver light cutting through the darkness—it was clearly Ning Ruxue, having drawn her own weapon and slashing directly at him.

"Junior Sister, stop! It's me!"

Fortunately, there was a significant pause between Ning Ruxue throwing the projectiles and drawing her sword, giving Ye Wen a critical window to shout. Otherwise, a genuine accident might have occurred.

If you get back home only to be hacked at by your own junior sister, that’s a story you’ll be telling for generations, he thought wryly.

Only when a lovely silhouette emerged from the darkness, and he saw her retract her sword, did Ye Wen finally let out a long breath. "Why would you attack without even asking?"

Ning Ruxue, hearing this, was equally short-tempered. She had likely been sleeping soundly when she sensed movement outside in the middle of the night and assumed some reckless intruder had broken in. Naturally, she was furious. She had been ready to deal with the threat properly, only to find it was her own senior brother.

"Why waste time greeting a trespasser? Just slice them down!"

Ye Wen felt the cold sweat continue. Under normal circumstances, he would have wholeheartedly agreed with Ning Ruxue’s logic. But if the roles were reversed, and he had been the one almost cleaved in half just now, the feeling would certainly not have been pleasant.

"Next time, make sure you look before you slice... Don't cut the wrong person."

Ning Ruxue rolled her eyes, thinking inwardly, If you hadn't decided to come back to the mountain at this ridiculous hour, we wouldn't have this ridiculous misunderstanding! Out loud, she snapped, "Weren't you supposed to be down the mountain? Why are you back in less than two days? Why come back now instead of later?"

Ye Wen finally remembered the real purpose of his return. He reached into his robes, pulled out a 15-tael silver note, and handed it directly to Ning Ruxue. "I found a job and got an advance payment. I’m heading south to Jiangzhou soon, so I brought this deposit to you first, just in case I'm delayed and you can't make ends meet."

Hearing this, Ning Ruxue took the silver note and instinctively moved to tuck it into her robes. It was then she realized, in her haste to rush out upon sensing an intruder, she had only thrown on a random outer garment. She was essentially wearing only her thin inner layer, having neglected to put on her proper outer clothes—utterly embarrassing.

Her face flushed crimson, and she quickly tightened her cloak, but her words remained sharp: "What do you mean, can't make ends meet? Do you think Sister Zhao and I can't survive without your 15 taels? Do you think I care?" Yet, her hand gripped the silver note tightly, showing no intention of letting go.

Ye Wen saw right through her stubborn façade and didn't argue, instead changing the subject. "Junior Sister, your skill with hidden weapons just now was impressive. I was careless and nearly fell for it. By the way, what projectile did you use? Luckily, it wasn't bladed, or I’d be bleeding right now."

Whatever hit him was clearly a blunt object—painful but harmless—so it probably wasn't something like throwing darts. Besides, they didn't keep such items on the mountain anyway. Ye Wen was curious what Ning Ruxue had used to strike him. "Were they pebbles?"

Mentioning this reminded Ning Ruxue of something instantly, and she cried out, "Oh! Now that you mention it, I almost forgot! Quick, let’s look for them! Those were money!"

"Money..."

Ye Wen went dumbfounded. He instantly understood what Ning Ruxue had thrown: "Holy smokes, this girl is actually practicing the Divine Throw technique?"

The brother and sister duo began fumbling around in the dark searching for copper coins, completely ignoring the presence of Xu Xian beside them—Ye Wen had been so distracted by the sudden events and his sister’s outburst that he forgot about the guest, and Ning Ruxue simply hadn't noticed an outsider was still standing there.

Poor Xu Xian, despite being a well-known handsome man and a famous scholar of his time, was treated as invisible. However, he didn't feel the least bit awkward; instead, he found the pair of siblings highly entertaining.

After watching for a while, he even picked up the few copper coins that Ye Wen's sword strike had knocked near his feet, walked over, and greeted them. "There are a few here."

It was only then that Ning Ruxue let out an "Ah," and asked, "Who are you?" But immediately after asking, she realized she had committed a colossal blunder.

First, mistaking her senior brother for a burglar, and after realizing it was a misunderstanding, she got caught up bickering with Ye Wen and completely failed to notice the outsider standing right there. More critically, she was practically in her underclothes—though by Ye Wen’s standards, she was still quite covered, in the context of their world, letting an outsider see one's inner garments was unthinkable.

Her senior brother seeing it was one thing; they had grown up together. While slightly embarrassing, it wasn't unacceptable. But a complete stranger...

"I will retire to my room for a moment and we can resume our talk shortly."

Without accepting the few coins Xu Xian offered, Ning Ruxue wrapped her cloak tightly around herself and dashed back into the room with quick footsteps. Soon after, Ye Wen saw candlelight flicker to life inside the room and the hall, presumably because Ning Ruxue, planning to talk in the main hall, had lit the lamps.

Seeing that Ning Ruxue was taking care of matters, Ye Wen gestured for Xu Xian to enter the hall, deftly snatching the coins from Xu Xian’s hand in passing. He didn't care if this seemed impolite; he assumed this Young Master Xu had already realized how poor they were.

Xu Xian smiled, stepped into the hall, and sat opposite Ye Wen in the seat of honor. After surveying the room, he said with a faint smile, "To be honest, Brother Ye, this mountain gate is... not quite what I envisioned."

Ye Wen didn't mind at all, replying quite candidly, "We are short on funds and have little money. Building these few structures already used up all our savings." He didn't find this shameful; money could be earned again, and this man standing before him was essentially a source of future income.

"Brother Ye is very frank," Xu Xian nodded, but his next sentence startled Ye Wen: "However, I didn't expect Brother Ye to choose this place as the location for his sect, and to have the perimeter walls erected before any proper housing was finished. It seems Brother Ye has ambitious plans."

Ye Wen’s heart gave a jolt. Mixed with the surprise was a feeling of relief: Finally, it's here. I knew you didn't just come to see the sunrise. Just state your purpose sooner, and I won't have to guess like a blind man.

"What makes Young Master Xu say that?"

Xu Xian didn't reply, not even looking at Ye Wen. Instead, he stood up, walked to the doorway, and began looking intently to the left and right.

Since he remained silent, Ye Wen didn't press him, simply waiting seated for Xu Xian to continue. After a moment, Xu Xian finally spoke, "Would Brother Ye accompany me for a brief walk around?"