Yin Yang Soul Searcher

"Sister, I'm back," Bai Jueming replied, and then there was silence in the courtyard.

In her memory, the original owner was very afraid of this older sister, after all, she took care of her younger brothers and sisters in the family as both an older sister and a mother.

The biological parents might be reluctant to hit the child, but the older sister would definitely not be willing to hit her too lightly.

A moment later, Bai Jueming heard running sounds coming from inside the doorway, heading towards the main entrance. The door creaked open.

A little girl with her hair in two buns peeked her head out from the crack in the door, her innocent big eyes darting around.

Upon seeing Bai Jueming, she exclaimed with delight, "Big brother, you're back!" and then ran towards Bai Jueming with open arms.

The little girl, dressed in bright red, was Bai Jueming's younger sister, Bai Wantang.

Bai Jueming smiled and scooped up the little girl who ran towards him. "Did you miss your big brother?"

The little girl nodded vigorously: "Yes!"

"Sweetie, look what your big brother bought for you." Bai Jueming held up the steamed bun in his hand and waved it in front of the little girl.

"It smells so good!" The little girl's eyes lit up.

"Big brother bought you meat buns." Bai Jueming smiled and carried the little girl into the courtyard.

A path paved with gravel leads directly to the main house in the courtyard. Stone tables and benches are placed beside the path. There are two large trees in the courtyard. One is a jujube tree, and the other... is a willow tree, although the willow tree has a few branches.

A woman was sitting on the steps of the main house, doing embroidery. Although she was dressed simply, her beautiful face was still evident.

This is Bai Wanfang, the original owner's older sister. Her name is quite elegant, but her personality is not necessarily elegant.

The woman looked up, revealing her beautiful face. Her hair was casually tied up, with a wooden hairpin inserted at an angle. She glanced expressionlessly at Bai Jueming, then put down her needlework. She said to the little girl, "Xiao Tang, go close the door."

Oh no, the eldest sister is about to hit someone. Whenever the original owner went out for several days without contacting her family, she always ended up getting a beating.

The little girl said "Oh," got off Bai Jueming, and picked up the steamed buns. She then closed the courtyard gate, ran inside, and closed the door behind her. She left Bai Jueming with a slightly worried look.

Bai Jueming sensed the situation was turning bad and wanted to return to his side room. Just as he was about to take a step, his elder sister said coldly, "Stand up straight."

Bai Jueming froze, straightening up abruptly. He was drenched in sweat. Then, he quickly put on a fawning smile: "Sister, dear sister. I have to go to the outhouse."

"It's not too late to go later," the eldest sister said, walking up to Bai Jueming. She broke off a willow branch from a nearby tree and ripped off all the leaves. She then whipped Bai Jueming's calf hard. A crisp crack echoed in the courtyard. Her technique was practiced.

"Ah!" Bai Jueming screamed in pain, sweat beading on his forehead. He ran while hitting her, then hurriedly begged for mercy, "Sister, dear sister, I won't do it again, please don't hit me anymore."

Although Bai Jueming is a cultivator, the improvement to physical fitness from being an eighth-rank Yin-Yang Master is almost negligible; he is currently only a functional cultivator. His body is not even as resilient as a strong man.

Bai Wanfang pointed at Bai Jueming with a willow branch and said angrily, "You want a next time? I'm going to teach you a lesson today." Then she lashed out with the whip again.

After an incense stick had burned... Bai Jueming sat on the steps, grinning.

Bai Wanfang sat beside her, doing her embroidery while sneering, "I didn't beat you enough. How dare you go out for so many days without sending a word home. Next time, I'll beat you so badly you won't be able to get out of bed."

Am I still your brother? Will you abuse your husband after you get married? Bai Jueming smiled apologetically, "Sister, I'm going to earn money. Look." He pulled out the silver note from his sleeve.

Bai Wanfang raised her hand and slapped Bai Jueming's scalp: "Did you earn that money on the black market again? How many times have I told you not to go to those places again? They're not under the jurisdiction of the government. I told you to learn a proper skill, but you won't listen. How are you going to get married in the future?"

"Sister, don't hit me yet. Let me finish. I didn't go to the black market." Bai Jueming quickly explained, otherwise the scalping wouldn't stop.

Sure enough, upon hearing that her younger brother hadn't gone to the black market, Bai Wanfang stopped. However, she still coldly asked, "Then how did you earn this money?"

"Sister, a few days ago when I went out, I ran into a group of people from the Yin-Yang Palace arresting criminals."

"Just then, the prisoner ran towards me, so I used some magic to slow him down. Then we started wrestling, and that's how I got my injuries," Bai Jueming lied through his teeth.

"Is that so?" Bai Wanfang looked at him suspiciously.

"Sister, I wouldn't dare lie to you, no matter who else I lie to," Bai Jueming continued. "Afterwards, the criminal was caught, and the Yin-Yang Palace rewarded me with fifty taels of silver."

Their constable, seeing my fearlessness and courage, greatly admired me and wanted me to join the Yin-Yang Palace. I agreed.

Bai Wanfang said anxiously, "How could you agree to this? I heard that the Yin-Yang Palace specializes in handling cases involving cultivators, which is very dangerous. No, you must go and tell the people at the Yin-Yang Palace now that you are not capable of taking on this responsibility."

That's probably beyond my control. If I hadn't gone, you probably would never have seen me again in your entire life. The Heavenly Prison of the Yin-Yang Palace is not a place you can just casually visit.

"Sister, don't worry. The Yin-Yang Palace promised me that they wouldn't put me in any danger until I have a certain level of self-protection ability. They only want me to help analyze the case."

"Besides, this is a legitimate business, so we won't have to go to the black market anymore," Bai Jueming said seriously.

The older sister was indeed ruthless, but you could also feel her concern for her younger brother. She wouldn't let him go to the black market to find work because she was afraid he would run into a powerful cultivator and get killed without any recourse.

So for many years, I've been encouraging my younger brother to learn a trade, run the family shop, and live a stable life. I also want to make some embroidery and sell it on the street to help my brother get married as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the original owner didn't think that way. He felt that doing business honestly was tiring and wouldn't earn much money. Besides, he needed to cultivate, and buying cultivation resources was very expensive. So, he could only take a shortcut and find some quick money in the black market. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and he failed this time.

As for getting married, the original owner felt that women would only hinder his sword-drawing speed. He hadn't even been to that kind of place.

Sure enough, upon hearing that Bai Jueming could stay away from the black market, Bai Wanfang nodded with a worried expression: "Let's go to the Yin-Yang Palace then. It's much better than the black market. The Yin-Yang Palace is, after all, an official government office, so there's some protection."

"Sister, you're so understanding," Bai Jueming said with a smile, then called into the house, "Xiao Tang, come out."

The little girl in the bright red coat first peeked through the crack in the door to make sure her older sister wasn't hitting her older brother anymore. Then she ran out with the steamed buns in her arms, wanting to eat with them. Bai Jueming said he had already eaten, so he squatted down next to his older sister and ate his buns.

Bai Wanfang took a bite of her steamed bun, as if she had just thought of something: "Since you agreed to join the Yin-Yang Palace, why did you stay for so many days before coming back?"

"Yes, why?" Seeing Bai Wanfang's increasingly hostile gaze, Bai Jueming had a sudden inspiration: "Because I helped capture that criminal, the Yin-Yang Palace was worried that I would face retaliation from their accomplices, so they let me stay at the Yin-Yang Palace for a few days. It was also to help me get used to the environment. They only let me leave after the Yin-Yang Palace had captured all those criminals."

Bai Wanfang nodded with some doubt, and said nothing more. Bai Wantang blinked her big eyes, biting into a bun while looking at her older brother.

"Oh, right, sister, I'm going to catch up on some sleep. I haven't slept well for days at the Yin-Yang Palace." Bai Jueming stuffed fifty taels of silver into Bai Wanfang's hand. Then he got up, stretched, and went to the side room. "Don't call me for lunch, just call me for dinner."

Bai Wanfang looked at the silver notes in her hand, then responded and continued embroidering. Xiao Tang clumsily tried to learn from her.