Fifty-fifty odds were already shockingly high for the Ling sisters.
"Fifty percent?" Ling Hui'er grabbed Jiang Chen's arm and shook it vigorously. "Senior Brother Jiang Chen, then you absolutely have to save Father. I promise—as long as you put your heart and effort into saving him, no matter how it turns out, I won't go back on what I promised you the other day."
At the mention of "the other day," Jiang Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Despite her young age, Ling Hui'er constantly said things that caught him off guard. As she shook his arm now, her shockingly generous chest pressed against his forearm from time to time—those impossibly supple curves squeezing against him in a way that left him quite uncomfortable.
He shot a desperate glance at Ling Bi'er, struggling to keep his composure and prevent any untoward physical reaction. Right now, of all times, if that kind of response showed itself in front of these two sisters, it would be an utter disaster.
Ling Bi'er saw Jiang Chen's predicament and pulled Hui'er away at once. "Hui'er, don't be rude. This is a matter of great importance, and Senior Brother Jiang Chen surely has his own considerations."
Ling Hui'er pouted her little lips. "Sister, you'd better not try to steal him from me."
Ling Bi'er was speechless. She stepped forward and gave a proper bow, sleeves gathered neatly. "Senior Brother Jiang Chen, in all my life, Bi'er has never once begged anyone. For the sake of our father, I beg you to take action. No matter the outcome, my sister and I will serve you for the rest of our lives to repay your kindness."
Jiang Chen felt even more exasperated. These two sisters were each more formidable than the other. The whole situation made it seem as though he were some sort of villain forcing the sisters to sign away their lives.
He waved his hands in rapid denial. "Senior Sister Bi'er, we are fellow disciples—there is no need to speak of repayment. This matter first requires obtaining the specific antidote to the Miasma of Lost Mind. Nothing can be settled until after the trip to Illusory Wave Mountains. If we cannot gather all the Spiritual Medicine needed to counter this miasma, everything we say is just empty talk."
Ling Bi'er paused for a moment, then her bright eyes suddenly shot out a ray of joy: "If you say so, Junior Brother, does that mean you agree to take action?"
"Your sisters have done so much for your father. I am not made of stone or iron—naturally, I am moved by this. How could I possibly watch someone die without helping?"
Seeing Jiang Chen agree, both sisters were overjoyed. Ling Bi'er gently wiped the corner of her eye, while Ling Hui'er jumped up and down with excitement.
"Senior Brother Jiang Chen, Hui'er keeps her word. About that day, Hui'er won't go back on her promise. If you don't believe me, we can make a pinky swear."
Ling Hui'er extended her little finger, wanting to hook pinkies with Jiang Chen as a promise.
Jiang Chen smiled. "Junior Sister Hui'er, there's no need to mention those matters. If I were the kind of person to use favors as leverage for personal gain, I don't think you would feel at ease letting me treat your father."
Ling Hui'er was stunned, seeming a bit confused. In the sect, in Danxia Valley, so many young geniuses, when they looked at her, their eyes held a greedy light, as if they wanted to swallow her whole.
She felt that Senior Brother Jiang Chen must be the same. But what did it mean for him to say such a thing?
Ling Hui'er's thoughts were pure and straightforward. For a moment, she actually thought that Jiang Chen didn't like her.
After standing there in a daze for a moment, she finally looked up and asked, "Senior Brother Jiang Chen, don't you like Hui'er? Oh, you must like my older sister, right?"
Ling Bi'er's face flushed red the instant she heard this. But this time, she didn't scold Ling Hui'er. Instead, with her beautiful face burning crimson, she pretended not to have heard a thing and walked over to her father's bedside.
Yet her entire attention was fixed on Jiang Chen's reaction.
In that moment, Ling Bi'er was struck by a strange thought — she actually wanted to know how this Junior Brother Jiang Chen truly saw the two of them, the sisters.
"Sister Hui'er, both you and your sister are beauties, each with your own charm. Who in the sect wouldn't admire you two? However, if I were to take advantage of your situation for that reason, I would be worse than a beast."
Ling Hui'er only half-understood these words. But upon hearing them, Ling Bi'er's mood dipped slightly. She could tell that Jiang Chen regarded them differently from the other geniuses of the sect.
His help was absolutely not motivated by attraction to the sisters — it was purely, genuinely out of goodwill.
For a moment, Ling Bi'er felt a small pang of sorrow in her heart. She felt that even if every young talent in the entire sect pedestized them as heavenly fairies, it would still pale in comparison to the special regard Jiang Chen showed them.
But unfortunately, from Jiang Chen's words, Ling Bi'er couldn't feel that special regard at all.
Though slightly saddened, she steeled her resolve: "I, Ling Bi'er, am a weak woman, but I am someone who keeps her word. If Junior Brother Jiang Chen truly awakens Father, then even if I must serve as his maid, work like an ox or a horse, I will never regret it."
Ling Bi'er's cold-as-frost exterior was born of necessity. For two sisters surviving in such an environment, that aloof temperament helped shield them both.
To put it plainly, on one hand, it was her father's illness that added a layer of sharp melancholy and gloom to Ling Bi'er's temperament.
On the other hand, her ice-cold demeanor served as a barrier against unwanted advances—a form of self-preservation.
However, even the most unyielding iceberg, once met with a force that could melt it, would thaw and transform into a raging torrent.
Ultimately, a human heart is made of flesh.
Her aura might be frigid, but the heart within her chest burned hot. The only thing was, until now, there had never been anyone around whose rhythm could make her own heart beat in time.
And in this moment, Ling Bi'er seemed to vaguely sense that rhythm.
But as someone who was naturally slow to warm, when confronted with this moment, she felt a touch of nervousness, a fear of loss, and even dread.
On this point, Ling Bi'er knew she might not even measure up to her younger sister, Ling Hui'er.
Her sister, Ling Hui'er, still possessed a childlike heart, was direct in love and hate, and dared to love and to hate without reservation.