I’m An All Stars System - Chapter 18 2.3 Star Painter

Tentatively raising her head, she looked cautiously at him.

“Elder brother, is it possible for you not to keep staring at Xiu Ying, I don’t think I can eat.” There, let’s see what you have to say about that.

Looking at her younger sister’s amusing face and hearing her slightly annoyed voice, he thought she no longer seemed gloomy, he liked her this way better.

“Xiu Ying, don’t worry and keep eating, your elder brother is only watching you eat just in case you choke.” There’s no way he’ll stop watching her, his heart had given birth to a desire to just keep watching and he wasn’t going to stop.

Listening to the hidden meanings between his words, Tian He’s eyelids couldn’t help but twitch a bit in irritation. How shameless can this half-brother of hers be? She swore that she’ll get him back for this. Her wrongful expression peaked at him from the plate in front of her. Right now, this princess is too weak to fight you but once I become stronger, you’re going to be the first person I seek.

Cheng Da who saw her wronged expression couldn’t help but think that it looked super cute, her cheeks that pouted from her small frustration made him want to pinch them. How can anyone be so adorable? He really wanted to continue watching her many funny and delightful expressions.

Although his desire was curbed due to his worry over her hunger, it still hadn’t vanished and her being in front of him is only making it worse, especially when she shows such adorable expressions to him. He really should just take her to his room and lock her up, such expressions should only be shown to him.

His desire to possess Xiu Ying was sudden but he didn’t force himself to forget it. He had always known that he was cold and emotionless to the opposite sex. At first, he thought that he was somewhat abnormal, but his mindset changed when he saw his younger sister today. He felt an incredible desire and excitement like no other when he first smelled her honey scent and looked into those bright eyes of hers. It was an attraction that he didn’t want to get rid of, his heart felt too pleasant and comfortable. He had never such feelings, but now that he had gotten a taste, he didn’t want to stop it.

Looking at the younger sister who was having trouble eating because of his soul strength reaching out towards her, he smiled in amusement, he felt that he liked teasing her like this. Even though this was the first time he took the initiative to stretch out his soul strength onto someone else, it felt too incredible to feel her with it that he didn’t want to stop.

Tian He was silently cursing non-stop at her half-brother inside her head, even with her active plea he was still giving her the feeling that something was burning her, her hands were starting to shake from the pressure of it. She had never had such a difficult time eating a meal.

She realized that playing the part of a younger sister who was afraid of her own elder brother was simply too difficult. She suddenly missed her last mission, why didn’t she occupy a target’s body that wasn’t timid and was good at expressing her thoughts. She was already trying her best not to fling her pair of chopsticks at the irritating person who was trying to bore a hole through her with his burning gaze.

This can’t continue, since her pleas don’t work, she’ll try to change the subject, at least that will keep his mind off of trying to constantly burn her with his gaze.

Turning her head back to her elder brother, she cautiously speaks, “Elder brother, Xiu Ying actually has something to report to you, but doesn’t really know how to say it.”

Curious with her sudden initiative, he happily replies, “Oh, what does younger sister Xiu Ying want to tell me? I promise that I won’t get angry so speak your mind.”

He felt that he really liked talking to this younger sister of his, he wondered how come he didn’t discover this amazing side of hers before. No matter, now that she was here with him, he’ll make it that she couldn’t leave him. Since she was still a bit afraid of him, he’ll take it slowly, he didn’t like the fact that she stared at him in fear earlier. His heart felt like something had squeezed it, if he didn’t have to, he doesn’t want to force her.

Taking a deep breath, she looked seriously at her half-brother besides her.

“Elder brother, Xiu Ying actually came to eat with you today because of a particular reason, I’m not sure if elder brother will trust in what I have to say though.”

If this doesn’t work, then she has other means to get rid of that nanny, but since she had her brother’s attention, she’ll use that to her advantage. She was originally planning on letting that nanny get away with just being fired but since she felt extra frustrated because of this half-brother of hers, some people are going to have to share her pains.

“Don’t worry, younger sister Xiu Ying, you have my trust.” Always, Xiu Ying, you will always have my trust, his gaze deepens as he declares to himself.

“Xiu Ying thinks that Nanny Lan is getting onto her years and is having trouble performing her duties as my nanny. I didn’t really want to tell elder brother, but Nanny Lan had forgotten to remind the servants in the main kitchen to make my meal, thus leading me to come here in hopes to eat elder brother’s delicious food.”

She made sure she shed some tears in front of him, although the effect backfired and made them awkward earlier, this was entirely different since he wasn’t touching her, and she could tell that he was being serious when he said that he’ll trust her.

His hands clenched a bit in anger and his mind grew hatred for this Nanny Lan that he hired. Very good, Nanny Lan, since you dared to bully Xiu Ying then you can just disappear forever, I don’t need people that are useless and frustrating.

“Younger sister Xiu Ying, thank you for telling your elder brother, I will make sure that Nanny Lan is properly taken care of.”

“Actually elder brother, since Nanny Lan is already so old, she will probably have trouble finding work elsewhere, I feel bad for telling you already. I have a proposal, what if you just let Nanny Lan stay here in the small servant’s courtyard near mines, after all, Nanny Lan has taken care of me for so long, I couldn’t bear for her to leave.”

Catching the slight mischievous glint in his younger sister’s bright eyes, “If that is what younger sister Xiu Ying wants, then of course, elder brother will agree to your proposal.”

Since Xiu Ying has decided to deal with you, I won’t interfere, but just in case, I’ll have my guards posted around her courtyard. He can also have them report to him about her daily affairs to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again. Her body was too weak to begin with, if she misses her meals, she’ll only get weaker. Better yet, its more beneficial for her to eat with him, if she wasn’t so occupied with something today then he doubted she would have gotten so hungry then she almost fainted.

Before Tian He could smile in delight for her accomplishment, she heard her half-brother’s voice.

“However, Xiu Ying, elder brother has a condition. Since I’m worried that you will miss your future meals, you have to promise elder brother that you’ll eat with me for all meals from now, or else I won’t give Nanny Lan to you.” He could also enjoy looking at her eat and touch her with his soul strength more, although it felt extremely comfortable to him and not so much for her, with his constant tempering, she’ll be able to increase her soul strength more.

“Ah, that, elder brother, Xiu Ying” What was she supposed to say? She could barely eat a meal comfortably with him right now and now he wants to have all her meals with her, isn’t that telling her to starve?

Irritated at her unwillingness, he pushes her with his words. “Younger sister Xiu Ying might not be aware but while you eat, I can also take my precious time to temper your soul strength to make it grow stronger, this will help you increase your painting skills and control over your soul strength.”

His words stopped the reply she was about to give. Soul strengths could be used to temper and increase others’ soul strength?

She really wanted to ask about it more it detail but that would just be exposing her identity, the original owner was already a freshman in her half-brother’s esteem Arts college; if she suddenly asked something that anyone attending just entry level of education would know, she would probably be arrested or worst, killed immediately for posing as another person. She did not want to get to know the feeling of being killed anytime soon.

“Actually elder brother, Xiu Ying has been meaning to ask you to appraise my painting skills, I don’t know if you have the time later to come and see a painting that I’ve recently completed?”

She really didn’t want to keep sharing meals with this half-brother of hers, once she gets him to demonstrate his paintings skills and summon it to life, she was sure she could learn it and immediately be able to do it.

She was just that confident in her learning skills, even if people were to betray others, her skills will never betray or fail her.

She has already seen her fair share of fickle people and is fully aware of how disloyal other people’s hearts can be. Since her imperial mother had to share her imperial father’s love with others in the large harem, she would occasionally display sadness and emptiness when she thought she wasn’t looking. Sadly, her imperial mother was also a woman who thought she could win over her imperial father’s heart completely, but in the end, he failed her trust and love, thus making her just one of the many consorts in the palace.

In order to make sure her imperial mother was motivated to stay alive, she gave something for her to look forwards to. Since she was a Princess and couldn’t inherit the throne, the only thing that could capture her attention was to learn new things to show her imperial mother and get her to praise her so that she’ll feel like her existence means something.

She began to learn and master any skills in a frenzy, all so she could grab her imperial father’s attention for her imperial mother. Eventually, her gamble won, with each new skill she learned, her imperial father came over to imperial mother’s residence more and she finally saw her imperial mother smile more.

However, that did not decrease the guard she had towards others, she knew that some people’s friendliness was fake and since she had received more of her imperial father’s love and care, she realized just how envy and other negative feelings can drive a person overboard. She felt that those people were pitiful, but she didn’t bother about them since she used her hard work to make sure her imperial father ‘cared’ for them.

Eventually, she became addicted with the feeling of accomplishment from mastering new skills and she realized that there was no way she could stop learning, it was her motivation and the only means of excitement she had in that large harem that was her home.

In a sense, it was her survival straw that she clung to.

Cheng Da saw the complicated and sad emotions flash across his younger sister’s eyes, he didn’t like how she was displaying such feelings, he felt like her thoughts were about something he couldn’t understand, and his heart couldn’t help but feel distressed and a bit of fear. This foreign feeling was immensely uncomfortable, it caused a strong urge to immediately eliminate it to sprout forth from his heart.

He needed to know and understand what was making her express such emotions in her eyes, if not, then his heart might just tear with the increasing amount of distress it was building up.

“Xiu Ying, elder brother will now always have time to check out your paintings, anytime that you have something you need to ask me, I will always be available to answer you.”

He was really scared, the expression she was showing was too much for him to handle, his heart throbbed in pain and fear, he could only let himself become her pillar, she won’t have to worry about anything now that she has him to look after. He felt so much guilt for not properly taking care of this younger sister of his ever since his parents died, but that will change from now on. He’ll make sure she never gets a chance to show such a lonely expression again.

Tian He woke up from her chaotic thoughts of her past due to his words. She realizes that all of this doesn’t matter now, as soon as she gets back, she’ll have more than enough new skills to show her imperial mother and father. She will learn them all, it will be her solace and fun.

“Elder brother, Xiu Ying thanks you ahead of time for agreeing, if I ever need anything, I’ll make sure to ask elder brother.” She probably won’t need to ask him for help again after the first time, but she couldn’t be impolite to him since he was offering.

Relieved of her promise, Cheng Da secretly declares to himself that he’ll teach her to the best of his abilities, with such a weak physique and low soul strength, she could easily run into trouble if he wasn’t there to protect her. It would be too late to regret it if something really did happen.

“Good, elder brother promises to teach you until you’re strong enough to protect yourself.” He could also use the time to slowly get to know more things about this interesting yet lovable ‘half-sister’ of his.

Surprised at his sudden promise, she blanks out for a bit, but soon she regains herself and smiles softly. At least, it looks like the original owner was cared for after all, but whether his promise is real or not, she’ll have to wait and see. If it’s genuine, then she could relax and give all the care of the original owner to him when she leaves.

Originally, she was planning on getting hired to exhibit her paintings at one of the esteem Art Museums after displaying her painting skills in the annual Arts Contest of this territory, but now that there’s a chance to have her half-brother to be her full backing, the original owner could paint at ease with her safety taken care of.

As a fellow artist, she couldn’t tolerate for such a talented artist to be snipped at the bud by people with ulterior motives.

“Elder brother, are you done eating? Is it okay if we go look at my painting now?” After waiting awhile for her stomach to settle the food, she was no longer hungry.

Cheng Da didn’t immediately reply to his younger sister’s question but looked at the other people in the room that were almost sweating buckets from his soul strength and laughed silently to himself. Since you were originally here with harmful motives, you only have yourselves to blame for this small punishment. I won’t tear off my face completely with you now, but if you don’t know how to control yourselves later, I’ll gladly take care of you.

He coldly smiles at the Shi family couple, “Clan Leader Shi and Madam Shi, this midday meal has been an ‘eye-opener’ for me, but I’m afraid I have something to attend to and won’t be able to accompany you any longer.”

Seeing their unwilling expression, he gladly continues, “If Clan Leader Shi is still adamant about your earlier proposal, then I’m afraid that the Wang clan will have trouble cooperating with the Shi clan from now on.”

The Shi family couple immediately showed a fearful expression, although they will unwilling to have their earlier proposal dismissed, they couldn’t lose cooperation with the Wang clan entirely. Their Shi clan was just one of the many slightly powerful clans in this territory, it was just an ant compared to the giant power of the Wang clan.

They both got up from their seats and politely saluted before walking out the dining room doors where servants were already waiting for them to escort them out of the mansion. Zhang Li looked briefly in Cheng Da’s direction before moving her gaze to Tian He who sat with her head lowered, Xiu Ying just you wait, Cheng Da will eventually be mine. She no longer dallied and followed her parents out of the mansion.

Cheng Da saw the slight glimpse of resoluteness and hidden intentions within Zhang Li’s eyes, but he didn’t dwell on it longer since her Shi family was too weak to do anything to shake his Wang family.

He finally turned his attention to his younger sister who was sending him inquiring glances, laughing slightly for her cuteness, he spoke, “Xiu Ying, since the nuisances have left, let’s go see that painting of yours.”

Tian He slightly nodded and followed her half-brother out the dining room towards her small courtyard.

When they reached the entrance of her small courtyard, the two guards that stood outside of it opened their eyes wide in shock, they couldn’t believe that the exalted young clan leader would actually accompany the neglected adopted young miss to her courtyard, wasn’t he always nonchalant about his attitude towards the young miss, why the sudden change of heart today?

Although they couldn’t figure out the reasons, it was enough to know that the young clan leader was starting to pay attention to the young miss now and they couldn’t afford to offend her just in case she points it out to the young clan leader. They immediately adjusted their posture and tried to stand straighter, but since they were used to being lazy on the job, their sudden actions of wanting to appear alert looked awkward and a bit silly.

Tian He caught her guards’ movement and couldn’t help but smile slightly, since you don’t like your jobs, I’ll gladly help you retire.

Tugging on her elder brother’s sleeves, she looked up tentatively at him, “Elder brother, Xiu Ying has always wondered about something, don’t know if elder brother would help me find the answer.”

Feeling the warm fingers through his sleeves, he couldn’t help but think that they felt comfortable, “What is younger sister Xiu Ying curious about? Elder brother will do his best to answer.” His voice unnoticeably softens as he felt that she was finally not that scared of him since she had the courage to take the initiative to ask for his help.

Smiling softly, she replies to him, “Xiu Ying has always wanted to know how strong the guards that protect Xiu Ying are. They must be very powerful since they’re guarding one of the residences of the Wang clan’s mansion, right?” She didn’t forget to flash an innocent smile at the guards who were already shaking from nervousness after overhearing their conversation.

“Oh? The strength of younger sister’s guards is of course powerful, in order to prove my words, let’s test them, shall we?” He immediately called for a few of his guards to fight with his younger sister’s guards, the last thing he wanted was for her to feel insecure in her own home.

Cheng Da’s guards swiftly arrives and starts battling against Tian He’s guards, although they didn’t use summons from their paintings, their blows against each other was already enough to send a normal person flying, but unfortunately for Tian He’s guards, they met up against a few elites’ guards from Cheng Da’s personnel and was pummeled consecutively until they couldn’t even fight back. The difference in strength was just too much, the constant appearance of black and purple bruises on their bodies was enough to put them in bed for months.

Tian He saw how strong her half-brother guards were and couldn’t help but be astounded, weren’t they a little too strong? If these were just guards, then how strong was this half-brother of hers? She unconsciously looks away from the battle scene and stares at the figure beside her. She grew puzzled, since her half-brother was this strong, what happened to him that he couldn’t even prevent the original owner from getting arrested before?

She couldn’t help but think that there’s more to the story than meets the eye.

After her guards suffered constant defeat, their strength finally caved in and were knocked out by their opponents. Cheng Da’s guards immediately dragged their unconscious bodies away and before she knew it, they leaped over the rooftop and disappeared.

She could only imagine the horrible re-training that awaited her ‘pitiful’ guards, she guessed that this punishment was worse than them getting fired and was satisfied with the results. Now that her guards were getting replaced, she could finally rest assured that no one would arbitrarily enter her courtyard.

When they entered her courtyard and Tian He unlocked the door to her small painting room, Cheng Da couldn’t help but gasp in surprise at the number of canvases that crowded the small room. Although there were many, he noticed that they were all neatly stacked against the walls, nothing in the room didn’t represent that the owner wasn’t organized.

However, he couldn’t help but feel that the paintings on the walls were a bit dreary looking, like they were missing something essential that needed to bring themselves to life and judging by the looks of it, Xiu Ying needed help in that aspect. Although her painting skills were no doubt superb, she was missing the most important part that required her to successfully summon the painting to life, this part required the use of strong soul strength and compatibility with one’s paintings, something that requires her to overcome herself. He could only describe his own experience, hopefully that would help her in completing a summon.

Tian He looked at the recent painting of swans swimming on a shimmering lake that she ‘completed’, admiring it briefly, she turned to her elder brother, “Elder brother, this is the painting that I wanted you to look at, I don’t know if it’s any good or not.”

Cheng Da walked over and immediately spotted the marvelous painting of the swans’ swimming on a lake that reflected the red-orange color of the skies. He was astounded, this painting properly depicted the life of all the aspects in the painting; the swimming swans and fishes, the plants and corals, and even the skies look more alive as it overlooked the red-orange lake beneath it. He was incorrect, Xiu Ying didn’t need his help at all, although he felt that the amount of soul strength inserted within the painting was too small, it was enough for her to summon it to life.

“Xiu Ying, the painting itself is perfect, the swans, plants, and the lake together create a marvelous balance, it’s just that your control over your soul strength needs to be honed, there’s really isn’t anything I can teach you. What you need now is practice and experience, once you’ve accumulated enough, your soul strength and control over it will gradually increase; and with its nurture, your body’s physique will no longer be as weak. When that happens, you could paint and summon stronger beings to life.”

Hearing the good praises from her half-brother’s mouth, Tian He couldn’t help but blush a little, this was actually the first time someone praised her painting with such honest enthusiasm besides her imperial mother, her heart felt a bit happy about his sincere appraisal.

“Thank you for your praise, elder brother. But now that elder brother has seen my painting, is it okay for Xiu Ying to request elder brother to show her his paintings?” She needed to learn how to actually summon it to life.

Seeing her look at him with eyes so full of expectation, he couldn’t refuse. “Of course Xiu Ying, I’ll be happy to demonstrate my painting skills to you.” He’ll paint something good as a gift for her.

Tian He moved away for him to occupy the seat and started to watch him paint. As he painted, she noticed that a red glow would emit out from his body and flow from his fingers into the painting, it was absorbed bit by bit into the painting. Is this soul strength? She also noticed that only a little was emitted each time he dabbed onto the canvas, and the amount was surprisingly the same as the previous one he released. What amazing control of soul strength he has. Tian He’s heart couldn’t help but give birth to a small bit of admiration towards him.

When he placed down his brush to signal his completion the painting, she couldn’t stop herself from gasping in awe, his paintings skills were just too great. In front of her was a painting that perfectly displayed a black-striped white tiger lifting its paws up to attack and roar at a black-striped orange tiger, it looked like they were fighting over the dead prey that laid on the ground a few meters away from them.

She could sense the sharp weapons that were their claws and the strength of their powerful limbs, the ferocious glint in their eyes as they looked at each other was pure beastly instinct that desired to kill their opponent. The dangerous feeling this painting gave her was entirely different from the comforting feeling of her painting, while hers was a comforting paradise for the peaceful swans and the other lifeforms in the lake, his was the perfect depiction of bloody slaughter and the horrible cruelty of having to survive in the wild. She was too astounded by the skills used to paint this.

However, before she could get over her amazement, she saw her half-brother suddenly point his fingers towards his painting, the red glow emitted out from his body was huge, it surrounded the whole painting and before she knew it, she saw a real life black-striped white tiger in front of her. It was too realistic looking, its soft white fur, slaughterous gaze, the sharp glint of its claws, and the way it opened its huge mouth to reveal the sharp teeth in it, there was no way this looked fake in any way.

Cheng Da saw her dazed expression and couldn’t help but playfully laugh, “Xiu Ying, let elder brother test the level of your soul strength, summon to life anything in your painting and have it battle against my tiger.”

When Tian He heard his words, she opened her eyes wide in disbelief, you’ve got to be kidding with me, right? There’s no way her delicate swans can fight against this, even if she combined the many silver and orange-scaled fishes in the lake, it’s nowhere near enough!

She could already imagine the picture of her small swans and fishes getting pulverized. It was too pitiful of a scene.

However, before Tian He could politely refuse, she suddenly saw the black-striped tiger use its powerful limps to leap in her direction with its claws stretched out in an attacking motion.

No way!

She felt like her mind was going to explode, her eyes dilated in fear as she watched its fast-powerful claws and sharp teeth come for her.
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