Responsible son-in-law
"Ning'er!" happily greeted the holographic image of Ye Ziyun. Xiao Ning'er was laying in her bed preparing for sleep when Ye Ziyun called her. Since they had gotten their communication artifacts that Nie Li called with a strange name "cellphones" two days ago they had tested their abilities thoroughly.
Well, Nie Li told them that there were no limits to the 'calls'. They could charge it themselves with their soul force and it didn't require much energy. It was the most impressive artifact they had seen. It could do so many things. But what they liked most was the video and holo calls. They could talk anytime they wanted and could see each other too.
They talked with Nie Zexi, Nie Li's cousin, a couple of times and she was as excited about the "phones" as they were. She liked to take pictures of the inscription patterns from the books to use as a reference later. She wanted to create a catalog of all of the known inscription patterns. Girls even felt a bit bad about using such a useful artifact for some frivolous uses hearing that.
But Nie Li reassured them during his call that these artifacts were created as communication devices firstly and the calls didn't cost anything. If they won't forsake their cultivation for some frivolous things it would be alright. It was not a problem for them. Their abstruse gemstone necklaces allowed them to cultivate even when they were idle and they were already accustomed to cultivating for hours daily.
And it looks like calling each other every night to share the news is going to be their new tradition as well. They liked to call Nie Li too but he was busy with something tonight. Both girls were curious about what he was doing but didn't pry. If it was important he will tell them himself. They had their own secrets after all. They just hoped that he wasn't going into another adventure leaving them behind.
"Hello, Ziyun. How was your day?" considering they were alone she didn't bother with making herself presentable. She and Ye Ziyun had many sleepovers in their childhood and after restoring their friendship lately so seeing each other with a bit damp hair after a bath wasn't new for them. Of course, if Nie Li was also on the call they would have scrambled to look better, but he did not make video calls this late anyway.
Unknown to the girls Nie Li wouldn't have minded seeing them in a more homely look, but sensible enough not to press his luck too much yet.
"We talked at the noon." Ye Ziyun reminded her smiling and continued conceding, "But I have news anyway."
"What news?"
"My father asked about Nie Li. It looks like the guards at the mansion recognized me."
"Oh, what did he say?" she was a bit curious about the City Lord's reaction to his daughter associating with Nie Li.
"He asked who he was, his family background, and so on. But I got the feeling that he already knew about him. Most likely he already got him investigated." Xiao Ning'er nodded at that. The City Lord must have gotten reports about every classmate of theirs. He would be wary about underhanded schemes against his daughter. "Did your father ask about him?" Ye Ziyun asked disturbing Xiao Ning'er's thoughts.
"Yes, I told him about Nie Li after the auction. He was curious about how I had another set of treasures from the expedition."
"And how did he take it? I mean does he know that we… umm…" Ye Ziyun blushed, stumbling over her words. She didn't know what to call their three-way relationship with Nie Li yet.
"No. But I don't think he would be against the idea" Xiao Ning'er replied also blushing. "Did your father ask about that?"
"Luckily no. He asked some strange questions about his alchemy knowledge, inscriptions, how far his cultivation reached, and so on. As if he wanted to recruit him." Ye Ziyun spoke thoughtfully.
"Did you tell him about the Ghost Manor?" Xiao Ning'er asked.
"No, I didn't know if Nie Li would like that. He may want to keep it secret."
"Yeah. That's why I wasn't able to ask my father about the events 70 years ago. He might have become curious and I didn't know if I could tell him."
"That scoundrel! What's he doing anyway? I hope he had not gone on another adventure and left us behind," said Ye Ziyun griping.
"You didn't like our previous one" Xiao Ning'er reminded her
"Ugh. Don't remind me. I watch for ghosts everywhere now." Ye Ziyun said looking around.
"Yes, me too. But the benefits we got were great as well," Xiao Ning'er said.
"Yes. I think my cultivation speed is at least 40% faster now. And I can feel the natural energy around me better" Ye Ziyun excitedly said.
"Before meeting Nie Li my wish was to reach the 1-star bronze rank till the exams and impress my father," she continued a bit subdued. "But know I am hiding my current cultivation speed from him. I told him I haven't checked my soul force yet." She was a bit disgruntled.
She was ignored since childhood because of Ye Han. Everyone in her family lauded his talent. Her own father spent more time with him than with her. She felt like she was a disappointment to her family. But now she was halfway to the silver rank and couldn't boast proudly about it to her father.
"I don't think we can hide it much longer. The physical changes will give us away. All of our servants were staring at me today. I think my father will ask about it in the near future. If not him then my uncles will question it."
"Yes. We must as Nie Li what we can tell about that. I don't like lying to my father. And I'm not good at it anyway." Ye Ziyun said.
"They will be curious about the source of his knowledge if we tell them about everything." Xiao Ning'er said.
"You are talking about sister Zexi's theory about his hidden master?"
"Yes. I don't know if it's true, but Nie Li himself never spoke about the source of his knowledge. So he might intend to keep it secret."
"I don't buy that hidden master theory as well." Ye Ziyun replied. "But thinking about my conversation with my father I think he could have been hinting at that."
"How much does your father know about him?" asked Xiao NIng'er surprised.
"I don't know. I hadn't understood what he was talking about then, only now I think he was asking if I saw the one who taught him" Ye Ziyun replied, looking thoughtful.
"We must talk to Nie Li tomorrow. What does he want to keep secret, and what we can tell our family? I don't want him to be hurt by his secrets leaking."
"Yeah, we should have talked to him about this earlier" Ye Ziyun replied. She was worried as well. If her father learned about it from somewhere, others might as well. They must warn him to be more careful. There were too many dangerous people and organizations in this world. Nie Li's talent and knowledge may attract their attention.
"Maybe we should call him now and warn him." Xiao Ning'er asked.
"No, he said he will be busy with something important. We will call him tomorrow morning. And don't worry, my father would not act against him."
Then their talks turned to other topics as they shared their news.
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Early the next morning Nie Li was woken by a surprise call from the girls. Hearing about Ye Zong's interest in him, he wasn't shocked. Most likely, he got the information from Gu Yan. They were close friends and Nie Li was sure that in the novel also, he must have informed the City Lord about his counterpart.
"Don't worry about my secrets. Both of your fathers are people of integrity. If I didn't want them to learn about them I would have told you earlier. I don't want to alienate you from them," Nie Li reassured them. "And I will have to cooperate with them anyway since they are my future fathers-in-law." Nie Li winked at them. Even though it was barely six in the morning both girls looked elegant. Unlike him, with disheveled hair, since he decided to sleep a bit after a session of cultivation yesterday.
"Nie Li, you…" sputtered Ye Ziyun at his boldness. Both of the girls became deep red. "How shameless you can be?"
"I am not shameless. I am responsible." Nie Li stated.
Girls stared at him for some time and then Ye Ziyun added looking him in the eye. "Okay, I'll tell my father everything then. I am sure he will be very much interested in his future son-in-law."
"Wait!" Nie Li shouted panicking. "Let's not be hasty. Let nature take its course. I should be the one to inform them about it. A bit later of course."
"But I can't lie to my father. I am a responsible daughter after all," she said looking at him innocently. "I will have to tell him about our kiss as well."
"It was on the cheek," Nie Li griped looking at the perfectly innocent-looking Ye Ziyun and amused Xiao Ning'er. "They will turn me into pancake if they think that I was taking advantage of their princesses"
"Ah. You don't want to take responsibility?" Ye Ziyun fake gasped.
"Ugh, do whatever you want. I just have to prepare some retreating locations."
Girls laughed. "Don't worry Nie Li, we will protect you." Xiao Ning'er said.
"Thank you very much." Nie Li replied acting solemn. Actually, he wasn't much worried about the girls telling their parents. Even if they learned about it they wouldn't act harshly against him if he won't cross some serious boundaries.
But the girls would feel better if they think that their fathers scared him. And acting a bit for their sake wasn't too much of a trouble for Nie Li.
They talked some more about other more mundane topics and ended their call.