Don't go ask your big sister for help
Xi Zirui sits up in bed and contemplates his options.
He can lie to Bai Mi, pretend that there's nothing to tell, and try to continue to sneak behind her back to get his way.
Or he can tell her the truth, and enlist her help.
The question is: can he trust her?
He knows she's upset about him going on a tribulation first, but she wouldn't take her frustrations out on him. Would she?
There's a dissonance between the sister he grew up with, and the Bai Mi he met in the other worlds. Sometimes ally, sometimes foe, always a powerful asset.
In the end, the decision is made for him when Bai Mi tires of waiting for an answer and all but drags it out of him.
"I heard a civil goddess comment she saw you around the civil bureau," she says, her tone accusing. "Why did you tell me you were going to the woods?"
Xi Zirui considers telling her 'it was on the way', before her severely arched eyebrows make him reconsider the wisdom in that.