“It’s clearly all my fault, Master, why do you need to blame yourself?”
Jiang Huai stared blankly at Chu Xianning’s face. At this moment, two lines of clear tears slowly slid down her snow-white cheeks. His heart felt as if it were being squeezed, an indescribable pain, to the point where he couldn’t breathe.
He had never seen Chu Xianning cry before.
“So, if you say these things, will they be useful?” Chu Xianning’s eyes were filled with confusion and a sorrow he couldn’t articulate. Jiang Huai took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. His voice trembled slightly. “Master… I am the one who is guilty. You clearly brought me up the mountain out of a moment of soft-heartedness, but I ended up disturbing your peace. All the mistakes, all the wrongdoings, are mine. Master, please don’t cry anymore…”
Chu Xianning’s tears were crystalline. Jiang Huai carefully wiped them all away with his handkerchief. He used his soul to drive the Sword Spirit of Suoxue Sword back in again, and Suoxue Sword returned to Chu Xianning’s wrist. He was still holding Chu Xianning’s soft body. He looked at Chu Xianning’s eyelashes. “I admit that I have always had improper feelings for Master… ever since I was young. I have also admonished myself time and time again that I shouldn’t be like this. But I always fail. This has nothing to do with Master’s beauty, because Master is the most important person to me. Without Master, there would be no Jiang Huai today.”
“Master has always treated me very well since I was young, so I always want to stay by Master’s side. Perhaps it’s also because I’m attached to Master’s body, but now I’ve learned to gradually restrain myself. I hope Master can give me a little more time, and I will…”
*Ding ding ding.*
A “ding” suddenly sounded in Jiang Huai’s ear again.
[For six hundred years, Chu Xianning has always been alone, never having feelings for any man. But recently, she has finally sensed that she seems to have developed a trace of affection for you. She has suppressed this affection in her heart, making her restless day and night. Seeing that you already have three betrothals, perhaps she no longer has a place by your side. Therefore, she wants to take this opportunity to give you the primal yin essence of her Flower Spirit Physique and then leave your side.]
[And the indulgence and hatred for your rebellion and greed she speaks of are actually just to sever the feelings in her heart cleanly. Knowing this, you absolutely do not wish for Chu Xianning to leave like this.]
[Find a way to make Chu Xianning give up leaving and agree to continue staying by your side.]
[Mission Reward: High-level Experience Scroll * 5.]
“Master wants to leave?” Jiang Huai stared blankly into Chu Xianning’s eyes. Chu Xianning began to avoid his gaze. After a long while, he heard her softly reply, “I wanted to travel the world long ago to find an opportunity to heal my old injuries. It was because of you… that I stayed on Guanxue Mountain for so long.”
“Don’t go… okay?” Jiang Huai looked into her eyes. “I will heal Master’s old injuries. Will Master stay in the courtyard and keep me company again?”
“You have so many confidantes by your side, why would you need me to keep you company?”
“Won’t Master feel too lonely on her journey alone?”
“I’ve been alone for six hundred years, how could I be afraid of loneliness?”
“But I’m afraid.” Jiang Huai’s other hand also reached out, embracing Chu Xianning’s slender and soft body. “Doesn’t Master have even a little reluctance to part with me?”
“You’re not a child anymore, you don’t need me to accompany you anymore, do you?” The embraced Chu Xianning did not struggle. If it were usual, she would have pushed Jiang Huai far away by now. But at this moment, her heart was in chaos, and she couldn’t do anything.
“But I’m greedy, and I still want Master to stay with me a little longer. We’ve lived in the courtyard for so many, many years. Chu Xianning, do you like me even a little bit?”
This time, Jiang Huai no longer called her “Master.”
Chu Xianning lowered her head slightly and looked at Jiang Huai’s face. After a moment, she avoided his gaze again and looked towards the distant silver waterfall. “I have never had feelings for any man before. As for you… whether I have a trace of affection, I don’t know.”
“Is it because you don’t know that you want to run away?”
“It’s not running away. You clearly don’t need me anymore… I said, the last medicinal guide you lacked, I will find you when you need it… and give it to you.”
“I don’t want it!” Jiang Huai replied with extreme firmness. His cheek was almost pressed against Chu Xianning’s neck. “If Master says she doesn’t know, it means she likes me a little.”
“If I say I don’t know… it means I don’t know. Chu Xianning never lies.”
“Then wait until you know before leaving, okay?” Jiang Huai’s voice was very, very soft.
Chu Xianning suddenly fell silent.
She lowered her head slightly, reached out, and gently untangled Jiang Huai’s arms from her. Jiang Huai sat up straight. Chu Xianning turned her face, reached out, cupped his cheeks, and at this moment, Chu Xianning’s cold eyes were no longer like before, revealing a trace of confusion and anger. “You… you’re being unreasonable with me again.”
“It was Master who first said she didn’t know, so I’m not reconciled. Liking is liking, and not liking is not liking. If Master can’t answer today whether she likes me or not, then you’re not allowed to go anywhere until Master makes up her mind and answers me… whether she likes me or not, I won’t let go.”
“Wherever I want to go… you can’t stop me.” Chu Xianning turned her face away, but her voice grew softer and softer.
“Then I’ll search for you everywhere until I find you.”
“What if you can’t find me?”
“I don’t care, if I can’t find you, I’ll keep looking and looking.”
“You’re being shameless again.”
“Has Master known me since today? I’ve been shameless since I was little. I started being shameless from the moment I clung to Master’s leg and refused to let go when I was six years old. It’s not just a day or two.”
Chu Xianning took a deep breath. Jiang Huai’s tone was unreasonable and yet particularly gentle. “If Master leaves like this, what’s the difference between that and running away? I heard everything Master said earlier, but I still have a vague illusion. If Master didn’t like me at all, I wouldn’t have continued to treat Master that way. In my heart, I always feel that Master does.”
“You didn’t have even a shred of it before you were fifteen!”
“Does that mean you did have some after fifteen?”
“No.”
“Master yourself is contradicting yourself.”
“You…” Chu Xianning’s hands, which were cupping Jiang Huai’s face, slowly moved back, then gently twisted Jiang Huai’s ear. “What else can you do besides have a sharp tongue?”
“Master can’t argue with me, so you’re resorting to being unreasonable.”
“I am being unreasonable!”
“You’re learning to be bad from Auntie Luo. Auntie Luo is unreasonable. As far as I remember, Master was the most reasonable fairy in the world.”
Jiang Huai gazed at Chu Xianning in front of him. “So… Master twisted my ear. Please think carefully about what I said. Wait until Master has changed from ‘don’t know’ to ‘know,’ and then give me your answer. At that time, no matter what choice Master makes, I will no longer obstruct her, nor will I act shamelessly again.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“I swear.”
“As if you haven’t sworn before.” Chu Xianning muttered softly.
“Then Master, wait for me to recover my cultivation. Then I will make a Dao oath, the kind that heaven and earth can witness. If Master figures out what she knows at that time, no matter what decision Master makes, I will obey Master. Is that acceptable?”
Chu Xianning was silent for a good while again, then couldn’t help but mutter softly, “If I have to wait for you to recover your cultivation, won’t I still have to heal you, you troublesome ghost?”
“Master underestimates my alchemy skills too much. If I say it’s not needed, then it’s nine-tenths not needed. That ten percent probability is like nothing, don’t worry.”
“Then… after you recover your cultivation, I will travel the world.” Chu Xianning hesitated for a long time, and finally, very, very softly agreed.
“That’s not right. We were just talking about knowing or not knowing. What if Master realizes that she likes me even a little bit by then?”
“It will only be a little bit.”
“Then if there really is that little bit, can you take me with you when you travel the world? When we’re tired of playing, we’ll go home.”
“What if there isn’t?”
“Then I’ll let Master go alone and never bother her.”
Chu Xianning always felt that this agreement was somehow disadvantageous, but she couldn’t think of it for a moment. She looked at Jiang Huai’s face, stared at him intently for a while, and finally nodded lightly. “Then it’s decided.”
Jiang Huai finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Chu Xianning never went back on her word, and she always did what she promised.
However, Chu Xianning later realized that this agreement felt strange somewhere, but Jiang Huai had already changed the subject, disrupting her thoughts. “Also, some things Master said earlier were clearly slander. Like during the foot bath and massage, I clearly had no evil thoughts about Master’s body.”
“Oh really?”
“Of course.” Jiang Huai replied with righteous indignation. “If you don’t believe me, I can give Master a massage right now. Master, look into my eyes, are they as clear as ever?”
Chu Xianning sneered. “I’ll give you five breaths. Go stand in the waterfall.”
“For what?” Jiang Huai was startled.
“To vent.”
Jiang Huai looked at her aggrievedly. Seeing that Chu Xianning’s eyes were resolute, he obediently stood up and walked under the waterfall. Chu Xianning sat on a bluestone, her porcelain-white calves swinging slightly. She raised her hand and cast a spell, drawing the waterfall’s flow into a water whip. She held one end of the whip in her hand and lashed the other end at Jiang Huai’s back.
Jiang Huai gazed at Chu Xianning’s slightly swaying high heels. Her snow-white, slender ankles were warm and lustrous in the sunlight. Wrapped in white silk, they appeared slightly hazy. He gradually became entranced, no longer caring about the pain.
Because Chu Xianning’s “venting” was more bark than bite, most of the time it felt like an itch. Jiang Huai always felt like ants were crawling on him. But he forgot that in the past, he would be forced to perform shamefully and cry out in pain. This time, his lack of pain and itching annoyed Chu Xianning to the point of having itchy teeth.
So Chu Xianning exerted a little more force. Jiang Huai suddenly came back to his senses. Seeing his torn clothes, he looked at Chu Xianning aggrievedly. “The clothes are broken.”
“I won’t compensate you for them.”
“It’s okay, I was just saying. I saved a lot of good materials at Ziyun Pavilion recently, so I can make a new one. Speaking of which… I also want to make a set for Master.”
“I won’t wear it.” Chu Xianning turned her face away.
“Master can wear dresses and skirts made by Ziyun Pavilion, but she can’t wear what I make? How can you be so biased.”
“I am biased.” Chu Xianning replied with pretended indifference.
She suddenly seemed to understand why Luo Yueguan liked to be unreasonable so much.
