“Hmm?” Wen Xu only snapped back to reality a moment later. Once he fully processed Yu Qinghan’s words, his face instantly flushed red. Yet, rather than rushing to offer a disclaimer or distance himself, he admitted it forthrightly, “Shizun is indeed very good-looking! With your tall stature, long legs, handsome and dashing appearance, sword-like brows, starry eyes, and extraordinary bearing, in this disciple’s eyes, Shizun is absolute perfection a rare beauty seldom seen in this world!”
For the sake of favorability points, Wen Xu unloaded every single word of praise he could possibly muster in one breath, unleashing a torrential downpour of adulation that painted Yu Qinghan as someone who “truly belongs only in the heavens, a sight rarely witnessed among mortals!”
Of course, everything he was saying came straight from the heart; based on Yu Qinghan’s looks alone, he was effortlessly captivating to both men and women.
However, Wen Xu had completely forgotten that he was in an ancient setting, where such direct flattery was terribly easy to misunderstand—especially since his white snake Shizun’s train of thought worked quite differently from ordinary people.
Sure enough, once Yu Qinghan finished listening to Wen Xu’s endless stream of praise, his expression grew exceptionally complex.
He stared at his little disciple’s face for a moment, finding that bright, radiant smile and those clear, star-like eyes utterly striking.
“You… To think that in your heart, Master is actually this flawless?”
Wen Xu blinked, paused for a fraction of a second, and nodded. “Of course Shizun is flawless! The person this disciple admires and adores the most is Shizun!”
Admires and adores…
Yu Qinghan automatically translated “admires” into “romantic affection,” his gaze flickering slightly.
He had been blessed with a striking appearance since birth; he had charmed others as a child and continued to charm them as an adult, attracting countless admirers. Just last month, someone had even gone so far as to run outside the Wuji Sect and shamelessly proclaim their romantic love for him.
Yet the affection spoken of by those people only filled Yu Qinghan with disgust and superficiality, entirely unworthy of trust. They only loved this handsome shell of his.
However, his little disciple was someone he had watched grow up, and he knew the boy’s personality inside and out. Others might use empty words to fool him, but his little disciple certainly wouldn’t.
Even if his little disciple was coveting his physical appearance, that was only the result of long-term companionship blossoming into deeper feelings.
Therefore, every single word the little disciple had just spoken was undoubtedly straight from the soul, overflowing with absolute sincerity.
After a brief, silent pause, Yu Qinghan looked deeply at Wen Xu, his voice dropping low. “I never expected you to like me this much.”
Wen Xu vaguely felt that something wasn’t quite right about those words, but unable to pinpoint the exact issue, he simply went along with the flow. “Mhm! This disciple likes Shizun so much!”
If he said he didn’t like him, his favorability points would undoubtedly drop, so it was far better to simply play along.
Seeing his little disciple admit to it so readily, Yu Qinghan was taken aback for a moment. “You never used to dare speak to me like this before.”
“Er…”
Hearing this, Wen Xu instantly conducted a brief internal review of himself. He realized he had gotten a bit too carried away and completely forgot the original host’s persona. As his dark, glossy pupils rolled around twice, a plan suddenly formed in his mind.
“Because in the past, this disciple felt that Shizun was too lofty and far out of reach. In my heart, I always felt Shizun was far too formidable and authoritative, I didn’t dare approach, didn’t dare look you in the eye, and didn’t dare speak too much, so I could only watch you timidly from afar.”
“The last time this disciple was captured by the Xuanshuang Sect, I truly thought I was dead for sure. At the time, I felt overwhelming regret—regret that I had never properly spoken a single complete sentence to Shizun. I never expected that Shizun would arrive in the nick of time, rescuing me from the jaws of death! On one hand, this disciple felt endlessly grateful to Shizun, and on the other, I had a sudden epiphany.”
At this point, Wen Xu’s expression turned incomparably earnest, his tone resolute. “If there are certain things and words you don’t voice early on, you might never get the chance again hereafter, because no one ever knows whether tomorrow or an unexpected disaster will arrive first. Therefore, while I am still alive, this disciple simply wants to properly repay Shizun!”
Hearing these words, a jolt ran through Yu Qinghan’s heart, and a whirlwind of indescribable, complex emotions surged within him all at once.
He realized his little disciple liked him even more than he had imagined.
For the first time ever, the normally decisive and resolute Yu Qinghan hesitated. What he ought to be doing right now was tossing his little disciple out and barring him from ever approaching Feiyu Palace again.
Yet looking into those tear-glinting, crystal-clear eyes, he couldn’t force himself to utter a single harsh word.
Yu Qinghan let out a sudden sigh, rubbing his brow in lingering exasperation.
Not entirely following his train of thought, Wen Xu asked, “What is wrong, Shizun?” Had he said something wrong? Why did Yu Qinghan look so troubled?
“It is nothing. Continue massaging my legs.” With that, Yu Qinghan closed his eyes once more.
Finding him rather peculiar, Wen Xu didn’t dwell on it too much. Since his favorability points had risen quite a bit, he obediently went back to massaging.
Moving from the left leg to the right leg, from the calves up to the thighs, he accidentally let his hand drift too high up toward the upper thigh, brushing against somewhere he shouldn’t have touched.
Yu Qinghan’s eyes snapped wide open, and with lightning-fast reflexes, he caught Wen Xu by the wrist, his sharp gaze chillingly piercing.
“What are you doing? Where are you reaching your hand into?!”
This little disciple’s boldness was truly growing by the day! Looking so innocent and harmless, he actually possessed the sheer audacity to start pulling physical stunts right here!
Wen Xu never expected he would end up touching that spot on Yu Qinghan. His face instantly flared crimson red, and he hurried to explain, “Shizun, please don’t misunderstand! It was completely an accident; I didn’t mean to!”
“An accident?” Yu Qinghan’s formidable, powerful fingers clamped tightly around Wen Xu’s slender, fair wrist, making it feel as though a bit more force could snap it right in two. “First you express deep affection and romantic devotion to me, and seeing that I remained unmoved and didn’t give you a direct answer, you immediately resort to other underhanded tactics. Did you really think such petty little tricks could slip past Master?”
As his voice fell, he suddenly exerted force, yanking the boy straight toward him.
Wen Xu: “???”
Hold on, what deep affection and romantic devotion? When on earth did he ever express romantic feelings to Yu Qinghan?!
Tugged forward until he collapsed right on top of Yu Qinghan, Wen Xu blinked in total bewilderment. “What is Shizun talking about? This disciple has no idea what you mean what affection? What tactics? What tricks?”
Yu Qinghan let out a cold huff. “Still playing dumb? Then why did you just throw yourself right onto my body?”
Blinking innocently, Wen Xu replied, “Because you pulled me, Shizun! Though I haven’t the foggiest why you suddenly got angry, could Shizun please let go of my wrist first? Your grip is far too strong; my wrist is hurting.”
Yu Qinghan paused in silence for a brief moment before releasing his grip. He glanced down at the faint red ring left behind on his little disciple’s fair wrist, his gaze sinking. “Fine. That will be all for today; you may head back.”
As Wen Xu rubbed his wrist, hearing these words left him completely frozen in place. After waiting a beat and hearing no drop in his favorability points, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Understood, Shizun. Then may this disciple come again tomorrow?”
Hesitating for a split second, Yu Qinghan gave a cold, detached nod. “As usual.”
“Awesome!”
Radiating bright enthusiasm, Wen Xu prepared to stand back up, but because he had been kneeling on the hard floor for far too long, his legs had gone completely numb. Failing to steady himself, he lost his footing and tumbled straight down onto Yu Qinghan’s body, his face crashing directly against the other’s chin.
Stunned into complete shock, Yu Qinghan’s mind raced: This little brat’s boldness really has grown out of hand he’s actually started proactively throwing himself into my arms now!