Wen Xu’s body instantly stiffened, and his wide-eyed gaze held a hint of innocence. “Master, why did you pinch this disciple’s face?”
Withdrawing his hand, Yu Qinghan massaged his fingertips together and spoke in an indifferent tone: “It looked soft, so I pinched it. You are this seat’s disciple; your entire body including this very life of yours belongs to this seat. Could it be that this seat isn’t even allowed to pinch your face?”
Wen Xu’s mouth twitched slightly. Why did those words sound somewhat strange no matter how he listened to them? Even stranger than the act of face-pinching itself.
[Ding, favorability +5!]
[Ding, favorability +5!]
[Ding, favorability +5!]
The system chime rang three times in a row, and Wen Xu instantly decided that those words weren’t strange at all not only were they not strange, they were simply wonderful!
As long as it increased his favorability points, let alone getting his face pinched, even having his butt pinched wouldn’t matter!
System: Where is this human’s lower limit?
“Master is welcome to pinch it. Just as Master said, this disciple’s life was saved by Master, so whether Master wants to pinch my face or pat my head, this disciple has absolutely no objections!”
Wen Xu’s voice was soft and sweet, and his eyes shone brightly like stars in the night sky.
Yu Qinghan’s eyelids twitched twice again, his brows knitting together slightly as his upper body suddenly leaned forward, closing the distance to Wen Xu while his sharp gaze remained locked onto the boy’s eyes.
After a brief moment, he narrowed his eyes and spoke: “It’s no illusion. Little disciple, you really have changed somewhat compared to before.”
Hearing this, Wen Xu’s heart skipped a beat. Had he gotten a bit too carried away just now? Did he talk too much and give the game away?
No way, I need to make up a lie to smooth this over!
“Master, this disciple hasn’t changed at all. Or could it be that Master dislikes di—”
“Actually, this is for the better.” Without waiting for Wen Xu to finish his sentence, Yu Qinghan interrupted him directly. Sitting straight up again, he continued: “You used to be far too gloomy and introverted; being a bit more lively now is rather nice.”
“…Eh?” Wen Xu was completely stunned.
Why wasn’t Yu Qinghan playing by the book? He hadn’t even finished fabricating his lie yet!
“If anything comes up, just call for your Senior Brother Xiuzhu. This seat has matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave first.” Standing up, Yu Qinghan prepared to go look for Murong Wenyu.
Wen Xu flashed a sweet smile toward Yu Qinghan, his voice exceptionally obedient as he said, “Then I won’t see Master out.”
Suddenly, Yu Qinghan stopped dead in his tracks, his Adam’s apple rolling slightly.
Blinking, Wen Xu tilted his head in bewilderment. “Does Master still have instructions to give?”
Yu Qinghan didn’t have any instructions; he simply felt an itch in his fingertips. Standing there, he wrestled internally with himself for a good while before finally failing to restrain his impulses and surrendering to his inner desires by reaching out with his right hand.
Then, under Wen Xu’s bewildered expression, he gave those white, tender, and soft little cheeks another thorough rub. After finishing, he even clicked his tongue and remarked, “Actually, you’re a bit too thin. Remember to eat more meat from now on so the tactile feel will be even better.”
With that, Yu Qinghan turned and strode away, making his exit clean and decisive without a shred of hesitation.
Left with a face full of utter perplexity, Wen Xu wondered what on earth Yu Qinghan meant by that.
Reaching up to perplexedly massage his cheek, he muttered under his breath: “Yu Qinghan actually has a pretty strong grip.”
At that exact moment, the system’s chime rang out in his head once more: [Ding, paternal love points +10!]
Wen Xu: [!!!]
How did these paternal love points shoot up by so much all at once?!
So, the pinching and rubbing of his face earlier meant Yu Qinghan had been treating him like a son?
Should he try shouting Daddy a couple of times next time? That paid off way better than a measly 5 favorability points!
“Achoo!”
Having just arrived at Murong Wenyu’s residence, Yu Qinghan sneezed with exceptional elegance.
“Oho, that sneeze sounded quite resounding. Could one of the beauties in your back courtyard be missing you?”
In the center of a courtyard filled with blooming flowers and lush plants, Murong Wenyu dressed in blue robes reclined leisurely on a lounge chair, a warm, jade-like smile playing across his refined features.
Yu Qinghan was an exceptionally handsome man and the master of a major sect, so his pursuers and admirers were countless. Quite a few people had also tried sending beauties to his side, all of whom ended up getting blasted away.
Yet there were some who simply refused to be blasted away—for instance, a few junior descendants of the four great elders from the cardinal directions, who were currently all residing on the back mountain.
Two men and two women, all fairly decent-looking, who racked their brains every single day trying to seduce Yu Qinghan in a delusional bid to crawl into his bed, though regrettably, not a single one had ever succeeded.
With a cold expression, Yu Qinghan ignored Murong Wenyu’s teasing and cut straight to the point: “When you examined Wen Xu’s body earlier, aside from A Night of Spring Wind, did you detect any other unidentified drugs?”
Murong Wenyu shook his head. “None. Just A Night of Spring Wind. Why do you ask? Could something else be wrong with your little disciple’s body?”
Without hiding anything, Yu Qinghan directly recounted Wen Xu’s recent behavioral changes.
“I thought it was something major.” Murong Wenyu chuckled and said, “Actually, this is quite normal. Sometimes a person can change overnight; perhaps the potency of A Night of Spring Wind stimulated Wen Xu’s brain, combined with the shock of being soaked in cold water and running a persistent high fever that threw him into unconsciousness, causing his temperament and mindset to shift after waking up. Such things are entirely possible, I’ve actually encountered patients like that back when I was traveling the world.”
Yu Qinghan never doubted Murong Wenyu’s medical expertise, and since the two shared a close friendship, hearing him put it that way put his mind completely at ease.
“I was worried the Xuanshuang Sect might have tampered with Ah Xu behind the scenes. Glad to hear that’s not the case.”
He was actually quite pleased to see his little disciple transform like this. Being talkative made him lively, his smiles were sweet, and he looked obedient, cute, and utterly endearing.
In truth, the reason Yu Qinghan had picked Wen Xu up off the street back then wasn’t just because he pitied the boy, but also because young Wen Xu had looked like a jade doll snow-white and adorable.
He had thought it wouldn’t be bad to pick him up and raise him as a little pet to keep around. Unfortunately, that little disciple of his had failed to live up to expectations; despite naturally possessing an adorable and pleasing face, his personality was anything but pleasing.
He was gloomy, introverted, timid, and humble, stuttering over his words after barely a sentence or two. As time dragged on, Yu Qinghan simply grew weary of him.
Who would have expected that this time, his little disciple would end up turning so talkative and articulate? It was fantastic—ideally, he could become even livelier still.
As these thoughts drifted through his mind, an expression of gratified paternal contentment unconsciously surfaced on Yu Qinghan’s face, though in Murong Wenyu’s eyes, that face still looked as frosty as ever.
“What kind of perverted thoughts are you entertaining right now? You’ve got such a bizarre expression.”
In an indifferent tone, Yu Qinghan replied: “Nothing much. Just felt that my little disciple’s cheeks are quite soft; if he fattens up a bit more, the tactile feel when pinching them should be even better.”
Hearing this, Murong Wenyu’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief, staring at Yu Qinghan with an utterly preposterous expression as he gasped in shock: “You really were thinking of something perverted!”
With a pair of razor-sharp, frosty eyes, Yu Qinghan slanted a glare at him, his thin lips parting to spit out a cold, single word: “Scram.”