Gazing at the expression of utter disgust on Yu Qinghan’s face, Murong Wenyu paused for a moment before speaking: “It’s truly unbelievable that you would actually use a method like that to feed medicine to your own disciple! What’s that phrase again? Lowering oneself to stoop to another! You couldn’t possibly have actually done something you’re sorry for to little Wen Xu, could you?”
Tossing the empty bowl straight into Murong Wenyu’s arms, Yu Qinghan said coldly, “His very life belongs to me; whatever I do is something he should be grateful for!”
With a scowl, he added a follow-up remark: “Just how did you brew this medicine? The taste is so bitter it’s practically impossible to swallow.”
Twitching his face in mild irritation, Murong Wenyu retorted, “How else is good medicine supposed to taste if not bitter? If you genuinely find it bitter, I have candied fruit here—you can just eat a couple.”
“I’ll pass. Everything in your place is thoroughly marinated in the flavor of herbs.” The disgust in Yu Qinghan’s eyes grew even more concentrated, and he wanted nothing more than to flee the place immediately.
Glancing down at Wen Xu, he deliberated for a brief moment before bending straight down to sweep the boy up horizontally into his arms.
Noticing this, Murong Wenyu immediately asked, “Qinghan, where are you planning to take Wen Xu?”
Yu Qinghan: “Carrying him back.”
With hesitation flickering across his features, Murong Wenyu ultimately kept his mouth shut, watching in silence as Yu Qinghan departed.
Let’s just hope little Wen Xu’s secret doesn’t get exposed.
Right at that moment, a pretty, cute young woman dressed in green robes skipped into the room, carrying a small basket in her hand.
“Master, I just saw the Sect Master carrying someone away as he left. Who was that person in his arms? Could it be our future Sect Mistress?”
Looking speechlessly at the young woman, Murong Wenyu replied, “What nonsense are you spouting? Linglan, how have you managed to become just as gossipy as Lingbo lately?”
The young girl was Su Linglan, Murong Wenyu’s sole disciple, while Lingbo was Yu Qinghan’s only female disciple.
These two girls gathered together every single day to gossip about everything under the sun, enthusiastically playing matchmaker during the daytime, and on one occasion even attempting to pair up Murong Wenyu and that iceberg of a Sect Master, Yu Qinghan.
When Murong Wenyu, one of the parties involved, found out about it, he suffered from nightmares for a solid half-month.
To this day, whenever he recalled the events of that dream, a wave of nausea would rise unbidden in his stomach.
Reaching out to tap Su Linglan lightly on the forehead, Murong Wenyu warned her: “There is no Sect Mistress, so stop letting your imagination run wild. Don’t go spreading gossip to Lingbo either—just pretend you saw absolutely nothing, understand?”
Rubbing her forehead, Su Linglan blinked and uttered a compliant “Oh.”
Carrying Wen Xu back to Mingyue Cottage, Yu Qinghan walked straight through the closed doors and gently, tenderly deposited him onto the bed.
Gazing at his little disciple’s peaceful, serene sleeping face, the tightly knitted creases between his brows gradually smoothed out, and his restless, volatile inner state found a measure of soothing comfort at that exact moment.
Under normal circumstances, Yu Qinghan would never have chosen a mouth-to-mouth method to feed medicine to someone else. However, because his little disciple couldn’t swallow the medicine, and the memory of what had transpired inside Feiyu Palace resurfaced in his mind…
Though he typically lost all awareness of everyday memories during a loss of control, fragments of those periods invariably flooded back to him afterward. Consequently, he remembered with crystal clarity every single detail of how he had forcefully kissed his little disciple.
Figuring that they had already kissed anyway, he saw no reason to fuss over their lips brushing together during a medicine feeding he certainly couldn’t let Murong Wenyu do it, could he?
The mere thought of lips he had kissed being touched by Murong Wenyu sent a full-body shiver of visceral revulsion crawling over him.
Rather than leaving immediately, Yu Qinghan settled himself right down at the bedside. His detached gaze lingered on Wen Xu’s fair neck, where the two red tooth marks looked exceptionally striking and conspicuous.
Extending his slender, distinct-jointed fingers, he lightly stroked and massaged the bite marks, feeling a wave of silent relief that he had merely indulged in drawing a bit more blood rather than losing control to the point of doing anything worse.
Otherwise, this slender neck could easily have snapped in two with a single twist.
Wen Xu woke up right at that moment. With Yu Qinghan’s hand resting directly against his neck, it looked alarmingly like he was about to throttle him.
! Wen Xu’s pupils dilated sharply, his eyes blowing wide with fright. Holding his breath and freezing his entire body in absolute terror, he squeaked out in a timid whisper: “M-Master… are you trying to silence me?”
Yu Qinghan: “…”
Withdrawing his hand, a hint of speechless resignation crossed his indifferent face: “Does your master look like that kind of person to you?”
Blinking his oversized eyes with a look of pure innocence, Wen Xu thought to himself: In the original book, you literally are that kind of person!
“Did I frighten you?”
Hearing this, Wen Xu hesitated for a moment before cautiously asking: “So… is Master really a snake?”
Fixing his gaze squarely on his little disciple’s crystal-clear eyes, Yu Qinghan compressed his thin lips into a firm line for a second before nodding, his voice dropping to a low register: “This seat is indeed a snake. Are you afraid of me?”
Naturally, Wen Xu was terrified; the sight of that massive white snake had nearly scared him out of his wits earlier. Yet under no circumstances could he speak the truth right now, or he’d risk a devastating drop in favorability points.
Even so, fabricating a lie required a certain level of finesse.
Slowly propping himself up into a sitting position with his back resting against the headboard, Wen Xu widened his eyes and declared: “At first I was a bit scared, because it was the first time I’d ever seen such a huge snake!”
Demonstrating with his hands to emphasize the scale, Wen Xu pressed on: “But the moment I realized that snake was actually Master, I wasn’t scared anymore! In fact, I even think white snakes are incredibly gorgeous and handsome! Would Master be willing to transform back into his snake form so this disciple can touch those beautiful scales?”
Gazing into his little disciple’s sparkling, star-filled eyes, an expression of profound confusion and perplexity settled over Yu Qinghan’s flawless, handsome face.
This plot development was running entirely counter to his expectations. He had assumed his little disciple would wake up trembling in terror and wailing in hysterics, yet this was the reaction?
Could it be that his little disciple idolized him so intensely that he was extending his love for him to everything connected to him embracing even his serpentine form?