To avoid sword practice, Ning Ying summoned her lifetime’s worth of acting skills.
The girl’s eyes were slightly red-rimmed, her limpid pupils hazy with moisture, wearing an expression on the verge of tears. She tried to make her master understand—she was really tired, absolutely did not want to practice swords.
To make it more convincing, she plopped down on the ground, pretending to be weak, and hugged her master’s thigh.
Yun Qingyuan’s long lashes drooped slightly as he looked at her calmly. “Very well. You can take your afternoon rest here. Your master will watch over you.”
Ning Ying tilted her head slightly.
R-right here?
Before she could react, Yun Qingyuan had already scooped her up horizontally and placed her on his sleeping couch.
Throughout this action, his expression remained indifferent. His cold, flawless face resembled the never-melting ice of the far north—cold and restrained. Even this overly intimate posture couldn’t stir the slightest amorous thought in him.
Ning Ying: “!!!”
“Take off your outer robe.” He set her down on the bed, his voice frosty.
Ning Ying: “???”
She looked at her master in disbelief. Had he finally awakened? Was this still her master who’d been single for so many years?
No, wait—shouldn’t someone as strait-laced and restrained as the Immortal Lord consider master-disciple relationships taboo?
Stared up at by a thoroughly confused Ning Ying, Yun Qingyuan suddenly realized that the distance between them seemed somewhat too close.
His action of placing her on the bed had been very gentle—not just tossing her, but setting her down softly. He leaned slightly forward, and his bright-as-moonlight hair fell across her, like winding silver threads tangling around her snowy neck.
After gazing at the girl for a long moment, the silver-haired beauty’s ear tips grew slightly warm. The alcohol he’d been suppressing could no longer be hidden.
The corners of his long, narrow, cool eyes also became tinged with a thin blush—a peach-blossom shade both enchanting and captivating.
Ning Ying’s heartbeat uncontrollably quickened.
Got it—Master really was drunk; he’d just been forcing himself to stay calm.
She gently closed her eyes. Master was a great beauty; she probably wouldn’t lose out too much, right?
As a modern transmigrator, Ning Ying had no real reverence for her master. She accepted this scenario easily.
She felt his long, cool fingertips undo her clothing, helping her remove her outer robe, leaving only the white inner garment…
Ning Ying trembled slightly.
S-so exciting?
Just as she awaited what would happen next…
Master wrapped her up in the blanket like a zongzi, patted her shoulder, and considerately instructed her to rest well.
Ning Ying: “???”
“Master, you’re just leaving like that?”
The silver-haired Immortal Lord, about to step away, turned back: “Is there something else?”
“Then why did you take off my clothes just now?” Ning Ying asked, full of grievance.
“Your master was afraid you’d dirty my bed.” Yun Qingyuan raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone calm.
Ning Ying: “…”
She suddenly remembered that she’d just been sitting on the ground acting.
No wonder Master wanted her outer robe off.
Ning Ying glanced at the jade-paved floor, smooth as a mirror.
The ground didn’t look dirty either?
She felt like Master found her dirty QAQ.
She suddenly felt a bit autism, wrapping her head in the blanket, refusing to come out.
Having taken on this little disciple months ago, Yun Qingyuan naturally had some understanding of her personality. Sensing her mood, he stopped his departing footsteps, walked back, and sat beside the bed.
Ning Ying was currently wrapped in the blanket, surrounded by a clear, cold aura—like holding her master’s hand in a snowy night, walking together toward the end of mountains and seas.
Someone patted her back through the blanket.
Ning Ying: “Hmph.”
She rolled over toward the inside of the bed.
“If you can’t sleep, might as well go practice swords.” Behind her came her master’s terrifying whisper.
Ning Ying: “!”
She immediately behaved, shrinking in the blanket without moving.
But after a while, she grew bored.
“Master, aren’t you going to sleep after drinking?” A small hand quietly slipped out from under the blanket and tugged at the corner of the silver-haired beauty’s robe.
Yun Qingyuan sighed silently, caught her soft, white hand, and tucked it back under the covers.
Ning Ying behaved for a moment, then pinched her master’s robe from another direction. “Master doesn’t have a habit of napping?”
Yun Qingyuan shook his head. “Cultivators inherently need no sleep. Meditating is sufficient.”
“But sleeping sitting up is so uncomfortable.” Noticing that Master hadn’t tucked her hand back under the covers, Ning Ying grew bolder, gently grasping his jade-cool palm.
A trace of helplessness crept into Yun Qingyuan’s handsome brows, but he still patiently explained: “Your master didn’t mean sleeping sitting up, but sitting in meditation.”
Ning Ying didn’t even need to think to know that her master definitely followed a 24/7, 365-day cultivation schedule.
So intense.
Even though he was already an Immortal Lord and could have ascended to roam freely long ago, he still chose to remain in the mortal world to cultivate. She, on the other hand, had no desire to keep striving now that she was in the Grand Ascension stage. After all, Grand Ascension cultivators had several thousand years of life; she could just lie flat.
“But Master, you drank—are you sure you don’t want to rest?” Ning Ying asked concernedly.
“It’s fine.” Yun Qingyuan again caught her hand and tucked it back under the covers, saying gently, “Your master will sit here watching you. Rest assured and sleep.”
Hearing her master’s voice, Ning Ying found it somewhat hypnotic. Before she knew it, she’d fallen asleep.
When she opened her eyes, it was already dusk. Her master lay flat beside her, the dying light of dusk streaming through the window lattice, casting shadows across his tall nose bridge and cool white cheeks. His long, slender lashes trembled slightly in the evening breeze.
Ning Ying: _( :з」∠)_
Master said he wasn’t drunk—but here he was, asleep.
Ning Ying rested her chin on her hand, lying on her stomach admiring her master’s beauty. His face was cool and exquisite, yet his cheeks were tinged with a faint blush, adding a lingering charm that tempted one to drown. Ning Ying forced herself to look away, trying to quietly crawl off the bed.
Since she slept on the inside, Master lay on the edge in his robes. This meant if she wanted to get off the bed, she’d have to climb over him.
Ning Ying carefully, softly raised her hands and legs, trying to maneuver over her master.
Just then—
Yun Qingyuan’s frosty lashes fluttered, and he suddenly opened his eyes, a pair of cool, quiet pupils fixedly looking at her.
Their eyes met.
Ning Ying: “!!!”
Her hands braced on either side of her master, her legs also… How was she supposed to explain this to Master? Online, urgent.
“I, I just wanted to get off the bed…” Ning Ying said weakly. “Master, don’t move.”
On Yun Qingyuan’s exquisitely beautiful face, a faint, indescribably subtle expression appeared. His brow twitched slightly, and he restrainedly turned his face away, not looking at her, merely nodding faintly to indicate that he believed her words.
Seeing that Master wasn’t angry or misunderstanding, Ning Ying sighed with relief. After getting off the bed, she grabbed her outer robe, put it on, and fled from her master’s cave dwelling.
Unexpectedly, just as she exited, she ran straight into someone.
Gu Qi cupped his hands toward her and said: “Congratulations, Junior Sister.”
Ning Ying was confused: “Congratulations for what?”
“For scoring the master.” Gu Qi said boldly. “An afternoon isn’t a short time. How did it feel, Junior Sister?”
“What’s so good about scoring the master? If we have to practice swordsmanship, we still have to practice swordsmanship… No way.” Ning Ying instinctively retorted, then suddenly realized: “Senior Brother Gu, what did you mean by that second half?”
Gu Qi patted her on the shoulder, giving her a ‘those who get it, get it’ look. “Was it… harmonious with the master?”
“Ning Ying was completely baffled: ‘???'”
“Don’t be shy, Senior Brother heard everything.” Gu Qi said bluntly. “I know eavesdropping isn’t good, so after hearing your foreplay, I moved farther away. But who knew—it was almost dark before you came out of Master’s cave. Not to criticize, but next time do this at night. You can go all night without anyone caring. Daylight’s just too conspicuous.”
Ning Ying: “???”
She finally understood and was simultaneously amused and exasperated: “Senior Brother, you really misunderstood.”
“Senior Brother knows you’re a young girl with thin skin,” Gu Qi comforted her. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep it secret. Won’t go spreading it around.”
Ning Ying: “…There’s really nothing between Master and me.”
Gu Qi nodded: “Right, of course. Junior Sister Ning and Master are completely innocent, absolutely not in broad daylight…”
“Senior Brother, stop talking!!” Seeing a white-robed figure continuously approaching behind Gu Qi, Ning Ying quickly jumped up and covered his mouth.
“Mmph mmph…” Gu Qi resisted. “Why cover Senior Brother’s mouth? Am I wrong? Master’s like an old tree blooming—he’s fallen for you. He’s lived his whole life in loneliness and cold detachment, and you’re so lively and adorable, like a beam of light shining into his frozen heart. From then on, the world inside him bloomed with spring… But seriously, he’s quite disrespectful to his seniority, not even giving you a proper status…”
Listening to the Demon Lord’s words, Ning Ying was so embarrassed she could have dug a cave dwelling with her toes. “Senior Brother, this isn’t writing a story, stop using so much figurative language… Besides, Mas—Mas—”
“Mas what?” Gu Qi asked calmly.
“Master is behind you.” Ning Ying’s eye twitched as she said quickly.
Gu Qi: “???”
Gu Qi: “!!!”
His expression changed: “Junior Sister Ning, why didn’t you say so earlier!”
“I told you to stop long ago,” Ning Ying said quietly. “You just kept talking.”
Gu Qi’s pupils trembled as he shakily turned back: “Master, I…”
Yun Qingyuan’s cold face was full of gloom. It was obvious he was trying hard to suppress the urge to kill.