“Not good? Why?” Shen Lingxi tilted her head, looking at Gu Ming with a grin.
Gu Ming suspected that Shen Lingxi was feigning ignorance, but he sighed and spoke plainly: “Because you are the Saintess. Calling you by your name feels disrespectful, and it’s not good for your image. So, wouldn’t calling you Master, or Grandmaster, be better?”
“It doesn’t matter, because you are special.” Shen Lingxi shook her head slightly. “Just call me Lingxi.”
‘Special?’
Gu Ming was stunned, and his expression gradually turned serious. Did she really know something about the Alliance Leader’s plans?
“Saintess — “
“Call me Lingxi!”
Before Gu Ming could even finish his sentence, Shen Lingxi puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction and glared at him huffily.
Being stared at like that by Shen Lingxi, Gu Ming could not help but scratch his cheek and look away. “Ling… Ling… Lingxi.”
“Mm-hmm.” Shen Lingxi nodded, looking very satisfied. “What did you want to say?”
“On the final day of the Martial Arts Tournament, when Senior Li of the Gu Family questioned me, I clearly lied. Why did you shield me?” Gu Ming hesitated for a moment. He had to take things one step at a time and could not reveal too much.
“To me, you are an important person. Is that reason enough?” Shen Lingxi smiled.
‘Me?’ Gu Ming frowned, unable to understand. “But the first time we met was by the river. Including yesterday, we have only met for the second time.”
“How did I become an important person to you?”
“Please, stop joking with me.”
After hearing Gu Ming’s words, Shen Lingxi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said seriously, “I am not joking with you. I am being serious.”
“If that is the case, then why?” Gu Ming hesitated, finding it difficult to ask the question. “Why am I an important person to you?”
“Because I fell in love with you at first sight,” Shen Lingxi said with a grin. “Is that reason enough?”
A buzzing sound suddenly rang in Gu Ming’s head, and a memory fragment that did not belong to him flashed before his eyes.
In a certain courtyard, a young boy had once said the exact same words to a young girl —
‘Because I fell in love with you at first sight…’
Just as Gu Ming lowered his head and ruminated on those words —
“We’re here.”
Shen Lingxi’s voice pulled Gu Ming back to reality. He looked up, and what greeted his eyes was a courtyard so ordinary it could not be any more common. Two beautiful female disciples stood guard in front of it.
‘It’s a bit small and dilapidated, but having a private courtyard to live in is still quite nice,’ Gu Ming thought to himself as he looked at the entrance.
When the two female disciples saw the Saintess approaching, they quickly bowed with their hands clasped. “Greetings, Lady Saintess.”
As for the male beside Shen Lingxi — Gu Ming — the two female disciples saw through him at a glance. Their hearts were filled with disdain, viewing him as nothing more than a replacement who happened to look a bit like Ye Yun.
Shen Lingxi nodded and said, “The person beside me is my newly accepted Personal Disciple — Nameless. From now on, he will be living here as well.”
The two female disciples were shocked upon hearing this. One of them asked in a panic to confirm, “Lady Saintess, he’s… moving in?”
Gu Ming looked puzzled. ‘No matter how you look at it, I’m the Saintess’s Personal Disciple. What’s wrong with living in an old, run-down place? Is there a need to be so surprised? It’s not like it’s a mansion.’
‘Is Saintess Mountain actually so poor that even a dilapidated place like this is considered a top-tier residence?’
Gu Ming fell into deep thought.
“Is there a problem?” Shen Lingxi narrowed her eyes.
“N-no.” The disciple shook her head and said timidly, “B-but, this disciple is confused about one thing.”
“Speak,” Shen Lingxi said indifferently.
“Even Master Ye Yun didn’t have the qualifications to step inside. Why can he move in directly?” the disciple asked, gathering her courage.
‘Whoa!’
‘A top-tier residence that even the White Moonlight isn’t allowed to live in?!’
Gu Ming was quite shocked. However, after thinking about it carefully, Ye Yun was not a disciple of Saintess Mountain, so it was only natural that he was not qualified to stay there.
“He is my Personal Disciple.” Shen Lingxi frowned and replied, “He will be living here with me so that it is more convenient for me to guide his cultivation. Is there a problem with that?”
“N-no.”
The disciple shrank back, but she thought to herself: ‘Master Ye Yun is your White Moonlight, yet he didn’t have the qualifications? Is a White Moonlight not even as good as a Personal Disciple?’
Upon hearing Shen Lingxi’s words, Gu Ming felt as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. He asked in shock, “Lingxi, you live here too?”
“How dare you!” the disciple snapped angrily. “How dare you call the Lady Saintess by her name?”
“Shut up!” Shen Lingxi shouted. “Who allowed you to speak to him in such a tone? Apologize now!”
“B-but — ” The female disciple wanted to cry but had no tears.
She did not understand what she had done wrong. She simply felt that Gu Ming calling the Saintess by her name was far too disrespectful.
“Apologize,” Shen Lingxi urged coldly.
“Yes.” The female disciple took two steps forward, bowed to Gu Ming, and said, “I am sorry. Please forgive my rudeness just now.”
“It’s fine.”
Gu Ming scratched his cheek. Truthfully, he also felt that calling the Saintess by her name was not quite right, but he could not win against her.
Although Gu Ming forgave her, the female disciple was still quite resentful. She shot him a secret glare before returning to her post.
“From today onward, you are to treat him as you would treat me. If I discover that you are disrespectful to him, show any rudeness, or behave improperly, it won’t be as simple as an apology. I will never show leniency,” Shen Lingxi said coldly.
“Yes!” the two female disciples replied in unison.
Gu Ming scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“Let’s go,” Shen Lingxi said softly to Gu Ming. “I’ll take you inside to have a look.”
“Okay.”
Gu Ming nodded. His confusion had only grown, but before he could ask anything, he followed Shen Lingxi inside.
After watching Shen Lingxi and Gu Ming enter, the two female disciples looked at each other, both seeing the shock in the other’s eyes.
“Wow, the Saintess was actually so gentle just now. I’ve never seen her like that.”
“Exactly. I thought she was always cold and emotionless. After all, she is cold even toward Master Ye Yun.”
“The Saintess has such a gentle side?!”
The two felt as if they had discovered a new world and asked at the same time, “Who on earth is this Nameless?”
***
After entering the courtyard, Gu Ming wanted to continue with his previous question: “Lingxi, you live here too?”
However, as soon as he stepped inside, a sense of familiarity washed over him. Gu Ming felt an inexplicable sense of deja vu. For one moment, a scene suddenly flashed before his eyes —
A boy tried a different trick every day to win a girl’s heart, but all he ever received was her cold rejection. In the end, the girl would simply close the door and return to her room…
‘What on earth?’
Gu Ming gently tapped his forehead and gave a bitter laugh. ‘The frequency of these hallucinations is getting quite high lately.’
“What’s wrong?” Seeing Gu Ming tap his forehead, Shen Lingxi asked with concern, “Are you feeling unwell?”
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