It was unclear how much time had passed, but the two women fought until the sky turned black.
Su Xiaotang had even returned with late-night snacks and started eating with Chu Fan, yet they still hadn’t finished.
In the pavilion under the moonlight, a variety of snacks were spread across the table.
Su Xiaotang pulled a meat skewer from a paper bag, took a large bite, and said in surprise, “Mmm! This is delicious. Master, you should try some.”
“Oh.”
Chu Fan took the skewer from her.
Su Xiaotang then picked up a peach and took a bite.
Looking up at the two senior sisters in the sky who seemed locked in a life-or-death struggle, she asked curiously, “But Master, why exactly are they fighting?”
“I don’t know. Maybe their stances are different,” Chu Fan replied, taking a bite of the meat.
The flavor was indeed excellent.
While eating, Chu Fan pulled something from his robe and placed it on the table beside Su Xiaotang.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
“Weren’t you always complaining about falling off your flying sword? You wanted a seat for it, so I finished making this this morning.”
Su Xiaotang’s eyes widened.
She picked up the object, which looked like a miniature chair, and cradled it like a precious treasure before tucking it into her storage ring.
Taking quick, small steps, Su Xiaotang ran to Chu Fan’s side, leaned down, and kissed his cheek with her oily mouth.
“Mwah! Thank you, Master! Master is the best!”
“Agh!”
Chu Fan wiped his face with his sleeve, looking disgusted.
“It’s all oily! That’s so gross!”
“Hee hee hee—Master, you’re lying,” Su Xiaotang said with a mischievous grin.
“What lie? Look at the oil on your own mouth!”
“I meant when Master said I was gross.”
“Huh?”
“I know the truth—Master is just a tsundere. You would never actually find me gross. Master loves me the most!”
“…”
Chu Fan fell silent.
He found himself completely speechless.
As the saying goes, the crying child gets the milk.
Out of Chu Fan’s three disciples, the one he pampered the most was also the one he worried about the most.
As the last disciple to join, Su Xiaotang was not only the youngest but also had the most restless personality and the lowest cultivation.
Chu Fan practically worried about her every second.
However, he knew that the reason she was so worrisome was largely due to the vicious cycle caused by his own overprotectiveness.
If he let her go out for solo tempering like Chen Qianchi or Shen Yuying, he feared she would be mauled by wild beasts.
If he let her refine pills or weapons, he feared the cauldron would explode and kill her.
If he let her study formations, he feared she would trap and confuse herself to death.
If he let her practice with talismans, he feared she would burn herself alive.
If he let her refine medicine, he feared she would poison herself.
If he let her raise venomous insects, he feared she would be bitten to death.
If he let her meditate, he feared she would suffer Qi deviation and explode.
He feared she would fall to her death while flying a sword, choke while eating, drown while drinking water, or even drop dead from exhaustion if she practiced too hard.
In short, Chu Fan felt like an old father, and Su Xiaotang was like his daughter—someone so precious that he feared she would break if he held her and melt if he kept her in his mouth.
Meanwhile, the two women fighting in the sky were so engrossed in their battle that they had forgotten everything else.
They didn’t even notice that Su Xiaotang was about to “steal the base” down on the ground.
Truly, haste makes waste.
….
Late at night, after Chu Fan had finally managed to pull the two brawling women apart and was preparing to go to bed, he frowned as he looked at his own shadow.
The strange expression vanished in an instant.
With a movement that was almost imperceptible, he tapped his finger against the wall, then lay down in bed, pulled up the covers, and closed his eyes.
1 hour later, when Chu Fan’s breathing had become steady and rhythmic, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows on the ceiling.
Judging by the physique, it was a woman.
After all, no man could possess such a slender waist while also having such exaggerated chest muscles.
The person wore a mask that hid her face and a standard black night-suit designed for assassination.
Her heavy murderous intent left no doubt about her purpose.
“Die, you bastard,” the figure whispered to herself.
She launched herself down from the wall, a short dagger dripping with purple liquid appearing in her hand as she aimed straight for Chu Fan’s throat.
Clang!
For some reason, even though there was nothing in front of her, the dagger was blocked less than 0.5 meters away from Chu Fan.
Chu Fan slowly opened his eyes on the bed and looked at the assassin.
“I could have dealt with you 1 hour ago, but I was truly curious.”
Chu Fan’s right hand began to form a series of seals.
With every seal he completed, the formation binding the female assassin tightened.
Chu Fan propped himself up and reached out to pull off the assassin’s mask, revealing a stunning face.
His eyes widened slightly.
‘Oh? She doesn’t look like someone from the Assassin’s Guild. Otherwise, they would have destroyed her face to make it look like it was splashed with acid.’
“Acid? I have no idea what you’re talking about!” the assassin struggled.
“Even though I really want to just kill you, Shadow Meld is a rare technique that has been extinct for a long time. Aside from people in the Assassin’s Guild, I really can’t think of anyone else who would know it. Can you tell me who you are?”
Chu Fan asked politely.
“Pah! Kill me or do what you want! Scum like you don’t deserve to know my name!”
“Huh?”
Chu Fan was completely bewildered.
‘Who is this person? Why is she cursing me the moment she appears? Her tone makes her sound like a woman who was abandoned and scorned. What did I even do?’
He had no memory of the woman before him.
Although she was beautiful, honestly speaking, she was still slightly inferior to his three disciples.
He was so used to seeing them that he didn’t even have those kinds of interests in his own disciples; how could he possibly find this woman attractive?
‘What is going on here?’
“Fine, fine. Since you’re unwilling to speak, I won’t force you.”
Chu Fan’s right hand shifted seals, and the formation tightened further.
“I’m a rather rough person, though. You’ll likely die a very ugly death.”
“I… Pah…!”
“Heh, alright then.”
As Chu Fan pinched the seal, the formation began to crush her starting from her legs.
The popping and snapping sounds of breaking bones gradually echoed.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”
While this scene might make it look like Chu Fan was a sadist torturing an innocent beauty, that wasn’t the case.
He simply hoped to extract information about Shadow Meld from her.
Ideally, he wanted her to teach him the technique.
It was incredibly useful; this woman was simply unskilled with it, otherwise, Chu Fan never would have detected her.
Chu Fan felt lucky that no one was watching.
He wouldn’t dare play around like this otherwise, as it made him look too much like a villain.
The formation tightened.
After the left leg was finished, it moved to the right.
Just before the right leg began to snap, Chu Fan’s door burst open.
Chu Lingshuang knelt before Chu Fan in a state of frantic desperation, slamming her head against the floor repeatedly.
“Master, no! Please! I beg you! Spare Muyao!”
Chu Fan looked at the kneeling Chu Lingshuang with confusion.
“What?”
“She is… she is Muyao. She’s my classmate and we live together. She only came here because of me. If Master wants to punish someone, punish me! Muyao is innocent!”
Seeing Chu Lingshuang plead so desperately for the woman, Chu Fan frowned.
“Do you know she came here to kill me? Her blade was coated in the poison of the Soul-Slaying Scorpion King. It is enough to rupture the organs and dissolve the bones into blood within the time it takes for 1 incense stick to burn. I would have died without a corpse left behind.”
Chu Lingshuang’s pupils trembled, but she kept her head down and nodded.
“Yes… your disciple knows…”
“You know… Heh. Good. Very good.”
Chu Fan let out a bitter laugh.
He sat back on the bed against the wall and exhaled a long sigh.
“Lingshuang! Don’t beg him! Let him kill me! If he dares to kill me, my father will surely kill him. I’ll still avenge your grievances in the end!”
“Grievances?”
Chu Fan sat up straight, not understanding.
“Lingshuang cares about you so much, yet you, as her Master, hurt her so badly! Do you know how long she cried after returning to her room today? She was still calling for her Master until the moment she cried herself into a faint! You animal!”
“What do you know! Do you even know what happened? You’re just an outsider! What right do you have to judge me! Do you have any idea what I’ve done to—”
Chu Fan’s roar came to an abrupt halt when he saw the shocked look in Baili Muyao’s eyes.
Baili Muyao didn’t understand.
Why did Chu Fan, who had remained calm and composed without talking back until now, suddenly explode in rage?
There was even a strange emotion mixed into his tone.
‘Was that… grievance?’ She felt it was odd.
The more she thought about it, the stranger it became.
“Heh, forget it.”
Chu Fan gave a weary laugh and changed his hand seal.
In the next instant, the formation vanished, and Baili Muyao tumbled to the floor.
“Fine. Take her and leave.”
“Master, I…”
“Thank you for being so considerate of me. You were right. I am merely a Guest Elder of the Sect Master. How could I presume to punish a disciple of the main family?”
“Master…”
“Go. Just go.”
Chu Fan waved his hand repeatedly as if urging them away.
Chu Lingshuang supported Baili Muyao, bowing one last time toward Chu Fan before they left.
“Thank you, Master, for your mercy…”
Chu Fan didn’t respond.
He simply stared down at the floor with a lonely expression.
Once Chu Lingshuang had left, Chu Fan raised his hand, watching it open and close before letting out a bitter laugh.
“What exactly am I doing? It’s been so long, yet why is it still like this…”
‘Is it really my fault?’
Caught in a wave of extreme negative emotions, Chu Fan decided to stop thinking.
Sleep was more important; he still had to work on forging Shen Yuying’s protective silk armor tomorrow.
He lay back down, covered himself, and closed his eyes.
Facing the wall, he prepared to sleep.
Outside, Chu Lingshuang was helping Baili Muyao away.
Neither of them noticed a figure standing perfectly still on the roof of Chu Fan’s room.
Under the moonlight, the person’s snow-white hair looked incredibly holy, but her blood-red eyes only inspired a bone-chilling dread.
She looked down at the two women with the fixed gaze of a predator watching its prey.
Shen Yuying’s hands at her sides clenched tighter and tighter until her knuckles turned white.
Her nails dug into her palms, and droplets of blood began to seep out.
She didn’t calm down; instead, she trembled with pure rage.
“How dare you… How dare you make Master show that kind of expression…”
“Don’t even think about dying easily…”
Shen Yuying’s figure flickered and vanished into the moonlight as the clouds began to drift over the sky.