Time rewinds to a few minutes earlier.
Lu Li had just finished a comfortable soak in a hot bath, washing away the dust and weariness brought from the Dan Room.
He felt refreshed all over, and his mood lightened considerably.
He changed into a clean, plain-colored Daoist robe, used a simple wooden hairpin to tie up his still-damp black hair, and leisurely walked out of the bathroom.
The night was deep now, the corridor quiet, with only the soft rustling of wind through bamboo leaves around.
He had originally intended to return to his room to meditate and regulate his breathing, but his gaze inadvertently swept toward the direction of his two disciples’ bedroom.
Hmm?
Lu Li’s footsteps paused slightly.
He keenly sensed that around the tightly closed door, there seemed to be a faint, almost imperceptible layer of spirit energy fluctuation.
That was… a soundproof barrier.
‘It’s so late, and Qingkong and Baiyu aren’t asleep yet?’
‘And they’ve activated a soundproof barrier?’
‘Are they practicing some cultivation method that requires a quiet environment? Or are they discussing some private matter they don’t want outsiders to hear?’
Out of concern for his disciples, and a touch of pure curiosity, Lu Li pondered for a moment before lightening his steps and walking directly toward the bedroom.
Lu Li didn’t deliberately conceal his aura, but with his Golden Core Initial Stage cultivation, and with his deliberate restraint, his movements almost merged with the night itself.
Lu Li reached the door, extended his hand, and gently pushed open the door that wasn’t bolted from the inside.
“Baiyu, Qingkong, it’s so late now, and you two still aren’t asleep?”
His unusually gentle voice, carrying the moist warmth from his recent bath, sounded at the doorway, like a stone dropped into a calm lake, instantly shattering the thick, tense darkness within the room.
Hearing Lu Li’s words, the two rebellious disciples inside, who had been immersed in dark scheming about “how to deal with the potential love rival,” felt as if struck by a sudden thunderclap.
The blood in their bodies seemed to freeze solid at that moment.
Especially Gong Shangyu, who just moments ago had been speaking in an icy tone, plotting to make the love rival back down or even “vanish from the world.”
The moment she heard her master’s voice, the fierce determination on her face vanished without a trace, replaced by an extreme fluster and panic of being caught red-handed.
Her pretty face flushed visibly, all the way to the roots of her ears, and even her breathing seemed to stop for a moment.
Gu Qingying wasn’t much better off.
Her purple eyes were wide open, her heart pounding wildly in her chest, almost leaping out.
Gu Qingying instinctively tried to sit up from the bed.
That forcibly suppressed anxiety and grievance about her master possibly “cheating” surged up again at the sight of her master himself, violently impacting her rational defenses.
Gu Qingying opened her mouth, almost about to blurt out the question that had been lingering in her heart without a care!
“Ah! Mas—”
However, Gu Qingying had only uttered one word, and her body hadn’t even had time to fully rise, when Gong Shangyu beside her reacted faster.
The instant Gu Qingying’s voice sounded, knowing her junior sister’s impulsive nature would cause trouble and that she was about to directly question their master, Gong Shangyu sprang up from her own bed like a pouncing leopard.
She took a swift stride to Gu Qingying’s bedside, her movements so fast they left an afterimage in her original spot!
She used one hand with an irresistible force to firmly clamp over Gu Qingying’s mouth, blocking all the potentially disastrous questions that might follow.
Her other hand pressed hard on Gu Qingying’s shoulder, forcibly pushing her back down onto the bed.
“Mmph! Mmmph—!”
Gu Qingying was caught completely off guard, only able to emit muffled whimpers.
Her limbs struggled, her purple eyes filled with suppressed unwillingness and indignation as she glared fiercely at Gong Shangyu.
Gong Shangyu didn’t dare look at her eyes.
All her attention was now focused on their master at the door.
Then, she forced out a smile that was as natural as possible, but appeared somewhat twisted and stiff due to excessive tension, explaining to Lu Li, who stood at the door with a puzzled expression.
“Mas… Master! You’ve finished bathing?”
Gong Shangyu’s voice carried a barely noticeable tremor, but she tried hard to keep it steady.
“We… we were just… it’s nothing major! It’s just that Senior Brother Gu… Senior Brother Gu just had a nightmare, woke up startled, felt scared, and couldn’t sleep.”
“I… I was just trying to guide him, to comfort him as much as possible!”
As she spoke, Gong Shangyu secretly applied more force, her fingernails almost digging into the flesh of Gu Qingying’s shoulder, while desperately making eye contact with Gu Qingying.
Her gaze was filled with warning, threat, and a frantic hint of “if you dare say anything wrong, we’re both finished.”
Gu Qingying, feeling the pain from her shoulder and Gong Shangyu’s almost murderous gaze, gradually lessened her struggling force.
Rationality with difficulty returned.
She remembered Gong Shangyu’s earlier analysis, remembered the terrifying consequences of system exposure and expulsion from the sect…
Despite feeling utterly unwilling, as if burned by a poisonous fire, she knew this was absolutely not the time for willfulness.
Gu Qingying took a deep breath, forcibly swallowing down the questions and grievances that almost burst from her throat.
She stopped struggling, only using a pair of watery, quite aggrieved purple eyes to look pitifully toward Lu Li at the door.
Then… she nodded very slightly, emitting a few muffled sounds of agreement from her throat.
Lu Li stood at the doorway, taking in the slightly bizarre scene inside the room.
He saw his eldest disciple, Gu Qingkong, being firmly muzzled and pressed onto the bed by his second disciple, Shang Baiyu.
Her small face was flushed red, the corners of her eyes seemed a bit moist, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice but dared not speak of it.
His second disciple, Shang Baiyu, wore an expression of anxiety and concern, tightly holding onto his senior brother while making eye signals at him…
This scene… made Lu Li feel that something was off, no matter how he looked at it.
Especially since the two were extremely close now, almost physically entwined.
‘Baiyu is comforting Qingkong? But this method of comforting… isn’t it a bit too intimate and forceful?’
The absurd notion about “homosexuality” uncontrollably surfaced in his mind again, stirring a subtle sense of strangeness in his heart.
But he quickly suppressed that thought, telling himself not to measure his disciples’ intentions with a filthy heart.
‘Perhaps… Baiyu is just a bit impatient by nature, and his way of comforting people is just… special? After all, they’re both half-grown boys, it’s normal to be a bit rough.’
Lu Li cleared his throat, dispelling the messy thoughts in his mind, and asked gently to confirm.
“Oh? Had a nightmare?”
His gaze fell on Gu Qingying, who was being muzzled by Gong Shangyu and could only blink her eyes.
“Qingkong, is that so?”
Gong Shangyu quickly released her hand from covering Gu Qingying’s mouth, but still kept her hand on her shoulder, the threatening intent in her eyes undiminished.
Gu Qingying, able to breathe again, took several deep breaths.
Feeling the pressure on her shoulder and the “friendly” gaze from Gong Shangyu opposite her, she bit her lower lip, lowered her eyelashes, and replied in a nasal tone that indeed sounded like someone still frightened after a scare.
“Yes… Master, this disciple… this disciple indeed had a nightmare just now, disturbing Junior Brother Baiyu’s rest…”
“This disciple… this disciple is ashamed.”
Gu Qingying’s words were half-truth, half-lie.
The nightmare was false, but the fear and unease in her heart were real, just for entirely different reasons.
Seeing his eldest disciple admit it personally, Lu Li’s remaining doubts dissipated.
He simply assumed it was a sensitive youth troubled by a bad dream, and soothed gently.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“What you think about during the day, you dream about at night. Usually, you need to balance tension and relaxation in your cultivation, don’t strain your mind too much.”
“Since you’re awake, if you really can’t sleep, you can recite the Heart-Calming Mantra a few times to calm your mind and focus your spirit.”
“Yes, this disciple respectfully follows Master’s teachings.”
Gu Qingying lowered her head and answered obediently.
Lu Li then looked at Gong Shangyu, who was still pressing on Gu Qingying’s shoulder, feeling the posture was still somewhat awkward, and said.
“Baiyu, since your senior brother is fine now, you should also return to your own bed and rest properly. Early tomorrow morning, we still need to continue watching the Dharma Assembly.”
Gong Shangyu felt as if granted a great pardon, quickly letting go and taking a step back, bowing.
“Yes, Master! This disciple will rest now!”
She secretly sighed in relief, but her back was already covered in a cold sweat from the scare.
Lu Li nodded, his gaze sweeping between the two.
Although he still felt the atmosphere between these two disciples tonight was somewhat indescribably odd, since he had clarified the reason, he didn’t delve deeper.
Young people’s thoughts were inherently hard to fathom.
Perhaps they just had a minor disagreement between brothers.
As their master, he shouldn’t intervene in everything.
“Alright, then you two rest early. Don’t stay up late again.”
Lu Li gave a final reminder, then turned, gently closed the door, and left the side chamber.
Click.
The sound of the door closing was particularly clear in the quiet night.
Only after confirming their master’s footsteps gradually faded away, finally disappearing in the direction of the main hall, did the two in the side chamber, as if all strength had been drained from them, simultaneously collapse onto their respective beds with a thud.
“Whew—”
“Whew—”
Both slumped on their own beds, their hearts still beating wildly, fine beads of cold sweat on their foreheads.
The brief confrontation just now had been more mentally exhausting than a life-and-death struggle with a powerful enemy.
After a brief dead silence.
“Gong! Shang! Yu!”
Gu Qingying suddenly sat up from the bed, raging fire blazing in her purple eyes.
She lowered her voice, enunciating each word in a low growl, her voice filled with suppressed fury.
“Were you trying to suffocate me just now?! And you dug your nails into my shoulder so hard it almost broke!”
Gu Qingying rubbed her aching shoulder and jaw, all the grievances and anger she had endured earlier now transformed into fury directed at Gong Shangyu.
Gong Shangyu also sat up, giving her a sidelong glance.
She flexed her fingers, which were somewhat stiff from excessive tension, and retorted sharply.
“Hah! If I didn’t cover your mouth, should I have just let you charge up like a madwoman and ask Master if he has a woman outside?”
“Gu Qingying, can’t you use your brain?”
“If you don’t use that brain of yours, it’ll rust! Was that the time for you to lose your mind?!”
Gong Shangyu grew angrier as she spoke, a flush also rising to her pretty face.
“If I hadn’t reacted quickly, would we still be sitting here arguing nicely? We would have already been noticed as abnormal by Master, then he would have followed the clues and exposed both our systems, and we’d be erased by the system! Do you know you almost got us both killed just now?!”
“I…”
Gu Qingying was choked for a moment.
Remembering the possible consequences, her aura weakened by three parts, but she still stubbornly insisted.
“Then… then you still shouldn’t have used so much force! And, what right do you have to call me a madwoman?!”
“Based on how you looked just now, like you were about to grab a sword and chop someone, with red eyes like you wanted to eat someone!”
Gong Shangyu mercilessly exposed her.
“Isn’t that the very picture of a jealous wife? A jealous fool!”
“You!”
Gu Qingying, furious, grabbed her pillow and wanted to throw it over.
“Go ahead, throw it!”
Gong Shangyu didn’t back down, puffing out her chest.
“Bring Master over again, and see if I can still cover for you this time!”
Gu Qingying’s hand holding the pillow froze in mid-air.
In the end, she resentfully lowered it, throwing the pillow heavily back onto the bed.
She then hugged her knees, burying her face in them.
Her shoulders trembled slightly, emitting suppressed, tearful sobs.
“But… but I couldn’t help it… I just think… if Master might… might really… my heart hurts so much… like a knife is cutting it…”
Her voice was muffled, filled with helplessness and pain.
Seeing her like this, the anger in Gong Shangyu’s heart also dissipated somewhat, replaced by a shared sense of sourness and powerlessness.
Wasn’t she also hurting?
Wasn’t she also panicked?
It was just that she was better at hiding it than Gu Qingying, and more adept at assessing the situation.
She sighed, her tone softening a bit.
“I know you’re hurting. Do you think I feel any better? But the more it’s like this, the more we need to stay calm. ‘If one cannot endure the small, it will ruin the grand scheme.’ Engrave that sentence in your mind!”
She lay back down, looking at the canopy top in the darkness, her voice low and firm.
“Tomorrow, we act according to plan. Breakfast, the Truth-Telling Talisman… we must find out the truth. But before that, put away all your emotions. Play your role of the obedient eldest senior brother well for me, understood?”
Gu Qingying’s head buried in her knees moved slightly, emitting an almost inaudible “…Mm.”
The room fell into silence again.
However, unlike the previous dead silence brought by suspicion and panic, this silence held more of a suppressed anticipation after reaching a consensus, and a dangerous, tense atmosphere like a drawn bowstring, ready to snap at any moment.
The two lay on their respective beds, no longer sleeper.
Gu Qingying repeatedly recalled every detail from when her master entered the room—his gentle tone, his fresh scent carrying moisture, his slightly puzzled but not probing gaze…
All of this seemed no different from usual.
But then, how to explain that cheerful humming?
Gong Shangyu, meanwhile, ran through tomorrow’s plan over and over in her mind.
How should the breakfast dishes be arranged to suit their master’s taste without seeming deliberate?
How to naturally steer the conversation?
When exactly should the Truth-Telling Talisman be used?
Not a single step could go wrong.
Time flowed slowly amidst their chaotic thoughts.
Gong Shangyu and Gu Qingying tossed and turned, their hearts growing more and more agitated the more they thought.
Outside the window, the moonlight, unnoticed, gradually sank westward.
The horizon slowly revealed a faint, almost imperceptible sliver of dawn.