Feng Lingshuang curled into the shadows of the bushes, feeling cold all over.
Her blood seemed to freeze in that moment.
Churning in her chest was a pain a thousand times more intense than the sprain in her ankle.
She stared fixedly at the all-too-familiar Love Thread Sword hanging from Gu Qingying’s waist, her vision stinging as if burned.
‘That is… my sword…’
‘Master, you know about the former life! Why did you give my sword to Junior Sister?’
‘Is it because I came too late? Or is it because, in your heart, she… is ultimately more favored than I am?’
‘As expected, do you hold a grudge against me in your heart because of the events of our former life?’
Countless questions screamed frantically in her mind but found no exit.
They could only turn into sharp icicles, repeatedly piercing her internal organs.
She could even clearly remember the indescribable joy and sense of value she felt when she obtained that sword in her former life, as if she had gained the entire world.
But now…
Just as she was in so much pain that she could barely breathe and was about to lose control and rush out to demand answers, the behavior of those two figures in the distance made her stop in her tracks.
Gu Qingying and Gong Shangyu walked quickly to Lu Li, who was frozen by the Time Stop, but they did not immediately bypass him to return to the Inn.
Gu Qingying first circled Lu Li’s static figure in a small half-circle, and then, she did something that left Feng Lingshuang dumbstruck.
She suddenly leaned close to Lu Li, her small nose almost pressed against Lu Li’s Revised Daoist Robe.
Like a cautious small beast, she began to sniff him carefully from head to toe!
From his shoulders to his cuffs, she even stood on her tiptoes to sniff near the side of Lu Li’s neck!
“Hey! Gu Qingying! What are you doing?!”
Gong Shangyu reached out and forcefully pulled Gu Qingying away from Lu Li’s side.
She glared at her and whispered, “Are you a dog? Sniffing around Master like that, isn’t it disgusting!”
Gu Qingying stumbled from the pull.
After steadying herself, she puffed out her cheeks and retorted righteously, her voice still very low, yet it reached Feng Lingshuang’s ears clearly.
“What do you know! I’m checking! I’m checking to see if Master has been stained by any improper scents belonging to other vixens! I’m seeing if he took the chance while we weren’t around to go play around!”
Gong Shangyu let out a chuckle at those words.
She crossed her arms and looked Gu Qingying up and down, her tone overflowing with disdain.
“Heh! You speak so high and mighty, but I think you’re just taking the chance to cling to Master and take advantage of him, aren’t you?”
“You!”
Gu Qingying was like a cat that had its tail stepped on.
Her Purple Eyes widened as she retorted angrily.
But immediately after, her voice carried a trace of unavoidable grievance and helplessness, even bordering on self-abandonment.
“I… I have no choice! Who told… who told Master to have an Aversion to Women in this life?”
‘What? Aversion to Women?!’
Behind the bushes, Feng Lingshuang abruptly covered her mouth to keep from crying out!
Beneath her bamboo hat, the color instantly drained from her pretty face, which was now filled with unbelievable shock!
‘Aversion… Aversion to Women?!’
‘Master… hates women?’
‘How is that possible?! Even though he practiced the Tai Shang Duan Qing Jue in his former life and kept his distance with a cold and self-restrained demeanor, he was never averse to women!’
‘He was strict with us female disciples, but he was also caring and occasionally gentle…’
Gu Qingying’s voice continued, carrying a heavy sense of grievance and indignation, as if she were venting long-accumulated frustration.
“It’s not like you don’t know! Master is extremely guarded against the women around him now!”
“He wouldn’t even accept female disciples at first. If the two of us hadn’t disguised ourselves as men, we probably wouldn’t even have been able to enter the Sect!”
“If it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t have kept ourselves in male form!”
Gu Qingying tugged at the male robes she was wearing, her tone incredibly gloomy.
“Do you think I want to wear these stiff men’s clothes all day, bind my chest until it’s uncomfortable, and press my voice down to speak? Isn’t it all just to stay by Master’s side!”
Although Gong Shangyu still kept a stern face, her eyes flickered for a moment, clearly sharing the sentiment.
She huffed, which served as a tacit agreement with Gu Qingying’s words, and urged her impatiently, “Fine, fine! I know you feel wronged! Let’s go quickly! If we linger any longer, the Time Stop will really end!”
The two women said no more.
They took one last look at the static Lu Li, hurriedly bypassed him, and ran quickly toward the Inn.
Their figures soon vanished into the depths of the night.
However, the conversation they left behind — especially that earth-shattering statement about Master having an extreme Aversion to Women — was like a heavy shackle tightly locked around Feng Lingshuang’s heart.
She froze in place, her body cold and her mind in a state of chaos.
‘So… so that’s how it is!’
No wonder Gu Qingying and Gong Shangyu had to disguise themselves as men!
It wasn’t for some game or a special preference, it was because…
Master had developed an Aversion to Women in this life!
This realization was like a basin of ice water mixed with shards of ice.
It instantly extinguished most of the jealousy, unwillingness, and impulse that had been ignited by the Love Thread Sword.
In its place was a deeper, almost desperate panic and confusion.
‘Master… Aversion to Women…’
Thinking of this, Feng Lingshuang recalled the internal voice of Lu Li she had heard earlier at the Lantern Festival in the Royal City.
‘The reason Master has an Aversion to Women… could it be… because I hurt him in our former life?’
‘Could it be… because of my irredeemable betrayal, when I finally turned my sword against him, that I deeply wounded him and left him with an indelible psychological shadow and… loathing for all women?’
‘Is it because of me… that I personally pushed Master to his current state?’
‘Is it me… who made it so he can’t even have normal contact with women?’
The sense of guilt and panic brought by this thought instantly submerged her.
Compared to the Love Thread Sword being given to someone else, this possible truth was more like an invisible blade, cutting her heart — which was already uneasy due to her rebirth — into tattered pieces.
‘So that’s how it is… So that’s how it is…’
‘No wonder… Master never came to find me!’
‘No wonder… Master would give my sword away!’
‘So, what kind of irredeemable things did the former me in my dreams do to Master to make him loathe me so much?’
‘Could it be… as Master’s internal voice said, that the former me was so obsessed with the Sword Dao that I went mad, doing such treacherous things as killing my Master and stealing his Dao Fruit to complete my own Sword Dao?’
Thinking of this, Feng Lingshuang looked at Lu Li’s static silhouette, which appeared exceptionally cold and distant under the moonlight.
She suddenly felt a massive wave of sorrow and despair sweep over her.
If… if that was really the case, then wouldn’t her return in this life and her approaching him be a greater form of torture and harm to Master?
Did she still have the right to walk before him and call him “Master” once more?