The drinks had flowed for three rounds.
The food on the table had barely been touched, for the aged vintage had already intoxicated their hearts.
After a few cups of spiritual wine, the originally composed Tai Lingxuan now had a faint mist of moisture covering her eyes.
She leaned back against the chair, her head tilted slightly to one side.
Her robes were somewhat disheveled and open, and her originally fair skin now shimmered with a translucent, drunken flush.
A ghostly trace of a smile hung at the corner of Tai Lingxuan’s mouth.
Her lips parted and closed, and a series of mumbles bubbled from her throat as if she were chanting something, but the sounds were so blurred that Chen Yuyang could not hear them clearly.
Ling Xi was in even worse shape.
Chen Yuyang had given her less than half a cup, but once the intoxication of that half-cup surged up, she became even more thoroughly drunk than Tai Lingxuan.
She slumped over the table, her fingers still tightly clutching her wine cup, her body leaning limply to the side.
Chen Yuyang held his cup and took a small sip.
He had consumed several cups—a dosage enough to knock Tai Lingxuan flat—but for him, it only resulted in a slight buzz.
His eyes maintained their consistent, piercing clarity.
Setting down the wine cup, the youth looked at the two women who were now leaning and sprawling every which way with no semblance of decorum.
He shook his head helplessly and laughed softly.
“No tolerance but loves to drink anyway, even Master is the same… I told you to have less…”
Muttering, Chen Yuyang stood up and approached Tai Lingxuan.
Catching a glimpse of the “scenery” revealed by her slightly open collar, the youth reached out to pull the fabric back together, speaking with an unchanging expression.
“Master, that’s enough. We should head back.”
There was no reaction.
Chen Yuyang simply reached out and patted the woman’s cheek, which was radiating a scorching heat.
“Master? Master?”
Tai Lingxuan shook her head, her brow furrowed slightly.
She gave a limp wave of her hand.
“Don’t bother me, Yuyang… let Master rest for, for a little while longer…”
As she mumbled, the woman shifted onto her side, finding a more comfortable position to lean in.
The collar he had just pulled together loosened once more.
“Master is tired… you bad boy, you’ve really put Master through a lot…”
These nonsensical, contextless words made Chen Yuyang’s expression turn somewhat awkward.
What are you saying, Master?
You really aren’t afraid of the truth coming out after wine, are you?
With a helpless sigh, Chen Yuyang could only turn to Ling Xi, who was slumped on the table.
Regardless, he had to get them back.
With that thought, Chen Yuyang took out a teleportation talisman with a flick of his hand, while simultaneously reaching out to throw Ling Xi over his shoulder.
However, just as Chen Yuyang reached out, his wrist was suddenly grabbed by Ling Xi.
“Ha, caught you!”
“Big pervert!”
Ling Xi lifted her head with drunken, blurry eyes.
Her gaze was hazy, yet it carried a hint of vigilance and charm.
“I knew it was you, Senior Brother… I knew you were up to no good… all day, every day, you only know how to bully me…”
“Come, Senior Brother, come and fight me for three hundred rounds!”
Ling Xi suddenly raised her voice, her small hands beginning to flail about wildly.
“This time, I—I definitely won’t lose!”
Biting her lower lip, the girl shouted with a spoiled arrogance.
Chen Yuyang looked at her current state, his mouth twitching.
He thought helplessly to himself: It seems this girl is also quite drunk.
Shaking his head, Chen Yuyang simply extended both hands and circulated his spiritual power, directly pressing down on her shoulders to prevent her from actually starting a fight in this state and smashing the shop to pieces.
“Ow, it hurts…” Pressed down by him and unable to move, Ling Xi’s little mouth puckered, letting out a small, aggrieved cry.
The girl blinked her watery eyes, muttering pitifully, “Wooo, I lost again…”
“I’m going to be bullied by Senior Brother again~”
Chen Yuyang’s mouth twitched slightly as he helplessly slid his arm under her armpits.
Just as he was about to hoist her up, the voice coming from the girl suddenly turned somber.
“You can bully me however you want… Senior Brother, you really won’t leave me, right?”
“Even if you have a new Junior Sister, Senior Brother, you won’t forget me, right?”
The girl’s voice gradually lowered.
At the same time, a shimmering brilliance flickered within her bedroom-soft eyes.
Beneath the warm yellow shadows of the lamps, a bean-sized tear rolled down her flushed cheek, leaving a clear wet trail before shattering against the tabletop.
This scene actually left Chen Yuyang a bit stunned.
He felt as though something deep within his heart had been stirred at this moment.
“Junior Sister, you’re drunk…”
“I… won’t leave…”
He muttered softly, offering it as an answer as he lifted her onto his back.
“Cunning…”
“You didn’t say you don’t want a new Junior Sister, you big pervert…”
Chen Yuyang: “…”
At this moment, it was his turn to be speechless.
Was this girl actually drunk or not?
Looking back, Chen Yuyang saw that the girl had already slumped against his shoulder, her eyes tightly closed and her breathing steady.
She had fallen asleep.
Chen Yuyang let out a soft sigh and, without a word, crushed the teleportation talisman.
He knew.
He knew everything that had happened these past few days.
Whether it was people coming to find trouble, the rapid breakthrough of his own realm, the talent he displayed at the Alchemy Conference, or the fact that major sects were trying to recruit him…
Every single bit of it was giving her—giving Ling Xi—a sense of crisis.
A sense of crisis that she could lose him at any moment, a feeling that he was getting further and further away.
Chen Yuyang understood these feelings well.
For no other reason than he had seen too much of it.
Hundreds of thousands of years had passed in a flash.
In that long span of time, loneliness was the constant state, and no matter how deep the companionship, there would always be a day when it ended.
Therefore, he always avoided investing true feelings, avoiding the infinite lingering of a backward glance.
He was heartless because, on this path, there was only himself.
But…
Chen Yuyang placed the girl on the bed, gently covering her with the blanket.
The youth’s eyes gazed with a complex emotion at the peaceful girl on the bed.
How could a person truly be heartless?
Taking a deep breath, the youth leaned down, bringing his face close to the girl’s. “Rest easy, girl…”
“Your Senior Brother is going to bully you for a lifetime, so you’d better be prepared.”
Crushing another teleportation talisman, Chen Yuyang vanished from the girl’s room.
On the bed, it was unknown if the sleeping girl had dreamed of something, but a smile suddenly hooked at the corner of her mouth.
“Pah, blockhead.”
Returning to the private booth, Tai Lingxuan was still leaning against the back of the chair in that same posture, her eyes half-open and hazy.
Her long eyelashes cast a thin shadow beneath her eyes.
Her lips, usually slightly pursed, were now ajar.
Between each breath, there was the rich aroma of wine mixed with the orchid-like natural scent of her body, carrying a unique allure.
“Master, it’s about time for you to go back too.”
Chen Yuyang walked to her side and bent down, reaching his arms under the woman’s armpits.
With a surge of strength, he lifted her voluptuous body slightly off the chair.
Through the fabric, the softness of her front pressed against his back, bringing a warm sensation and a startling elasticity.
“Yuyang…” Tai Lingxuan’s head leaned weakly against Chen Yuyang’s shoulder, her arms wrapping around his neck and hanging down limply.
Her voice carried a slight nasal quality, sounding somewhat blurred, yet every word could be heard clearly.
“Tell me, is Master… very useless?”
“Everything in the Sect… still requires you to help me. You have to refine pills to earn spirit stones, you have to devise strategies for me. When trouble comes, you even have to stand up and speak for me. I even need your things to help me cultivate…”
The woman’s eyes struggled to open wide, but her gaze remained vacant.
On her beautiful, peerless face, there was nothing but a sense of dejection.
Her furrowed brow further emphasized the vulnerability coming from the depths of her heart.
Chen Yuyang looked sideways at Tai Lingxuan, clearly seeing the intoxication and confusion in her eyes.
She was indeed drunk.
“How could that be? Master, you’ve already done very well,” Chen Yuyang said while exerting more force to secure her on his back.
“You’re just still too young,” he added softly.
At an age not even reaching fifty, Tai Lingxuan was really no different from a child to Chen Yuyang.
Especially in the cultivation world, where the vast majority of time was spent in seclusion without concern for worldly affairs, her heart and experience were fundamentally no different from a person in their twenties.
From that perspective, the fact that she could support a sect all by herself meant she had actually done very, very well.
“Young?”
“Then what about you? You’re clearly just a child…” Tai Lingxuan’s voice was airy, carrying a post-drunken rasp.
Her eyes stared straight at Chen Yuyang as if trying to see into his very heart.
These words actually made Chen Yuyang feel a bit ashamed.
Was he a child?
Physiologically, yes.
But psychologically, he was absolutely not.
“Master, you’re drunk…” Avoiding Tai Lingxuan’s gaze, Chen Yuyang steadied her swaying body.
“Don’t overthink it. It’s also time for Master to distribute the burden on your shoulders a little. You should be happy to have a disciple who can share your burdens. Why the long face?”
Tai Lingxuan’s head wobbled, a flash of confusion appearing on her face at first.
Then, she suddenly started to giggle.
There was a hint of silliness in her laughter, but it also radiated a sense of pride and pleasure.
“Hehe, right… I should be happy.”
“Because you, my man, are excellent. They all want to get you, but… hehe, you’re already mine.”
As she spoke, Tai Lingxuan’s arms unconsciously tightened.
Her tone carried a bit of showing off and triumph, and her eyes, narrowed into slits, appeared even more dazed.
Chen Yuyang: “…”
A vein throbbed at his temple.
The youth silently ignored the “my man” part, choosing for the time being to interpret it as Master being glad he was her disciple.
Crushing the talisman, Chen Yuyang brought Tai Lingxuan back to her room as well.
After settling the woman on the bed, Chen Yuyang let out a breath and turned to leave.
But his wrist was caught by an even faster hand.
Following that, a massive force that the youth could not resist surged from the hand locking his wrist.
Before he could react, Chen Yuyang was buried within a soft, smooth embrace, his limbs entangled like a rabbit that had fallen into a trap, unable to escape.
“Master?”
“Zzz…”
Long, steady breathing was the only answer.
Tai Lingxuan was dead to the world.
He tried to struggle, but there was no reaction.
Chen Yuyang: “…”
Was she using him as a body pillow?
Pressed against the woman’s bosom, a slight flush rose on Chen Yuyang’s face.
In those eyes that were always clear, a hint of indulgence that even he hadn’t noticed now appeared.
Sigh, one after another…
Master…
If you’re going to be like this, your disciple might just have to… cross the line.