“Master, Shuang’er is hungry!”
In the marketplace, Chu Lingshuang smelled a delicious aroma and began shaking Chu Fan’s arm, acting cute toward him.
The flow of time in the small world was different from the outside.
Although Chu Lingshuang had been watching for one year, less than one minute had passed in the outside world.
At this point in the memory, Chu Lingshuang had already been by Chu Fan’s side for an entire year.
While Chu Fan had an eye for talent, he doted on this disciple even more.
Whenever he thought about taking on other disciples, Chu Lingshuang would refuse.
He had no choice but to indulge her; after all, he truly hadn’t met anyone more gifted than her, and this disciple had indeed won his heart.
“No, it’s not time yet. If you eat now, you’ll be shouting that you’re hungry again tonight.”
“Oh, no I won’t! Master loves Shuang’er most! Just a little… just buy a little bit, please?”
Hearing her soft, sweet voice, Chu Fan really couldn’t take it anymore, despite not actually being a lolicon.
“Fine, fine, fine.”
Chu Fan handed her a few bits of broken silver.
“Only this much. There’s no more if you spend it all.”
“Mwah! Thank you, Master! Master is the best!”
Chu Lingshuang stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
Watching this scene, the adult Chu Lingshuang smiled along with her younger self.
However, her smile soon froze as if she had suddenly remembered something extremely painful.
“I really can’t do anything with you. I’m heading back to the inn first, then.”
“Okay! See you in a bit, Master!”
The two went their separate ways, walking further and further apart.
‘No… no… don’t leave Master… go back… go back!’
But those were just shadows of the past; they obviously wouldn’t obey her commands.
Before long, the young Chu Lingshuang arrived at a smoked meat shop.
Because she was spoiled by Chu Fan, she was always extravagant with her money, so she spent all those bits of silver.
While waiting for the smoked meat, someone unknowingly appeared behind her.
“Little friend, are you here alone?”
The man’s voice sounded weathered, belonging to someone at least 50 years old.
“Yun Dai!!!!!”
The moment she saw him, the adult Chu Lingshuang flew into a rage.
She drew her sword like a madwoman and began hacking at his phantom.
“Die! Die! Die! Die! Die, gahhhhhh!!!!!”
Chu Lingshuang used every ounce of her strength, swinging her sword as if she wanted to mince him into meat paste.
Even though her internal spiritual energy was nearly exhausted, she felt nothing.
“Hm? Who are you?” the young Chu Lingshuang asked, turning around with an air of indifference.
The old man pulled back his hood, revealing a gaunt, withered face.
Upon seeing those shifty, rat-like features — having long since grown accustomed to Chu Fan’s handsome, elegant appearance — Chu Lingshuang felt a chill run down her spine.
She couldn’t stand it and instinctively took a step back, her eyes filled with undisguised disgust.
“Do not be afraid, little friend. I am a recruitment elder of the Heavenly Profound Sect, named Yun Dai.”
“A recruitment elder from a sect? Then why are you talking to me?”
“I see that you have an extraordinary skeletal structure and natural talent. I wish to invite you to join our sect and embark on the path of immortality together.”
“Me? Talented? Stop joking. Master says I’m stupid every day. You should go swindle someone else, old man. Shoo, shoo! I’m still waiting for my smoked meat.”
Chu Lingshuang waved her hand to drive Yun Dai away.
“Oh? Master? Does little friend already belong to a sect?”
“No, my Master is a rogue cultivator. What about it?”
“A rogue cultivator, you say…”
The corners of Yun Dai’s mouth curled up imperceptibly.
Changing the subject, he laughed and said, “Could you introduce me to your Master, little friend?”
“Huh? Oh, sure,” Chu Lingshuang replied casually.
When Chu Lingshuang opened the door and returned to the room, Chu Fan was about to speak when he saw Yun Dai following closely behind her.
Chu Fan frowned slightly.
In just a single glance, he sensed that something was wrong with the man, so he immediately called Chu Lingshuang to his side.
“Shuang’er, come here.”
Chu Fan’s voice was more serious than ever before.
“Yes, Master.”
Seeing this, Yun Dai was not flustered.
He maintained a gentle smile as he watched the teacher and disciple.
“Greetings, Daoist friend. I am Yun Dai.”
“Chu Fan. What business do you have?”
Chu Fan asked coldly.
“I merely have something I do not understand and have come to seek guidance.”
“What is it?”
“This beloved disciple of yours clearly possesses the dual constitution of a one-in-a-million Innate Cold Ice Body and an Ice Phoenix Dao Heart. Why would you hide this from her?”
“…”
“Even though this Ice Phoenix Dao Heart can be transplanted by anyone, and the Innate Cold Ice Body is the best constitution for dual cultivation in this world, I don’t think you should keep it from your own disciple.”
Hearing this, the naturally sensitive Chu Lingshuang sensed something.
As she looked at Chu Fan’s hesitant expression, she couldn’t help but wait for him to refute the claims.
“I was simply afraid that a child would become arrogant. I didn’t want to bring trouble upon her. What of it?”
“Oh? Is that so? I thought perhaps you had some selfish motives. After all, no one knows if you truly intend to wash your hands of your past.”
Chu Fan frowned.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Yeah, exactly! Aren’t you basically saying my Master is an evil cultivator!”
Chu Lingshuang said indignantly.
“Little friend, do not be in such a hurry. I think it would be more reasonable for the party involved to explain what comes next.”
Yun Dai smiled slightly and stepped aside to open the door.
A little girl in rags with bloodshot eyes walked in.
The moment she saw Chu Fan, she suddenly rushed at him like a madwoman.
The girl pulled a short dagger from behind her back and stabbed at him with a roar.
“You beast! Give me back my family’s lives! …Gah!”
Chu Lingshuang kicked the girl away.
“Where did this weakling come from? With this kind of strength, you want to assassinate my Master?”
Chu Lingshuang was immersed in the gap between their powers, but as soon as she finished speaking, she was startled by the incredibly real, sky-toppling rage in the girl’s eyes.
“Your master killed over 500 people in my village! I want to eat his flesh and drink his blood!”
Chu Lingshuang went silent.
She turned to look at Chu Fan, as if waiting for something.
“I have never met you. How could I have killed your entire village? You must have the wrong person.”
“It’s you! It’s you! A rogue artifact refiner wearing white Daoist robes with a wine gourd hanging from his waist! Who else could it be but you!”
Chu Fan frowned.
Faced with the dirty water being intentionally splashed on him, he was momentarily helpless.
“You say my Master killed your village. What evidence do you have?”
“I saw it with my own eyes! He used a giant cauldron carved with a five-clawed golden dragon to shove everyone from my village inside! He even refined them into pills! What more evidence do I need!”
At that moment, Chu Lingshuang’s heart truly panicked.
That was the Heavenly Pivot Cauldron.
It was her Master’s most prized artifact.
It could attack, defend, and refine pills or artifacts — it was a versatile divine tool.
However, her Master rarely took it out.
Even she had only seen it once.
Chu Lingshuang stiffly turned her head to look at Chu Fan, but he remained expressionless.
“How could someone like him ever take a disciple? Don’t be fooled by him! Be careful not to walk into the tiger’s mouth!”
“Alright, alright~”
Yun Dai stopped her in time, soothing the girl’s emotions while bowing.
“My apologies. I happened to come across this child on the road. It was wrong of me to affect your moods. I will take her away now.”
With that, Yun Dai left with the girl.
No one stopped them.
The atmosphere in the room dropped to the freezing point.
Neither of them spoke until Chu Lingshuang broke the silence.
“Master… the smoked meat is going to get cold… You should eat first…”
“I’m not hungry. Weren’t you the one who was hungry? You eat first,” Chu Fan’s voice was as calm as ever.
“I… I’m not that hungry anymore… I might have lost my appetite… Haha…” Chu Lingshuang laughed awkwardly.
Suddenly, Chu Fan noticed a mosquito landing on Chu Lingshuang’s neck and reached out his hand toward her.
But Chu Lingshuang suddenly lifted her bottom and moved several steps away from Chu Fan in the opposite direction before sitting down.
Seeing this, Chu Fan sighed inwardly.
He was not good at explaining things, a trait that stemmed from his original family.
In his past life on Earth, coming from a single-parent household, every time something went missing at home, his mother would suspect him.
‘Fan, did you steal my money?’
Perhaps his mother didn’t truly suspect him — he wasn’t sure — but she said it every single time.
From childhood to adulthood, it never stopped.
Gradually, Chu Fan gave up on explaining.
He began to believe in a different set of rules.
That is, someone who truly holds you in their heart will not suspect you — at least, they will not turn their back on you before there is solid evidence.
Watching Chu Lingshuang’s movements, Chu Fan’s heart began to turn cold.
He stood up from the bed and walked toward the door.
“I’m going out for a while.”
“Um…”
Chu Fan left the room.
Chu Lingshuang sat alone on the bed.
Although she didn’t want to admit it, her heartbeat calmed down significantly after Chu Fan was gone.
At the same time, she also cooled down and began to think seriously.
Why did she treat her Master that way?
He was the one who saved her life.
Even if he had 1,000 reasons to kill her, he had no reason to save her in the first place.
Master had said that a gentleman is judged by his actions, not his heart.
Since he saved her, even if it was for the sake of killing her later, she was still the one who owed him.
She owed him a life.
It was a debt of gratitude that could never be fully repaid.
Was she really going to doubt and hurt him now because of uncertain rumors?
No, this wasn’t what someone who claimed to be his eldest disciple should do.
‘No, I need to find Master. I need to apologize to him!’
Chu Lingshuang jumped off the bed and ran out of the room, forgetting to even close the door.
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