Under the circumstances, Chu Fan had no choice but to focus intently on mending the clothes.
But halfway through, a question suddenly occurred to him.
‘How did it get torn?’
In Chu Fan’s understanding, the Crimson Sky Burner, as a Heaven-grade artifact, shouldn’t be so easily damaged unless it had encountered a weapon of the same rank or higher.
Or perhaps someone with a higher cultivation level than Dongfang Qingwei had attacked her.
But Chu Fan didn’t think that was possible—he had never seen anyone stronger than her.
At best, someone could fight her to a draw.
“It was all for you.”
“Huh?”
Chu Fan lifted his head, but when he saw the clothes, he quickly looked down again.
“If I hadn’t been helping you look into that mess from three years ago, how could I have gotten hurt?”
“You were injured?”
Chu Fan raised his head and met Dongfang Qingwei’s gaze.
Seeing the obvious concern in his eyes, Dongfang Qingwei kept her expression taut, but beneath the table, her hands unconsciously clutched the hem of her clothes.
He didn’t ask about the outcome of her investigation first.
Instead, he cared about her injury.
Dongfang Qingwei quickly took a deep breath and pretended not to care.
“Yeah, the other side also had a Heaven-grade artifact—an offensive type. I wasn’t paying attention and got hit by one of their arrows.”
“Have you fully recovered?”
Hearing this, Dongfang Qingwei turned her face away, deliberately showing Chu Fan her back, and secretly curled up the corners of her mouth.
But her voice remained stubborn.
“No.”
“Where are you hurt?”
Just as Dongfang Qingwei’s lips were about to stretch to the back of her ears, she stuck out a little tongue and lightly bit its tip, but she still couldn’t stop the corners of her eyes from lifting.
“None of your business.”
Her voice stayed stubborn.
“Stop messing around. What if you end up with a hidden ailment? Have you taken the Nirvana Pill?”
“As if. That thing is way too precious. I can’t bear to use it.”
“Then give it to me to eat?!”
“I’m just afraid you’d die here in my Celestial Master Mansion—how unlucky would that be?”
“You—”
“What about me? Just because you can diagnose illnesses, nobody else can?”
“I—”
“What about me? I’ve already seen countless alchemy masters, and they all said I’m fine. What, you think you can tell something they can’t?”
“You’re naturally foolish. What if you got tricked by some charlatan? Hurry up and let me see the wound.”
Hearing this, Dongfang Qingwei suddenly turned around, stood up, walked over to Chu Fan, and pointed a finger at him, scolding him with each jab: “You’re naturally foolish! You’re naturally foolish! Your whole family is naturally foolish! Every one of your descendants is naturally foolish!”
“Fine, fine, fine, I’m naturally foolish. Now quickly let me see the wound.”
“You really want to see?”
“Of course. What if there’s a latent poison with a trigger condition? Hurry up.”
“Oh.”
With that, Dongfang Qingwei turned around, lifted her clothes up, and revealed the graceful curve of her waist.
Chu Fan looked closely.
On the left side of her lower back was a dark mark—not large, but very dense in color.
Chu Fan reached out and touched Dongfang Qingwei’s waist.
He felt her tremble, but he ignored it and focused more intently on the mark.
Gradually, he made it out.
It really was a mark that looked like a brand, but it wasn’t a trigger-type curse mark, nor was it a scar from poison or a wound.
It was a round smiley face.
Crack, crack.
Chu Fan clenched his right fist, his knuckles popping.
Veins bulged on his forehead, and he ground his teeth so hard that his whole head began to shake.
“Dong! Fang! Qing! Wei!”
Chu Fan roared, each word punctuated with fury.
“Oh?”
Dongfang Qingwei looked back, saw Chu Fan’s face flushed with anger, and grinned.
“I got you, didn’t I? Hmph. Did you really think I’d get hurt? That thief only shot through the clothes you gave me—didn’t even graze my skin before I punched him into a pulp.”
“But our Great Sage Chu~ that expression just now~ was quite delicious~”
Dongfang Qingwei laughed mockingly, slowly sat down beside Chu Fan, draped her arm over the back of his neck, and patted his cheek tauntingly.
“I wonder what our Great Sage Chu~ was thinking about just now~?”
“…”
Though Chu Fan still had his eyes closed, his breathing had already become irregular.
“Oh dear~ my Weiwei got hurt~ I’m so worried~ come on, let me have a look~”
“…”
Dongfang Qingwei covered her mouth with one hand, stifling a laugh.
“Turns out it was a smiley face I drew… casually… on the spot… Pfft hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!”
Finally unable to hold it in, Dongfang Qingwei slapped Chu Fan on the back and burst into thunderous laughter.
“Dongfang Qingwei!!!!!!!”
His mind went blank.
Chu Fan didn’t know what happened next.
By the time he came to his senses, he had already pinned Dongfang Qingwei down on the bed.
And her already tight clothes had split open from the violent movement, revealing the heaving mountains beneath—dazzlingly white.
Her expression had also changed, as if she were a different person—whether from shyness or sheer shock, he couldn’t tell.
At night, a cool breeze suddenly blew in, extinguishing the oil lamp on the table and gently pushing shut the window that let in the moonlight, as if trying to encourage something.
But both Chu Fan and Dongfang Qingwei had deep cultivation.
Even in a pitch-black night where you couldn’t see your own hand, it was as bright as day to them.
They could see everything clearly.
Both what they should see and what they shouldn’t.
The air remained deathly still until Chu Fan spoke first.
“Why did you lie to me?”
But Dongfang Qingwei, who usually talked the most, said nothing.
Instead, she turned her head away, refusing to look at Chu Fan.
She seemed to be sulking, as if she were the one who had been deceived.
“Do you know that a lot of your jokes aren’t funny at all?”
Dongfang Qingwei remained silent, even furrowing her brow, a hint of disgust appearing in her eyes.
“You’re Liang Yixue’s best friend.”
Dongfang Qingwei stayed quiet.
Chu Fan paused for a moment, then hesitantly said, “And also my—”
“Then why didn’t you come to me first!”
Dongfang Qingwei suddenly looked straight at Chu Fan and shouted with resentment.
In the darkness, Chu Fan could clearly see Dongfang Qingwei pressing her lips tightly together, tears dripping one by one from the corners of her eyes onto the pillow.
“I…”
Chu Fan didn’t know what to say.
Should he explain that love was greater than friendship?
But that kind of talk wouldn’t comfort her right now.
Besides, judging by the truth, if it hadn’t been for those hundred Moonlight Grass plants, he wouldn’t have even gone back to see Liang Yixue, let alone her.
“You came asking for that stupid scroll of yours right away—who cares about it!”
“Then why did you take it—”
“If I hadn’t taken something of yours, I might never have seen you again in this life!”
“But you’ve already become the Celestial Master… why would you still want to see me—”
Smack.
Before he could finish, there was a sharp smack as a heavy slap landed on Chu Fan’s face, utterly merciless.
It even blurred his vision.
“Jerk!”
Whether it was because of that slap or something else, Chu Fan inadvertently seemed to see a scene—a scene from the past floating before his eyes.
It was from long ago, before Dongfang Qingwei had become the Celestial Master, when the three of them were still traveling together.
“Sigh. Looks like it’ll be very hard to complete this Scroll of Universal Unity.”
“Why do you say that?”
Dongfang Qingwei had asked curiously back then.
“To finish the last step, I need the Celestial Master’s Register from the Celestial Master Mansion. But that Register can only be obtained by the person who inherits the position of Celestial Master.”
“That’s easy. Let’s just go ask for it. If they won’t give it, we’ll take it.”
“Qingwei, that’s the Celestial Master. Their cultivation is far above ours,” Liang Yixue reminded her.
“Exactly. The only chance is to become the Celestial Master.”
“Then you go be the Celestial Master. With me as your backup, who’s there to fear?”
Dongfang Qingwei had swung her arms confidently.
Chu Fan shook his head.
“The Celestial Master position is only passed down to women, and once you become Celestial Master, you have to stay within the sect for at least three years, unable to leave for long periods.”
Chu Fan had thought that would be the end of the Scroll of Universal Unity’s creation.
But after a moment, Dongfang Qingwei blurted out: “Then I’ll go. I’ll get that Celestial Master’s Register for you.”
“You? But don’t you love freedom the most?”
Chu Fan was astonished.
“That’s what I say, but following you two around all the time, watching you two be all lovey-dovey—even if you’re not tired of it, I am. So I might as well go be the Celestial Master, give you the Register as a farewell gift.”
“Well…”
While Chu Fan hesitated, Liang Yixue walked up to Dongfang Qingwei, her eyes full of worry.
“Qingwei, are you really going to do this? If you truly become the Celestial Master, then you’ll really—”
“Shh!”
Dongfang Qingwei quickly put a finger to her lips, as if afraid Chu Fan might overhear something.
“Qingwei, does it really have to be this way…”
Hearing that, Dongfang Qingwei gave a bitter smile and shrugged.
“There wasn’t much of a chance anyway… and this is the only thing I can do for you two, Xiao Xue.”
“Qingwei…”
Both women wore worried expressions.
But only one person could still interrupt with an innocent look.
“Um… what are you two talking about?”
Liang Yixue turned around, pouting unhappily at Chu Fan.
She stomped her foot in mock anger.
“Hmph. Blockhead.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Liang Yixue ran off into the distance, leaving Chu Fan scratching his head with a face full of question marks.
“Huh? Blockhead?”
After that, Chu Fan selfishly assumed that Dongfang Qingwei had grown tired of sightseeing and living the carefree life, that she wanted a title to hold, which was why she decided to become the Celestial Master.
But he had completely forgotten that what Dongfang Qingwei hated most was unchanging routine, and what she resisted most was anything static.
Yet she was still willing to trade three years of her freedom for his most prized scroll.
And when those three years ended?
The first person he sought out was Liang Yixue—that was fine.
But as soon as he arrived at her door, he asked for the scroll back, forgetting even why she had become Celestial Master in the first place.
Back then, Chu Fan didn’t understand matters between men and women.
But now, having interacted with more women, he was gradually starting to feel things.
For example, he could sense his disciples’ unusual feelings toward him, so naturally he could also sense that back then, Dongfang Qingwei’s feelings for him had been different from the norm.
Thinking of this, Chu Fan began to curse himself inwardly, in the most vicious terms possible.
He slowly moved aside, sat on the edge of the bed, and turned his back to Dongfang Qingwei.
“I’m sorry…”
Dongfang Qingwei was silent.
After a moment, she also sat up, one hand on the bed frame, the other pinching together her torn clothes.
“I… I didn’t know back then… I thought you…”
Chu Fan trailed off.
He didn’t know what to say or not say at a time like this.
But among all his options, his first move was—
To stand up, walk toward the wooden table with the oil lamp, and light it.
But before he could take two steps, Dongfang Qingwei pulled him back down beside her.
“My clothes are already torn. If you want to look, just say so,” Dongfang Qingwei said impatiently.
“I’m… sorry…”
Seeing him so full of remorse, Dongfang Qingwei’s eyes softened, and she said quietly, “What you said earlier… was it true?”
“What did I say…?”
“About me… being important to you… and all…”
Dongfang Qingwei blushed slightly, looking off into the distance at nothing in particular.
“Yeah… it’s true…”
“I don’t believe you,” Dongfang Qingwei answered immediately.
“Believe it or not…” Chu Fan said the toughest words in the weakest tone.
“Hey! Goddamn it, Chu Fan! I’m like this, and you can’t even say something nice to coax me?!”
“How do you want me to coax you?”
“If you say I’m important, then prove it to me!”
“But how can I prove it?”
Chu Fan spread his hands helplessly.
Seeing Chu Fan’s act—whether pretending to be dense, truly stupid, or just a coward—Dongfang Qingwei’s anger flared.
Suddenly, she clenched her fist, gritted her teeth, and tackled Chu Fan onto the bed.
“How to prove it? Like this!”
“Mmm……….!!!”
Without hesitation, Dongfang Qingwei kissed him.
No matter how he struggled, she took what she wanted, as if trying to melt herself into his very bones.
Gradually, as breathing became difficult, Chu Fan’s head began to heat up.
[‘Even if she joins, she’ll only be a concubine.’]
He suddenly remembered Liang Yixue’s parting words.
The next moment, it was as if a valve had been opened in Chu Fan, as if a scumbag had found a convenient excuse.
He flipped over, pinning Dongfang Qingwei beneath him, and began to reverse the offensive.
Dongfang Qingwei, instantly transformed from the taker to the taken, opened her eyes wide.
She looked at Chu Fan above her.
A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
Then she closed them again and began to respond to him, clumsily and unfamiliar.
On the bed, a large quilt was pulled over their heads.
Inside, things kept moving, like a flood or a wild beast ready to burst forth.
No one knew what was happening atop Fengqi Mountain that night.
Except the two people involved.