Cutting off someone’s livelihood is like killing their parents.
“Senior Sister, why would our master be involved in this?”
Although Zhu Lan understood the situation, she couldn’t see how the trail led back to Fairy Xue Li.
Bai Xue suddenly looked around nervously.
After confirming no one was watching, she leaned toward Zhu Lan’s ear and whispered, “The array master is in love with our master.”
Hearing another piece of juicy gossip, Zhu Lan’s eyes sparkled.
“And then? What happened next?”
Zhu Lan suddenly felt a bit of pity for that array master, as her competitor was the male lead, Ye Feng.
In the original story, she was destined to suffer a crushing defeat.
Bai Xue whispered, “The entire sect knows about it, except for our master.”
“Huh?”
Zhu Lan was puzzled.
“If the whole sect knows, then it should be incredibly obvious. Could Master be pretending not to know because she doesn’t want to respond?”
Bai Xue shook her head.
“I think Master truly doesn’t know, because that array master is also a woman.”
“What?!”
Zhu Lan was so shocked she was left speechless.
‘The cycle of counters is truly endless: the niece counters the lesbian, the lesbian counters the straight man, the straight man counters the gay man, and the gay man counters the niece.’
“Junior Sister, let me reenact a conversation between the array master and our master for you. On Master’s birthday, the Peak Master of Array Breaking Peak gave her ten storage rings.”
This is what she said: ‘Small fry… small fry… A dummy like you wouldn’t understand my concern at all, would you? Hmph, a small fry wouldn’t worry about such trifles; I’m only reminding you because it’s your birthday. Don’t you dare try to return these gifts! It’s just that I don’t have space for this junk at my place, so I’m showing you some mercy by tossing it to you for your birthday! Don’t you dare feel grateful!’
She sends something exactly on Master’s birthday every year and says the same thing every time.
“Uh, it’s been going on for thirty years, ever since she first arrived at our Tianyan Sect.”
‘Isn’t this just a tsundere!’ Zhu Lan screamed in her heart.
‘Tsunderes are out of fashion!! Tsunderes are doomed to lose!’
“Senior Sister, does this array master happen to have blonde hair?”
“Eh? Junior Sister, how did you know?”
‘She knew it!’
‘Blondes are always losers!’
Zhu Lan marveled, “So our master is actually a super-rich woman?!”
Bai Xue nodded in agreement.
“Aside from that array master, our master is the wealthiest person in the Tianyan Sect.”
‘Poor girl,’ Zhu Lan thought, offering a second of silence for the pitiful array master.
‘How could she possibly win against the male lead? Besides, if she couldn’t win over Fairy Xue Li after thirty years of being a tsundere, another thirty years wouldn’t make a difference. She’s destined for a total loss.’
“Well, I hope the Master of Array Breaking Peak has a happy ending. By the way, Senior Sister, do you know anything about Bone-Eroding Bugs?”
Zhu Lan asked, hoping to tap into her senior’s seemingly vast knowledge.
“Bone-Eroding Bugs?” Bai Xue said with surprise.
“Those usually appear in pairs — a mother and a child bug. they are experts at parasitizing the human body and draining its nutrients. If the child bug is separated from the mother for too long, it will go wild and start devouring the host’s bone marrow. Most people can’t endure that kind of bone-deep pain. Junior Sister, why are you asking? If you ever encounter one, it’s best to stay far away.”
Zhu Lan opened her mouth but didn’t reveal the truth.
“Oh, it’s nothing, Senior Sister. I just happened to see a record of them and got curious. Do you know how to remove them from a person? Since they’re so dangerous, what should one do if they accidentally get infected?”
Bai Xue shook her head.
“I only read about these legendary insects in an ancient text. I only remember a bit about the solution. When a child bug parasitizes a body and tastes flesh and blood, it will instinctively try to devour the mother bug if they meet again. However, the mother bug is extremely toxic. After the child bug consumes the mother, it will die as well.”
Zhu Lan’s heart sank.
The only way to get rid of the Bone-Eroding Bug was for the mother and child to meet.
But how could she get the mother bug out of Ye Feng’s body so it could meet the child bug inside her?
This was a problem she had to solve if she wanted to escape the male lead’s grasp.
Still unwilling to give up, Zhu Lan asked, “But Senior Sister, what if the mother bug is inside someone else? How do you get them to meet then?”
Bai Xue’s answer was startling.
“I don’t know about that. I didn’t see any such records in the ancient text. However, Bone-Eroding Bugs are tiny — invisible to the naked eye. I suspect that to get the mother bug out of someone’s body, one would have to eat that person’s flesh and drink their blood.”
“Eat their flesh and drink their blood?!”
Zhu Lan was terrified.
Eat the male lead’s flesh?
Drink his blood?
As soon as the thought arose, she immediately suppressed it.
She couldn’t beat him, anyway.
It was impossible.
Bai Xue thought for a moment and added, “If that’s not possible, then the two people carrying the mother and child bugs should probably become husband and wife. By performing marital acts for the rest of their lives, they might be able to stay alive.”
It felt like a lump was caught in Zhu Lan’s throat; she was completely speechless.
“Junior Sister, has someone close to you been targeted by these bugs?”
“Targeted? Why do you say that, Senior Sister?”
“Because Bone-Eroding Bugs grow in extremely hot environments where humans cannot survive. Once they leave those areas, they instinctively parasitize humans to find a warm place to live. Unless someone intentionally brought them out, there’s no way for them to survive in our environment.”
Zhu Lan bit her lip.
She had a very bad feeling about this, and she hoped her suspicions were wrong.
“Thank you for clearing that up, Senior Sister. Do you have a habit of reading a lot? You seem very knowledgeable.”
Zhu Lan expressed her sincere gratitude.
Bai Xue smiled.
“Yes, I read quite a bit and have purchased many ancient texts over the years. Junior Sister, if you ever find an ancient book that interests me, I’m willing to pay a high price for it.”
Zhu Lan thought of something and smiled mysteriously.
“I actually do have one, Senior Sister, but I’m not sure if you’ll be interested.”
“Oh? You actually have an ancient text? No matter what kind it is, I’m willing to buy it.”
“Good. Senior Sister, I have one in my storage ring right now.”
With a mischievous grin, Zhu Lan pulled out a novel and tucked it into Bai Xue’s arms.
“Senior Sister, you can’t open it yet! Wait until you’re back in your cultivation room. I’ll be going now!”
“Hey, Junior Sister!”
Once Zhu Lan was far enough away, Bai Xue curiously picked up the book to look at the title.
The Overbearing Immortal Master Falls for Me…
Bai Xue’s fair cheeks instantly turned bright red.
“This… this…”
Bai Xue nervously scanned her surroundings.
After confirming no one was there, she hopped onto her flying sword and sped back to her cultivation room.