“Bai Yu, Qingkong, what are you two doing here?”
Faced with Lu Li’s question, Gong Shangyu took a deep breath, instantly slipping into her act as she earnestly replied to Lu Li:
“Apologies, Master… As a newcomer to the Void Spirit Sect, everything here fascinates me. So, after registering at the External Affairs Hall, I begged Senior Brother Gu to show me around so I could learn the layout.”
“And then we just happened to pass by, and from a distance saw you, Master, talking with someone. Our curiosity got the better of us, so we eavesdropped for a while.”
After saying this, Gong Shangyu’s gaze inadvertently swept over Duan Xueyan before quickly returning, continuing her explanation to Lu Li:
“Disciple… I was just curious for a moment, not intending to eavesdrop on purpose!”
“If I’ve offended, I ask Master to punish me.”
Gong Shangyu spoke so earnestly that Lu Li found no reason to doubt her.
After all, from a logical standpoint, Gong Shangyu’s words were impeccable.
A new disciple, curious about everything in the sect, dragged her senior brother to wander around, happened to stumble upon her master speaking with another cultivator, and couldn’t help but eavesdrop a little.
While the behavior was a bit improper, the motive hardly seemed malicious.
So, after hearing her explanation, Lu Li didn’t reproach her too harshly.
Instead, he gently pushed Gong Shangyu and the nervous Gu Qingying toward Duan Xueyan.
“Offense? It’s just youthful curiosity. If I were your age, I might have done things even more outrageous than this~”
“Hehe~ You two came at just the right time, come greet your Aunt-Master Xueyan….”
With that, Lu Li turned toward Duan Xueyan, who had been watching with amusement from the side, and said apologetically:
“Elder Sister Duan, please forgive me. These are the new, rather unrefined disciples I’ve just accepted.”
Lu Li pointed to Gong Shangyu:
“This is Shang Bai Yu, my newly accepted personal disciple.”
Then pointed to Gu Qingying, “This is Qingkong, a distant branch member of the Chengyang Gu Family, and the first core disciple of this generation from Duanqing Peak.”
He then spoke solemnly to his two disciples, “Bai Yu, Qingkong, aren’t you going to greet your Aunt-Master Duan?”
“Your Aunt-Master oversees the Merits Hall, holds a high position, and is a respected elder of the sect. Do not be discourteous!”
Gong Shangyu and Gu Qingying both stiffened inwardly.
Calling this woman, who was clearly plotting against their master, “Aunt-Master”?
To the two girls, it was more uncomfortable than swallowing a fly!
But on the surface, after Lu Li’s introduction, they bowed together to Duan Xueyan and spoke in unison.
“Disciple Shang Bai Yu greets Aunt-Master Duan.”
“Disciple Gu Qingkong greets Aunt-Master Duan.”
Duan Xueyan received their bows with a bright smile, her gaze sweeping between the two like a searchlight, especially lingering for a moment on Gong Shangyu’s exquisite, handsome, and faintly beautiful face, then on Gu Qingying’s features—deliberately lowered, but still unable to hide that soft, refined charm.
Duan Xueyan’s charming eyes narrowed slightly, a trace of imperceptible confusion and amusement flashing within.
“Hmm? Are these two little ones boys or girls? Why do they seem so odd….”
While Duan Xueyan was puzzled, Gong Shangyu’s eyes suddenly sparkled.
She immediately gave Duan Xueyan a pure and innocent smile, then launched into a torrent of extravagant praise.
“Aunt-Master Duan! Disciple has long heard from Master that the head of the Merits Hall, Aunt-Master Duan, is not only of profound cultivation and upright conduct, but is also as beautiful as a goddess, kind-hearted, generous, always considerate of juniors, modest and approachable, truly a model for us all… Now that I’ve had the fortune to meet you, you’re even more radiant than Master said!”
The flurry of praise from Gong Shangyu even left the experienced Duan Xueyan slightly stunned before she covered her lips and chuckled lightly.
“Hehe… Bai Yu, your little mouth is as sweet as honey~”
Watching this back-and-forth between two foxes—one big, one small—Lu Li and Gu Qingying were both dumbfounded.
Gu Qingying even reached out to pinch the inside of Gong Shangyu’s arm hard, glaring at her second senior sister.
Clearly questioning:
Why are you buttering up this old witch Duan Xueyan?
Gong Shangyu paid her junior’s protest no mind at all.
Instead, she seized the moment, blinking her innocent big eyes, then suddenly changed the subject and addressed Duan Xueyan:
“Hehe… A beautiful and generous elder like you, Aunt-Master, surely wouldn’t meet her new junior for the first time without a gift, right?”
With that, she looked at her Aunt-Master with anticipation, like a naïve, pure child eagerly longing for attention.
At these words, the seductive smile on Duan Xueyan’s lips froze.
This pink-haired little rascal was trying to take advantage of her!
But refusing the gift would mean being called stingy…
After all, claiming she hadn’t prepared a gift would just cement her reputation for being petty.
In all her years in the sect, when had Duan Xueyan ever been called stingy?
Yet if she did give a gift, as the dignified head of the Merits Hall and a Nascent Soul cultivator, was she really supposed to give Lu Li’s new disciple a welcome present?
Right now, Duan Xueyan felt as though Gong Shangyu had her roasting over the fire!
Watching Duan Xueyan’s awkward expression, Gu Qingying instantly understood what her senior sister was up to!
She looked at Gong Shangyu with delight, barely stopping herself from loudly praising her second senior sister for a job well done!
In contrast, the usually flustered Lu Li, after all of Duan Xueyan’s recent antics, now visibly relaxed his tight expression.
A faint, almost imperceptible glimmer of amusement flashed in his eyes.
Truly, there’s always someone who can deal with someone else.
Even Lu Li hadn’t expected that Duan Xueyan, who so loved to tease him, would suffer a setback at the hands of his new disciple.
Indeed, to deal with a rascal like Duan Xueyan, it takes a cunning pink-haired trickster!
After all, in the original story, among the Duanqing Peak disciples, only Pink-Haired Number Two, Gong Shangyu, ever managed to make Duan Xueyan suffer!
Even though he didn’t have Gong Shangyu by his side right now, this new Bai Yu could still have the same effect.
How could Lu Li not be secretly delighted, having so often suffered under Duan Xueyan’s hand?
So, seeing Duan Xueyan so embarrassed, instead of stopping Gong Shangyu, Lu Li gave a light cough and calmly backed her up.
“Bai Yu, you mustn’t be rude to your Aunt-Master. She’s busy with the sect’s Merits Hall business and can hardly carry gifts for you little ones everywhere. Don’t make things difficult for her.”
His words sounded like a rebuke, but in truth, he’d cut off Duan Xueyan’s escape route:
The mighty head of the Merits Hall couldn’t even give the juniors a token gift?
Duan Xueyan shot Lu Li a fierce glare, fully aware these master and disciple were working together.
Inwardly, she cursed—how dare Lu Li, with his thick eyebrows and upright look, start learning to be so sneaky…