Chapter 286: White Hair Floating on Green Water

This concerns the mystery of Little White Fur's origins, and Lu Xingzhou, as a friend, had to step up. "Do you want me to help you look for clues?" he offered.

Ye Tinglan glared at him. "Are your injuries healed? Can you even muster any strength now? And you want to play the hero!"

Lu Xingzhou checked himself. The state of complete weakness from a few days ago had greatly improved; he could walk and jump normally. But trying to summon true qi or magical power felt sluggish and difficult. Injuries to the soul were indeed the most troublesome type. He looked fine, but something was off; his current strength was no different from an ordinary person's. Fortunately, he was with the strongest person in the world, so he never felt insecure, even in such a weakened state.

But after a few days of rest, at least he no longer felt tingling or dizziness when thinking. So he said, "I can help by offering suggestions."

"There's no need..." Dugu Qingli said blankly. "Since you're injured, you should rest properly. Coming to the Tian Shuang Kingdom was originally my trial. I never intended to ask anyone for help. Otherwise, with Master... Uncle helping me here, I wouldn't have to do anything."

Lu Xingzhou thought to himself, *Your Master Uncle might not actually want to help you now. It's more important that you get away quickly.*

Glancing over, he saw Ye Tinglan remained expressionless. Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment and still said, "Sir, you could try finding Si Han."

"Why find him?" Ye Tinglan asked.

"Given the situation with the Ice Prison Sect, they might not necessarily be enemies. If Si Han could act as a go-between for us, we might even be able to cooperate."

Ye Tinglan was taken aback. She exchanged a glance with her disciple, and both fell silent. In their minds, cooperating with a demonic sect was something they had never considered. Only this 'smelly demon cultist' would think of it so naturally. Ye Tinglan even wondered if Lu Xingzhou didn't want a conflict with the Ice Prison Sect because the Ice Prison Sect and the Hall of Yama were allies. Thinking of this, she felt a pang of bitterness. She said coldly, "Then why bother with Si Han acting as a go-between? Couldn't Lord Judge of the Hall of Yama just show up directly?"

Lu Xingzhou: "..."

*Sir, have you forgotten? Your current persona is Yuan Muyu. Shouldn't it be Lord Yama himself showing up?*

*Sure enough, a fish's memory only lasts seven seconds. Even Fish Sister is a fish.*

"I'm no longer a Judge, so I'm afraid I don't have that much sway," Lu Xingzhou said. As he spoke, he subtly reached out his hand under the table and gently squeezed Ye Tinglan's small hand, signaling her not to forget her role.

Ye Tinglan's eyes widened. She nervously glanced at her disciple, her heart pounding, and quickly pulled her hand back. Just that one touch, her heart nearly leaped out of her throat. It was too thrilling.

Dugu Qingli sat upright, her eyelids slightly lowered, as if she hadn't seen anything. "You don't need to visit him. I'll go see Governor Si myself. You two don't need to worry about helping me. Resting your injuries is more important."

Seeing her disciple still looking somewhat bewildered, Ye Tinglan felt it would be better to send her away quickly. She stood up and said, "I'll see you off."

Lu Xingzhou suppressed his curiosity and wisely didn't follow.

The master and disciple walked side by side through the small town's streets. The atmosphere became a little awkward, and no one spoke first. In fact, Ye Tinglan knew she couldn't hide it from her disciple, but being caught red-handed by her disciple was simply too embarrassing. She needed a way to smooth things over before she could say anything else.

Although Dugu Qingli wasn't very experienced in social matters, often requiring her to be given a formulaic concept to understand the world, in reality, her sword heart was enlightened and her mind was clear as ice, making it truly difficult to hide anything from her. Moreover, with her master standing right in front of her, undisguised, how foolish would she have to be to be tricked into not recognizing her master? If it were a cunning person like Lu Xingzhou, they wouldn't have shown such stubborn disbelief and insistence on getting to the bottom of things, like in the earlier part. They would have just chuckled and played along. But Dugu Qingli still needed to hit a few walls before she calmed down.

But eventually, she did calm down, accepting "this is Master Uncle" by default, which indicated she must have understood. This growth in understanding worldly affairs, one such experience was probably worth a year of training.

The two walked in silence for quite a while before Ye Tinglan finally broke the silence. "Qingli..."

"Does he know?" Dugu Qingli asked softly.

Ye Tinglan knew what her incomplete question was implying. If Lu Xingzhou knew her identity as the Holy Lord of Tianyao and still pursued her, that would be truly horrifying. Furthermore, he was Qingli's friend; developing feelings for a friend's master would likely make Qingli view Lu Xingzhou unfavorably. Ye Tinglan thought for a moment. Lu Xingzhou indeed didn't know when he first showed interest. So she said, "He doesn't know. He thought I was a teacher from the Alchemy Academy." She paused, then added, "I never admitted to it either."

Dugu Qingli's expression visibly relaxed a great deal. Her tense shoulders even drooped slightly. She whispered, "That's good. Master being able to release these needlessly imposed shackles and confront her true feelings, perhaps one day, she might even glimpse the Formless Realm."

Ye Tinglan smiled faintly. "Now you're lecturing me. What do you know about the Formless Realm?"

Dugu Qingli pouted. "We are cultivators. This is what we should be focusing on."

"The Formless Realm is too distant, but my Qianyuan Great Obstacle does show some signs of loosening," Ye Tinglan sighed softly. "These past years... I've been trapping myself. Perhaps back then... she was right."

Dugu Qingli turned and glanced at her master. She felt her master's beauty was somewhat off the charts now, breathtakingly beautiful. Even Little White Fur, who had long been seen as a monster, felt a bit self-conscious. She unconsciously blurted out, "Master, you're truly beautiful. No wonder he was smitten."

As soon as the words left her mouth, a strange bitterness welled up in her heart. *He used to say I was pretty.*

*Now he's with Master, and he even secretly touched her hand right in front of me. And I still have to smile and offer my blessings. I've been cast aside.*

The speaker was bitter, and the listener wasn't much more comfortable. Even with Ye Tinglan's recent thick skin, she couldn't handle that remark. Instead, she instinctively delivered a 'dad-like' lecture: "Outer appearance is but a superficial shell. Cultivators must most avoid being obsessed with physical looks."

Dugu Qingli said expressionlessly, "I used to believe that, but I don't anymore."

Ye Tinglan: "?"

"Master and Lu Xingzhou are close," Dugu Qingli asked, "Isn't it because he's good-looking?"

Ye Tinglan opened her mouth, speechless. Although it was mainly due to his interesting soul... no matter how handsome Lu Xingzhou was, initially she treated him as an entry point to deal with the Hall of Yama. It was a series of later developments that made their relationship what it was now. But it was undeniable that Lu Xingzhou's appearance naturally had a huge advantage. As for whether it was from outside in or inside out, it was already hard to tell clearly. After a moment of thought, she finally said, "It's because he is Lu Xingzhou."

Dugu Qingli was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Master, do you really like him that much?"

Ye Tinglan said, "Actually, it's not..."

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Master is a woman too," Dugu Qingli mumbled. "But let's be clear, we'll keep our relationships separate. Otherwise, I really don't know what to call him. Suddenly I'd be a generation lower than him, honestly..."

Ye Tinglan: "..."

*No, this is getting hard to explain.*

*My 'like' isn't *that* 'like'... At least not to the point where you need to call him Master's Husband!*

But it seemed... in others' eyes, there was truly no difference. Even if you tried desperately to explain, you'd likely just get an "Oh," followed by a strange side-glance. It was hard to keep a straight face when her disciple looked at people like that...

Ye Tinglan suddenly became lost in thought. If Qingli's sword heart was enlightened and her mind clear as ice, was it perhaps she herself who hadn't clearly understood the situation? Confronting one's inner self, how many people could truly see their own hearts clearly?

Dugu Qingli, rarely, smiled mischievously. "Master, you don't need to see me far. Just relax and enjoy your honeymoon. Even if Shen Tang is my friend, I'm still on my master's side in this matter!"

Ye Tinglan couldn't even manage a rebuttal. She watched helplessly as her disciple departed on her sword.

Ye Tinglan looked up, watching the direction her disciple disappeared, feeling strange inside. It was originally an extremely awkward situation, but instead, she received her disciple's blessings and encouragement. It was as if all the things she thought she should be conflicted about, avoid, or guard herself from, were merely self-imposed restrictions that would shatter with a poke, and no one actually cared.

Come to think of it, from the rumors about "The Demon Emperor and the Holy Lord of Tianyao fighting over a man," to the way Elder Su and Si Han looked at her, thinking she kept male consorts, did anyone actually think this was wrong, besides providing gossip for people after meals? Apparently not. To put it plainly, if Long Qinghuang really took a male consort back to keep him, would she herself say it was wrong? Probably not.

So, she had been trapped in a non-existent prison her entire life? Decades of arduous cultivation, yet she was not as enlightened as Qingli.

Ye Tinglan suddenly felt like laughing. Then she truly let out a self-mocking laugh. She shook her head and turned back to the small courtyard.

Lu Xingzhou was pacing back and forth restlessly. He sighed in relief when she returned and hurried to meet her. "Qingli... she didn't give you any trouble, did she?"

Ye Tinglan laughed wryly. "What could she do to me? Did she rebel against the heavens?"

Lu Xingzhou let out a breath and said no more.

Ye Tinglan glanced at him. This fellow usually tried to take advantage of her at every opportunity, but now he had become well-behaved. Qingli's discovery seemed to not have affected her, but rather him. How could Ye Tinglan know that it was because Lu Xingzhou felt there was absolutely no chance with Little White Fur anymore, and he felt a pang of regret in his heart? She thought he was worried about her image in her disciple's eyes. Instead, she comforted him, "In Qingli's eyes, I am Yuan Muyu. Any grievances should be directed at Yuan Muyu."

Lu Xingzhou: "..."

"Besides, Qingli is a born sword cultivator; she doesn't care much about these kinds of things. Just now, we were discussing cultivation," Ye Tinglan said. "Her reaction just now actually showed more concern than I expected. It seems your friendship is quite important to her."

Lu Xingzhou still couldn't speak. *Was it because of friendship...?*

The intimate moments in the Mahā Secret Realm and the entanglement in the Primordial Magnetic Cavern flashed through his mind again. Lu Xingzhou didn't know what Little White Fur's mood had truly been. In any case, among the three, he, Lu Xingzhou, seemed to be the most flustered, far from his usual eloquent self. He wondered what everyone's mood would be like when they saw Little White Fur again.

"What are you dazed about?" Ye Tinglan said with a stern face, tapping the table. "I kindly made you porridge, and you only ate a few bites. Now it's cold. If you dare, don't eat it; I won't make it for you again!"

Seeing that she genuinely seemed unaffected, Lu Xingzhou finally came to his senses and smiled, "Sir, the porridge you made, let alone cold, even if it were frozen, I'd still eat every last bit."