Elder Fa slightly got up, leaned over the table, and waved for Mei Chao Bing to lean closer. He looked at her in confusion but still did as she asked.
"How long have you been into him?"
Mei Chao Bing didn't quite know why she was only whispering that to him but he still answered truthfully. "About five years?" In fact, this wasn't wrong. He had seen Yun Bei Fen quite often when he was younger but he hadn't thought much of it. He had just seemed like a cute but very shy junior. After all, he didn't even come to talk to him. It was amusing to watch and he couldn't deny that he had been a little curious about Yun Bei Fen but without ever having a conversation, he really couldn't imagine falling in love with this person.
No, the moment he had really started to have feelings for Yun Bei Fen had probably been that day when his Master had betrayed the sect and he had sounded the gong to inform everyone. Even though the Sect Master had said that they would investigate everything and that he was not suspecting him, he had been able to see that quite a few of the Elders thought differently.
On that day, had feared that he had not only lost his Master. And to a certain degree, he had been right. The people that had previously been hanging around, always asking him for advice or trying to flatter him, were suddenly all gone. The Elders that had still been praising him previously and telling their disciples to take a good look at him and try to be a bit more like him were suddenly looking away or even telling their disciples to not engage with him. Obviously, whatever trust there had been before, it was completely gone.
Yun Bei Fen was the only one who was different. On that day, he had hugged him and showed concern about how he felt. To be honest, he had been a little startled that the small junior that hadn't dared to talk to him before would suddenly be so courageous to do something like this. It was completely unexpected. It was also what had saved him at that time. If not for Yun Bei Fen … He was afraid he would not be a disciple of the Teng Yong Sect any longer.
So yes, it had only been at that time that he actually fell in love. And for the five years that both he and Yun Bei Fen stayed in closed-door cultivation afterward, that feeling had grown. Each time he remembered that day and all those instances before where he had noticed how Yun Bei Fen would look at him from the distance or run away as soon as he saw him, he couldn't help but feel his heart flutter. And when Yun Bei Fen was finally dragged out of the closed-door cultivation by his Master to take part in this mission, he had already been sure that he did not want to let this person go.
Mei Chao Bing smiled faintly when he thought of that but Elder Fa looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Then how old is he?"
Mei Chao Bing was pulled out of his thoughts and glanced at Yun Bei Fen. "Twenty?" To be honest, he wasn't exactly sure how old he was but he should be around that age.
Elder Fa also looked over and then turned back to Mei Chao Bing. "Why do I feel that you're just saying this? That boy is never in a million years already twenty years old. Neither does he look like it, nor does he behave that way. You're just trying to hoodwink me!"
Mei Chao Bing stared at her speechlessly. What was Elder Fa saying? In fact, why was she looking at him like this? He somehow felt as if she was a little angry at him?
Realizing this, he felt a bit strange. This woman hadn't doubted him when his Master betrayed the righteous side as far as he could tell but now she was actually thinking that he had had some kind of nefarious thoughts about Yun Bei Fen apparently. What was he supposed to make of that?
Mei Chao Bing rubbed his neck and then raised his brows at Elder Fa. "Elder, I really don't know what you are accusing me of. If you don't believe me, you can write Elder Baili a letter to ask him about it. He really is twenty years old."
Elder Fa tightly furrowed her brows. "Then why … is he behaving as if he was quite a few years younger?"
Mei Chao Bing glanced over and was met with the confused gaze of Yun Bei Fen who didn't understand what was going on at all. "He … grew up with a loving Master and three senior martial brothers that never wanted any harm to come to him?" This was probably the right explanation. In other words: Yun Bei Fen had been sheltered so much that despite being twenty years old, he really didn't seem like it.
Elder Fa's expression was still complicated. She actually trusted Mei Chao Bing but seeing what was in front of her really made her question what was going on.
Mei Chao Bing sighed. "If you don't believe me, you can also go outside and try to bully Fen'er. Let's see if his first senior martial brother will give you face for being an Elder or not."
Elder Fa pursed her lips and sat back down. "As if I would go and bully a junior! Never mind, I'll believe you this time." In any case, the youth probably should've spoken up if Mei Chao Bing got it wrong, right?
Also, even if he was lying because he was in love, there was still his Master. And with what she knew about Baili Chao, he wouldn't let any of his disciples come to harm like this. There was no reason for her to worry over this.