Xu Gaizhi bowed and said, "Master, Chi Yu and I are here to send Chang Nian back to North Peak. We're leaving now."
He Qing forced a smile and said, "Since you're here, please sit for a while."
"I don't want to sit anymore," Xu Gaizhi declined with sweat dripping down his face, "Master is still waiting for us to go back and write a book to accompany this trip down the mountain. I'll take my leave now." After saying that, he hurriedly pulled Hua Chiyu and ran away.
Looking at Xu Gaizhi's figure that was moving so fast as if a ghost was chasing him from behind, He Qing guessed that it would be difficult to remove the label of "pervert" from his head.
Forget it, she was too lazy to pick it. After all, she was not a person who cared about her reputation. At the beginning, she just wanted to prove herself to Gu Changnian.
Looking at Gu Changnian again, he was silent for a moment, but still walked forward and saluted, saying, "Master, disciple is back." Then he raised his eyes and looked directly at He Qing, the disappointment in his eyes was beyond words.
He Qing frowned and thought: What's with that look in his eyes? If I really changed my target, shouldn't he be the happiest one?
Seeing that He Qing had no sense of shame or guilt, Gu Changnian lowered his eyelids again and said in a deep voice: "Master Chongying has confirmed that the disciple has recovered, so the disciple came back. It is the disciple's fault for not informing the master in advance."
He Qing felt something was not right when hearing these words. Why did she feel that Gu Changnian was implying that he had come back at the wrong time and disturbed her interest in harassing her little disciple?
Although He Qing didn't care about his reputation, he was always unhappy when being misunderstood. Just as he was about to explain, he heard Lu Li on the side take the initiative to explain: "Brother, don't misunderstand me. I was feeling a little unwell just now. Master was just helping me regulate my breathing." His tone was gentle and a little urgent, as if he was afraid that Gu Changnian would not believe him.
Lu Li's "considerateness" confused He Qing, and he turned around to look at him in a daze.
Lu Li's face was extremely deceptive. Even if he wasn't being pretentious, one could still think he was innocent and harmless. But He Qing could see clear teasing in his dark eyes.
What He Qing didn't expect was that Gu Changnian actually followed Lu Li's words and continued: "I understand. I heard that you were also infected with miasma in Monster Mountain. You really need to recuperate for a while."
Lu Li heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and said innocently, "Yes, thanks to Master for helping me to draw out the miasma in my body, I was able to recover so quickly. However, it was also because of this that Master did not visit Brother in those days." After a pause, he asked carefully, "Brother, you won't be angry, right?"
He Qing: ...Since the two of them started working together, Lu Li hasn't poured tea for Gu Changnian for a long time. What does he want to do now?
Gu Changnian looked at Lu Li's weak and vulnerable face. Somehow, a nameless anger rose in his heart. He didn't know when his hands, which were hidden by his sleeves, clenched into fists.
It turns out that the master didn't come to see him for a few days not because he had caused the miasma in him and needed to recuperate, but because he was busy taking care of Lu Li?
Thinking of this, Gu Changnian couldn't help but feel suffocated in his chest, and even his breathing became a little difficult.
He took a breath with difficulty and said, "Master, I am a little tired and would like to go back to my room first."
He Qing was just wondering about Lu Li's change of attitude, so he nodded and said, "You can go by yourself."
"..." Gu Changnian was silent, "Yes."
As soon as Gu Changnian walked away, He Qing immediately turned around, looked at Lu Li and asked, "Do you think your explanation is good?"
Lu Li blinked his obsidian eyes and tilted his head innocently: "Is it bad?"
"Stop pretending. Why would you provoke him for no reason?" He Qing looked puzzled: "What good will it do you?"
Seeing that He Qing didn't want to play the master-disciple game with him, Lu Li returned to normal, sat back on the futon, propped up his chin, and said in a casual tone: "I have aroused some interest in your disciple. Let's play with him."
He Qing also sat down beside him and frowned, saying, "Enough is enough."
Lu Li paused while sliding his index finger across the table, and glanced at her with a smile that didn't reach his eyes: "Why, are you worried about your beloved disciple?"
"I'm worried about you." He Qing answered without hesitation, "Your forbidden spell has not been resolved yet, and someone is chasing you. It's meaningless to offend Gu Changnian again."
Lu Li stared at her for a long while before turning his eyes away and said meaningfully, "As long as Master is here, I am not afraid."
Seeing his tough attitude, He Qing hesitated to speak: This young master was reserved from her and hid too many things. If she had no better choice, she really didn't want to have such a partner.
But then she thought about it again, she also had a lot of things in her heart, so it seemed that she had no right to dislike Lu Li?
As soon as the thought came to her mind, He Qing secretly brainwashed herself: No, I have to be double-standard, I have to dislike him!
※
Just two days into the already uneasy days, Daoyi suddenly notified several sect leaders including Heqing to go to Yuheng Mountain on the West Peak for discussions. Heqing guessed that it was probably Xuan Qingzi who had returned with the news.
When they arrived at the meeting hall of Yuheng Mountain, Daoyi, as expected, went straight to the point and mentioned Xuan Qingzi's investigation of the seal.
He said in a serious tone: "Master Xuan Qing has visited two seals so far, and there is no sign of loosening."
Chong Ying hurriedly asked: "Where is the seal of the demon god?"
Daoyi shook his head and said, "The seal of the demon god is far away in the northern border. The real person has not yet gone to check it out, but he has met many Taoist friends along the way. Since the demon beast appeared in the Monster Mountain, the immortal sects in various places have received the news and are actively investigating. According to the news sent back by the real person, there have been many unusual movements among the demon cultivators recently."
This was not good news, and the meeting hall was silent for a moment.
Guan Yue sighed and said, "The strangest thing is that there have been many strange things happening over the past few months. The black beams of light, the magic beasts breaking the seal, and the magic energy remaining in the center of the seal, we can't find the source of all this."
What could He Qing, who knew what was going on, say at this moment? He could only pretend to be in deep thought and then asked, "What does Master Xuan Qing think?"
Daoyi said: "The Immortal intends to invite people from Guanghan Sect and Yuling Palace to come to Lingshan to discuss important matters."
"Yuling Palace?" He Qing and Guan Yue blurted out at the same time.
Guan Yue continued, "The Yuling Palace has always been a solitary organization, not interacting with other immortal sects, and other immortal sects have never considered them as part of the immortal path."
He Qing had seen this immortal sect in a book, which said that because their Yuling Palace's way of cultivation was rather unorthodox, even though they also cultivated spiritual energy, they had never been recognized by the immortal sect.
The first appearance of this sect in the book was at the Immortal Sect Conference a year later. After its disciples seriously injured several other disciples, they were taught a lesson by Gu Changnian.
Dao nodded and explained, "Yes, but the situation is special. This Yuling Palace is on top of one of the seals, and they are investigating it themselves. Since we can't avoid dealing with them, we might as well act together."
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