Banished from Mistress's Door

When You Su landed with He Shutong in his arms, the warmth of her waist still lingered in his palm.

"Put me down..."

He Shutong turned her face away, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks like the first bloom of sunset, even her earlobes glowing with a coral-like pink.

You Su saw this and at this moment, he felt that the Fairy in his arms was not the famous Void Glimpse Sword Immortal, but a girl who had never experienced the world.

He carefully knelt down and laid her down, out of tenderness, but also out of reluctance to part.

"What's wrong with Mistress?" he asked with concern, not daring to look directly at the lotus-colored hernia hairpins peeking out from her slightly open collar.

He Shutong managed to straighten up and immediately tidied her appearance, though her clothes remained dignified.

The lingering palpitations from the weightlessness she had just experienced still echoed in her throat, but she forced herself to remain calm and said:

"It's alright, it's just that the Ice Heart Technique clashes with the volcanic fire energy, causing temporary disarray."

Why is Mistress still hiding this from her disciple?

You Su took a step closer, He Shutong felt the scorching sun overhead, but even that was less intense than the heat emanating from the young man beside her. She instinctively touched her sweat-dampened temples, biting her lower lip as she said:

"I did not hide anything."

"Although the Ice Heart Technique contains the word 'ice,' it is not Cultivation Method that cultivates ice attributes alone. Rather, like most Cultivation Method, it cultivates the Mystic Qi. It is named this because it can sever emotions and desires, making one's heart as cold as ice, thus enhancing the efficiency of cultivation."

You Su spoke each word with certainty, "Therefore, the claim of conflict with fire energy is utter nonsense. My Mistress wasn't telling me the truth."

He Shutong's beautiful eyes widened, her lips slightly parted, "You... how did you know?"

"As a disciple, I should naturally learn more about my Mistress," You Su said frankly.

As he said this, he found a courage he had never had before. If it were before, he would have been too embarrassed to admit to his Mistress that he often knew about her in private, but now he had no hesitation whatsoever.

The reason the boy suddenly became so assertive seems to be He Shutong's fall. She not only fell from a great height, but also from the still dignified Fairy in the clouds into a truly fragile woman.

You Su had always been extremely respectful and courteous to her, not only because of his respect for her dual identity as both his Mistress and his master, but also because he felt that the difference in their strength and status was too great, and that she was someone he could not possibly be worthy of. Therefore, he had to restrain his filial piety from becoming corrupted.

But now the situation has reversed. His dormancy and his Mistress's downfall have turned the once unattainable Fairy in his heart into someone weaker than him. So, the only thing that can limit You Su's ambition is this fragile difference in status.

Furthermore, the confidence his sister, the Sovereign Lord One, gained during his journey to Bei'ao shows that he is also attracted to this noble Fairy; and his Mistress risked her life to save him across the North Sea, revealing her subconscious attachment and doting affection for him in his dream...

All these accumulated factors, ignited by the scorching summer sun and the blazing volcano, transformed into fragrant sweat that could not be contained by plain clothes and raging fire that could not be wrapped in thin paper.

"What are you saying... Why would a disciple want to know about his master's Mistress...?" He Shutong dared not look directly into You Su's eyes, which were so close to hers, for fear that he would see through the panic in her eyes.

"If we don't understand Mistress, wouldn't we be deceived by Mistress without even realizing it?"

You Su was completely unaffected by the moral constraints in He Shutong's words; the identity of his Mistress was a lie, as she had told him herself.

"I..." He Shutong's lips parted slightly, but she didn't know how to explain. Already dizzy, she was unable to cope with the situation. She felt that the scorching sunlight had illuminated all her hidden thoughts.

Fortunately, You Su spoke up in time, saving her the trouble of explaining why she lied. He always seemed to do this, putting her in an awkward situation, only to then take the initiative to help her out, ensuring that her shyness remained just that—shyness—and never turned into embarrassment.

"I know that your Mistress doesn't want to tell me the specifics of your injuries because she doesn't want me to risk my own life like I did when I went to find Lotus Root Heart for you."

The young man spoke softly, and a warm breeze swept by. The shadow of Mo Zhu's light bamboo robe swayed gently in front of He Shutong's eyes along his shoulder line—it turned out that without her noticing, the blind child had grown so tall that he stood next to her like a wall, able to shield her from the strongest midday sun.

"I know this is because my Mistress cares about me and doesn't want me to take any risks. But has Mistress ever considered how tormented I would be if I knew you were unwell but couldn't do anything for Mistress? I would rather take the pain of the person I care about upon myself than deceive myself with the excuse of helplessness. Can my Mistress understand this feeling?"

He suddenly grabbed He Shutong's fair wrist, pressing the Fairy's delicate white hand against his chest, his pounding heartbeat still clear even through her light clothes.

Could she understand? Of course she could, because she felt the same way when You Su was injured.

The boy's burning body temperature scalded her bones, and the cicadas suddenly fell silent, leaving only the rustling of bamboo leaves, much like the turbulent waves churning in her Sea of Consciousness.

"Mistress?"

You Su's voice carried a hint of urgency, forcibly pulling her back to reality from her dizziness.

He Shutong snapped back to her senses and realized that the boy was almost pressed against her. Instinctively, she pulled her wrist away from his grasp and hurriedly straightened her disheveled clothes, only to find that her plain silk dress was already soaked with sweat and clung to her body in an indescribable disheveled state.

"I... I'm fine." He Shutong tried to remain calm, but her voice trembled slightly. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. "I know how you feel, but you don't need to worry about my injuries."

"I..."

Before the boy could finish speaking, she turned around to interrupt him, leaving him with her back to him.

"Your understanding of flight just now was excellent; the rest is up to you with more practice... I need to rest now, you should go back first... I'll be in seclusion for a while, so please don't bother me in the short term."

You Su was stunned. He stared at He Shutong's slightly trembling back and felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Was he being too reckless? But his Mistress was injured again because of him; how could he not be anxious?

"Mistress..." he called softly, his voice tinged with pleading.

"Let's go." He Shutong's voice was even colder, but it couldn't hide the tremor within it.

She turned and walked towards the inner room of the bamboo hut. The bamboo curtain cast a shadow at her feet, making her figure appear even thinner.

You Su stood there, watching He Shutong's figure disappear behind the closed bamboo door. He felt a pang of loss, but he also knew that he couldn't dwell on it any longer.

He took a deep breath, solemnly bowed to the bamboo hut, and said in a firm voice:

"Mistress, I will not turn a blind eye."

After saying that, he turned and left, his footsteps striking the bluestone slabs with a heavy rhythm.

He Shutong leaned against the other side of the door, pressing her hand to her wildly pounding heart. As the footsteps faded into the distance, the bitterness in her heart grew stronger.

She didn't know why a simple lesson had turned out this way, nor did she know why she wouldn't tell him about her injuries.

This aloof female Immortal Sword, who had been detached from worldly affairs for three hundred years, had never been in such a state of panic. Therefore, she instinctively wanted to escape the predicament she had just been in so that she could calm down and think things through.

But when she closed her eyes, the scene in the clouds kept replaying in her mind: You Su holding her, her reflection in his eyes, the warmth of his palms seeping through the thin gauze, making her almost forget her identity.

She suddenly opened her eyes again and found that her palms were already soaked with sweat.

She turned around and peered through the crack in the door as if searching for something, but the boy was no longer there. A sudden surge of immense disappointment and regret welled up inside her.

The bamboo hut felt even more stuffy after the door was closed, much like the restlessness in her heart at that moment.

She knew that her avoidance might be more damaging to You Su than any other harm. However, she truly didn't know how to face or deal with this relationship that had already crossed the line between teacher and student.

Her chaotic thoughts wove a cocoon, tightly wrapping her up.

"She is the disciple entrusted to me by Guan Chujun, a child I watched grow up... He is also Wangshu and Lingruo's dao companion, how could he possibly have feelings for me..."

He Shutong muttered to herself, unaware that the principle she had taught him, "If you want something, fight for it," would bring such heartbreaking consequences.

The title "Mistress" should have been a cool and indifferent one. She remembered eight years ago You Su knelt in front of the courtyard gate and called her "Master's Mistress" for the first time. At that time, his back was not yet fully grown, and his voice trembled with pleading. Now, his back could support a whole sky, yet he looked at her, his master's Mistress, with such burning eyes that she dared not look him in the eye.

What alarmed her most was that when You Su's palm was on her waist in the clouds, she felt a surge of greed—a greed for that moment of closeness, a greed for this intimacy that was not between master and disciple.

"But this is reality, not a dream..."

Sunlight streamed in through the bamboo curtain, casting dappled shadows on her plain silk robe, much like the broken state of her State of Mind at that moment.

After forcing herself to quiet her mind and seclude herself for two days, He Shutong's consciousness, like falling snowflakes, sank once again into that familiar dream.

Moonlight refracted through the carved window lattice by the icicles on the eaves. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw her white silk dress brushing past the familiar doorway—this was the main hall of the Sword Sect's courtyard, and also the secluded place she often used in her dreams.

You Su hasn't come looking for her for the past two days. Even though it was she who gave the order, she couldn't help feeling lost. So she still wanted to return to this place, this dreamlike haven that felt like a spiritual haven.

The moment she pushed open the door, the snow-covered light made her fingertips tremble slightly. You Su's kneeling figure stood straight as a pine tree, his dark hair falling down to cover his eyebrows and eyes, only his fingertips digging deeply into his palms. He wore a thin undergarment, with no cushion under his knees, and the chill of the blue bricks seeped into his skin through the fabric, yet he seemed completely unaware.

"Su'er?"

He Shutong's voice carried the ethereal quality unique to dreams, yet it couldn't hide her trepidation.

She hurriedly squatted down, and when her jade-like fingers touched the boy's wrist pulse, she noticed that his whole body was as tense as a bowstring.

You Su suddenly looked up, her reflection catching his eye, and a broken cry escaped his throat:

"Mistress..."

"Have you been kneeling here the whole time?"

He Shutong tried to reach out and support his elbow, but found the boy to be surprisingly stubborn, his back ramrod straight.

"This disciple has overstepped his bounds with his Mistress... If he does not obtain Mistress forgiveness, he will remain kneeling here forever."

His voice was muffled, like it was soaked in snow water, yet it warmed and saddened He Shutong's heart, as if she could see the self-reproaching boy in reality.

She then remembered that the last time her dream ended, she was expelling the Yang Poison from him, but at the last moment he grabbed her by the chest, the warmth of his palm feeling as if it were branded onto her heart. The last image in her memory was his red ear tips and his hasty withdrawal, like a small animal frightened by a thunderclap.

She had actually resolved to criticize the boy for this incident, in order to curb his growing ambition. But after feeling guilty for pushing him away in reality, she couldn't bear to keep her distance from him even in her dreams.

After all, I've already made him face setbacks in reality, so what's wrong with slightly fulfilling his wishes in his dreams?

Otherwise, he would be so heartbroken...

"Silly child." He Shutong's fingertips traced his clenched fist. "It's only natural to act on impulse. You weren't thinking clearly then, and your Mistress never blamed you."

You Su shuddered, his eyes flashing as he looked up. He suddenly gritted his teeth. "Mistress, there's no need to excuse me. I'm not out of my mind; I simply couldn't control my greed. I deserve punishment."

Looking at the anxiety and self-reproach between his brows, she suddenly recalled the somber figure of him leaving alone in reality.

"Indeed, you deserve punishment." He Shutong gently grasped his fist. The warmth she dared not touch in reality felt so real in this dream. "I'm punishing you by confining you to your quarters for a month. You can only stay in the Sword Sect's courtyard and cannot go anywhere else."

You Su was slightly taken aback, unable to distinguish whether this was a punishment or a reward.

"Since you've practiced the Joyous Union Technique since childhood, you should understand its meaning. Since it's about pursuing pleasure, your thoughts must be clear and unobstructed. At that time, you acted out of passion, and because it was your first offense, your master 'Mistress won't blame you, but you must still restrain yourself. Otherwise, it's just your pleasure, not true union, which deviates from the original Cultivation Method. Next time, if you have any such thoughts, you must speak them beforehand. If I'm willing, I will grant it; if I'm not, I will refuse. This applies not only to me, but also to other women in the future. Do you understand?"

You Su's lips finally curved into a smile, like the moon breaking through the clouds. "Thank you, Mistress. This disciple has learned a great deal!"

Get up.

After helping the boy up, He Shutong quietly turned around; the tips of her ears had turned red without her noticing.

She didn't know where she got the courage to say such things; she only felt that she, who had always been as elegant as a lotus, had become so shameless under the cover of a dream.

It seemed that the boy would do anything to her as long as she agreed. What was clearly a one-sided detoxification process was portrayed by her as her and the boy pursuing the path of union.

But is there any Mistress in the world who would tell her disciple that she can't just think about her own pleasure, but also consider her feelings?

He Shutong even doubted whether her true nature was truly that of a pure lotus flower, but she really didn't want to live such a tiring life of inner turmoil and conflict like in reality. In this dream, she only wanted to follow her first instinct. Who dreams while being overly cautious and hesitant?

"Mistress, can we skip sword practice today?" the boy suddenly asked.

"What's wrong?" He Shutong asked in a clear, crisp voice.

"These past few days, I've been kneeling before my Mistress, pondering many things, but I haven't made any breakthroughs in the principle of the fusion of sword intent. It seems I've reached a bottleneck. But what my Mistress just said about the principle of the Harmony of Union reminded me—" You Su appeared eager to learn, "Since childhood, my understanding of the Mandarin Duck Sword Joyous Union Technique has been limited to the three volumes of the Harmony of Union Technique that my master read to me when I was young. I know nothing about other sect's scriptures. I think the bottleneck I'm encountering might be because my understanding of the sect's foundation is still shallow."

He Shutong frowned slightly upon hearing this. Her first reaction was not to think much about it, but simply to agree with You Su's words. The Three Scrolls of the Joyous Union Technique is the core Cultivation Method of the Mandarin Sword Sect. It is sufficient for cultivation and attaining enlightenment, but if one wants to make a feat like fusing sword Cultivation Method, relying solely on these three scrolls is clearly insufficient.

"Indeed, you should take some time to reflect. The more you read, the more you'll naturally understand different things, and flashes of inspiration don't come from endless contemplation." He Shutong nodded slightly. "It's just that your master isn't here..."

"Can't Mistress recite it for me?" You Su tilted his head at the opportune moment. "Last time, when Mistress insisted that I tell her about that embarrassing dream, didn't she promise her disciple that she would recite the sutra for me when the time was right?"

Looking at the boy's innocent and expectant eyes, He Shutong also remembered the promise. She thought the boy had long forgotten it, but she didn't expect him to still remember it.

But could she possibly recite the scriptures of the Joyous Union Sect in front of him? Especially since... she knew he had 'ulterior motives' towards her.

But this was ultimately what the young man needed, and she couldn't break her promise.

Thinking of this, she was annoyed that the boy's real master Guan Chujun, was too lazy. Not only were these three volumes of Cultivation Method meant for the clueless young You Su, but he also deliberately didn't take advantage of the child's ignorance to explain more, leaving this task to her, the master's Mistress...

"Very well... but the sect has a vast collection of scriptures, all passed down from ancient times, so there's bound to be some good and some bad. During the day, you should practice your sword as usual, and I'll select one or two to read to you in the evening."

"Alright! Thank you, Mistress!"

You Su Suchong gave her a big bow of thanks.

In winter, darkness falls early. As twilight spills over the carved window lattices, He Shutong is already sitting at the pearwood table in You Su's room, carrying several carefully selected classics.

You Su sat on the other side, staring intently at her, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips.

He Shutong's fingertips traced the yellowed cover of the book, and the thin layer of sweat from his palms left faint marks on the silk surface.

She deliberately avoided illustrated classics like "The Theory of Yin and Yang Intercourse," and ultimately chose "The Key to Joyous Union" and "The Explanation of Mandarin Sword Principles," two books that might be helpful to You Su without being too explicit. However, when her fingertips touched words like "intertwined necks" and "embracing," her ears still turned red.

She made up her mind, knowing she could no longer hesitate. "The way of union lies in the balance of yin and yang..." But she still couldn't suppress her shyness and, to cover her embarrassment, instructed, "I'll recite a sentence, and you remember it."

"Mmm!" You Su nodded obediently.

Seeing this, He Shutong had no choice but to continue chanting, "Heaven and earth are in their proper places, and all things flourish. Yin and Yang interact, giving birth to the Mysterious Female."

He Shutong read very slowly, grinding each word three times between her lips and teeth. But the more she restrained herself, the more glaring the small red characters in the annotations became—"The gate of the mysterious female is the root of heaven and earth. When knocked on by the yang, it responds like an echo." Such a straightforward metaphor made her ears burn.

You Su suddenly let out a soft "Eh": "When Mistress mentioned striking with Yang, did she mean that when Qi Flows Through Celestial Spring, it should be guided by pure Yang Mystic Qi?"

The candlelight on the table flickered and flared, He Shutong's wide sleeves trembled slightly, and the boy looked up, revealing a hint of childlike innocence.

"Yes..." She swallowed the embarrassment in her heart.

Fortunately, the scriptures weren't very thick, and the boy, with his high level of comprehension, didn't ask too many questions. He closed the Key to Joyous Union.

"You should carefully consider this, and if there is anything you don't understand, be sure to write it down. I will explain it to you tomorrow."

She carefully put away the scriptures, slowly stood up, and felt a great sense of relief.

But then she suddenly felt someone tugging at her sleeve. He Shutong turned to look at his lowered eyelashes and suddenly remembered what the "Key to Joyous Union" said: if one's feelings are not reciprocated, one's yang energy will stagnate and harm one's body.

"Mistress, I think I'm..."

The unspoken words were swallowed by his rapid, uncontrollable breathing. "Could you... help me?"

His cautious and pitiful appearance softened He Shutong's heart.

She suddenly regretted telling You Su to ask her beforehand if he wanted anything, because could she really bring herself to reject him even in her dreams?