After that, Mu Xue stopped thinking about it.
The Heavenly Pool River would open in half a month. By then, she would know whether the Lu Family would come to break off the engagement again.
Sigh.
A sigh.
Mu Xue felt somewhat helpless. She should have been able to marry into the Lu Family without a hitch, but because she had lost all her cultivation, the engagement could be broken off at any time.
But she couldn't avoid dissolving her cultivation, either.
Fortunately, there was no problem for now.
Sometimes, becoming invincible was easy, but trying to be ordinary was difficult in the extreme.
Mu Xue fell silent for a moment. Just then, several people entered the courtyard.
It was Ding Liang and Tang Yi.
Tang Yi had brought Yalin along.
When she saw Tang Yi arrive, Mu Xue stood up and politely called out:
"Aunt Tang."
Tang Yi looked a little awkward, and her gaze kept darting away.
She hesitated, then said:
"Yalin is still young. She might not be able to learn the Heavenly Maiden True Scripture. Xue'er, if you find it troublesome, let's just forget about it. There's no need to waste your time on Yalin."
She truly wanted to call it off. The clan leader had already given the order: no one was allowed to pry into anything of Mu Xue's.
It was already a blessing that nothing had happened this time. If it happened again, she would lose a layer of skin even if she survived.
Mu Xue beckoned to Yalin. Yalin glanced at her mother, and when she saw that her mother didn't object, she happily went over.
Only after Yalin came over did Mu Xue answer calmly:
"I can teach her. Aunt Tang, you don't need to worry about it."
Tang Yi watched Mu Xue for a long while before finally asking:
"Do you... hate us?"
Mu Xue absentmindedly stroked Yalin's head. Her eyes lowered as if she were remembering something, and then she spoke softly:
"I do."
Mu Xue paused, then continued:
"But we're family, after all."
Because they were family, she had occasionally returned after marrying in her previous life. They hadn't treated her very well, but she had still come back.
But after that day, she never returned to the Mu Family again.
That day, she saw Lu Shui make a move for the first time. It was also the day Lu Shui razed the entire Mu Family to the ground.
Lu Shui hadn't killed anyone, and he hadn't hurt many people.
But she could never come back again. Even after the Mu Family was rebuilt, she still couldn't return.
Hearing Mu Xue's words, Tang Yi lowered her head. At last, she said:
"If your mother were still alive, she would never have treated you the way I did."
Mu Xue said nothing. She only touched the knotted cord around her wrist. She had always felt that Her Mother must have loved her dearly.
But she had never met Her Mother.
"Big Sister, your hand tickles," Yalin said, looking up at Mu Xue.
Mu Xue's hand was still stroking Yalin's head.
Only when Yalin looked up and spoke did Mu Xue come back to herself. She gently ruffled the little girl's hair and asked with a faint smile:
"What about now?"
"It doesn't tickle anymore. Oh, right, Big Sister, are we going to fight the Little Monster today?" Yalin asked.
Mu Xue nodded.
"Mm. But first, I have to teach you how to write."
Tang Yi watched from the side. She was sure Mu Xue had really smiled at Yalin just now.
Did she truly want to teach Yalin?
Why?
The Heavenly Maiden True Scripture was the last thing of value she had. Was she really giving it away so casually, without caring at all?
"Liu Huo? Since when did our sect have someone like that? And he's the Young Sect Master?" In the Dark Depths, several stone pillars stood with four dark figures atop them. One of them spoke with utter disdain.
"But the Sect Master has been gone for many years. Could he have personally appointed him as the Young Sect Master?" This time, a woman's voice spoke.
"Since the Sect Master didn't issue the order in person, that means we need to test him. So there's no need to take that into account."
"Then what do we do now?"
"Put him in the Secret Register. Raise your hand if you agree."
The next moment, three of the four raised their hands.
"Good. We'll put his name in the Secret Register for now. We can fill in the rest when we make another discovery."
"You'd better think this through. It's easy to get into the Secret Register, but hard to get out," the woman said.
"What's there to be afraid of? If Liu Huo really is the Young Sect Master—and the kind you can't afford to provoke—then at worst, I'll eat shit on the spot and apologize."
"Heh, there you go again, trying to con us into feeding you."
"..."
"Why are you two here as well?" Lu Shui asked as he stepped onto the Fishing Platform.
The chill had already begun to seep into his body, but he made no attempt to resist it.
Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling were actually quite surprised to see Lu Shui.
They hadn't expected even the young master to come in.
Zhen Wu then said:
"The Third Elder said we didn't handle things properly."
Lu Shui nodded and asked nothing further. It was obvious that he was the culprit.
He sat down to one side and began studying the Heaven and Earth Array Patterns. It was the only thing he could do here.
As for the Active Method, without the power of the five elements, he couldn't cultivate it.
His cultivation was currently at 2.4. Before returning, he had successfully advanced to 2.4; he was still quite a way from 2.5.
He had thought he'd reach the Third Tier in a week, but now it looked like he'd have to put it off for a few days.
It wasn't a big deal.
"Young master, there's something I'd like to ask you. Do you know who that little girl from earlier was?" Zhen Ling asked.
She was still puzzled. The little girl didn't look ordinary at all, but there was no one like her in the Lu Family.
Lu Shui fell silent for a moment. Second Elder Lu Youting would never grow up.
She was quite considerate toward the women of the Lu Family.
She rarely showed her face in the Lu Family, and even when she did, few people knew her identity.
Second Elder didn't want to say anything, and no one else could say anything either.
If they did, the son would pay for the father's debts.
Neither the Second Elder nor the Third Elder would lay a hand on him while he was still young, but they could go after his father.
And his father would go after him.
So it was best to be a good kid.
At last, Lu Shui said:
"It cannot be spoken of."
So even the young master didn't know, Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling thought.
Often, when the young master didn't know something, he wouldn't say he didn't know. He'd only say it couldn't be spoken of, or that it wasn't the time, or that they wouldn't understand even if he told them.
So whenever they heard words like that, they could translate them directly as: I don't know.
Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling didn't ask any more. If they kept at it, it might seem like they were deliberately trying to make the young master look bad.
With Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling quiet, Lu Shui was naturally glad for the peace.
But today, he had seen through the Second Elder's identity. He wondered if she would mind.
She probably wouldn't.
(Normally, he wouldn't know who the Second Elder was.)
At night.
Lu Shui was still reading. Wind Frost River continued to glow faintly, providing more than enough light for him to read.
"Young master, aren't you cold?" Zhen Wu asked from behind him.
By then, they were doing their utmost to fend off the chill, but it was becoming less and less effective. The two of them were already shivering with cold.
That was why they were so curious. Lu Shui's cultivation was so weak, so how could he still read with such single-minded focus?
Shifting their attention couldn't fend off the chill, either.
Lu Shui's whole body was cold, too, but he could still bear it.
Only, what Lu Shui was enduring wasn't quite the same as what Zhen Wu and the others were.
After thinking it over, Lu Shui said:
"Withdraw your power. Don't try to resist the chill. Let your Spiritual Energy settle down."
Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling didn't understand, but they did as he said. Stabilizing their Spiritual Energy required them to close their eyes and adjust it.
"Remember, no matter how much the cold provokes you, don't use your power," Lu Shui added.
Then he continued reading.
A long while later, Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling opened their eyes. Their eyes held a trace of astonishment. They really weren't cold anymore.
Their bodies were still a little chilly, but it was entirely bearable.
"What's going on?" Zhen Wu asked instinctively.
Lu Shui turned a page.
"There's a kind of cold that comes from thinking you're cold."
Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling were both baffled.
Lu Shui didn't look up and continued:
"The coldest thing about Wind Frost River isn't the chill. It's a cold heart."
"What do you mean?" Zhen Ling asked.
"You wouldn't understand even if I told you." Lu Shui continued reading, with no intention of answering further.
Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling understood. So the young master only had a half-baked idea of it, too.
Still, the young master really was amazing. Had he truly been putting on an act before?
Or had his acting skills recently reached new heights, and he was looking to try a new game—pretending to be an expert?
They couldn't get an answer.
Before you continue