"Actually..."
Jiang Lu was just about to tell the truth when the Sect Master waved a hand and refused to hear her explanation.
The elders all thought: Since it was wrong, they might as well carry the mistake through to the end! The process did not matter; as long as they approved of the outcome, that was enough.
Jiang Lu looked innocently at everyone present. Uh... since that was the case, she would not say anything.
She turned to Lingyun Venerable. He merely pressed his lips tightly together and lowered his head to look at Mu Xiaoqing kneeling on the ground. His expression was complicated, carrying a trace of relief and release that she could not understand.
A bitter smile touched his lips. "Qing'er, do you truly think what lies between us is merely the affection between master and disciple? If it is, then Master can rest easy."
Mu Xiaoqing's pupils trembled slightly, and she fell silent for a moment.
"Master..."
She murmured softly, then fell completely silent.
Two different thoughts clashed madly within her mind. One told her that what she felt for her master was love; the other told her that there was only ordinary affection between master and disciple, that it had all been a misunderstanding.
She slowly closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and said to the Sect Master seated above, "Sect Master, this disciple knows that her previous actions were absurd. I cannot accept it all at once right now, so I request to go to Reflection Cliff and accept punishment."
After speaking, she knocked her head heavily against the floor.
Seeing this, the light in Lingyun Venerable's eyes gradually faded.
He clenched his fists and shifted his gaze to the Sect Master, his voice carrying a trace of weariness.
"Sect Master, I accept my