The master's wife could be an inheritance, too

Jiang Jiu offered the tea with such eagerness that the rim of the cup nearly poked into Zhang Xuan's nostrils.

"Third senior brother, this tea of yours..." Zhang Xuan leaned his head back and gave an awkward laugh. "Is it meant for washing my face?"

"Whoops!" He swung his arm, conveniently knocking the cup out of Jiang Jiu's hand. The wooden cup hit the floor with a clatter, spilling warm tea everywhere.

Jiang Jiu froze for a moment. Looking mildly apologetic, Zhang Xuan smiled helplessly. "That was careless of me. I've wasted your kindness, third senior brother. Oh well, I'm not thirsty anyway."

Zhang Xuan had done it on purpose. His cards were on the table; he was done pretending.

He really couldn't be bothered to keep wrangling with Jiang Jiu. More important matters awaited him...

Now he only needed Jiang Jiu to leave in a huff, and he could enter the "Inner Landscape" and summon the "Celestial Master's Ordination." Even if the entire Celestial Master's Mansion was shrouded in fog, he would part the clouds and reveal the sun, getting clear, unmistakable answers!

"Oh, goodness, how could this be your fault, junior sect leader? My arms have been sore and weak these past few days. They simply gave out for a moment and let the cup slip."

Without another word, Jiang Jiu promptly squatted down. He tugged up the sleeve of his Daoist robe and used it to wipe the spilled tea without the slightest concern for the fabric, moving so deftly that Zhang Xuan was left dumbfounded.

As he wiped, Jiang Jiu kept looking up at Zhang Xuan and smiling. His smile brimmed with flattery and eagerness, all but engraving "seeking advancement" across his face.

Zhang Xuan's mouth twitched...

He was still figuring out how to get rid of this sticky nuisance when the wooden door suddenly creaked—

At first glance, it was impossible to tell her age. She possessed both the lush allure of a mature woman and the fresh beauty of a young girl.

Her face was as lovely as the moon, her skin fair and delicate, smooth as congealed cream. A faint blush glowed through it, like peach blossoms newly unfurled in spring, both radiant and demure.

Especially that beauty mark beneath her eye—it made anyone who saw her ache to cherish her!

Her voluptuous figure was hidden beneath an elegant pale-red dress, its hem swaying gently with her movements like a blooming peony.

The embroidered koi bouncing across her chest, in particular, looked ready to leap out of the water and land on his face.

Zhang Xuan glanced at her hairstyle. Her hair was coiled into a bun...

Just my type. A married woman!

The moment the beautiful woman saw Zhang Xuan, her autumn-water eyes filled with tears. She hurried toward him, her voice already catching with sobs.

Understanding seemed to dawn on Zhang Xuan, and his heart immediately raced. Could the man she's married to... be me?

Yes, that had to be it!

Just then, Zhang Xuan remembered that Daoists could apparently marry. Otherwise, why would there be such a thing as dual-cultivation partners?

Seeing the concern in the beautiful woman's eyes, so intense it was about to overflow, Zhang Xuan suddenly felt less resistant to his identity as a Daoist. In fact, he felt a little more attached to it.

Reciting scriptures and cultivating himself by day, sharing the clouds and rain of Mount Wu by night—that would be a fine life indeed.

As the tearful beauty ran toward him, a fragrant breeze swept over him, and the pair of koi surged up and down. Zhang Xuan nearly went dizzy watching them.

That bouncing gave him an entirely new understanding of "swift as a fleeing rabbit."

He turned to Jiang Jiu, his voice trembling slightly. "Could she be..."

Seeing Zhang Xuan's burning gaze, Jiang Jiu thought he seemed to recognize the woman before him. It appeared his junior brother's memories were gradually returning.

Delighted, Jiang Jiu intoned a Daoist invocation. "Boundless Heavenly Venerable!"

She drew closer and closer, until Zhang Xuan could already smell the rich fragrance coming from her. "Don't tell me..."

"Exactly as you suspect, junior sect leader. This is our master's wife! Her surname is Lin, and her given name is Youwei!"

Zhang Xuan's hands froze in midair, where he had raised them to welcome that weighty bundle of bliss.

Lin Youwei? The master's... wife?

He stared at the beauty mark beside her eye and suddenly remembered the old Celestial Master's face, wrinkled like orange peel.

A pear tree in white bloom pressing down upon a flowering crabapple...

—What an animal!

By then, the beautiful woman had reached him and swept the dumbstruck Zhang Xuan into her arms.

She clutched his lapels, on the verge of tears, while her warm, heady fragrance slipped straight into his collar.

"Little Six, I watched you grow up. Nothing can happen to you!"

The scene was undeniably sensual, yet Zhang Xuan felt all hope turn to ashes. From his wife to his master's wife... both were wives, but they belonged to different generations!

He made desultory small talk with his "master's wife" for a while. The conversation amounted to how his master and his master's wife had always treated him well, and now that his master had passed on and he had become the Celestial Master, he must properly repay her for raising him, and so forth...

Considering that he had lost his memories and could barely look after himself, whatever he would do in the future could wait.

Although she looked only a few years older than him, she still bore the title of his master's wife. Zhang Xuan could only nod and agree. Finally, he and Jiang Jiu escorted the weeping woman out.

Standing in the doorway, Zhang Xuan watched her lush, supple figure sway away, three sways to every step. An image inexplicably surfaced in his mind...

On a dark, windy night, with thunder and rain raging, he stood outside her room and knocked on her door with a sinister grin. "Madam, you wouldn't want life at the Celestial Master's Mansion to become difficult, would you?"

At that moment, two little figures seemed to appear above Zhang Xuan's head, one black and one white.

The white one looked utterly distressed. "Morals in ruins, humanity twisted! Boy, you're downright criminal!"

The black one wore a comical expression, squinting sideways at Zhang Xuan. "She's already lost her husband. Could you really bear to let her live like a widow for the rest of her life?"

The white one was about to argue when Zhang Xuan slapped it away...

Zhang Xuan stared expressionlessly at his palm. "Oh, why did my hand move on its own? Sorry about that. I'll definitely listen to you next time."

The remaining black figure immediately beamed. "Set aside personal decency and enjoy an immoral life! Boss, that's the way!"

Beside him, Jiang Jiu turned to look and found Zhang Xuan shaking his head, muttering something under his breath.

A crafty gleam flashed in Jiang Jiu's mung-bean eyes. He leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Junior sect leader, you're the highest authority in the Celestial Master's Mansion now. Everything our master left behind should belong to you."

For a moment, Zhang Xuan failed to understand what Jiang Jiu meant.

Stroking his beard, Jiang Jiu smiled until his entire face creased, looking thoroughly sleazy. "If you're interested, junior sect leader, our master's wife... could be part of your inheritance, too."

"Ah, what!?"

Zhang Xuan glanced around, confirmed that nobody else was nearby, and whispered, "Wouldn't that be improper?"

Jiang Jiu's ingratiating smile abruptly gave way to a solemn expression. His Daoist robe stirred without any wind, lending him a hint of an immortal's lofty bearing.

He looked gravely at Zhang Xuan. "What's improper about it? You merely wish to give our master's wife a home!"

Then came a whole speech about how a true man standing between heaven and earth must never be fettered by worldly rules; how those who cultivated the Dao followed the natural way; how the sect leader had become attached to outward forms, and so on.

Jiang Jiu spoke with such righteous conviction that even Zhang Xuan began to doubt himself.

Apparently, he wasn't a pervert. He was simply too kindhearted to bear seeing his master's wife become a widow while she was still so young...

Zhang Xuan lightly rubbed his thumb over his index finger's knuckle, as though something still troubled him. "But our master hasn't even been dead a full day. Wouldn't it be wrong for me to do this?"

"Junior sect leader!"

"Wrong!" Jiang Jiu slapped his thigh. "It's been one day and four hours!" As he spoke, he produced an almanac from somewhere. The date circled in red was unmistakably the previous day's seven-to-nine evening period—the very time their master had passed away.

Those words left Zhang Xuan stunned for a moment.

Wait, was this guy some kind of genius?

Clearing his throat, Zhang Xuan turned his back to Jiang Jiu and clasped his hands behind him. "Ah, you really do see things more clearly, senior brother. In that case, let's do as you suggest."

"Rest assured, I'll handle this beautifully. I won't betray the trust you've placed in me!"

Jiang Jiu bowed and was about to leave when Zhang Xuan called him back. "Senior brother, you've helped me time and again, and I'll remember it. Once this matter is settled, I won't go back on what I promised last night!"

Zhang Xuan was referring to his promise to appoint Jiang Jiu deputy sect leader, which he had made the previous night to get him to save the old Celestial Master.

Although the corners of Jiang Jiu's mouth kept rising, he waved his hands repeatedly. "Why would you say that, sect leader? I'm not doing this for some empty title. I simply admire you from the bottom of my heart. With your outstanding gifts, you will surely be the one to restore the glory of our Celestial Master's Mansion..."

Seeing Jiang Jiu draw a deep breath, about to launch into an endless declaration of loyalty, Zhang Xuan hastily interrupted. "It's getting late, senior brother. Perhaps you should..."

Jiang Jiu gave a sheepish smile. "Understood. I'll get this arranged as soon as possible. I certainly won't leave our master's wife alone in her chambers for too long."

The two exchanged a smile, and Jiang Jiu stroked his signature mustache before hurrying away in high spirits.

The instant the door closed, the smile at the corners of Zhang Xuan's mouth froze.

He pushed open the carved wooden window, his gaze grave.

When his master's wife had pressed close to him earlier, he had distinctly seen a flash of blue-green behind her ear. It had been neither rouge nor a decorative floral appliqué...

It had been a blue-green scale!