A High-Stakes Push and Pull with the Saintess!

"Yes, this old servant understands." Lin Mo nodded slightly.

Indeed.

From Saintess Su Yu's perspective, his prolonged absence from the little wooden hut in Purple Heaven Palace was certainly far too unusual.

At present, Saintess Su Yu only suspected that Lin Mo had discovered her abnormal behavior; she was not yet certain.

If Lin Mo avoided her, she could all but confirm that he knew something was wrong with her.

That would be extremely detrimental to Grand Elder Hong Yue's entrapment plan.

"Then what are you still standing around here for? Hurry back."

Lin Mo dared not dawdle. He said his goodbyes and hurried away.

On the roof.

Grand Elder Hong Yue folded her arms and watched Lin Mo's retreating figure, an intrigued smile curling her alluring red lips. "Already at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage... With cultivation speed like this, even peerless geniuses with ninth-grade spirit veins could hardly do better."

Although Lin Mo used the Breath-Concealing Art to hide his true aura, it clearly could not deceive someone as powerful as Hong Yue.

She had discerned his true cultivation level almost at a glance.

"The Yin-Yang Evil Demon Art is certainly a supreme cultivation art, but it's still nowhere near this astonishing. And then there's... this little servant's incredible ability to heal himself."

"Perhaps he's hiding some other unknown secret. I'll have to go back and look into it."

The Heavenly Abyss Continent had countless billions of cultivators.

There were cases of people born with poor cultivation aptitude who only awakened a special constitution or bloodline near the end of their lives, then swiftly rose to prominence.

Though rare, such cases were not without precedent.

Thus, Hong Yue had reason to suspect that Lin Mo might also be a Child of Fortune, the sort who appeared only once in thousands or tens of thousands of years!

Meanwhile.

Lin Mo had not even made it back to Purple Heaven Palace.

He encountered Saintess Su Yu on the way.

Lin Mo did not believe it was a coincidence. The Saintess had deliberately waited here for him.

"Old Man Lin? You're actually still alive?"

Su Yu seemed surprised to see Lin Mo.

Lin Mo gave a strategic dry cough. "Ahem... What do you mean by that, Saintess? Could it be that you were hoping this old man would die?"

"No, no!"

Su Yu waved her little hands and explained with a giggle, "Why would I want you dead? I heard you got into a fight with an Enforcement Hall disciple a while ago."

"I heard that disciple died two hours later, and you vanished without a trace."

"It's been a while, after all, so I thought you were already dead."

"Hehe, I'm glad you're alive. Seeing you come back makes me genuinely happy for you."

Lin Mo chuckled, his manner filled with reverent trepidation. "To think that a mere servant like this old man could receive such concern from the Saintess. It truly is my honor."

Su Yu smiled warmly. "Status doesn't matter to me. We haven't interacted much, but I've actually always thought of you as a friend."

"Isn't it only right for friends to care about each other? If it were anyone else, I wouldn't even bother."

Someone who still retained their innocence might truly have believed Su Yu's words.

Calling the gulf between a Saintess and a servant the distance between heaven and hell would not have been an exaggeration.

A Saintess treating a servant as a friend? In the First Saint Sect, no less?

Tell that to a three-year-old, and even they would not believe it!

Naturally, Lin Mo did not believe her, even though Su Yu had consistently presented herself to him as innocent and utterly harmless.

The more someone appeared to pose no threat, the more carefully one had to watch them.

Because one could never know when she would stab them in the back!

"This old man has spent over a hundred years in the First Saint Sect. I've grown accustomed to being worked like an ox or a horse. No one has ever treated me as a human being the way you have, Saintess."

"This old man... This old man..." Lin Mo wiped at his eyes twice, feigning hot tears, utterly overcome with gratitude.

With acting skills like his, Lin Mo felt the Oscars owed him a Golden Horse Award.

"There, there. Don't cry!"

"Our status might be different, but we're all human, after all. Who can truly be nobler than anyone else? Don't you agree?"

"At least, I don't think I'd be as inhuman as those other people, without even the most basic moral standards a person should have," Su Yu consoled him.

Lin Mo nodded and said solemnly, "Ah, in this old man's eyes, Saintess, you are like a green lotus rising from the mud unstained."

"This old man sincerely hopes you can always preserve that pure heart."

Su Yu nodded her head gently and smiled with innocent exuberance. "Don't worry, Old Man Lin. I will!"

"Speaking of which, what happened after you fought that Enforcement Hall disciple? Could you tell me?"

"If you're curious, Saintess, this old man would naturally be happy to tell you."

However, Lin Mo told Su Yu yet another version of events.

In this version, Lin Mo had been wounded during his fight with Zhu Fan and fled, hiding in a cave that never saw daylight. He had recuperated there for a long time before his injuries gradually improved.

Only after Shangguan Wuqing found him two days earlier and he heard that Azure Dragon Squad Captain Zhuiming had gone away to train did he return to the sect.

This version mixed truth and falsehood together.

Even if Su Yu did not believe him, she would have difficulty distinguishing the true parts from the false ones on the spot.

After hearing him out.

Su Yu merely nodded thoughtfully without questioning Lin Mo's account.

Instead, she approached it from another angle. "Whatever happened, I'm just glad you're all right. There's only one thing I can't figure out. What exactly is your relationship with Shangguan Wuqing of the Enforcement Hall's Vermilion Bird Squad?"

"..."

Looking somewhat troubled, Lin Mo said, "Saintess, it's not that this old man can't tell you, but could you keep it a secret for me?"

"Of course! I'm not the sort who goes around telling everyone everything."

"Yes. If it's your word, Saintess, this old man trusts you!"

Lin Mo deliberated for a moment before revealing the truth. "You might not believe this, Saintess, but Captain Wuqing has taken a fancy to me. She invited me to her home for dual cultivation."

"Huh?"

A blush instantly swept across Su Yu's exquisite face. She exclaimed in shock, "That... That's just too..."

"Shh!"

Lin Mo made a gesture for silence. Only then did Su Yu lower her voice, asking incredulously, "Why? Why would Shangguan Wuqing of the Vermilion Bird Squad take a fancy to you?"

If that were true, then from Su Yu's perspective, the situation back then made sense.

Many people knew that Zhuiming liked Shangguan Wuqing.

Su Yu was among them, of course.

If Shangguan Wuqing really had invited Lin Mo to her home for dual cultivation.

Then Zhuiming certainly would not have been able to stomach it once he found out!

"Who knows?" Lin Mo chuckled. "Perhaps it's because this old man is rather handsome. Ah, I may be old, but my personal charm seems undiminished from my younger days. Hehe."

"..."

Su Yu was momentarily at a loss for words.

Not because she was speechless with exasperation, but because she could not refute him.

Though she did not show it on her face, Su Yu truly did feel that Lin Mo possessed a special charm, one unique to an elderly man.

Ever since several months earlier, when Lin Mo asked her to deliver a letter of accusation to Liu Ziyan.

Su Yu had felt that way.