Qian Renxue: If it weren't for Grandpa, I wouldn't even talk to you! An Yi: See yourself out

Before she could speak, however, An Yi reached out, wrapped his arms around her waist, and buried his head in her embrace.

Bibi Dong trembled all over. "What are you doing?!"

An Yi raised his head, looking utterly innocent. "Hugging you back. Didn't you hug me like this last night?"

"What, only you get to hug me? I can't hug you?"

Bibi Dong gritted her teeth in anger. "You... how old are you already?! And you still want someone to hug you?"

At that, An Yi simply buried his head in her embrace again.

"I don't care. I'm hugging you back anyway."

Bibi Dong: "..."

She raised a hand, intending to push the shameless fellow away, but when her palm landed on An Yi's shoulder, she still didn't apply any force.

All it would take was a little push to get him off her, so why didn't she do it?

Bibi Dong lowered her head and looked at the silver-white head in her embrace. Her thoughts suddenly drifted back twelve years.

Back then, she and An Yi were still aboard a ship bound for Sea God Island.

It was late at night, and most of the people in the cabin were already asleep. Only An Yi couldn't sleep. He lay against the railing on the deck alone, staring blankly at the pitch-black sea.

She happened to pass by and walked over to ask him what was wrong.

An Yi turned around and seriously asked whether they could turn the ship back.

He said Sea God Island was truly dangerous.

At the time, she hadn't taken his words to heart at all. Spirit Hall had long since sent people to investigate Sea God Island, and the information they obtained was pitifully scarce. They had found no particular dangers, nor any evidence sufficient to prove that powerful experts existed there.

As she saw it, An Yi was simply afraid because it was his first time at sea.

So, just as she was doing now, she reached out and took him into her arms, leaning against the ship's rail as she watched the sea with him.

Back then, An Yi hadn't been nearly as thick-skinned as he was now. Once she held him, his whole body went stiff, and he didn't even know where to put his hands and feet.

Whenever she moved even a little closer, his face would turn red, and he would start stumbling over his words.

Every time she saw him like that, she couldn't help wanting to laugh.

But now...

Bibi Dong looked down at An Yi, who was clinging to her and refusing to get up. The corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily.

What on earth had this fellow been through in the twelve years they had been apart?

How had the boy who used to blush from a single hug become like this?

Not only did he dare to put his hands on her of his own accord, he could even bring up what she had done last night as if he were perfectly in the right. His skin was outrageously thick!

"An Yi."

"Hmm?"

"Can you get up?"

"No."

A vein throbbed on Bibi Dong's forehead.

"Why not?"

An Yi raised his head and blinked.

"Because it's comfortable."

Bibi Dong: "..."

She took a deep breath and tried to suppress the urge to throw this fellow out.

But for some reason, seeing how An Yi acted as though this were only natural, she felt little real anger. Even the tangled thoughts she'd had just now had faded considerably.

As for the question that had never been answered...

Bibi Dong hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she didn't ask again.

At noon the next day, with the sun shining brightly overhead, An Yi returned to his courtyard at a leisurely pace.

As soon as he entered the gate, he saw Qian Renxue sitting on the grass, meditating and cultivating. Pale golden fluctuations of Soul Power flowed around her, rising and falling with each breath.

Sensing someone enter, Qian Renxue slowly ended her cultivation and opened her eyes.

"Teacher? Where did you go?"

Qian Renxue stood up and patted down her skirt. "I've been here all morning, and you were nowhere to be found."

"The Saintess Hall," An Yi replied casually, walking toward the stone pavilion in the courtyard.

Qian Renxue's expression immediately grew somewhat unnatural, and she hurried after him. "You went to see Mom again?"

An Yi sat down on a stone stool in the pavilion and poured himself a cup of water. "If I wasn't going to see her, what would I go there for? A meal?"

Qian Renxue bit her lower lip and muttered, "Then when will you take me there again?"

"Didn't you just go the day before yesterday?" An Yi picked up his teacup.

"Didn't you go again last night?!" Qian Renxue pouted, looking somewhat dissatisfied.

An Yi took a sip of water and set down the cup. "I'm me, and you're you. If you're not afraid of dying, go by yourself. I won't stop you."

Qian Renxue's expression froze, and she glared at him with puffed cheeks. "Are you my teacher or not?"

"I'm your teacher, not your father." An Yi didn't even raise his head.

Qian Renxue gritted her teeth in anger. "You!"

"What about me?" An Yi glanced at her, his tone calm. "I took you there last time because I felt sorry for you, but look at you, acting like I owe you something."

Qian Renxue stood rooted to the spot, her eyes reddening slightly.

An Yi leaned back against his seat and continued, "When you want something, you come running over with a smile and call me Teacher. When you don't, you give me a nasty look at the drop of a hat."

"Teacher? Do you even treat me like your teacher?"

He tapped the stone table and stared into Qian Renxue's eyes.

"You'd better get one thing straight. Your grandfather invited me to be your teacher; I wasn't the one begging to come. You have no right to order me around, and I have no obligation to cater to your spoiled young lady's temper."

Hearing this, Qian Renxue's young lady's temper flared up in full.

Ever since she was little, she had gotten almost everything she wanted in the Worship Hall.

Her grandfather adored her, her father spoiled her, and no one in Spirit Hall dared give her a nasty look.

But now, not only did An Yi refuse to coax her, he even scolded her to her face.

How could she stand it?

"You think I wanted you as my teacher?"

Her eyes red, Qian Renxue shouted, "If it weren't for Grandpa, I wouldn't even talk to you!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Qian Renxue turned and ran straight out of the courtyard.

An Yi sat in the stone pavilion and watched her retreating figure without moving an inch. He picked up his teacup and took another sip of water.

Was she kidding?

During his years on Sea God Island, he had cultivated day and night, toiling like an ox and a horse for a full ten years. He had finally gotten a chance to rest.

He had only agreed to Qian Daoliu's request to be Qian Renxue's teacher because he thought he could find some amusement, relax a little, and check on Bibi Dong while he was at it.

He hadn't come to wait on a spoiled young lady. She wanted him to lower himself and coax her?

Dream on.

Meanwhile, Qian Renxue wiped away tears all the way back to the Worship Hall atop the mountain.

The heavy doors were shoved open, and Qian Renxue stormed inside.

"Grandpa!"

Qian Daoliu sat cross-legged in the center of the hall.

Hearing the commotion, he opened his eyes and looked over gently.

"Xue'er? What's wrong?"

Qian Renxue hurried over to Qian Daoliu and said through gritted teeth, "I don't want him as my teacher anymore!"

Qian Daoliu was taken aback. A little surprised, he asked, "Why? Didn't you say you liked him before?"

"I don't like him now! I don't want him anymore!" Qian Renxue pouted, her face full of stubbornness.

Qian Daoliu smiled helplessly and asked, "What happened?"

The more Qian Renxue thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, and her eyes began to redden. "He bullied me! I ran over to his place to cultivate early this morning, before it was even light out, but he was nowhere to be seen all morning and didn't come back until noon!"

"I asked where he'd gone, and he said he went to see Mom. I asked if he could take me there again, and he actually said that if I wasn't afraid of dying, I should go by myself and he wouldn't stop me!"