[So even Master could feel insecure.]
[Oh well, I supposed I could reluctantly accommodate him this once.]
The Immortal Venerable: ?
She raised her hand and caught hold of her master's sleeve.
Feeling the gentle tug, Bai Fu glanced down at the hem she had caught, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.
While everyone was busy feasting on Elder Chang's gossip, one of the wastrels slipped into a side room on Flowing Cloud Peak. The room was furnished with lavish elegance. A man in sumptuous robes lay on a chaise longue with narrowed eyes as several beauties massaged him.
The wastrel said, "Young Master, something's happened!"
Mu Ye, the young master of the Flowing Cloud Sect, opened his eyes, his tone dark. "What is it?"
The wastrel embellished what had just happened. "That girl called Qiaoqiao hits really hard! Young Master, look at the marks on my hand."
Mu Ye sneered. "A little girl beat you up like this, and you have the nerve to talk about it?"
Unable to save face, the wastrel stressed, "It's all because of Fu Fengyuan! That useless thing actually called in people from Ethereal Peak to back him up!"
At Fu Fengyuan's name, Mu Ye's expression turned sinister.
The wastrel knew there was an old grudge between the two. The young master had once taken a fancy to a female disciple from Medicine Peak and made several advances. Not only had the female cultivator ignored him, she had even said that Fu Fengyuan was the one she loved and that she would marry no one else.
The young master had actually been outdone by a useless good-for-nothing who could not cultivate. Humiliated, he had hated him ever since, and that was why their group occasionally sought him out to make trouble and torment him.
Mu Ye's expression darkened. "Come on. Let's take a look."
The wastrel eagerly trotted after him. With the young master personally taking action, Fu Fengyuan was in for it this time!
When Mu Ye arrived with the wastrel, the birthday banquet had just begun, and Qiaoqiao was presenting a gift to Sect Master Mu Liuyun on behalf of Ethereal Peak.
Dressed entirely in red, Mu Liuyun sat in the seat of honor, regal and incomparably beautiful. Sword Lord Qingyun, the main peak's second elder, sat to her left, while the third elder, Elder Yao, sat to her right. Both watched Qiaoqiao with gentle eyes.
Smiling, Mu Liuyun leaned close to whisper a few words into her ear. Qiaoqiao's eyes widened in apparent disbelief.
Mu Liuyun winked at her. "You can give it a try."
As Mu Ye approached, Qiaoqiao happened to be stepping down from the dais. Their gazes crossed, and the wastrel seized the opportunity to whisper beside him, "She's that Qiaoqiao!"
Why was this girl looking at him so strangely?
"Where's Fu Fengyuan?"
"With that bunch from Ethereal Peak-"
"Ye'er."
Mu Liuyun spoke from the dais. Mu Ye stepped forward and bowed. "Mother."
"Didn't you say you weren't feeling well? Why have you come after all?"
"I felt a little better just now, so I came over." Before the sect master, Mu Ye wore an attentive, respectful expression, looking like an entirely different person from his sinister self a moment earlier.
Mu Liuyun spoke with him, and Sword Lord Qingyun beside her offered a few reminders as well.
Sitting side by side, the two looked like a perfect couple.
At Ethereal Peak's table, Ning Shuang could not help sighing. "The way Sword Lord Qingyun has treated the sect master all these years really is... It's a shame they can't be together."
"Why?" Qiaoqiao was intensely curious.
Everyone at the table cast curious looks her way, like a pack of melon-field badgers waiting to be fed gossip, their eyes thirsting for knowledge.
Ning Shuang: Why did it feel as though the disciples were getting more and more gossipy?
"This goes back to something that happened hundreds of years ago..."
Sect Master Mu had once had someone she loved: Sword Lord Qingshuang. Their love had been mutual, and they had become dao companions. Unfortunately, this Dao Lord's fortune had been poor. Not long after the sect master gave birth to their child, he had perished.
After that, Sword Lord Qingyun had stayed by the sect master's side, helping her handle sect affairs and managing matters large and small throughout the Flowing Cloud Sect. Sword Lord Qingyun had an excellent reputation within the sect and was honored as a gentleman among swordsmen.
His love for the sect master was also known to all. All these years, he had quietly remained by her side, yet had never had any recognized standing.
The main peak's gossip held the inexperienced Ethereal Peak disciples spellbound. Xiao Tingyu asked, "Why? Could it be that the sect master doesn't like him?"
Ning Shuang shook her head. "Because Sword Lord Qingshuang was Sword Lord Qingyun's sworn elder brother. The sect master counts as his sister-in-law, so..."
Xiao Tingyu and Wen Zhi exchanged a glance. "That shouldn't matter, should it? They weren't blood brothers. Besides, that sword lord passed away years ago."
"That may be true, but Sword Lord Qingyun cultivates the Gentleman's Sword Dao and observes propriety more strictly and reverently than most. Even if he has feelings for the sect master, he can't show them. He has always treated her with the utmost respect and never dared cross that line."
Tsk, tsk.
Everyone sighed at that. Spending every day together for all these years-Sword Lord Qingyun really could keep his composure.
Only Qiaoqiao asked in puzzlement, "If this sword lord has such a good reputation, how did Elder Chen embezzle eighty million Spirit Stones under him?"
They all froze.
That question was rather sharp.
Everyone knew that the Flowing Cloud Sect Master had a good temper and was more than a hundred-million-bit lazy, practically a hands-off boss. If Sword Lord Qingyun truly was as fair and strict as the rumors claimed, how had Elder Chen managed to embezzle for a hundred years without being discovered?
They all looked at Qiaoqiao, wanting to hear what insights that clever little head of hers held.
Immortal Venerable Wanghan, seated to one side, had not said a word this whole time, merely watching his little disciple with gentle eyes.
[Ah!]
[I remember now!]
[This Sword Lord Qingyun is a hypocrite!]
Everyone: ?!
The instant Qiaoqiao's inner voice rang out, everyone perked up.
Surely not?
Sword Lord Qingyun really had juicy gossip too?!
He was a famously upright gentleman of the Flowing Cloud Sect, someone whose conduct was beyond reproach!
Amid their shock, Qiaoqiao suddenly whipped her gaze toward Fu Fengyuan. Her sharp stare startled her fourth senior brother. Did this gossip about Sword Lord Qingyun have something to do with him?
The others felt as though claws were scratching at their hearts. Little junior sister, hurry up and tell us!
No, hurry up and keep thinking!
Just what was wrong with Sword Lord Qingyun?
[This Sword Lord Qingyun is rotten to the core! What a black-hearted piece of work!]