Unwilling to Let It Go

"Lin Sui, your cultivation has advanced too quickly."

Su Fuxi would not deliberately distance herself from him and make it obvious she had something to hide.

She had asked him to share her mount so she could give him some instructions.

"Don't advance your cultivation any further for now. It would be better to spend more time consolidating it. Cultivate your God-Slaying Finger until it holds a hundred thousand strands of Slaughter Qi."

"Yes, I'll follow all your arrangements, Master." Lin Sui nodded obediently, gazing openly at her.

He hadn't expected to spend nearly a year cultivating at the bottom of the pool, then several months refining the No Falsehood Sword. Now, however much he looked at her, he couldn't get enough.

Su Fuxi closed her eyes and used her spiritual sense to scout the way, pretending not to feel his gaze.

"Mm." Without even moving her eyelashes, she parted her red lips and continued, "Once we leave the secret realm, we'll return to the Tianshui Kingdom. I plan to take you traveling in the Southern Province."

"The Southern Province is vast, with many perilous lands and demonic beasts. It isn't part of any kingdom under the dynasty. It will be a good chance to help you gather Slaughter Qi."

"Mm, all right." Lin Sui's gaze lingered on her lips, as lovely as flower petals, while his thoughts had already wandered who knew where.

Three days later, they reached the secret realm's exit. Su Fuxi put away the Golden Cicada and looked at the fissure in midair. "There are still more than ten days before the secret realm closes. There must be all sorts of cultivators mingling outside right now. Once we're out, don't stop for a moment. Leave at full speed."

With that, she rode a streak of light toward the exit. Lin Sui followed close behind, turning into a streak of blue light and vanishing into the fissure.

The wasteland outside the secret realm's entrance looked peaceful. Every so often, cultivators who had finished hunting for treasures flew out in twos and threes, and those hiding in the shadows would pick suitable targets and follow them.

Su Fuxi did not actually like fighting, but if someone blind enough dared to come after her, she was no pushover either.

Two streaks of rainbow light, one pink and one blue, shot out of the exit and sped southeast toward the Tianshui Kingdom. In the blink of an eye, they vanished from sight.

The people watching from the shadows hesitated for a moment, but ultimately gave up on chasing them down and robbing them. Two Golden Core cultivators were not so easy to deal with.

Su Fuxi withdrew her spiritual sense. Seeing that no one was following, she traveled a thousand miles before taking out the small cloud boat from Zha Wuren's storage bag.

"Lin Sui, keep watch over the boat. I'm going to sleep." After teaching Lin Sui how to control the cloud boat, Su Fuxi turned and went into the main room.

She was too tired. She had not rested since setting out to dig up the spirit vein, and now that she was far from the secret realm, all she wanted to do was lie down and sleep.

Hahaha, the Five Decays of Heaven and Man!

So this is the Five Decays of Heaven and Man!!

Su Fuxi laughed bitterly to herself, her heart heavy.

She suddenly felt as though she had grown old and had no choice but to accept it.

"Wait, Master, let me tidy up the room."

Lin Sui immediately followed her inside. Like the guest room, the main room held a low table and two meditation cushions, all belonging to the former owner surnamed Zha.

Lin Sui did not want her to make do with those things. Su Fuxi had not thought of it, so she simply stepped aside and let him tidy up.

The young man looked tall and imposing, but he was very attentive in his work. Su Fuxi waited a moment, and when she looked around the room again, the furnishings had indeed been completely renewed.

The meditation cushions had become two soft cushions, and a soft couch had appeared on the empty mat. An elegant green cloth covered the low table, with a white jade tea set atop it. Steam still rose from the teapot, and a small bronze burner beside it held fresh, calming incense.

"Master, you can rest now." Lin Sui looked at her face, which showed the faintest trace of weariness.

Su Fuxi gave him a rare, warm smile and nodded. "All right. Call me if you run into danger."

Although she said nothing else, judging by her expression, she seemed extremely pleased with the room. Lin Sui boldly stepped closer to her.

He lowered his head and looked at the white gauze over her eyes. "Master, go to sleep. I'll leave after you lie down."

He was so much taller than Su Fuxi that he stood before her like a wall. Yet he had completely reined in his aura, looking quiet and peaceful, without the slightest hint of inscrutability.

There was nothing about him that felt out of place or threatening.

"As you like." Su Fuxi glanced at him, walked over to the couch, and formed a hand seal to clean herself. Too lazy to take off her shoes, she simply pulled out her hairpin and let her long hair fall loose, then lay down. Resting against the soft pillow, she fell asleep in an instant.

She believed the boy would not dare disrespect her for the time being.

She would rather he discover the truth someday and rebel and kill his master than have him dwell on that absurd one-night affair.

Su Fuxi sank into a deep sleep.

Lin Sui straightened the thin blanket over her and watched her by the couch for quite a while. Her unguarded manner was so open and trusting that it stopped him from letting his thoughts wander.

Everything showed that, in that instance of coercion, she had treated him as nothing more than a tool for an antidote, even as a stranger.

As far as she was concerned, there were no other thoughts at all.

Lying so quietly before him, did she think that, as her disciple, he would not dare do anything to her, or did she simply trust him because he was her disciple?

Lin Sui's throat tightened. In the end, he could not resist reaching out to stroke her cheek, his touch exceedingly gentle, full of tenderness as though he were touching a lover.

I'm sorry, Master, but I can't accept this!

She was clearly the one who had started it, and Lin Sui could not accept letting her draw a line between them just like that.

But he truly did not know what to do now.

Lin Sui did not dare take it upon himself to upset the balance of their present relationship.

He could only steal secret looks at his master like this.

As he lowered his head to kiss her lips, he was still thinking how wonderful it would be if she discovered him.

Wasn't her trust also another kind of indulgence toward him?

Lin Sui reluctantly left the room and devoted himself to watching over and steering the boat.

Su Fuxi, of course, knew nothing of any of this.

She thought of nothing and had no energy to think, having made up her mind to sleep well on the journey.

When she opened her eyes, ten days had passed.

The cloud boat was not very fast, but it made up for that with its steadiness. Su Fuxi would not deliberately distance herself from Lin Sui, but she would take care to avoid being alone with him.

She did not believe Lin Sui could really discover that she was the person from that absurd encounter. So, with the authority she had held as his master for so many years, would the youngster dare do anything to her on the sly?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!!

To stop Lin Sui from sitting in meditation and cultivating, she simply kept him at the helm throughout the journey. As for her, she left him with an instruction not to disturb her, then secluded herself in the main room to study the forbidden formation booklet.

The small cloud boat flew over countless mountains, leaving the Wood Crane Kingdom and the Mo Liang Kingdom behind before crossing an uninhabited region. Half a year later, it arrived safely at the border of the Tianshui Kingdom.

They went straight back to the Azure Cloud Sect.

"Elder Su, you and your disciple have finally returned." Li Yuanqing saw that Lin Sui had indeed advanced to the Golden Core and nodded repeatedly, then changed the subject. "Your eldest senior brother and sixth junior brother didn't come back with you?"

Having expected him to ask, Su Fuxi bowed. "Sect Master, at the ruins this time, we were unfortunately caught in a large-scale destructive restriction. Eldest Senior Brother and Sixth Junior Brother..."

Her expression remained normal, but her voice was somewhat unsteady. "They couldn't make it back. Eldest Senior Brother threw the teleportation treasure to me and was completely engulfed by the restriction... He fell..."

"Fell?" Li Yuanqing froze and stared intently at Su Fuxi's face, narrowing his eyes. "Fang Yun returned earlier and said that Eldest Senior Brother had plotted against her. Did you know about this?"

Su Fuxi shook her head. "I didn't know. I just happened to run into Junior Sister Fang at the time and saved her. I only heard her mention it briefly."

"I brought the treasure back." She took out the teleportation treasure and formed a hand seal, sending it flying over to the sect master. Li Yuanqing caught it, glanced at it, and casually tossed it to Lin Sui beside her.

"This treasure is suitable for those below the Nascent Soul Stage. Let it be bestowed upon Lin Sui for his protection."

Lin Sui paused, then accepted it and bowed. "Thank you, Sect Master."

Li Yuanqing waved a hand, saying nothing about whether he believed Su Fuxi's earlier account. Su Fuxi transmitted her voice directly to the sect master. "By the way, there's one more thing. I happened to discover a spirit mine this time and dug out a spirit stone vein. I'll leave it to the sect master to decide what to do with it."