He had finally brought his eldest disciple back without further incident, but this girl was even more of a landmine than the other.
She was playing with a dagger now, so she would surely dare to play with swords later.
He remembered that in the game, she became a sword cultivator in the later stages.
One of the endings involved her slicing him into human pieces, one stroke at a time.
Su Xuan looked at the cold, emotionless Lin Zhiwei and secretly swallowed his saliva.
However…
He remembered that this eldest disciple cared deeply about Lu Zhiyi.
He had spent the last two days laying some groundwork.
As long as she saw Lu Zhiyi’s current state, shouldn’t her favorability increase by a significant margin?
He would raise her favorability first; only then would he be safe!
‘It’s no wonder I’m so impressive.’
Seeing his front door just ahead, Su Xuan was filled with confidence.
“Zhiyi, Master brought your senior sister back!”
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he pushed open the main gate.
“Zhiyi, your senior sister is back. Are you okay?”
Lin Zhiwei, full of concern, poked her head inside to look.
‘She definitely should be fine!’
He had just bought her new clothes yesterday and plenty of food.
The little girl had been very happy before he left.
Su Xuan was secretly proud and was about to say something when his eyes suddenly widened as if he had seen a ghost.
Lu Zhiyi was sitting in the courtyard, wearing her old hemp clothes.
Her knees were pulled up to her chest, her head was tucked down, and her body was trembling slightly.
Sensing someone opening the door, she looked up blankly.
Her eyes were terrifyingly red, and her face was covered in wet tear stains.
“Master… Senior Sister…”
Upon seeing them, she croaked out those two words before bursting into tears with a loud waah.
‘Why on earth is she crying?’
Su Xuan frowned, his mouth hanging open.
He wondered if something was wrong with his younger disciple’s head.
“Zhiyi, are you okay…?”
Lin Zhiwei rushed toward her, her voice urgent.
She had not expected her junior sister to be bullied like this after being away for only two days!
In the past, even when Master beat her, Lu Zhiyi would only sob occasionally and sometimes even turn around to comfort Lin Zhiwei instead.
But she had never seen her cry like this.
‘What kind of bullying did she suffer…’
Her heart twisted like a knife, her chest heaving with rapid breaths as she gripped her dagger tightly.
Seeing Lu Zhiyi running toward them, Lin Zhiwei hurriedly reached out, intending to protect her junior sister.
However, to Lin Zhiwei’s surprise, although her junior sister grabbed her hand, she did not stop.
Instead, she continued forward and threw her arms around Su Xuan.
“Master, you’re back… wu wu wu.”
Lu Zhiyi did not know what was happening to her.
It was as if she had fallen into a strange state, returning to her childhood where her younger self had finally waited long enough for her father and mother to return.
Clinging tightly to her master’s arm, she felt an immense sense of peace.
Her sobbing gradually escalated into a full-blown wail.
After a long while, she seemed to finally snap out of it and let go of her master, looking a bit embarrassed.
Lin Zhiwei and Su Xuan stared at each other, both blinking in confusion, unsure of what to say for a moment.
What kind of scene was this?
‘What happened? Did I trigger some hidden option and max out her favorability?’
Su Xuan looked at the wet patch on his arm, completely bewildered.
‘What’s wrong with my junior sister? Why would she hug him?’
Lin Zhiwei was profoundly shocked.
She pulled Lu Zhiyi over and felt her forehead.
Her junior sister was already not very bright; was she actually going crazy now?
“Brother Su, something terrible has happened!”
Just as the three of them were at a loss, Ling’er’s shrill voice rang out from outside the door.
She was panting, her face flushed red as she spoke urgently.
“Sister Lin, Sister Lin was kidnapped — huh?”
Mid-sentence, she turned and saw the three people in front of her, letting out a strange cry.
She had only woken up this morning and had immediately rushed over to deliver the news.
Along the way, she had been both worried about Lin Zhiwei’s safety and terrified that Su Xuan would use this opportunity to extort her family.
The girl had been lost while at their Medical Clinic.
Based on her impression of Su Xuan’s rogue-like behavior, there was no telling how he might pressure her family.
But she never expected to see this scene upon arriving at Su Xuan’s home.
“Brother… Brother Su, you rescued Sister Lin?” Ling’er asked, coming to the only explanation she could think of.
“Ah, yes,” Su Xuan replied, then added, “When I went to see her yesterday, I was worried she might be in danger, so I left a Tracking Talisman with her. Today, I saw she was in trouble and luckily arrived just in time.”
He came up with a quick excuse.
He had known about the situation through the system prompts and had set out immediately.
If he didn’t weave a believable story, he wouldn’t be able to hide his secrets if they compared notes.
‘Master came to see me yesterday?’ Lin Zhiwei tilted her head, confused.
She knew Master had saved her, but she hadn’t expected him to visit her at the Medical Clinic.
“That’s right. Brother Su came to see you yesterday. He even paid your medical fees and bought you clothes. The ones you’re wearing are them,” Ling’er explained, relieved to see her confusion.
Now it was Lin Zhiwei’s turn to be stunned.
She remembered the words Ling’er had started to say at the clinic before being interrupted.
‘Wait, these clothes… Master bought them for me?’
‘Master came to see me?’
She froze for a moment, then turned to look at Su Xuan.
She saw his weakened aura and the gash on his chest that she had cut, which had nearly drawn blood.
She recalled his urgency and joy when she had seen him that morning.
A wave of guilt flooded her heart; she realized she seemed to have completely misunderstood him.
This was the first time she had looked at her master so closely.
The face she had once detested was actually starting to look quite decent, providing a strange sense of security.
She and her junior sister had been drifting for so long, constantly living in fear.
They were taken in by Master three years ago, and she originally thought they could finally settle down.
However, what awaited them was nothing but mistreatment.
Just as she was about to fall into despair, that sense of security had actually appeared.
‘You bastard master, why weren’t you like this three years ago?’
Lin Zhiwei’s heart finally relaxed, and then she promptly fainted.
She was already injured and had only just begun to recover.
The constant fear and her worry for her junior sister were the only things keeping her upright.
Now that she had relaxed, she naturally couldn’t hold on any longer.
More than half a day later, Lin Zhiwei let out a soft groan and slowly woke up.
She was in her familiar home.
An oil lamp flickered, casting a faint glow.
“Senior Sister, you’re awake?”
Lu Zhiyi looked at her with a face full of worry.
Seeing her open her eyes, the girl’s face lit up with joy.
“Did I… faint?”
She tried to sit up, only to realize she was sleeping in her master’s bed, covered by his blanket.
“Yes, Ling’er said your body is too weak and that you can’t handle any more shocks.”
Seeing her awake, Lu Zhiyi was delighted.
She picked up a bowl of porridge from the table behind her.
“It’s still hot. Senior Sister, have some porridge.”
Lin Zhiwei instinctively reached for it, but she froze when she saw the contents of the bowl.
The porridge contained not only fragrant Spiritual Rice but also finely chopped pieces of meat.
Was she allowed to eat this?
“If we eat this, won’t Master be angry?”
She didn’t open her mouth.
Instead, she lowered her voice and asked in a whisper, fearing her silly junior sister had cooked it in secret.
“No! Master is an Alchemist now. Our family doesn’t lack Spiritual Rice anymore!”
At the mention of food, Lu Zhiyi licked her lips with a look of pure happiness.
‘An Alchemist?’
‘Master advanced?’
‘The family won’t be so destitute anymore?’
Lin Zhiwei felt as though she hadn’t actually woken up yet.
The shocks to her perception today had been nonstop.
“Where is Master?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.
“He’s next door refining pills! Master bought a bunch of materials this afternoon and said he was going to refine a Second-tier Pill today!”
Lu Zhiyi looked toward the next room with a gaze full of admiration.
‘Did I really wake up? Or am I hallucinating?’
‘How could everything change so much in a single day?’
Lin Zhiwei held the warm porridge, feeling that this happiness was somewhat surreal.
While she was feeling overwhelmed by her current fortune, the mood elsewhere was far more bleak.