Chapter 14: Ye Li’s Husband

Bai Li Qin Mo thought for a long time before finally deciding to visit Duan Tian Peak...

He wanted to see if that poor Luo Xing was still alive...

He could not understand why Ye Li had suddenly decided to take a disciple, especially one with a medium spirit root.

He had been in seclusion for two months. For two months, he had guessed millions of possibilities, including but not limited to...

'Luo Xing might have a grudge against Ye Li...'

'Luo Xing might be related to someone who has a grudge against Ye Li...'

'Luo Xing might look like someone who has a grudge against Ye Li...'

Anyway, out of those countless possibilities, the only one that did not exist was the idea that Ye Li sincerely wanted to find a personal disciple to pass on her legacy.

Not even he believed it, and he doubted their master, who had already ascended to the Immortal World, would believe it either.

Even if it were true, the most likely thing Ye Li would do is accept Luo Xing as a personal disciple one moment and then drop him off at the Sect Master's place the next. She would expect her senior brother to teach him, claiming that since they were both sword cultivators and shared the same master, his teaching would be just as good.

No one understood his junior sister better than he did, except for their master...

So, after coming out of seclusion two months later, Bai Li Qin Mo waited for another month. He was afraid that if Ye Li tried to deliver the boy while he was away...

He would have to apologize again...

Yes, in Ye Li's eyes, she could never be wrong. It could only be the other person’s fault.

She would not think she had delivered the boy while he was away; she would think he was away when she was trying to deliver the boy...

No one understood his junior sister better than he did, except for their master...

However, after waiting for a month, he still did not see Ye Li bring the boy over. Bai Li Qin Mo could not help but worry if Luo Xing was still alive...

If Luo Xing died under Ye Li's nose, it could only be because she killed him herself. Even he did not have that kind of power; this was an accepted fact among everyone in the Xuantian Sect—no, everyone in the cultivation world who knew Ye Li.

And so, with a heart full of trepidation, Bai Li Qin Mo arrived at Duan Tian Peak.

Upon arrival, he did not find Ye Li. He only used his divine sense to detect Luo Xing cultivating in his room.

After confirming that Luo Xing was still alive, Bai Li Qin Mo breathed a sigh of relief...

'Good, as long as he’s breathing. His hands, feet, and head are all still there...'

Once Luo Xing finished his cultivation, Bai Li Qin Mo called out to him...

***

"Sect Master."

"Mhm."

Luo Xing walked out of the room and bowed to Bai Li Qin Mo. The Sect Master smiled and patted his shoulder. "It’s fine. In private, you can just call me Martial Uncle."

'Early Qi Refining Realm?'

'Well, I suppose that is to be expected of a medium spirit root. I cannot ask for too much.'

"By the way, where is your master?"

"To answer Martial Uncle, my master has gone to the Deacon Hall."

Bai Li Qin Mo was stunned. "The Deacon Hall? What is she doing there?"

***

"Looking for someone."

"Looking for someone?"

At the same time, in the Xuantian Sect's Deacon Hall.

The Elder responsible for recording disciple information gave Elder Hu a bitter smile. "Yes, the Supreme Elder has been coming here almost every day for the past month, saying she's looking for someone."

Elder Hu looked out the door, in the direction where Ye Li had left...

"Who is she looking for?"

"Uh... someone named Gou Zhuoze..."

Gou Zhuoze?

Elder Hu quickly searched through his memory, but he could not find that name anywhere...

Not a servant disciple, not an outer disciple, not an inner disciple, and certainly not a personal disciple...

Where on earth was the person she was looking for?

In Elder Hu’s view, if Ye Li could not find someone, it was not because the person did not exist, but because he had failed to remember them. She was absolutely never wrong.

If there was someone to blame...

Then it had to be that this person was not in the Xuantian Sect, not in Nanling, not in the mortal realm, or perhaps had not even been born yet.

In any case, if it was someone Ye Li was looking for, they must exist.

"Then hurry up and keep looking..." Elder Hu wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead. "Since Elder Ye came personally to find them, this person must exist..."

As for why Ye Li was looking for this person...

***

"I’m not sure about that," Luo Xing said, spreading his hands. "She’s been going out a lot lately, mostly to the Deacon Hall, it seems."

Like Bai Li Qin Mo, he was quite curious, but he did not dare to ask.

"Oh... is that so..." Bai Li Qin Mo nodded slightly. He glanced around and lowered his voice. "Nephew, let me ask you something. How has your master... been teaching you lately?"

Hearing this, Luo Xing looked him over a few times and pondered to himself...

'This Bai Li Qin Mo was considered a pretty good person in the original story. He’s friendly and doesn't put on airs. At the very least, when Luo Han was being tortured later on, he tried to save her—though Ye Li almost ripped his head off for it...'

"Martial Uncle..." At that thought, Luo Xing slowly lowered his guard. "Can I use bad language?"

Bai Li Qin Mo gave a dry laugh. "Perhaps it's better if you don't... she is my junior sister, after all..."

Luo Xing spread his hands. "Then I have nothing more to say!"

Bai Li Qin Mo blinked. "Is... is it really that ridiculous?"

He had expected that Ye Li would not be very good at teaching, but he never imagined she could make Luo Xing this resentful...

And he was a personal disciple?

Bai Li Qin Mo looked around again and pulled Luo Xing to sit on the steps by the door. "Come, come, Nephew, let’s sit and talk."

As he spoke, he took out a storage ring. "There are some medicinal pills and spirit stones in here. Take them as a greeting gift from your Martial Uncle."

Luo Xing waved his hands repeatedly. "Oh, Martial Uncle, how could I accept this?"

"Please! Take it!"

"No, no, I really shouldn't!"

After the customary three refusals and three invitations, Luo Xing finally accepted the storage ring...

"Nephew..." Bai Li Qin Mo hooked an arm around Luo Xing's shoulder. "Has your master... ever said why she took you as a personal disciple?"

"That..." Luo Xing was momentarily at a loss for words. "She didn't say..."

Why did Ye Li take him as a personal disciple?

Of course Luo Xing knew. Even if he did not know for sure, he could guess...

But was this something he could talk about?

Obviously not.

"I see..." Bai Li Qin Mo frowned. "Then do you have any grievances against your master? Oh, of course, I’m just asking. Since you are my junior sister's first disciple, as her senior brother, I need to understand the situation. If there’s anything she’s doing wrong, I can remind her. Right?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Xing slapped his thigh. "Oh! Martial Uncle! You have no idea! My master, she..."

And so, Luo Xing poured out everything that had happened over the past three months, including but not limited to being left on Duan Tian Peak to fend for himself, living like a wild man for two months, eating grilled fish for two months, being tricked into thinking high-proof alcohol was Body Tempering Liquid, and being forced to reach the late Qi Refining Realm in two months despite his medium spirit root...

Anyway, except for things like massaging Ye Li's feet or her drunken antics, he described all of Ye Li's "abuse" from this period.

Luo Xing did not notice that while he was telling these stories, Bai Li Qin Mo appeared to be listening intently, but his other hand was behind his back, rapidly recording everything Luo Xing said onto a jade slip.

He certainly was not recording this to settle accounts with Ye Li...

He did not have the time...

Nor the ability...

And certainly not the courage...

He was recording these things so that after he ascended in the future, he could go to their master and snitch on Ye Li!

If there was one person who could control Ye Li, besides their master, the only other possibility would be Ye Li's husband—who would likely never appear in this lifetime...

Tsk...

Then again, maybe not...

With Ye Li's personality, never mind a husband, even if there was one...

It was still a toss-up as to who would be controlling whom...