Chapter 17: Master Treats Me Extremely Well

Luo Xing remembered that in the original novel, Ye Li was a perennial iceberg who kept everyone at a distance. Her eccentric and lonely personality meant she had no partner, let alone any friends.

In any case, back when he was reading the book, he had never seen any characters appearing as her friends. Enemies, however, were plenty...

"I'm terribly sorry," Luo Xing said apologetically. "My master is out, so she isn't here right now."

Lin Zhiwei asked curiously, "Out? Where did she go?"

"I don't know," Luo Xing replied.

...

"You don't know?"

Inside the Deacon Hall, Ye Li frowned at Elder Hu. "You've never heard of a man named Gou Zhuoze?"

Elder Hu stroked his beard, trying to hide his trembling hands. "This... It's not so much that I don't know him, but rather that there is simply no such person in the Xuantian Sect."

He and the entire Deacon Hall had been searching for half a month. From the elders down to the manual laborers, they had nearly torn the registers apart, yet the name 'Gou Zhuoze' was nowhere to be found.

There was no one by that name living, and certainly no one dead...

Hearing Elder Hu's words, Ye Li fell into a deep, frowning silence.

'There's no such person in the sect... Could it be... an outsider?'

She didn't suspect Luo Xing of lying to her. In the state he had been in back then—mistaking a vase for his sister—he certainly hadn't possessed the capacity to deceive her.

This Gou Zhuoze definitely existed; he just wasn't part of the Xuantian Sect...

...

"It's fine if you don't know," Ji Chuying said with a smile. "We can just wait here for her to return."

"Ah? That..." Luo Xing hesitated. "Is that really alright? I don't even know when my master will be back..."

For instance, the last time she went out, she didn't return until 2 months later...

"Oh, it's no trouble."

"But..."

"Hey, I say, little guy..." Before Luo Xing could speak, Lin Zhiwei suddenly hooked her arm around his neck. "No matter how you look at it, we're your seniors, right? We've been here for so long, yet you haven't even offered us a cup of tea, let alone invited us in to sit?"

The sudden, close physical contact made Luo Xing go as stiff as if he had been struck by lightning. Because of the height difference, that snowy-white "ample bosom" was pressed tightly against his cheek. The soft sensation made his heart race involuntarily.

Luo Xing struggled while trying to explain, "It... It was this junior's mistake... Please... Please let go first!"

'Let go! If you don't let go, something's going to go wrong!'

Lin Zhiwei felt Luo Xing's struggle and exchanged a smile with Ji Chuying.

Ji Chuying: 'Young?'

Lin Zhiwei: 'Young~'

---

Ji Chuying and Lin Zhiwei were eventually invited into Ye Li's room by Luo Xing, who also brewed two cups of hot tea for them.

**[Tea Art: 3/10]**

This was a new skill Luo Xing had unintentionally developed a few days ago.

His sister had included some tea leaves in the package she sent him, saying they had the effect of calming the mind and soothing the spirit, which would help with cultivation. Luo Xing had tried them out, and as a result, this skill appeared.

Another useless and strange skill added to the collection.

The three of them sat upright at the tea table. The atmosphere made Luo Xing feel incredibly awkward...

What kind of feeling was it?

It was like being home alone during the New Year when two relatives—who might only be a few years older than you but held a higher seniority—suddenly dropped by to visit and decided to wait for your parents to come home.

In such a moment, do you choose to retreat to your room to escape reality?

Or do you grit your teeth and endure the awkward silence with them?

If you chose the former, then once your parents returned, you would be charged with "disrespecting your elders" and hauled before the family military tribunal to be sentenced to a "cane-seared pork" beating...

Damn it!

Luo Xing missed modern technology more than ever!

Because with it, he could have set a timed alarm and then gone outside to take a phone call that lasted at least 2 hours.

"Little guy..."

"Ah! Yes!"

"Don't be so nervous." Ji Chuying tilted her head, resting her chin on her hand as she smiled. "We are your master's close friends and your seniors. We won't do anything to you."

'Heh... What a coincidence...'

'I'm nervous precisely because you're Ye Li's friends.'

After all, for people who could actually get along with someone like Ye Li... how normal could they be?

"Right." Before Luo Xing could respond, Ji Chuying spoke again. "Luo Xing... actually, I'll just call you Xiao Xing, alright?"

Luo Xing gave a dry laugh and nodded repeatedly. "Uh... that's... that's fine..."

"So... Xiao Xing, what is your Spirit Root?"

"Uh... this junior's talent is lacking. I only have a Medium Spirit Root..."

"Then what is your current cultivation level?"

"The middle stage of Qi Refining..."

'What's going on?'

'Is this the part where relatives visit and start asking about your job and income?'

'Are they going to ask if I have a girlfriend and when I plan to get married next?'

"Opening Orifices, huh..."

Ji Chuying shot a subtle look at Lin Zhiwei.

(Secret Voice Transmission)

Ji Chuying: 'He really is just at the Opening Orifices stage. It seems he wasn't lying about having a Medium Spirit Root. His talent is indeed quite poor.'

Lin Zhiwei: 'That shouldn't be right. He's been in the sect for several months now, hasn't he? How is he only at the Opening Orifices stage? Did that woman Ye Li not give him any cultivation resources?'

Ji Chuying: 'Do you think that's possible? If word got out that she didn't give her personal disciple any resources, wouldn't she be afraid of people laughing at her?'

Lin Zhiwei: 'True... But with such poor talent, why would Ye Li take him as a personal disciple?'

Ji Chuying: 'I want to know too... Should we ask?'

Lin Zhiwei: 'Ask him!'

...

"Xiao Xing," Ji Chuying asked again, "why exactly did your master take you as her personal disciple?"

'Heh... Why else?'

'Wasn't it because I badmouthed her and she heard it, so she took me as a disciple just to teach me a lesson?'

In any case, that was the only possibility he could think of. It certainly couldn't be because she liked him.

Luo Xing obviously couldn't give that reason, so he said with apparent casualness, "Perhaps Master saw how pitiful I was and took me in out of the goodness of her heart."

'Heh... Goodness of her heart...'

'If I hadn't read the original book, I might have actually thought Ye Li was a kind person...'

Luo Xing, who had read the book, didn't believe it, and Ji Chuying and Lin Zhiwei believed it even less.

'Kindness?'

'Which of those characters could possibly be associated with Ye Li?'

"Ahem..." Lin Zhiwei gave a dry cough. "Speaking of which, we've known your master for so long, and this is the first time we've seen her take a disciple."

"Yes." Ji Chuying nodded in agreement and smiled at Luo Xing. "Xiao Xing, you are your master's first time."

Luo Xing: "..."

'Why does that sound so strange?'

"I... Is that so..." Luo Xing nodded awkwardly. "Then... I am very honored..."

"Mm, but that brings us back to the point." Ji Chuying's tone shifted. "How does your master usually treat you?"

Luo Xing: "Hmm?"

'Why does this scene feel so familiar?'

"Oh, we're just asking casually." Lin Zhiwei, fearing Luo Xing might become suspicious, quickly changed her phrasing. "It's your master's first time taking a disciple, and we were worried she might lack experience. We wanted to ask you to see if there are any shortcomings so we can give her some suggestions or exchange some insights."

Luo Xing: "..."

'Heh... What a familiar conversation and setting...'

"You seniors worry too much," Luo Xing said with a smile. "Master treats me extremely well and is very diligent in her teaching. If anything, it's because my talent is dull that I've failed her hard work."

As the saying goes, one can be forgiven once or twice, but not thrice. He had already been terrified by Ye Li's ability to "automatically refresh whenever someone badmouths her," so this time, no matter what, he would not gossip about her behind her back.

However, after hearing Luo Xing's explanation, Ji Chuying and Lin Zhiwei looked at each other...

Lin Zhiwei: 'A lie?'

Ji Chuying: 'A total lie!'