Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 277 True Colors Appearing
Ye Tinglan was deeply moved, her trust in the young man was unparalleled at this moment.

She never expected that shortly after she withdrew her divine sense, the conversation on the other end would start to go wrong.

In fact, something was already off in the next sentence. Dugu Qingli lowered her head and murmured softly, "You... are quite good to her."

"What, did you think I was just after her, or that it was just to spite you?" Lu Xingzhou glanced at her sideways. "Why don't you change your name to White Fish?"

Dugu Qingli couldn't understand why he always had to eat fish, but her face flushed red with unease, as if she were sitting on pins and needles: "It's all because of what you told me before..."

"I've told you before, this is a matter between two people. Do you think I can control her mind if she doesn't want to? Do you really think she's some ignorant young lady who can be easily coaxed with a few sweet words?"

"Of course not..." Dugu Qingli composed herself and finally whispered, "You're still quite deserving, it's just that you have a lover, isn't that a bit...?"

Lu Xingzhou asked, "You care about this?"

Dugu Qingli frowned, unsure how to answer.

She has no intention of finding a man, so what does she care? She wouldn't care if you had three wives and six concubines. The problem is, Master, knowing that the other party has Shen Tang, what are you thinking now?

Dugu Qingli was naturally unaware that her master harbored the idea of ​​forgetting love in the future, which also meant that she didn't care if her master had a harem. This was the most perplexing aspect for Dugu Qingli; she simply couldn't imagine her master and Shen Tang vying for a man's affections—it would be the end of the world.

Especially since these two people's identities are not as simple as ordinary women fighting over a man.

A princess of the Great Qian Dynasty and the Grand Preceptor of the Great Qian Dynasty, if you two start fighting over a man, won't the Great Qian Dynasty be thrown into internal strife first...?

But the person in question couldn't possibly be unaware of these things. If she herself doesn't care, what can her little white-haired apprentice say?
After holding it in for a while, he turned his head and said, "I don't care."

Lu Xingzhou asked, "You really don't care?"

"Of course not."

Lu Xingzhou's smile seemed to have a deeper meaning.

Dugu Qingli: "?"

She suddenly realized what she was talking about and angrily exclaimed, "I was talking about her, not myself!"

"What about yourself?"

"What does it have to do with me? You can find a thousand women and it's none of my business... Mmm..." Dugu Qingli's voice grew louder and louder, and Lu Xingzhou suddenly reached out and covered her mouth.

Dugu Qingli was caught off guard by this sudden attack and was about to retaliate when Lu Xingzhou's urgent voice rang out: "Someone's coming. Do you remember what we were supposed to pretend to be?"

Dugu Qingli: "..."

He was a third-rank official, while Lu Xingzhou was only a fourth-rank official, yet Lu Xingzhou was the one who reacted first to the commotion outside.

Ye Tinglan imagined her disciple to be pure and innocent, but in reality, when she was alone with a man and talking about this kind of topic, her heart had already broken down, and her CPU was in complete chaos.

This made things even more chaotic. The two were sitting side by side, but now Lu Xingzhou grabbed her shoulder and covered her mouth with one hand. She was struggling unconsciously, looking exactly like a cold and aloof female swordswoman being forced. It couldn't be more realistic.

Footsteps could be heard outside.

Lu Xingzhou whispered in his ear, "To make it more realistic, it would be best to seal your cultivation, but that's too easy to go wrong, so we won't do that. For now, just say that you took our poison and were controlled. Make your act convincing."

Dugu Qingli said, feeling frustrated, "I can't act."

“As long as you don’t use your power, you can just play your natural self for the rest.” Lu Xingzhou said as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

Dugu Qingli instinctively wanted to unleash her inner energy to punch him away, but she held back and used only the strength of her body to push him.

Lu Xingzhou grabbed her and kissed her delicate cheek, which was cool and refreshing, like ice cream.

Dugu Qingli knew what he meant by "it's not like it's never happened before," but judging from the previous arrangements, she was calm and didn't think it would happen. But then it suddenly happened.

That certainly happened, and it was much more than that; they stuck out their tongues, something Shen Tang never did back then!
That damned contact back then, Dugu Qingli could have forgotten it. It was just an accident, nothing to dwell on.

As a result, Shen Tang's three questions deepened her memory of shame and indignation, which was fine, but what she could not forget to this day was that the accident boosted her cultivation.

At that time, I had only recently reached the fourth rank, and there was still a long way to go before reaching the third rank. Logically, that incident, which disrupted my mental state, should have further hindered me, making the third rank even more distant... but that was not the case.

At that time, Lu Xingzhou gave her his own cultivation in the form of reverse cultivation... That's not all. In addition, the result of the union of yin and yang gave her a huge boost. In the short period of cultivation that followed, her cultivation level rose rapidly to the fourth rank. By the time she went to the capital, she was already on the verge of the third rank.

This was an extremely rare period of rapid growth in Dugu Qingli's life, in which she was hailed as a genius since childhood.

Dugu Qingli possesses a unique physique, but this isn't solely reflected in her cultivation speed; it's more evident in her power. While her cultivation speed is significantly faster than the average person, it doesn't overwhelm other geniuses. On the contrary, compared to geniuses like Shen Tang and Pei Chuyun, due to her excessive icy aura—a typical case of "yin failing to produce life"—her cultivation speed is somewhat hampered, making her less efficient than Shen Tang and Pei Chuyun.

When I first met Pei Chuyun, the little vixen had already reached the fourth rank, while she was still quite far behind... but it took them about the same amount of time to break through to the third rank.

That initial French kiss played at least 70-80% of the role, it wasn't just a small boost. That's it, Little White Hair now thinks of that day every time he cultivates. It even brings up other related material, like the earlier wheelchair tremor, which was so intense it made him wet.

Otherwise, why does it always feel so strange to see Master sitting on his lap?

How easy is it to completely treat this man as just a passerby?
I thought things would get better after reaching the third rank... and they certainly did get better. After reaching the third rank, my heart grew colder, and I became more indifferent. After parting ways in the capital, it seems we've truly managed to both find our own peace.

And then, seeing each other again turned out like this.

She was kissed again, but she didn't dare to struggle or hurt him. Instead, physical struggles seemed more like a form of fun, something that would arouse the man's interest.

At least that's how it appears to outsiders.

Little White Hair was in a state of confusion, but she didn't realize that Lu Xingzhou was actually quite polite. He just restrained her from struggling, and the kiss remained only on her cheek, without truly reliving their past romance.

On the contrary, Little White Hair was wondering in his own mind when he would stick out his tongue... and whether he should bite him...

With a creak, the door opened, and Ling Qixuan's voice rang out: "Oh dear... I'm so sorry to have disturbed Your Excellency's enjoyment."

Lu Xingzhou raised his head, his eyes still filled with suppressed lust, though it was hard to tell if it was an act: "Since Sect Leader Ling knows he has been impolite, why don't you leave?"

The arrival of outsiders only fueled Dugu Qingli's struggles, but Lu Xingzhou held her tightly and threatened in her ear, "Behave yourself."

Dugu Qingli glared at him with shame and indignation.

Ling Qixuan chuckled and said, "Then I won't disturb Your Excellency's enjoyment any longer. I'll wait outside."

After saying that, he made a move to leave.

"Forget it." Lu Xingzhou said irritably, pulling Dugu Qingli close. "How can I relax and have fun when there are people waiting outside while we're working?"

Ling Qixuan smiled apologetically: "It was my oversight."

“It was I who sent Yin Feng to find you.” Lu Xingzhou gestured, “Sit down, let’s finish talking about this first.”

Ling Qixuan then apologized and sat down across the table.

Lu Xingzhou held Dugu Qingli tightly on his lap, refusing to let her leave. Dugu Qingli blushed with shame and indignation, instinctively struggling but not daring to exert any force—a truly realistic sight.

He played himself completely.

Ling Qixuan had no suspicions whatsoever. He couldn't possibly imagine that the judge before the Yama King, a man who seemed to have left the Yama King's court and could still stand shoulder to shoulder with him, was actually having an affair with the Holy Maiden of Tianyao...

But this white-haired girl's cultivation didn't seem to have been crippled... Considering what the old man in the dark said about her being "given to the judge by Yama," the current situation strongly suggests that the girl has been poisoned, rendering her unable to resist. Yama's Palace is indeed a demonic place; Yama is utterly wicked, sending women to his men for their pleasure without batting an eye...

Ling Qixuan coughed twice and took the lead in starting the conversation: "Back then, Lord Yan rejected my proposal and even got angry. I thought Lord Yan wouldn't dare to do anything to Tianyao's direct descendant..."

Lu Xingzhou said, "Although Yama and Tianyao Holy Land are enemies, they have not actually committed any blood debts. Rashly dealing with their Holy Maiden is not in line with the Yama Palace's strategic plan."

"Then, Your Honor, what is this...?"

"I've already left the Underworld." Lu Xingzhou smiled and flicked Dugu Qingli's chin with his index finger. "The King of Hell did release the Holy Maiden, but I, Lu, am attracted to her and brought her back. That was my personal action and has nothing to do with the Underworld."

Ling Qixuan understood immediately. Temporary workers were not involved in matters of the underworld; everyone knew this kind of thing and everyone was good at it.

But you actually like this white-haired monster? That's quite a strange taste.

"Speaking of which..." Lu Xingzhou scratched the little white-haired boy's chin and said leisurely, "Back then, when Sect Leader Ling made his proposal, it was Yan Jun who suddenly became angry and opposed it, and I didn't have time to speak. In fact, I didn't want to oppose it, and Sect Leader Ling should have been able to see that?"

"That's right. I certainly saw the judge's hesitant expression back then," Ling Qixuan said with a smile. "So, what does the judge mean now..."

"Right now, I want to have some fun with this little white-haired girl, but what will I do after that? If I let her go, I can't afford her revenge; if I kill her, I don't really have the guts... I thought that Sect Leader Ling might be able to use her, so how about we make a deal?"

Ling Qixuan roughly knew what he was going to say: "Please speak, Your Honor."

"Sect Leader Ling can first build the grand formation he wants. Once I'm tired of it, Sect Leader Ling can use it as the core of the formation. Of course, this must be kept secret and the Tianyao Holy Land must not know about it."

"When a direct descendant falls, the Tianyao Holy Land has its own methods, such as using a life tablet to revert to the past..."

"Isn't that something Sect Leader Ling needs to consider? Otherwise, why would I give it to Sect Leader Ling to fill the array eye? Can't I handle it myself?"

Looking at Dugu Qingli's ashamed and indignant expression, Ling Qixuan pondered for a moment, then chuckled, "What else does the Judge want besides having me clean up the mess?"

"Firstly, I want to get the little beauty, and secondly, I also want some sincerity from Sect Master Ling. Sect Master Ling, please go back and consider what the Ice Prison Sect has that I like?" Lu Xingzhou said with a smile, "Let's stop here for now. I'm going to enjoy myself. Sect Master Ling, please go back. We'll discuss it again tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)