Let me explain, it's not what you think.

After confirming that the surroundings were absolutely safe, Lu Chen then spoke to Tantai Qingxue.

"Actually, I am... the one they are chasing, so you don't need to worry, I am mine."

Upon hearing this, Tantai Qingxue's eyes widened immediately!

"W-what, you're the one..."

Lu Chen nodded.

"Does that mean Aunt Su knows about you too?"

"Yes, she knows and will keep it a secret for me." Lu Chen nodded again.

"What...what kind of mess is this?! How did I end up being on the same level as Aunt Su like this?!"

Lu Chen: "..."

"Is that what you're concerned about? The important thing is, where have you put your child?"

"At...at my Tantai house, because I was in a particularly bad mood at the time, it was...it's still because you didn't explain things clearly to me, Lu Lang, that I had a false alarm, humph!"

"Oh, well, I didn't have time to tell you before they kidnapped me!"

"Them? So, the rumor you made about the Lion Clan back then was true?"

"...It's not what I wanted!" Lu Chen said helplessly.

"Hmph, that damned Hehuan Sect, I will make them my sworn enemies!"

……

"Lu Lang, did you return this time because of Master's matter?"

Lu Chen did not answer.

"Let me tell you, ever since you were arrested, my master's condition has been deteriorating day by day!" Tantai Qingxue sighed.

Lu Chen: "What?!?"

"How could someone with such high cultivation suddenly become so weak? And yet your master still wants her to marry Dan Chenzi?!"

Lu Chen immediately became anxious.

"Oh dear, you've misunderstood. My master isn't physically ill; she just has some mental issues!"

"Spirit?"

"That's right. She was fine when she first came back, working hard to cultivate and recover her cultivation level, but later..."

"What happened next? I heard your advisor put you both under house arrest?"

"That's not true. They just confined me to my room. My master herself didn't want to come out!"

Lu Chen: "????"

He was increasingly confused by the way the plot was unfolding. Logically, Yue Qinglan was supposed to be married off, so why was Tantai Qingxue being the one confined to her quarters?

"Oh dear, I was pregnant back then! And then, I didn't know what was going on, but I kept going to you desperately. My advisor was worried about me and the child, so he put me under house arrest!"

"As for my master, he never mentioned him!"

"Then why has he recently been thinking of marrying your master to Dan Chenzi?"

"Well... I don't know either. Ever since I came back last time, my master has become very strange, she looks at me with odd eyes, and she doesn't tell me many things!"

Tantai Qingxue, the little bear, shrugs.

Lu Chen was even more confused, but when he learned that Yue Qinglan was not in a good state, he became even more worried.

He didn't know what Yue Qinglan was doing at that moment—whether she was cultivating, handling sect affairs, or trying on her wedding dress.

"Forget it, Lu Lang. Whatever Master's thoughts are, they'll be revealed eventually. Let's just watch the show quietly. Besides, we haven't seen each other for so long..."

……

As the morning light grew brighter, the bells stopped ringing, and the valley returned to tranquility.

"Lu Lang, how long will you be staying this time?"

Lu paused for a moment.

"Until your master's matter is resolved."

"Okay, this time, I don't want you to leave me again. Wherever you go, I'll go!"

"Um."

Lu Chen raised his head, went to the window, and looked at the sun rising higher and higher in the sky.

Yue Qinglan, I, Lu Chen, have arrived.

With inexplicable thoughts, an inappropriate possessiveness, and complex emotions that even he himself couldn't understand.

He's here. As for what he's here to do, he hasn't decided yet.

But he knew he didn't want to see her marry someone else. That one thought was enough.

We'll talk about the rest when we meet the person.

The main hall of the Li Huo Sect is built at the highest point of the mountain. The hall is made of crimson red boulders and looks like a solidified flame from a distance.

When Lu Chen stepped onto the last stone step, the palace doors were already open.

The main hall was empty, with only Yue Qinglan sitting on the sect leader's seat.

Today, instead of wearing her plain white everyday dress, she wore a formal bright red patriarch's robe, her long hair tied up with a golden crown, and a white jade belt around her waist. She sat there regally, like an empress who had stepped out of a traditional Chinese painting.

But her face was thinner than Lu Chen remembered, her chin was sharper, and her mental state was poor, as if she hadn't had a full night's sleep in a long time.

At that moment, her hand was resting on the armrest, her fingertips slightly curled.

Lu Chen walked into the palace with light footsteps, the sound echoing in the empty hall, one after another, like some ancient way of telling time.

Yue Qinglan's gaze fell on him, and as he moved, it never left him from the moment he stepped across the threshold.

He stood in the hall, about a dozen steps away from her, and bowed in greeting.

"Lu Chen greets Sect Master Yue."

She was fine when she had no cultivation, but now that she has recovered her cultivation, and given that this is the Li Huo Sect, she unconsciously exudes a more dignified aura.

Lu Chen felt that... there seemed to be some distance between the two of them.

Yue Qinglan did not respond.

She looked at him, at his face, so similar to the one in her memory, with its distinct features, at the hem of his robe falling as he bowed, at every single movement he made.

Her lips moved slightly, but she didn't make a sound.

Lu Chen straightened up and met her gaze.

Yue Qinglan stood up from the sect leader's seat, her bare feet stepping on the cool jade floor, and walked towards him.

The hem of the sect leader's robe was very long, trailing on the ground, making a soft rustling sound with her footsteps.

She walked very slowly, each step feeling like she was walking on clouds.

She stopped in front of Lu Chen, looked up into his eyes, and gently took his wrist in her hand.

"Are you... hurt anywhere?"

Lu Chen shook his head.

"no."

"That's good."

Yue Qinglan released his wrist, took a step back, withdrew her gaze from his face, and then looked up into his eyes.

"Did those lions bully you? I heard they wanted to challenge you, and even..."

She paused, then didn't continue.

Looking at the thin layer of tears in her eyes, Lu Chen suddenly felt a little soft-hearted.

He reached out and gently took her hand, which was hanging by her side.

"No, they didn't bully me. Ziyao and Jiangyu are very kind to me."

Yue Qinglan lowered her head and looked at his hand holding hers, her fingers slowly closing and interlocking with his.

"That's good. That's good."

The hall was quiet for a while, and the two looked at each other without saying a word.

Yue Qinglan released his hand, turned around, walked back to the sect leader's seat but did not sit down, she just stood there with her back to him.

"I should have gone to save you when Ziyao took you away." Her voice drifted from ahead.

"But my master has confined me to my quarters. He said my injuries haven't healed and I shouldn't go out, so he sent people to guard the entrance of the cave, day and night."

She turned to look at Lu Chen: "Really, I didn't mean to not go."

Lu Chen looked at her slightly reddened eyes and tightly pursed lips, but then he remembered what Tantai Qingxue had said.

"Master, she herself did not want to come out of the house."