Unconsciously, something ice-cold wrapped around my feet. The sensation was both itchy and creepy. I couldn’t help but open my drowsy eyes to find mist swirling around, incense burning in braziers, and the mountain scenery hazy. Yet that ice-cold touch hadn’t retreated—instead, it wound up my calves to my waist.
I wanted to get up to see what was happening, but couldn’t move my body no matter what. Then hissing sounds arose. When that thing wrapped around my chest, shoulders, and neck, finally showing its face, I was so frightened my limbs went weak, and I broke into cold sweat—it was a thick white snake!
“Miss Luowei, it’s been a while. Have you missed me?” The one speaking was that snow snake.
“So it’s you.” I breathed a sigh of relief and sighed, “You followed me to Tianshi City. What’s your purpose?”
The snow snake flicked its tongue, “Naturally to do egg-laying business with Miss Luowei.”
I should have expected this—his life’s meaning lay in laying eggs. Seeing the snow snake lean down, I pushed it, “If you want to do egg-laying business, at least change back to human form.” Wait, what was I saying? Could it be that seeing my brother possessed by evil, I was also possessed?
“Very well.”
The snow snake loosened its tight coils around my body and slithered to the roadside with a hiss. Then, in the mist, he transformed into an elegant young master in white, turning back to smile at me gracefully. I propped myself up to sit, but looking down discovered that my clothes had been changed into that mermaid dress, and just like on the Eastern Sea shore, it was soaked through with a tear in it.
I looked at all this in confusion, then saw the snow snake sit by the bed, smiling as he gazed at me, his fingers lightly pinching that piece of fabric. “Miss Luowei, I’m going to remove this.”
I paused and pushed his hand away, “No.”
Who knew mist would drift over, covering his face, but his voice became cold as an icy sea, “Then may I?”
“…Master?”
The mist dispersed, and the person sitting beside me had become Yinze. I was so shocked I couldn’t speak, but saw him grab my wrist, bringing my fingers to his lips to kiss them one by one tenderly.
Then he confined me between his arms, gently biting my earlobe, his voice muffled as it brushed past my ear. Each word passed through my eardrums, becoming unprecedentedly gentle: “Wei’er, do you want me?”
I was already completely lost and bewildered, “Want… what does want mean…”
The following words couldn’t be completed. Because after he kissed my earlobe a few times, I had completely lost all defensive ability, my hands trembling as I embraced his neck, wanting to be even closer to him…
This most terrifying nightmare of my life ended with the cry of the Chongming bird. The winter sun at noon was brilliant, and the weather was also cold. Looking at my reflection in the stream, I discovered that both my dark circles and red flush were as brilliant as halos.
I hugged my head and crouched by the shore, so dejected that I wanted to drown myself in the water. If I had only dreamed of the snow snake coiling around me, I would at most feel uncomfortable. But the second half being replaced by Master… even if it was just a dream, it inevitably made me feel self-loathing.
People say you dream of what you think about during the day. But I only had reverent feelings toward Master. No matter how others misunderstood, I never dared have even half a transgression. Why exactly would I have such a dream? Could it be that after transforming into a demon for several days, even my thoughts became demonic? Or was it because the little incident on the Eastern Sea island bothered me greatly?
I stood on Mount Baidi, gazing toward Master’s Cangying Manor, sighing deeply, then knelt in the deep grass and kowtowed several times in that direction.
Master, though you don’t know, this disciple still did something wrong to you. Please forgive this disciple—after silently reciting this several times, I patted my pants and stood up.
Only my cheeks continued to feel like they’d been stewed by fire, unable to cool down no matter what. I knelt by the stream to wash my face, then returned to chat with my junior sisters. The dream earlier was too realistic—I was distracted for quite a while. Suddenly, I heard someone call out, “Divine Lord Yinze!”
Like the other junior sisters, I turned back to look. But looking around, behind me was only Ruoli with a suspicious expression, and no one else. What exactly was this Ruoli scheming…
After a day of cultivation ended, we returned to Cangying Gate to prepare for dinner. Following my martial uncle’s orders, I went to the inner section of the library to find a book. But just as I stepped inside, Ruoli followed me in.
She quietly closed the door and gave me a meaningful smile, “Luowei, you hide your emotions deeply. If I hadn’t observed, I probably never would have known in my lifetime that you’re not my rival in love at all. The person you like isn’t Third Senior Brother.”
I smiled, “Senior Sister, look how long you’ve misunderstood me. From the beginning, I was never your rival in love.”
Ruoli laughed triumphantly, “Of course, that’s because the person you like is Divine Lord Yinze.”
I was stunned, “What?”
She opened her mouth and spoke a few words lightly, “You like Divine Lord Yinze.”
Hearing this name, I felt like lightning had struck my head. “Are you also possessed? That’s Master—how is this possible?”
“Others might think it’s impossible, but just now I didn’t see anything wrong. You were sleeping in the grass, continuously calling ‘Master, Master’ in that kind of lustful voice. Later, when I called out ‘Divine Lord Yinze,’ everyone who turned back had fearful expressions—only you had seven parts anticipation and three parts infatuation on your face. Hehe, I’ve heard about all your affairs. You fled the immortal realm because you were jealous of Goddess Qingwu, forcing the Divine Lord to find you. But seeing you return to Tianshi City, constantly sighing and looking worried, it’s because your seduction of the Divine Lord failed, right? Junior Sister Luowei, if this matter spreads, your fate probably won’t be as simple as expulsion from the sect. What do you think?”
At this moment, my palms were sweating. She was talking nonsense, so why did I feel so guilty? But I still put on a smile, “Senior Sister, this story is well made up—thrilling and exciting. Continue making it up, I love listening.”
Ruoli’s face flushed red with anger, “You do like Divine Lord Yinze, don’t deny it! Luowei, if you know what’s good for you, stay away from Fu Chenzhi. Otherwise, I’ll let everyone in Tianshi City know that you like your master!”
I said nonchalantly, “Mm, though spreading petty gossip everywhere damages Senior Sister’s image, if it can make Senior Sister feel better, go ahead and do it.”
Dealing with small fry like Ruoli never required much thought. She was quickly angered into leaving by me. But after she left, I inexplicably felt low. Recently, my emotions kept fluctuating wildly—this wasn’t a good sign. Lately, the number of people misunderstanding us has only increased. If this continued, it would probably bring Master a lot of trouble. I wondered how much longer I could stay by his side at this rate.
I sighed and pushed open the door to enter the inner library, but didn’t expect someone to be inside: outside the window, clouds were light and sky high. Yinze was holding a writing brush, sitting by the window, looking up at me calmly.
Without thinking, I directly turned around and left, closing the door. But after standing dazed outside the door for a moment, I felt that running away now would be like having a guilty conscience. I, Luowei, was an upright and honest good disciple. Why should I not dare face Master just because of a few casual words from others?
Thinking of this, I relaxed and pushed open the door again, “This disciple greets Master! Master is, as always, clear-minded and glowing with health!”
I looked at his ink, immediately ran over, and used water manipulation to help grind the ink. He picked up his brush again, dipped it in the ink stone, and called, “Wei’er.”
“This disciple is here! What are Master’s instructions?”
“I heard everything.”
The spinning water droplets paused, and I also froze, “Is… is that so? Anyway, Senior Sister was just being idle with nothing better to do. She likes my brother and tries every way to monopolize him, so she makes up stories. You don’t need to pay attention to her.”
“Was there any truth to what she said?”
I magnanimously waved my hand, “Not a single word was true.”
After that, he didn’t respond again, not even saying “good.” His reaction was too calm—no smile, no anger, completely emotionless. This made me unable to maintain my footing, and I said somewhat redundantly, “Master, it’s one thing for others to say such things, but if you also think this way, believing this disciple is such a filthy and despicable person, then this disciple would truly die of injustice.”
He still only focused on writing without speaking. I said urgently, “I have complete loyalty toward you and have never tried to hide anything. How can you listen to others’ one-sided words and completely negate…”
I heard a “crack” as he threw the brush in his hand onto the table. The brush rolled onto the ground and broke into two pieces. I was so scared I nearly wet myself and quickly knelt, “This disciple was wrong!”
He said coldly, “What were you wrong about this time?”
I said anxiously, “I… I don’t know either. I only know Master is unhappy, and when Master is unhappy, it must be because this disciple did something wrong. Perhaps my manner of speaking with Ruoli earlier was improper, but Master, you must believe this disciple. This disciple worships you and respects you, but truly has no improper thoughts toward you whatsoever.”
Yinze seemed to be truly pondering the meaning of my words, nodding and smiling, “Well said, continue.”
I said tremblingly, “This disciple is very good at staying in her proper place, always hoping to return to my homeland in the future, marry a Suozhao man, and live a peaceful life.”
“Very good, continue.”
“Master is high and mighty, a perfect match with Goddess Qingwu. This disciple not only lacks such intentions but even if I had them, would never dare to break you apart…” By the end, I curled into a ball and deeply kowtowed to him.
The cold wind was fierce, and ink froze in the stone. Yinze didn’t appreciate it and only laughed once more, “Finished?”
“Yes, yes.”
Without another word, he swept his sleeves and left.
Hearing his footsteps gradually fade away, I breathed a sigh of relief, turned over, and sat on the ground, wiping away sweat, unable to move for a long while.
Saying those words still made me feel guilty. It was all my fault for having that kind of dream earlier—truly a grave sin.
No matter how I tried to disguise it, Master was always perceptive and must have noticed some ominous signs. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be inexplicably displeased, much less show that kind of smile… No, I couldn’t think about it anymore. The more I thought, the more I felt I had no face to confront him.