Don't be afraid, fairy, I'm blind

Chapter 478: Rejected by Master's Wife

When You Su landed with He Shutong in his arms, the warmth of her waist was still lingering on his palms.

"Put me down..."

He Shutong turned her face away, her cheeks flushed with a faint blush like the first bloom of the sunset, and even her earlobes were coral pink.

You Su saw it all, and at this moment, he felt that the fairy in his arms was not the famous Dongxu Sword Immortal, but an innocent girl.

He carefully knelt down and put her down, out of tenderness, but also out of reluctance.

"What's wrong, Master's Wife?" he asked with concern, not daring to look directly at the mauve-colored hairpins showing through her slightly open neckline.

He Shutong managed to stand up straight and immediately tidied her appearance, but her clothes were still decent.

The palpitations from the weightlessness still lingered in her throat, but she tried to remain calm and said:
"It's okay, it's just that the Ice Heart Technique and the Fire Qi of the volcano conflicted, and I lost my composure for a while."

"Why did Master's Wife hide this from her disciples?"

You Su took a step closer, and He Shutong felt that the scorching sun above her head was not as scorching as the young man beside her. She subconsciously fiddled with her sweaty hair, bit her lower lip and said:
"I didn't hide it."

“Although Bing Xin Gong has the word ‘ice’ in its title, it is not a technique that cultivates ice alone. Instead, it is like most techniques that cultivate the profound qi of heaven and earth. It is only named this because it can make people cut off all emotions and desires and become as cold as ice, thus enhancing the efficiency of cultivation.”

You Su spoke each word with conviction, "So the conflict with the fire qi is simply nonsense. Master's wife didn't tell me the truth."

He Shutong's beautiful eyes widened, and her lips slightly opened, "How, how do you know?"

"As a disciple, I should know more about my master's wife." You Su said frankly.

When he said this, he actually had some courage that he had never had before. If it were before, he would definitely be embarrassed to admit in front of his master's wife that he often knew her privately, but now he did not hesitate at all.

The reason why the boy suddenly became tough seemed to be He Shutong's fall. Because she not only fell from a high altitude, but also fell from the majestic fairy in the clouds to a truly weak woman.

You Su used to be very respectful and polite to her, not only because he respected her dual identities as his master's wife and master, but also because he felt that the gap between their strength and status was too great, and that she was totally out of his reach, so he had to restrain the deterioration of his filial piety.

But now the situation has turned around. His dormancy and the fall of his master's wife have made the fairy who was once unattainable in his heart become a being weaker than him. Then the only thing that can limit You Su's expanding ambition is this paper-thin difference in identity.

In addition, the confidence that the elder sister of the Lord brought him during the trip to Bei'ao shows that he is also attracted to this noble fairy; and the fact that the master's wife crossed the North Sea and risked her life to save him, and her subconscious attachment and doting on him in the dream...

All these reasons accumulated together, ignited by this hot summer and the scorching volcano, turned into fragrant sweat that could not be covered by plain clothes, and a raging fire that could not be covered by thin paper.

"What are you talking about... Why would a disciple need to know about his master's wife...?" He Shutong didn't dare to look directly into You Su's eyes, for fear that he would see through the panic in his eyes.

"If you don't understand Master's Wife, wouldn't you not even know that you were deceived by Master's Wife?"

You Su was not affected by the moral constraints in He Shutong's words at all. The identity of the master's wife was fake. She told him this herself.

"I..." He Shutong opened her lips slightly, but she didn't know how to explain. She was already dizzy and couldn't cope with the current situation at all. She only felt that the scorching sunlight illuminated all her hidden thoughts.

Fortunately, You Su spoke up in time, saving her the trouble of explaining why she lied. He seemed to always be like this, putting her in an awkward situation, but then taking the initiative to help her out, leaving her shyness limited to shyness and never turning into embarrassment.

"I know that Master's Wife didn't want to tell me the exact extent of your injury because she didn't want me to risk my own safety and fall into danger again, just like I did when I went to look for the lotus root heart for you."

The young man spoke softly, hot wind blew past, and the shadow of his light black bamboo clothes swayed gently in front of He Shutong's eyes along his shoulder line - it turned out that without her noticing, the blind boy had grown so tall, and standing next to her was like a wall, able to block the strongest sunlight at noon for her.

"I know that Master's Wife cares about me and doesn't want me to take risks. But Master's Wife, have you ever thought about how tormented it would be for you to know that you are ill but can't do anything for you? I would rather transfer the pain of an important person to myself than deceive myself with the excuse that I am powerless. Can Master's Wife understand this feeling?"

He suddenly grabbed He Shutong's white wrist and pressed the fairy's soft white hand against his chest. His beating heartbeat was still clearly audible through her light clothes.

Can she understand? Of course she can understand, because she felt the same way when You Su was injured.

The boy's scalding body temperature burned her delicate bones. The cicadas' chirping suddenly stopped, leaving only the rustling sound of bamboo leaves, which sounded very much like the waves surging in her sea of ​​consciousness.

"Master's wife?"

You Su's voice, with a hint of urgency, forced her back to reality from her dizziness.

He Shutong suddenly came to her senses and found that the boy was almost sticking to her. She instinctively broke free from his grasp and hurriedly tidied up her messy sleeves, only to find that the plain gauze shirt had been soaked with sweat and stuck to her body, looking extremely awkward.

"I... I'm fine." He Shutong pretended to be calm, but her voice was trembling. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her heartbeat. "I know how you feel, but you don't have to worry about my injury."

"I……"

Before the boy finished speaking, she turned around and interrupted him, leaving her back to him:

"Your understanding of flying just now is very good. The rest just requires more practice... I need to rest now, you can go back first... I will be in seclusion for a while, in the short term... don't bother me."

You Su was stunned. He looked at He Shutong's slightly trembling back and felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Was he too reckless? But his master's wife was injured again because of him, how could he not be anxious?
"Master's wife..." he called softly, with a hint of pleading in his voice.

"Let's go." He Shutong's voice became even colder, but it couldn't hide the trembling in it.

She turned and walked towards the inner room of the bamboo hut. The bamboo curtain cast a shadow under her feet, making her figure look even thinner.

You Su stood there, watching He Shutong's back disappear behind the closed bamboo door. He felt a sense of loss in his heart, but he also knew that he couldn't get entangled any more at this time.

He took a deep breath, bowed solemnly to the bamboo hut, and said in a firm voice:
"Master's wife, I will not turn a blind eye to this."

After saying that, he turned and left, his footsteps tapping out a heavy rhythm on the bluestone slabs.

He Shutong leaned against the other side of the door, pressing his pounding heart. As the footsteps faded away, the bitterness in his heart grew stronger.

She didn't know why a simple teaching had turned out like this, and she didn't know why she just refused to tell him about her injuries.

This female fairy sword who had been aloof for three hundred years had never been in such a panic, so she instinctively wanted to escape from the predicament so that she could calm down and think.

But when she closed her eyes, the scene in the clouds just now kept appearing in her mind: You Su was holding her, her figure was reflected in his eyes, and the warmth of his palm came through the gauze, making her almost forget her identity.

She suddenly opened her eyes again and found that her palms were already soaked with sweat.

She turned around and looked through the crack in the door as if looking for something, but she could no longer see the young man. She suddenly felt a great sense of loss and regret in her heart.

The bamboo hut became even more stuffy after the door was closed, just like the restlessness she was feeling at the moment.

She knew that her escape might be more serious than any harm to You Su. However, she really didn't know how to face it or how to deal with this emotion that had already crossed the boundary between master and disciple.

Her chaotic thoughts formed a cocoon that wrapped her tightly.

"She is the disciple entrusted to me by Guan Chujun. She is the child I watched grow up... He is also the Taoist partner of Wangshu and Lingruo. How could he have any feelings for me..."

He Shutong muttered to himself, not knowing that the principle he taught him, 'If you want it, go get it', would lead to such heart-wrenching consequences.

The word "Master's Wife" should have been a cold and indifferent name. She remembered eight years ago, when You Su knelt in front of the courtyard and called her Master's Wife for the first time. At that time, his back had not grown fully, and his voice was trembling with pleading. Now that back can support the sky, he turned around and looked at her, the Master's Wife, with such a burning gaze that she dared not look directly at him.

What frightened her the most was that just now in the clouds, when You Su placed his palm on her waist, she actually felt a trace of greed - greed for this moment of cuddling, greed for this intimacy that was not between a master and a disciple.

"But this is reality, not a dream..."

The sunlight from outside the bamboo curtain came in obliquely, casting mottled shadows on her plain gauze shirt, just like her broken heart at the moment.

...After forcing himself to meditate and retreat for two days, He Shutong's consciousness fell like snowflakes and sank into the familiar dream again.

The moonlight refracted by the icicles on the eaves shone through the carved window lattices. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw her plain white silk skirt brushing against a familiar door - this was the main hall of the Sword Sect's courtyard, and it was also the place where she usually retreated in her dreams.

You Su hadn't come to look for her in the past two days. It was clearly her who gave the order, but she couldn't suppress her loss, so she still wanted to return here, this dreamland that was like a spiritual harbor.

The moment she pushed open the door, the light of the snow made her fingertips tremble slightly. You Su knelt in front of the door, as straight as a pine tree, his black hair hanging down to cover his eyebrows, only his fingertips dug deep into his palms. He was wearing a thin shirt, with no cushion under his knees, and the coldness of the blue brick penetrated through the fabric into his skin, but he seemed unaware of it.

"Su'er?"

He Shutong's voice had the kind of ethereal quality that is typical of dreams, but it couldn't hide his fear.

She squatted down hurriedly, and when her jade fingers touched the boy's wrist pulse, she felt that his whole body was tense as a string.

You Su raised his head suddenly, seeing her reflection in his eyes, and a broken cry came out of his throat:

"Master's wife..."

"You've been kneeling here all this time?"

He Shutong tried to reach out to support his elbow, but found that the boy was incredibly stubborn, with his back straight.

"I have done something that has crossed the line with Master's Wife... If I don't ask for Master's Wife's forgiveness, I will kneel down and not get up."

His voice was as muffled as if soaked in snow water, but it made He Shutong's heart feel warm and sour, as if he saw the self-blaming boy in real life.

She then remembered that the last time the dream ended, she was trying to eliminate the Yang poison for him, but at the last moment he grabbed her chest, and the warmth of his palm seemed to be branded on her heart. And the last scene in her memory was his red ears and his hastily retracted hands, like a small animal frightened by thunder.

In fact, she had made up her mind to criticize the boy for this matter, so as to curb his growing ambition. But after the guilt of pushing him away in reality, she was reluctant to keep a distance from him in her dream.

After all, I have made him hit a wall in reality, so why can't I slightly satisfy his wish in my dream?
Otherwise, he would be so sad...

"Silly boy." He Shutong stroked his clenched fist with his fingertips. "It's normal for people to be excited. You were not in your right mind at that time, but Master's Wife never blamed you."

You Su's whole body trembled, and when he raised his eyes, his eyes flickered. He suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "Master's wife, you don't have to excuse me. I am not insane. I just couldn't control my greed. I deserve the punishment."

She looked at the anxiety and self-blame between his brows, and suddenly remembered the gloomy figure who left alone in reality.

"It is indeed a punishment." He Shutong gently held his fist. The temperature that she dared not touch in reality was so real in her dream at this moment. "I will punish you by grounding you for a month. You can only stay in the Sword Sect's courtyard and cannot go anywhere."

You Su was stunned and for a moment couldn't tell whether this was a punishment or a reward.

"You have been practicing the Hehuan Gong since you were young, so you should know the meaning of Hehuan. Since it is the way to pursue pleasure, it requires the mind to be clear. At that time, you were motivated by emotion. Since you were a first-time offender, Master's Wife did not blame you, but you must stop at etiquette. Otherwise, it is just your pleasure, not Hehuan, which is a departure from the original intention of the Gong. Next time, if you have any ideas, you must say it in advance. If I am willing, I will agree. If I am not willing, I will refuse. Not only to me, but also to other women in the future, remember?"

The corners of You Su's lips finally lifted up, like a moon breaking through the clouds: "Thank you, Master's wife. I am grateful for your teaching!"

"Get up."

After He Shutong helped the boy up, she turned around quietly. She had no idea that the tips of her ears had turned red.

She didn't know where she got the courage to say such a thing. She just wondered how she, who had always been elegant like a lotus, could become so shameless under the cover of a dream.

It seemed that as long as she agreed, the boy could do anything to her. It was clearly her one-sided detoxification, but in her mouth it became that she and the boy were pursuing the way to happiness.

But is there any master's wife in this world who would tell her disciples that they cannot just care about their own pleasure, but also have to consider her feelings?
He Shutong even doubted whether her nature was not pure and innocent, but she really didn't want to live a life as entangled and exhausted as in reality. In this dream, she just wanted to follow the first thought. Who would be so cautious and cautious in dreams?
"Master's wife, can we not practice sword today?" the young man suddenly asked.

"What's wrong?" He Shutong asked in a clear voice.

"I have been kneeling in front of Master's wife these days and thinking a lot, but I have not made any breakthrough in the theory of the fusion of sword and will, as if I have reached a bottleneck. And what Master's wife said just now about the theory of Hehuan reminded me--" You Su looked like he was eager to learn, "Since I was a child, my understanding of the Mandarin Duck Sword is only the three volumes of Hehuan Gong that Master read to me when I was a child, and I know nothing about other sect classics. I think the bottleneck I encountered may be because I still have a shallow understanding of the sect's foundation."

He Shutong frowned slightly when she heard this. Her first reaction was not to think too much about it, but she felt that You Su's words made sense. The three volumes of Hehuan Gong were the core skills of the Yuanyang Sword Sect. They were sufficient for cultivation, but if one wanted to accomplish such a feat as the fusion of sword intent, it was obviously a bit "stretched" to rely on only these three volumes of skills.

"It is indeed time to calm down first. If you read more books, you will naturally be able to draw inferences from other things. A flash of inspiration is not something that can be achieved by thinking hard." He Shutong nodded slightly, "It's just that your master is not here..."

"Master's Wife, can't you just recite the sutra for me?" You Su tilted his head at the right moment. "Last time when Master's Wife insisted on me telling her about that embarrassing dream, didn't she promise you that she would recite the sutra for me when the time was right?"

He Shutong looked at the boy's innocent and expectant eyes and remembered the agreement. However, she thought the boy had forgotten it long ago, but she didn't expect that he still remembered it.

But how could she read the Hehuan Sect's Tibetan scriptures in front of him? Especially...she knew that he had 'evil intentions' towards her.

But this was what the young boy needed, and she couldn't break her promise.

Thinking of this, she was actually angry that the boy's legitimate master, Guan Chujun, was too lazy. Not only did he teach the three volumes of skills to the ignorant young You Su, but he also didn't teach the child more when he didn't understand anything, but left this task to her, the master's wife...

"Okay... But there are many scriptures in the sect, and they have been passed down from ancient times to the present day, so it is inevitable that the quality is mixed. You can practice sword skills normally during the day, and I will select a few and read them to you at night."

"Okay! Thank you, Master's Wife!"

You Su Chong gave her a huge thank you.

……

It gets dark very early in winter. When the twilight spreads through the carved window lattices, He Shutong is already sitting at the pear wood table in You Su's room, holding a few carefully selected classics.

You Su sat on the other side, looking at her with burning eyes, a barely perceptible smile at the corner of his lips.

He Shutong stroked the yellowed cover of the book with his fingertips, and the sweat from his palms left shallow marks on the silk surface.

She deliberately avoided illustrated books such as "On the Interaction of Yin and Yang" and finally chose "Essentials of the Agreement on the Love of Harmony" and "Explanations on the Theory of the Yuanyang Sword", two scriptures that might be helpful to You Su and were not too explicit. However, when her fingertips touched words such as "embracing each other" and "cuddling each other", her ears still turned red.

She made up her mind and knew she couldn't hesitate any longer: "The key to a happy marriage is to balance yin and yang..." But she couldn't help feeling shy and tried to cover up her embarrassment by asking, "I'll read a sentence and you remember it."

"Yeah!" You Su nodded obediently.

Seeing this, He Shutong had no choice but to continue chanting: "Heaven and earth are in their proper places, and all things are nurtured. The interaction of yin and yang gives birth to the mysterious female."

He Shutong read very slowly, rolling each word between her lips and teeth three times. But the more she restrained herself, the more those red-lettered small characters dazzled her eyes - "The gate of the mysterious female is the root of heaven and earth. When you knock on it with the yang, its response is like a sound." Such a straightforward metaphor made her ears burn.

You Su suddenly said "Huh?" "Master's wife just said to use Yang to knock it. Does that mean that when the Qi flows through Tianquan, it should be guided by pure Yang Xuanqi?"

The candle on the table flickered, He Shutong's wide sleeves trembled slightly, and the young man looked up, looking a bit childishly ignorant.

"Yes..." She swallowed her embarrassment.

Fortunately, the scriptures were not very thick, and the boy had a high level of comprehension and did not ask too many questions, so the "Hehuan Qi Yao" was closed.

"Please try to comprehend it carefully. If there is anything you don't understand, please write it down. I will help you solve it tomorrow."

She put away the scriptures, slowly stood up, and felt relieved.

But suddenly he felt someone grabbing his sleeve. He Shutong looked back at his drooping eyelashes and suddenly remembered what was said in "Hehuan Qi Yao" that if one cannot express his feelings, his Yang energy will accumulate and hurt his body.

"Master's Wife, I seem to be..."

The unfinished words were lost in his uncontrollable rapid breathing, "Can you... help me?"

His cautious and pitiful appearance made He Shutong's heart soften.

She suddenly felt a little regretful for asking You Su to remember to ask her beforehand if he wanted anything, because could she really have the heart to reject him even in her dream?
(End of this chapter)