Chasing after her husband? Is it even possible to win him back?

As soon as he turned around and saw the crowd part to make way, his face turned deathly pale.

Xu Bailing was holding her sword in one hand, her cool, lake-blue eyes fixed on him.

"Ding Yusong, have you forgotten how to be a decent human being?"

Her cool voice uttered a question brimming with doubt.

Chapter Twelve, Friends and Friendship

"Ding Yusong, have you forgotten how to be a decent human being?"

Under the watchful eyes of a hundred people, a seemingly ordinary question caused the ponytail youth's face to turn from deathly pale to a deep purplish-red.

The abnormal flush color was mixed with a bluish tinge.

"And you too." Xu Bailing's gaze shifted to the female disciple beside Ding Yusong, her expression calm. "During your duty shift, you abandoned your post, disregarded sect rules, and unauthorizedly handed over borrowed books to others..."

The female disciple's lips moved as if she wanted to explain something, but in the end she could only lower her head.

She was doing what Ding Yusong said, but the sect rules were clearly much stricter than those of the Second Elder's son, so she couldn't possibly go to Ding Yusong to ask for an explanation; no matter how she explained, it would be useless.

"Go to the court of law enforcement to receive your punishment."

“She doesn’t need to go; I coerced her.” Ding Yusong said with a grim face. “I will explain to the Enforcement Hall myself.”

Xu Bailing glanced at Ding Yusong, "That's your problem."

The woman slowly approached. The young man with the ponytail clenched his fists, his lips trembling as if he wanted to say something more. As Xu Bailing walked past him, Ding Yusong simply lowered his shoulders and slowly walked toward the gate of the Sword Pavilion.

Only the woman, who was supposed to be on duty at the cultivation technique exchange window, remained, staring at Ding Yusong's back for a few seconds, then gritted her teeth and chased after him, calling out, "Senior brother, wait for me."

Seeing that the matter was resolved, Chu Xunfeng painstakingly put away the nameplate, squatted down, picked up the three manuals scattered on the ground, and carefully smoothed out the wrinkles on the pages.

The incident seemed to have subsided, but the onlookers did not disperse, all staring intently at Chu Xunfeng and Xu Bailing.

"Are you alright?" Xu Bailing never cared about other people's opinions. She walked up to the young man and looked down at Chu Xunfeng's right hand, which was still trembling slightly.

"It's alright." The brief, dull pain wasn't enough to bother Chu Xunfeng, and the handsome young man smiled slightly.

"I'm sorry, I was on my way to see my second uncle... I didn't expect Ding Yusong to attack you right here in Jiange... It seems I'm a step too late."

“Miss, you don’t need to apologize to me for this. Although I don’t know if you heard me, he came to cause me trouble because he is narrow-minded. What wrong have you done?”

If it were an ordinary person, the matter would have been dropped by now. However, Xu Bailing was no ordinary person, or rather... after her mother told her about Chu Xunfeng's special abilities, her already somewhat one-dimensional way of thinking went completely off track.

"The cause is mine, and I will definitely handle this matter well." Xu Bailing stared into Chu Xunfeng's eyes, and as if she felt that her previous statement was not convincing enough, she paused and added, "I don't want him to affect our friendship."

In Xu Bailing's view, she and Chu Xunfeng should be friends. Her mother had also instructed her last night to make sure she got along well with this young man who had taken the Phoenix Blood Dragon Bone Pill and whose future was limitless.

Chu Xunfeng almost lost his grip on the clam.

No... Miss, listen to the gasps around you, feel the murderous glint in their eyes... You...

Chu Xunfeng's inner monologue suddenly paused. He suddenly remembered something, abruptly setting aside his feelings of helplessness and amusement, and began to seriously examine the girl with a serious expression.

Her lake-blue eyes gleamed with determination. Her face was veiled in white, making it difficult to discern her expression, but... one could guess from her usual tone of voice and gaze that she must have a perpetually expressionless face.

"I am very sensitive to emotions, but I am rather indifferent to feelings myself and not very good at empathizing." This is what this young lady said to herself last night.

In her past life, Xu Bailing's condition was likely a mental illness; if she couldn't empathize, she might not have been able to distinguish the relationship between us. She might have sensed my emotions, but she wouldn't have been able to understand them, and if she couldn't understand...

Essentially, it's not much different from not knowing.

Since that's the case, then I should indeed... speak frankly.

“I am naturally more than happy that Miss is willing to condescend to be my friend,” Chu Xunfeng said with a smile to Xu Bailing.

"Okay, that's good." Xu Bailing nodded quietly. She could sense that Chu Xunfeng spoke frankly and openly, without any ulterior motives. Therefore, in Xu Bailing's mind, the friendship between the two was naturally established.

“Since that’s the case, Miss, you don’t need to apologize to me anymore. I don’t think that ponytail girl has affected my relationship with you.” Chu Xunfeng stared at Xu Bailing. “What do you think, Miss?”

"I'm just worried..." Xu Bailing sensed something was wrong, but couldn't quite put her finger on it, so she could only frown.

“But I don’t care.” Chu Xunfeng interrupted the young lady’s thoughts. “So, now it’s your turn to decide, young lady. Do you care?”

Xu Bailing could sense Chu Xunfeng's frankness, so she followed her heart and shook her head, "I don't care."

"That's good. If we don't care, then let's not dwell on Ding Yusong anymore and let's let this matter rest."

Xu Bailing gave up thinking and nodded, "Okay."

The disciples of Baidi City, who had been watching the entire conversation but dared not speak, exchanged bewildered glances. Wait, Miss... what exactly is your relationship with this guy?!

They can't really be just friends, can they?! Does such a friendship even exist?!

Many people were roaring in their hearts, but dared not utter such a sentence aloud.

"Fellow disciples, I apologize for making a fool of myself in front of you." Chu Xunfeng raised his hand, clasped his hands, looked around, and pushed them away slightly. "I am indeed not a so-called promoted disciple. As for the issue of treatment, I think everything will become clear in a few days after the Elders' Hall decides on a teacher for me."

"As for the young lady's matter, I have no special relationship with her. I hope my fellow disciples will be kind in their words. I don't care, but I hope you won't cause any trouble for the young lady."

"Hmm." Xu Bailing looked around. "Go do what you're supposed to do. Go open the restrictions on the cultivation technique exchange window."

When the sect leader's daughter spoke, even if it was just for show, all the disciples dispersed, seemingly going about their own business.

Xu Bailing glanced at Chu Xunfeng, "I'll take you back."

"Thank you very much, Miss." Chu Xunfeng nodded.

"Since we're friends, let's not use such formal terms of address. Let's use something else."

"Then Miss Xu?" Chu Xunfeng continued walking, pondering for a moment.

Xu Bailing simply stopped and stared at the young man's face without saying a word.

"Then... Miss Bai Ling?"

Xu Bailing blinked, a tremor welling up inside her, which she quickly suppressed. "Hmm, then I'll call you Xunfeng?"

"This..." Chu Xunfeng was both amused and exasperated. If this way of addressing each other got out, wouldn't his words to his fellow disciples, which had nothing special to do with each other, just become a cover-up?

"Isn't that inappropriate?" Xu Bailing asked calmly, her tranquil gaze making it impossible to guess what she was thinking.

"This is a bit too intimate; it's not appropriate for a friendship." Just say it directly, "Please call me by my full name, Miss Bai Ling."

"Alright, Chu Xunfeng?"

"Yes, I am here."

"not bad."

"I feel much more comfortable with this form of address," Chu Xunfeng said, letting out a long sigh of relief.

This young lady, well, once she found a way, she's quite easy to deal with.

The two walked side by side out of the Sword Pavilion.

Chapter Thirteen: Imperfections are Not a Disadvantage

Chu Xunfeng was sent back to the Lonely Peak Cottage under the Sword Pavilion by Xu Bailing's sword.

The two made a promise to invite Xu Bailing to have a meal at Xiaozhu after Chu Xunfeng had truly settled down, and then they parted ways.

Meanwhile, news of what happened in the second-floor hall of the Sword Pavilion had gradually spread throughout Baidi City.

Xu Bailing could guess, but she didn't care. In White Emperor City, as the daughter of the sect leader, a genius in cultivation, and possessing the Supreme Sword Bone, she was never short of attention from others.

She already had her own set of coping methods.

After returning to her residence on the lonely peak, she showed no surprise at her mother's sudden visit. The aloof woman stepped down from her flying sword and asked softly, "Mother, why have you come?"

"Bai Ling, how are things going between you and Chu Xunfeng?" the elegant and beautiful woman asked with a light laugh.

"Fortunately, he seems to have taught me quite a lot."

"Oh? Can you tell your mother about it?"

Jiang Shu, the fourth elder of Baidi City, looked at his daughter with a cold expression. Although he already knew what had happened in the Sword Pavilion, he still wanted to hear her thoughts from her at this moment.

"Yes, he acknowledged our friendship and handled the relationship very well."

"On the other hand, he dissuaded me from going to Ding Yusong to demand an explanation for him."

The woman spoke softly.

Although Xu Bailing has certain personality flaws, it does not mean that she is a clueless little girl.

On the contrary, as the future leader of Baidi City, it was precisely because of her personality flaws that she received a great deal of guidance from her parents and elders.

"After spending a day together, he quickly noticed my flaws and found a way to get along with me. Mother, you were right yesterday. He is indeed someone worth getting to know better."

"I just don't understand why he told me not to care about Ding Yusong." Xu Bailing led her mother into her room, softly explaining what she didn't understand. "Ding Yusong won't just let it go like that."

"Bai Ling, you've never had any experience with friends before, have you?" The mother sat down next to her daughter, took the girl's hand, and gently instructed her, "Now that you've made friends, I'll teach you now. As a friend, there's nothing wrong with offering to help."

"Then why...?"

"There's no problem with you offering help, but if Chu Xunfeng refuses, is there a problem?" the mother asked softly.

Xu Bailing paused for a moment, thought it over, and then shook her head. "It seems there's no problem, but what's his reason for refusing?"

“Because you are friends.” The mother gently raised her hand and tapped her daughter’s forehead. “Although I don’t know what he was thinking that made him not want you to get involved in this matter, you are friends, and only friends.”

"Just friends?" Xu Bailing didn't understand. She really had a hard time understanding things like emotions and relationships between people.