When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

Two days have passed since that day.

In the past two days, Chu Xianlan has been almost obsessed.

He stubbornly tried every method he could think of to transmit what he had seen in his dream. At first, he used paper and pen, then he tried a sound transmission device, and finally he even found a wall to carve the words on it. But before the chisel even touched the wall, the weathered stone wall collapsed right in front of him.

Holy crap... This is a ghost.

I have to believe that something bizarre has happened to me.

At first, he was worried that it was a curse or a demon in his heart, but the Qingxu Exorcising Seal that Yi Chen set up himself the day before yesterday is still intact, and his spiritual power is flowing smoothly without any real damage.

If evil spirits could bypass the protection of Nascent Soul stage cultivators, there would be no need to resort to such petty tricks.

Whether this is a test from God or a sign of moral decay and the extinction of humanity remains unknown.

Since things have come to this, I can only bow to fate and ask heaven and earth to let me go.

Even someone as easygoing as Zhu Ling couldn't stand it. Seeing Chu Xianlan so preoccupied and restless all day, she clicked her tongue and said unhappily, "What's wrong? Possessed by a ghost?"

Chu Xianlan thought to herself, "Isn't that possession by a ghost?"

He pondered for a long time, his mind wandering in countless twists and turns, until he finally came up with what he considered the most subtle way to probe.

"Senior Sister Zhu," Chu Xianlan took a deep breath and asked furtively, "Have you ever heard of... a disciple having ulterior motives towards their master?"

The two stared at each other, wide-eyed.

Slowly, Zhu Ling's dead fish eyes began to light up.

A strange expression instantly appeared on his face, as if to say, "You've finally found an expert."

She jumped down from the table in a few swift movements, tucked her hands into her sleeves, and asked, "Why do you ask that?"

"...I was just bored while recovering from my injury and asked casually," Chu Xianlan chuckled. "Such a thing simply doesn't exist, right?"

"Who said that?"

"?"

"Junior brother, it's obvious you're too inexperienced. Do you think all masters and disciples in this world behave in a proper and respectful manner?"

When her usually taciturn senior sister suddenly uttered such a long string of words, Chu Xianlan's Adam's apple bobbed, and she had a bad feeling.

Zhu Ling gave him a deep look. "Do you know what cultivation is for?"

Chu Xianlan listened attentively.

"To protect my own innocence, my senior brother's innocence, my junior brother's innocence, my senior sister's innocence, my junior sister's innocence, and my master's innocence."

Chu Xianlan felt dizzy and lightheaded.

It turns out that cultivation is for becoming a messenger of innocence.

Zhu Ling counted on her fingers, saying, "Don't you know? There are countless disciples in the world who covet Master. Even worse, some imprison and forcibly take him, turn love into hatred, cruelly cut out his core, torture him with bone fragments, and even after going berserk, imprison Master in a forbidden area and haunt him day and night, acting recklessly... Oh, creating a substitute using puppetry is commonplace, and there are also those who use poison to manipulate him into faking death, deceiving him, destroying everything Master cherishes right in front of him, driven to madness, relentless and unforgiving!!"

This is a seasoned foodie.

Chu Xianlan felt her cerebral cortex suddenly expand.

The pure and simple concepts of the past were shattered bit by bit in Zhu Ling's impassioned narration.

This was probably the longest and most lively conversation Zhu Ling had ever given him in all the years he had known her.

You should know that she is always bored and can't muster any enthusiasm for anything. She would rather say one word than two, and her body is always in a state of energy conservation.

"Senior Sister Zhu, where did you hear all this from?"

"Storybooks".

"..." Chu Xianlan was speechless. "Aren't all storybooks made up?"

"Art originates from life, but transcends it," Zhu Ling slammed her hand on the stack of books piled high on the table. "Want to have a look?"

"No, thank you." Chu Xianlan refused decisively.

"Whatever." Zhu Ling shrugged, reverting to her usual taciturn manner, and left.

The room fell silent. Chu Xianlan stared at the stack of books, feeling resistance in her heart. Her right hand seemed to have its own mind, uncontrollably reaching for the top book, which she then quickly pulled away, forcing herself to resist.

It's not that I really want to appreciate it; it's just that I don't believe in superstitions.

What kind of existence is a master in the cultivation world? Their cultivation and experience completely surpass their disciples', how could they be easily schemed against by someone of lower status? These stories are utterly illogical and unreasonable; to describe them in terms of a dish, they're just utter nonsense!

With a deep breath, I solemnly turned the first page, and was immediately confronted with a barrage of bold and savage words, interspersed with delicate and vivid ink illustrations.

Chu Xianlan: "..." Ah, my eyes.

Half an hour later.

Chu Xianlan silently closed the book in her hand, her expression numb as she scanned the pages of storybooks scattered on the bed. Her wrist trembled, and her heart turned cold.

He lost.

The disciples in these stories either possess mysterious identities, harbor extraordinary magical treasures, or harbor deep-seated schemes spanning generations. They always have a set of endless tricks up their sleeves, along with a bunch of twisted logic like "deep affection" and "being forced into it"...

...In the end, he always managed to win over his aloof and proud master.

Moreover, the originally powerful masters would always miraculously lose their cultivation and spiritual power. Without spiritual power to protect them, they would encounter all sorts of intractable problems.

It can be said that taking on a disciple is the beginning of a master's misfortune.

It's truly disgusting.

If before they only wanted to stop their master from accepting disciples, now they practically want to pack up Ji Cheng'an, this potentially high-risk individual, and throw him out of the Taiyi Sect overnight!

wild ambition!

Evil spirits, begone! Demons and monsters, flee!

Chu Xianlan's eyes were full of determination, and she shook her head violently.

No matter what happens in the future, now that he knows everything in advance, he will never allow his master's innocence to be tarnished!

All we need to do is address the root cause!

Like last time, although it was an accidental success, the impact he had was ultimately useful. His master did not accept Ji Cheng'an's wishes, and he changed the course of the precognitive dream. At least nothing has happened yet.

The more Chu Xianlan thought about it, the more confident she felt, and she immediately picked up those obscene storybooks again.

Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle; it's essential to anticipate and learn your opponent's strategies in advance.

For my master, I would gladly sacrifice my eyes!

Just then, a slight noise came from outside. Chu Xianlan looked up sensitively and met a pair of bright eyes peeking in from the doorway.

"Senior Brother Chu, it's me. May I... come in?"

"Qu Ling?" Chu Xianlan was a little surprised.

The last time I saw this young medical cultivator was on the day my master emerged from seclusion.

"Why are you here?"

Qu Ling smiled shyly, raised her hand to lift the curtain, and walked in quietly with a bamboo tray in her hand. Several pills in the glass bottle were round and translucent, with a faint shimmering light, indicating that they were of high quality.

He said, "I heard that you were injured, Senior Brother. This is a Spirit Concentration Pill that Qu Ling has just refined. It will help restore your spiritual power. If you don't mind, Senior Brother..."

Chu Xianlan smiled and casually pulled out a bamboo stool for him.

"Thank you, Junior Brother Qu, you're very kind."

Seeing that Qu Ling was still standing there after putting down the tray, looking hesitant and unsure of what to say, Chu Xianlan took the initiative to ask, "Is there something you want to say?"

Qu Ling bit her lower lip, as if she had made a lifelong decision, then suddenly looked up, clenched her fists, and said indignantly:

"Senior brother, the Fourth Prince offended you so much, I... I'll stand up for you!"

That day, Ji Cheng'an made a lot of nonsense at the entrance of Taiyi Sect. Many disciples watched the whole thing. Qu Ling only heard about it from her fellow disciples later, and she was furious.

In his eyes, Senior Brother Chu was so good that even the imperial family couldn't compare. So what if he was a prince? Did a prince have the right to look down on people at will?

Chu Xianlan found it somewhat amusing that he suddenly brought this up, and followed up by asking, "How do you plan to help me get revenge?"

Upon hearing this, Qu Ling's face broke into an innocent smile.

"Of course, we'll use medicine. For example, we can make him unable to wake up for a while, or make him covered in itchy and painful rashes, have a disordered sense of taste, hallucinate all night, and always feel like there are mosquitoes and flies buzzing in his ears... These are not difficult to do."

Chu Xianlan almost choked on her saliva. "No need, no need, I appreciate your kindness, Senior Brother."

...These days, who dares to mess with a medical cultivator?

"Oh, okay." Qu Ling obediently sat back down, her tone quite disappointed.

Seeing the regret written all over his face, Chu Xianlan broke out in a cold sweat. Putting aside whether the plan would work or not, how could she let Qu Ling take this risk for him? Ji Cheng'an's identity was special. If something really happened and it was investigated, the first one to suffer would be this little medical cultivator. This was pushing someone into a fire pit.

He had already decided not to involve innocent people.

Then Qu Ling whispered, "Senior Brother Chu, actually when I came over just now, I heard a loud noise coming from the Fourth Prince's room. He... should have woken up."

Ji Cheng'an is awake? Chu Xianlan's nerves tightened, and she couldn't help but ask, "What is he doing?"

"She's already throwing a tantrum as soon as she wakes up," Qu Ling said disdainfully.

Besides the sounds of smashing things and throwing tantrums, there were also the piercing sounds of whips cutting through the air.

He glanced at it out of curiosity.

Inside the room, a man dressed in black was kneeling on the ground, while Ji Cheng'an stood behind him with a whip, his movements ruthless, lashing out cruelly one lash after another.

"You promised to protect me! You useless thing!"

The scene was heartbreaking to watch. The man in black was clearly bleeding from his back, and his muscles were trembling and twitching. Yet he remained silent while being beaten, even breathing very lightly.

Qu Ling spoke with lingering fear, but Chu Xianlan's brows furrowed even more. The black-clad man kneeling and being beaten was probably the shadow guard who had accompanied her that day.

The royal shadow guards were essentially death squads, capable of risking their lives for their masters.

Presumably, Ji Cheng'an was injured by Yi Chen's oppressive aura that day and was unable to vent his anger, so he could only take it out on the innocent shadow guards.

Chu Xianlan's heart sank. The Fourth Prince's wickedness was probably far more than just arrogance and domineering. If he was so cruel to his personal bodyguard who he had grown up with, he would certainly not show mercy to outsiders.

"By the way, senior brother, what are you looking at?" Qu Ling didn't want to talk about this anymore, so she tilted her head and looked at the books all over the bed with curiosity.

Chu Xianlan's body trembled.

How could I have forgotten these storybooks!

He hurriedly gathered all the books together, chuckled dryly, and said, "It's nothing, just some random books to pass the time."

His movements were hurried and flustered. With a "thud," the booklet closest to the edge of the bed fell to Qu Ling's feet.

The pages of the book are open.

Coincidentally, it was the page with the vivid illustrations.

Chu Xianlan: ...

Qu Ling paused, bent down to pick it up, and read out the large characters on the cover, word by word: "The Cold and Aloof Master's Nightly Pampering?"