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

Chu Xianlan chased after Yi Chen out of the bamboo house and saw that he had not gone far, so she quickly approached him.

He glanced at his master's face, which was as cold as frost.

They were fine just now, so why did they suddenly get angry?

Silently following Yi Chen for quite a while, Chu Xianlan's heart pounded with anxiety. She finally spoke up, "Master, don't you trust the witch doctor of Peach Blossom Spring?"

Yi Chen slowed his pace slightly and remained silent.

Chu Xianlan added, "That's true. After all, it's our first meeting, and we don't know each other's identities or backgrounds yet. She's also Qiao Yu's master. Are you worried that the witch doctor might be helping to remove the curse on the surface, but secretly doing something shady?"

"Ah, Master is so thoughtful. I was too impulsive. I got so excited when I heard that the curse could be lifted that I forgot myself..."

Chu Xianlan said a lot, but Yi Chen's expression did not soften; instead, it became even colder.

The two of them happened to walk into a bamboo forest. There was no one around, the forest was quiet, and a few birdsongs could be heard from afar.

Yi Chen suddenly stopped in his tracks: "It has nothing to do with any of that."

"Why is that?"

Yi Chen turned around and took in his disciple's impatient expression.

He also wanted to ask, why?

Why... when I finally decided to let go of all my concerns and take the initiative to respond... did Chu Xianlan become even more indifferent?

He was the one pitifully pestering me for the Daoist contract. He was also the one who didn't care about the Daoist partner contract.

He was the one who boldly expressed his affection and pursued her. He was also the one who distanced himself from her in front of others.

Why?

"Untie the curse binding us," Yi Chen began, a barely suppressed unease threatening to burst forth, which he managed to control with reason. "Does that make you so happy?"

"Huh?" Chu Xianlan was already in a daze, and was stunned by this question.

After a long pause, he mustered his courage and asked in a low voice, "Shouldn't this disciple... be happy?"

The Entangling Gu has caused so much trouble.

Once the problem is solved, the biggest worry that has been weighing on my mind will be removed.

He and his master did not need to engage in dual cultivation under duress, nor did they need to worry about potential hidden dangers that might erupt at any time.

Isn't this a good thing?

Chu Xianlan didn't understand what Yi Chen meant. Was removing the curse actually a mistake?

The atmosphere became somewhat tense for a moment.

Yi Chen stared straight at Chu Xianlan, his gaze calm as still water, as if trying to see him clearly through those eyes, accepting all his feelings, whether it was love, concern, or even the slightest bit of resentment.

However, no.

There was nothing there.

Time passed second by second, and in the boy's clear black and white eyes, there was only genuine confusion.

Yi Chen suddenly stepped forward, closing in a step.

The tall man suddenly approached, his overwhelming aura almost instantly blocking out the sunlight. Even though Chu Xianlan instinctively flinched back, her forehead nearly collided with Yi Chen's chin.

"Master, Master?"

Yi Chen did not respond.

His unfathomable eyes gradually deepened, and he leaned down to touch his disciple's neck, slowly inhaling from the collarbone to the earlobe.

Feeling her master's breath brush against the side of her neck, Chu Xianlan was clearly stunned.

They were so close that their black and white hair inevitably intertwined, causing a tingling, itchy sensation on their skin, like countless feathers brushing against it. This made Chu Xianlan extremely sensitive, giving her a strong urge to push the other person away.

But because it was his master, he held back.

Yi Chen gently touched Chu Xianlan's neck with the tip of his nose, his voice low and husky: "Chu Li, whose scent is this?"

His tone was interrogative, no longer as gentle as before.

Suddenly being called by her full name, Chu Xianlan was so nervous that she completely forgot about the fluffy thing and stammered, "Master, the smell you're talking about... this disciple can't smell it."

Yi Chen thought to himself, indeed, he couldn't smell it.

Unbeknownst to Chu Xianlan, Yi Chen had been able to roughly determine where Chu Xianlan had been and who he had been with throughout the day by observing the scent emanating from her.

From childhood to adulthood, even though his apprentice would proactively report his whereabouts, Yi Chen was still using this method to keep track of everything about him.

The reason Xie Qingying lost control the previous time was...

One reason was that Chu Xianlan was covered in Xie Qingying's scent. The scent of outsiders was strong and pungent, as if deliberately tainted, a mark left by any means necessary.

Why should a disciple you raised have someone else's influence?

Feeling as if his territory had been invaded, Yi Chen was extremely agitated.

He doesn't like it.

So, use your own breath to cover up all those smells.

It has nothing to do with Drunken Spring Smoke, nor with the bloodline of a half-demon.

Yi Chen realized that perhaps back then, he had already taken it for granted that there should never be anyone else by Chu Xianlan's side.

In this world, they are the only ones...

In an instant, cool lips touched a small patch of dry skin behind the boy's ear.

That spot was so sensitive that almost the instant it was touched, Chu Xianlan tensed up, and her entire ear turned red at a visible speed.

Chu Xianlan felt half of her body go numb; she wanted to escape, but dared not.

How could he possibly defy his master?

His whole body felt like it was being bound by a suffocating restraint, and he was about to lose his footing when a large hand reached around his lower back and supported him steadily.

"...Master?"

"Um."

Yi Chen responded to him, but did not stop. Instead, he moved closer to the boy's engorged earlobe, tracing its contours with a half-close, half-close motion, as if deliberately torturing him.

Feeling a piercing, numb sensation in Chu Xianlan's ears from this one-sided assault, he wasn't stupid; he could certainly sense the extremely strange atmosphere around him, and... that...

That kind of eroticism that should absolutely not appear on a mortal descending to immortality...

This involuntarily reminded him of the absurd experience of the half-demon losing control.

Chu Xianlan blushed and her heart pounded. She dared not think too much and instinctively found the most reasonable explanation.

"Master, where do you feel unwell? Is the Life-Binding Gu flaring up again?"

Yi Chen paused, and after a moment, a low voice resonated in my ears: "...Hmm."

Chu Xianlan's expression changed drastically!

Sure enough!

Good heavens! In broad daylight, under the clear sky, it's acting up again!

If someone were to pass by and find him so close to his master, even ten mouths wouldn't be able to explain it.

Sure enough, what you fear most came to pass.

In the blink of an eye, a figure was walking towards them on the bamboo path in the distance.

Seemingly because the two had been gone for too long, Xiao Huandu came looking for them, scratching the back of his head and muttering to himself in bewilderment, "Huh? Where did they go all this time?"

An alarm bell rang in Chu Xianlan's mind.

Ahhhhh!

If Xiao Huandu were to see him and his master like this... like this, then everything would be over! Destroy them all!!

He could imagine what kind of nonsense Xiao Huandu would spout.

Just then, the hand around his waist slowly tightened and lifted him up forcefully.

Yi Chen was much stronger than him. In this position, Chu Xianlan felt like she was about to be lifted up in mid-air, which terrified her.

"Master, Master, stop!"

Chu Xianlan panicked and tried to break free. After enduring so much, she finally began to struggle, but Yi Chen remained unmoved.

Seeing that Xiao Huandu was about to reach them, Chu Xianlan was frantic and overwhelmed with shame. Her voice trembled with fear as she pleaded, "Master, please, I'm really... scared. Don't do it here... Let's go... let's go somewhere else, back to our room... let's continue in our room, okay?"