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

Yi Chen reacted, feeling a wave of shock and astonishment.

What is he doing?

are you crazy?

Where did his composure and self-control go?

That was his apprentice whom he had raised himself. He had been by his side since he was a child, teaching him to wield a sword, to follow the rules, to protect, guide, and shelter him, watching him grow from a thin and ignorant child into a handsome young man.

Just now, he was actually bewitched by the fragrance produced by the poison, and his mind wavered...

Yi Chen closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

After temporarily restraining his little apprentice, Yi Chen paused, grasped Chu Xianlan's hand, and gathered some icy blue spiritual light in his palm. Following the guidance method Xie Qingying had previously instructed, he transferred the spiritual energy to her.

Two streams of spiritual energy intertwined in his palms. Almost simultaneously, large and small red marks began to appear on the skin of Yi Chen's shoulder, outlining a fully bloomed plum blossom, which climbed up his neck and spread to behind his ear.

The moonlit pool shimmered with spiritual light, which continued uninterrupted throughout the night.

When Chu Xianlan opened her eyes in a daze, she felt incredibly refreshed.

After a while, I realized how bizarre the scene before me was.

He was wearing his master's robe, leaning against the edge of the icy pool, while his master sat cross-legged in front of him, face to face, his hands... tightly clasped together?!

Five thunderstorms hit the top.

...How could Master be here?!?

No, this is the Jade Capital Pavilion.

Wait, how did I get here? He should be sleeping in his bed at the village inn!

Dreaming! It must be a dream.

Chu Xianlan was shocked and couldn't believe it. He slowly raised his eyes and saw his master looking at him quietly, his well-defined face backlit by the morning light.

His gaze was quite deep and complex.

"...Master?" Chu Xianlan felt a chill run down her spine from the gaze and withdrew her clasped hands. "Disciple, how did you get here? What... happened last night?"

Yi Chen remained silent, only offering no words.

The strange atmosphere made Chu Xianlan's heart tremble, and she inexplicably felt that a great disaster was about to befall her.

Whether it's scolding, reprimanding, or even beating, at least give them a quick and painless end.

Can anyone explain what's going on here?

The more silent Master was, the more flustered Chu Xianlan became, her heart pounding with fear, and a million possibilities flashed through her mind.

Until he discovered... on his master's neck.

That once fair skin was no longer flawless; scattered shallow marks of varying depths were imprinted on it, like fallen petals. Even though some of the marks were covered by strands of hair, it was still clear that someone had taken advantage of that area, and how ravaged it was... unbearable to look at.

Boom. Chu Xianlan's head exploded, and her ears were ringing.

What happened is clear at a glance.

...

……

—What exactly did he do?

Ahhhhh, what on earth did he do to Master?!

Chu Xianlan's feelings at this moment could be described as tears welling up in her eyes.

He sat there blankly, thinking that the word "traitor" alone was not enough to describe his outrageous behavior. Now, even his master was utterly disappointed and didn't want to say another word.

Humans are animals, and their nature is inherent.

He's a beast!

"Whoosh."

Unbound Boat was summoned by the sword technique, its cold light reflecting off the water's surface. The ancient sword's pressure startled Chu Xianlan.

The master suddenly summoned the sword, what does this mean...?

Chu Xianlan felt utterly cold inside, and lowered her head with a death-defying resolve.

Yeah.

As a disciple, having repeatedly offended, defied, and disrespected his master, even if he were executed on the spot...

Yi Chen said calmly, "Come up."

"?"

Chu Xianlan looked up blankly, thinking she had misheard.

The sword blade of Bu Xizhou was not pointing at him; it was now obediently hovering to the side. Looking to the right, his master had also changed his clothes with magic, and the "evidence" on his neck had disappeared.

"The cold pool is too frigid. With your current cultivation level, staying here for too long may damage your meridians." Yi Chen's tone was as usual, and there was no trace of anger on his face. "Pack your things and come with me to find Xie Qingying."

The Master didn't get angry? He wasn't upset either?

The untethered boat wasn't used for executing wicked disciples, but rather for flying on a sword?

Having survived a calamity, Chu Xianlan was bewildered and didn't know how she had managed to escape with her life. All she knew was that the three-zhang-high grave mound and grassland had disappeared.

It wasn't until he reached the shore that he realized he wasn't even wearing shoes, and he was horrified by everything that had happened the night before.

"Master, last night..." Chu Xianlan asked tentatively.

"Last night, your Gu poison flared up, and while you were unconscious, you flew back to Jade Capital Pavilion on your magical artifact, only to fall into the icy pool. I used the method of channeling it out that Xie Qingying taught me to suppress it, and nothing bad happened."

Chu Xianlan was dumbfounded.

He has no memory of that time when he came back!

Seeing his blank expression, Yi Chen naturally noticed the intense fluctuations in his disciple's emotions. He also realized that the disciple had no memory of the events of the previous night and was simply frightened by the uncontrollable attack of the Gu poison. He was afraid that his deep-seated delusions would be exposed, which was why he was so panicked.

As expected, Chu Xianlan asked nervously, "Then...did this disciple...do I say or do anything inappropriate that offended Master?"

That's digging my own grave. I can't worry about that now. If I've done something wrong, I should apologize!

Yi Chen's eyes flickered: "No."

Prior to this, he had carefully considered how to handle the matter. Since it was an accident, he could not give the other party any room for imagination, prevent any possibility, and leave no opportunity for them to take advantage.

We still need to take a long-term approach and focus on guidance.

If this situation is not handled properly and the balance is disrupted, it could incite rebellion. If things get out of hand... and Chu Xianlan decides to throw caution to the wind and reveal the truth, that would be truly difficult.

Anyway, nothing really happened.

Chu Xianlan: ? ?

Hearing the other party's resolute answer, Chu Xianlan even doubted whether the mark she had just seen on her master's neck was an illusion.

Yi Chen lowered his eyes and lashes, as if he knew what he was going to ask. "After you fell into the cold pool, you were unconscious and disoriented. You couldn't even stand up. How could you say you offended me?"

Also.

As a mere early-stage Golden Core cultivator, with his master's cultivation level, if he did something unforgivable, his master could easily send him flying tens of thousands of miles with a single palm strike. What else could he possibly do?

With this thought, Chu Xianlan breathed a sigh of relief, and the heavy weight that had been hanging over her heart was lifted.

Yi Chen watched as the gloom on the boy's face disappeared. He quickly tidied himself up and frowned as his gaze fell on a tuft of hair sticking up on the boy's head.

"Come here, let me tie you up."

Chu Xianlan obediently squatted down, listening to the rustling sounds beside her ear, and whispered:

"Master, the marks on your neck just now..."

"It's a Gu pattern," Yi Chen interrupted.

Early in the morning, two uninvited guests appeared in Xie Qingying's courtyard.

"While unconscious, your body became uncontrollable, and the Gu worms flared up?" Xie Qingying politely put down her teacup, pondered for a moment, "That's strange... Where did you go yesterday, what did you do, and did you come into contact with anything?"

Chu Xianlan thought for a moment and then said, "I went down the mountain for training. I passed through the border area between the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Xuan Yang Sect, and we chatted for a bit while the two sects were arguing. Other than that, there was nothing special."

Xie Qingying seemed to be deep in thought.

"The territory between the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Profound Sun Sect... I understand."

"That was my oversight," Xie Qingying sighed. "The Entangling Gu are born as one entity and have an instinctive attraction. It's fine at short distances, but once the distance gets too far, one of them will actively release its Gu aura, causing the Gu poison to take effect and summoning the other back. Because Immortal Lord Jixue has a higher cultivation level, you were forcibly summoned back."

Chu Xianlan was terrified.

Recalling it again and then forcibly activating it—this is just too unreasonable!

Although he had guessed most of it, hearing it with his own ears still felt absurd.

Doesn't this mean that as long as the Life-Binding Gu is not removed, he and his master cannot be separated for even a day?

"Very likely," Xie Qingying nodded, then turned to Yi Chen and asked, "What were the specifics of the first Gu worm attack? Did anything particularly troublesome happen along the way?"

Yi Chen wanted to say no, but suddenly the events of last night involuntarily flashed through his mind... especially the captivating fragrance.

There is indeed one thing that is unclear.

After he succinctly explained the matter of the strange fragrance, Xie Qingying hummed in response, "Strange fragrance? I've never heard of such a thing before, nor have I ever seen any examples of it. Yi Chen, could you tell me in more detail what exactly happened last night?"

Yi Chen, who could no longer elaborate, remained silent.