Hearing this, Jiang Taohua felt uneasy. She laughed dryly and mumbled, “Weren’t you in a hurry to go to Kunlun Mountain? Won’t staying here too long delay your plans?”
Qianbai Mei gave her a deep look and smiled, “In my eyes, what could be more important than your affairs to make me, with this devastatingly beautiful face, climb such a high snowy mountain? If you’re unwilling to go, there’s no point in me going either.”
Taohua was stunned and looked at him puzzled, “What’s on Kunlun Mountain?”
“There’s a thousand-year-old ice cave,” Qianbai Mei said, looking at her. “Once I’ve taught you internal martial arts, we can live in the ice cave for a long time. There, the poison in your body will progress much slower, at least giving you a few more years to live.”
Taohua was surprised and looked at him with some astonishment, “Master, don’t you always say that one should live life to the fullest, doing whatever one wants? My poison isn’t life-threatening yet, so why are you already looking for such a cowardly way to live? Living in an ice cave, far from the world, even if one lives longer, what’s the point?”
Qianbai Mei’s eyes flickered slightly. He lowered his gaze and sighed softly, “You fool, in the ice cave, away from worldly matters, wouldn’t you still have me? Are you so unwilling to accompany your master for a couple more years?”
What? Taohua was even more surprised, “Don’t you often complain that I’m in your way? Now you want to be bothered by me for two more years?”
“Ungrateful little thing!” Qianbai Mei said with slight anger, his black eyes full of helplessness. “You can’t tell good words from bad, taking everything I say seriously. Then why didn’t you take it seriously when I suggested we form a hundred-year bond?”
“Hehe,” Taohua looked away. “I know Master is just joking. I was just joking with you too. I know you care for me the most, but there are still so many years ahead. You can’t let me waste them away, can you?”
Frowning as he looked at her for a while, Qianbai Mei said, “You haven’t fallen for that Prime Minister, have you?”
Pausing slightly, Jiang Taohua grinned foolishly, “Master, you’re overthinking it.”
“Am I overthinking?” Qianbai Mei narrowed his eyes and stood up. “Fine, I’ll go kill him right now.”
“Ah!” Taohua panicked and quickly hugged her master’s leg. “Don’t! That man is crucial to the world. If he dies, who knows how the three kingdoms will be thrown into chaos? Master, please reconsider!”
Looking down at the little one, Qianbai Mei’s eyes were filled with complex emotions. “You have feelings for him. Why won’t you admit it?”
His entire aura became chaotic, with a hint of killing intent that he was forcibly suppressing. Taohua sensed this and hugged him tighter. “The current situation is unstable, with war between the three kingdoms imminent. This is no time for romance, Master. Don’t you understand your disciple? In the face of the greater good, how could I indulge in personal feelings?”
“So there are personal feelings after all.” Qianbai Mei frowned like a child. He pulled her up and asked, “What’s so good about him?”
“Nothing good,” Taohua shrugged. “He’s selfish, cruel, domineering, and heartless. That’s why I’m planning to distance myself.”
Glaring at her in exasperation, Qianbai Mei looked up to the sky and sighed deeply. “In my entire life, I’ve only taken you as my female disciple. I wanted you to look down on all men, to play with them at will. I never thought you’d be so easily won over by a man after being away from me for just half a year.”
Pouting, Taohua said, “This isn’t my fault. You never taught me how to deal with men when I can’t use charm techniques.”
Qianbai Mei fell silent. He dragged his long peony robe and squatted by the window.
“What’s wrong?” Taohua raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t mind me, I’m reflecting for a moment,” he said. “I should have taught you martial arts as well. When you can’t win against men, at least you could run away.”
He had taught all his skills to the Jiang siblings. Jiang Taohua received his true transmission of soul-capturing techniques, while Jiang Changxie inherited seventy percent of his martial arts. He had thought it was quite satisfactory, but now thinking about it, he should have brought Taohua along when teaching Changxie martial arts.
“We can’t change the past; we must look forward,” Taohua sat on the nearby soft couch and comforted him. “Not knowing martial arts has its advantages. At least Shen Zaiye will spare my life. If he had discovered I could fight, he probably would have killed me no matter what.”
“He wanted to kill you?” Qianbai Mei’s face darkened. “Then I need to have another good talk with him.”
“Master,” Taohua held her head. “Your disciple is living under someone else’s roof now. We can’t be so overbearing.”
Roof? Qianbai Mei snorted coldly. “Then let’s tear down all the roofs here. My disciple shouldn’t have to live with her head bowed!”
“Then start with Linwu Court,” Taohua hugged a pillow and looked up at the ceiling beams. “I quite like this Zhengchun Pavilion. Leave it for me to live in a bit longer.”
Before she finished speaking, Qianbai Mei’s entire body flew up, heading straight outside.
Taohua was startled, thinking he was going to tear down roofs. She quickly climbed onto the windowsill and shouted, “Master, don’t!”
However, Qianbai Mei didn’t leave the courtyard. He just reached out with lightning speed and grabbed the person hiding in the flower bed outside, throwing him back into the room.
“I’m in a bad mood right now,” looking at the person on the ground, Qianbai Mei started untying the sash of his robe. “Since you’re here, why don’t we have a little match?”
Xu Yangui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He got up and stood behind Jiang Taohua. “I’m just passing by. Please spare me, senior.”
“Senior?”
Taohua wanted to cover Xu Yangui’s mouth, but it was too late. In a flash, the person behind her was grabbed by her master, who clutched his neck. “Who are you calling senior?”
Xu Yangui was startled. He hadn’t expected these two words would anger Qianbai Mei so much! Although this person looked handsome and beautiful, his hair was completely white. Isn’t it appropriate to call him senior?
“Your… age?” he asked hesitantly.
With a cold laugh, Qianbai Mei immediately tore open his robe, grabbed Xu Yangui, and started beating him. His moves were completely unpredictable, yet left no openings. Even though Xu Yangui’s martial arts were not weak, he still took several solid hits.
“Stop!” He flew up to the ceiling beam, looking miserable. “Who have I offended? Your fighting style would kill an ordinary person!”
“Didn’t you ask about my age?” Qianbai Mei looked up, wearing a clean and neat red martial arts outfit. “I’m just answering you.”
Xu Yangui was stunned. He lowered his head and thought about the number of punches he had just received. His expression became a bit difficult. “You’re… only in your thirties?”
Not much older than him, yet already so accomplished? The jianghu often spoke of the Four Divine Beings of the Three Kingdoms, referring to those with extremely high martial arts achievements in the three kingdoms. He barely qualified as the most powerful in the Great Wei, but among the Four Divine Beings, Qianbai Mei was still considered supreme because this person would never die, hence called “The Immortal One.” Before he became famous, this person had already been roaming the jianghu for many years. He never expected him to be only a few years older.
This was too demoralizing!
Qianbai Mei looked at him for a while, then suddenly said, “Shen Zaiye sent you?”
“No,” Xu Yangui denied instinctively. “I just came to see how you were doing.”
With a light snort, Qianbai Mei said, “We’re doing very well. No need to worry.”
Taohua smiled and winked at him. Her master disliked people eavesdropping on his conversations the most. Anyone caught would be beaten half to death. He had already gotten off lightly, so why wasn’t he leaving quickly? Was he waiting for another beating?
Xu Yangui felt extremely wronged. He hadn’t even completed the task Shen Zaiye had given him.
What task? Is his life more important than the task?
“Alright,” Xu Yangui carefully landed on the ground and cupped his hands towards Qianbai Mei. “You two continue your chat. I’ll take my leave now.”
Qianbai Mei said unhappily, “Not fighting anymore?”
“I’ll learn from you another day,” Xu Yangui said while retreating. “It’s getting late. The guest room has been prepared. Please rest early.”
Guest room? What’s that? Qianbai Mei pouted. After watching him leave, he turned to look at Taohua. “Am I supposed to sleep in a guest room?”
“Well…” Taohua smiled ingratiatingly. “The Prime Minister’s mansion has its own rules. Besides, I’m already married. We can’t be like before. Master, please go rest with Qingtai. We’ll talk about everything tomorrow.”
“Fine,” After all the commotion for half the night, Qianbai Mei was also a bit tired. He wrapped his robe around himself and said, “We’ll have class early tomorrow morning, just like before. I’ll check if your skills have deteriorated.”
“…” Swallowing hard, Taohua nodded reluctantly. “Don’t worry, Master.”
Don’t worry about my foot! How long had it been since she practiced soul-capturing techniques? Wouldn’t she be scolded to death after this inspection? No, no, while there’s still time, she shouldn’t sleep tonight!
Having made up her mind, after seeing Qianbai Mei off, Taohua sat back on the bed and started cramming.
The soul-capturing technique, when used by women, was called the charm technique. In Qianbai Mei’s hands, it was a powerful tool for controlling people’s minds. Previously, he was confident in Taohua’s abilities, believing she could control any man she encountered, so he let her go while he stayed in Zhao to continue looking for an antidote.
Who knew this little one would be so disappointing?
Sighing, Qianbai Mei touched the sachet at his waist. He had only taken this one female disciple, how could she consume half of his life’s efforts?
Being in a foreign place, he hadn’t planned to sleep anyway, so he simply got up to meditate.
Jiang Taohua wasn’t sleeping either, trying hard to recall what her master had taught her before. As for Shen Zaiye in Linwu Court, he had been lying in bed for half an hour without being able to fall asleep.
He felt that the relationship between Jiang Taohua and her master wasn’t so simple. If they were ordinary master and disciple, how could the master be so protective? And the way he looked at Jiang Taohua…
That look was too familiar to him; he had seen it in Mu Wuyun’s eyes before. It made him feel just as uncomfortable as ever.
Even though they were master and disciples, didn’t that person have any scruples?
Remembering the tone Jiang Taohua used when mentioning her master before, he turned over and got up, lit a lamp, and called for Xu Yangui.
“How’s the situation at Zhengchun Pavilion?”
“I thought you didn’t care?” Xu Yangui pouted. “You weren’t planning to stop her from leaving, so why bother asking now?”
(End of Chapter)