Snowflakes drifted down.
Pei Yuhang sat alone in the pavilion, his figure looking sowhat lonely from behind.
A thin layer of powdered snow had collected on the stone table. His long, slender fingers slowly caressed the Silver Ring engraved with the character "Lin," as if he were lost in thoughts of soone.
A silver-haired young woman approached, walking through the snow. Her light blue skirt brushed against the drifts, making a soft rustling sound.
She hesitated for a mont as she looked at her master's back, but finally placed a hand on Pei Yuhang's shoulder and spoke softly.
"Master, Sister Lin has left, but you still have Yueqiu with you. Yueqiu will never leave."
Her voice was comforting, but it also held a suppressed note of delight.
'Lin Qianyan was too much of a threat—greater than anyone else. As long as she was around, no one could truly enter Master's heart.'
'It's good that she's gone. It's for the best... I hope she never cos back.'
'It's selfish and narrow-minded to think this way, but only with Lin Qianyan gone would that position closest to Master be vacant.'
Qing Yueqiu knew she wanted to take her place.
Pei Yuhang turned to look at his first disciple.
Her silver hair, which she usually wore loose, was now coiled up and secured with an elegant jade hairpin set at an angle. The bun was gentle yet dignified, accentuating the pale white of her slender neck.
Her lake-blue dress was perfectly tailored, its hem falling like still water. The cuffs were embroidered with fine cloud patterns, and a sash was tied lightly at her waist, outlining a graceful, otherworldly aura.
This dignified and elegant style was, without a doubt, copied from Qianqian.
Pei Yuhang smiled helplessly.
"Yueqiu, you don't need to dress like Qianqian to comfort . I don't bla her for leaving the Dao Sect. She's the Saintess of Jasper Pool; she's supposed to go back. Staying here with every day would only delay more important matters."
"Just be yourself."
Hearing the words "dress like Qianqian," Qing Yueqiu pressed her lips together, a flicker of disappointnt crossing her crimson eyes.
"Master... are you saying you don't think I look good dressed like this?"
"I didn't say your clothes aren't beautiful..."
Seeing tears welling up in Yueqiu's eyes, Pei Yuhang simply pulled her into his arms.
"Yueqiu, you're one of a kind in my heart. Stop comparing yourself to Qianqian..."
Qing Yueqiu didn't speak, rely leaning quietly in her master's embrace.
In the past, hearing such tender words from her master would have made her ecstatic.
But now... he was telling her to let go of that inexplicable desire to compete.
'But I just can't let it go.'
Just then, a grave note in Pei Yuhang's voice snapped Qing Yueqiu back to attention.
"Yueqiu, why is the Curse Seal on the back of your neck gone?"
The Curse Seal?
Qing Yueqiu froze for a mont.
The thing that had once brought her imnse pain hadn't acted up in the months since they returned from the Northern Desert and her master had reinforced her with the Golden Sun Divine Seal. The young woman had almost forgotten she was even cursed.
She reached up to touch the back of her neck. All she felt was the creamy, silky-smooth texture of her own skin.
'But this isn't right.'
In the past, the spot branded with Ji Shenyun's curse had always been cold and stiff to the touch.
The Curse Seal... it was really gone!
Qing Yueqiu looked at her master in alarm, clutching the corner of his sleeve like a helpless child.
The pain of the curse Ji Shenyun had inflicted upon her was still fresh in her mind.
The tornt of that restriction, which forbade her from even fantasizing about or getting close to her master; the agony of being unable to stop the murderous intent that made her want to draw her sword against the one she loved most.
She absolutely did not want to experience that a second ti.
Sensing his first disciple's panic, Pei Yuhang patiently soothed the smooth skin of her back.
"Yueqiu, don't panic. Let check it again for you."
"Mm..."
Qing Yueqiu obediently turned around, presenting her back to Pei Yuhang.
She felt her master's large hand slowly pull back the collar of her dress. A cool breeze touched her beautiful back, sending a shiver through her body.
Fortunately, as Pei Yuhang's fingertips gently brushed against her skin, Qing Yueqiu no longer felt the cold. Instead, her body began to grow warm.
She grew a little restless, squirming in her master's arms, but Pei Yuhang quickly stopped her. "Yueqiu, I'm trying to examine you. Don't move."
"...Oh."
Pei Yuhang looked at the beautiful, jade-like skin before him without a single impure thought. His expression was grave as he traced his fingertips over the area where the half-butterfly-wing-shaped Curse Seal should have been.
But now, that patch of skin was as flawless as the rest, with no trace of the curse's scar.
"My Golden Sun Divine Seal hasn't weakened, so why did the Curse Seal just vanish without a sound? Just the other day at the Cold Spring, I could still see it..."
"Yueqiu, are you feeling anything unusual in your body right now?"
"I don't feel anything, Master."
"Are you sure there's nothing different about your body at all?"
Anything different...
Qing Yueqiu paused, then subconsciously touched her lower abdon.
But then, she smiled in relief as her tense heart relaxed.
'The baby started growing not long after I returned from the Northern Desert.'
'But the Curse Seal only disappeared in the last few days.'
'There's a gap of several months between the two events, so they shouldn't be strongly related.'
'It's just that... sothing's happened to ... but I don't want to tell Master just yet.'
'I'll wait a bit longer. When my belly gets bigger, I'll give him a surprise.'
'But why hasn't the baby grown at all, even after nearly half a year?'
Qing Yueqiu was puzzled, but she set the doubt aside for the mont and shook her head at Pei Yuhang, her tone more certain.
"Master, my body hasn't changed at all compared to before."
"No changes...?"
Pei Yuhang sighed, his worries not assuaged in the slightest.
Suddenly, Yueqiu took his hand.
The silver-haired girl's crimson eyes shimred shyly as she whispered to him:
"Master... why don't you... give my body a more thorough examination?"
The words had barely left her lips when Pei Yuhang rapped her sharply on the forehead.
"Ngh..."
Qing Yueqiu whimpered and covered her forehead, her gaze toward Pei Yuhang filled with both affection and a hint of grievance.
"You little minx, don't be so lewd... This is a serious matter!"
Chastised by Pei Yuhang, Qing Yueqiu didn't dare say anything more.
"I'll be checking on you frequently during this ti. If anything feels strange, you must tell ."
Pei Yuhang told her seriously.
Qing Yueqiu felt her master's long-absent concern, and her beautiful crimson eyes lit up. She nodded vigorously.
This was what she wanted: her master's ticulous care and gentleness!
'If I can have this, then maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing even if sothing really is wrong with .'
She thought with a twisted sort of logic.
After sending Qing Yueqiu off, Pei Yuhang let out a soft sigh.
'I just saw Qianqian off, and now sothing's happened with Yueqiu.'
'I really can't catch a break.'
Moreover, he had expended a trendous amount of effort just to barely suppress the Curse Seal that so unknown ancient being had placed on Yueqiu.
How could it have just vanished for no reason today?
A sense of foreboding rose instinctively in Pei Yuhang's heart.
'If this is sothing I can't resolve...'
'...then the only one who might be able to is the worldly Lu Ruoxi, who's familiar with pharmacology and Curse Techniques.'
But given their current relationship, Pei Yuhang wouldn't go to her unless it was an absolute last resort.
At the thought of that woman's na, Pei Yuhang's gaze fell, and he sighed once more.
'Senior Sister...'
'If Qianqian hadn't seen through to your true nature back then, would we still be on good terms now, as close as family?'
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