"Daoist Xiao? She's been talking too much."
Lu Changsheng coughed lightly, his expression remaining perfectly composed.
Ling Zixiao covered her mouth with a smile, her eyes curved like crescent moons. "Lord, there's no use denying it. Daoist Xiao said that Fairy Qingyi's injuries were extrely grave — not just anyone could have saved her in that condition."
"Besides," she added, tilting her head slightly, "Fairy Qingyi is one of the most renowned beauties in the Jin Kingdom. Lord spending so much effort to rescue her... one really has to wonder."
"Zixiao." Lu Miaoge's voice was gentle but carried a faint note of warning.
Ling Zixiao imdiately straightened up, though the smile didn't entirely leave her face.
Lu Changsheng glanced at his wife beside him. Lu Miaoge's expression was calm, but her fingers had tightened almost imperceptibly around his hand.
He squeezed back gently.
"It was simply a matter of circumstance," he said, his tone unhurried. "Fairy Qingyi and I encountered each other during the events in the secret realm. Leaving soone to die when it was within my power to help — that's not sothing I'm capable of."
He paused, then added with a slight smile: "Besides, she's Senior Sister Xiyue's martial sister. Helping her was also helping our own people."
Lu Miaoge looked at him for a mont, then slowly exhaled and nodded. She said nothing more on the subject.
Bai Ling patted her own slightly rounded abdon and said cheerfully, "Lord is always like this. Kind-hearted to a fault."
"Ling'er." Lu Changsheng looked at her with warm eyes. "How have you been feeling?"
"Very well." Bai Ling smiled brightly. "The child has been very well-behaved. Sister Miaoge has been taking good care of ."
Lu Changsheng nodded, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the won gathered around him — Lu Miaoge's quiet steadiness, Bai Ling's warmth, Bing'er's gentle smile, Ling Zixiao's liveliness, Lu Miaoyun's lazy elegance, Qu Zhenzhen's bright curiosity.
After nearly a year away, facing danger after danger, this mont felt like surfacing from deep water.
This is what I'm protecting, he thought simply.
"Co, let's go inside," Lu Miaoge said softly, tugging at his sleeve. "You must be tired. I've already had the kitchen prepare your favorite dishes."
"Now that's what I've been missing," Lu Changsheng said with a genuine laugh.
The evening passed warmly.
The Mount Suru Cave Heaven glowed with the rich spiritual energy of its newly advanced Third Rank Spirit Vein. The air was cleaner, the light softer, the ambient spiritual pressure noticeably denser than before Lu Changsheng had left.
Over dinner, the won told him everything that had happened during his absence — the Spirit Vein's advancent, the progress of their cultivation, the small incidents and quiet days that ford the texture of life at Bi Lake Mountain.
Lu Changsheng listened to all of it with genuine attention, asking questions, laughing at the right monts, his posture relaxed in a way it had not been for the better part of a year.
Afterward, seated in the main hall with tea cooling in his hands, he turned his mind to more practical matters.
The gains from the Tianyuan Secret Realm were considerable. The Treasure Emperor Lotus. The Hundred Arts of Cultivation inheritance. The Tianyuan Scripture. The breakthroughs in his own cultivation. All of it needed to be properly organized and distributed.
There was also Chu Qingyi.
He did not think about her for long. That situation was what it was, and dwelling on it served no purpose. She had her path. He had his.
What mattered now was ho.
"Lord."
Ling Zixiao appeared at the doorway, leaning lightly against the fra. The playful energy of earlier had settled into sothing quieter.
"Daoist Xiao sent a ssage while you were at dinner," she said. "Senior Sister Xiyue says... Master Yun Wanshang is requesting your presence."
Lu Changsheng's hand stilled on the teacup.
He set it down slowly.
Yun Wanshang. Nascent Soul cultivator. Chu Qingyi's master. A woman whose opinion of him was, by all available evidence, sowhere between deep skepticism and outright irritation.
He was quiet for a mont.
Then he let out a short breath and stood up.
"Did she say when?"
"Tomorrow morning," Ling Zixiao replied. "Senior Sister Xiyue said... Master's tone was not particularly pleasant."
"When is it ever," Lu Changsheng murmured to himself.
He rolled his shoulders slightly, expression settling back into its usual composed ease.
Whatever Yun Wanshang wanted to say to him — whether it was a warning, a reprimand, or sothing else entirely — he would face it as he faced everything else.
Directly, without flinching, and with as much dignity as the situation allowed.
He turned to Ling Zixiao. "Tell Xiyue I'll be there at the appointed ti."
Ling Zixiao nodded, then tilted her head with a small smile. "Lord... try not to make Master Yun too angry, alright?"
Lu Changsheng gave her a look.
"No promises," he said.
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