When Gu Baiqing realized this, he practically wanted to fiercely beat himself up, then fiercely beat Mo Xuanli to death.
How could he allow that little demon dog to do this… to go to such an extent.
The discomfort between his legs constantly reminded him of the previous madness, making Gu Baiqing so ashamed he wished he could vanish on the spot.
Clearly knowing this was Mo Xuanli in a state of loss of control, why did he still… give in?
His already chaotic emotions became even more tangled.
It was simply a complete mess, so annoying. He didn’t want to think about it anymore!
And now Mo Xuanli had left behind such a rotten mess for him to clean up. Gu Baiqing was so angry he was practically seeing red from all seven orifices. It was like someone who had been forced ended up having to turn around and take care of the tyrant afterward, simply intolerable by heavenly justice.
He quickly cast spells to clean both of them up, and then still had to carry Mo Xuanli on his back to escape from here.
The alchemy room was empty at this time. Luckily, when Mo Xuanli broke the formation earlier, he had already told him how to open the door; otherwise, he really would have had to wait here for Mo Xuanli to wake up.
Gu Baiqing carried Mo Xuanli up to the first floor. The sudden sunlight made Gu Baiqing’s face turn green, it was already morning.
He returned to the room at lightning speed. His legs were still weak, yet he still ended up alerting Ji Chuling and Li Xiuran, who had already returned and were nearby.
The two exchanged suspicious glances. Worried that Mo Xuanli still hadn’t come back, they ran over to knock on the door next door.
Gu Baiqing had just put the person back on the bed when he heard the knock. Startled, he reflexively jumped onto the bed and pulled the blanket over the two of them.
Only after reacting did he realize he had done something stupid, and he couldn’t help but curse the little Mo-dog lying beside him, sleeping without any awareness.
“Who is it?” Gu Baiqing spoke, only to be startled by his own hoarse, muffled voice.
Outside, it indeed fell into a strange silence.
“Big Brother Bai, are you okay? Why does your voice sound like…”
Gu Baiqing hurriedly coughed a couple of times and said, “Oh, I just woke up. Feels like I might have caught a bit of a chill, and I’m still kind of drowsy. My clothes aren’t in order right now, so I won’t open the door. Did you need something?”
“It’s nothing, just asking if Big Brother Mo has come back?” Ji Chuling asked.
Gu Baiqing was about to answer, but then paused. They had acted together; there might have been some arrangement. If he said Mo Xuanli was here sleeping, the two would definitely come in to check. With Mo Xuanli unconscious, that would be very hard to explain. He could only say, “No. After going out last night, it seems he hasn’t come back.”
“All right then. Big Brother Bai, have a good rest. Call us if you need anything.”
“Mm.” Gu Baiqing responded. Suddenly thinking of something, he added, “Oh right, if you have time, please go check on Miss Lou. Yesterday she was so heartbroken, I don’t know if anything happened to her.”
“Okay, don’t worry.” Ji Chuling agreed and left.
Gu Baiqing let out a sigh of relief. Turning his head to look at the person sleeping soundly beside him, anger flared up again. He might as well strike him with lightning a few times to vent his frustration.
Even if he couldn’t actually do it, just thinking about it to relieve some anger would do. But as he thought about it, Gu Baiqing suddenly remembered something. He searched all over himself and finally found the ring hanging on a chain inside his storage pouch.
Gu Baiqing froze for a moment and sighed softly, then quietly put it back onto someone.
“You cherish this so much, do you like me? You really… can you tell the difference?” Gu Baiqing murmured as he worked.
Looking up, that face was pure and well-behaved, looking completely harmless. It truly made it hard to imagine that when he lost control and became demonized, he could be so fierce. If Gu Baiqing hadn’t grabbed the bookshelf with all his strength back then, he really didn’t know what kind of commotion would have been caused, probably even that black-iron bookshelf wouldn’t have held up.
He… was a man.
And also a disciple he had taught and raised for a long time.
A disciple he had always regarded as a junior, as a younger brother, wanting to cherish and dote on, to protect and pity.
Had he really… developed other kinds of feelings for him?
Was it genuine liking, or… a selfish, twisted possessiveness born because the disciple no longer clung to him? Was all that compliance merely an attempt to keep the disciple from leaving?
It was the first time Gu Baiqing had felt like this, and he truly couldn’t tell.
If this were in his modern world, if he couldn’t tell, then he just wouldn’t, he wouldn’t need to think about such complicated issues. He could just try dating first; maybe then it would become clear. If it worked, they’d be together; if not, then forget it. Or perhaps the feelings would gradually blend together.
But now, Gu Baiqing couldn’t make up his mind.
It wasn’t that he was cowardly or afraid to try. It was… after all, this was Mo Xuanli, the Mo Xuanli who had endured all the suffering in the world.
He had wholeheartedly wanted to create the brightest, most beautiful future for him, to make up for everything that should have belonged to this diligent, hardworking, kind child in this Heaven-Dao world.
And now he wanted to pull him onto a path that, aside from bloodline, immortals and demons, was the most talked-about, most criticized by others? He himself didn’t care, but what about Mo Xuanli, who had already lived a shattered life and had always yearned to be properly seen and acknowledged by everyone, to blend in among them? He would endure and accept everything, wouldn’t he?
What’s more, he still didn’t know what Mo Xuanli was thinking now.
But he knew one thing: as long as he said he wanted him, even if right now he didn’t yet know whether he was truly moved by “Young Master Bai,” his disciple would cast everything aside and obediently comply with all his requests.
But that wasn’t what Gu Baiqing hoped for.
They were like standing at opposite ends of a maze, clearly knowing the other was on the opposite side, yet not knowing which path would allow them to meet in the middle.
Gu Baiqing was confused about his own feelings, and he believed Mo Xuanli was also perplexed about his own situation.
But no matter what, he wanted to cherish Mo Xuanli well and hoped to give him the most beautiful things in the world. As long as he was truly happy and fulfilled, that would be enough.
“You really are… giving me a headache.”
By noon, the person on the bed finally stirred.
The moment Mo Xuanli opened his eyes, his whole being felt dazed, dreamlike, as if he couldn’t tell dream from reality.
This was no longer the secret chamber… it was a bed. He had never slept on it, but he remembered that when they had just moved in, it was he who had arranged the bedding according to his Master’s preferences.
Had he come back? Or was everything just a dream?
No… all those scenes were far too real. Just thinking about them made his entire body heat up again. His hands still retained the sensation, his body still lingered in the exhilaration of bullying that person, how could it possibly be a dream.
But… he had actually done something so bold to his Master. The problem was that Master had even allowed him to do it. This was simply unbelievable, so unbelievable that even in a dream, it felt like everything could only be fake.
If Master allowed him to treat him like that, wouldn’t that mean that Master actually wasn’t completely without feelings for him? It was impossible for a master to go this far for a disciple, there must be something different there.
Thinking this way, Mo Xuanli’s heart instead panicked. If it was fake, then that tiny bit of hope he had finally managed to stir up in his heart… Mo Xuanli suddenly sat up, something on his chest swaying. He lowered his head to look, it was the ring.
“You’re awake?”
A calm voice came from the side.
Mo Xuanli turned his head to look over, only to see that “Young Master Bai” was calmly drinking tea, his face composed. When he looked over, there was no ripple in his gaze, as if nothing at all had happened.
Mo Xuanli’s throat tightened, and he instantly felt as though a beautiful dream was about to shatter.
“You remember suddenly breaking through your cultivation while breaking the formation, don’t you? After that, it should have been successful, but you suddenly fainted, and then later…”
“I remember!” Mo Xuanli suddenly spoke.
Gu Baiqing’s heart jolted, his hand almost unable to hold the teacup steady.
No way, didn’t Mo Xuanli always lose his memory after losing control? What did he remember? He wouldn’t remember…
Gu Baiqing’s heart instantly leapt into his throat. He felt that they absolutely should not be facing this issue right now, doing so would only throw everything into chaos.
But in the next moment, Mo Xuanli had already jumped out of bed and quickly walked up to Gu Baiqing, urgently wanting to prove something.
Gu Baiqing stared at him blankly. The aggressive pressure nearly forced out his instinct to flee.
“Remember… what?”
Mo Xuanli’s impulsive heart wavered at this moment, suddenly uncertain. He cautiously probed, “What do you think I remember?”
Gu Baiqing’s gaze flickered slightly. Suppressing the unease in his heart, he turned his head and continued drinking tea. “You weren’t quite right midway. How would I know when you started losing consciousness?”
Mo Xuanli’s whole body shook. He didn’t pay attention to what Gu Baiqing was saying. Instead, when Gu Baiqing turned his head to drink tea, he clearly saw a vivid red bite mark left behind his fair ear.
He remembered, it wasn’t just there. At that time, Master’s clothes had already slipped down, basically hanging around his waist.
So behind Master’s ear, on his neck, shoulders, and back, every place where plum blossoms had bloomed, he had left bite marks.
Every time Master felt pain, his legs would tense up a little, and he would feel a bit better.
So he had wickedly bullied Master, until Master turned his head and silently accused him with those moist eyes, until he was kissed again into closing his eyes, no longer daring even to glare, the tears at the corners of his eyes all swept away by him.
Recalling all of this, faced with the evidence, Mo Xuanli’s heart shook violently.
It was real… everything that had happened last night in that secret chamber was real.
He really had committed a great act of defiance and bullied his Master.
And Master had indulged his sins.
Mo Xuanli’s heart was about to leap out of his chest. He wished he could grab Master right now and confess the love buried deep in his heart.
But the current Mo Xuanli was no longer under demonic influence, he was still that restrained, suppressed, well-behaved disciple. His first thought was to take Master’s feelings into consideration.
Master yielding himself to him did not mean accepting him. He still remembered Master saying no.
Coupled with his current reaction.
But clearly things had already gone this far, why was Master still avoiding him? Did he have him in his heart or not? Was he still supposed to wait? Wait for what?
Mo Xuanli felt like he was going insane even without falling into demonic possession.
But no… he couldn’t take advantage and still pretend to be pitiful. It was he who had bullied Master, he who had taken all the advantage, he couldn’t go on…
He summoned almost one hundred and twenty thousand percent of caution, gritted his teeth, and in the end was still afraid that taking another step would push everything into an irretrievable situation. So he suppressed all of his impulses, as if forging iron chains from the hardest metal to lock down his nerves that were about to snap, and stepped back.
“It’s just that I seem to have lost control. I… I don’t remember anything. Did I cause you trouble?” Mo Xuanli’s voice softened a lot, like a dejected stray dog with its head lowered.
Gu Baiqing immediately let out a sigh of relief. He guessed that Mo Xuanli had probably been worried that his demonization had been discovered, which was why he had nervously tested him just now.
“No. You fainted very quickly. It was just that later, the Valley Master and Lou Xuan came back.”
“What? They came back?” Mo Xuanli’s memory was a bit hazy. It seemed… it did feel like people had been talking the whole time. But back then, he had been in an almost half-uncontrolled state and couldn’t remember who was saying what, his mind had been filled only with the person in front of him.
Hearing him say this, Gu Baiqing became even more convinced that he didn’t remember.
But he also regretted it, having said that, how was he supposed to explain how they escaped safely?
After thinking about it, he could only push everything onto this person who remembered nothing.
“I had no choice but to take you and hide. Luckily, you still had a bit of awareness and used some kind of barrier, so they didn’t discover us… After they left, I brought you back while you were unconscious. Oh, right, Miss Ji came looking for you just now, but what we encountered in the secret chamber last night wasn’t convenient to talk about, so I lied and told them you hadn’t come back yet. Since you’re fine now, hurry and go find them.”
Gu Baiqing wanted Mo Xuanli to leave as soon as he finished speaking. Mo Xuanli’s presence right now was far too strong, he felt extremely uncomfortable. How was he supposed to calmly think things through like this?
But Mo Xuanli strangely quieted down. His gaze grew deep and shadowy, as if trying to pierce through Gu Baiqing’s soul. Then he actually sat down, and with a cautious expression, asked, “When did we come back?”
Gu Baiqing panicked and blurted out directly, “Morning.”
“Then… does that mean the Valley Master and Lou Xuan stayed in the secret chamber for a long time as well?”
“No… no.” Who knows when they left? “They left early, but to be cautious I still waited for a while before coming out.”
Mo Xuanli added, “Then they stayed there for quite some time.”
Yes, yes, no need for you to keep reminding me. You little demon dog, when you were doing that kind of thing, those two were right nearby. They probably would never have imagined that there was still someone in their secret chamber behaving so improperly. If they knew, they’d probably vomit blood.
“Then… what did they talk about? You should have heard it all, right? Tell me about it,” Mo Xuanli said slowly.
Gu Baiqing’s mind went blank, and for a moment he didn’t know how to answer. Back then they were… how could he possibly… wait, he seemed to remember some of it.
Gu Baiqing was like a criminal under interrogation, being seized by Mo Xuanli and questioned bit by bit, drawing out information that had been unconsciously absorbed by his brain and hidden deep in his memory.
With every question, Gu Baiqing’s face reddened a little more.
Mo Xuanli asked casually, but his eyes were fixed the entire time on Gu Baiqing’s face.
That’s right, he had taken a step back and hadn’t pressed closer.
But he had no intention of letting his Master retreat.
He wanted him to relive over and over everything they did there, until those memories were carved into his Master’s soul, so that he would never be able to forget what he had done with his own disciple.
That way, would you be able to like me sooner?
Next time, it couldn’t just be something so shallow. If Master still indulged him, even if he said no at the end, then he could only commit the crime of violating one’s master and betraying one’s ancestors.
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