Chapter 68
Chapter 68
Ye Piaoling hung her head and said nothing.
Gu Liuxian roared in fury, “I can say it a hundred times and you still act like you can’t hear me. How did my Tianwen Sect end up taking in a disciple like you?!”
“Just looking at you makes me angry!”
With that, he turned to Hua Wuhuang, his tone softening ever so slightly.
“And you. What is going on with you? Are you picking up bad habits too?”
Hua Wuhuang remained silent.
Gu Liuxian rebuked them sharply, “The two of you are both Immortal Pulse possessors, so what? Does having an Immortal Pulse make you so impressive? Does it mean you can disrespect your elders and ignore sect rules?”
“If there is a next time, neither of you needs to cultivate under the elders anymore. You can go straight to the back mountain and sweep the grounds! Do you hear me?”
The two of them answered in low voices, “We hear you.”
Gu Liuxian snapped, “Louder! I can’t hear you!”
Seeing this, Ye Piaoling could not help whispering to Hua Wuhuang under her breath, “Is Grandmaster pretending he can’t hear us, or is he really getting old and hard of hearing?”
“Who are you calling hard of hearing?!”
Gu Liuxian barked, glaring viciously at Ye Piaoling.
Ye Piaoling jumped in fright.
“Grandmaster, you can hear?”
“This old man is not deaf yet!”
Gu Liuxian was so furious that he cursed, “No respect for your elders! Reckless and willful! Incorrigible no matter how many times you’re taught! You will be punished by sweeping the library for one month. Every day after classes end, you will go sweep it. You are not allowed to go home until you finish!”
Ye Piaoling looked as if she were about to cry. “…”
The Tianwen Sect’s library was four stories tall and magnificent in scale. It housed tens of thousands of books, and even a simple cleaning would take an hour!
Inside the lecture hall, the disciples all peered curiously toward the entrance. Seeing the Grandmaster scolding Hua Wuhuang and Ye Piaoling, and even punishing Ye Piaoling with a month of sweeping the library, many of them secretly gloated.
Xiao Mei was especially delighted.
Xiao Chengxu was still at home recovering from his injuries, and Xiao Mei had also requested leave from the sect to keep him company at the manor for a few days. She had only just returned today and had already run into such good news.
Xiao Mei could not help revealing a smug smile.
Ye Piaoling, how does it feel? There will always be someone who can put you in your place!
Over on Gu Liuxian’s side, he flicked his sleeve and was about to leave.
Then he suddenly remembered something and turned back to Hua Wuhuang. “Oh, there is one more thing. Elder Lu has already returned and will be teaching you swordsmanship. You know that, don’t you?”
Of all the things he could bring up, he had to bring up that.
Hua Wuhuang gave an extremely reluctant murmur of acknowledgment.
Gu Liuxian lowered his voice and instructed, “I know you and he have an engagement, but this is the Tianwen Sect. Here, there are only masters and disciples, not some Marquis and Princess, and certainly no romantic entanglements between a man and a woman! Once you leave the gates of the Tianwen Sect, no one will care how the two of you whisper sweet nothings under the moon and flowers. But within the sect, you must observe propriety and respect the rules!”
Hua Wuhuang: “…”
Gu Liuxian continued, “I have already emphasized this matter to Elder Lu. He must abide by the ethics of a teacher and must not exchange flirtatious glances with you in class. The same goes for you. You must respect your teacher and the Dao. Do not behave ambiguously with him in public and corrupt the sect’s reputation.”
As Hua Wuhuang listened, his expression darkened.
Yesterday’s public disturbance had clearly been about breaking off the engagement, yet somehow it had turned into a display of affection. The entire city now knew how considerate Marquis Lu was toward the Princess, and how romantically he had held the Princess while spinning down from the rooftop…
Gu Liuxian had surely heard something about it too. Afraid that the two of them might start flirting in public again and affect the other disciples’ cultivation, he had specially come over to remind them.
Hua Wuhuang felt utterly unwell.
Forcibly suppressing all negative emotions, Hua Wuhuang answered in a low voice, “This disciple obeys.”
Gu Liuxian nodded, finally reassured enough to leave.
Before he went, he shot Ye Piaoling one last glare for good measure.
“One of these days, these unfilial disciples will be the death of me…”
Gu Liuxian left with a face full of indignation, grumbling curses all the way.
After the Grandmaster was gone, Ye Piaoling comforted Hua Wuhuang. “Don’t take it to heart. Grandmaster is just that long-winded.”
Hua Wuhuang drew in a deep breath.
Next came sword practice.
Even if every fiber of his being resisted, he still had to face Lu Yin.
Life was too hard!!!
Once theory class ended, Ye Piaoling and Hua Wuhuang’s punishment of standing in place ended as well.
The disciples filed out of the lecture hall and headed for the training ground where they practiced the sword.
Lu Yin and several assistant cultivators had already arrived.
Lu Yin was still dressed in a wide-sleeved green robe. The fabric was noticeably heavier than yesterday’s, lending him a measure of solemn dignity befitting a teacher.
The disciples whispered among themselves.
“Look, that’s Elder Lu, Hua Wuhuang’s fiancé!”
“I heard Hua Wuhuang had already fallen for someone else and got involved with some Young Master Wang. Yesterday, Elder Lu caught them red-handed… and guess what? Elder Lu sent Young Master Wang flying with a single move, then publicly confessed his love to Hua Wuhuang!”
“Wow! So devoted, so domineering!!”
The disciples were all terribly excited, their gazes darting back and forth between Lu Yin and Hua Wuhuang, hoping to catch some flirtatious glances or ambiguous sparks between them.
And yet both of them looked perfectly calm, strictly abiding by the sect rules, as if they did not know each other at all.
Everyone was inevitably a little disappointed.
They had thought there would at least be some drama to watch.
Practice began. Following instructions, the disciples arranged themselves into a sword formation and stood with swords in hand.
Lu Yin walked past the disciples one by one, correcting the way they held their swords.
Hua Wuhuang had learned swordsmanship long ago, so there was nothing to fault in his stance. When Lu Yin passed by him, he merely gave an approving glance and did not stop at all.
Hua Wuhuang let out a faint sigh of relief.
Ye Piaoling saw this, and her impression of Lu Yin improved quite a bit.
Although this Elder Lu was somewhat odd, he was still proper when it was time to be proper. He was not some crazed, lustful drunkard.
Just as she was thinking that…
Lu Yin suddenly stopped in front of her and stared at her with a frown.
Ye Piaoling: “…”
What are you looking at???
Lu Yin suddenly raised his hand, pinched the blade of the sword in her hand, and said in a low voice only the two of them could hear,
“Young Master Wang.”
The corner of Ye Piaoling’s mouth twitched.
This lousy disguise technique had actually been seen through by Lu Yin!
She raised her head.
Lu Yin’s eyes were complicated. She could not tell whether it was mockery or killing intent.
Either way, it was not friendly.
Ye Piaoling’s heart trembled, and she smiled. “Greetings, Elder Lu! I am Ye Piaoling, the Eldest Daughter of the Ye Family. What did Elder Lu just say? I didn’t hear clearly.”
Lu Yin raised an eyebrow and said, “I said that, in the prime of your life, you should cherish it.”
He bit down especially hard on the words “cherish it.”
Listening to him, Ye Piaoling seemed to feel once more that cool, shivering sensation of sword energy passing through her crotch.
If she had really been a man, that one sword strike would probably have turned her into a eunuch…
He was really freaking not someone to mess with!
Ye Piaoling immediately nodded like a chicken pecking at grain. “Thank you for your teaching, Elder Lu. This disciple will definitely keep it in mind!”
Having successfully delivered his threat, Lu Yin gave a cold laugh before finally turning and leaving.
Ye Piaoling could not help worrying for Hua Wuhuang.
Lu Yin only thought Hua Wuhuang was a woman and showered him with all kinds of domineering affection…
If he found out his fiancée was actually a man, what exactly would he do?
…
After the day’s cultivation ended, Ye Piaoling stood beneath the library, holding a broom.
Hua Wuhuang had said he would help her sweep, but she refused.
She told Hua Wuhuang he should hurry back and write both of their assignments instead…
Ye Piaoling lifted her head to look up at the tall building and took a deep breath.
Suddenly, a strangely mocking laugh came from behind her.
“Oh my! This library looks so tall and grand. It must be so hard to sweep!”