"I long for that feeling from you, Master... It has remained unchanged for all these years! You clearly have feelings for me too!" Jingliu's eyes brimmed with tears.
Qi Zhimu's gaze turned cold, and the air pressure around him plummeted.
"You felt wrong."
That icy gaze, so different from the one moments ago, deeply stung Jingliu's heart.
She reached out with a trembling hand, wanting to touch his cheek, her voice broken.
"Master... why has the softest place in your heart never had room for me?"
"In your heart, what exactly am I to you?"
Qi Zhimu avoided her hand, his words like a sentence being passed.
"Only master and disciple, nothing more."
He took two steps back, widening the distance between them.
"Do not remain obstinate, or else—I will sever our bond as master and disciple and we shall become strangers from now on."
These words were sharper than any divine weapon in the world, completely piercing through Jingliu's heart.
Her mind was in a state of chaos.
Only master and disciple... if you remain obstinate, the bond will be severed... strangers from now on... these words buzzed in her ears, draining all the strength from her body. She stood dazed in the water, at a loss.
Qi Zhimu saw this and felt a pang of pity, but he didn't let it show in the slightest.
Yet, the finality on the tip of his tongue ultimately left her a glimmer of hope.
"It has been centuries, and that fellow Hoolay is still active in the galaxy. You claim to love me? Then bring back Hoolay's head and surpass me before we speak further."
With that, he turned away and left.
The space returned to silence, save for the soft sound of dripping water.
Jingliu lowered her head and looked at her own reflection in the water.
Her fingernails dug deep into her palms, the pain reminding her that this was not a dream.
Heh... Master, you are so cruel... She slowly raised her hand to caress the corner of her lips that had been kissed, her neck, and the despair in her eyes gradually solidified into a pool of bottomless stagnant water.
Why?
Why, even at this stage, do you still push me away?
Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold can easily obtain your tenderness and your closeness.
While I, offering my entire heart and soul, only receive a threat to sever our relationship... Is it because I am not good enough?
No.
It is because Master is trapped by the so-called status of master and disciple; he cares too much about those pointless worldly conventions.
Jingliu slowly submerged her entire body into the water, leaving only a pair of crimson pupils visible.
Amidst the swirling mist, an eerie light flickered deep within her pupils.
It's okay... as long as our relationship isn't severed... as long as I can still stay by Master's side.
I will be good... I will hide this love, hide it in a place where even you cannot see it... I will endure, endure until I surpass you... until the day you can no longer use the words 'master and disciple' to reject me.
Endure until... the day only the two of us are left in this world.
"Master..."
Jingliu's voice carried a spine-chilling, morbid obsession that had accumulated for nearly a thousand years.
She savored the contact from just now—his body temperature, his breath, the suppressed yet real desire... It doesn't matter if your words are insincere, Master... Is it not just killing Hoolay? I will kill him.
Never mind one; as long as I can gain Master's recognition, I can kill a hundred or a thousand Hoolays!
Is it not just surpassing you? I will surpass you.
"You will be mine sooner or later... You can only be mine."
Saying it can only be master and disciple, saying it was just the alcohol—the body doesn't lie.
Making excuses using the influence of alcohol, little did he know that this sentence itself was the biggest flaw.
If it were the alcohol acting up, why didn't he go to Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold, but instead came specifically to her?
They had long since retired and rarely left the Qingxin Residence.
Yet Master skipped over them, the ones closest to him who had accompanied him the longest. What does that signify?
It signifies that when Master's consciousness was clouded, the person he wanted most was her, Jingliu!
"I will wait for you, Master, forever and ever and ever and ever and ever... Heh... Hahahaha..."
Jingliu chuckled low, the curve slowly rising at the corner of her mouth carrying a faint trace of madness and insanity, yet she was frighteningly lucid.
Master says it's not okay now probably because she hasn't met his requirements yet.
Therefore, as long as she meets the requirements, all of Master's duplicitous endurance can be released.
And the void she had felt all these years will be completely filled.
The beautiful face reflected on the water was filled with a chilling, morbid obsession... That night.
Qi Zhimu, under the pretext of traveling to Pier Point for trade, obtained a long-distance travel permit from the Sky-Faring Commission with over a hundred jars of plum blossom brew and left the Luofu with Clear Cold.
Jingliu saw this but didn't care, her heart becoming even more convinced of a certain fact... Master is a liar.
What trade? It was just an excuse to avoid her.
No matter.
In any case, she was also about to leave the Luofu and rejoin the Expeditionary Team.
The current Jingliu desired to decapitate Hoolay more than ever before.
Centuries have passed, and this new Borisin war leader has remained active under the surveillance of the Divination Commissions of various Xianzhou ships, never having been captured or killed.
Looking at the entire history of the Borisin race, he could be considered outstanding.
Of course, Jingliu didn't think the opponent was too cunning; she only felt that the gap between herself and Master was still very large.
The previous war leader, Ussa, was equally difficult to deal with, yet wasn't he also slain by Master's sword?
If the Divination Commission's divinations were truly accurate in everything, how could the Xianzhou have faced so many calamities and countless sacrifices?
Thus, Jingliu had always viewed the results of divinations as exhaustive answers; she did not blindly believe in or rely on them.
This Hunt expedition lasted for nearly a year.
By the time she returned, Qi Zhimu had already returned to the Luofu from Pier Point.
He had indeed closed the deal, selling the hundred jars of plum blossom brew for a high price.
When master and disciple reunited, the distance between them was restrained just right.
In Jingliu's eyes, there were no longer the intense emotions from before their parting, only the respect of a disciple for her master; she appeared perfectly normal.
Qi Zhimu would show even less abnormality, acting as if that accident had never happened.
Only a certain youth was both happy and melancholy.
He was happy because his strict master had been gone for nearly a year, and melancholy because his gentle Grandmaster had been away for half a year.
Over the past six months, he had followed the plan left by his Grandmaster step by step, optimizing his training himself, and even received a compliment that he had done well.
Now that Jingliu had returned, Jing Yuan excitedly told her about this experience.
She stood with her back to the youth, chuckling softly.
A compliment... Heh... She didn't put any more pressure on Jing Yuan.
In her mind, it was enough for Master to have her as his only disciple; after all... Master had explained why he was lenient toward Jing Yuan.
For the next dozen or so years, there were no major disturbances.
Jing Yuan grew very quickly, passed the adulthood exam, joined the Cloud Knights, and began participating in Hunt expeditions.
Ever since Jingliu was promoted to Vanguard years ago, she had known a fact: a Vanguard only needed to submit an application to be eligible to take inexperienced recruits into battle.
There was no need at all to follow the rules Qi Zhimu had mentioned back then.
Master had only said that on purpose because his requirements for her were extremely high...