Chà Chà Novel

His disciples were both adults now. As their master, he ought to start giving some thought to finding suitable marriage partners for them.

Yuqing Shrine stood in the rear mountains of the Xianyue Sect, a place few people visited. The entrance to the secret realm lay right beside it.

For now, however, the realm remained closed, leaving only a broad stretch of barren ground around them.

The shrine contained two small, tiled-roof rooms. Apparently, disciples of the Xianyue Sect were only sent here to reflect in seclusion when they committed serious offenses.

Naturally, the accommodation was nothing impressive: just a simple little bed and a table with chairs.

Lin Huaiqing took one room, while Qin Du and Mu Yunting shared the other.

The two promptly began fighting over who would take the bed and who would sleep on the floor.

Lin Huaiqing had long since grown accustomed to this sort of “friendly exchange” between the fellow disciples.

But hearing them squabble like children over a single bed, getting thoroughly worked up, he finally lost patience and offered a solution.

“Stop fighting. Why don’t you both sleep on the bed?”

Qin Du: “…”

Mu Yunting: “…”

Looking at the little bed, barely wider than a single person, both fell into contemplation.

Were they really supposed to share a bed with their sworn enemy?!

Qin Du was the first to speak.

“Fine by me! I’m not sleeping on the floor! If someone can’t stand it, he can take the floor himself!”

Provoked, Mu Yunting refused to yield.

“Why should I sleep on the floor? I’m taking the bed too!”

“All right, all right. You can both have the bed. It’s getting late. I’m going back to my room.”

Lin Huaiqing yawned.

At last, that dispute was settled. He needed an early night.

Returning to his room alone, he called up the system.

Only then did he learn that the body’s original owner and Yin Shuangyue had shared a somewhat ambiguous relationship.

They had been friends for years. Lin Huaiqing had never pursued women, and Yin Shuangyue was his only female friend.

Before he lost his sight, she had confessed her feelings to him. He had not accepted them—he had simply flown away on his sword.

Yin Shuangyue assumed he was too aloof and proud to consider her worthy. After that, she stopped contacting him.

Lin Huaiqing, meanwhile, felt only friendship for her but had no idea how to turn her down gently. Ever since that day, the misunderstanding had lingered between them.

After hearing the story, Lin Huaiqing drew a deep breath.

These cultivators really were hopelessly out of touch with ordinary human affairs.

If he wasn’t interested, why not just say so? Clear things up, and they could still be friends.

No wonder Yin Shuangyue had seemed so hesitant around him today, torn between drawing closer and holding back.

So that was the problem.

Since they would be staying for several more days, he would find a chance to explain things properly.

With his thoughts in order, drowsiness crept over him. Just as he was drifting into a muddled sleep, he suddenly heard footsteps in his room.

This was the Xianyue Sect. Could a lecher have sneaked in?!

Perhaps the intruder had mistaken him for a female disciple confined here for punishment and intended to take advantage of her under cover of darkness.

Beneath the quilt, Lin Huaiqing clenched his hands, ready to summon Shuofeng at any moment.

He would wait for the lecher to approach, then put a sword to his throat.

He waited like that for a while. The footsteps drew closer and closer, until a pair of large, warm hands reached onto his bed.

Lin Huaiqing held his breath and focused, thinking that this lecher was remarkably patient.

Then, in the next instant, his quilt was flung back, and a tall, powerfully built figure slipped straight underneath it.

“Xiao Du?” Lin Huaiqing ventured.

“You’re still awake, Master?”

Even as he spoke, Qin Du kicked off his shoes, climbed onto the bed, and nestled under Lin Huaiqing’s quilt as though he belonged there.

It wasn’t that Lin Huaiqing hadn’t been asleep. Qin Du had frightened him awake.

“What are you doing in my room?”

Despite his question, Lin Huaiqing shifted aside to make a little space for him.

Qin Du nuzzled his shoulder, his voice taking on a coaxing tone.

“Junior Brother snores, and the bed is too small for both of us. Please let me stay with you for one night, Master!”

Faced with Qin Du’s little-animal attempts to win him over, Lin Huaiqing couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

“All right… But tomorrow you’re making a bed on the floor.”

He tried to turn over, only to discover that his back was already against the wall. With no room to move, he had to sleep facing Qin Du.

In the darkness, Qin Du’s heart pounded like a drum.

Normally, he only dared draw close to Lin Huaiqing after his master had drunk the calming tea and fallen deeply asleep. Now, however, he was afraid to move.

Lin Huaiqing would notice even the smallest motion.

He feared his master would see through the obedient-disciple persona he had so carefully constructed. Then all his efforts would have been for nothing.

The sun rose, the morning mist dispersed, and a shaft of light pierced the clouds, spilling over the peaks behind the Xianyue Sect.

Qin Du was still sound asleep when Mu Yunting roughly dragged him off the bed.

Landing on the floor without warning, Qin Du’s face darkened—especially once he saw that Mu Yunting was the one responsible.

“Do you have a death wish?!”

Qin Du scrubbed a hand over his face and glared furiously at Mu Yunting, who looked equally disgusted with him.

“Who gave you the right to sleep in Master’s bed? I wondered where you’d gone last night. So you shamelessly came here to disturb him in the middle of the night!”

Mu Yunting had just opened the door to help his master wash and dress, only to stumble upon this scene. He had nearly choked with anger.

“Master didn’t object. What gives you the right to complain?”

Woken by their quarrel, Lin Huaiqing found himself having to settle another dispute between his disciples first thing in the morning.

“Enough! Stop arguing! The trial is the day after tomorrow, yet you still have time for this? Have you memorized your cultivation methods? Mastered your sword techniques?”

Both immediately lined up and lowered their heads in silence.

“Let me say a few things. The secret realm opens in two days and will remain open for five. This is your chance to prove your abilities.

“There may be treasures inside. Whoever secures them gets to keep them. Killing beasts isn’t the only way to earn points; finding treasures counts too.

“Under the Xianyue Sect’s rules, you may form teams of no more than five. You two should work together. That will give you a better chance against disciples from other sects.

“No arguing, no fighting, and no turning on your fellow disciple! Your ranking doesn’t matter. Safety comes first. I’ll be waiting outside for you.”

He had said “a few things,” but Lin Huaiqing had certainly gone beyond that.

He genuinely feared these two little troublemakers would start fighting in someone else’s secret realm without the slightest regard for the circumstances.

After all, this was his disciples’ first time entering a trial realm. Some things bore repeating.

On the day the realm opened, many Xianyue Sect disciples were already setting up the platform and making preparations before dawn.

A raised platform had been erected beside the realm’s entrance. Seated upon it were the Xianyue Sect’s elders and prominent figures from other sects.

Naturally, Lin Huaiqing was among them.

But he was not good at socializing, so he found an inconspicuous corner and settled down with some tea.

Being blind also spared him the need to greet all those important people one by one. Unless someone approached him first, he offered no more than a few words.

Opposite the platform stood a vast screen formed from spiritual energy. Once the realm opened, it would display live footage and real-time rankings.

As expected of one of the cultivation world’s leading sects, the facilities were impressively comprehensive.