Chapter 46
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Chapter 46
Xie Fuzhi weakly argued for himself, "I didn’t know it all from the beginning; I was affected too…"
Though it was only a split avatar, his spirit was far stronger than anyone else’s. This illusion had some effect on him, but it wasn’t as exaggerated, so he still remembered everything he needed to.
After all, he wanted to forget those memories so badly, but those terrible, painful memories were deeply etched in his soul, and he could not erase them no matter how hard he tried.
Thinking about it this way, he felt truly miserable; his heart was full of thoughts for his dear disciple, yet now he had to face her aggressive questioning. As a master, he felt he had no position at all.
As Xie Fuzhi thought this, he felt more and more wronged. He said, his tone becoming stronger, "And as soon as you see me, you make me copy ‘The Way of Men.’ You don’t even know how many words are in one copy, and you expect me to copy it a hundred times!"
He recognized his disciple, but he had never thought of doing anything harmful to her; instead, he always cared for her. Yet Yun Chuyou took advantage of her powers in the illusion to punish him, and for that foolish Meng He, she made him copy ‘The Way of Men’ a hundred times. The master was good, and the disciple was bad.
Just thinking about this made him angry. Since Yun Chuyou remembered and recognized him as her master, how could she treat him like this? It was simply outrageous and incredibly disrespectful.
"That hundred times of ‘The Way of Men’ must have come from my master’s hand at most once. I could hold a grudge, but I will pretend I didn’t see it." If Xie Fuzhi hadn’t stormed in angrily, Yun Chuyou wouldn’t have planned to meet him so soon.
"At first, I really didn’t recognize my master," Yun Chuyou said coldly. "After all, I didn’t know I had a master named Xie Qi, and you are a direct disciple of the Tianyuan Sect."
It is never too late to settle accounts; Xie Fuzhi was the one who lied first. Whoever starts the trouble must take on the greater responsibility.
If she hadn’t pointed it out, Xie Fuzhi wouldn’t have even known how far the act would go. Thinking of this, Yun Chuyou couldn’t help but grind her teeth.
"Master, how old are you? Why are you still playing such tricks? Why do you love to show off so much?!"
This remark was like a knife, stabbing deep into Xie Fuzhi’s heart. He jumped up and shouted, "What do you mean I’m old? I’m still young! Well, Yun Chuyou, I really misjudged you. What did I do wrong? Just because my face has aged and looks old, you find me annoying!"
When Yun Chuyou heard this, she knew Xie Fuzhi misunderstood her, "No, you clearly know that’s not what I meant."
"I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you! How is it not that?" Xie Fuzhi’s best way to avoid his mistake was to shift the blame and change the topic. He covered his ears, acting like the main character in a sad love story, "I know you just dislike me and can’t stand the sight of me. They all are young and beautiful. I’ve seen through you; you only like the young and pretty ones."
Her master was still the same, very good at using confusing tactics and turning things around.
Yun Chuyou sat down looking tired, "So if we both made mistakes, we can each take five hits and let this matter go?"
Xie Fuzhi immediately put down his hands from his ears, his beautiful eyes still looking at her with doubt, repeating, "Are you really saying we can just let it go? You’re not going to hold this against me? You’re really not mad at me anymore?"
"What else can I do? Should I announce I’m leaving the sect, or kick you out of the Qingxu Sect?"
This kind of thing was just a small fuss; she could never cut ties with Xie Fuzhi over something like this.
Seeing Yun Chuyou’s attitude soften, Xie Fuzhi also became gentle. He stretched out the sound, "Chuyou…"
Yun Chuyou replied in a cool tone, "Hmm…"
"Chuyou…" This time, his voice was longer and softer, almost like he was being charming.
A word popped into Yun Chuyou’s mind: disrespecting the old.
Even though Xie Fuzhi’s face had nothing to do with the word "old," Yun Chuyou touched her sleeve and felt goosebumps all over.
It was too much; it was truly unbearable.
Realizing that she was serious, Xie Fuzhi quickly knelt down to apologize. In front of his precious student, his pride didn’t matter; their bond was the most important, "I was wrong. I shouldn’t have hidden this from you, and I shouldn’t have faked my identity."
Yun Chuyou took a sip of tea and continued to wait for Xie Fuzhi’s confession, "What else?"
"What else?" Xie Fuzhi replied, "Are you talking about how I didn’t recognize you in the illusion? Chuyou, didn’t you remember too, but you didn’t tell me?"
It was indeed wrong to hide it from Yun Chuyou, but he felt he did nothing wrong in this matter.
"No, Xie Fuzhi, you are my master, you already know this, why do you still want to act like an emperor and empress with me?"
Yun Chuyou felt her head pounding again, "They say once a teacher, always a father; the emperor and empress are in a relationship as husband and wife, not father and daughter."
Yun Chuyou had never seen Xie Fuzhi as her father because, in her heart, her true parents were only Mr. Yun and Ms. Jiang from her past life.
However, in her heart, Xie Fuzhi was also a trustworthy elder; it was hard to refer to him as grandpa or uncle, so he was like an older brother.
"Yu Jiu and Meng He have also become part of your palace; I find that quite strange."
Yun Chuyou disagreed, "Ahe is just a child; he doesn’t understand."
Although her physical age was not much older than those two, Meng, Yu Jiu, and Zhong Wei were only fourteen when they joined the Qingxu Sect, while her eighteen years from her past life made her twenty-eight; she considered herself a reliable elder and saw her junior martial siblings like children.
Having personally raised the two children, Yun Chuyou never had any other thoughts, so when Meng He spoke nonsense, she would scold them.
"They don’t remember anything, so they did the wrong thing. I made Meng He write the rules a hundred times and Yu Jiu a hundred and fifty times, plus fifty times about being a good person." In the sect, everyone is treated the same; she has not favored any junior disciple.
Because when she sees a junior, she thinks of them as a child, but when she looks at Xie Fuzhi, he is an adult like her, so Yun Chuyou cannot accept this. Adults tolerate children and hope that their elders will be forgiving toward them, but Xie Fuzhi is not understanding at all, and he fools around with her, which makes her feel tired and angry.
Especially when she found out that Xie Fuzhi remembered everything but still joked about it, Yun Chuyou became even more upset. If he had forgotten everything, she would just feel embarrassed, but since he knows and pretends, it makes Yun Chuyou feel like she is being toyed with.
She has always been someone who cares deeply about principles; she doesn’t like this kind of playfulness, nor does she enjoy others laughing about such matters, not even Xie Fuzhi.
Yun Chuyou is actually someone who takes a long time to warm up to others; besides her parents, who treat her well unconditionally, she does not value anyone particularly.
The deep feelings she has for Xie Fuzhi are built over time by being together daily, but if uncomfortable feelings keep piling up and she doesn’t address them, even the deepest bonds can slowly wear away.
Yun Chuyou cherishes their teacher-student relationship very much, and she knows Xie Fuzhi cares about her, so she calmly expressed her discontent, "Master, you know I’m stubborn, and sometimes I stick to my ideas. I don’t like it when others trick me, and I don’t enjoy those jokes; they’re not funny to me at all."
Xie Fuzhi’s expression became serious, "But Chuyou, what I said was from the heart; I’m not trying to tease you or make jokes."
Yun Chuyou felt like the air had stopped; did she just mishear something?
The girl in the emperor’s phoenix robe suddenly pinched her thigh hard, and her delicate leg turned red, "It hurts." This is not a dream.
But this is in a dreamland, Yun Chuyou opened her eyes wide to look at Xie Fuzhi and saw his cheeks flushed.
The system panel was clearly hanging above her head; it was Xie Fuzhi for sure. She doubted her ears, was she mistaken, or was she thinking too much?
Speaking with a silly grin can make one seem frivolous and insincere; Xie Fuzhi had no smile on his face, showing the most serious expression, trying hard to let Yun Chuyou see his sincere attitude.
"I have nothing to do with Ye Xuanye, and I don’t like him."
Xie Fuzhi was talking about Ye Xuanye, not Grand Princess Yun Xuan Ye. It seemed he really remembered everything.
"I told you before, to me, you are the most important person, without exception."
Yun Chuyou listened quietly as he continued to explain.
"I can’t allow you to get into trouble in the secret realm, so I found a way to follow you in. Don’t worry, I won’t take away your opportunities, nor will I interfere with your training."
He knew that trying to force growth was not good for people, so he never thought of taking care of Yun Chuyou like a little baby, turning his good apprentice into someone who would be helpless without him.
Although he did think this way in the past few years, when he saw Yun Chuyou’s clear eyes and bright smile, he pushed that thought away.
Yun Chuyou was not a canary trapped in a cage, nor a delicate flower that couldn’t withstand the wind and rain; she was like bamboo, strong and unyielding, steadfast against the changing winds.
This proud yet stubborn girl would only suffer greatly if someone tried to break her wings.
So, Xie Fuzhi gave Yun Chuyou a lot of freedom to do what she loved, and indeed, she proved to be very capable and outstanding, doing well all along.
The Qingxu Sect was originally a genuine small and struggling sect, but now, thanks to Yun Chuyou, it had grown into something respectable. As the Elder Martial Sister, she was fair-minded yet not overly strict, and everyone in the sect admired and respected her.
"I know Master is worried about me." Yun Chuyou felt confused; she had guessed Xie Fuzhi’s thoughts, but hearing it from him made her feel touched, realizing that Master cared for her and worried about her.
"But…"
Xie Fuzhi said, "I’m not very happy that you divided your attention among them and left me behind."
He began to count Yun Chuyou’s biases, "You want to go down the mountain to train, and you brought all the younger martial brothers and sisters with you, even bringing back a fox."
"Mainly because the younger martial sister had broken her ties, I was just in charge of leading the group, and I returned to the sect in less than ten days."
Upon hearing this, Yun Chuyou couldn’t help but argue for herself. In her previous life, she had a great relationship with her parents. From elementary school to middle and high school, she had always been a day student. However, when she went to university, she moved to another province and only came home once during the winter and summer breaks.
She had never been apart from them; she was just going out to lead a training session. Besides, she was not a giant baby; as she got stronger, she needed to become independent, and Xie Fuzhi had agreed to that at the beginning.
Xie Fuzhi had always been quite understanding, so why was he bringing up old issues like this now?
Xie Fuzhi continued, "Then you brought back a useless fox spirit and even made it your spirit pet."
Yun Chuyou couldn’t help but speak good words for her spirit pet, "It’s completely normal to form a spirit pet contract, right? Every cultivator in the Beast Control Sect has one, and I didn’t make it a life-bound pet. I can peacefully break the contract if I pay a price. Little Bai is also quite hardworking and very well-behaved."
Luckily, Hu Xiao Bai wasn’t around, otherwise Yun Chuyou would definitely cover the fluffy little fox’s ears, "Little Bai, don’t listen; it’s bad feedback."
Xie Fuzhi continued, "You have given most of your time, except for training, to them. What I received was less than a tenth of what you used to give me."
Is the empty nest elder feeling lonely?
Yun Chuyou felt a bit sad again. She explained, "It can’t be counted like that. During that time, I was working hard on my training. Before, it was because our Qingxu Sect was too poor, and we had to do everything together. Now, those tasks have other people responsible for them."
Strictly speaking, when she first came to Qingxu Sect, the time she spent with Xie Fuzhi was indeed very long. They spent a lot of time gathering firewood, trading, and training, hardly separating except when they rested at night.
In the early days, sometimes at night when Yun Chuyou closed her eyes to sleep, Xie Fuzhi would be there watching over her. When she opened her eyes, Xie Fuzhi was still there. They spent at least twenty hours together every day.
After having younger martial siblings, Yun Chuyou assigned many of her tasks to others. Later, when Qingxu Sect became wealthy, she hired help with spirit stones.
Training is a personal matter. She dedicated twenty hours to training, which meant that everyone else had less time. Moreover, with the younger martial brothers and sisters taking some of that time, it was only natural that Xie Fuzhi ended up with less time too.
"But I don’t like it," Xie Fuzhi said softly, his golden-tinged eyes staring at Yun Chuyou without blinking. "I feel sad, and I don’t want it to be this way."
What he said sounded like a joke, but it was all true feelings, "I feel like you are a heartless emperor, and I am the discarded cold palace queen. You say nice things, but in your heart, there are many others, slowly pushing me out of my place."
For him, Yun Chuyou was the most important person in the world. No one else in the world could compare to Yun Chuyou. In the beginning, the young girl relied on him a lot, and the bond they shared was indeed very deep. Even with the younger martial brothers and sisters, she still could not compare to him.
But slowly, with too many other people, he noticed that other things took up Yun Chuyou’s time and energy. This was the objective result.
Xie Fuzhi did not want to explain anything; he only knew that Yun Chuyou’s world was colorful and full of new things. But his world was barren, a collection of endless pain and darkness.
For Xie Fuzhi, Yun Chuyou’s presence was like a light breaking through the darkness, but now this light was shining on others, with just a little bit left for himself.
He had endured loneliness for so many years, living through so much time. But when Yun Chuyou appeared, the unchangeable fate had some changes, and the black world had a different kind of brightness.
Xie Fuzhi could no longer bear loneliness, could not stand the fading light. The phoenix was not human; it was an ancient divine beast, or rather, an ancient monster.
Monsters have their own nature, not human nature. To put it plainly, the nature of a monster is extreme and intense. When he raised Yun Chuyou, Xie Fuzhi never thought of her as his own child, nor did he have such an obsession with children.
Thinking of this, Xie Fuzhi said softly, "Chuyou, I have a secret I have never told you."
Yun Chuyou sat up straight, "Hmm?" She was listening.
"Actually, I am not human."
"Hmm?!" Xie Fuzhi wondered what this meant. Did he do something that wasn’t human?
Xie Fuzhi continued, "My true form is the only phoenix in the spiritual world."
Hmm?! So he literally means he is not a human.
Yun Chuyou let out a sigh of relief. Wait, her master was not a human but a phoenix? This was never mentioned in the books.
No wonder, no wonder that when she brought Hu Xiao Bai home, Xie Fuzhi kept putting down Little Bai. After all, he is an ancient great monster and would not think much of Hu Xiao Bai, who is just a weak little creature.
"Why did my master suddenly decide to be honest with me?"
"It’s because of you." Xie Fuzhi looked at her with a sad expression. "You always say that I’m old, but monsters take a long time to grow. If I calculate my age as a phoenix, I would be about seventeen or eighteen in human years, younger than your two junior brothers."
Why should he be called old? He is just a phoenix a little over thirty thousand years old; in human terms, he hasn’t even reached adulthood yet.
Yun Chuyou instinctively reached for the tea beside her. Upon hearing this, the sip of tea in her mouth shot right out.
"No."
Yun Chuyou took a deep breath several times and then said, "But both of the younger martial brothers are not human, the younger martial sister is a half-demon, and according to the age of fox demons, she is still a baby."
It cannot be so simply calculated; her Junior Martial Brother is a demon, the Second Junior Brother is a ghost child, and the younger martial sister is a half-demon, all of whom have much longer lifespans than humans. It seems that in the entire sect, she is the only one who is a true human.
"That’s different. Your younger martial sister counts as human; she has human blood flowing in her body, just like her father. Besides, foxes have a shorter lifespan, unlike us."
Xie Fuzhi touched his face and said, "Chuyou, you don’t think my face looks young and fresh because it is my real face."
Yun Chuyou thought to herself that she had made a big promise before, saying that nothing explosive would happen, yet here she was, hearing one shocking news after another.
She instinctively caught on to something, "So, was your previous appearance all fake? Have you been lying to me all along?!"
"That cannot be counted as lying; that was my future appearance. While traveling in the world, I needed to seem more mature; my current look doesn’t have the same intimidating presence."
In countless cycles, Xie Fuzhi could see what he would look like in the future, and he preferred that mature appearance.
Xie Fuzhi said, "I will grow up to be like that, but if you prefer how I look now, I can stay like this forever."
"Stop talking," Yun Chuyou replied, "Let me take a moment."
Actually, the fact that her master was not human did not feel so shocking, since she had already learned from the story that Junior Martial Brother was not human, Second Junior Brother was not human, and the younger martial sister was not entirely human; now there was just one more master who was not human.
As for her master saying she was young and beautiful, she was indeed beautiful, but she did not admit to being young.
Yun Chuyou chuckled lightly, "Master, how old are you really? Don’t lie to me about this, or I will never forgive you."
Xie Fuzhi stammered, "I’m about thirty thousand years old, just over thirty thousand. In the Phoenix clan, you become an adult at around forty to fifty thousand years."
In the Mortal World, human males come of age at twenty, so they are considered adults at that age; of course, if they marry young, they count that year as adulthood. Among mortals, there are many who marry and become fathers at fourteen or fifteen.
Yun Chuyou replied with annoyance, "If fifty thousand is adulthood, are you saying this year you are only twelve in human years, even younger than the younger martial sister?"
"It’s not quite that young. I am wise for my age; I can become an adult at four thousand years, so if we count twenty as adulthood, I would be about sixteen."
They say he is thirty thousand years old, but for the first twenty thousand years, Xie Fuzhi was inside an egg. Of course, those years inside the egg weren’t wasted; when he hatched, he was already more skilled than most cultivators in the human world.
Moreover, the phoenix is a species that grows very slowly. During his early years, he was always in a state of transformation. At that time, if he became human, he would just look like a human baby. A long childhood, a long adolescence.
He currently belongs to the long adolescent stage, but if he had a companion earlier, he could mature earlier just like human men.
The thirty thousand years here refers to his age in this lifetime. If we count countless reincarnations, we could say he is already of age.
However, Yun Chuyou likes younger individuals, especially her youngest martial sister, Zhong Wei; thus, he insists that he is only sixteen!
That’s right, Fuzhi is young, just a little bird over thirty thousand years old.
Seeing his confident expression, Yun Chuyou was stunned by her master’s way of thinking.
She knew that the demon race had long lifespans, but she didn’t expect Xie Fuzhi’s to be this long. He even had the nerve to say he is now sixteen. Yun Chuyou felt like she could burst from disbelief; her master truly had no shame!
Remembering the challenges in the secret realm, something suddenly clicked in Yun Chuyou’s mind, "Xie Fuzhi, you are the master of this illusion, aren’t you?"