Chapter 256: You've Grown Up

When Jing Yueqin came knocking, the timing was not ideal; Ren Yidao was in a state where he could not... spare himself.

"Senior Sister? Please wait outside for a moment, give me another quarter of an hour."

Jing Yueqin:?

Through the impenetrable door, he explained it this way:

"What I am doing right now cannot... um, cannot be stopped."

Although his tone sounded calm and steady, Jing Yueqin had a strange feeling.

"Why does his tone feel so strange? Is he hiding something from me? And why does he sound so out of breath?"

"..."

Silently pressing her ear against the door, she tried to perceive what exactly was happening behind it.

Slightly hurried breathing, a rhythmic tapping sound...

!!!

Could it be!

Bang!

The door, reinforced with a Seal, was knocked open, and Jing Yueqin stormed in, fuming with rage.

"Hey! What are you... uh, doing?"

Having rushed in with great momentum, Jing Yueqin's intensity plummeted immediately, and her voice grew quiet.

Contrary to her imagination, there was no vixen frantically putting on clothes, nor any blush-inducing, provocative scene inside the room.

Instead, it was filled with thick white smoke, and a faint, clean fragrance from burning incense drifted through the air.

Ren Yidao was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the very center of the room with his eyes closed, as if wrapped in layers of illusory halos, rhythmically tapping the Wooden Fish in front of him.

Purifying the body and bathing, burning incense and fasting.

Ren Yidao's,

Tap, tap, tap... tap.

Stopping the tapping in his hand, Ren Yidao opened his eyes slightly and slowly looked at the uninvited guest who had broken into the room.

"Forcing your way through the door, are you the FBI?"

He smiled helplessly and said to Jing Yueqin, who was shrinking her head and pursing her lips while slowly backing away:

"You've already broken in, why are you still running?"

Raising his hand to put away the Wooden Fish and the Incense Burner, Ren Yidao pointed to the meditation cushion opposite him.

"Why are you standing there? Sit."

Cautiously glancing at Ren Yidao and discovering that he was not truly angry, Jing Yueqin whispered an 'oh'.

"... Oh."

Because of her earlier impulsiveness, Jing Yueqin had completely lost her momentum, and after repeatedly confirming he was not really angry, she sat down obediently opposite him.

And after she sat down, Ren Yidao silently extended his palm toward her and beckoned.

Jing Yueqin: Meh?

What does this mean?

She looked at his palm facing upward, not knowing what he wanted her to place on it.

Hesitating for a moment, Jing Yueqin obediently rested her chin on Ren Yidao's palm.

This time, it was Ren Yidao's turn to have a question mark appear above his head.

Ren Yidao:?

But he did not shake her off on the spot; instead, he moved his fingers gently under her chin.

Listening to the purring sound coming from Jing Yueqin's throat out of comfort, Ren Yidao nodded slightly.

Hmm, there is a pleasure in petting a cat.

Jing Yueqin was right; the biggest hobby of this little fox of his was indeed absorbing people...

Just as Jing Yueqin felt sleepiness creeping up her spine from the comfort, Ren Yidao stopped his finger movements.

Blue-balled!

"Although I'm quite happy you did that, that's not what I wanted."

Lifting her head in a daze, Jing Yueqin's nearly paralyzed brain almost lost the ability to think.

Not this?

"Oh, oh!"

Seeming to understand something, she reached her hand inside her robe and began to silently untie the ribbons of her undergarment...

Her head was lightly tapped; Ren Yidao looked at her as if she were an idiot and sighed:

"Of course it's not that either."

Sometimes, even he could not tell which string in this adult's brain had been misaligned when she had Fallen into Demon.

Who asks for the undergarment you are wearing first thing in the morning!?

Am I the type of person to indulge in debauchery in broad daylight?

Am I the type of person to take the initiative?

I generally prefer to be passive... *cough*!

Shaking his head, he cast the messy thoughts out of his mind.

Damn it.

After meeting Senior Sister, even my IQ has started to drop.

Was it averaged out by her?

With a light cough, Ren Yidao tapped his fingertips against Jing Yueqin's head as if striking a Wooden Fish:

"Stop playing dumb. Where is the fox you took from me? Hand it over!"

"Where is my Huji?"

Where is my fox? If you've lost it, I won't let you off the hook!

"Huji? Oh! You mean that little fox, right?"

Whether it was the continuous tapping on her crown that brought a moment of clarity, or a partial redistribution of her intelligence, or perhaps a temporary intellectual boost gained from mentioning the fox, Jing Yueqin finally sobered up.

She pouted, dodging the mischievous hand above her head, and said righteously:

"I've already put it back where it belongs!"

"I've been treating it so well!"

She was no longer sleepy when it came to this topic; she puffed out her chest proudly and hummed:

"Four meals a day, meat with every meal, and a midnight snack at night."

Ren Yidao's brow twitched, and a vague guess about Huji's current appearance formed in his mind.

A ball?

A fox ball?

"How does it feel to touch now?"

"Uh, soft? And it has a pretty good bounce."

"……Fine, fine then."

Letting out a long sigh, Ren Yidao couldn't be bothered to argue with Jing Yueqin that not all foxes could be fed like that, and he had already decided on a weight-loss plan to arrange for Huji later.

"……"

While Jing Yueqin was recalling the feel of Huji, Ren Yidao stole a glance at her, then quickly withdrew his gaze before she could sense it.

"She didn't notice……"

Seeing that her attention had been successfully diverted and that she truly hadn't discovered anything unusual, Ren Yidao breathed a quiet sigh of relief in his heart.

"Good, I bluffed my way through it!"

He struck while the iron was hot and continued to hoodwink her, shifting the topic:

"Speaking of which, where have you been these past few days? I thought you had already returned to the sect."

"I say, Senior Sister, although the Sect Leader no longer talks about taking back Luoyue Peak, you should at least do some proper work, right? Don't go out every day and leave people worried."

Although the purpose of these words was to change the subject, they were also Ren Yidao's heartfelt sentiments.

Senior Sister, can you please stop making people worry!

Jing Yueqin, whether she had truly forgotten or simply had limited brain capacity, had completely forgotten the previous suspicious points.

Furthermore, having been poked in a sore spot, Jing Yueqin didn't doubt him; she blinked her eyes upon hearing this and spoke with grief and indignation:

"Who said that!? How have I not been doing proper work? Do you know how busy being a Peak Master is every day?"

Ren Yidao squinted at his Senior Sister, who could lie without blushing, and sneered:

"Of course I know, but aren't all those tasks of yours being done by me and Senior Brother Jian?"

Trying to pull that on me, are you?

It's fine to fool your Junior Brother; we'll just laugh it off.

But don't you go and fool yourself as well.

Telling lies until you believe them yourself.

"Cough! That, that's not important; in any case, the Peak Master's work hasn't been neglected!"

Jing Yueqin waved her hand grandly, feeling not the slightest bit ashamed of her actions, and retorted:

"Besides, didn't I not run off? I've been doing proper work these past two days, pursuing a fugitive…… Ah! Pretend I didn't say that."

She had originally wanted to explain properly that she really was doing proper work, but halfway through, Jing Yueqin realized the problem.

This matter involved Jian Xinxin and his lover from the Demon Race; until the specific situation was clarified, it was better for fewer people to know.

"In any case, don't worry about it so much; I have my own things to do, too."

She chose to conceal it, for no other reason than that she was the Senior Sister and he was the Junior Brother.

Although in her eyes Ren Yidao had long ceased to be just a simple Junior Brother, she was still accustomed to shouldering things herself when they arose.

Watching Jing Yueqin for a moment with a slight frown, Ren Yidao smoothed his brow, then smiled as if he truly didn't care:

"Is that so? I understand."

"Then take care of yourself."

"Pursuing" and "fugitive"—although hearing these two words from Senior Sister's mouth was somewhat unexpected, it was still within reason.

I almost forgot, she still holds the title of the official Jailer of the Divine Path Sect.

Senior Sister actually did some proper work…… I'm shocked!

Ren Yidao felt the corners of his eyes grow slightly moist, as if crystalline tears were about to fall.

My child has grown up!!!

Wuwu……

"What about you? What have you been doing these past two days? You seem to have changed a bit."

Jing Yueqin scrutinized her Junior Brother, feeling that there were some differences about him compared to the past.

His strength had increased.

Before, she could easily see through his strength, but now she found it somewhat difficult to discern.

No, it seemed that ever since he awakened as a Dao God, she had already been unable to see through him, and now that feeling had become even more intense.

But it didn't seem to be just his strength that had improved; his temperament had also changed somewhat.

At the very beginning, she was clearly just a carefree little fox, yet she always radiated an aura of loneliness and melancholy.

Later, the loneliness gradually dissipated, but she turned into a homebody child who would never grow up, unwilling to take even half a step out of her little nest.

But now, although those qualities have not completely vanished from her, they have become very, very faint, having been completely covered over by another kind of radiance.

Confident, proud but not arrogant, humble but not inferior.

The timid little fox from back then has already disappeared.

He can stand upright and tall in front of anyone, without feeling at a loss, and even less so feeling ashamed of his own inferiority.

Her palm lifted unconsciously, gently stroking Ren Yidao's cheek, and Jing Yueqin smiled gently:

"You've grown up."

Ren Yidao, who was still on the verge of tears from being moved by Senior Sister's growth, had his composure broken in a second, and he almost couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Don't you know whether I've grown up or not?

Besides, what kind of image did I have in your heart before, anyway?

A fragile little thing?

Please.

Stop adding drama for yourself, sister.

When you snatched me out of my nest back then, do you want to guess if I was scared in my heart at the time?

It was already a great effort that I didn't just drop dead from stress halfway through.

However, despite saying that, Ren Yidao didn't speak up to refute her in such a tactless way.

He gazed at the gentleness in Jing Yueqin's eyes, feeling that the things he was struggling with were not that important after all.

If she is happy, then this is fine too.

Ren Yidao smiled lightly and nodded:

"Perhaps so."

"I have met quite a few people and experienced quite a few things; perhaps this is what growing up is."

It has been some time since I left the sect, and I have indeed encountered many interesting people and things along this journey.

The experiences of this period of time exceed all the things that happened during the previous hundred years of plain daily life combined.

When one is extremely still, one will think of moving.

Perhaps, people really do need to have contact with the outside world.

However, Ren Yidao did not regret the hundred years of silent obscurity in the Divine Path Sect; he did not feel that it was a waste of time.

Misfortune is what fortune relies upon; fortune is what misfortune hides in.

Only with deep accumulation can one have a thin outbreak; if not for the precipitation of the previous hundred years, he would not have his current eruption.

As for this thing called fate, who can say for sure?

Watching his junior brother grow so much, Jing Yueqin said subconsciously:

"If only Master could see this too..."

Once these words were spoken, both of them came back to their senses.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring her up..."

After Jing Yueqin finished saying this, the room fell into silence.

Master.

At Luoyue Peak, this has always been a topic that no one is willing to mention.

She was the good teacher who cultivated Jing Yueqin and Jian Xinxin, the fuse that almost caused the Divine Path Sect to be destroyed, and also the heartless person who has been missing for hundreds of years and never returned.

Regarding Luoyue Shangren, Ren Yidao knows very little, and he does not care much either.

But he has always been very clear about what this cheap master means to his senior brother and senior sister.

Are his previous decisions really fair to them?

"... Senior Sister."

"Hm?"

Taking a deep breath, Ren Yidao firmed up the thought in his heart and said:

"I have found clues about Master."

"Wh... at?"

Lifting her head blankly, Jing Yueqin did not react for a moment to what she had heard.

Ren Yidao did not explain, but instead reached into his bosom and took out the Jade Slip that he had obtained from Li Fengyao after paying a huge price, and handed it to his senior sister.

"Although there are only a few suspected clues in it, there has finally been some progress."

!!!

Having reacted, Jing Yueqin excitedly demanded to snatch it, but Ren Yidao gripped the Jade Slip in his hand, not letting her touch it.

"What are you doing? Give it to me quickly!"

Jing Yueqin reached out to snatch it, but she couldn't pull Ren Yidao's arm; he still gripped the Jade Slip tightly.

"I can give it to you, but... Jing Yueqin."

Ren Yidao rarely called her by her full name so seriously, and Jing Yueqin calmed down a little.

He stared at his senior sister, who looked like she had seen an oasis in the desert, and said seriously:

"Jing Yueqin, you must promise me one thing."

"You absolutely must not go looking for her alone."

Ren Yidao stared into Jing Yueqin's eyes, watching the confusion and hesitation in them.

"What is your answer?"

"I..."

"By the way, if you don't agree, I would rather crush it right now."

As he spoke, his palm exerted a slight force, and fine cracks immediately appeared on the Jade Slip.

Crack...

Jing Yueqin's expression changed drastically, and she shouted:

"Stop! Why are you doing this? Are you crazy?"

Ren Yidao remained unmoved, waiting for her answer, and said earnestly:

"To me, you are more important than Master, far more important, do you understand?"

These were words of betraying one's master and destroying one's ancestors, truly rebellious, but Ren Yidao had to make it very clear at this moment.

"Because compared to a future where you act rashly and meet with misfortune..."

He said:

"I would rather you hate me."

Crack.