Chapter 520: Master! (Third update, 10k words today)

A soft call was, in the depths of Jing Yueqin's heart, no different from a thunderclap.

!!!

Her heart trembled violently, and for a moment, she actually felt she could not hear the sounds around her; she could only hear the thunderous sound of her own heartbeat in her ears.

Thump, thump, thump!!!

Little Yueqin.

This form of address belonged exclusively to one person.

In this world, only one person would use this intimate term to call her.

Only one!

That is...

But, is it really her?

At this moment, Jing Yueqin actually dared not look up.

She felt afraid.

"You! Who are you? Are you her..."

"Master..."

A familiar aura, yet so young.

Jing Yueqin reached out a hand in a daze, gently pressing it onto Yaoyue's face, rubbing up and down, carefully sensing.

Clutched tightly.

Because standing in front of the road was not the familiar woman in her memories, but a young girl standing with her hands behind her back, looking somewhat reserved.

But she still dared not lift her head, instead burying it deeper into Ren Yidao's back, as if only in this way could she find a shred of courage.

Although the voice sounded a bit different from the laziness in her memories, that teasing tone was exactly the same as in her memories.

Although the face looked much younger, one could still see the familiar contours within the charming eyes.

Even younger than Ren Yidao; judging by the vitality emanating from her body, she was likely under a hundred years old.

The face is real.

A bloodthirsty Demon who had Fallen into Demon in the eyes of the world and destroyed others' traditions was, at this moment, trembling all over like a timid child.

The clatter-clatter sound of horse hooves rang out; Ren Yidao turned the horse's head, positioning the horse sideways so that Jing Yueqin behind him could see the front.

There is no need to worry anymore.

"Not a daughter, not a granddaughter, nor some messy descendant." She stared at Jing Yueqin's suspicious eyes and spoke earnestly: "Although I look a little bit younger, I am indeed your Master."

"You, are you really Master?"

At the first moment of seeing clearly, Jing Yueqin was actually somewhat disappointed.

Suddenly, Jing Yueqin felt a warm current wandering through her body, carrying waves of warmth that dispelled the unease in the depths of her heart.

!!!

Even if this were just a dream that would shatter upon waking, she would no longer be alone.

Because besides Master, she already had new family.

No disguise, no embellishment of any kind; from the perspective of the bones, she was just like this.

She feared this was just a dream, worried this was just an illusion.

That's right.

At this moment, a warm, large hand grasped her trembling, cold palm.

Jing Yueqin did not even dare to extend her divine sense to perceive the direction from which the voice came.

After preparing herself mentally, Jing Yueqin finally lifted her head to look at that truth.

A delicate young girl with white hair, wearing a flawless white dress, looking youthful and beautiful.

A daughter?

Yaoyue took a step forward, bringing herself close to Jing Yueqin, looking up at her.

This is not her Master.

Jing Yueqin's heart trembled again.

"Still too shy to look up? It's been so many years, why haven't you grown up yet? You're still such a spoiled little thing."

Welcoming the answer.

"I am here."

However, in the very next instant, when Jing Yueqin saw the girl's face clearly, she froze in place.

But it was truly too young.

When she came to her senses, she discovered that the trembling of her body had disappeared.

No need to be afraid.

"..."

Jing Yueqin's heart should have been excited, but looking at such a young face, she even felt a trace of absurdity in her heart.

He said nothing else, only repeating softly once more: "I am here."

Reincarnation?

Does reincarnation really exist in this world?

"Yidao... are you really not finding someone to trick me?"

Jing Yueqin's voice carried a tremor; she was truly a bit lost, her words laced with a sobbing tone. "Tell Senior Sister the truth; I won't be angry, really, I won't..."

She could not tell anymore.

She really could not tell anymore.

What on earth is the truth!

Ren Yidao did not answer, but instead raised his eyebrows at Yaoyue.

Hey, explain!

If you don't explain now, if she can't be coaxed in a moment, I'm not taking responsibility!

Yaoyue returned him a look of "keep calm," then stared at Jing Yueqin and spoke slowly.

"You are a child who loves to cry, crying up to thirteen times a day because I accidentally broke your favorite porcelain vase, and you didn't let me off until I promised to buy you another one just like it."

"You didn't like Transmission Elder Shen He, thinking he was too serious, that the things he taught were too boring, and that he was always too strict with you all. To get revenge, you secretly dug up the Spirit Seed he had planted, boiled it, and put it back. He even came to find me about this matter, and I slapped him out of the room."

Jing Yueqin's eyes trembled as she looked at Yaoyue in disbelief.

This secret was her dark history; she had never told anyone before.

At that time, Jian Xinxin hadn't come up the mountain yet and didn't know, and she hadn't mentioned it to Ren Yidao either.

How did she know?

How did she...

"You are a child who fears loneliness and is also afraid of the dark. After coming up the mountain, you were never willing to sleep alone, and every night you had to hold your quilt and sleep with me."

"Although you have great talent, you actually really dislike cultivation. If I hadn't forced you, you wouldn't even have been willing to take the Descending God Selection Path. You even had an argument with me over it, and in the end, I slapped you... that was the only time I ever laid a hand on you."

"You..."

Yaoyue looked deeply at the woman with tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, as if seeing her as she was when they first met, also looking like this, crying and sobbing.

"You are a stubborn child; until the very end, you were unwilling to call me Mother."

"I once asked you the reason, and you said that a mother is a mother, and a master is a master; the two cannot be confused."

Drip.

Tears slid down, soaking Ren Yidao's back, causing his eyes to droop slightly.

The hand he used to give Jing Yueqin warmth was gripped tightly in return, used to suppress the surging emotions in her heart.

With every little thing and every detail of daily life that Yaoyue brought up, Jing Yueqin had actually already believed it.

Although she had changed her appearance, this was her master.

That master who had been lost for hundreds of years.

Ah, ah...

Jing Yueqin opened her mouth, but no sound could come from her throat; she couldn't say a single word.

Seeing her like this, Yaoyue's gaze softened. She did not blame her, but instead rubbed her cheek against her fingers and said softly:

"I thought for a long time about what I should say when we met, not knowing how I could earn your forgiveness."

"For this, I even thought about escaping, thinking it would be better to just disappear from your world completely."

No...

Jing Yueqin could not speak, but she shook her head repeatedly, using her whole body to express her resistance.

Don't!

I don't want that result!

"Hmm, I later felt that was inappropriate too, because you are a child who loves to act spoiled; if I never appeared, you wouldn't even be able to find someone to act spoiled toward."

Yaoyue ignored the look of contempt cast from Ren Yidao's direction, stared fixedly at Jing Yueqin, took the object hidden behind her back to her chest, and handed it to Jing Yueqin.

"I searched for a long time and finally found these in a valley."

It was a bouquet of white flowers.

However, they were not pure white; the pale blue petals were stained with some moonlight that looked like water droplets.

The tears in Jing Yueqin's eyes stopped. She stared fixedly at the bouquet in her hands; she had a familiar feeling, as if she had seen these flowers a long time ago.

Where was it?

"These are the flowers from your hometown, the Moon-Gazing Flower."

"When I found you, there was a vast sea of Moon-Gazing Flowers all around."

Yaoyue plucked a petal and held it up against the moon in the Heaven, letting the moonlight pass through the petal to cast a radiance like rippling water.

Like a dream, like an illusion.

"The moonlight seeped into the petals, so... I gave you the name Yueqin, and you took my surname."

Yaoyue let go of the petal, blew it away gently, and winked with a smile at the stunned Jing Yueqin: "Little Yueqin, having heard so much, are you still unwilling to believe?"

No, no, no!

Jing Yueqin shook her head vigorously, tears splattering everywhere, and finally managed to speak: "... Are you, really my master?"

"Really, genuine and authentic!" Yaoyue puffed out her chest and said confidently: "Although there was a tiny little problem, I am still the me you know! Your favorite master!"

"Master..."

Jing Yueqin wanted to dismount, but she lost her strength for a moment and fell from the horse, only to be caught in Yaoyue's arms.

"What a careless child." Jing Yaoyue hugged her foolish disciple and spoke softly in her ear: "I'm sorry, Master returned late."

"I've let you suffer."

This sentence completely shattered Jing Yueqin's psychological defenses.

Was it suffering?

Hundreds of years of loneliness, one piece of tragic news after another.

How could it not be suffering?

"Master!!!"

Jing Yueqin hugged Yaoyue tightly and burst into tears like a child.

"Ah, ah, ah!!!"

There were no words, just wailing like this.

This night, the woman on Luoyue Peak who loved to cry the most, was the most timid, and feared loneliness the most, shed all the tears she had accumulated over these hundreds of years.

She no longer needed to pretend to be strong.

She could cry.

She could put down her disguise.

Ren Yidao sat on his horse, cutting off all perception between this place and the outside world, quietly watching the master and disciple who were sobbing and pouring out their hearts after their wailing.

"Hoo... you can finally be free."

The white fox that had been picked up raised its head, looking at the eternal moon in the Heaven, whispering in the depths of its Heart Star.

"Sister."

I do not know how much time passed, but Jing Yueqin curled up in the arms of Yaoyue and fell into a deep sleep, and this time, there was no longer loneliness or sorrow on her face, but complete peace of mind.

Yaoyue lowered her eyes with affection, her palm gently patting her disciple's back.

Ren Yidao leaped down from the horse's back and sat down beside the two of them on tiptoe.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

After saying this, the two who had conspired for this reunion did not speak again, just sitting side by side in silence.

Until Ren Yidao remembered something and asked out of the blue: "Speaking of which, there is something I want to ask you."

"What?"

Ren Yidao turned his head seriously, staring intently at Yaoyue, and said in a deep voice:

"Although I think it's impossible, you shouldn't... be my mother, right?"

"... Ah?"

Yaoyue:???

Do you want to listen to what you are saying!?