Chapter 8 The Scheming Disciple and the Charming Master 8

Chapter 8: The Scheming Disciple and His Alluring Master 8

By the time they got out of the flower demon's lair, dawn was already breaking.

The mountain path was rugged, and after last night's rain, the ground was muddy.

Lin Huaiqing walked ahead, while the two, who had just turned eighteen, each lugged three corpses down the mountain, looking miserable.

"Master... why do we have to carry the bodies down the mountain? Couldn't we just bury them somewhere?" Qin Du didn't dare to complain, but he couldn't wrap his head around Lin Huaiqing's reasoning either.

This was already the most humane option he could come up with.

"As the saying goes, 'fallen leaves return to their roots.' Let their families bury them themselves. Think of it as us earning some good karma."

Qin Du listened, totally confused—like he kind of got it, but also didn't.

Back in their demon clan, if a demon kicked the bucket, there was none of this hassle.

The demon core would definitely get divvied up by the other demons, and as for the body, nobody gave a damn—it just got tossed out with the rest.

They brought the bodies back to the village at the foot of the mountain. The villagers were sad, sure, but they'd mostly already accepted it.

After being missing on that mountain for so many days, the odds of anyone surviving were pretty much zero.

Luckily, the monster was completely wiped out, so nothing like that would happen again.

The village chief paid up the reward without hesitation and kept thanking Lin Huaiqing over and over, which made him a little awkward.

After saying goodbye to the village, the master and his two disciples hit the road again, still on the hunt for the male lead's life-bound spirit sword.

They rolled into town just as it was getting dark. Lin Huaiqing decided right then to crash in town for the night and hit the road again the next morning.

Three people, three rooms—all right next to each other.

Lin Huaiqing took the middle room, with Qin Du and Mu Yunting on either side of him.

Even after casting a cleansing spell on himself, the second he lay down, Lin Huaiqing still felt all sticky from the demon blood that had splattered on him, and it was messing with his head.

So Lin Huaiqing got dressed again and went downstairs to find the inn's attendant.

"Hey, bring me a bucket of hot water for a bath, up to my room."

"Sir! Our inn is famous around here for its hot springs. We've got a dedicated hot spring area in the back courtyard. If you want to bathe, just head on back."

Hearing there was a hot spring to soak in, Lin Huaiqing got a little excited. Finally, he could relax.

He headed to the back courtyard, and the attendant led him into a big private room.

There were about a dozen or so people soaking in the steaming pool.

Lin Huaiqing was a bit of a germaphobe and didn't want to share the water with anyone, so he just handed the attendant two extra low-grade spirit stones to get him a private cubicle instead.

The little pool in the cubicle was separate from the main one, big enough for five people to soak in together.

Once the attendant left, Lin Huaiqing finally relaxed, peeling off his layers one by one, draping his clothes over the screen, and stepping into the hot spring.

Before he knew it, Lin Huaiqing heard splashing—someone had gotten into his pool.

He was about to say something when he realized it was his two disciples.

"Master, why'd you come to soak alone without calling us?"

"Yeah, Master, this disciple looked all over for you. How about I scrub your back for you?"

Ripples spread across the hot spring water.

Even though Lin Huaiqing couldn't see, he figured three grown men crammed into one little pool would be a pretty awkward scene.

Just as he was about to say no, he heard water splashing behind him. A wave of warmth got closer as Qin Du leaned in and draped a hot towel over Lin Huaiqing's back.

Mu Yunting wasn't about to be outdone. He stripped off his clothes, jumped straight into the water, splashing a huge spray everywhere, and then leaned in saying he wanted to scrub his master's back too.

Even though the two had just come of age, they were both already tall as hell. They boxed Lin Huaiqing in from both sides, and he felt like there was no way out.

Logically, his two disciples—one the righteous type, one the villainous type—should have totally different personalities, but when it came to taking care of him, they were weirdly in sync.

Both of them were practically fighting to serve him.

"No need. This master's done bathing. You two take your time."

Faced with their over-the-top enthusiasm, Lin Huaiqing could only make up an excuse to bail.

Back in the day, bathing together wouldn't have been a big deal, but ever since he'd had that kind of dream, he'd been doing his best to keep his distance from his disciples.

He'd only taken a few steps in the pool when his foot slipped, and he went face-first into the water.

The pool was only about a meter deep, but Lin Huaiqing couldn't swim. The second he lost his balance, he panicked.

He flailed around for a good bit until Qin Du, who was right there, rushed over and grabbed him.

Using Qin Du's arm for support, Lin Huaiqing finally managed to get his footing in the water, but now they were way too close.

He could even feel Qin Du's breath getting hotter and hotter.

"Master, you okay? Did you swallow any water?" Qin Du asked, his voice a little rough.

A flustered Lin Huaiqing didn't even bother to answer. He scrambled out of the pool, threw on his clothes, and left without looking back.

Only Qin Du and Mu Yunting were left in the pool, watching him go, then looking at each other.

The tension was painfully awkward.

Even though the two had been mortal enemies in their past lives, when the flower demon had forced them to duel earlier, Mu Yunting had still gone easy on him.

That caught Qin Du totally off guard.

The two didn't say a word to each other, just washed themselves in silence.

Out of nowhere, Qin Du heard Mu Yunting mutter next to him: "Shameless."

It was quiet, but dripping with pure contempt.

Getting cursed out for no reason, Qin Du wasn't about to back down.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Did I do something to you?"

Qin Du's comeback only made Mu Yunting angrier.

"You demon clan scum dare to covet my master? I suggest you drop those filthy intentions while you still can!"

With that, he frowned and shot a glance at Qin Du's submerged figure, his look of disgust practically boring holes through him.

Qin Du glanced down, spun around, and turned his back to Mu Yunting.

"The hell are you lookin' at?"

"You're on your own." Mu Yunting flung his wet cloth into the water, splashing Qin Du all over.

The next morning, the three of them—master and disciples—climbed back into the carriage and hit the road again.

But this time, the vibe was a little off.

These two, who couldn't go a single day without bickering, seemed to have been possessed overnight.

Mu Yunting drove the carriage while Qin Du sat on the other side, and their quiet was so unusual it was almost eerie.

"We're about to enter Xianyue Sect's turf. Come with me to pay a visit to Immortal Venerable Shuangyue," Lin Huaiqing broke the awkward silence first.

Truth be told, this visit was just Lin Huaiqing's way of giving Mu Yunting a chance to sneak into the secret realm behind Xianyue Sect and reclaim the spiritual sword from his past life.

Mu Yunting had been stressing over how to ask Lin Huaiqing for time off to sneak into Xianyue Sect and grab the sword, and now fate had just handed him the perfect opportunity.

Man, his master really was his lucky charm!

"Xianyue Sect?" Qin Du muttered under his breath.

He seemed to recall hearing about this sect in his past life—supposedly, it only took in female disciples.

Even the Sect Master, Immortal Venerable Shuangyue, was a female cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage with top-tier cultivation, hailed as the number one female cultivator in the world.

He figured he'd crossed swords with her during the Immortal-Demon War. Her skills were so-so, but she wasn't bad on the eyes.

He hadn't known that Lin Huaiqing had some connection with this number one female cultivator.