With me no longer holding him back, the gap in power between the two became painfully clear. It didn’t take long for the demoness to be pushed into a corner.
Xiao Yi Han’s eyes gleamed with a frosty light, colder than I had ever seen before. I was certain he would kill her.
But just as he grabbed her by the throat and began to lift her off the ground, the demoness—despite gasping for breath—wrapped her arms around his and provocatively brushed her leg against his waist. “Spare me, immortal,” she pleaded, her voice syrupy sweet, dripping with seduction.
I thought Xiao Yi Han would remain unmoved. To my surprise, he faltered, his gaze freezing on her chest for just a moment. Sensing an opportunity, the demoness wrenched free from his grasp.
When Xiao Yi Han reached out to grab her again, his hand only managed to snatch the necklace from around her neck. The demoness’s figure vanished, leaving Xiao Yi Han standing there, staring blankly at the pendant in his hand.
By the time I ran over, still encased in the protective barrier, he hadn’t moved.
“Master,” I called out. Only then did he lower the pendant.
I stared at him intently. “Master… did that demoness seduce you?”
Xiao Yi Han turned to glance at me, his expression dismissive, as if he couldn’t even be bothered to answer. With a casual flick of his wrist, his frosty sword dropped to the ground beside him. “Let’s go,” he said flatly.
And just like that, our so-called training expedition came to an end.
It wasn’t until much later that I realized Xiao Yi Han had, in fact, been seduced by that demoness. At the time, I was too young to believe it possible. She was, after all, a demon who had even injured him—how could someone like my master fall for her tricks?
I trusted him. I even admired him a little. Deep down, I acknowledged one undeniable fact: he was my master.
After that expedition, Xiao Yi Han began leaving the mountain more frequently. Each time he returned, he brought back large quantities of wine. I assumed he simply went to the mortal world to drink and thought nothing more of it.
My life in the Xian Ling Sect remained the same—reading the notes Xiao Yi Han had left behind, attending classes at the academy, meditating and cultivating at night.
My fellow disciples often praised me for my rapid progress, calling me talented. But I didn’t feel particularly accomplished. When I compared myself to the notes Xiao Yi Han had left behind, I realized his progress during his cultivation days was leagues ahead of mine.
It dawned on me then that the “lazy fool” who had tricked me into becoming his disciple might actually be a legendary prodigy.
But if he was such a genius, why had he sunk into this life of indulgence and idleness? Why did the elders of the sect seem to turn a blind eye to his behavior, neither intervening nor reprimanding him?
Curiosity about Xiao Yi Han’s past began to gnaw at me. I asked the instructors at the academy about him, but every time I brought up his history, they would fall silent. Not only the instructors but also the elders of the sect avoided the topic altogether. Slowly, I began to realize that Xiao Yi Han’s past was a secret known only to a select few—a secret they had no intention of sharing.
Despite his laziness and irresponsibility, living alone with Xiao Yi Han on that mountain felt… peaceful. We shared sunrises and sunsets, and while his antics sometimes frustrated me to the point of wanting to throw a pot of soup in his face, life was tranquil.
I found myself growing deeply, unshakably dependent on him.
In the emotionally distant atmosphere of the immortal mountains, he was the one person I believed I could truly rely on.
I thought those days would go on forever.
But after countless years of that quiet life, rumors began to spread within the Xian Ling Sect.
They whispered that Xiao Yi Han… had consorted with demons.
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