Chapter 4752 — A Complete Misunderstanding

Ning Shanghe kept Wei Zhao and Ning Xuefei a while longer, speaking mostly warm words of encouragement and drawing them closer in feeling. At last she kept them for dinner before letting Wei Zhao go, and even went out of her way to arrange new quarters for him.

After all, from this day on Wei Zhao was Ning Xuefei's betrothed in the proper sense of the word, and for him to go on lodging at the West Island envoy's residence would no longer do. Ning Shanghe gave special permission for him to stay within the Island Master's palace, in a courtyard right next to Ning Xuefei's, only a few steps from the rooms of Han Jingyi and Shangguan Lan'er—which suited the several of them well enough for their gatherings.

For the next several days running, Wei Zhao had nothing else to attend to and spent every hour in the company of Ning Xuefei, Han Jingyi, and Shangguan Lan'er. There was no help for it: after the ordeal of the trial, the three girls had grown especially clingy, and even if Wei Zhao had wanted to cultivate alone it was impossible. He could only set aside the time to keep them company, and count it as amends for the fright he had put them through.

Meanwhile, in a small courtyard not far off within the same Island Master's palace, Huo Yudie shut her ears to all that went on beyond her window, never stepping out of doors, her head buried in bitter cultivation day after day.

Liu Ziqi saw it all and ached at heart. A mother knows her daughter best, as the saying goes, and this master who was more than a mother to Huo Yudie knew precisely what was in the girl's heart: her precious disciple had come down with a sickness of longing.

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"Die'er, stop shutting yourself up in your room to cultivate. Go out and get some air," Liu Ziqi coaxed gently.

"No need, Master. I let things slide so long during the West Island trial—I want to make it up with hard work," Huo Yudie said, shaking her head.

"Haste makes waste. Besides, you have already reached a bottleneck; there is no use in mere grinding, and what matters is to set your frame of mind right." Seeing the sullen look on Huo Yudie's face, Liu Ziqi's heart ached despite herself, and she said, "Aren't you rather taken with the things of the mortal world? Han Jingyi came up from the mortal realm—go and amuse yourself with them."

"Ah?" Huo Yudie was caught off guard, and only when she saw the teasing smile on her master's face did understanding dawn. After a moment's hesitation, she nodded shyly and ran from the room.

Watching Huo Yudie's retreating figure, which had plainly taken on a new lightness, Liu Ziqi sighed softly. Fate did like to make a mockery of people, she thought: Heaven had clearly brought the two of them together, and now it had without the least mercy awarded Wei Zhao to Ning Xuefei. How cruel that was to Die'er!

In her heart of hearts, Liu Ziqi did not wish to let Huo Yudie have any further dealings with Wei Zhao now. Wei Zhao was the West Island's consort-to-be, after all, and that was a fact beyond changing.

This young man Wei Zhao was powerful and outstanding far beyond anything Liu Ziqi had anticipated. Especially after she learned from Huo Yudie's own lips how they had made their way out of the trial grounds, she had felt, instinctively, as though she were looking upon a prodigy of another order: a mere mid-Nascent Soul cultivator who could stand on equal footing with a Xuan Ascension expert—how absurd, how heaven-defying!

Huo Yudie had meant to keep the matter sealed tight, but somehow, when Liu Ziqi asked, the words had come pouring out of their own accord—in short, she had wanted to show her master just how formidable Wei Zhao was. Her master would not go spreading it about in any case.

Indeed, seeing Liu Ziqi's stunned expression when she finished, she had felt thoroughly satisfied, her face glowing with reflected glory.

Only, Wei Zhao no longer belonged to her. A pity, but there was no help for it. Liu Ziqi had thought that once the matter between Wei Zhao and Ning Xuefei was settled, Huo Yudie would be able to set Wei Zhao aside in peace. It had not turned out that way at all.

Judging by Huo Yudie's strange behavior these past days, what sign was there that she meant to let go?

Having been through such things herself, Liu Ziqi knew full well that if this matter were not properly resolved, it might well become a heart-tribulation her precious disciple could never cross. Normally it might not show, but the moment a breakthrough or other critical juncture came, it would become a fatal flaw.

So, since Huo Yudie and Wei Zhao could not be together, there had to be a clean break between them. Only by speaking plainly, face to face, could the matter be brought to an end.

Otherwise, if it stayed bottled up in the dark, unspoken and unresolved, then far from breaking through to a higher level, she might well be driven to qi deviation—and then repentance would come too late.

While Liu Ziqi brooded with furrowed brows, little did she know that Huo Yudie herself was at that very moment in high spirits, having completely mistaken her meaning. She thought Liu Ziqi was encouraging her to be with Wei Zhao...

If Liu Ziqi could have known what her precious disciple was thinking, there was no telling how she would have reacted—she might well have wept herself senseless in the privy.

They were, after all, the Twin Beauties of the Morning Proud, aloof immortals in the eyes of countless East Continent Academy disciples. Whoever heard of one of them flinging herself at a man's door like that?

Arriving at Ning Xuefei's courtyard and hearing the laughter of Wei Zhao and the others within, Huo Yudie felt her heart lift and quail by turns. That she could see Wei Zhao again after these several days was joy enough, but how was she to face Ning Xuefei and the rest? They were all the women dear to Wei Zhao's heart.

She had not thought of it that way at first, but now she could not help herself: her mind was wholly taken up with how she should behave upon meeting Ning Xuefei and the others. She, the proud daughter of the East Continent Academy, now felt the misgiving and unease of a concubine come to pay her respects to the first wife—over a matter not even a stroke of the character had been written. If Wei Zhao knew, he would surely be speechless.

"Ah! Sister Huo, wherever have you been? Why have you only come now?" Ning Xuefei's delighted voice came from within the courtyard. Unlike the others, she had known Huo Yudie for a long time, thanks to the ties between Ning Shanghe and Liu Ziqi; it was only that West Island and the East Continent lay so far apart that they seldom had the chance to meet.

In an instant, the eyes of Wei Zhao, Shangguan Lan'er, Han Jingyi, and the rest all fell upon Huo Yudie, and she was so abashed she did not dare move.

"I... I just came out for a stroll, to get some air..." Huo Yudie hastily improvised an excuse. She would never dare admit she had come for Wei Zhao's sake—how mortifying that would be.

"Out for air?" Ning Xuefei and the others exchanged smiles. Her courtyard was a long way from here—could a casual stroll have carried her all this distance?

They did not call her out on it, but ran over and took her by the hand. "Since you're here, come play with us. We've been waiting for you for days—Aunt Liu said you were busy in seclusion, so we didn't dare disturb you."

"That's right, Jingjing has been hoping Sister Huo would come all this while. Now we have one more good sister—hee hee!" Han Jingyi said with a sweet smile.

"Exactly, exactly. The three of you are true sisters from now on, so from this moment you must cultivate your bonds properly—don't go making things hard for our little junior brother!" Shangguan Lan'er put on a comically matronly air. (Campus Belle 3D is now live on Android, and the reception has been rather good. Those who haven't joined yet, come join us! Veteran players get rewards too! Official WeChat: yuren22) (To be continued...)