"What is Master thinking?"

"How would I know if you don't know?" Yu Lan replied casually.

Four days have passed since Su Cheng finished searching the four hundred worlds in the vicinity, and Su Cheng's two disciples have been away from home for more than two months.

At this point, including Xu Zhanfeng, the eldest and second disciples of Lingxian Palace were all missing without a trace!

However, Su Cheng was sitting calmly in the main hall, with Miao Miao and Yu Lan staring at him blankly.

In the center of the main hall, a pale blue phantom image showed the last conversation between the two. The last sentence was a message from Su Cheng, asking where Shi Yao and Qing Han were.

Neither Shiyao nor Qinghan responded. The last message was Shiyao's seemingly nonsensical words.

[Master, your child with Senior Sister is in Shiyao's hands, so don't worry!]

Clearly, Su Cheng didn't take it to heart at the time, and clearly, Shi Yao felt that her master's lack of a reply meant he trusted her...

Su Cheng hadn't spoken for a while, while Yu Lan stayed by his side the whole time, and Miao Miao would come to check on him from time to time.

Miaomiao had actually asked her master earlier if something had happened and if she needed help, but her master only told her to take care of herself and that nothing else mattered.

Master just sat there, very peaceful, no different from being dead, neither eating nor drinking, nor speaking.

No matter who asks, the answer is always the same, as if there really is nothing wrong.

But really, nothing's wrong?

Miao Miao hadn't eaten a meal cooked by her master for three months. For the next month and a half, her master lost his appetite and just sat quietly.

Miaomiao knew, and Yulan knew, that at this moment, all they could do was hope that Xiao Ai would bring back good news.

Aside from Xiao Ai or their senior sister, I'm afraid no one can do anything about Su Cheng's current situation.

Needless to say, Xiao Ai was the person Su Cheng trusted most; in fact, Su Cheng trusted Xiao Ai even more than he trusted himself.

As for Ye Qinghan, he always had some way to distract his master or make things better.

However, Miaomiao didn't like this feeling. This was the first time she realized that the man in front of her seemed to hold more weight in her heart than she had expected.

She hoped everything would return to normal, and that her master would be as cheerful as before, instead of being so taciturn.

It seemed that if her master was unhappy, she was unhappy too, even though her master would still smile and tell her, "Everything is alright, your master..."

It seems she'd do anything to make her master happy...

Perhaps such feelings would be considered presumptuous in other sects, after all, she is just a junior sister, while the other party is the sect leader of the number one sect in the four regions and the strongest cultivator in the four regions.

This admiration, this worship, should perhaps be kept in one's heart, at a suitable distance.

At this moment, she seemed to gradually understand why her senior sisters were so fanatical. Once she understood all this, she also felt that the so-called rebellious disciple was nothing more than that, and what could they do to her?

She wanted her master's attention, and she wanted him to be by her side like her senior sister or Lady Gu Ai when he was in trouble or at a loss.

Maintaining a suitable distance? The closer the better, of course!

But what should we do?

Her master, while seemingly aloof from women, was actually quite lively in his mind. Yet, if you said he was without fault, he was always so cautious, maintaining that "gentlemanly" demeanor that didn't exactly bring joy to others.

She quietly circled behind her master, seemingly oblivious to his presence. Her small hands gently rested on his shoulders, pressing and kneading softly. Miao Miao had seen her senior sister do this before. Her second senior sister would do this when she wanted to ask her master for something, or when her eldest senior sister wanted her master to spend time with her.

The master didn't seem startled as expected, and remained silent. It was unclear whether her technique could make the master feel relaxed; it seemed she was definitely less skilled than her senior sister.

My thoughts at this moment are fragmented, containing names, place names, or words I can't understand at all, as well as descriptions of attack methods and search capabilities...

Yes, Miaomiao couldn't sit still anymore. She didn't like her master's behavior, and she didn't know what had happened.

However, the enemy who could put the two senior sisters in danger must be no small fry.

After some time, it seemed to be working. Su Cheng slowly straightened up, gently patted the fair hand resting on his shoulder, and then let out a long sigh of relief, saying, "All done."

Su Cheng slowly stood up and turned around, as if nothing had happened, and once again showed his usual doting expression.

"Hehe, what's wrong with Miaomiao? Do you want your teacher to talk to you?"

Master seemed to notice her unease and his own loss of composure. However, Su Cheng didn't understand girls, let alone Miao Miao in front of him. After all, Miao Miao was not an ordinary girl.

This sudden pampering actually terrified Miaomiao.

It wasn't that she was afraid her master would do anything outrageous, but rather that she couldn't find a single flaw in Su Cheng's smiling face at that moment, as if her master had returned.

"Hehe, see? This is what happens when you don't listen to your teacher and get lost now~" Su Cheng chuckled, then patted Miao Miao's shoulder, his face calm and collected. The gloom that had just filled the main hall and his face vanished in an instant, as if it had never existed!

"Miaomiao will remember Master's teachings and will listen to Master's words." She said this almost without thinking, and Miaomiao only realized it after she finished speaking. However, she seemed to be doing much better now. At least her name appeared from time to time in her intermittent thoughts, which were like a code or a puzzle.

She knew that her master was comforting her and wanted to tell her that with her master around, the sky wouldn't fall.

On the other side, in the Spirit Pool Palace, Xiao Ai was soaking in the pool water by herself, swinging her little feet, with a slight smile on her lips, seemingly completely unperturbed.

The sound was almost imperceptible; Xiao Ai was unusually muttering something to herself.

“Miss, I remember you asked me what I love.”

"If the young lady could see this scene, she would surely understand."

"This is the person Xiao Ai loves."

This is the ruthlessness of a traitor, the heartlessness of the Venerable One, the root cause of Ye He's hatred for Su Cheng, and the answer to why all thirteen female warriors hate Su Cheng. Yet, this is precisely the love of Xiao Ai.

"Only Xiao Ai would love him, and only Xiao Ai is qualified to love him."

Along the way, Su Cheng lost far more than he gained. Dying is easy; all he had to do was charge forward like a fool. What was difficult was carrying on with the wishes of the deceased.

Once a piece is placed in this game of chess, there is no turning back. The player who wields the piece is also a piece, the one that is placed first. Xiao Ai has no way out, and neither does Su Cheng.

The number of dead was countless, and as for the few women who harbored feelings of love, Xiao Ai couldn't even count how many there were.

"Lady Mengdie is absolutely right~ Our lord is definitely a bad man, bad to the core~"

"But, unfortunately, Xiao Ai just likes bad boys~"