Second Peak.

"That's how it is!" Youyou explained her thoughts in one breath. "I know this is my fault, I'm sorry!"

Yuan Qi swirled the teacup in his hand, stared at it quietly for a while, then suddenly sighed, slowly turned his head to look at her, and revealed that familiar, gentle smile, softly saying, "I know."

"I don't want you to misunderstand anything. If you're upset, you can beat me up! Otherwise... Huh! What did you say?" You You suddenly raised her head and looked in Yuan Qi's direction, somewhat unable to believe what she had heard.

Yuan Qi's smile deepened, and he repeated, "I know!"

"Know...what?" Youyou was stunned.

Yuan Qi sighed, put down his teacup, picked up the teapot and poured her a cup. He said in a deep voice, "Ever since you agreed to awaken me from my slumber without hesitation, I've had some doubts. Do you have some misunderstandings about the matter of followers?"

"..." You You took the tea.

"After that, I went back to the sect with you, and you kept calling me Father Yuan..." Yuan Qi chuckled and continued, "At that time, I realized that you probably never had those feelings for me from the very beginning."

"Father Yuan, I..."

“I know!” Yuan Qi interrupted him, nodding and saying, “You don’t need to worry about this. Even if you don’t say it, I understand that you only see me as a family member, an older brother, or… an elder? There is no romantic feeling between us. You have been kind to me, and I stay here voluntarily. Whether or not we have a contract is not of great importance, so you don’t need to feel guilty about it.”

"Is that so?" Although Youyou was surprised, as Yuan's father had seen through this all along, she was genuinely relieved. The tension that had been gripping her just moments before immediately eased. "That's great! I thought..." she thought she had wronged a good person.

However, upon closer reflection, she realized that her relationship with Yuan's father had always been that of friends, siblings, or even father and daughter. There seemed to be nothing out of line. Although they had a pact, thankfully, there were no feelings beyond friendship, which was why she wanted to clarify things beforehand.

"In that case, how about we break the contract between Father Yuan and his follower?" Youyou suggested. "There should be a way to break it, right?"

“No need for that!” Yuan Qi shook his head and said, “The contract with the Heavenly Maiden is recognized by the Heavenly Dao and is not easy to break. Besides… my true form was awakened because of you. If I were to break it rashly, I might fall into slumber again.”

"Oh? That serious!" She hesitated, glancing at the prominent birthmark on his forehead. "But with this, won't it have some impact on you? It'll be very awkward if you meet someone you truly like in the future, won't it?"

“If that day ever comes, it’s not too late to find a way to resolve it,” Yuan Qi said.

"Alright!" Youyou didn't insist. Now that things were cleared up, the burden on her shoulders felt much lighter. "Then when you want to get rid of it later, just tell me, and we'll figure something out together. Don't worry! I'll help you explain!" She then patted her shoulder earnestly.

Yuan Qi's eyes narrowed slightly, his smile deepening as he said in a deep voice, "Instead of worrying about how to explain things to me in the future, why don't you think about how to explain things to Feng Rong later?"

"..." Youyou froze, her heart, which had just begun to relax, instantly tightened again. Only then did she remember that was the biggest problem.

"He probably won't accept your explanation easily." Yuan Qi took a sip of tea, adopting a spectator's mode, and said in a meaningful low voice, "Or perhaps... there's actually no need for explanations between you and him?"

Youyou didn't hear what he said next; she had already slumped onto the table and started to go crazy.

"Oh no, what should we do?!" She glanced at Yuan Qi and suddenly started offering terrible ideas. "Father Yuan, what do you think... if I tell him that it's you, as the parent, who disagrees and insists on us breaking off the contract, would that be a more tactful approach?"

Yuan Qi: "..." What the hell is this euphemism?! I feel like you're trying to drag me into this!

Do you think... Feng Rong would care about my opinion?

"..." You You froze.

It's cold!

"What are you two doing here, away from me?" Before she could come up with a solution, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind her.

Youyou's hand trembled, almost dropping the teacup on the table. Turning to look at the person who had suddenly appeared, she felt a strange sense of panic, "Feng...Feng Rong?!"

"What's so great about tea?" Feng Rong strode over, glanced at the tea on the table, and curled her lip in disdain. "Come on! I've prepared lots of good things for you!"

After saying that, he pulled Youyou up and half-embraced her as they walked outside.

"Wait, Feng Rong..." Before You You could finish speaking, Feng Rong had already impatiently taken off on her sword, grabbed her, and ran away, as if afraid that Yuan Qi would stop her.

The courtyard fell silent. Yuan Qi glanced at the overturned teacup opposite him, his eyes darkening. After a long while, he let out a long sigh, looked up at the sky, as if he had let go of something.

Well, it was too late after all. It's fine this way!

——————

Youyou was pulled back to his own courtyard by Feng Rong, and landed on the huge sycamore tree again, sitting down on the largest branch.

Can she say, "No wonder they're birds? They love to stay in trees all the time."

Feng Rong sat down close to her, and with a wave of her hand, conjured a table that nestled perfectly between two tree branches. Then, she turned and made a hand seal towards the tree trunk, and a hole suddenly appeared in the originally thick trunk. Feng Rong reached in and pulled out a bunch of bags, placing them all on the table and pushing it in front of her.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!