Chapter 89 The mistake was overstepping etiquette, lacking virtue, and falling in love with the Master.

Should I see him? But the closer I get to home, the more hesitant I become.

Ling Shu headed home. On the way, Boss Zhang said she was going to buy carp from Sister Liu on Chuchun Street. Ling Shu took her arm and accompanied her.

As they left the school, the aura of the demon core gradually faded.

The demon core wasn't in the academy; it was the aura tainted by those who had come into contact with it. Those who spent a long time in the academy also left their aura there.

As they entered Chuchun Street and passed a mansion, Ling Shu's palm-sized guide suddenly popped up.

The guide points directly to this "Green House".

"Is something the matter?" Boss Zhang asked upon seeing her. Ling Shu: "Who lives here?" Boss Zhang: "I don't know, I only know someone lives here, but I've never seen the owners. I occasionally see an old woman going in and out cleaning." Ling Shu: "I have something to do, Auntie, you go buy the fish first, don't wait for me. I'll go home when I'm done." "Okay."

Mr. Zhang went to buy fish, and Ling Shu stood in front of the door. There was a barrier outside the door that surrounded the entire mansion.

The handheld guide indicates that the demon core is located here.

Ling Shu was determined to go in and take a look; the thousand-year-old demon core that had been left outside was always a hidden danger.

Ling Shu cast a spell, but the barrier remained intact. Upon closer inspection, she was astonished to find that the barrier set up by a cultivator at the Mahayana stage or above was completely impenetrable to her, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

Just then, an old woman pulling a cart passed by. "Excuse me, excuse me!" Ling Shu stepped aside, but the wooden planks on the cart were too big. The old woman's eyesight was poor, and she couldn't see behind her. She bumped straight into Ling Shu, forcing her to take several steps back. The planks grazed her forehead. Ling Shu said to the old woman, "Grandma, watch where you're going! There are people here!"

The old woman was hard of hearing and couldn't hear. Ling Shu thought to herself, "Never mind, the important matter is more important," and focused her gaze on what was in front of her.

Huh?

The water rippled gently, condensing into a water pattern in the air, covering everything from top to bottom.

When I turned around, I wondered how I got in here.

This barrier isn't stopping me, is it?

Ling Shu didn't care about anything else and went up to push the door open. She pushed it open a little and found that the door was unlocked. Looking inside, she saw that there was no one around and it was cold and deserted.

I trespassed... I'm sorry.

He quietly opened the door, sneaked in, and followed the scent of the demon core to the master bedroom. Before he even got close, a gust of cold air wafted over.

The master bedroom door was closed, and the smell of alcohol wafted out.

There are people inside.

Ling Shu gently opened the door, unfastened the sword from her waist, drew it from its sheath, prepared herself, and went inside.

The room was draped in white gauze curtains, which was somewhat eerie. Ling Shu moved closer to the area where the demon core's aura was strongest.

As they approached the inner room, the smell of alcohol was strong. A pile of wine jars were scattered on the ground, including five or six unopened ones. In the center of the inner room was an ice coffin. Ling Shu sensed that the demon core substitute was inside. The ice coffin was open, and a woman in white was hugging it and lying on it.

Her shoulders heaved, overcome with grief.

She spoke haltingly.

"I will no longer cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness, I will never cultivate it again..."

"Come back soon."

"I love you."

"I can give you the status you want... Please come back... Wake up..."

Ling Shu was taken aback, and the sword slipped from his hand, startling the people in the room.

The woman suddenly turned around, and it was Zhuang Jinfu.

Zhuang Jinfu was stunned, then slowly stood up and walked towards her.

Ling Shu was deeply troubled. She said she loved her, but had Zhuang Jinfu been holding onto her fake corpse for the past three years?

Zhuang Jinfu cast a longing gaze over her, his icy hands stroking Ling Shu's face. She smiled bitterly, "You've grown taller, you've grown up, and you've finally come back to see me."

Then he put down his hand, picked up a jar of wine and poured it into his mouth, saying, "I said I could see you if I got drunk. Hai Gu said I was crazy, but I'm not crazy, hahaha, didn't I see you?"

Ling Shu snatched the wine jar from her, grabbed her wrist, and demanded, "Where is your Heartless Dao? Why is it broken?"

"Shu'er is so fierce." Zhuang Jinfu lost her balance and was about to fall when Ling Shu reached out and caught her around the waist. She fell into her arms, and Zhuang Jinfu looked up at her, smiling happily.

Ling Shu used his magic to place the wine jar on the ground, and with one hand free, he placed it on her pulse.

His pulse was disordered, and his spiritual energy was chaotic. There was a main force in his dantian that stabilized the dantian's power, indicating that he had learned other Taoist techniques, but they were all messed up and made no progress; they could only save his life.

"How did you get yourself into this state?" Ling Shu's tone softened. The person in her arms didn't answer, but mumbled a few words before falling asleep drunk.

Ling Shu sighed inwardly, "Why did it have to come to this?" Helpless, he picked her up and carried her in his arms. There was no bed in the room, so he had to find one in the next room to settle her down.

Ling Shu kicked open the door and met the person walking towards her.

The sea maiden was carrying a medicine packet, probably for hangovers. The thin string of the packet slipped from her hand and fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Hai Gu's lips trembled as she pointed at Ling Shu and exclaimed, "It's...it's come back to life...ah!"

Ling Shu felt a headache coming on. "Oh dear, this is what happens when I fake my death and come back?" she thought. She said gently, "Hai Gu, it's me, Ling Shu. I'm not dead."

Hai Gu walked over with a hint of disbelief, pinched her arm, poked her cheek, and exclaimed in surprise, "It's hot!" Then tears streamed down her face: "Miss Ling, you're not dead, that's wonderful." Ling Shu smiled and said, "Luckily I was clever enough to use a demon core as a substitute and escaped this calamity, but you all suffered."

"You mean... the one inside is your demon core?"

“That’s right.” Ling Shu lowered her voice. “Let’s stop talking for now. Master is still asleep. Let’s settle her in first.”

They settled Zhuang Jinfu in a side room, while Ling Shu went to collect the demon core.

The ice coffin is made of ten-thousand-year-old ice, tightly wrapped in cold spiritual energy. Such a large amount of spiritual energy requires a lot of magical power to maintain, which is very taxing on a person.

The corpse's clothes had been changed; they were the ones Ling Shu used to wear when she was in Qingxi Mountain. Her face was made up, and her makeup was quite neat.

Ling Shu reached out, retrieved the demon core, and sank it into her dantian. Only one set of clothes remained in the ice coffin; she removed the bracelet and jade pendant, and put them back on.

Go to the kitchen to help the sea urchin cook a hangover soup, go out to buy some vegetables, and then come back to make some congee and side dishes.

Two hours later, Zhuang Jinfu slowly woke up, his head aching.

She dreamed of Ling Shu.

Ling Shu had grown taller, taller than herself, and the baby fat on her face had faded, revealing a beautiful face. The hand that wrapped around her waist was very strong. In her dream, she was drunk and leaned against her arms. She picked her up and walked steadily.

Nestled in her arms, I closed my eyes, savoring the joy of regaining what I had lost, and drifted off to sleep peacefully.

After waking up, I desperately wanted to see her.

Zhuang Jinfu went straight to the master bedroom.

There was only one set of clothes left in the ice coffin; the bracelet and jade pendant were gone.

Zhuang Jinfu's chest heaved violently. The Plum Blossom Sword appeared in her hand. She drew the sword from its sheath and ran out aggressively.

The barrier was intact, showing no signs of being forcibly broken. She searched for Hai Gu throughout the courtyard and found her picking vegetables in front of the kitchen door.

Zhuang Jinfu flew into a rage, pointing his sword at Hai Gu: "Who did you let in?!"

Hai Gu wasn't angry; she knew that Hai Gu had woken up and couldn't see the "Ling Shu," so she assumed it had been stolen. Hai Gu kept her in suspense, saying, "She came in by herself; I didn't touch the barrier."

"Without you breaking the spell, no one can get in." Zhuang Jinfu suppressed his anger and continued, "Why did you betray me?"

Hai Gu cried out that she was wronged: "I'm innocent! I didn't do it!"

Ling Shu had just finished cooking pumpkin porridge and wanted Hai Gu to try it. Just as the porridge was served, she heard a commotion outside the door. She went out to see what was going on and laughed, "Master, it really was me who came in."

Zhuang Jinfu slowly lowered the sword that was pointing at Hai Gu.

He then pointed at Ling Shu, his anger palpable: "Who are you? What is your purpose in impersonating Ling Shu?"

Ling Shu stared at her intently, walked over, and approached the tip of her sword: "You're so weak that you can't even distinguish human presence." Ling Shu frowned, unable to bear it, and said, "Zhuang Jinfu, how come you can't even take care of yourself?"

Hai Gu added from the side, "A Fu, you forgot, there's still one person who can enter your barrier."

"You told her to come to you whenever she wanted, and that your door would always be open to her."

It wasn't a dream after all.

The sword vanished from his hand, and Zhuang Jinfu lunged forward, embracing Ling Shu tightly.

She smiled through her tears, her voice choked with joy: "I've finally held your warmth in my arms again."

Ling Shu slowly raised her hand, wanting to hug her back, but when her palm was about to touch her back, she lowered it again. She smiled slightly and said, "Master, Ling Shu knows her mistake."

"What did you do wrong?" Zhuang Jinfu hugged her, not knowing why she was apologizing.

Ling Shu lowered her gaze and smiled sadly: "The mistake was overstepping the bounds of propriety, lacking virtue, and falling in love with Master."

The sea maiden covered her ears and went outside.

"Master, let go."

Zhuang Jinfu was unwilling to let go; she couldn't bear to lose him a second time. "Why should I let go? I can't let go."

Ling Shu let her hold him with her hands hanging down, adhering to the rules, and said with a helpless smile: "Because of me, you were disgraced. It was only with great difficulty that you were able to clear your name and have a bright future. Why should you turn back and remember me as a rebellious and treacherous disciple?"

Zhuang Jinfu released her, grasped Ling Shu's arms with both hands, and looked at Ling Shu. The polite and sensible Ling Shu in front of her was exactly what she had hoped for. Now that her expectations had been fulfilled, why didn't she feel happy at all?

"Now that you're grown up, do you want to throw away everything from the past?"

"No. I just feel it's not suitable."

"You don't want your master anymore."

"You know that you are my master."

Zhuang Jinfu's eyes were brimming with tears, threatening to fall: "You never cared about these things before."

“That was when I was naive and innocent,” Ling Shu pulled her hand down, “thinking that I could overthrow everything in this world that was against me, such as worldly customs, power, rumors, status... I didn’t care about any of them, including you.”

"Someone like me is of no value to you."

Zhuang Jinfu felt a chill run through her body, as if she had lost a piece of her sincere heart. Her gaze remained firm as she said, "Love is priceless. Why measure love with monetary value? Love isn't a business transaction; it's not about money matching the goods, about value for money. I love you, simply because I love you."

Ling Shu lowered her head and hesitated.

Being with me is not good for you.

Moreover, demons cannot appear in the world, so she, as the demon king, is destined to be a demon king who cannot see the light of day.

"I'm sorry, Master, I have failed your love."

When Zhuang Jinfu finally shed her shackles and overcame the dilemma of choosing between loving one person and loving all living beings, Ling Shu, like her, shouldered the responsibilities she had to bear.

"Don't call me Master."

“Alright, let’s sever our master-disciple relationship. From now on, we’ll be worlds apart, each living in peace. I’m deeply grateful for your care.”

Zhuang Jinfu saw the indifference in her eyes and was instantly filled with fear and unease. Did she have to lose her again? No. She coaxed, "No, no, no, let's continue our master-disciple relationship, don't go."

Ling Shu gritted her teeth, trying to scare the person away. She bent down, hoisted the person onto her shoulder, rushed to the side room, kicked the door open, went into the inner room, and pressed the person down on the bed.

Zhuang Jinfu was taken aback by her sudden reaction and his eyes showed a look of panic.

Ling Shu tore off her hair ribbon, grabbed Zhuang Jinfu's hands, and tied them together. She saw the panic in her eyes, raised her hands above her head, pressed down on her, and asked sharply, "You love me? You love me, this rebellious disciple whose mind is only on bullying you, who wants to see you cry in bed, see you lose your voice, see you beg me?"