After Gu Suihan stood firm, he stepped into Yushu Hall. Looking at Shen Qingmang's back, he was about to speak when he heard the other party say, "It's a good thing you're here, Suihan. If you hadn't conveyed the news in time, I might not have realized their demands."
"Master, you are too kind. This is what a disciple should do."
A smile like thin ice appeared on his face, as if it would break at the slightest touch. However, when Shen Qingmang sat down and looked at him, the ice quickly froze over, and everything was hidden behind his calm brows.
Shen Qingmang looked at her eldest disciple, and her inner restlessness gradually subsided. Although she would have paid attention to the two younger disciples even if Gu Suihan hadn't mentioned it, her gratitude to him came from the bottom of her heart. Having such a steady disciple around eased her burden a lot. If the three inner disciples were all children who needed to be taken care of, she would have had a headache.
"Sui Han, when is your birthday?"
"Hmm? Master, do you want to tell fortunes?" Gu Sui Han asked.
"Fortune-telling?" Shen Qingmang shook his head repeatedly. "I can't do something that profound. I... your teacher wanted to celebrate your birthday."
"Why celebrate a birthday?"
"Does this even need a reason?" Shen Qingmang was puzzled. When she was at the orphanage, every year her birthday was celebrated by the director's mother and all the other children in the orphanage. After she started school, her classmates would also give her gifts and blessings on her birthday. It was all customary. Therefore, besides Chinese New Year, her most anticipated days each year were her birthday.
"The apprentice has never celebrated his birthday."
"So you don't have this habit." She felt a little disappointed, but soon smiled again and said, "I've been really confused tonight. It doesn't matter if it's your birthday or not. I just wanted to reward you. I should have just asked you what your wish was."
"Wish..." Gu Suihan pondered for a moment and said, "Disciple hopes that Master is safe and happy."
"As a teacher, I ask you about your wishes, what you want."
"This is what my disciple wants."
The eldest disciple seems to be a little too sensible... Shen Qingmang frowned slightly, but looking at the other person's sincere expression, it didn't seem like he was pretending.
She then changed the question, "So, is there anything you've been wanting lately? Speaking of which, even though you've successfully established your foundation, your master hasn't given you a gift yet."
Gu Suihan looked even more embarrassed than she was. "I really can't think of it. No one has ever asked me such a question before."
Shen Qingmang bit the tip of his tongue lightly, feeling that it was really difficult for a modern person like him to integrate his thinking into the ancient times.
Children who have felt a lot of love since childhood are not stingy in giving. She herself is such a person, and the eldest disciple must be the same. I didn't expect that his family had never asked him such a question... Were the ancients so subtle?
The master and disciple stared at each other, and Shen Qingmang broke the deadlock first: "It's okay, I'll think of something to give you. Just wait for the surprise. No need to thank me, you deserve it."
"Okay." Gu Suihan nodded obediently.
"Apart from their demands, is there anything else?"
"No."
"Then wait for me for a moment." With that, Shen Qingmang walked back to the Qiongzhi Palace. When he came back, he had a white fox fur in his hand.
"Wear it and go back. It's still chilly in spring, so wear more clothes next time you go out."
Seeing that Gu Sui Han didn't move, Shen Qingmang directly shook out the fox fur, stood on tiptoe and put it on him, thinking that the child seemed to have grown taller after building his foundation.
Gu Suihan's eyelashes fluttered like a startled butterfly. "I'm not cold..."
"Put it on. There is a kind of cold that makes Master feel that you are cold." Shen Qingmang said with a smile.
"Oh, right." When Gu Suihan reached the door, Shen Qingmang suddenly remembered something. "Has your father been in the Taichu Sect for a long time?"
"He hasn't told me, probably for decades."
"Hmm... He was one of the last outer disciples to join the sect. Sixty years have passed, and the boy is only eighteen, which means he must have stayed for a long time and learned the art of health preservation." Shen Qingmang paused and whispered, "Did he ever tell you... about the inner demon?"
When she read the original novel, she discovered that Hao Xin's imprisonment of his master was the result of the malicious guidance of his inner demon. However, the book gave very little information about the inner demon, stating only that it amplified the malice in people. When she searched the books in the Qiongju Study and the Wuya Peak Library, she found no books on the inner demon.
If she were to ask Qiongju's master or senior brothers about this, they would probably make a fuss and easily expose the fact that she had changed her mind. Shen Qingmang felt that asking his apprentice would be the safest option. Si Rong, that innocent little girl, might not understand such matters, but Gu Suihan's father was an outer disciple, so it seemed easy to get information.
"My father only told me one thing." Gu Suihan pulled his white fox fur closer, as if he finally realized the chill of the spring night.
"What?" Shen Qingmang looked at him seriously.
"Only you can defeat your inner demons; no one else can interfere."
"Oh...Okay, I don't have anything else to do. You should go back now. Don't be late for class tomorrow morning."
"Master, take care of yourself. Don't worry about others." Gu Sui Han looked at her deeply, turned and left.
Shen Qingmang's mind was not on him at the moment. He didn't even pay attention to what the other party said. He waved his hand perfunctorily, his mind full of his own problems.
Gu Suihan's father's words didn't convey much information. The inner demon was definitely something one had to conquer, but how should one deal with it? Should one eliminate the evil thoughts? Or improve one's cultivation?
Her cultivation was currently at the early stages of the Out-of-Body Stage. Once she broke through and reached the Spiritual Sorrow Stage, she would become a True Lord. However, between the Out-of-Body Stage and the Spiritual Sorrow Stage, there was a calamity called the "Questioning Tribulation." Many cultivators had died from this calamity. If she didn't eliminate her inner demons by then, she would likely face certain death as well.
Fortunately, the opponent's power seemed to be weak at the moment. She would only encounter it when she was concentrating on cultivation and her consciousness was immersed in the spiritual palace. It could not affect her thoughts all the time. But she couldn't just refuse to continue practicing to avoid the inner demon, right?
Faced with this difficult problem, Shen Qingmang decided to take a nap and leave the troubles to tomorrow.
However, tonight she had a rare dream.
In an unfamiliar palace, a cold and beautiful woman in thin nightgown leaned against the screen with a look of surprise and uncertainty on her face.
"Hao Xin, you imprisoned your master?"
Across from her, the young man in black robes, his face blurred, spoke with a smile. "Didn't expect that, Master? One day, even a person who has left their body will be trapped by their golden elixir."
"What do you want?" She took a few deep breaths and calmed down.
"Master finally has the patience to care about what I do, but isn't it a little late?" The young man smiled a little wickedly.
"Where are Si Rong and Gu Suihan? How can you be allowed to do what you want?"
"Second Senior Sister has been entangled with someone again, right? As for Senior Senior Brother... he won't care," the young man said, stepping forward. "Master, don't be afraid. I just want to..."
"Don't come over here, bastard!" Shen Qingmang sat up in shock from the bed, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
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