The next day.
Murong Xiao's eyelids trembled, and he opened them with difficulty. What came into view was the faint morning light outside the window, and... a figure on the chair by the bed, exuding a cold aura that kept strangers at bay.
Xie Linyuan.
Murong Xiao: "..."
The little brat gasped, his vision went black, and he almost embarrassingly fainted again.
However, before he could close his eyes properly, a cold, emotionless gaze swept over him and landed precisely on his face.
Murong Xiao jolted instantly, his survival instinct overriding everything. He practically scrambled off the bed, trying to slide onto the floor with his hands and feet—his kneeling posture was perfect, and his attitude was sincere.
"No need."
The two words, "cool and breezy," were spoken without much intonation, yet they successfully stopped Murong Xiao from sliding down.
He stood frozen in place, unsure whether to kneel or stand. In the end, he could only awkwardly sit back down on the edge of the bed, his eyes darting around, but he dared not look at the revered deity in the chair.
"Your...Your Excellency..."
Murong Xiao's voice trembled as he tried to find a safe topic, "Where... is my brother?"
Xie Linyuan didn't even lift his eyelids, his voice indifferent: "Return to the Nine Heavens to report."
He paused for a moment before adding, in a condescending manner, his tone devoid of emotion: "I have made it clear to Haotian that he will not be held responsible for his oversight for the time being."
Murong Xiao had just breathed a sigh of relief.
"But it's only temporary."
Xie Linyuan's voice remained calm, yet carried an invisible pressure: "His future depends on whether you continue to act so...rebelliously."
Murong Xiao silently looked away, his fingers unconsciously tightening around the bedding beneath him.
He knew perfectly well that His Majesty had already shown extraordinary mercy this time, and it was already quite an achievement that his dog father had temporarily refrained from criticizing his brother.
He dared not say anything more and could only awkwardly change the subject in an attempt to ease the suffocating awkwardness: "Your... what about my senior sister?"
Mentioning Shen Zhaozhao caused Xie Linyuan's already low spirits to sink even further.
He let out a very soft, cold snort, as if he was trying his best to suppress something. After a long while, he finally squeezed out a stiff sentence: "Yuntai Immortal Market Auction".
Murong Xiao blinked, a little confused.
Senior sister went to the auction... So why is Your Excellency standing in my room emitting cold air?
Xie Linyuan seemed to understand his foolish doubts, and his face darkened even more. He almost gritted his teeth and reluctantly added, "She's worried about leaving you here alone."
After all, the demons had just caused a ruckus.
Xie Linyuan didn't say the latter part aloud, but his disgusted and resentful look clearly conveyed it—
That heartless Shen Zhaozhao treated him as a substitute and coaxed him perfunctorily, but she didn't even care whether she was still angry or not, and just casually arranged for him to take care of her child here.
Murong Xiao watched Xie Linyuan's increasingly grim face, which seemed about to freeze over with ice, and his animal-like intuition sent a frantic warning.
Something's not right.
There's definitely something going on between the Venerable One and his Senior Sister Zhao Zhao.
Otherwise, why would the Venerable One's face look like someone owes him tens of millions of spirit stones and refuses to pay back the debt every time his senior sister is mentioned?
That won't do!
Senior Sister Zhao Zhao has taken good care of him and his brother. How could Murong Xiao be such an ungrateful person?
Thinking of this, the little boy suddenly felt that he had shouldered a huge mission.
Since he is Shen Zhaozhao's only connection to the Venerable One, even though he is insignificant, he might be able to help his senior sister gain some favor if he tries hard enough.
Murong Xiao frantically racked his not-so-bright little brain, and after a few breaths, he finally mustered up the courage to ask, "Your...Your Excellency...is there some misunderstanding between you and Senior Sister Zhao Zhao?"
Misunderstand?
Xie Linyuan seemed to have heard something utterly ridiculous, a cold smile curving his lips, but his eyes were like a bottomless pool of ice.
What misunderstanding could there be?
She had slept with him as a substitute, and when he exposed her, she didn't even bother to offer a decent word of comfort. Instead, she turned around and sent him away to look after the child as if nothing had happened.
What's wrong with that?
Does he care about this trivial oversight?
Is he really that serious?
Will he?
Oh.
Xie Linyuan maintained his aloof and indifferent demeanor, as if nothing concerned him.
But he only managed to hold on for three breaths.
The icy curve of his eyes loosened slightly, and the deep, coldness in his eyes seemed to have been stirred by a pebble, creating ripples that were both subtle and clear. A layer of indescribable grievance quickly welled up and silently soaked into those always distant eyes.
Murong Xiao dared not utter a sound, watching helplessly as the Venerable's incomparably handsome face, in an extremely slow yet undeniable speed, transformed from the cold arrogance of "I don't care at all" to the tearful expression of "How could she do this to me?"
Although he still didn't show any dramatic expressions, he exuded a pitiful aura as if he had been severely bullied.
The young man's Adam's apple bobbed, and he felt that he should say something more to salvage his senior sister's image of the Venerable One in front of him, an image that seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
However, before Murong Xiao could organize his thoughts, Xie Linyuan suddenly raised his hand and pressed his brow hard, as if exhausted, or as if he could no longer bear some kind of emotion.
His voice was light and airy, hoarse with a suppressed yet still fragile quality, as he asked a question that nearly sent Murong Xiao's head spinning.
"In your opinion... given your senior sister's personality..."
He paused, each word seemingly squeezed out with difficulty from between his teeth, circuitous and obscure: "If she... tasted some kind of new tea that was somewhat similar to the old brew she longed for but could not obtain."
"Will the fact that this new tea is not the same as the old brew make it tasteless, and as a result... make you not even want to look at the teacups a second time?"
Murong Xiao: "..."
Murong Xiao: "?"
Murong Xiao: "!"
Holy crap?!
Murong Xiao's pupils dilated violently, and his breathing stopped abruptly.
He just looks like he's sixteen or seventeen; he's not actually only sixteen or seventeen!
He lived in the Nine Heavens Palace for hundreds of years!
How could he not understand the meaning behind those words?!
Is this some kind of tea?!
Because of an unrequited love from the past, the senior sister "tasted" a "new tea" (a metaphor for a new relationship).
...
taste……
How...how did you taste it?
Is it... what he meant?
so……
So that audacious demon who slept with the Venerable One... was his Senior Sister Zhao Zhao?!
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