Chapter 42 Social Death The third type of death: social death.
Fu Lanting held Jiang Zhaoyue's hand and walked on the tree-lined avenue extending from the back mountain.
Someone was walking towards him, and his palms stiffened slightly, but only for a moment, he did not let go of Jiang Zhaoyue's hand.
When the man came closer, Jiang Zhaoyue recognized him as the third elder of the Qi Ling Xian Sect, who was in charge of the sect's daily affairs.
The back mountain is rarely visited, and few people pass by here. The third elder was in a hurry, probably looking for Fu Lanting.
As expected, the third elder walked up to them and immediately bowed.
"Master."
He raised his head and wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat before he could say them.
The third elder almost thought he had seen it wrong. He blinked, but the situation before him remained unchanged.
The headmaster held the hand of the person next to him.
But isn't the woman next to him a disciple of Sect Leader Lin? The current senior sister of the Yunmiao Immortal Sect, Fairy Zhaoyue?
Isn't it about her and Jiang Qiying...
He was stunned by the scene before him for a moment, until Fu Lanting frowned and called him: "What's the matter?"
The third elder finally came to his senses and looked away, not daring to look again.
He consoled himself in his heart, thinking perhaps the headmaster simply... preferred this junior. After all, he was a disciple of his good friend.
After several attempts, the Third Elder finally suppressed his fear and said in a deep voice, "Master, Master Lin is here and wants to see you. He said you didn't respond to his message."
"Lin Bozhou?"
Fu Lanting's eyes froze, and he let go of Jiang Zhaoyue's hand in a panic, as if he had done something wrong. After calming himself down, he asked, "Why did he come out of seclusion?"
Lin Bozhou has only been in seclusion for a few days. Logically speaking, it is impossible for him to come out now.
"Uh..." The Third Elder was somewhat speechless and sighed: "It might be the battle between you and Master Jiyue before."
To be honest, Fu Lanting suddenly started a war with Lian Yueqing in the Ninth Heaven Diplomatic Area, and there was no news in the sect. The third elder who was in charge of the sect affairs was wondering whether he should organize the disciples to go to war.
After the battle, peace seemed to return.
It is said that the headmaster Ji Yue returned covered in blood, with his face covered. I don’t know if he was injured too badly.
But as soon as he returned to the Jiyue Immortal Sect, he went into seclusion and did not mention the reason for the battle with Fu Lanting at all. This left the top leaders of the two sects confused until now, wondering why they suddenly started fighting for no reason.
The Third Elder received hundreds of messages in this short period of time, but unfortunately he didn't know what was going on.
Fu Lanting naturally wouldn't explain to him what was going on. He simply said, "It's a personal grudge and has nothing to do with the sect. You don't have to worry about it."
What this means is that the disciples who have personal relationships with the Jiyue Immortal Sect don't have to worry, the two sects will not fight each other, it's just a personal grudge between him and Lian Yueqing.
Lian Yueqing was no match for him, and since it happened because of something like that, he would only remain silent.
The third elder did not get the answer he wanted, but he finally got a guarantee. His master always kept his word. If he said it was okay, then it was naturally okay.
He was relieved and said, "Master Lin is waiting for you in your Chonghua Hall."
"I see."
Fu Lanting asked him to leave, and then stood there for a while before he made up his mind and said to Jiang Zhaoyue, "Don't worry, I will find a time to talk to your master and won't ask him to punish you."
"OK."
Jiang Zhaoyue smiled, without a trace of worry on her face, and obviously didn't care at all.
Instead, Fu Lanting's face was gloomy. He took a deep breath and then walked towards Chonghua Hall with heavy steps.
Jiang Zhaoyue followed him and soon met his master.
In fact, Lin Bozhou had only been in seclusion for two days to regulate his breathing, and had not even started using the "Heart of Wood" to heal his injuries.
Suddenly he sensed the breath of the Ninth Heaven. Without time to think about it, he hurried out of seclusion and went to the Ninth Heaven first.
However, when he arrived at the battlefield, the battle had already ended, so he turned back to the Qi Ling Immortal Sect.
Seeing that Jiang Zhaoyue beside Fu Lanting was safe and sound, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then began to complain about his friend.
"What's going on between you and that old bastard Lian Yueqing? You started fighting for no reason. I thought something was wrong and I was so scared that I rushed out."
There are two main reasons why he was so anxious to leave.
First, Jiang Zhaoyue is currently relying on Fu Lanting for care, fearing that something might happen to her. Second, they are good friends after all. If it really comes to a life-and-death battle, Lian Yueqing is a cunning man with mysterious eyes, so he will definitely join the battle to help Fu Lanting.
Fu Lanting didn't dare look at him, nor did he dare mention the reason for his fight with Lian Yueqing in front of his friend. He could only say vaguely, "Nothing, just a little grudge."
"What's the sudden grudge between you and him?"
Lin Bozhou frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly realized: "It can't be the woman you like, he won't allow it?"
Apart from this, he really couldn't think of anything else that would cause Fu Lanting and Lian Yueqing to fight so much.
It’s not that the masters don’t compete with each other, but when it comes to the ninth heaven, it becomes a real life-and-death battle.
After saying this, Lin Bozhou continued, "Which woman do you like? Could it be that...what's her name, Yang Xuelan, from the Jiyue Immortal Sect?"
The masters hold high positions, and only a few of their young disciples are lucky enough to have their names remembered.
Lin Bozhou only remembered that there was a person named Yang Xuelan in the Jiyue Immortal Sect. He was quite talented and might be the next successor to the sect leader.
If it wasn't her, he really couldn't imagine who else could make Lian Yueqing reject him like this.
"Not her."
Fu Lanting quickly denied it. He was silent for a while before he mustered up the courage to say, "Bozhou, actually I..."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Lin Bozhou.
"Forget it, this is your private matter, and I don't want to know. As long as you don't like our Teruyue, that's fine."
He smiled faintly and waved to Jiang Zhaoyue, motioning her to come over to him. He then warned her, "If they start fighting again in the future, stay as far away from them as possible and don't get involved."
"good."
Jiang Zhaoyue nodded obediently.
Lin Bozhou thought for a moment and said, "If any elder or someone like that says they admire you, don't believe them. They're just looking at you because you're good and pretty, and they want to take advantage of you. They're bad people who don't care about your reputation. Don't believe them."
Finally, he concluded: "In short, when Master is not around, you must protect yourself. You have a simple and kind nature, and I raised you too innocently. You don't know how treacherous people are in this world. There are countless people who are evil."
After he finished speaking, he seemed to realize that Fu Lanting was right next to him. He thought his words were a bit indirect, so he cleared his throat and explained, "Don't mind me. I'm not talking about you. It's just that my Zhaoyue is simple-minded. I'm afraid she'll be deceived, so I gave her a few more warnings."
His friend likes a young girl, and as long as they both like each other, he has no right to interfere. But he must protect his disciple. Those older people who coax young people have no good intentions. Most of them are just coaxing and deceiving because they are greedy for youth and beauty.
His disciple is extremely talented, has a strong faith in Taoism, and has a good temperament. In the future, she will become a king who rules a region, rather than a bird trapped in the cage of love. Lin Bozhou always tells her this without getting tired of it.
Jiang Zhaoyue listened with a smile, nodding from time to time, and did not disobey.
As Lin Bozhou was speaking, he suddenly sighed, "Our Zhaoyue is still the best. I have seen so many disciples, but none of them can compare to our Zhaoyue. He never gives me any worries and is sensible and obedient."
Jiang Zhaoyue threw herself into his arms like a young swallow returning to its nest, and acted coquettishly in her master's arms like she did when she was a child.
"Because Master is very good, he taught me very well."
Lin Bozhou was obviously moved by her words. He nuzzled his face against her ear in a way that was intimate and without any ambiguity. He sighed, "It's a pity that little Dumpling has grown up. We can't keep him by our Master's side every day like before."
Fu Lanting, whose face had darkened since he started talking, just watched silently.
He seemed to want to say something, but in the end, no word came out.
After Lin Bozhou said those words, he knew that he could no longer be honest today.
I can only remain silent.
Finally, Lin Bozhou reacted on his own. He let go of Jiang Zhaoyue with a light cough and looked at Fu Lanting: "By the way, why did you come back together?"
There was blood on Fu Lanting's body, so he must have rushed back after the battle, but Jiang Zhaoyue should be recuperating, so why would they come to see him together?
Jiang Zhaoyue glanced at Fu Lanting and continued to smile, "I went to the back mountain to see Senior Brother Jiang. On the way, I happened to meet Uncle Shi. When I heard that Master had arrived, I hurried over to see Master."
"Jiang Qiying?"
Lin Bozhou was stunned for a moment, then a little surprised: "The back mountain is the Facing Wall Cliff, right? Fu Lanting, what did your disciple do wrong that you are willing to punish him like this?"
Fu Lanting is not the type to dote on his disciples, but from the fact that he only accepted Jiang Qiying as his disciple, it can be seen that he loves Jiang Qiying very much. At least Lin Bozhou has never seen him punish Jiang Qiying like this.
Avoiding his gaze, Fu Lanting said calmly: "It's nothing, just a small matter. If jade is not polished, it will not be made into a useful object. It can't be considered a punishment."
"You've been getting weirder lately."
Lin Bozhou shook his head slightly and only complained, not asking further questions. "Have you resolved the issue between you and Lian Yueqing? If you want to fight again, I will not retreat for now. If he dares to trouble you again, I will beat him half to death first."
If he joins forces with Fu Lanting, he will indeed be qualified to say this.
But Fu Lanting, who was always cold and domineering, just said calmly: "It's not a big deal, don't get involved, just focus on retreat."
"Okay."
Lin Bozhou shrugged slightly, stepped forward and put his arm around his shoulders. After finishing the business, he joked, "Let's have a drink. After you've had enough, I'll go back to seclusion. If it weren't for healing, I really wouldn't want to stay in seclusion for so long. It's really boring."
"what ever."
Fu Lanting's tone was light and without any fluctuation, but his eyes were always a little fast when they swept over Jiang Zhaoyue.
"Okay, I still have a few jars of that wine. Let's go find a comfortable place. Zhaoyue will come too."
He had been to Qi Ling Xian Zong too many times and was very familiar with Fu Lanting's territory. He immediately wanted to pull his friends and disciples away from Chonghua Palace.
But as he was walking, Lin Bozhou's gaze suddenly paused, and a look of surprise appeared between his brows.
"you……"
His gaze moved downwards and stopped at Fu Lanting's chest.
Slight traces of foreign matter revealed their direction and outline along the smooth fabric.
And this shouldn't have happened.
After Fu Lanting's calm gaze followed his line of sight to his chest, he suddenly remembered something, his face flushed for a moment, and he subconsciously pushed Lin Bozhou away, his eyes flickering, as if he didn't know where to look.
Lin Bozhou was caught off guard and pushed by him, almost crashing into the Panlong Pillar next to him. He steadied himself and said unhappily, "Fu Lanting, are you crazy?"
"What are you hiding? I'm really impressed by you..."
Lin Bozhou stopped talking abruptly before he finished speaking.
In fact, he just glanced at it accidentally and said something subconsciously without thinking much about it.
But after he came to his senses and thought carefully about the outline and position, he realized that as an adult man who was hundreds of years old, even if he had not experienced it, it was impossible for him to not understand everything.
He thought of something almost instantly.
Jiang Zhaoyue happened to be attracted by their reaction and leaned over to take a look.
Her eyes were innocent and her face was filled with curiosity: "Master, what's wrong?"
Lin Bozhou's face flushed for a moment, but he was annoyed. He gave his friend a fierce look, quickly moved his disciple aside, and then blocked her sight as if to cover up. He coughed twice and said, "Ahem, it's nothing. I was just joking with your uncle. Don't ask so many questions, kid."
"But, I saw that Master was looking at Uncle Shi's chest when he said that."
Her eyes were clear, her tone was innocent, and she wanted to look past Lin Bozhou to see Fu Lanting.
But he was blocked by his own master.
Lin Bozhou closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing the shock and annoyance in his heart, and then he smiled as usual and explained to her: "Your uncle was injured just now. It was on his chest. It's okay. He's shy. Don't look at him, or he will get angry out of shame."
"oh."
Jiang Zhaoyue then obediently withdrew his gaze, curved his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "Then let's go for a drink. The wine that Master made last time was very fragrant."
"Okay." Lin Bozhou answered quickly, and then said, "Go wait for us under the spacious pavilion in the backyard. I'll have a few words with your uncle and will be back soon."
"good."
Jiang Zhaoyue bowed obediently and walked towards the door obediently without further inquiry.
Lin Bozhou waited until she was far away and could no longer hear any sound before he turned around to look at Fu Lanting, gritting his teeth.
He pointed at Fu Lanting's chest.
"What is this? Fu Lanting, you've been possessed by someone, right? How dare you carry something this unpresentable? You're the headmaster of the Qiling Immortal Sect, not some mortal actor selling laughs. Are you crazy?"
If the aura and details of his actions had not changed, he would really have suspected that someone had possessed Fu Lanting.
In the past, let alone things like this, he wouldn't even wear clothes that were slightly fancy. The jade pendant last time was okay, and it could barely be called a token of love, but what he gave today was really too much.
How embarrassing it would be if someone saw you behaving like this?
Fu Lanting's face turned red. Even the most domineering and cold-hearted person has a sense of shame.
It was already very embarrassing when Jiang Zhaoyue put this thing on him. Now that his good friend discovered it, for a moment, the master even wanted to say goodbye to this beautiful world.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Lin Bozhou took a deep breath, pressed his forehead, and asked, "Who is that woman? What kind of drug did she give you?"
Fu Lanting lowered his eyes, his body stiff, and remained silent.
Lin Bozhou then looked him over carefully, his gaze finally fixed on his ears. He said speechlessly, "You also have your ears pierced?"
Still silence.
Lin Bozhou just felt a throbbing pain in his head, and his old injury was about to relapse.
He never expected that his disciple did not worry him, but his close friend who had lived for hundreds of years could still come forward and give him this kind of trouble.
He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before lowering his voice.
Lin Bozhou suppressed his anger and pulled his collar.
"Take it off. If you don't feel ashamed, I will. If Zhaoyue sees it and tries to do the same, I'll kill you."
Fu Lanting subconsciously tried to stop his movements, and as they pulled, his collar was loosened, and a thin chain with a ruby hanging on it leaked out from his clothes, hanging in front of his chest, swaying with the bulge, emitting a thin golden light.
Lin Bozhou froze in his tracks, and Fu Lanting, who was sitting opposite him, also froze in his tracks.
The hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
After a while, Lin Bozhou's face flushed red. He quickly loosened his collar, looked away, and said angrily, "You...you are a teacher, but you have no shame!"
He thought it was just a chain, but it turned out to be something worn on the body. Fu Lanting actually made a hole in it!
Lin Bozhou felt like he was going blind.
How could there be such a shameless design in this world? Fu Lanting actually wore this thing in private.
Fu Lanting's expression wasn't much better than his.
His face was red, but his eyes were dull, with a kind of dead confusion.
There are three kinds of death in the world. The first is the end of life, the second is the loss of memory, and the third is commonly known as social death.
At this moment, the master was already dead.
Just at this moment, a clear female voice came from outside the palace door.
"Master, have you agreed? I've been waiting for a long time and you haven't come yet."
Lin Bozhou was startled and immediately replied, "I'm coming. You go first."
He moved quickly and tightly closed Fu Lanting's collar. He stuffed all the things that were not presentable into Fu Lanting's collar and hid them. He gritted his teeth and warned:
"I'm leaving first. Come back later after you've taken this thing. I'm warning you, I won't care if you corrupt your disciples. But if Zhaoyue sees you, I'll fight you to the death."
Fu Lanting finally looked up at him, but his eyes were dark and without any light.
He wanted to say something, his lips trembled, but in the end he lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Lin Bozhou was really upset. He didn't want to look at anyone any more and didn't have the energy to ask so many questions. He quickly left Chonghua Hall, leaving Fu Lanting standing quietly in the hall, with no emotion visible in his dim eyes.
Half a quarter of an hour later, the three of them met in the courtyard behind Chonghua Hall.
Lin Bozhou glanced at him and clenched his hands tightly under the table, as if he wanted to strangle him to death.
Because Fu Lanting didn't take off the chain.
The faint outline still meandered beneath his clothes.
He sat there with a normal expression, without any sense of shame.
Lin Bozhou winked at him several times, but he ignored them all.
Jiang Zhaoyue, on the other hand, looked at them with a smile, and asked with a frown, "Master, what's wrong? You keep looking at Uncle Master. Are you hiding any secrets from me?"
"No."
Lin Bozhou quickly smiled at her and said, "Zhaoyue, the resentment in your body has not yet subsided. You drank half a cup. Why don't you go to practice earlier?"
Under normal circumstances, he would definitely not be so anxious to let his disciple leave, but at this moment, Lin Bozhou was afraid that his disciple would see something unclean, so he wanted her to leave earlier.
"But I've only been with Master for a short while."
Jiang Zhaoyue acted coquettishly with him, "Please let me sit for a while longer, Master. I want to stay with you for a while longer."
"good."
Lin Bozhou naturally couldn't refuse her request, so he could only try to talk to her more and prevent her from going to see Fu Lanting.
Jiang Zhaoyue answered obediently on the surface, but secretly, Fu Lanting felt something rubbing against his leg.
But the touch was so quick that he didn't know if it was accidental.
Until we touch again.
Jiang Zhaoyue gave him a gentle smile.
There was no ambiguity in that smile, but Fu Lanting somehow remembered the day when she lay on him and smiled in the same way.
The metal chain hidden in his collar seemed to be burning, making him feel a little hot, so that when he was lost in thought, Lin Bozhou suddenly slapped him and said unhappily, "I'm talking to you."
When he saw his friend's lustful look, he felt that his previous cold and intolerant image had completely collapsed.
Fu Lanting calmed down and said calmly, "What did you say?"
Lin Bozhou rolled his eyes at him implicitly, his eyes full of: You don’t even want to pretend now, right?
How come he hadn't noticed before that Fu Lanting was so, so...
Instead, Jiang Zhaoyue repeated it in a gentle voice.
"Uncle, Master said I should return to Yunmiao Immortal Sect."
Fu Lanting barely hesitated and blurted out, "Aren't you going into seclusion? Yunmiao Immortal Sect and Qiling Immortal Sect are quite far apart. If anything happens, I'm too far away to reach you in time."
Seeing that Lin Bozhou was about to say something, he continued, "Is life more important, or something else? There are many people in the Yunmiao Immortal Sect who support Luo Huaiyin, right?"
This sentence hits the nail on the head.
Lin Bozhou's brows were conflicted. He glanced at his chest, then at Jiang Zhaoyue. After a long moment, he finally said, "Forget it. Even though they don't dare to attack openly, I don't believe they dare to offend me. But you're right, it's better to be safe than sorry."
At this point he added, "Brother Fu, my disciple is simple, please... restrain yourself. I beg you."
Thinking of what just happened, Fu Lanting's ears seemed to be burning again. Coupled with the guilt and guilty conscience of having betrayed Lin Bozhou, he lowered his eyes and replied softly, "Yeah."
"That's all we can do."
Lin Bozhou sighed, thought for a moment, and leaned closer to Jiang Zhaoyue's ear to whisper a few more words before he said with a heavy heart, "If you have anything, tell the Second Elder. If all else fails, have him wake me up."
"good."
Jiang Zhaoyue nodded and comforted him, "Master, don't worry, everything will be fine. My uncle treats me very kindly and takes care of me every day."
Opposite her, Fu Lanting's eyes trembled slightly. He looked up at her and happened to see her smiling eyes and the fleeting glimmer in her eyes.
As if possessed by some mysterious force, he continued her words and replied, "Well, she is very well behaved."
Lin Bozhou may have sensed something and glanced at his face, but he didn't see anything unusual on his face, so he could only nod.
He looked at Jiang Zhaoyue, but spoke to Fu Lanting as if jokingly, his voice indescribably calm, "You are the elder, so please don't covet my disciple."
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The author has something to say: Two chapters combined into one.
Lin Bozhou: As a serious person, I can’t give up my eyes.
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