Five Miles of Fog (Part Six)
Chapter Sixteen
After Song Ling's injuries had almost healed, Xie Yuan planned to take him down the mountain. The carriage was no longer usable, but at least the horse could still be ridden, even though there was only one left.
Xie Yuan wanted Song Ling to ride, while she led the horse on foot. Now that she had entered the cultivation stage, the physical condition of her body naturally needed to be improved, and it wouldn't hurt to exercise along the way. However, after she told Song Ling, he refused, insisting that his injury hadn't fully healed and that he wanted to ride with her.
Xie Yuan hurriedly meditated and cultivated in the thatched hut, but the boy beside her wouldn't stop, tugging at her sleeve, playing with her hair, and poking her fingertips...
"Master, can't you really ride with me?"
"Master, please."
"Master~"
"division........"
Xie Yuan was annoyed by him. "Ugh, alright, alright, your nagging is giving me a headache. Okay, alright, I'm thirsty. Go outside and get me some water. We'll set off when you come back."
"Master is so good to me! Ah Ling will be back soon!" The boy's cheerful voice gradually faded into the distance.
Xie Yuan opened her eyes and watched his figure disappear at the end of the path. She shook her head with a look of doting yet helpless expression. Well, this is for the best. It's better than him being gloomy, sullen, and silent all day long like before.
He's just a little too clingy. Maybe we should find an opportunity to let him meet other girls?
It's not impossible that feelings might develop over time...
——
"Ah Ling, are you trying to strangle your master by hugging me so tightly?"
"Loosen your grip a little, Master is right here, he's not going to suddenly disappear."
Xie Yuan patted Song Ling's hand, which was tightly wrapped around her waist, with a wry smile. The young man sat behind her, easily encircling her tightly in his arms, with most of his body pressing against her.
Sigh, it's also a kind of "suffering" for the apprentice to love her so deeply...
The fact that her new identity was completely exposed before she could even warm it up was truly unexpected for Xie Yuan. She had thought that her identity would be revealed, but she hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.
It seems she's not really suited for acting, at least not for acting in front of her apprentices.
She later refused to believe it and insisted that Song Ling herself list several key pieces of evidence that had exposed her.
Song Ling talked on and on, like spilling beans, until Song Ling herself blushed. Seriously? This was too detailed, and it was even a little habit that she herself hadn't noticed. This was too embarrassing!
What's the difference between lying to her apprentice and running naked in the street?
Song Ling reluctantly loosened his grip a little, "Master, when will you teach me...?" His words were loaded with meaning.
Xie Yuan was speechless for a moment. Her grip on the reins tightened and loosened repeatedly. She really was good at digging her own grave. It seemed that this matter was truly insurmountable.
The key issue is matters of the heart. Even as her mentor, she only talks about it theoretically, and it's a problem where she doesn't even know where to begin teaching.
In her previous life, Xie Yuan spent most of her time either cultivating or being a chivalrous hero. After she finished being a chivalrous hero, she found herself a disciple. She didn't know until she started taking care of him that being a master was not easy. Song Ling alone was enough to keep her busy, so she had no time to focus on dating.
Song Ling's questioning voice came from beside her ear: "Master? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Xie Yuan, in a fit of impotent rage: Does your master not want to tell you? No, he just doesn't know how!
But a promise is a promise, and as her teacher, she couldn't go back on her word.
Xie Yuan forced a smile and explained, "A Ling, you can't rush a relationship. There has to be a process of getting to know each other and understanding each other's backgrounds, right?"
Never mind, let's just say something to appease them for now.
Song Ling, puzzled, asked earnestly, "Why?"
"Speaking of understanding, didn't Master already know best what kind of person I was before he defied the world and insisted on taking me as his disciple?"
“My master took me as his disciple when I was three years old and spent six years with me day and night. Isn’t that enough to know me well enough?”
"Master, what do you think?"
The conversation was perfectly normal, and Song Ling's words seemed to be just stating the facts, but Xie Yuan somehow managed to detect a subtle, ambiguous atmosphere.
From both a logical and emotional standpoint, this statement, though absurd, is logically sound and even makes a lot of sense.
“Indeed…” Xie Yuan didn’t quite catch on for a moment, and even agreed with the statement.
Song Ling hugged her, a soft chuckle coming from her shoulder, "So Master thinks the same way, right?"
"Hey, no, this is not the same at all. I am your master!" She carefully pondered those words, then suddenly realized, "Damn, I'm impressed. I almost let this brat lead me astray again!"
"What you said is not wrong, but that's not the logic at all. You're clearly taking things out of context!" Xie Yuan pinched his smooth waist with her hand and corrected him righteously.
Song Ling humbly asked for guidance: "Then please continue, Master."
Xie Yuan cleared her throat. "This is generally divided into two types: love that grows over time and love at first sight."
Song Ling quickly answered, "My feelings for my master developed over time."
Xie Yuan gritted her teeth: "......."
This kid is really asking for a beating. Can't he even speak properly?
Xie Yuan chose to ignore it, took a deep breath, and continued, "Regardless of the type, it requires mutual consent from both parties..."
Song Ling, never one to shy away from a surprising statement, promptly posed another question: "What if the person you like isn't willing?"
Xie Yuan laughed in exasperation: "What, you want to force love on someone who doesn't want to? I think it's because I treated you too well before, and now you're just asking for a beating."
Song Ling said in a gentle and innocent tone: "A-Ling would never do anything that Master doesn't like."
Xie Yuan: She reasonably suspects he did this on purpose! How did this end up affecting her again?! It's driving her crazy!
Song Ling's words silenced Xie Yuan.
After ten years, how could her education have suffered such a major setback?
Seeing that she didn't speak, Song Ling seemed to realize she had said something wrong, and said in a pitiful and aggrieved tone, "Master, I'm sorry, did I say something wrong? Nobody taught me these things..."
Song Ling's words completely extinguished Xie Yuan's anger. Indeed, he was only nine years old when she died; what did he know...?
"No, it's not your fault. Your master will teach you later." Xie Yuan, though exhausted herself, still comforted her little apprentice. "This matter can't be explained in a short time. Let's put it aside for now. You should talk to your master first and tell him what task your superiors have assigned you."
Song Ling nodded obediently and immediately agreed: "Okay, I'll do whatever Master says."
Let's stop here for today. If we rush things, Master will get suspicious...
From an angle Xie Yuan couldn't see, the boy silently curved the corners of his mouth into a smile.
——
Wuli Town.
Xie Yuan temporarily left the horse in the inn's stable, and soon took Song Ling out the door.
After learning about her apprentice's mission, she quickly set a new goal: to help him achieve his KPIs as soon as possible and leave his assassin organization!
In the original storyline, Song Ling suffered endless hardships and humiliations from a young age, spending her life amidst bloodshed and slaughter. Her subsequent descent into demonic possession and the resulting chaos in the world, earning her the scorn of the people, was entirely logical, including her eventual death at the hands of the protagonist…
She did not want Song Ling to follow the path of turning evil in the original plot, nor did she want him to get involved in fighting and killing.
Song Ling died at the age of twenty. She didn't know exactly how she died, only that she went to the southern border with the protagonist to fight to the death, and in the end, only the protagonist returned.
She originally remembered the detailed plot, but because she altered it without permission, the punishment mechanism was unavoidable, and forgetting the original plot was one of them...
Xie Yuan was very familiar with traveling the world, so she took Song Ling to the teahouse in Wuli Town where storytellers listened to stories. In such a place, rumors and gossip were most readily available.
Of course, she also had her own selfish reasons; she wanted him to see more of the hustle and bustle of the world.
Although she was not in control of her own life in her previous life, and nominally she was doing it for his own good, in a sense she was also depriving him of his right to freedom.
After all, Song Ling didn't have an omniscient perspective; he could have easily disowned her, found a new master, and run away, but he always came back...
——
Xie Yuan chose a relatively secluded corner on the first floor of the teahouse. When there were few people at the border, Song Ling often went out at night and carried out missions alone, so she hadn't noticed. But now, when they were in crowded places, it was very obvious that he hated crowded places, especially when people were staring at his face.
If she hadn't been quick enough to stop him from holding the sword every time, she was afraid he would have just killed someone on the spot.
A carved wooden screen separated Xie Yuan and Song Ling from the crowd where they were sitting. The waiter quickly served tea and melon seeds and then left. The two sat facing each other.
Song Ling's handsome face was cold, clearly unhappy. He looked at Xie Yuan, who was struggling to suppress his laughter, with a somewhat resentful expression. She was happy, and showed no intention of coaxing him.
"Master, I'm angry."
"Hmm, I can tell." Xie Yuan couldn't help but chuckle as she poured herself a cup of tea. Just as she took it in her hand, the boy, with his long arms, snatched the cup from her and placed it steadily in front of him.
"Hey, you." Xie Yuan had to look up and look at him with amusement. "What is it now?" She pretended to be silly to tease him.
Song Ling was even more unhappy. "Master, are you annoyed by me?" He lowered his eyelashes with a somewhat dejected expression. "You're not going to comfort me anymore."
Xie Yuan said with a helpless smile, "I don't find you annoying. Why don't you tell me why you're angry?"
Song Ling, as the tragic and beautiful villain in the original book, truly embodies all kinds of misery. When Xie Yuan took him as her disciple, she was actually prepared for the possibility that he might be killed.
She never forced Song Ling to become a good person in any particular way; after all, one shouldn't advise others to be kind without experiencing their suffering firsthand.
She wasn't some savior with the world in her heart; everything she did was simply to live up to the eight words: acting from the heart, without regret.
Now that she had missed ten years of being there for him as he grew up, she didn't know what he had gone through. She had a feeling there was something bigger going on, but Song Ling seemed unwilling to let her know…
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