Chapter 6: The Price of Desire

“Why did Master suddenly toss me a piece of clothing?” Mu An was puzzled. “Is it because he found it objectionable that I was only wearing square-cut shorts in my own room?”

After listening to Mu An explain the situation, the system mulled it over. [Maybe he thought it was an eyesore.]

“Tch, system, you just don’t have the eyes for beauty. My lean muscles, my graceful lines and curves, my smooth skin, my—”

[Oh… I don’t do human-machine romance, thanks.]

“Who said anything about human-machine romance with you! You’re even more narcissistic than I am.” Mu An couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“What I mean is, there’s no way Master thought I was an eyesore. He gave me the clothes right before he left. If he was already leaving, why would he care whether I’m dressed or not?”

[Hmm… that makes a bit of sense. Could it be he wants you to wash his clothes for him?]

Mu An thought it over and mused, “That’s plausible. Lately, I’ve been volunteering to wash Master’s clothes. Master is used to hand-washing them, so he specially tossed me the clothes before sending me off to reflect on my mistakes.”

[What a capitalist tyrant.]

“Seriously, a real s*ave driver.”

Mu An nodded to himself. “Whatever, it’s just clothes. I’ll rinse them once and hang them up.”

[Host, a reminder: your mission is: After losing to the senior disciple of Yunhe Peak in the sect tournament due to your injuries from the previous day, be resented by your master, grit your teeth in hatred, and burn with the desire to drag your master into the mire and have your way with him.]

[You still have a small task to complete. You need to show the appearance of gritting your teeth in hatred and harboring malicious intent.]

Hearing this, Mu An fetched a basin of clean water and, while grimacing and baring his teeth, began washing the clothes.

“Master, one day I’m going to tear off your clothes and take you roughly!”

[Eww~ So twisted.]

Immersed in his performance of laundry, Mu An failed to notice that the recording stone in his room was silently capturing his voice.

His master, listening to his voice, had a flushed face.

Shen Shengqing lightly touched his collar. “Tear off my clothes?”

A smile tugged at his thin lips.

“If only you could be more devoted and less fickle…”

***

Reflection Cliff.

Mu An arrived early in the morning carrying warm clothing. The disciple guarding the mountain felt a twinge of pity seeing him approach.

“Senior Brother Mu An, if you need help, you can press the call bell, and I’ll come immediately,” the disciple in green robes said.

Mu An raised an eyebrow slightly, with a touch of haughtiness. “Do you think I, a peak Golden Core cultivator, can’t even handle this?”

“Senior brother, you misunderstand. That’s not what I meant.” The disciple quickly explained. “I only—”

“Say no more. Give me the entrance token.” Mu An reached out to take it.

The disciple had no choice but to hand over the token.

Once inside his assigned cave dwelling, Mu An instantly dropped the act and bounced around in place.

“Mom! System, turn on the temperature blocker right now—I’m freezing to death!”

The system simply couldn’t bear to watch and promptly activated the temperature blocker. [Host, even though I can block your temperature perception, you should still start a fire quickly. Be careful you don’t actually freeze to death.]

Reflection Cliff suppressed spiritual energy. Not only did Mu An need to cut his own firewood from the mountain, but he also had to prepare his own food in advance.

Mu An immediately opened his bundle, threw on several layers of thick clothing, and then trudged toward the mountain path with his long sword in hand.

Not only was the snowy mountain path hard to traverse, but the windstorms were also fierce. For the first time, Mu An felt that he truly was a slender beauty—he could almost be blown away by the wind.

“Damn it! When I get back, I’m going to eat like crazy. Fasting has made me as thin as a paper doll.”

[Host, you’re not actually that thin.]

Just as Mu An was about to retort, he heard an exaggerated laugh from the forest.

“So the esteemed head disciple of the Wanghua Immortal Lord has fallen to such a state.” A figure with ink-black hair and green robes slowly emerged from the wind and snow—still that unremarkable face.

It was Qing Ya again.

“Badly injured and knocked off the arena yesterday, and today your master punishes you to Reflection Cliff. How heartless.” Qing Ya’s voice carried a gleeful tone.

“How did you get in?” Mu An frowned.

“That’s not the important point, little sir.” Qing Ya teleported in front of Mu An. “The point is, I can help you.”

Mu An frowned and remained silent.

“Little sir, the Wanghua Immortal Lord is now at the Nascent Soul stage. At your current level of cultivation, I’m afraid that even by the time he ascends, you’ll still only be at the Golden Core stage.” Qing Ya frowned and shook his head.

“Your master has no feelings for you, and you can’t defeat him. I’m afraid that in this lifetime, you can only look up at your master from afar, never to share a night of passion with him.”

Qing Ya’s voice was very gentle, deliberately slowing down on the words “share a night of passion,” making them even more suggestive.

“My relationship with my master is pure, and I won’t allow you to recklessly speculate!” Mu An retorted coldly, yet a hint of darkness flickered in his eyes.

Qing Ya’s lips curled slightly. “Like is like. Why pretend with me?”

He smiled faintly and twirled his long hair. “We demons are all about seizing the moment. Falling in love with one’s master is a grave transgression in the human realm, but in our demon realm, it’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

Mu An pressed his lips together slightly, showing a trace of hesitation.

Having said his piece, Qing Ya didn’t press further. He merely tossed Mu An a jade pendant.

“When you’ve made up your mind and need my help, infuse the pendant with your spiritual energy. Call for me, and I will help you.”

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