Chen Shu Ze was troubled for a while but when he looked up once more, he found himself alone in the room. Xiang Han had already left.
He opened his mouth, but the words 'Shizun' had yet to leave before he closed them again, his expression crestfallen.
This was also good, saving them some awkwardness…
He comforted himself internally before using a cleaning technique and laying on his bed. Before he fell asleep, he had a faint inkling of having forgotten something. But before he could recall it, he fell asleep.
His sleep wasn't restful as he had a dream about the same person.
When he woke up, his expression appeared quite good but his spirit was a little lethargic.
After he arrived at Xiang Han's courtyard and saw Liu Meng'er, he casually greeted her.
Liu Meng'er hurriedly leaned over and asked in a low voice, "How is… the rabbit?"
"Rabbit?" Chen Shu Ze froze for a moment.
"Yeah, the rabbit." Liu Meng'er nodded with worry.
"Rabbit!" Chen Shu Ze woke up instantly then slapped his forehead, annoyed. "So that's what I'd forgotten."
"What rabbit?" Xiang Han suddenly appeared behind them and asked expressionlessly.
Ever since he came back last night, he had been embarrassed and didn't want to meet Chen Shu Ze at all. But when he heard his two rebellious disciples talking about rabbits again, he suddenly became furious.
Liu Meng'er was startled and hurriedly hid to the side, but Chen Shu Ze asked, "Shizun, last night, did you see…"
"I didn't see anything." When Xiang Han heard him mention last night, he immediately interrupted with a dark face.
"Oh!" Chen Shu Ze was a little startled, but thinking of the rabbit, he still asked carefully, "Did you really not see a rabbit?"
Hearing him mentioning the rabbit once more made Xiang Han even more angry. He pinched his two disciples' ear and dragged them to a waterfall. "Today, both of you will practice swinging your sword against the water five thousand times. There will be no rest until you finish it."
Liu Meng'er said cautiously, "Shizun, I practice the blade…"
"Then swing your blade!" Xiang Han gritted his teeth, his tone gloomy.
Liu Meng'er shrank her head in fright and hurriedly took out her blade and got under the waterfall.
"Why aren't you going?" Xiang Han turned and asked Chen Shu Ze.
Chen Shu Ze rubbed his reddened ears and stared at him for a long time before leaving with a sigh.
Xiang Han was dumbfounded and thought to himself: What is this kid sighing for? With an expression of "knowing everything", could it be that… he knew that the rabbit was me?
After experiencing the last world, Xiang Han became more careful about things like exposing himself. After all, it's too embarrassing to keep acting without realising it.
He thought about it carefully and felt that his transformation into a rabbit this time shouldn't be a problem. At least Chen Shu Ze didn't see his transformation. But that time when he turned into a fox… Although he had muddled through it, it was indeed a bit far-fetched and some degree of suspicion was normal.
It seems that Chen Shu Ze was highly suspicious of him.
Xiang Han rubbed his chin and pondered. He could forget about his transformation into a fox, but this time, his transformation into a rabbit should… be concealed! It must be concealed!
Thinking of his tail being pulled aside to check for his gender yesterday, Xiang Han immediately held his forehead, wishing he could pull a certain person in front of him and beat him up.
He glared at Chen Shu Ze angrily and after the two of them finished practicing, he instructed, "Meng'er, go back, Shu Ze is not meticulous enough. Practice a thousand more times."
Chen Shu Ze frowned upon hearing this and felt a little puzzled in his heart. He clearly practiced more carefully than his Senior Sister, so why did Shizun say that?
Was it because of what happened last night? That's right, for Shizun to do that kind of thing while unconscious was definitely a great blow to him once he woke up. In order to suppress his feelings, he had forced himself to act more indifferent to him.
Chen Shu Ze's mood was indescribable and his gaze became more complicated.
Xiang Han's hair stood on its ends from Chen Shu Ze's eyes and he thought to himself: Isn't it just a thousand more times? He can't even endure this bit of hardship?
"Forget it, it's up to you to practice or not." He didn't want to look at Chen Shu Ze any longer, so with a wave of his sleeves, he left.
However, in Chen Shu Ze's eyes, it became: Sure enough, Shizun couldn't harden his heart. Even though he acts cold towards me, he still… sigh.
He silently returned to the bottom of the waterfall and practiced a thousand more times before leaving with his sword.
After having the experience of being almost roasted and eaten by his disciple , Xiang Han made a painful decision and announced that he was going into seclusion.
When Chen Shu Ze learned about this, he was thinking to himself: In order to prevent Shizun from further suffering, should I try to be with him?
But before he could express his feelings, he learned that the other person had already gone into seclusion.
Frankly speaking, Chen Shu Ze was a little confused, but he quickly guessed the reason: Shizun must have not been able to bear this kind of pain, so he decided to go into seclusion and cut away his feelings to break through the burden in his heart.
Alas, why didn't Shizun wait a little longer? Actually, actually… He seemed to also have feelings for his Shizun.
Chen Shu Ze was filled with melancholy. Ever since Xiang Han went into seclusion, cultivation, something he had always anticipated in the past, had become boring, and time seemed to pass much slower.
Because of this, he became increasingly moody and made no progress in cultivation. However, he began to think more and more about Xiang Han with each passing day.
This lasted until the day Liu Meng'er could no longer bear to keep watching. She couldn't help but blurt out, "Shidi, if you continue like this, Shizun will surely be angry when he comes out."
Chen Shu Ze finally woke up and realised he could not disappoint Xiang Han. Thus, he began to train diligently.
Xiang Han left seclusion after two winters had passed. Liu Meng'er was currently breaking through the Foundation Building Stage and Chen Shu Ze had just stepped into the tenth level of the Qi Refining stage and needed more time to stabilise his cultivation.
Knowing that Xiang Han would be coming out soon, the two disciples had gotten up early to wait outside his cave.
Xiang Han slowly stepped out of the cave. He first glanced at them, then said, "Not bad."
When he said this, he threw two bottles of foundation building pills over and said in a low voice, "You should also prepare for the Foundation Building stage, keep it properly."
Liu Meng'er was taken aback. The Foundation Establishment Pills had strict requirements on the age of the spirit grass, so it was very scarce. In Qing Xuan Sect, even the direct disciples of the Sect Head could only receive three at most. Yet Shizun could refine two whole bottles at once?
Xiang Han glanced at her and said dully, "Keep this matter to yourselves."
The Foundation Building Pills indeed had strict requirements for its spiritual herbs but with his Earth ability, he could obtain as much as he wanted. Therefore, he needed to be lowkey.
Chen Shu Ze saw Xiang Han's indifferent expression and noticed the latter didn't even look at him, let alone talk to him. He couldn't help but feel sad.
Did Shizun… truly cut off his feelings?
He subconsciously squeezed the pill bottle in his hand and his heart throbbed painfully. Two years was long enough to understand a lot of things.
In the beginning, he thought that he only had respect and gratitude for his Shizun, but after two years of pining, it would be foolish if he continued to think so.
But why? Why did he have to understand it so late? Why did he only wake up after his Shizun had removed all feelings and desire? Since he couldn't figure it out earlier, why not… Why not just keep him in the dark forever?
Looking at Xiang Han's retreating figure, Chen Shu Ze's mind buzzed.
That's right. Why was he always one step late? If he had known this would happen, he might as well not have understood anything.
Liu Meng'er nudged him at this moment and asked in confusion, "Shidi, why are you in a daze? It's time to go."
Chen Shu Ze finally came back to his senses, but he felt that he didn't even have the strength to fly on his sword. All he could think of was: Shizun has overcome his emotional trials, but what about me? Why am I still at square one?
Liu Meng'er had no choice but to drag him away.
Back at Qing Jing Peak, Xiang Han turned around and saw that Chen Shu Ze was looking a little lost. He couldn't help but wonder, "What's wrong with him?"
"Uh…" Liu Meng'er glanced at Chen Shu Ze and saw that he was still silent, so she could only help answer, "Shidi, he… has been waiting for the master to leave seclusion for a long time. He's probably overexcited."
"Really?" Xiang Han felt that this answer was very perfunctory, Chen Shu Ze probably had something on his mind, but what made this kid not even care about his return?
Xiang Han suddenly became unhappy and spoke flatly, "Go back first, I want to rest for a while."
"Understood." Liu Meng'er hurriedly bowed and saluted, then dragged Chen Shu Ze away.
When Xiang Han saw this, he couldn't help thinking to himself: This expression of unwillingness… he couldn't be in love, right?
Damn! The cultivation world was indeed risky. Once in seclusion, it would last for several years, and once he wore a green hat, he would have to wear several green hats.
What should he do? If Chen Shu Ze really fell in love with someone else in the past two years, should he still attack or not? Alas, if he had known this would happen, he would have done this kid first, then gone into seclusion
Xiang Han was very regretful, but when he thought about it, Big A seemed to have said before that the General had never gone through the relationship route with anyone apart from him, so… he shouldn't have fallen for anyone, right?
He hesitated a little and after thinking for a while, he decided to dig something out from Liu Meng'er.
On the other side, after Liu Meng'er left, she dragged Chen Shu Ze to a secluded corner and asked in confusion, "Shidi, what's the matter with you today? I thought you had always been looking forward to Shizun's return, but earlier… why didn't you seem happy?"
Chen Shu Ze didn't speak, but he shook his head. When Liu Meng'er said that he had been looking forward to Xiang Han's return, he recalled Xiang Han's earlier indifference and felt uncomfortable again.
Seeing this, Liu Meng'er continued to ask, "Shidi? Is there something on your mind? Are you feeling lovesick?"
Chen Shu Ze was startled and subconsciously asked, "How did you know?"
Liu Meng'er couldn't help but sigh in relief and thought to herself: What's so difficult about this? Aren't all the disciples who are in love like this? However, she was very curious to know who on earth was the Buddha who enlightened this wooden man.
Thinking of this, she rolled her eyes and suddenly smiled. "So it's true, but what's the big deal? Come on, tell me about it, Shijie will help you."
Normally, Chen Shu Ze would definitely keep it to himself. But this time, it was probably too uncomfortable and he wanted relief, so he only hesitated a little before he could no longer hold back. Apart from withholding the other person's name, he shared his entire story.
"So you're saying that when the lady liked you, you didn't know if you liked her. When she no longer likes you, only then did you realise your feelings for her?" Liu Meng'er concluded thoughtfully.
"More or less?" Chen Shu Ze's voice was filled with distress.
"Oh." Liu Meng'er nodded, but after thinking about it for a while, she suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "S-Shidi, but I remember that you've been staying on Qing Jing Peak all year. Apart from me, I've haven't seen any other girls."