CHAPTER 242: 0164 ALL TROUBLES (2-IN-1)_2

On a whim, she also wanted to play with the mysterious rainwater.

——

When Xu Chang’an entered the courtyard of the main building with a medicine chest on his back, he paused and a trace of astonishment appeared on his face.

Te... teacher?

He saw Li Zhibai practicing sword in the courtyard, wielding the very sword Yun Qian wanted.

The longsword in her hand moved like an extension of her body, leaving trails of faint fluorescent light in the air, completely enveloping her in a net of swords.

Heavy rain kept falling from the sky, Li Zhibai’s body was thoroughly soaked by the raindrops, yet strangely, despite being surrounded by an impenetrable sword net, it didn’t disrupt the rhythm of the falling rain at all, as if the glaring longsword was merely a phantom, constantly weaving through the gaps between raindrops.

Raindrops slipped off the hem of Li Zhibai’s Daoist robe, yet her movements became even more fluid, leaving numerous sword shadows in the courtyard.

Xu Chang’an, being a sword cultivator himself, wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.

He quietly observed Li Zhibai practicing sword skills from less than ten meters away.

Xu Chang’an noticed that Li Zhibai’s Sword Intent was different from Wen Li’s. Senior Wen’s Sword Intent roamed between rivers and seas, with form in the Purple Hall. Its intention reached the blue sky, merging various cultivation methods of Muyu Peak into the Sword Intent.

Purely from swordsmanship, Wen Li’s sword was the most visually appealing; it was like calligraphy, painting Danqing, and even had some postures of a sword dance.

But Li Zhibai was different.

She simply swung the sword, without form or principles, and lacked beauty... yet, it felt comfortable to watch, making one want to glance a few more times.

Watching the teacher’s swordsmanship, a feeling of comfort welled up from within, like breathing in fresh air on the prairie after being suffocated for days... indescribable.

Xu Chang’an looked serious.

The teacher’s swordsmanship was just like her person on Muyu Peak — not particularly attractive, but incredibly intriguing.

A sigh.

With his realm, learning Sword Intent from Wen Li’s hands was difficult, let alone from Li Zhibai, so he hadn’t learned anything and instead wanted to complain.

The teacher... really cares nothing for appearances.

At this moment, Li Zhibai didn’t wear a crown, simply tied her hair up with a ribbon, exposing her fair forehead. The white ribbon tied around her head, coupled with the water stains, made her look somewhat embarrassed.

After a while, Li Zhibai stopped her "playing with water" actions and looked in Xu Chang’an’s direction.

Li Zhibai sensed Xu Chang’an’s presence the moment he appeared.

Upon hearing Xu Chang’an’s voice, Li Zhibai sheathed her sword and, turning back to Xu Chang’an, said, "You’ve finally arrived? Earlier than I expected."

She thought even if Xu Chang’an met someone like Yun Qian, he would linger a bit longer.

"The stu... student made the teacher wait," Xu Chang’an coughed and then seriously said, "It was beautiful."

"I don’t know any swordsmanship, mostly superficial moves." Li Zhibai stood naturally in the rain.

But the pouring rain drenched her collar, making it hard to say it was beautiful, making Xu Chang’an twitch involuntarily, and he naturally walked over to shield her from the rain with the Spiritual Barrier.

"..."

Feeling the thin layer of Spiritual Qi blocking all the rain above her, accompanied by the disorderly patter, Li Zhibai paused for a moment, gently massaging her brow and sighed heavily.

"You... child... now I know..." Li Zhibai’s tone paused slightly, without continuing.

"Teacher?" Xu Chang’an asked, puzzled.

"It’s nothing." Li Zhibai shook her head, thinking she understood why the Sect Leader was interested in Xu Chang’an.

But Li Zhibai didn’t pursue the matter.

Knowing White and Guarding Black, she was skilled at pretending ignorance.

She was also a lazy person who hated trouble.

"Teacher, what sword were you practicing?" Xu Chang’an asked with curiosity, "Swinging the sword with minimal contact with raindrops, is this a form of training too?"

"Just playing around." Li Zhibai casually replied, tossing the longsword to Xu Chang’an.

Playing around...

Xu Chang’an took over the longsword, unsure of what to say.

Others wield swords to block rain, but not his teacher, she wields swords to intentionally avoid the rain. The difficulty level instantly became worlds apart, worthy of being his teacher.

"Teacher, now shall we... go inside and talk?" Xu Chang’an asked.

"Mm, I’ll tidy up a bit." Li Zhibai dried the water stains from her face and retied the white ribbon on her head even tighter, lowering her head. Seeing the rainwater streaming down her Daoist robe forming a small puddle on the ground, such unbecoming behavior as a teacher in front of a student was indeed not etiquette.

Being a normal cultivator, a shake of Spiritual Qi would clean up.

But Li Zhibai was different; she actually planned to wash and change clothes.

Although Xu Chang’an found it amusing, he could only comply with her arrangement and wait quietly inside.

Inside the room, Xu Chang’an observed the newly used rouge on the table and thought to himself, indeed... Yun Qian’s makeup was done by the teacher.

——

Soon, Li Zhibai came in wearing a new Daoist robe. Her hair still wet, she glanced strangely at Xu Chang’an and asked the first question: "Why is it raining?"

"...?" Xu Chang’an was caught off guard by the question and responded blankly, "Wasn’t it supposed to rain?"

"Never mind." Li Zhibai brushed aside the stray hair by her ear, sat by the desk, and began putting away the boxes of rouge, casually saying, "On to business."

Hearing this, Xu Chang’an breathed a sigh of relief and said respectfully, "Teacher, my wife has troubled you."

"Trouble?" Li Zhibai glanced at the intense rain outside the window and said meaningfully, "You’re far more troublesome than she is."

"..." Xu Chang’an had no words to defend himself, for he had indeed caused Li Zhibai quite a bit of trouble.

"Calling her wife, you’re not addressing her as Miss Yun, young lady anymore." Li Zhibai subtly shifted the topic: "Apparently, the makeup I put on Miss is effective."

????

Xu Chang’an didn’t know where to begin.

Miss? Were they referring to Yun Qian?

After spending some time together, addressing each other as "sisters"... Yun Qian never mentioned it.

What was this?

Not seen for a while, Yun Qian became his teacher’s senior?

"Teacher... you..."

"I really like her, calling her sister once, putting some makeup on her, it doesn’t matter." Li Zhibai interrupted what Xu Chang’an was about to say: "The seniority in Muyu Peak is each on its own; no need for me to remind you."

"The student understands." Although Xu Chang’an had many things he wanted to say and ask, all those thoughts were repressed at the moment.

Indeed, he knew no one could resist Miss Yun’s charm.

But Yun Qian quickly winning over Li Zhibai’s fondness truly exceeded his expectations.

"But you." Li Zhibai scrutinized Xu Chang’an from head to toe, slightly frowning: "Why did you bring back a chaotic scent of rouge after visiting the Hundred Herbs Garden?"

"The senior sisters."

"You’re really a likable kid."

"Regarding Ms. Yun..." Li Zhibai accepted the medicine chest and several ornaments handed by Xu Chang’an, placed them aside, and casually said: "I felt an instant connection with Ms. Yun, and would like her to visit me more often, if that’s okay with you."

After finishing speaking, Li Zhibai looked at Xu Chang’an’s astonished expression with a calm demeanor.

Xu Chang’an’s expression clearly reflected "can this be considered business" without any attempt to hide it.

Evidently, he thought Li Zhibai intended to discuss matters regarding the Elixir Field.

"This is also business." Li Zhibai thought to herself, Yun Qian returned the ornament indicating her appreciation of her makeup skills; she did promise to teach her how to apply makeup.

"I’ll heed the teacher." Xu Chang’an regained his composure and sighed helplessly over Yun Qian’s allure; he knew that Li Zhibai never joked around.

Apparently, the teacher genuinely liked Yun Qian.

An instant connection.

Xu Chang’an thought of Gu Qiancheng, that kid also said he fell for his family’s Miss Yun at first sight.

With a sigh, he asked with a touch of bitter humor, "Teacher, what exactly happened earlier."

"Didn’t she tell you?"

Li Zhibai wiped the water stains from her hair and said casually, "I’m your teacher, initially intended to give a greeting gift, and she expressed her desire to learn about rouge from me."

Xu Chang’an: "..."

Understood.

It’s something Miss Yun would do.