Chapter 101| Chapter 102| Chapter 103
Chapter 101: Visiting the Jin Mansion
On the arena stage, a young girl in a yellow dress was locked in a fierce battle with a pale young man whose hollowed appearance hinted at a life of excessive indulgence.
Offstage, Shen San and Lu Yunxi quietly snacked on fruit while discussing their plans to join a sect.
“Alright, let’s go. Time to find your martial aunt,” Lu Yunxi said to her apprentice. Having demolished the last of the fruit on the table, she patted her satisfied, bulging stomach and stood up.
But before they could turn away, their gazes snapped back to the stage.
Murderous intent!
As the young man snapped his fan shut, two incredibly fine silver needles slipped from the folds, darting directly toward the girl in yellow. The fighters were locked in close-quarters combat, and the silver needles were practically invisible in the broad daylight. Anyone below the master realm wouldn’t have even noticed the sneak attack.
Lu Yunxi’s expression darkened. With a subtle flick of her fingertips, a transparent protective barrier instantly enveloped the girl in yellow.
Not a single person in the audience noticed the flying needles or the sudden shield.
But the girl in yellow certainly did.
She stared, wide-eyed, at the two silver needles suspended in mid-air just inches from her eyes, stopped dead by an invisible wall.
A cold sweat instantly drenched her back.
Who just saved me?!
“You two were the ones who saved me, right? Thank you so much.”
Lu Yunxi and Shen San were enjoying a post-snack moment when a familiar voice interrupted them. Looking up, they found the girl in yellow standing by their table. The master and apprentice exchanged a silent glance.
“Have a seat,” Lu Yunxi offered. Recalling the brief scan she’d done with her spiritual sense, she asked, “Do you know why your opponent resorted to such a vicious, underhanded tactic? Those silver needles were coated in a potent drug. If they had pierced your eyes, you would have been permanently blind.”
The girl in yellow gasped sharply, her eyes igniting with fury. “That despicable bastard! How shameless!”
She spun around, ready to storm back and settle the score, but paused mid-step. Remembering something, she stopped abruptly and turned back to them with a deflated sigh.
“Actually, I’d heard rumors that the people from the Evil Slaughter Sect were ruthless, but I never took it seriously. Who would have thought they’d go this crazy over a mere secret manual!” She slumped into a chair, looking deeply frustrated.
“The Evil Slaughter Sect… Are you also from a sect?” A subtle gleam flashed through Lu Yunxi’s eyes before she offered a warm, friendly smile. “I’ve heard the members of that sect are quite formidable.”
“Oh, no,” the girl in yellow replied, looking a bit sheepish at the implied praise. She scratched her head, her cheeks flushing slightly. “I heard my sect used to be incredibly powerful a long time ago, but it’s really declined since then. Still, just being able to join a sect is a huge honor! I’m the only one in my generation and my entire family who managed to get accepted.”
Lu Yunxi offered a few more words of praise, which instantly brightened the girl’s mood and prompted her to happily chatter about her sect.
“My sect isn’t combat-oriented. We specialize in alchemy and medicine, so our overall combat strength is pretty low, and our sect’s standing isn’t the best,” she explained, digging into her spatial bag and pulling out a small medicine bottle. “But our pill-making techniques are genuinely amazing! Here, look at this medicine I made.”
Lu Yunxi took the slightly worn bottle. Inside was a basic blood-replenishing pill. Though it was a foundational medicine, its fragrance, shape, and overall quality were practically flawless. It was clear this young girl had an incredibly solid foundation.
This time, Lu Yunxi was genuinely impressed.
According to the girl in yellow, the Water Continent used to be ruled by just a few massive sects. But after some unknown cataclysmic event, internal conflicts erupted. Back then, the major sects were evenly matched—roughly on par with the Misty Rain Palace—and the ensuing wars were so devastating that several of the great sects were completely torn apart.
Disciples scattered, leaving to establish their own smaller sects across the continent. That was why there were so many minor sects today, each holding only a fragmented piece of the original inheritances.
To produce a pill of such high quality under those circumstances meant the little girl had put in an extraordinary amount of hard work.
The three of them hit it off, their conversation growing more animated by the minute, until finally…
Lu Yunxi and Shen San stood in silence before a grand estate bearing the plaque “Jin Mansion.” The girl in yellow was already bouncing up the steps to knock on the heavy doors.
Lu Yunxi crossed her arms, deep in thought.
How did we end up here?
She had just been casually discussing pharmaceutical techniques with the girl—who had introduced herself as Jin Baoer. But as the conversation deepened, Baoer had gotten so excited that she practically dragged them home as honored guests.
The grand doors creaked open, and a doorman peeked out. “Who is it? Is that… Young Miss! You’re back!”
Seeing Jin Baoer’s beaming face, the doorman’s face lit up with excitement. He quickly pulled the doors wide open. “Come in, come in, Miss! And who might these two be?”
“These are my friends,” Jin Baoer declared with a proud smile.
The master and apprentice were ushered inside with overwhelming hospitality. It was obvious Jin Baoer held a very high status in the Jin family; she enthusiastically greeted every servant and guard they passed.
“Please, sit down,” Jin Baoer urged as she led them into a reception room. “I’ve already sent someone to the kitchen to prepare a feast. The Jin family built our fortune on the culinary arts. I promise, once you taste our food, you’ll never want to stop eating.” Speaking of her family’s cuisine, Baoer radiated confidence, endlessly hyping up the dishes her family had created.
“We used to run a standard restaurant. The food was just okay, mostly relying on staying tourists to keep the business afloat. But after my mother personally researched and improved the recipes, our dishes became famous across the entire continent!”
“Your mother sounds incredible, managing so many businesses all on her own!” Lu Yunxi praised, hyping Jin Baoer’s mother to the high heavens. Baoer beamed, unable to hide her glowing smile.
However, when Lu Yunxi finally met the woman and the kind-looking elder gently took her hand, a strange sensation washed over her.
It felt as if she had swallowed a piece of sour, soft candy; her entire heart seemed to melt in a bittersweet puddle.
“Are you our Baoer’s friend? Thank you for looking after her.” The white-haired old woman, her frail hands trembling slightly, patted Lu Yunxi’s hand with immense tenderness.
Seeing the unshed tears shimmering in the old woman’s eyes, Lu Yunxi felt a lump form in her throat, rendering her speechless.
Jin Baoer looked even younger than she did, so how could her mother be this old? The woman looked to be in her sixties or seventies.
Did she have Baoer late in life?
Pushing the strange thoughts aside, Lu Yunxi offered a gentle, reassuring smile. “Madam, Baoer is a wonderful girl. I’m very fond of her.”
Jin Baoer suddenly chimed in, “Mom, you have to bring out the absolute best dishes for Sister Yunxi. She saved my life! If it weren’t for her, your daughter would be completely blind right now.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Baoer clapped a hand over her lips, realizing she had slipped up. The old lady sitting at the head of the room instantly drained of color.
“Baoer? Explain yourself! What kind of danger were you in?!” Panic seized the old woman. She pulled her daughter close, frantically checking her over from head to toe, terrified she had missed a hidden injury.
Jin Baoer playfully stuck out her tongue and downplayed the arena incident as best she could.
Even so, the old lady was terrified to the point of tears. She pulled Baoer into a tight embrace, weeping and scolding, “Baoer, my precious Baoer, don’t scare your mother like that! Promise me you won’t go to such dangerous places anymore…”
It took a long time for the old woman to finally calm down and dry her tears.
“Miss Lu, I apologize for making a scene,” she said, turning to Lu Yunxi and Shen San with a look of profound gratitude. “You saved my daughter’s life, and I truly don’t know how to repay you… It’s getting late today, but if you don’t mind, I would like to personally cook a feast for you tomorrow.”
Lu Yunxi quickly waved her hands. “I don’t mind at all! I’d be honored. Baoer has told me so much about your amazing culinary skills, I’m genuinely excited to try your food. But… why not just let the kitchen staff handle it? Wouldn’t cooking such a large meal be too exhausting for you?”
“Haha, it’s no trouble at all. Just sit back and prepare your stomachs for a feast!”
That evening, Lu Yunxi and Shen San dined on the exquisite dishes prepared by the Jin family’s head chef. To properly honor their guests, the majority of the dishes featured ingredients grown from the earth.
In the Water Continent, soil-grown crops were astronomically more expensive than freshwater fish! Locals only purchased such luxurious ingredients to entertain their most distinguished guests.
Looking at the spread of vibrant greens and blues covering the table, Lu Yunxi and Shen San exchanged a subtle, approving nod.
Although both master and apprentice were master chefs themselves, they knew that in most places, being able to consistently produce green-tier and blue-tier quality dishes was an impressive feat of culinary skill.
Chapter 102: Mrs. Jin
The morning light was dim, casting a soft glow through the windows.
A faint, savory fragrance drifted through the air, carried by wisps of kitchen smoke. Lu Yunxi stirred from her sleep and glanced out toward the courtyard. Seeing the distant plumes of smoke, a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes.
“They’ve started cooking this early?”
A maid carefully approached her bed, bringing a fresh towel and a basin of warm water. She explained with a warm smile, “Madam is personally preparing a feast to thank the two of them for saving the Young Miss’s life.”
Lu Yunxi looked out at the rising sun, her brow furrowing with concern. Up so early? she thought to herself. That lady looks quite frail and advanced in years. At this rate, won’t she collapse from exhaustion?
After washing up, Lu Yunxi and Shen San joined Jin Baoer in the main hall. Though they chatted to pass the time, Lu Yunxi was visibly preoccupied, her mind constantly drifting back to the old lady in the kitchen.
Several times throughout the morning, she subtly dropped hints that the matriarch should leave the heavy lifting to the staff and rest, but the old lady stubbornly refused every single suggestion.
With no other choice, Lu Yunxi could only suppress her anxiety and wait.
By noon, the main hall of the Jin family was brimming with warmth.
Under the enthusiastic invitations of the Jin family, Lu Yunxi and Shen San were seated at the places of honor.
“Miss Lu, Mr. Shen, please try my cooking,” Mrs. Jin greeted them warmly, gesturing toward the array of steaming dishes covering the table. “It’s been a long time since I last took charge of the kitchen. I only hope my skills haven’t rusted.”
Before Lu Yunxi or Shen San could even respond, Jin Baoer immediately chimed in with a proud smile, “Mom, your cooking is as amazing as ever!”
Mrs. Jin couldn’t help but chuckle. “Because river fish is my specialty, I prepared quite a few fish dishes today. I hope they suit your tastes.”
Lu Yunxi lifted her chopsticks and casually picked up a piece of fish. She swallowed the first bite before even fully savoring it, offering a polite smile. “Madam’s skills are truly remarkable. This steamed fish is incredibly tender! I—”
She froze. Wait, this taste…
Her brow furrowed slightly. She picked up another large piece of food, placing it in her mouth to taste it with absolute precision.
As she sampled the dishes on the table one by one, her expression shifted from polite courtesy to rising astonishment. Her heart, completely calm just moments before, surged with shock, quickly followed by a rush of pure joy.
The flavors in these dishes were a ninety percent match to her own mother’s cooking style!
Could Mrs. Jin be related to her mother? But the woman looked so old. Could she be a relative from her grandmother’s side of the family? Lu Yunxi began to speculate rapidly in silence.
“By the way, Miss Lu, what brings you to our city?” Mrs. Jin asked gently, breaking her train of thought. “Huzhou is a major hub, but it’s rare for people to come here just for leisure.” Usually, travelers here arrived with a specific purpose.
Lu Yunxi lowered her gaze, deliberating for three seconds before looking up with a smile. “You’re right. I’m actually here to look for someone.”
“Looking for someone?” Mrs. Jin blinked in surprise, then quickly volunteered her help. “I’ve lived in Huzhou for decades and know almost everyone who is anyone. Who are you looking for? If you don’t mind sharing the details, I can have our people start a search immediately.”
Lu Yunxi’s eyes lit up. The Jin family had operated in Huzhou for generations and were essentially the local powerhouse. With their network, finding a missing person would be exponentially faster. Moreover, this was the perfect opportunity to test if the Jin family was indeed connected to her maternal line.
Reaching into her robes—though secretly pulling it from her spatial storage—she produced a small silk pouch containing the jade pendant her mother had passed down to her.
“This is a jade pendant my mother left me,” Lu Yunxi said, carefully holding it up. Her eyes narrowed slightly, tracking every micro-expression on Mrs. Jin’s face. “I’m trying to locate my mother’s side of the family. Before I left, she asked me to see how they were doing.”
To Lu Yunxi’s utter surprise, Mrs. Jin remained entirely composed.
She didn’t reach out to take the pendant, nor did she show any signs of emotional upheaval. She simply leaned in, studied the intricate carvings closely for a moment, and nodded. “Oh… I see. In that case, I will have a master painter sketch the likeness of this pendant and hand it down to our agents. We’ll find them.”
Without delay, she summoned the head housekeeper and instructed him to prioritize the matter immediately.
Lu Yunxi sat back, slightly bewildered. Did I guess wrong?
Time slipped past, day by day.
A week later, though Lu Yunxi remained patient and hadn’t pressed for updates, Mrs. Jin could no longer sit still.
Taking advantage of a moment when Lu Yunxi was out for a stroll, she urgently called the head housekeeper into her private study.
“Housekeeper, where is the person Miss Lu is looking for? How is the investigation going? Why hasn’t there been any word?”
“Madam, we have checked everywhere, but there is still no news regarding the individual associated with Miss Lu’s pendant…” The housekeeper replied, nursing a growing headache. “Please rest assured, Madam, we are expanding our search and will find a lead as quickly as possible.”
Mrs. Jin’s frown deepened. The housekeeper had served their family faithfully for years; it was highly unusual for him to struggle so much with a standard missing person inquiry. It seemed whoever Miss Lu was looking for was incredibly adept at staying hidden.
“Mom! Look what I bought for you!”
Jin Baoer’s lively voice rang out as she came bursting into the room. Mrs. Jin dismissed the housekeeper with a wave of her hand.
Accepting the street snacks her precious daughter handed her, Mrs. Jin smiled warmly. “Where did you run off to today? Do you have enough pocket money? If you’re running low, just tell me.”
Instead of answering, Jin Baoer noted the lingering anxiety on her mother’s face. “Mom, have we still not found Sister Yunxi’s family? Can I see the files we’ve gathered so far? Maybe I can help.”
Mrs. Jin gestured toward the papers scattered across her desk. “There is only a detailed sketch of Miss Lu’s jade pendant. We haven’t uncovered any other leads.”
Curious, Jin Baoer picked up the parchment and examined the drawing carefully.
“The housekeeper suspects Miss Lu hails from a prominent official’s family—and a high-ranking one at that. The quality of that jade pendant is extraordinary; it’s not something an ordinary household could ever possess…” Mrs. Jin explained softly, though she didn’t find the information particularly helpful.
“Huh?!” Jin Baoer suddenly gasped, her eyes widening as she stared at the drawing.
Mrs. Jin paused, turning to look at her daughter. “Baoer, did you notice something?”
“Mom, this jade pendant… it looks exactly like the one you wear!” Jin Baoer muttered in disbelief, her eyes darting between the paper and her mother. “If the pattern on this drawing wasn’t mirrored in the opposite direction, I would swear it was your exact piece!”
The comment was made in passing, but it struck Mrs. Jin like a thunderbolt.
Her hand trembled violently, and the teacup she was holding slipped from her fingers. With a sharp clang, the porcelain shattered against the floor, spilling hot tea everywhere.
“Mom?! What’s wrong?” Terrified, Jin Baoer rushed forward to support her.
Mrs. Jin’s hands shook uncontrollably as she reached into her inner collar, carefully pulling out her own deeply cherished jade pendant. “Quick, Baoer… look closer. Is this pendant truly identical to the one in the sketch?”
Stunned by her mother’s intensity, Jin Baoer quickly compared the physical pendant to every line on the drawing paper.
After verifying every single detail, she nodded with absolute certainty. “It really is identical, just flipped. Mom, did you and Sister Yunxi’s mother happen to buy your pendants from the same artisan shop?”
“No… no…” Mrs. Jin’s voice cracked, completely overwhelmed as tears began to flood her eyes. “She is… she must be…”
A quarter of an hour later.
Mrs. Jin was clinging tightly to Lu Yunxi, weeping uncontrollably as tears soaked the younger woman’s shoulder.
“Oh, heavens… my sister…”
Lu Yunxi gently patted the woman’s back, murmuring soft, soothing words to calm her down.
In truth, even she was completely caught off guard by this turn of events.
Mrs. Jin was actually her mother’s twin sister—her biological aunt. But because her aunt’s eyesight had deteriorated significantly over the years, she hadn’t recognized the details of the pendant upon first glance.
It was no wonder the Jin family’s network couldn’t find any leads; who would think to look inside their own household for the missing relative?
Yet, Lu Yunxi knew she couldn’t blame herself for missing the connection either. If Mrs. Jin hadn’t appeared so physically advanced in age, Lu Yunxi would have investigated the possibility much sooner.
Based on her mother’s age, her aunt should only be thirty-eight years old, not looking like a woman in her late sixties. How could she have aged so drastically?
After letting out years of suppressed grief, Mrs. Jin finally pulled back, wiping her eyes with a sheepish sniffle. “Xiaoxi, how has my sister been all these years? After I married into the Jin family, my life became stable, and I’ve kept sending people out to look for her, but we never found a single trace.”
“My mother is currently in the Forest Continent. My father rescued her back then. She’s been living a very peaceful, ordinary life.”
“The Forest Continent? No wonder my search never reached her!” A look of profound longing and immense relief washed over Mrs. Jin’s face. “To raise a daughter as brilliant as you, my sister must be doing very well…”
Lu Yunxi smiled softly, gently rubbing her aunt’s back until the exhaustion of the emotional breakthrough finally caught up to the older woman, and she drifted off to sleep.
The servants of the Jin family seemed entirely accustomed to their matriarch’s fragile health. Without a hint of panic, they efficiently carried her back to her chambers to rest, with some leaving to fetch the family physician while others went to boil hot water.
Watching them leave, Lu Yunxi turned to her cousin. “Baoer, what exactly is wrong with your mother’s health?”
Jin Baoer, still dazed by the sudden revelation that her idol was actually her cousin, blinked rapidly before whispering, “Mom’s health has always been poor. The doctors said she didn’t have a good physical foundation when she was young, and she suffered far too much hardship before marrying into our family.”
Lu Yunxi’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Then, is there any known way to fully restore her health?”
Chapter 103: The Adam’s Apple is Very Sexy
“My master said that if my mother is to ever truly recover, she needs Yangxin Grass,” Jin Baoer said, her eyes vacant and distant. Still completely dazed by the day’s revelations, she could only answer subconsciously. “But Yangxin Grass is an orange-grade medicinal herb. I’ve never even heard of it being found out in the world.”
Lu Yunxi nodded thoughtfully.
The physician from the local clinic was hurriedly ushered into the room, but after checking Mrs. Jin’s pulse, he could do little more than prescribe a few standard restorative tonics.
Watching the physician’s rushed departure, Lu Yunxi let out a slow breath.
“I’m just glad Aunt is stable for now. I’ll go look for the Yangxin Grass,” Lu Yunxi said, turning to Jin Baoer. She then gestured to Shen San, and the two of them headed out.
Jin Baoer stared blankly at her newly discovered cousin’s retreating back. It took her a good several moments to finally snap out of it, snapping her head forward to yell, “Sister Yunxi, that herb is impossibly hard to find!” Ever since her own master had diagnosed her mother, Baoer had kept a vigilant eye out for Yangxin Grass every single day, yet she hadn’t found so much as a leaf.
Unfortunately, she had stood frozen for too long. By the time she shouted, her cousin was already far down the corridor and seemingly out of earshot.
Of course, Lu Yunxi heard her perfectly clear. She was a master-realm cultivator, after all; if she couldn’t even hear a shout from across the courtyard, she might as well pack up, go home, and farm sweet potatoes.
But she had her own methods.
For the world’s native NPCs, tracking down rare, high-grade resources was an absolute nightmare. But for players? Players had access to the world forums, allowing them to communicate instantly across entirely different regions, no matter how far apart they were.
Lu Yunxi opened her system interface and tentatively tried to post a query on the forum.
[Ding! You do not have the required permissions to post messages on the forum.]
Staring at the bright crimson system prompt, she took a deep, steadying breath and decided to outsource the task to her apprentice.
“Shen San, you heard what she just said about the Yangxin Grass. I’m leaving this to you,” she instructed. “Let’s use the Jin Mansion’s main gates as a boundary line. I’ll search the southern half of the city, and you take the north. How does that sound?”
Shen San hesitated, looking at her with concern. “Master, isn’t that a bit unfair? The northern sector is much smaller. Why don’t we switch?”
Lu Yunxi shook her head. “It’s decided. I’m the master, so I have the final say.”
She had purposefully assigned Shen San the smaller, easier zone, hoping it would give him the downtime to check his own player system. Players had dedicated trading channels specifically for exchanging rare supplies.
Besides, there was an eighty percent chance the herb wouldn’t be found through standard means in Huzhou anyway. This city was the Jin family’s territory; if Yangxin Grass were readily available here, the Jin family would have bought it years ago instead of worrying themselves sick.
An hour later, Lu Yunxi and Shen San reconvened at the Fisherman’s Inn.
This time, they didn’t even need to present their pre-purchased meal coupons. The moment they stepped through the doors, the staff practically rolling out the red carpet, treating them like absolute royalty.
As it turned out, the Fisherman’s Inn was just another business owned by the Jin family.
“Master, I’ve made some inquiries,” Shen San reported quietly once they were seated. “A player does have a stalk of Yangxin Grass. If we need it immediately, they’re demanding a gold-grade herb in exchange. If we can afford to wait a month, they’re willing to trade it for an orange-grade medicinal ingredient or purple-grade equipment.”
Lu Yunxi elegantly wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Take the fast option. Didn’t we harvest a large batch of gold-grade herbs during our last excursion? Just pick one from my share and make the trade.”
Shen San nodded, quickly composing a system message to finalize the transaction.
By that evening, the desired Yangxin Grass was securely in their hands. They lost no time brewing the potent herb into a medicinal decoction for Mrs. Jin.
When they brought the steaming bowl into the room, Jin Baoer’s eyes nearly popped right out of her skull. A legendary herb she had spent years desperately searching for had been casually procured by Sister Yunxi in a matter of hours.
Jin Baoer’s master was a highly revered senior physician, famous throughout the entire Water Continent, and even he had been left helpless by Mrs. Jin’s condition. Yet, after downing Lu Yunxi’s brew, the matriarch’s health showed immediate, visible improvement. Not only did she speak with far more strength, but her hands also stopped trembling violently when she walked.
Following that success, Lu Yunxi began personally preparing daily therapeutic broths to nourish her aunt’s fragile constitution. Since her own culinary and medical skills had reached the master level, her recipes fell under the category of precise dietary therapy. Seeing the rapid improvement, the Jin family didn’t worry in the slightest about the old lady suffering any adverse side effects.
Granted, they initially didn’t think a simple soup would do much, either. But a few days later, the Jin family was thoroughly proven wrong.
Under the care of Lu Yunxi’s specialized medicinal broths, Mrs. Jin’s complexion grew radiant within days. Strands of her silver hair began to turn a rich, healthy black, and the deep, weathered wrinkles on her face visibly softened.
Thoroughly shaken by the miracle, Jin Baoer stuck to Lu Yunxi like a shadow, practically turning into a human plaster as she begged to learn the secrets of dietary therapy.
Jin Baoer followed Lu Yunxi around like an overly attached puppy, trailing her everywhere—even to the restroom doors. It wasn’t until the girl was finally summoned back to her sect that Lu Yunxi was able to breathe a sigh of relief and return to her peaceful, leisurely routine.
However, within a few days, her tranquil retirement bliss came to a grinding halt.
“Aunt, what did you want to speak with me about?”
Seeing the overly eager, twinkling look in her aunt’s eyes, Lu Yunxi suddenly felt a cold drop of sweat slide down her neck. That specific expression felt terribly, horrifyingly familiar.
“Xiaoxi, come, sit beside me,” Mrs. Jin said, waving her over enthusiastically. She patted the adjacent chair and handed over a thick, bound album she was holding. “Take a look at this. See if anyone catches your eye.”
“Catches my eye?” Lu Yunxi took the album with a look of utter confusion, flipping it open only to find that every page consisted of beautifully painted portraits of handsome young men.
She swallowed hard, the realization striking her like a lightning bolt.
This is it. This is the exact look my relatives back home used to give me whenever they tried to force me into blind dates!
“Aunt, I’m actually not—”
Anticipating her fierce resistance, Mrs. Jin immediately took her hand, her voice softening into a gentle, motherly lecture. “Xiaoxi, I know many young women these days think getting married is a terrible burden, which is why you’re so resistant. But you must understand, in this long, unpredictable journey of life, the one who will walk beside you through everything is your partner.”
“Your aunt can’t stay with you forever. In the future, if you fall ill, lose your livelihood, or run into sudden hardships, a husband will be there to support you and care for you. So, don’t just dismiss it, alright? We can take our time looking.”
Lu Yunxi: “…”
She stared at her aunt, nursing a massive headache.
Ever since she realized she was living inside a dangerous game world, a constant underlying anxiety had gripped her. Only by relentlessly hunting monsters and grinding her levels could she feel even a modicum of safety—but she couldn’t exactly explain that to her native aunt.
“Look at this one. His family is also from Huzhou, and they boast an excellent pedigree. He’s the youngest son, deeply doted on by his parents. He has absolutely no financial pressure to support the household, and more importantly, he’s exceptionally easy on the eyes…” Her aunt chatted away, turning the pages and meticulously introducing each bachelor one by one.
After spending an entire afternoon analyzing the local male population, Lu Yunxi finally escaped back to her quarters, her mind completely spinning.
She found Shen San already sitting inside, waiting for her.
“Master, where did you go today?” he asked as she walked in.
“Yes, his Adam’s apple is incredibly sexy…” Lu Yunxi blurted out, her brain completely short-circuiting.
The moment she caught the utterly shell-shocked expression on her apprentice’s face, her soul practically left her body.
Oh no. What did I just say to my disciple?
In an instant, a fierce blush erupted across her cheeks, the heat radiating all the way to the tips of her ears.
She had spent hours listening to her aunt critique men, and by the end of it, her brain had defaulted to a hypnotic loop of physical descriptions. Whenever someone spoke to her, she just automatically spouted the next critique on the list—eyes, nose, lips… and since they had just left off at the jawline, her mouth had simply run ahead of her.
“Master… what did you just say?” Shen San managed to squeeze the words out, his voice tight.
He truly didn’t know how to process what he had just heard.
His master had to be joking, right? What in the world did she mean by an Adam’s apple being sexy? What kind of nonsense was that?! Had some smooth-talking rogue managed to seduce his master while he wasn’t looking?
Lu Yunxi buried her face in her hands, dying of embarrassment. After a long moment of aggressive internal calming, she awkwardly explained that her aunt had spent the entire day trying to set her up on blind dates.
“So that’s how it is…” Shen San murmured. He abruptly lowered his gaze, shadowing his expression, though his voice dropped an octave. “That’s… a good thing.”
Lu Yunxi blinked, slightly bewildered.
Though his words said it was a good thing, his tone sounded entirely miserable.
Shen San kept his head down, feeling a sudden, suffocating tightness in his chest, as if all the air had been violently sucked from his lungs.
He didn’t understand what was wrong with him, or why a sudden wave of profound irritation had washed over him. It was perfectly normal for his master to go on blind dates. He should be genuinely happy for her. His master was stunningly beautiful and incredibly capable; she deserved nothing less than an exceptional, peerless man!
Yet, the harder he tried to force himself to feel happy, the heavier his chest became.
He sat in absolute silence for a while, unable to find his voice. When he finally looked up and caught sight of the intricate robes his master was wearing, a sudden realization hit him.
Right! He had personally tailored those robes for her. To him, his master was like a daughter he had carefully raised from a tiny, fragile child—even if it had only been for a single year.
What father in the world could possibly feel happy about watching his precious daughter get married off?
