Chapter Ninety-Seven: Her Disguise as a Man Is Exposed

“Ah, please wait, Immortal Lord Purple Lotus. There is no need to leave in such a hurry.”

Barely had he taken a few steps when that infuriating Young Master Meng rushed forward again and barred the door.

“Immortal Meng, what is the meaning of this?” Purple Lotus stopped and asked.

Young Master Meng wore a beaming smile, his face full of ingratiation. “My humble abode has far too few people in it, and I grow lonely being on my own. Today, upon seeing Immortal Lord Purple Lotus’s disciple, I found him most pleasing to the eye. Since Immortal Lord Purple Lotus and I have known one another for ten thousand years as fellow immortals, I thought I might ask you to let your disciple remain at my residence for the time being. First, it would make it easier for me to tend to his injuries so he may recover more quickly. Second, I could keep Young Master Little Fish for company and ease my loneliness.”

What a noble-sounding excuse. Whether Purple Lotus would believe a word of it was another matter.

“You, you, you—don’t even think about it.”

I looked pitifully at Purple Lotus, my eyes begging him not to fall for Young Master Meng’s honeyed lies.

“Yes. Don’t even think about it.”

The same words came again from Purple Lotus’s mouth.

“Huh?”

At that, Young Master Meng cried out in surprise, his expression briefly blank, as though he had never expected Purple Lotus to say such a thing.

“Move aside.”

Purple Lotus’s voice was cool and indifferent.

For a long while, Young Master Meng still stood rooted in place, not moving an inch, as if stunned senseless by something. Purple Lotus paid him no further mind. Carrying me in his arms, he went around him and strode straight out of Young Master Meng’s gates. Then he rode the clouds back toward Spirit Cloud Mountain.

Only after a long while did furious roars and shouts rise from behind us, one after another, shrill enough to pierce the clouds and reach the heavens. It seemed Young Master Meng had truly been angered beyond measure.

Still, I thought, that temper was of his own making. To dare snatch someone from Purple Lotus—he really must have had the courage of a bear and the gall of a leopard.

High above the clouds, a gentle breeze drifted by.

“Master, you... have you already realized that Little Fish... is a woman?”

After hesitating for a very long time, I finally gathered the courage to ask him.

“Mmm.”

A calm, unruffled voice answered.

His gaze remained fixed straight ahead, and the hands holding me were properly placed: one arm around me beneath the chest and above the waist, the other lifting my legs so that I lay nestled against his chest.

“Oh.”

Hearing his emotionless reply, my unease only deepened. I lowered my head and pressed against his chest, not daring to say anything else.

Being held quietly in his arms like this—so long as I was his disciple, I was already deeply content. I did not know what he was thinking now. Since he had not left me alone at Young Master Meng’s residence, did that mean there was still a place for me in his heart? And now that he was carrying me back to Spirit Cloud Mountain without casting me aside, did that mean he had already forgiven me?

Along the way, neither of us said another word. I did not know, now that he knew I had been a woman all along, how he would deal with me once we returned to Spirit Cloud Mountain. Would he burn me with sacred fire, expel me from the sect, or simply say nothing at all and from then on turn a blind eye to me?

Several li away from Spirit Cloud Mountain, above auspicious clouds, wisps of immortal qi drifted and spread across the mountain peak for miles, surging toward the four directions. This immortal qi was harmonious and rich with good fortune. For those newly cultivating immortality, it could serve as an aid; for wandering spirits and dead souls, it could purify and guide them into their next rebirth; and for ordinary mortals plagued by ill fortune, by dark influences, and by years of lingering illness, it could drive away gloom and evil. Even for a thousand-year-old little fish like me, it could still offer a small measure of benefit.

When we reached the gates of the Purple Tenuity Palace, Purple Lotus did not enter through the main gate. Instead, he carried me directly to the doors of the Azure Luan Hall. Then he walked in at an unhurried pace and, in a low voice above my head, said, “As for your disguising yourself as a man and infiltrating Spirit Cloud Mountain to take me as your master, once your injuries have healed, your master will come and settle this account with you properly.”