Yanqing's heart was filled with indignation. He secretly swore in his heart that he must not let him find out which guy was spreading those rumors, or he would definitely make that person regret it!
…Wait!
Carefully recalling what Bailu had just said, Yanqing suddenly felt as if he had caught some key information. Bailu seemed to have mentioned… something about a "godfather"…
Hiss~! Weren't the Vidyadhara incapable of reproduction and only able to reincarnate through the "Molt of Rebirth"? So, Miss Bailu, who had no father or mother, had gone and recognized a "godfather" outside? Or had someone deceived Bailu?
Thinking of this, our young friend Yanqing couldn't help but gasp. He immediately stopped his departing steps. This was truly terrifying upon careful thought!
"Miss Bailu, may I ask you a question?"
"Huh? Ask me a question?"
Hearing this, Bailu, who had been slightly dissatisfied because she hadn't received an answer, was momentarily stunned. A trace of puzzlement appeared in her cute dragon eyes.
"Ask me a question? But I don't know how to fight."
Bailu helplessly spread her hands and answered honestly.
Because in the girl's view, the only things that could interest a sword genius like Yanqing were probably sword techniques and spear methods. She was just an ordinary physician. While she couldn't say she knew nothing about martial arts, she wasn't much better than that.
"No, Miss Bailu, you misunderstood. The matter I want to ask about is not related to academic issues, but to you personally."
"To me personally…?"
The more Bailu listened, the more confused she became. What did Yanqing mean by this? What did "not related to academics, but to you personally" mean? Could it be…
After repeatedly chewing over Yanqing's words several times, the slightly dazed Bailu seemed to understand something. Suddenly, the girl's eyes widened dramatically, and a look of horror appeared on her face.
This guy… this guy couldn't be a lolicon, right?! He wanted to know about her matters—did he intend to make a move on her?!
"I…! Y-y-you! Don't you dare do anything weird! I'm telling you, I'm the future Dragon Lord of the Vidyadhara! If you try anything on me, I'll get someone to beat you up so badly even your parents won't recognize you!"
Yanqing: "???"
Jing Yuan: "???"
Bailu's words left Jing Yuan and Yanqing stunned. Master and disciple exchanged a glance, each seeing a strange look in the other's eyes.
As the person involved, Yanqing felt even more bewildered than the other two. He didn't seem to have said anything that could easily be misunderstood, right?
"Ahem, Miss Bailu, I think you may have misunderstood. Yanqing didn't mean it that way. He just… uh."
As he spoke, Jing Yuan suddenly faltered. It seemed… he himself didn't actually know what this child Yanqing suddenly wanted to ask.
"Hmph! You two really are trying to trick me."
Bailu pouted in dissatisfaction, then glared fiercely at Yanqing. She stopped paying attention to the master-disciple pair and turned to leave on her own.
"Sigh~! Now we've caused a misunderstanding…"
'Ring ring! Ring ring!…'
Just as Jing Yuan was secretly sighing, the Jade Abacus in his bosom suddenly emitted a short, urgent ringtone.
Taking out the Jade Abacus, Jing Yuan glanced at the displayed name. Although he really wanted to hang up, after a slight hesitation, he still answered. Then…
"Jing Yuan! Where the hell have you run off to?! Get back to the Seat of Divine Foresight right now! If you don't come back soon, I'm going to rename this Seat of Divine Foresight to the Seat of Candle Dragon!"
Huaiyan's somewhat angry voice came faintly from the other end of the Jade Abacus. His threatening intent was self-evident.
"Hahaha, sorry Brother Huaiyan. Something came up on my side, so I was slightly delayed. Please forgive me, Brother Huaiyan."
On the other end of the call, our General Huaiyan's mouth twitched slightly upon hearing Jing Yuan's words. He sneered coldly.
Huaiyan didn't believe a single word of Jing Yuan's smooth talk. This guy was eloquent and was definitely trying to trick him into doing unpaid work again.
"Heh, something came up? Fine, then tell me—what exactly happened?"
The white-bearded old man on the other side of the Jade Abacus was so angry his beard bristled and his eyes widened. He wanted to see what excuse Jing Yuan could come up with.
"Uh, alright. Actually, it's like this, Brother Huaiyan. Your Yunli beat up my disciple Yanqing. I'm currently with him at the Alchemy Commission receiving treatment."
Huaiyan: '...…'
"Are you sure you're not lying to me?"
Huaiyan asked suspiciously.
"I naturally wouldn't lie about this."
Jing Yuan nodded slightly, then recounted everything that had just happened to Huaiyan without holding anything back, word for word.
After hearing about his granddaughter's glorious deeds, Huaiyan first coughed awkwardly twice, then spoke.
"Ahem, the signal on my side is a bit bad. Let's leave it at that for now. We'll talk about anything else when you get back."
Saying this, Huaiyan hung up the call before Jing Yuan could reply, not giving the other side any chance to react.
'Yanqing, Jing Yuan's disciple… Is he that child from back then?'
After hanging up, Huaiyan fell into thought as he recalled the name Yanqing.
He remembered more than ten years ago, when he had just adopted Yunli.
At that time, the young Yunli was somewhat depressed because of her separation from "Fan." Coincidentally, he was sent on a mission to the Xianzhou's allied ship and took Yunli along to the Xianzhou Luofu.
The one who met with him then was General Jing Yuan, and beside him followed a little boy with tea-yellow hair. The boy had extraordinary roots and excellent aptitude—a raw jade perfect for sword training.
At the time, fearing that Yunli, who had lost her parents, would feel lonely, he planned to let the child play with Yunli.
However, what he hadn't expected was that Yunli and General Jing Yuan's disciple were like natural rivals. They had barely met for less than a few minutes before they started fighting over some trivial matter.
In theory, Yunli was still very young at the time. Although her vision far surpassed that of ordinary little girls, in terms of pure combat strength, she was definitely no match for Yanqing.
Yet what shocked everyone was that during the scuffle, our Miss Yunli, in a fit of extreme anger, kicked Yanqing right in his "inherent weakness," instantly depriving him of most of his fighting ability.
In the end, their first contest concluded with Yunli's victory.
"Hahaha, I didn't expect that after so many years, these two kids would fight again. They really are fated, hahaha!"
Huaiyan swept away his previous anger and stroked his beard while laughing heartily.
Encountering each other by chance on this vast Xianzhou Luofu proved the affinity between the two children. It was just a shame that Yunli already had someone she liked.
Even though the girl strongly denied it, as the "Grandfather" who had accompanied her for many years, Huaiyan understood her very well. That girl Yunli had clearly fallen for the benefactor who once saved her from dire straits.
What worried him, however, was that the mysterious powerhouse already had his own partner—the Emanator of the Path of Causality named Qingque, whom his granddaughter was definitely no match for.
"Sigh~! Yunli, my girl…"
— — — —
Shifting the scene back to the attached area of Jinren Alley, Wutong Alley, inside Qingque's residence…
"Come, little Yunli. These are the candied hawthorns you loved most as a child. Take them."
"Th… thank you…"
In the main residence's living room, Yunli sat somewhat uneasily on the sofa. Looking at Yun Fan handing her the candied hawthorns, she took them from his hands a little stutteringly.
"Hahaha, why so polite with me? This doesn't seem like you at all, little Yunli."
The youth chuckled and shook his head. Then he gently reached out and stroked the top of Yunli's little head, just like when she was a child.
Feeling the large hand "misbehaving" on her head and the warm temperature from his palm, Yunli slightly lowered her head, as if too shy to let the person from her memories see the blush on her face.
However, even though the girl tried her best to hide it, these small actions still didn't escape Yun Fan's notice. He simply smiled and said nothing.
The stroking lasted about a minute. Only when Yunli's face was flushed red and nearly emitting "steam" did the youth finally let her go with some reluctance.
"Alright, eat up quickly. The candied hawthorns should be at their most delicious right now."
"Ah? Mhm!"
The shy little Yunli took small, delicate bites of the candied hawthorns in her hand. She completely abandoned her usual "tyrannosaurus" image of wolfing down food like a hungry tiger and instead displayed an elegant, graceful, lady-like demeanor that didn't match her personality at all.
Yun Fan: '???'
Gazing at Yunli's current little-girl posture, several question marks slowly rose in Yun Fan's heart.
What was going on with this girl Yunli…? Uh, was this really Yunli? Why did she feel so different from the one in the original plot…?
In the original story, Yunli was a generous, sometimes unruly genius girl. Like most prodigies, she was full of pride yet possessed a unique gentleness.
But the Yunli before him now, acting like a well-bred young lady—what was going on? Could it be the butterfly effect caused by his own wings?
Our Miss Yunli naturally had no idea what Yun Fan was thinking at this moment. She was already completely immersed in a world of nothing but candied hawthorns.
The sweet-and-sour taste, strings of crystal-clear, sweet temptation. Each hawthorn was tightly wrapped in a sugar coating, like wearing a gorgeous crystal outfit.
Taking a gentle bite, the crisp sugar shell and the sweet-sour hawthorn blended in the mouth, instantly releasing a rich fruity aroma. The sweetness of the sugar was just right—neither overly cloying nor failing to perfectly complement the hawthorn's sourness, leaving an endless aftertaste.
The hawthorn flesh was plump and juicy, with a refreshing sweet-and-sour texture.
This familiar taste could only be made by "Fan." Compared to it, the candied hawthorns she made herself paled in comparison.
Just as Yunli was quietly enjoying her candied hawthorns, a light set of footsteps suddenly came from upstairs.
Soon after, Qingque—wearing pink pajamas—walked down from the bedroom upstairs while rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"Sniff sniff, this smell is…"
"This smell… it seems like the candied hawthorns Ali wanted to give me yesterday."
Our Miss Qingque wrinkled her cute little nose, following the sweet fragrance mixed with a hint of fruit in the air.
"M-Miss Qingque…"
Seeing Qingque still in her pajamas and seemingly not fully awake, the blush that had just faded from Yunli's face reappeared.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
Seeing Yunli suddenly blush and even speak stutteringly, the girl felt a bit strange—or rather, puzzled.
Then, Qingque looked down and examined herself. She didn't seem to have worn anything wrong—pink pajama pants and a pink shirt.
Although it wasn't very formal, for Yunli, another girl, this shouldn't be a big issue. Seeing another girl in pajamas shouldn't make her this shy, right?
"Miss Qingque, your neck…"
Yunli shyly covered her eyes, but a small gap remained between her fingers.
"My neck?"
Hearing Yunli, Qingque was slightly stunned. Then she seemed to realize something, quickly walked to the mirror hanging nearby, and looked at herself in it.
"Ah? Wu…"
Following Qingque's gaze, two faint red strawberries stood out like coal on snow on the girl's fair, jade-like neck!
These two faint red marks were the traces left from last night's passionate time with her beloved. Now, reflected in Yunli's eyes, how could our Miss Qingque not feel embarrassed?
"Uh… Ali, you chat with Fan first. I have something to do and need to step away for a bit. Excuse me, excuse me, haha…"
Qingque awkwardly scratched her head, then fled back to her second-floor bedroom like a startled little animal.