Zhongli signaled for the pages to continue turning. "What's even more interesting is the subsequent plot. This A-He has very close contact with a woman named Alan."
The pages flipped rapidly, stopping at the mine rescue, the Lantern Rite gift, and even... some more private moments of interaction.
Cloud Retainer watched as her celestial power fluctuated, and the clouds and mist around the immortal mountain surged more intensely.
"What kind of decorum is this!" Her voice rose a few notches, carrying obvious indignation and fluster. "This... this book actually dares to arrange an Adeptus disciple like this! And this Alan, acting so deviously, planning every step, she is clearly... clearly..."
She stammered for a long time, seemingly unable to find a word elegant yet powerful enough to describe it. Finally, with a flap of her wings, she closed the book, and it fell heavily back onto the stone table.
"Such wild words are a stain on one's ears and eyes!"
Zhongli sat as steady as a mountain, calmly pouring himself a cup of mountain spring tea. He watched Cloud Retainer go from confusion to shock, then to a mix of shame and annoyance with her celestial power running wild, a slight curve touching the corner of his mouth.
"Calm yourself, True Lord. The stories in the book are indeed fictional, and the names are also adaptations. However, looking at the writing, the depiction of the change in the Adeptus disciple's state of mind is quite meticulous." He paused, looking up at Cloud Retainer with his amber-like eyes carrying a hint of inquiry. "Novels originate from life but do not lack artistic processing. Perhaps the author simply holds a beautiful imagination and Yearning for Adeptus life."
"Yearning?! This is clearly slander!" Cloud Retainer was so angry she slapped the stone table with her wings, making the pages rustle. "And this Alan! When did Ningguang have such a person under her?! To dare, to dare to... seduce this immortal's disciple! Rex Lapis! Who exactly is this author Hanabi?! This immortal must find them for a good chat!"
"I'm going, I'm going!"
Seeing Cloud Retainer's posture of wanting to immediately rush out of Mt. Aocang to Liyue Harbor to settle scores with the author, Zhongli unhurriedly put down his teacup, a faint smile in his eyes. "This just shows that the people of Liyue have a new interpretation of the difference between immortals and mortals. One might as well view it as a, well... manifestation of the mortal world's atmosphere."
Cloud Retainer: "..."
She looked at Zhongli's eyes, which clearly carried the intent of watching the fun. A breath was stuck in her chest, making her unable to speak for a long time, so she could only give a cold snort.
Seeing Cloud Retainer calm down, Zhongli spoke again, "Perhaps the author didn't entirely imagine it out of thin air, but has some insight into the emotional troubles an Adeptus disciple might encounter when entering the world for cultivation."
Cloud Retainer was silent for a moment.
She naturally knew that for a disciple to go down the mountain for training, tempering the heart in the red dust was a necessary path. Mortal love was the most complex and easiest to shake one's nature. She had bestowed the red string with the intention of protecting her stable Dao heart, but if there truly were an external force... like the "Alan" in the book, slowly plotting with a carefully calculated web of emotions... She couldn't help but recall that when her disciple returned to the mountain recently, she did seem more silent than usual, occasionally staring blankly towards the outside of the mountain. When she asked about the recent situation in Liyue Harbor, the disciple only answered simply, "It's fine," and said no more.
Could it be... "Hmph!" Cloud Retainer snorted coldly again, interrupting her own thoughts, as if warning herself not to be disturbed by a fake story. "My disciple has a simple nature and a firm Dao heart. How could she easily be trapped by mundane mortal love? What this book says is utterly absurd!"
"Naturally." Zhongli followed her lead, "Adeptus disciples have their own integrity, it's just..."
His tone shifted slightly, "Worldly affairs are unpredictable, and the human heart is inscrutable. Since the True Lord has allowed the disciple to enter the world, some encounters might also fall within the scope of cultivation. Although this book is a playful work, it does remind us that worldly entanglements sometimes need to be dealt with more cautiously than demons."
Cloud Retainer did not respond immediately; only the clear sound of mountain spring water dripping remained in the abode. After a good while, she spoke in a stiff tone, "...Leave this book."
A flash of understanding crossed Zhongli's eyes, but he didn't point it out, merely rising composedly. "In that case, I shall not disturb the True Lord's quiet cultivation."
He turned and left, his steps steady, just as when he arrived.
Once Zhongli's figure had completely disappeared outside the abode, Cloud Retainer immediately brushed her wings, pulling "for whom the love trap is set" back into her claws.
She stared at the cover, hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help but reopen it, skipping directly to those "detailed description" segments. She read with clicks of her tongue, occasionally flapping her wings in annoyance, causing the airflow in the cave to become turbulent, but at other times, she involuntarily slowed down to "study" it carefully.
"Unreasonable! This... this mortal woman's methods are actually so...! Hmm... this description here seems to coincide with a certain technique for disturbing the mind? Let this immortal deliberate on it carefully..."
Outside the abode, the not-yet-distant Zhongli vaguely heard Cloud Retainer's self-muttering, sometimes angry and sometimes puzzled, and shook his head slightly, appearing helpless.
He walked slowly down the mountain, thinking to himself: It seems that in the coming days, the wind on Mt. Aocang will hardly be peaceful.
Meanwhile, in the WangSheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao was still relishing the wonderful segments, letting out occasional giggles, completely unaware of what kind of waves the "fun" she shared with Zhongli had already stirred up.
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