Chapter 17: (Seventeen) Just Because It Is You

“Not big enough? If you said that out loud, you’d scare a whole crowd of people to death. Who in the Jianghu doesn’t know that the Wansha Palace is now on par with the Guisha Palace? The Palace Master of Wansha is neither righteous nor evil, their martial arts are mysterious and unpredictable, and their temperament is eccentric. Anyone who offends them is sure to die. Their influence has long since permeated the entire Lingxuan Continent.” Ye Luoxuan raised a wicked, charming smile as he looked at the person in his arms.

“Hehe, isn’t all of this thanks to Master? If Master hadn’t picked me up back then, I don’t know which corner I’d be in right now, starving and freezing.” Leng Lingxue said, looking at Ye Luoxuan with a face full of adoration, her expression carrying a hint of pitiful charm.

Ye Luoxuan shook his head helplessly as he watched her, only to find that he was quite susceptible to such looks from her. It wasn’t just this version of Leng Lingxue; no matter what she was like, as long as it was her, he found his heart and mind involuntarily captivated.

“So, in that case, I suppose I picked up a tiger cub back then?”

“Wrong, Master. Your disciple is already an adult tiger now. So, Master had better be careful, or you might just get pushed down by this tiger of mine.” Leng Lingxue raised an eyebrow at him, speaking with a wicked charm.

“Then I shall wait for it.” Ye Luoxuan reached out to lift Leng Lingxue’s chin, gazing into her azure eyes before leaning down to bury his head in the crook of her neck, inhaling the unique fragrance of her skin. “If I am to be pushed down by you, I would gladly accept it, simply because the one pushing me down is you.”

The light, airy words whispered softly into Leng Lingxue’s ear, their tenderness and firmness making her smile radiantly, a sense of sweetness and happiness seeping into her expression.

This man—she was finding it harder and harder to let him go...

However, since she had already made her choice, then she would hold his hand and look down upon the world together!

And this year, she was ten, and he was eighteen.

“Lingxue, you want to go back?” Inside the study, Ye Luoxuan, holding Leng Lingxue, couldn’t help but frown as he asked. Leng Lingxue nodded slightly.

“Master, I must go back. Those people owe me, and I must reclaim it with my own hands. Besides, wouldn’t it be interesting to see the expressions on their faces when they see a living, breathing Leng Lingxue? Since they decided to abandon me, they must have the courage to bear the consequences of that abandonment.

I, Leng Lingxue, am not the type to suffer in silence. If others do not offend me, I will not offend them; if others act despicably toward me, I will surely return it a hundredfold. Since they owe the former Leng Lingxue, let the current Leng Lingxue go and reclaim it for her.” Leng Lingxue spoke with an air of wicked charm, the corners of her mouth slightly raised. In her smiling eyes lay a bloodthirsty, evil intent, cold and bone-chilling.

Watching Leng Lingxue like this, Ye Luoxuan tightened his grip on her involuntarily. What exactly had she been through? If it were truly as the reports indicated—nothing more than enduring cold stares and being abandoned by her family—it would never have cultivated a Leng Lingxue like this.

The aura she exuded was cold and piercing, exactly like his own; it was the kind forged from piles of corpses and endless blood.

Whenever he thought of the unknown torments she had endured, his heart couldn’t help but ache incessantly. He felt heartache for this version of Leng Lingxue; he wished she were simpler, wished she would rely on him in his arms and be protected under his wings. But from the very first moment he saw her, he knew that Leng Lingxue was not the type of person content to be protected by him.

Wasn’t that exactly why he had become interested in her, why he had been moved by interest to take her as his disciple and bring her back to the Guisha Palace?