Watching the Mountain

Ye Qingxue looked up, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Perhaps, in your heart, you have always been resisting the path you are on now."

Nine Profound True Monarch looked at her, his tone growing solemn. "Your instincts are telling you that the path you should be on is not the one you’re on right now."

"Qingxue, calm your heart and think carefully about the path you truly wish to walk. Once you find the right road, your steps will naturally become lighter."

Ye Qingxue was lost in thought. ’Isn’t this the path I wanted to walk?’

After a moment, Nine Profound True Monarch asked, "However, this isn’t like you. Why the sudden concern over your cultivation progress? You even seem a little impatient."

Ye Qingxue was silent for a moment before she looked up to meet her master’s gaze and slowly said:

"Master, I’ve fallen in love with Senior Brother Ye Shan."

The lid of the teacup in Nine Profound True Monarch’s hand fell onto the stone table with a crisp CLINK. His eyes widened as he stared at her.

"What?" His voice rose, completely losing its usual calm. "That brat, Ye Shan... he actually dared to seduce you?"

Ye Qingxue’s eyes widened slightly as well. She hadn’t expected her master to have such a strong reaction, and she certainly never thought the word "seduce" would come out of her usually sagelike and dignified master’s mouth.

She blinked and continued to report truthfully, "I confessed my feelings to Senior Brother Ye Shan and asked him to be my Dao Companion."

Nine Profound True Monarch sucked in a sharp breath.

"And then he refused," Ye Qingxue added.

"What?" Nine Profound True Monarch shot to his feet, his robes knocking over the meditation cushion beside him.

His face was a mixture of disbelief and a strange sort of fury. "That wretched kid! Not only did he seduce you, but he dared to reject you too? The nerve!"

He then started cursing up a storm, leaving Ye Qingxue to watch, dumbfounded.

’Is this still the master I know?’

Her master, who was usually so calm, composed, and otherworldly, now looked like a mountain bandit, exuding an air of coarse thuggishness.

"What else is in that kid’s head besides cultivation? All he knows is practice sword, practice sword! The way he talks is enough to drive a person to their grave! Does he even know how to be nice to people? Does he have any idea what being Dao Companions means? With that mouth of his, and that personality, he actually dared to refuse?"

Ye Qingxue watched her master pace back and forth in the courtyard, his face alternating between red and pale as he muttered under his breath.

First, she was stunned. Then, a novel and amusing feeling slowly began to surface.

’So Master has a side like this, too. He’s just like a regular elder, fiercely protective of his young but at a complete loss with his own troublesome boy.’

She couldn’t help but let the corners of her lips curve into a faint smile.

Nine Profound True Monarch finished his tirade, but he still seemed furious. He suddenly stopped pacing and looked at Ye Qingxue. "Let’s go."

"Huh? Go where, Master?"

"To find that brat." Nine Profound True Monarch grabbed her by the wrist and started marching out without another word. "I’m going to ask him just what kind of potion he fed my disciple to bewitch her."

When her master found Ye Shan, he was practicing with his sword by the cliff on the back mountain. His Wooden Sword cut through the air, his figure as swift as the wind. Hearing the commotion, he stopped his sword and turned to see his master dragging Ye Qingxue toward him with a dark expression.

"Master, Junior Sister, what are you two doing here?" he asked, somewhat taken aback.

"Ye Shan," Nine Profound True Monarch cut him off, his voice thick with suppressed rage. "You’re going to explain yourself to me."

Ye Shan looked completely lost. "Explain what?"

"Still playing dumb?" Nine Profound True Monarch pointed at him, then at Ye Qingxue. "Qingxue told me everything. You... did you do something to her?"

Ye Shan grew even more confused. He glanced at his master, then at Ye Qingxue, who had her eyes slightly lowered, though the tips of her ears were a little red. "What did I do? I didn’t do anything to Junior Sister."

"Didn’t do anything?" Nine Profound True Monarch let out a bitter laugh. "If you didn’t do anything, why in the world would she fall for you?"

Ye Shan opened his mouth, seemingly stumped by the question. He was speechless for a long moment.

Seeing this, Nine Profound True Monarch’s anger flared even higher. "Fine! Even if, even if she... you still dared to reject her? Ye Shan, you’ve gotten bold, haven’t you? A brat like you thinks you’re worthy of rejecting my disciple, Qingxue?"

Ye Shan’s eyes went wide. He stared blankly at his master, scratched his head, and asked in utter confusion:

"Master, are you saying... you want me and Junior Sister to become Dao Companions?"

"In your dreams," Nine Profound True Monarch immediately shot back with a glare.

"A brat like you wants to be Dao Companions with Qingxue? Take a good look at yourself! All you do all day is cause trouble when you’re not cultivating, and the way you talk is enough to make someone cough up blood."

"Do you have any idea how many times the Elders from the other peaks have mocked me, whether to my face or behind my back, because of that mouth of yours? All you do day in and day out is bury your head in your training, you can’t even speak a single proper sentence."

"Last time, the Elder from Danxia Peak was kind enough to give you pointers on the basics of Alchemy, and you told him his Fire Control technique was outdated and too inefficient. He was so mad he didn’t show up at the Instructor Hall for three days! And that senior brother from the Artifact Hall, when you were sparring with him in Arrays, you said the Array Hub he set up looked like a child’s rock pile and that you could see through it at a glance! You... you..."

"You’re going to be the death of me! ARGH!"

The more Nine Profound True Monarch spoke, the angrier he became, until it all ended in a heavy sigh.

Despite what he was saying, this disciple, Ye Shan, truly did bring him a great deal of pride. He had no idea how long he’d been secretly gloating about him behind his back.

Every time he thought of the envy in others’ eyes, he felt incredibly satisfied.

But would he ever tell Ye Shan any of this?

’Impossible!’

’His ego would soar through the heavens!’

Faced with his master’s tirade, Ye Shan simply looked bewildered. "But everything I said was true."

’And you think you’re in the right,’ Nine Profound True Monarch thought, utterly speechless.

Ye Shan, however, just frowned in confusion. "Is the way I talk really that harsh? Should I go and apologize to everyone?"