Chapter 79

Chapter 79: An Explanation

Ling Bu Fei felt as if he had slept for a long time.

The sleep had been so comfortable that, for a moment, he wanted to burrow deeper into the blanket and pretend the world didn’t exist.

He shifted on the bed—

A hand smacked his forehead.

“Brat,” a familiar voice said, amused and sharp. “You’re awake and still not getting up?”

Ling Bu Fei cracked one eye open.

Hua Wu Sheng sat by the bed, whisk resting across her knees, expression half-scolding, half-laughing.

This wasn’t his room.

It was a guest room in Mirror Flower Water Moon.

“Martial Ancestor…” Ling Bu Fei groaned.

Hua Wu Sheng clicked her tongue. “You’re about to marry a daughter-in-law and you’re still acting cute? If you’re fine, get up. There’s serious business to handle.”

“What serious business?” Ling Bu Fei muttered. “Martial Ancestor, don’t tell me you’re fooling me.”

Even as he complained, he sat up.

Before Hua Wu Sheng could answer, someone hurried in from outside. “Ah, good, you’re awake. Martial Ancestor, Song Zi said Tao Er’s Xing’er seems listless. Do you want to go take a look?”

“Tao Er’s Xing’er” was the fish Hua Wu Sheng kept.

Hua Wu Sheng stood up instantly. “Listless? It looked fine this morning!”

She strode out without another word, already muttering under her breath.

Ling Bu Fei stared after her.

Then he turned and found Bai Meng Jin standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

“Martial Ancestor treasures her fish,” he said, baffled. “How did she even let you watch them? What did you bribe her with?”

Bai Meng Jin lifted her chin. “I’m likable. Is that not allowed?”

She nudged the bedstep with her foot. “If you’re fine, get up. Martial Ancestor and Grandmaster are waiting to interrogate us.”

“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Ling Bu Fei protested as he swung his legs over the edge.

Bai Meng Jin’s brows rose. “Are you sure?”

His spine tightened.

He remembered the last thing before he passed out—the barrier, the forced circulation, the backlash.

“Ah…” he began, then stopped.

He’d been about to ask how to coordinate their story, but Bai Meng Jin had already turned and walked out.

“Hurry up,” she called over her shoulder. “Don’t keep the elders waiting.”

Ling Bu Fei rubbed his chin, muttering, “What does that mean? Just say whatever?”

He dressed quickly and followed.

In the pavilion, Hua Wu Sheng and Venerable Ku Mu sat properly at the table, tea steaming between them.

Dao Attendant Tao Jiao served tea with quiet efficiency.

Bai Meng Jin was nowhere in sight.

Ling Bu Fei looked around, confused—

Then Bai Meng Jin’s voice came from behind him. “Martial Ancestor, I brought osmanthus jelly and candied red dates. Is this acceptable?”

Ling Bu Fei turned.

Bai Meng Jin was holding a tray of snacks as if she belonged here.

Hua Wu Sheng didn’t even look back. “If you like it, that’s fine.”

Ling Bu Fei stared.

So she could already come and go in the dao temple freely?

He swallowed.

His fiancée really did have skills.

Once the snacks were set down, Hua Wu Sheng waved him over. “Come. Sit. Talk.”

“Oh.”

Ling Bu Fei walked to the table and sat across from the two elders. Bai Meng Jin sat beside him.

With this setup, “interrogation” wasn’t an exaggeration at all.

Venerable Ku Mu sipped his tea, eyes cold.

Ling Bu Fei decided to strike first. “Grandmaster, we almost died last night. Why didn’t you come? The Limitless Sect isn’t that far.”

His safety had always been the sect’s top priority. Even if Venerable Ku Mu were far away, he usually kept a thread of divine sense on him—enough to arrive instantly if anything happened.

That was why Ling Bu Fei hadn’t panicked at first…

Until he heard “devil heart detonation.”

Venerable Ku Mu snorted. “You still dare say that? If you hadn’t played the hero, would you have ended up like this?”

Hua Wu Sheng laughed and answered for him. “Your Grandmaster knew long ago. He watched you juniors handle it and thought it would be a decent test.”

Her gaze sharpened. “Who knew you’d be that reckless?”

Ling Bu Fei’s mouth fell open. “So if I hadn’t rushed in, Grandmaster would’ve blocked the devil heart detonation anyway?”

Venerable Ku Mu shot him a look. “What, are you blaming me?”

“No, no,” Ling Bu Fei said quickly, laughing awkwardly. “How could I? I just… feel like I was pretty stupid.”

Venerable Ku Mu’s tone softened by a fraction. “I thought you’d never experienced devil sealing. Seeing it once would be good. With your condition, you can’t go out and train like others.”

Mentioning it made the air heavy. Hua Wu Sheng sighed, set her whisk down, and cut through it.

“Enough. Stop dragging it out,” she said. “Get to the main point.”

She lifted her eyelids, voice slow and commanding. “That protective barrier. What was it? Which one of you is going to answer?”

Ling Bu Fei opened his mouth—

“I will,” Bai Meng Jin said calmly.

Both elders looked at her.

Bai Meng Jin didn’t flinch. “You both know this. The reason I can help the Young Sect Master sort out his meridians is because my power is special. When it passes through the Young Sect Master’s acupoints, it won’t be attacked by devil qi.”

She spoke steadily, laying out the logic as if explaining a simple technique. “So as long as I wrap my power around the spiritual energy inside the Young Sect Master and push it to circulate, I can let the Young Sect Master cast spells normally.”

The words were simple.

The meaning was not.

Hua Wu Sheng’s fingers tightened on her whisk. Even her voice shifted. “You mean you guide the circulation and casting… and Bu Fei becomes a normal Divine Transformation Stage?”

“It isn’t quite like that,” Bai Meng Jin said carefully. “Most spells are complex. My cultivation is still too low, and it isn’t my own true qi, so I can’t control it as freely as I want. I can only cast simpler spells.”

Hua Wu Sheng exhaled, then nodded slowly.

Even so, it was frightening.

Control could be practiced. Time could be bought. Cultivation could rise.

One day, “simpler spells” might not be a limitation.

“Show us,” Hua Wu Sheng said.

Bai Meng Jin nodded. She reached for Ling Bu Fei’s hand.

A moment later, a small barrier rose around the pavilion, golden and precise.

Venerable Ku Mu studied it, then flicked out a small spell. The barrier shuddered—then held, unmoving.

He nodded, gaze complicated. “It’s a protective barrier of the Divine Transformation Stage.”

Bai Meng Jin released Ling Bu Fei’s hand. The barrier vanished without sound.

Ling Bu Fei frowned. “When you do it now, I don’t feel any discomfort. Why was I so exhausted last night?”

Hua Wu Sheng couldn’t help laughing. “Silly child. Last night, you protected an entire city. The consumption was enormous, and you aren’t used to it. Of course you couldn’t hold.”

“So that’s why.” Ling Bu Fei nodded, then blurted, “Flowing Moon City is fine, right?”

“It’s fine,” Venerable Ku Mu said. “Ying Shao Guang returned this morning to report. You handled it in time. There were no pointless casualties.”

Relief loosened something in Ling Bu Fei’s chest.

Venerable Ku Mu’s gaze returned to Bai Meng Jin. “I’ve thought it over. It is possible—but the control required is extremely fine. You can truly do it?”

Before Bai Meng Jin could answer, Hua Wu Sheng sighed. “She can.”

Venerable Ku Mu looked surprised. If his senior sister said it, then it was no empty praise. “At your age… that isn’t easy.”

Bai Meng Jin lowered her head and smiled faintly.

Ling Bu Fei asked instead, “Martial Ancestor, Grandmaster—my uncle knows about this, right? Do I need to go explain?”

Hua Wu Sheng exchanged a look with Venerable Ku Mu. “We’ll discuss it first,” she said. “Then we’ll tell you later.”

Ling Bu Fei’s eyes brightened.

He had expected scolding.

Instead, the elders were taking the whole matter onto themselves.

As they spoke, Song Zi hurried in to report. “Grandmaster, the Sect Master has arrived.”