Master, I understand!

The moment Xǔ Tiānlí flashed his identification, the atmosphere in the area instantly solidified.

Mù Qīngyǔ appeared to freeze, then abruptly glanced behind him.

“Hmm?”

“Isn’t that Mù Qīngyǔ?!”

“Where?!”

Upon hearing his fiancée’s name, Xǔ Tiānlí reacted as if injected with a stimulant.

He had been tricked!

By the time he turned back, the figure had vanished.

Not only was the person gone, but the table and chairs had also disappeared, as if they had never existed.

Left standing dumbfounded, Xǔ Tiānlí drew a sharp breath, nearly letting out a string of curses.

Having activated her escape ability, Mù Qīngyǔ sprinted several blocks before finally stopping, only after confirming that he wasn’t pursuing her.

“How truly unlucky.”

“To think the very first person I encountered was from the Heaven’s Will Bureau.”

Mù Qīngyǔ possessed no true divination skills.

She merely relied on the eloquent tongue she’d honed in her previous life, spouting whatever came to mind, confident that someone, somewhere, would believe her.

This was her first real-world test using her new identity after running away from home, and she had nearly been apprehended on the spot.

‘I didn’t expect him to react so intensely to my name.’

‘Could he be a secret admirer?’

After all, as a noble young lady from a powerful faction, it was hardly surprising to have a few suitors.

The fact that she hadn’t been recognized proved her disguise was a resounding success.

She could certainly continue to blend in with this identity.

Returning to her hotel, Mù Qīngyǔ promptly collapsed onto the bed.

Her dark, lustrous hair swiftly turned snowy white, and her golden eyes shifted to a vibrant crimson.

This was her true appearance, that of a natural beauty.

At sixteen, she was at the cusp of maturity and youth, and everything about her—from her white hair and red eyes to the generous curves of her chest—was utterly flawless.

Her only slight imperfection was her height; after all, the original novel had depicted her as a ‘junior sister,’ barely reaching the national average.

After resting for a while at the hotel, Mù Qīngyǔ resumed her activities in the afternoon, once again adopting her new identity and appearance.

According to the original plot, the protagonist’s monstrous talent would manifest in the future, largely thanks to the invaluable assistance of his mysterious master.

Together, master and disciple would overcome numerous obstacles, climbing from a despised nobody to the pinnacle of power.

Mù Qīngyǔ’s objective on this journey was simple: to join the protagonist and his enigmatic master when they first met, and become their disciple herself.

By latching onto the protagonist’s journey of ascension and showering him with care, she was certain she could erase his hatred for her.

Moreover, with the aid of the mysterious master, Mù Qīngyǔ could more easily escape her father’s control and live a new, fulfilling life under a fresh identity.

Ascending the back mountain of Wufeng City, she traversed a overgrown slope before arriving at a low valley.

A babbling brook flowed gently, converging into a small, pristine pond nearby.

‘This is the place.’

Mù Qīngyǔ found a secluded spot to hide, carefully observing her surroundings.

‘Hurry up and appear, Xǔ Tiānlí, and your mysterious master.’

‘I can’t wait to latch onto your coattails… Oh, no, I mean, to become your companion.’

An hour passed, then two, then three…

It had been afternoon when Mù Qīngyǔ climbed the mountain, but now the sun had turned a deep orange.

Yet, she still hadn’t seen anyone.

‘Where are they?!’

‘Did I get something wrong?’

Mù Qīngyǔ, unwilling to give up, waited for another two or three hours until the bright moon hung high in the sky.

Still, no one arrived.

‘That’s not right.’

‘Did I misremember the location or the time?’

Growing impatient, Mù Qīngyǔ walked to the small pond.

Moonlight spilled onto the water, making it glow with a pure brilliance.

‘Could I have come too early?’

According to her memories of the plot, there were indeed several days between the annulment of the engagement and the protagonist meeting his mysterious master.

She truly had arrived too early.

Mù Qīngyǔ’s shoulders slumped.

She had rushed here in such a panic, only for it to be for naught.

She had been nervous for so long, working up a sweat for nothing.

Staring at the small pond, Mù Qīngyǔ couldn’t help but recall her childhood in her previous life, when she loved playing and bathing with her friends in the clear streams of the countryside.

Alas, her companions were gone, and it was rare to see such pristine water in the fierce modern world.

Mù Qīngyǔ glanced around.

This place was surrounded by high mountains, ensuring no one would come across it.

In the scorching summer heat, what could be more delightful than bathing in a naturally formed pool?

Since no one was arriving anyway, she decided to reward her hardworking self.

Mù Qīngyǔ shed her clothes, peeling off her black stockings.

She first lifted a small foot, lightly touching the water’s surface before retracting it.

It was colder than she expected, but it didn’t matter.

Mù Qīngyǔ quickly adjusted to the pond’s temperature, immersing her entire body within it, even letting out a long, involuntary moan.

She remembered the young man she had met that morning and couldn’t help but chuckle.

While he wasn’t easily fooled, he ultimately couldn’t withstand her exquisite trickery.

All that talk of reclusive masters, bloody misfortunes, and encounters with otherworldly demons—it was all her fabrication.

She propped a long, pale leg out of the water, stretching it languidly.

“Go on, try and arrest me, handsome~”

“Hehe.”

Just then, a furious roar, like that of a wild beast, echoed from above, shaking the clear water of the pond.

After a busy day, Xǔ Tiānlí stir-fried some simple dishes for himself, making do with a casual dinner.

After eating, Xǔ Tiānlí, as usual, began studying the books his father had left behind.

He yearned to escape his fate as a good-for-nothing, to grow stronger, not only to avenge his father but also to exact revenge on Mù Qīngyǔ.

From the age of ten, his father had tried various methods to help Xǔ Tiānlí awaken his spiritual imprint, attempting it five times in total, all without success.

‘Why was this happening?’

Xǔ Tiānlí couldn’t comprehend it.

The Xǔ family had produced spirit wielders for generations; why was he the one who couldn’t?

‘Was it because I lost my mother at a young age?’

‘Was it because I wasn’t worthy of aligning myself with a powerful faction?’

‘Or was it that I was destined to suffer the humiliation of a broken engagement?’

His father had barely been laid to rest when Xǔ Tiānlí encountered two elders sent by his fiancée.

They arrived with their young miss’s command to annul the engagement.

They stood right at his doorstep, proclaiming the decision to break off the engagement unilaterally, in voices loud enough for all the neighbors to hear, utterly disregarding Xǔ Tiānlí’s feelings.

Truth be told, Xǔ Tiānlí felt no affection for the fiancée he had never met; if they wanted to break it off, then so be it.

But to do so at such a critical juncture, and in such a manner!

His father had just before his death exhorted him to take good care of himself.

How was he supposed to face his father in the afterlife after such an incident?

He didn’t care about the neighbors’ gossip, but what would they say about his deceased father?

‘You can insult me, but you cannot insult my family.’

Consumed by grief and indignation, Xǔ Tiānlí hurled a fierce declaration at the two old men.

“What transpired today, Xǔ Tiānlí will engrave in his heart.”

“This humiliation, I shall repay it in full three years from now!”

This was his three-year pact.

He had promised his father that he would achieve great things and never bring shame upon him.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

Xǔ Tiānlí stood up abruptly and went out for a walk.

Unconsciously, he found himself at the back mountain, suddenly recalling the words of the fortune teller from that morning.

‘There will certainly be a reclusive master in the mountains; to meet them, you must first overcome a bloody disaster?’

‘What foolishness,’ Xǔ Tiānlí thought.

He had played on this mountain with his father since childhood and had often collected herbs here.

He knew perfectly well whether there were any reclusive masters or bloody disasters.

However, even knowing it was likely a bluff, Xǔ Tiānlí was willing to take a gamble at this moment.

Following a familiar path through the woods, Xǔ Tiānlí arrived at a cliff on the mountainside.

From here, the buildings of Wufeng City stretched out below, an utterly beautiful panorama.

Xǔ Tiānlí reached the cliff edge, having encountered nothing along the way.

His heart finally settled; it was indeed a lie.

He might as well go home.

Just then, a deep beastly growl reached his ears.

Xǔ Tiānlí spun around, spotting a dark silhouette slowly emerging from the shadows.

It resembled a dog, yet it was as large as a tiger and possessed three heads, its six crimson eyes fixed intently on the young man at the cliff’s edge.

‘An otherworldly demon, truly?!’

Xǔ Tiānlí gasped, the image of the black-haired, straight-haired fortune teller flashing through his mind.

She had been right, but how could she have known he would encounter an otherworldly demon?

‘Was she deliberately luring me here to my death?’

‘No, that doesn’t quite fit.’

In that critical moment, his mind rapidly calmed, analyzing every word she had spoken.

‘Only when the time is right will you meet them.’

‘Destiny… destiny?’

‘Destiny!’

‘I understand!’

Xǔ Tiānlí was suddenly invigorated.

This was not only his bloody disaster but also his destiny, his trial.

As long as he overcame this trial, he would find that reclusive master.

‘I thought she was a fraud, but she’s a true master after all.’

‘Master, I’ve understood!’

Following his excitement came the immediate challenge: how could a defenseless man like him contend with a ferocious otherworldly demon?

Xǔ Tiānlí glanced at the cliff behind him, thinking he might be able to use the terrain…

But the next second, the dog-like otherworldly demon charged at him on all fours, its speed far exceeding Xǔ Tiānlí’s imagination.

He felt only a gust of wind, and the creature was already upon him.

‘No, it’s too late…!’

Just as despair washed over him, a red mark appeared on his forehead, emitting a brilliant radiance.

The red light shot skyward, dyeing a swath of the heavens, clearly visible even to the night shift staff at the Heaven’s Will Bureau branch in the city center.

The powerful impact not only pulverized the dog-like otherworldly demon’s body, leaving only its head, but also shattered the ground beneath Xǔ Tiānlí’s feet, sending them both plunging downwards.

“What was that noise?”

Mù Qīngyǔ had just looked up when she was splattered with falling dust and gore, simultaneously struck on the head by something hard.

“Ouch, ouch…”

Mù Qīngyǔ stood up, clutching her head, then picked up the hard object and froze.

“Hiss, I’m still alive?”

At the same moment, Xǔ Tiānlí, who had fallen into the nearby bushes, also scrambled back to his feet.

The sight that greeted him made him freeze.

A beautiful older sister stood in the pond, completely unclothed, her allure fully exposed.

More importantly, she was holding the head of that dog-like otherworldly demon in her hand!

It was alluring, yet also filled with an ultimate majesty.

Xǔ Tiānlí’s throat bobbed, and after a moment, he mumbled.

“So, you’re the reclusive master.”