Break?

“Done.”

“Busy all day—aren’t you starving?”

“Have a taste?”

Su Wanqing hadn’t forgotten that the little girl in front of her still needed to eat. Now that she had somehow become her master, she had to at least try to fulfill a master’s duties.

The whole table of dishes had been deliberately prepared.

The “mourning wine” she was drinking tonight could also be considered borrowed in honor of her new disciple.

Or, if she wanted to spin it positively, this was a welcoming banquet for little Ning Yuer.

Even knowing everything that would happen in the future, she would still do her best to help this disciple.

Because the current Ning Yuer wasn’t the big-shot heroine of the original novel yet—she was still a fledgling eagle, and more importantly, her disciple.

Su Wanqing understood better than anyone how crucial a good teacher was on the path of cultivation.

Both her philosophy as a master and her own conscience refused to let her waste this child’s potential.

Even when she had picked up Chen Xueli all those years ago—knowing full well that girl would one day betray and bully her—she had still poured her heart into raising her properly.

Back then, no matter how hard she tried, she never imagined things would turn out like this.

The cold, heartless, master-killing villainess from the original story… had somehow been raised into a disciple whose heart and mind were filled with nothing but “ride Master, destroy Master”?

And now Ning Yuer.

She had planned everything perfectly to shove the heroine off to Red Embroidery Sect.

Yet the one place she thought was foolproof had completely backfired!

Who could have predicted that Li Ziyue—Li Ziyue!—would personally deliver a Heaven-tier spirit root genius right back into her hands?

What exactly was in that woman’s brain? Paste?

She, Su Wanqing, was the one who discovered Ning Yuer’s talent.

She was the one who confirmed it was only Mysterious-tier and then handed the girl over.

Even if Li Ziyue didn’t want to take a disciple, with mid-grade Heaven-tier talent, Ning Yuer could’ve become the Red Embroidery sect leader’s personal disciple—or even heir!

But no.

Not only did Li Ziyue return the girl, she even laid an excellent foundation for her…

This…

The mere thought gave Su Wanqing a migraine.

She knew that no matter how much it pissed her off inwardly, on the surface she now owed Li Ziyue a massive favor.

Even if she didn’t want to admit it, everyone saw it that way.

She had to repay it.

“Master, you cooked all this?”

Ning Yuer didn’t stand on ceremony—she hadn’t eaten all day, and after the intense competition, her stomach was practically glued to her spine.

She sat down, picked up the extra set of chopsticks and bowl, and took a bite.

Instantly, she recognized that familiar flavor.

Su Wanqing’s cooking had one distinctive trait: heavy seasoning.

To light-tongued eaters, it was salty as hell.

But Ning Yuer never expected her cold, ethereal immortal-sister master to cook so many dishes.

Why did she suddenly feel like Immortal Sister had serious “wife” energy?

Her appearance and usual attire screamed untouchable ice fairy—yet the moment she cooked, the married-woman aura was off the charts.

Was it because she could cook?

“Mm. Heavenly Sword Pavilion doesn’t have a communal cafeteria. Your master can’t exactly go beg food from other peaks, so I made some.”

“How is it? Good?”

“Super good!”

“If it’s good, eat more.”

Su Wanqing smiled.

Having her cooking praised by her little disciple instantly lifted her gloomy mood.

She happily watched the girl devour her food while mentally noting down what she seemed to like.

A few more meals with some variation, and she’d have the girl’s preferences completely mapped.

She could have just used a taste-reading spell, but she wanted to surprise her.

As expected, being complimented on her cooking felt way better than being called beautiful.

Beauty was something she was born with.

This skill—she had worked her ass off to learn.

The memory of how hard she’d trained just so Chen Xueli wouldn’t starve made her want to cry for past-her.

If she’d known how things would turn out, she’d have just let that rebellious disciple starve!

“Master, isn’t this a bit… too much food?”

“Eat. It won’t be this extravagant every meal. This is your official welcoming banquet.”

“And I’m drinking to celebrate.”

She was too embarrassed to admit she was drinking to drown her sorrows, so she spun it as celebrating Ning Yuer.

“Oh…”

Ning Yuer kept her head down as she ate, but the corners of her mouth couldn’t hide her smile.

Eating food that Immortal Sister had specially made for her, the girl quietly thought to herself:

It looks like she really had met the kind of person her mother used to tell her about—someone who would always be good to her.

That kind of person was worth giving her whole life to.

She still didn’t fully understand what “giving her life” meant, but she knew it was living with that person forever.

A life like that sounded wonderful.

“By the way, Master, where’s… Senior Sister Chen?”

“She had something to do and left. She’ll be back in about a month.”

“Oh… what a shame.”

Was it the alcohol giving her hallucinations?

She clearly saw regret on Ning Yuer’s face, yet somehow the tone was pure delight?

“Hee…”

It wasn’t Su Wanqing’s imagination.

The moment Ning Yuer heard the news, her heart wasn’t just happy—it was ecstatic, practically vibrating with joy.

Though her expression stayed neutral, her voice betrayed her completely.

A whole month alone with Immortal Sister—pure bliss!

“Finish eating and go rest. Tomorrow we’ll hold the proper apprenticeship ceremony.”

“Okay.”

About the time it takes one incense stick to burn later, despite the mountain of food Su Wanqing had made, Ning Yuer had demolished an astonishing amount. The poor kid really had been starving.

Su Wanqing had been eating steadily to go with her wine, so by the end, almost nothing remained on the table.

Ning Yuer wanted to help wash the dishes, but Su Wanqing refused—she still wanted to drink more and was using the leftovers as drinking snacks.

Utterly exhausted, Ning Yuer returned to her own room to sleep.

“Urgh—”

Glug glug glug.

Another full bottle went down the hatch.

Pure liquor spilled from the corner of Su Wanqing’s mouth, sliding down her neck—she was drinking way too fast.

Even with her high tolerance, eight bottles of hard liquor would get anyone drunk.

Still, she knew her limit and stopped just short of blacking out.

She was still conscious and didn’t feel like throwing up.

She rarely ever got truly drunk. She could count the times on one hand.

“Tch—”

Su Wanqing wiped the spilled alcohol from her lips with the back of her hand, completely abandoning any semblance of elegance, and smacked her tongue in annoyance.

People say alcohol drowns sorrow.

She was already this drunk—why didn’t she feel any better?

Why was she even more miserable?

The reason was simple:

She was dreading what would happen when Chen Xueli came back.

One heroine was already more than she could handle.

Two at the same time? She’d lose her mind!

And there was still a certain demonic saintess out there eyeing her like prey.

If all three ganged up on her at once… she’d break.

She’d actually, genuinely break.