Tao Lingling’s Thousand-Layered Routine

Tao Lingling felt she was simply the most brilliant person in the world.

Just as her Master was about to light the candle, she hastily stimulated her eyes with spiritual energy, and tears immediately fell.

Oh, Master, your greatest weakness is your soft heart.
When others are in trouble, you always put yourself in their shoes first.

“Master, I miss my family… they, they’ve gone to a very faraway place…”

When her disciple hugged her, Gong Ning didn’t react at first, thinking this girl was perhaps a bit too lacking in a sense of distance.

But the other person was crying in her arms.
She, most likely, had her family murdered and had traveled a thousand miles to get here.

What a child of this age would be thinking, Gong Ning could no longer remember.
Her own childhood was too far in the past.

But she knew that a child’s worldview was very small, and any change would have a huge impact on them, let alone a tragic experience like her disciple’s.

‘My disciple is so close to me, she must see me as her harbor.’

Thinking of this, Gong Ning no longer cared about the distinction between men and women.
Some things, this child would understand when she grew up.
If she felt disgusted then, let her hate her.
At the very least, she couldn’t let her be without support now.

Gong Ning gently patted her disciple’s head, lending her embrace and waiting for her to confide.

But for some reason, her disciple seemed to have gone mute at this moment, just rubbing her head against her chest as if wiping away tears, unable to utter a single word.

Gong Ning sighed and, with all her might, carried her disciple to the bed, then used a handkerchief to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes.

She didn’t know how sad she was, for her tears just wouldn’t stop.

“You’re tired too. You can sleep here tonight with your Master.”

After saying this, she prepared to leave and spend the night in the study, but as she got up, her disciple grabbed her sleeve, nearly pulling her nightgown off.

After all, it was a nightgown, primarily soft and loose, so it naturally slipped off with a tug.

Gong Ning had no experience as a woman.
When the nightgown slipped down, she didn’t react at first.
It was only when it was about to fall past her chest that she covered herself in alarm.

She wanted to scold her disciple, but then thought she might be overreacting.
Because whether she was a man or a woman now, accidentally revealing something in front of a girl was a trivial matter.

But there was a strange sense of shame gnawing at her heart.

“Master, don’t go…”

Tao Lingling didn’t do it on purpose.
She also hadn’t expected this divine move to be such a feast for the eyes.
If she had known, she would have pulled on the sleeve with more force.

“Master, can you stay here with your disciple? Just this once…”

Gong Ning subconsciously wanted to say no, but looking at her disciple’s pitiful eyes, the words in her mouth somehow turned into, “Alright.”

Tao Lingling’s eyes lit up.
Sensing an opportunity, she pressed on, “Then Master, can you hold your disciple while you sleep?”

“Absolutely not.”

She didn’t know what this disciple was thinking, to even say such a thing.

Tao Lingling didn’t give up, “When I was at home, my mother would hold me to sleep…”

“I am not your mother.”

Gong Ning tucked her in and moved a stool to the bedside.

“Lingling, I am very happy that you can trust me as your Master. But, don’t treat your Master as your mother. That would be very unfilial to her.”

Gong Ning blew out the candle.

“As your Master, I will protect you, teach you knowledge, and teach you cultivation. But before that, you and I only have an ordinary Master-disciple relationship.”

Perhaps saying it this way was too absolute.
It wouldn’t be good if it made her start overthinking again.

So Gong Ning added, “It’s not that your Master… can’t temporarily take your mother’s place, but in the future, when you truly understand what kind of person I am to you, then we can talk about these things.”

There was a long silence.
Gong Ning thought her disciple might be sad again.
It was only when she spoke that Gong Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

“Alright… your disciple was wrong.”

Tao Lingling thought to herself, it seemed she had taken too big a step, exceeding her Master’s acceptance range.
She had to proceed gradually, one step at a time.

But what Tao Lingling didn’t know was that in the darkness, Gong Ning was leaning against the bed, her face flushed.
If Tao Lingling’s cultivation was higher at this moment, she would have been able to hear her Master’s frantic heartbeat.

Gong Ning knew why she was like this at this moment.
As a mature person, she was not afraid to deconstruct her own inner feelings.

She believed that right now, having lost a hundred years of cultivation and her body having become unfamiliar, was the most vulnerable moment of her life.

And yet, such a strange child had expressed deep reliance and trust in her, which was undoubtedly a form of recognition.

In this situation, she was like a person caught in the suspension bridge effect.
Even if she knew she had fallen for it, she could only sink into it with a clear mind.

This state of mind was beneficial for recovering her spirit and confidence, but she couldn’t indulge in it too much, or it would be counterproductive.
How could a person who had cultivated for a hundred years be so easily shaken?
She couldn’t think about it anymore.

Gong Ning thought of ways to divert her attention, so she checked the system in her mind and continued to think about how to cultivate her disciple.

The distinction between righteous and demonic in this world was actually very lenient.
It didn’t simply judge good and evil based on surface qualities, but rather on how the cultivator used them.

This was probably related to the general environment.
The threshold and requirements for cultivation were gradually decreasing, while practicality and demand were increasing.
Cultivators were no longer so unattainable.

For example, some people with poor aptitude or congenital deficiencies couldn’t follow the conventional righteous path and had no choice but to take the risky demonic path.

The righteous path had two standards.
One was to be acknowledged by the heavens.
If this was violated, one would be backlashed by various things on the path of cultivation.

The second was human ethics.
Anyone who violated human ethics and morality was betraying their own race and was on an indisputable demonic path.

But in recent years, this standard had gradually changed.
Cultivation no longer required the heavens’ acknowledgment.
Even if one cultivated a demonic technique, as long as it didn’t violate human ethics and morality, it was allowed.

Under this premise, Gong Ning had many choices, but to minimize the cultivation risk for Tao Lingling, there weren’t many options left.

After a while, Gong Ning was still carefully selecting for her disciple when she heard her disciple call out “Master.”

“What is it?”

“N-nothing, disciple just feels lonely and is afraid Master isn’t by my side…”

“Your Master is here and will not leave.”

“…Mm.”

‘Master is not asleep yet. Was I too hasty?’

She had been thinking of doing some bad things after she fell asleep…

After a while, Tao Lingling tried calling out again, “Master?”

“What is it.”

“…Nothing, I can’t sleep, so I just wanted to call you.”

“Does your Master need to brew you a cup of Soul-Soothing Soup?”

“N-no, that’s not necessary… thank you for your concern, Master.”

Tao Lingling dared not call out again.
If her Master wasn’t asleep yet and she called again, it would seem like she had ulterior motives.

‘Forget it, I’ll just sleep like this. Being able to be accompanied by my Master, wrapped in the blankets she has slept in, and surrounded by her scent is already very satisfying.’