Chapter 472 – My Master Is Not Human – Tang Tang Gets Jealous 3 (19)
The spot where the little squirrel had bitten him still throbbed faintly with pain. Pei Boyi did not dare let Zhenzhen get close to him again. It did not matter much if he got bitten, but making Tang Tang angry was another matter entirely.
Zhenzhen still wanted to say something, but Pei Boyi pushed her away with one hand. Under her stunned gaze, Daoist Jiayi spoke up:
“Virtuous Nephew Pei, this sect master sees that you are young, talented, and handsome. I wish to form a marriage alliance with you. What do you think?”
“Oh, there’s no need to rush to accept or refuse. You may take your time to consider it. I have only one beloved daughter, Zhenzhen, and naturally hope for the happiness of both youngsters before making such a proposal.”
Pei Boyi had never once considered agreeing. Without even thinking about it, he directly refused.
“Thank you for your kindness, Daoist Jiayi, but this junior already has a beloved dao companion. This trip is precisely to find him and become bonded partners with him.”
Pei Boyi’s answer deeply saddened Zhenzhen. She truly liked him. If he merely did not like her enough, then perhaps she might still have had a chance. But now that he had openly spoken of becoming dao companions with someone else, she truly had no hope left at all.
Zhenzhen was the child of Daoist Jiayi and a mortal woman, and she had grown up among ordinary people. She was somewhat familiar with matters of love and relationships. Clinging to her last shred of hope, she asked:
“May I ask what kind of person Senior Brother Pei’s dao companion is? Could you tell me about him, so that I may finally give up?”
On the surface, Bai Tang and Pei Boyi were still master and disciple. While it was not unheard of in the cultivation world for masters and disciples to become dao companions, such cases were exceedingly rare. The saying “One day a teacher, a lifetime a father” was often enough to suppress any budding affection between them. To disregard the judgment of the world and become dao companions required tremendous courage.
Pei Boyi himself did not care much, but Tang Tang was currently suffering from memory loss. If Zhenzhen persistently investigated and uncovered Bai Tang’s identity as a demonic cultivator, it would place Bai Tang in the eye of the storm, which would not end well.
“This is my private matter. Miss Zhenzhen is overstepping,” Pei Boyi rejected her once again.
At the Dianxing Sect, Zhenzhen had always been spoiled and given whatever she wanted. Being rejected without a clear explanation, she naturally assumed he was making excuses to deceive her.
“I don’t believe you. If you truly have a dao companion, then why won’t you say who it is? You’re deliberately brushing me off, aren’t you?”
At that moment, the charming young lady tore away her gentle facade, revealing her unreasonable and stubborn side.
The little squirrel hidden inside the sleeve was extremely unhappy. You already don’t like her, so why are you still wasting so many words on her? Are you trying to keep one while eyeing another?
At this moment, Bai Tang had completely forgotten who was the one that had once declared there would be no further ties with Pei Boyi. His jealousy flared intensely.
The little squirrel could not see what was happening outside, but he could hear everything clearly.
The woman’s tearful sobs, along with the faint lingering fragrance of her perfume, made it obvious that he had been standing extremely close to her to even catch the scent of her cosmetics.
Oh, so this is what he calls keeping himself pure and proper. He was only behaving himself because Bai Tang was here. If he had not been around, would Pei Boyi have become Daoist Jiayi’s perfect son-in-law today?
The little squirrel stretched out its sharp claws and slashed across Pei Boyi’s smooth arm. Three fresh scratch marks instantly appeared, vivid and red. Hidden within the darkness of the sleeve, the scent of blood seemed magnified several times over.
The moment he drew blood, Bai Tang regretted it.
Clearly, it was the other person’s fault, so why did his own heart hurt so much…?
“Pat… pat…”
The little squirrel shed tear after tear, the transparent droplets soaking into the robe embroidered with silver patterns.
How annoying. He was not a crybaby at all. It must have been that overpowering perfume irritating his eyes. That had to be it.
At the banquet, Zhenzhen still tried to grab Pei Boyi’s sleeve again. A young woman’s reputation was extremely important, and if she had even the slightest physical contact with him in public, her father and the sect elders would definitely stand up for her. At that point, it would be difficult for Pei Boyi to avoid taking responsibility.
Zhenzhen had only entered the cultivation world recently and did not know that the strict separation between men and women was far less rigid there than among mortals. When cultivators encountered injured fellow daoists, physical contact while helping with healing was perfectly normal.
Pei Boyi’s expression suddenly turned cold. Under the flickering candlelight, his handsome face alternated between light and shadow. He withdrew the gentle warmth around him, and a sharp glint flashed through his eyes.
“Let go.”
With a forceful flick of his sleeve, Zhenzhen stumbled backward into the flowerbed behind her. Petals and grass clung all over her body, and combined with the tears and mucus on her face, she looked utterly disheveled.
“Virtuous Nephew Pei, do not go too far.” Daoist Jiayi was furious. Rising to his feet, he shouted angrily.
If he intended to refuse, then why embarrass him in front of everyone? Could they not have discussed it privately?
The elders of the Dianxing Sect also looked displeased. Pei Boyi’s actions were a blatant slap to the sect’s dignity. Did he truly not place the Dianxing Sect in his eyes at all?!
“Pei Boyi, this is the Dianxing Sect, not your Le’an Immortal Sect. This is not a place for you to act so arrogantly.” One of the elders across from him slammed the table, his voice carrying natural authority and anger.
Pei Boyi slipped his hand into his sleeve to comfort the angry and heartbroken little squirrel, not even bothering to raise his eyes.
“This junior only sees certain seniors using their power to bully others. Could it be that your precious daughter cannot find anyone to marry, so you must seize people at random to become her husband?”
Pei Boyi spoke without the slightest courtesy. Not only did he slap Daoist Jiayi across the face with his words, he also completely disregarded the young woman’s dignity.
Despair filled Zhenzhen’s face. Covering her face as she cried, she shouted loudly, “I hate you! I hate you!”
After saying that, she ran out. The maid named Xiao Qiu hurried after her, repeatedly calling, “Miss! Miss!” Her voice gradually faded into the distance until it could no longer be heard.
The banquet could no longer continue, and the atmosphere in the hall grew completely tense and deadlocked.
Daoist Jiayi’s face turned livid with anger. The reason he had invited all the elders here was precisely to pressure Pei Boyi into agreeing. Was that not the very definition of using power to bully others? Yet now, a mere junior had used his own daughter against him and turned the situation around. It was an unbearable humiliation.
Pei Boyi did not care whether Zhenzhen was truly heartbroken or merely pretending. Right now, all he wanted was to pull the little squirrel out and check on him. Tang Tang was crying—but why? Had he been injured while cultivating inside the sleeve, or was there some other reason?
“This junior came to your sect only to borrow the Radiant Pearl. The rental payment would be fifty Reviving Jade Soul Pills. Unfortunately, Daoist Jiayi did not agree and said he needed to discuss it with the elders. Since this junior has urgent matters to attend to, I cannot afford to wait around at the Dianxing Sect. A whole day has already passed, so may I ask what conclusion Daoist Jiayi and the elders have reached? Whether you agree to lend it or not, you should at least give me an answer.”
Since Daoist Jiayi had dared to scheme against him, Pei Boyi did not mind driving a wedge between him and the elders. Someone like Daoist Jiayi most likely had not informed the Dianxing Sect elders about the fifty Reviving Jade Soul Pills. Otherwise, they would never have remained so calm, allowing Daoist Jiayi to completely control the banquet.
Just as Pei Boyi expected, the moment he mentioned the Reviving Jade Soul Pills, the elders’ expressions changed in shock and uncertainty.
“What Reviving Jade Soul Pills?”
“Fifty pills?”
“Is what Fellow Daoist Pei says true?”
A moment ago, they had been calling him “Pei Boyi” by name. Now he had suddenly become “Fellow Daoist Pei,” the disciple of a friendly allied sect.
Pei Boyi let out a mocking laugh and said, “Naturally. When has this junior ever lied? Our Medicine Peak lacks nothing except spiritual pills and miraculous medicines. Three months ago, hundreds of disciples each received a Reviving Jade Soul Pill. Surely the elders have heard of that.”
Of course they had heard of it. That was exactly why they found it so hard to believe their ears.
Since when had a legendary medicine like the Reviving Jade Soul Pill—something that might only be refined once in a thousand years—become something that could practically be mass-produced and handed out whenever desired?
Pei Boyi took out a porcelain bottle and poured several pills into his hand.
Under the candlelight, the smooth round pills glowed with a faint jade-green radiance, and upon closer inspection, traces of red light reflected from them as well. They were unmistakably the legendary Reviving Jade Soul Pills.
Joy immediately appeared on the elders’ faces. Even the alchemy cultivators of the Dianxing Sect could not refine Reviving Jade Soul Pills. Fifty pills! If the sect obtained them, their disciples would have far greater confidence and security while traveling outside in the future.
“Isn’t it only the Radiant Pearl? The Dianxing Sect and the Le’an Immortal Sect have always maintained good relations. Surely we would not become enemies over such a minor matter tonight. Fellow Daoist Pei, could you wait one more day? Tomorrow at dawn, I will personally go to the Wind Tower and retrieve the Radiant Pearl for you. What do you think?”
For the sake of fifty Reviving Jade Soul Pills, the Great Elder shamelessly pretended that the unpleasant events from earlier had never happened.
“Exactly, exactly.”
“That is exactly the point. The Dianxing Sect and the Le’an Immortal Sect have always been on friendly terms. In the past hundred years, there has never been any conflict between us. Zhenzhen is just a young girl who still lacks maturity, so Fellow Daoist Pei must forgive her behavior. Our sect master is also a broad-minded man and would never allow the Dianxing Sect and the Le’an Immortal Sect to break ties simply because the younger generation failed to take a liking to one another. We old fellows certainly would not agree to the Dianxing Sect becoming enemies with any righteous sect.”
Pei Boyi smiled faintly. “Oh? Can the Great Elder make the decision?”
“Of course. This old man has been in the Dianxing Sect for several hundred years. I was already an elder during the previous sect master’s tenure, so why would I not have the authority to decide?”
“And the fifty Reviving Jade Soul Pills?”
Feeling the little squirrel inside his sleeve gradually calm down, Pei Boyi said, “This junior naturally keeps his word. In that case, I shall return to my guest room to rest and await the Great Elder’s good news tomorrow.”
With a flick of his sleeve, the man turned and left. The elders all let out sighs of relief, while the Great Elder released the restraint spell that had been binding Daoist Jiayi moments earlier.
“Jiayi, you are truly muddle-headed. Such an important matter involving fifty Reviving Jade Soul Pills, and yet you did not tell us.”
“Do you know what the Reviving Jade Soul Pills mean to the Dianxing Sect? Fifty pills! Not one, not two, but fifty! You…”
“Jiayi, when Senior Brother entrusted the position of sect master to you, it was because he believed you were steady and always placed the sect’s interests first. Yet now, because of worldly concerns, you have lost sight of your original intentions.”
The elders bombarded Daoist Jiayi from all sides, leaving him unable to argue back. But had he not also been thinking for the good of the Dianxing Sect? As long as Pei Boyi married Zhenzhen, then whatever the Medicine Peak of the Le’an Immortal Sect possessed, the Dianxing Sect would surely gain a share as well.
“I originally intended to inform the elders after the banquet ended…”
Daoist Jiayi still wanted to explain himself, but the Great Elder cut him off immediately.
“There is no need to say more. You can no longer distinguish what is important from what is trivial. Tomorrow, after Fellow Daoist Pei leaves, you will go to Cliff of Reflection and meditate in seclusion to repent, lest your heart continue to breed karmic demons.”
Daoist Jiayi might have been the sect master of the Dianxing Sect, but the Great Elder was the one who truly held the greatest authority within the sect. He rarely issued direct orders, but once he spoke, no one was permitted to oppose him.
Helpless, Daoist Jiayi could only bow his head and accept the punishment.