Chapter 543 - 265: Separate Relationships

Dawn was breaking. Golden rays of sunlight pierced the thin mist, gently falling upon the exquisitely carved window lattices of the guest courtyard.

With a soft creak, a slender figure in a simple, white, floor-length dress stepped quietly out of the guest room.

Lan Yufei raised a hand to gently tidy a few stray strands of hair at her temple. A faint glow suffused her pale, lovely face, and an undeniable smile of satisfaction and languor played on her lips.

A night of spiritual and physical union, a Yin-Yang Convergence, had not only subtly advanced her Cultivation.

It had also brought a long-lost sense of peace and fulfillment to a heart that had been strained under the heavy pressure of the sect for years.

At this moment, Lady Lan even found herself greedily wishing to return to that warm, broad embrace and enjoy a few more moments of tenderness.

However, reason ultimately overcame her reluctance.

Her relationship with Chen Sheng could not be made public just yet.

Especially not within the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, which had just undergone such turmoil. They needed to be extremely careful.

If someone were to find out, especially if Ke'Er were to stumble upon them…

She still hadn't figured out how she would explain all this to the boy.

'I'll just have to take it one step at a time.'

"I'm heading back first. I'll… come find you again tonight."

Lan Yufei glanced back, her eyes like limpid autumn pools gazing into the room. Without waiting for Chen Sheng's reply, she pursed her lips into a light smile, and her figure drifted away from the guest courtyard like a wisp of cloud.

However, when Lady Lan returned to her own courtyard, the blissful, contented smile had not yet fully faded from her face.

Her personal handmaiden rushed forward to report that the Young Master, Ouyang Ke, had come seeking an audience last night but had been turned away by the Token.

Lan Yufei's heart clenched.

She had watched Ouyang Ke grow up. She knew that while he appeared cheerful and open-minded, he was in fact sharp-witted, perceptive, and extremely stubborn.

Her repeatedly avoiding him, even using the authority of the Sect Leader's Token, would surely arouse his suspicion, and even…

At this thought, Lady Lan immediately stood up and carefully inspected her bedroom and study.

Sure enough, in the fine layer of dust on her study's desk, she found faint, messy fingerprints that were out of place.

And on the edge of the window lattice, there was a faint, lingering trace of Ouyang Ke's True Essence.

'He really was here last night!'

'And he confirmed I wasn't in my room!'

'This is bad…'

Lan Yufei's expression shifted. She slowly sank back into the large mahogany chair behind her, a flicker of panic and contemplation in her eyes.

'If Ke'Er investigates this on his own and discovers the truth by accident, the shock and hurt he'll feel will be far greater than I can imagine.'

After all, Chen Sheng was someone he treated as a peer, an elder brother he deeply admired.

Overnight, he could become his elder…

Such a reversal of social hierarchy would be impossible for any proud young man to accept calmly.

After sitting silently for a few breaths, the hesitation in Lan Yufei's eyes faded, replaced by a look of resolve.

'Rather than let Ke'Er piece together a sordid version of the truth amidst his suspicion and anger, it's better if I, his mother, lay some of the facts before him myself.'

'Perhaps… being honest might actually win his understanding.'

With this in mind, Lady Lan hesitated no longer. She smoothed her slightly wrinkled dress, rose, and strode quickly toward Ouyang Ke's courtyard.

...

However, Lan Yufei's decision had come a step too late.

「Outside the guest courtyard.」

On an open space paved with bluestone, Ouyang Ke stood with bloodshot eyes, his chest heaving violently as he stared intently at the tightly shut door.

A violent, barely suppressed True Essence roiled around him, causing the loose stones at his feet to tremble slightly.

Since discovering his mother wasn't in her room last night, Ouyang Ke had searched nearly every place in the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect she could possibly have gone.

The Council Hall, the Alchemy Room, the Library Pavilion… all of them yielded nothing.

In the end, the only places left unchecked were the sect's forbidden grounds and this guest courtyard.

By now, a terrible suspicion had already begun to grow in Ouyang Ke's heart.

But he instinctively resisted and suppressed it.

Ouyang Ke refused to believe it; he couldn't believe it. Chen Sheng was his treasured friend, an elder brother he held in high esteem. His mother was the person he loved most dearly.

Between the two of them… how could it be?

And so, before the sky had even brightened, Ouyang Ke had concealed his presence and stolen over to the vicinity of the guest courtyard.

He clung to a sliver of hope, wanting to see with his own eyes that his suspicion was wrong.

He had even decided that if his mother wasn't here, he would ask Chen Sheng for help.

He would ask this knowledgeable elder brother to help him analyze the situation.

However, as the first light of dawn broke, he saw his mother walk out of that very room with his own eyes.

All his hopes shattered in an instant.

His mother… had actually spent the night in Chen Sheng's room!

This fact was like the sharpest icicle, stabbing viciously into Ouyang Ke's heart. A chill shot through his entire body, followed by a furious rage that erupted from his very core.

In his mind, there was no way his mother had done this willingly.

It had to be Chen Sheng. It had to be him who took advantage of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect's crisis, using the Nie Family's power as a bargaining chip to threaten and coerce his mother.

Otherwise, with his mother's proud and unyielding nature, how could she ever give herself to a young man she had known for less than half a month—a man who was her own son's friend?

Instantly, numerous details that Ouyang Ke had previously overlooked clicked into place.

Why did Chen Sheng suddenly come to visit the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect?

Why, shortly after his arrival, did his mother say something as baffling as she had already found someone?

Why, when the sect was on the brink of annihilation yesterday, did that Golden Core Zhenren from the Nie Family appear so opportunely to save them?

Everything now had an answer.

This was all Chen Sheng's scheme.

His mother must have endured this humiliation and agreed to Chen Sheng's shameless demands in order to save the sect, to save him—Ouyang Ke—in exchange for the Nie Family's aid!