Chapter 173 - 109: I Will Never Harm My Apprentice Luoxue

Chapter 173: Chapter 109: I Will Never Harm My Apprentice Luoxue

Jiang Mu left Ling Ye’s room and returned to his own quarters.

Xu Fu sidled up to him, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"So? Did Inspector Ling give you a lecture?"

Jiang Mu mumbled a few vague words, just saying it was late and they should get to sleep, then slipped into his partitioned-off bed.

Seeing this, the others, though still dying with curiosity about the rest of the Pan Jinlian story, knew better than to pester him. They could only lie down in disappointment.

Before long, a chorus of snores, high and low, filled the room.

* * *

After Jiang Mu left, Ling Ye first sat cross-legged and meditated for a while. Once her mind had calmed, she boiled some water and prepared for a bath.

Steam swirled above the bathtub.

The warm water enveloped her rather weary, delicate body, washing away the exhaustion from a long day of travel.

Ling Ye scooped up some water.

SPLASH. The droplets fell like rain upon a white lotus.

Trembling.

’Xiaojiang... could it be that he really prefers mature, gentle women like Shui Miaozheng?’

Ling Ye couldn’t help but ponder this as she washed herself.

In terms of age, she was only two years younger than Shui Miaozheng, so she could also be considered a mature woman.

It was just that she had always used a Cultivation Technique to preserve her youthful appearance, making her look like a cold, aloof girl in her early twenties.

’If Xiaojiang really has a thing for that mature, alluring type...’

’It wouldn’t be impossible for me, Ling Ye, to change a little.’

’Wait!’

’Why should I change myself just to cater to his tastes?’

Ling Ye was jolted back to her senses, a wave of shame, annoyance, and confusion rising in her heart.

’What am I even thinking?’

’A dignified Patrol Envoy, wanting to change herself to appeal to some young man?’

’That’s so shameless, so pathetic!’

She felt it was a little... humiliating.

But in the next moment, she found a way to comfort and absolve herself.

’After all, I just see Xiaojiang as a little brother who needs looking after.’

’For an older sister to adjust her behavior slightly to suit her little brother’s preferences, to make him happier and feel closer to her... isn’t that perfectly normal?’

’It’s completely different from romantic love.’

’It’s understandable and acceptable!’

’Right, that’s it!’

But the moment she thought of the curiosity Jiang Mu had shown toward that woman, Shui Miaozheng, an inexplicable discomfort stirred within her again.

"Hmph! I’ll be mature tomorrow! I’ll show you gentle!"

She slapped the surface of the water in a fit of pique.

PAT.

As she was lost in thought, the clean clothes draped over the nearby screen somehow slid off and fell to the floor.

Ling Ye furrowed her elegant brows, a little exasperated.

SPLASH! She stood up from the tub, sending a shower of water everywhere.

Bracing one hand on the smooth rim of the tub, she bent over, stretching her arm out to reach the clothes on the floor...

---

Meanwhile, the post house had fallen completely silent, with only the symphony of snores and chirping insects breaking the stillness.

Estimating that enough time had passed, Jiang Mu opened his eyes.

’The Demon Shadow’s duration is almost up.’

’Now’s the time!’

He first focused his senses, perceiving the auras outside his partition to confirm that everyone was sound asleep, their breathing steady and deep.

Then, with a thought, he silently activated his Divine Abilities—

"Shadow Swap!"

In almost the same instant, inside Ling Ye’s room, the faint Demon Shadow that had long been lurking in a dark corner flickered faintly.

Like a ripple on water.

Jiang Mu’s figure materialized out of thin air, replacing the Demon Shadow.

The entire process was completely silent.

It caused no spatial fluctuations or aura leakage whatsoever.

Jiang Mu was inwardly pleased with himself.

He subconsciously looked up, ready to give Ling Ye a surprise.

And then—

He saw a large, pale millstone that seemed to glow with a moist sheen under the candlelight.

Staring right at him.

Damn!!

Jiang Mu’s mind went completely blank. He was utterly dumbfounded.

In that instant, their eyes locked—all three of them.

They were barely eight inches apart.

He could even feel the warm, steamy air wash over his face.

At that same moment, Ling Ye, who was bent over picking up her clothes, suddenly sensed something amiss behind her with a Cultivator’s sharp spiritual perception.

She spun around like lightning.

Only to find nothing there.

Ling Ye furrowed her elegant brows, confused.

’Was I imagining it?’

Little did she know, in the split second she turned, Jiang Mu—relying on his years of single-guy hand speed and a primal survival instinct—had already thrown the Demon Shadow outside the wall.

And activated Instant Teleportation.

It was a move executed at the absolute limit of his abilities.

Just as Ling Ye was feeling alarmed and uncertain, Jiang Mu’s deliberately hushed voice suddenly sounded from outside.

"Sister Ling, can I come in?"

Ling Ye froze, then blurted out instinctively, "Come in."

The words had barely left her lips when she suddenly realized her current state. Her face paled and she quickly cried out:

"Wait!"

Fortunately, Jiang Mu didn’t immediately push the door open.

’That was close. He almost saw everything...’

Ling Ye let out a sigh of relief and patted her chest. "Wait just a moment," she said.

’Of all the times he could have come, why did that guy have to show up right now?’

Ling Ye was fuming internally.

"Sister Ling, hurry up! I’m afraid someone will spot me if I wait too long," Jiang Mu’s voice urged from outside the door.

"I know, stop rushing me!"

Ling Ye snapped back irritably. She scrambled to grab a large, soft towel from nearby and hastily dried the water droplets from her body.

With no time to dry her hair properly, she just haphazardly gathered her wet locks, grabbed the dress from the screen, and hastily threw it on.

She took a moment to calm her racing heart before walking to the door and pulling it open.

"Quick, get in."

Jiang Mu slipped into the room like an eel.

’This scene, this atmosphere...’

’It really feels like a secret midnight rendezvous.’

"Sister Ling, were you taking a bath?"

Jiang Mu feigned surprise as he looked up at Ling Ye.

Having rushed out of her bath, the woman before him now possessed a messy, languid sort of beauty.

Amid the lingering steam, her normally cold and stunning face was flushed a faint pink. Her eyes looked misty, devoid of their usual sharpness and holding a rare, gentle charm instead.