389: Chapter 389 Master-Disciple Night Talk: The Ambiguity of Classical Chinese and the Slightly Cool Touch of Fingertips

After Zhao Tian had been meditating for an hour, it was his turn to keep watch outside. When Su Changge gave the order, his phrasing was very simple.

"Go keep watch outside; call out if there's any situation."

Zhao Tian acknowledged the order and went out.

Only two people remained in the recess.

Su Changge leaned against the rock wall, tucked the Jade Slip into his sleeve, and closed his eyes. In his mind, he continued to browse the contents regarding the Nine Dragon Locking Array within the Great Dao Scripture Pavilion.

Ye Qingyao sat to his right, about an arm's length away. One hand rested on her knee, while the other was placed on the stone surface beside her.

After a moment of silence, Ye Qingyao turned her head and used her Divine Sense to transmit her voice, keeping it very low—low enough to sound like a murmur.

"Revered Master."

Su Changge opened his eyes, turned his head, and their gazes met.

The light in the recess was dim, with only a faint, dark red glimmer filtering in from the entrance. That light fell upon Ye Qingyao's face, illuminating only one side while the other remained submerged in shadow. Between light and dark, the lines of her features were outlined with extreme clarity.

The curve of her brow bone was cold and detached, and the curve below her cheekbones was refined to perfection. Her lip color appeared pale in the dim light, but the shape was full, with the lower lip slightly thicker than the upper—a contour that looked somewhat cold when she wasn't smiling, yet held a hint of gentleness when she did.

Su Changge's gaze swept across her face before he withdrew it.

"Speak."

Ye Qingyao shifted her gaze from his face to the front, her voice still transmitted via Divine Sense, her speech slowing down.

"Seven days from now, at the Seal, how does Revered Master intend to lay out the strategy?"

Su Changge caught the question, went over the train of thought he had just organized in his mind, and spoke, using a tone that sat somewhere between "profound guidance" and "casual remark."

"We'll see when we get there."

Ye Qingyao nodded, accepting the answer.

["We'll see when we get there."]

[Revered Master means that he already has a clear grasp of the situation at the Seal, but the specific strategy will be determined based on the actual circumstances once we arrive. This is the demeanor of a Revered Master who adapts to changing situations; he is not bound by preconceived plans, nor is he obsessed with simulations. Once we arrive at the scene, everything will naturally fall into place.]

She noted this interpretation in her heart, remained silent for a few breaths, and then spoke again.

"Revered Master, earlier at the banquet, you remained silent and unmoving, sitting back and watching Liu Can's people conduct their espionage, only to settle the matter with a single sentence at the end. I have... pondered this Mind-Cultivation Technique for a long time, and I still find it exquisite."

Su Changge listened to this and translated it in his mind.

[She's talking about that act I put on at the banquet. She thinks it's exquisite, but in reality, I wasn't thinking about anything at all. I was just sitting there, afraid to move. When she told me to drink, I drank. She was the one who told me about the spies, and that line about the seven-day appointment at the end was just a slip of the tongue.]

He didn't respond, remaining silent for two breaths, and put on an expression that suggested, "This matter is not worth mentioning."

Ye Qingyao accepted that silence, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly—very lightly, almost invisible in the dim light.

"If Revered Master does not wish to say, this Disciple will not ask further."

She turned her head, tilting her face slightly in his direction.

"Today, this Disciple received the grace of Revered Master's support. Just a moment ago, when I lost my footing, Revered Master reached out to help. I am deeply moved."

Su Changge's eyebrows twitched.

[Is she talking about when I helped her earlier? A Mahayana Stage person tripping while walking? What are you talking about?]

He didn't overthink it and spoke, using few words.

"The road is difficult to walk."

Ye Qingyao responded in a low voice, the curve in her tone lifting a little more.

"The road is indeed difficult, but with Revered Master by my side, this Disciple... feels steadier."

After these words fell, the recess was silent for a breath.

Su Changge sat there, running those words through his mind.

[What does that mean?]

[You, a Mahayana Stage Reborn Empress, need someone to help you walk steadily? You could beat a thousand of me by yourself, okay?]

He didn't reply, turned his head, leaned back against the rock wall, and closed his eyes.

"Rest now."

Ye Qingyao acknowledged this, sat there without closing her eyes, and leaned her body against the rock wall, positioning her shoulder about three inches away from Su Changge's shoulder.

A gust of night wind poured in from the entrance, carrying the dry heat peculiar to the Earth Vein's Evil Qi. As that heat blew over, the corner of Ye Qingyao's sleeve was lifted by the wind, revealing a section of her forearm.

Under the dark red glimmer, that patch of skin presented a texture between porcelain white and cold detachment. [Her skin was like congealed fat, with a faint luster on the surface—a suppleness naturally nurtured by her Physique after Cultivating to the Mahayana Stage. The joints at her wrist were slender, the contour of her wrist bone clear, and a pale blue vein was faintly visible beneath the skin.]

Su Changge kept his eyes closed and did not look.

Ye Qingyao lowered her sleeve, covering that patch of skin, and sat there, her breathing even.

After a while, her hand moved a little on the stone surface beside her toward Su Changge, her fingertips about two inches away from his hand, which was resting on the stone.

A distance of two inches—neither close nor far.

She did not move again.

In the recess, the two people leaned against the rock wall; one with eyes closed, the other watching the faint, dark red glimmer at the entrance.

The night wind continued to pour in, causing the perception array Zhao Tian had set up at the entrance to hum slightly before sinking back into silence.