156: Chapter 156 Actually, your master and I have an agreement.

Madame Qingli sat alone at the stone table in the small courtyard, watching Xu Ruyu's back disappear into the depths of the bamboo forest. The smile on her face gradually faded, leaving only a slightly weary silhouette under the moonlight.

She picked up the wine pot, intending to pour another cup, only to find it was empty.

"Tsk, that went fast..."

She muttered softly, set down the empty wine pot, and stood up to head back to her room to rest.

These past few days had not been easy for her.

On the surface, she remained that cynical Taihu Clan Elder who spent her days teasing Xu Ruyu. But in the shadows, she had to keep a close eye on Xiao Nianyin's movements, stay wary of those within the Hehuan Sect who might harbor ill intent toward Xu Ruyu, and... plan how to take Xu Ruyu away in three months' time.

Every step required the utmost caution.

After all, this wasn't the Taihu Clan's territory; it was Xiao Nianyin's Hehuan Sect.

"Little fox, you really know how to cause trouble for your big sister..."

Madame Qingli murmured to herself, a gentle curve hooking the corner of her mouth.

Just as she was about to turn away, footsteps sounded from outside the courtyard gate.

They were light and hesitant, yet firm.

Madame Qingli stopped and looked back.

Under the moonlight, Xu Ruyu had returned. He stood at the gate, gazing at her with a complex expression.

"Xiao Yuer?" Madame Qingli arched an eyebrow. "Why are you back? Can't bear to leave your big sister?"

As she spoke, her playful streak returned. She walked gracefully to the gate, leaning her body against the doorframe. Her peach-blossom eyes scanned Xu Ruyu's face as she spoke in an ambiguous tone:

"Is it because you can't sleep alone? Do you want to find your big sister... to talk?"

Xu Ruyu's face flushed slightly in the moonlight, but this time he didn't dodge. He simply looked at her and asked seriously:

"Senior, I have a question I want to ask you."

"Oh?" Madame Qingli tilted her head, smiling radiantly. "What question? It couldn't be... that you want to ask what kind of positions your big sister likes?"

The words were so explicit they bordered on provocation.

Xu Ruyu's face turned even redder, but he took a deep breath, steadied himself, and looked Madame Qingli straight in the eye:

"Senior, why have you always been so good to me?"

The smile on Madame Qingli's face faltered slightly.

Xu Ruyu continued:

"Ever since we came out of the Great Fox Illusion, you've been by my side.

When I was neglected by the Sect Master, you guided me; when I faced life-and-death crises, you told me the way out... If it weren't for you, perhaps I would have died many times already."

He paused, his voice filled with deep confusion:

"But Senior, why are you doing this? I am but a small Cultivator at the Qi Refinement Stage, without power, status, background, or backing.

Why would an Elder of the Taihu Clan, a Great Transformed Demon like yourself, be so good to me?"

Moonlight like water spilled over the two of them.

The bamboo sea rustled in the night wind, sounding like countless people whispering in low voices.

Madame Qingli looked at Xu Ruyu in silence for a long time before suddenly bursting into laughter.

She laughed so hard her whole body trembled, almost to the point of tears. It took a while for her to stop. She reached out and pinched Xu Ruyu's cheek:

"Xiao Yuer, oh Xiao Yuer, why are you so cute?"

She leaned closer, her warm breath almost brushing against Xu Ruyu's face:

"If I said big sister likes you, would you believe me?"

Xu Ruyu was stunned.

Like?

The word coming from Madame Qingli's mouth felt too frivolous, too surreal.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know how to start.

Seeing his flustered state, a flash of complex emotion crossed Madame Qingli's eyes, but it was quickly masked by a smile. She took a step back, leaned against the doorframe, and looked up at the bright moon in the night sky. Her tone suddenly became distant:

"Xiao Yuer, actually, I have always had an agreement with your Revered Master... You didn't know, did you?"

Xu Ruyu's heart jolted.

An agreement?

There was actually an agreement between his Revered Master and Madame Qingli?

He had never heard Xiao Nianyin mention it.

"What agreement?" he asked instinctively.

Madame Qingli turned her head to look at him. The moonlight cast shifting shadows on her face, making her charming features appear somewhat hazy:

"Back when you broke the Great Fox Illusion, I should have already left the Hehuan Sect.

After all, my mission was complete—to test your depth and confirm if you were the person Xiao Nianyin was looking for."

She paused, a flicker of memory in her eyes:

"But to tell you the truth, I am... extremely interested in you."

"Interested?" Xu Ruyu frowned.

"Yes." Madame Qingli nodded. "Do you know? During that time in the Great Fox Illusion, I discovered something very strange—my cultivation, which had been stagnant for many years, actually showed a hint of movement."

She took two steps closer, her gaze sweeping over Xu Ruyu as if trying to see through him:

"You should know, I have been stuck at the Middle Stage of Soul Transformation for three hundred years.

Three hundred years... no matter how I cultivated or what Opportunities I sought, my cultivation wouldn't budge an inch.

But in the Great Fox Illusion, after being with you... my Bottleneck actually loosened."

Xu Ruyu's face turned beet red instantly.

He remembered that absurd yet realistic dream within the Great Fox Illusion.

In the dream, he had been intimate with Madame Qingli and entangled with Xiao Nianyin... After waking up, he had treated it as just a dream, but Madame Qingli's words told him—perhaps it wasn't entirely a dream.

"So I suspect," Madame Qingli continued, "that your Physique is absolutely a unique existence, one in ten thousand.

Your aura, your true essence, even your... body, might have special benefits for high-level Cultivators."

Her tone was calm, as if stating a perfectly normal fact:

"Back in the Great Fox Illusion, I had already learned about what happened between you and Xiao Nianyin through the Dream Reconstruction technique.

I also guessed that the reason Xiao Nianyin had you take the trial and enter the Great Fox Illusion was to drag me into it—she wanted me to witness your 'uniqueness' and then voluntarily stay to become her helper."

Xu Ruyu felt a chill in his heart.

So... from the very beginning, he was a pawn.

A pawn used by Xiao Nianyin to bind Madame Qingli.

"So I simply went along with her wishes," Madame Qingli smiled, her expression carrying a hint of mockery. "I returned to the Hehuan Sect and made an agreement with her—while her cultivation is lost, I will help her deter those rivals who are secretly eyeing her.

And as payment, once she recovers her cultivation, I will take you away from the Hehuan Sect..."

She looked at Xu Ruyu with a complex gaze:

"That is the agreement between her and me.

She needs me to help her through her period of weakness, and I need you... to help me break through my Bottleneck.

Each getting what we need. It's fair, isn't it?"