As the light beam intensified, the entrance to the tomb finally opened. A head, belonging to a young girl around thirteen or fourteen years old with a pretty face, slowly peered in. Seeing Hua Wu Que and the others, she quickly retreated and shouted, "It's over, it's over! Master, we've been ambushed!"
Hua Wu Que found it amusing and decided to tease her. He slowly walked out of the tomb entrance, adopting a menacing expression and a deep voice. "Little girl, you're quite clever. Come quietly, or I'll sell you off later!"
Hong Ling Bo only saw that the man was blind when he came out. However, his appearance was incredibly handsome, and with her budding affections, her heart raced. Completely forgetting her master's instructions, she stared at Hua Wu Que in a daze. She wore an apricot yellow Taoist robe, her small frame already developing. Two long swords were strapped to her back. Although not as unparalleled as Li Mo Chou or Xiao Long Nu, she was considered a rare beauty.
"What are you yelling about? I regret rescuing you, you idiot!" Hearing her disciple's call, Li Mo Chou thought about how she had inexplicably saved the girl from her pursuers a few days ago, finding it unbearable to watch. She even took her in as a disciple. Now, she realized that the girl was simply a fool. Her aptitude was alright, but her mind was slow, making her unable to care for herself, and her execution of tasks was a mess. It hadn't been easy to keep from going mad.
She contemplated how to discipline her disciple as she slowly emerged from the woods. Suddenly, she saw Xiao Long Nu and the others standing at the tomb entrance, her face darkening. "Sister, you're so leisurely! You actually raised a blind man in the ancient tomb! Master was also blind to let you inherit the Ancient Tomb Sect!"
Her personality had become extremely volatile. Seeing them approach and Hua Wu Que's blindfolded eyes, she didn't recognize him immediately. Assuming that Xiao Long Nu was breaking the sect's rules, she became prejudiced, thinking that she had fallen for a handsome man and brought him to the tomb. She felt that her master had shown favoritism to the blind man, even passing on the forbidden secrets to such a woman, while casting her out!
Xiao Long Nu remained expressionless as she heard her insult, calmly replying, "Sister, why act so insincere? You're cold-hearted and fickle. You abandoned this gentleman after you fell in love with him, and he remains devoted, refusing to let you fall into greater error. He rushed here to inform me, yet you pretend not to know him for the sake of the Jade Maiden Heart Scripture. It's truly chilling!"
Hua Wu Que was the first man she had interacted with. He had taken good care of her, and they practiced the Jade Maiden Heart Scripture together. Aside from occasionally looking at her and smiling foolishly, he had not acted inappropriately. She naturally assumed he was not a bad person. Furthermore, she knew her elder sister had suffered setbacks, causing her personality to change and become erratic. Subconsciously, she believed Hua Wu Que's lies.
"What?! Master! Is this my...father-in-law?" Hearing this, Hong Ling Bo suddenly awoke, a sense of bitterness filling her heart. She felt like her beautiful first love had vanished before it even started.
"Shut up!" Li Mo Chou was confused and annoyed by her disciple's interruption. "Sister, don't talk nonsense! I don't know this person. How can there be any talk of being cold-hearted or abandoning him?" She understood Xiao Long Nu quite well. Earlier, she had just been jealous seeing their handsome appearance, contrasting with her own loneliness. She had just been sarcastically criticizing them. Now, hearing her earnest words, as if it were actually true, she couldn't accept it and refuted her claims.
"You do what you do, why ask me about it?" Seeing her elder sister's agitated emotions, Xiao Long Nu subconsciously thought her sister was flustered and angry after being exposed, feeling a touch of disdain and not wanting to argue further.
Seeing her sister's slightly contemptuous gaze, Li Mo Chou was at a loss for words. After all, since suffering a heartbreak, she believed that no man in the world was good. She had always kept herself pure, even killing anyone who showed the slightest sign of desire. Now, she was being misunderstood by this pure-hearted sister, accused of being a fickle, heartless woman who abandoned her lover. It was simply unacceptable for her.
"Master, even though Father-in-law is blind, he's still quite handsome. Why don't you reconsider and accept him? Don't let him be heartbroken," said the incorrigible Hong Ling Bo, who was still a novice in the sect, not the ruthless, decisive female Taoist she would become later.
"Shut your mouth!!!!" Li Mo Chou finally couldn't take it anymore, yelling at Hong Ling Bo, ignoring her disciple's mumbling about "not letting people speak." Turning to Hua Wu Que, she angrily demanded, "Who are you?! How dare you slander me!"
Hua Wu Que shrugged helplessly, first asking, "Long Nu, can I take this cloth off now?"
Seeing him still mindful of their gentleman's agreement in front of his beloved, Xiao Long Nu felt even more drawn to him. She softly replied, "You may remove it."
Hua Wu Que slowly removed the cloth, turning to Li Mo Chou with a smile. "My dear wife, isn't it just your husband here?"