He felt he had been deceived, but even after giving the matter a lot of thought, he still couldn't tell how he was deceived. He just felt aggrieved from the bottom of his heart, so he really couldn't muster up any enthusiasm to do anything.

"Hey, what're you doing? What are you dazed about in the middle of a fight?"

The youngster in front of him was about the same age as him, and their cultivation levels were also similar. Right now, he was reproaching Ye Zhenji with dissatisfaction.

Ye Zhenji's brows were tightly wrinkled. All of a sudden, he felt impatient, so he tossed aside his magic tool, planted his b.u.m on a stone by the side, and lowered his head in anger.

Hualing walked over, asking in bewilderment, "What's wrong? Are you in a bad mood?"

Still frowning, Ye Zhenji said sulkily, "I'm p.i.s.sed!"

"p.i.s.sed?" Hualing took a moment to think then said, "Because of your aunt? Didn't grandmaster say she's alright? What else are you still worried about?"

"It's not about that." Although his aunt still hadn't come to, his master already said she was alright, so he wasn't that worried. However, when he saw his master coming out of his Closed Door Meditation so readily and rus.h.i.+ng to do this and that, he suddenly felt unhappy.

Why did he feel uncomfortable about this? Whether it was his master or his aunt, both were people he respected and loved. Wasn't it better that his master treated his aunt well? Although reason was telling him that, his heart was still filled with unhappiness.

Maybe it was because he always thought he was the closest one to both of them, but they turned out to be keeping him in the dark this whole time? In fact, after giving it more careful thought, whenever his aunt mentioned his master or when his master mentioned his aunt, both of them always had rather strange expressions. It was just that it had simply never crossed his mind that there would be some kind of relations.h.i.+p between them.

"What are you p.i.s.sed about in the end? Is it something you can't talk to me about?"

Ye Zhenji contemplated as he looked at Hualing. Eventually, he said, "Fine, I'll tell you, but you mustn't talk to anyone else about this."

Hualing raised his eyebrows. "Of course I won't—aren't we friends?"

Ye Zhenji took some time to ponder it before he then said slowly: "I suspect... there's something going on between my aunt and my master."

"Oh... Your aunt and your master—what?!" Hualing, who already nodded when he realized something was wrong, exclaimed. He thought for a moment then came closer to Ye Zhenji and whispered: "It's not likely, right? Don't they rarely meet?"

"I also used to think the same." Ye Zhenji sat, looking completely miserable. "However, when aunt had an accident in the Ten Thousand Laws of Nature Formation, it was actually master who sensed it first..."

Hualing was dumbfounded. "Are you for real?"

"What would I feel depressed about otherwise?" Ye Zhenji said dejectedly. "Besides, when aunt had her accident, master was so nervous, and grandmaster also said some strange things..."

After giving the matter some thought, Hualing said, "Even if your suspicion's the truth, what are you feeling depressed about? Both your aunt and your master are people you're close to. Isn't it good if they're really together?"

"You're right, but..." In fact, Ye Zhenji also didn't understand what he was depressed about. He just felt irritated, especially when he saw his master going to help nourish his aunt's body every day using the technique grandmaster taught him and looking for spiritual plants everywhere to use for pill-concocting... He just felt annoyed when he saw his master doing all that and consequently, he felt his master wasn't pleasing to the eye.

After he described how he felt, Hualing unexpectedly felt amused. "Do you feel you're being left out?"

Ye Zhenji seemed astonished.

Hualing continued on: "Ever since you were brought back by your aunt, when you still followed your aunt and later when you started following your master, you've always been the only disciple they had by their sides. They treated you extremely well, so you've always felt very happy... because the person they cared the most about was you. Now, however, you discovered that the people you believed to care the most about you unexpectedly hid such an important matter from you, and that makes you feel like you're actually not that important to them."

Ye Zhenji frowned deeply, but he couldn't refute Hualing's words. "I don't know. Anyway, I just feel annoyed every time I see master nowadays, so I don't even want to go back."

His current appearance really made Hualing feel rather amused. "In fact, you're just jealous, right?'

"..." Ye Zhenji said nothing. He just silently hung his head.

Hualing then sat next to him. "You think your master's s.n.a.t.c.hed your aunt away from you?"

Ye Zhenji was silent for a while before he said honestly, "A bit."

Hualing chuckled. "You've always respected your master, so when you discovered he hid something from you... that... he never asked for your opinion from the beginning, you now think he's very annoying, right?"

"…"

Without needing Ye Zhenji to reply, Hualing already knew the answer. He patted Ye Zhenji's shoulder, saying: "Get over it. We can't meddle much in our elders' affairs. Besides, your master's so good to you—be honest, has he ever wronged you?"

Ye Zhenji thought for a moment then answered honestly, "No." He then immediately added: "But I'm still not happy."

Hualing shook his head. "Then let me ask you this—had you not found out about this, would you have wished for your master and your aunt to be together?"

This time, Ye Zhenji took quite a long time to ponder the matter. After a long while, he finally spoke: "At first, I thought that since I wanted to follow both my aunt and my master, it'd be good if they could be together, but... but these are two different things!" 

Hualing was completely amused. "You're hoping they live together, but you also don't want them to have a special relations.h.i.+p, because you feel you should be the one they care about the most—even they themselves mustn't take your place in their respective hearts, am I correct?"

"…"

"In addition, do you feel that if they really did have that kind of relations.h.i.+p, your position in their hearts would fall behind? Do you feel that you'd just be excess baggage?"

"…"

Seeing Ye Zhenji's downcast look made Hualing burst into laughter. He said, "Brother, we're already more than forty years old now. Although we're cultivators and have much longer lifespans, we're no longer children; how can you still be so disagreeable?" 

Ye Zhenji shot him a glare then said grudgingly, "You talk as if you really understand—where did you learn this from?"

Hualing said, "Before I was ten years old, when I was still living with my parents, I often had those kinds of thoughts. The feelings between my mother and father are great so at that time, I often felt like excess baggage whenever they were together." Now that he was talking about his childhood, a happy expression once again appeared on his face. He cast a glance at Ye Zhenji and continued on: "But when I grew up, I felt I was indeed childish at that time. Shouldn't I be happy that my parents had good feelings between them? The feelings between them and the feelings they had for me were different. No matter how good their relations.h.i.+p was, I was still their most important person."

"..." Even though he felt Hualing was right, Ye Zhenji's heart was still full of unwillingness. He muttered, "But master didn't even say anything to me..."

"Why would he talk to you about this kind of matter?" Hualing looked at him in bewilderment. "You're their junior, not their elder—is it reasonable for them to explain themselves to their junior?"

Ye Zhenji was at a loss for words, unable to find words to justify himself. Although reason told him Hualing was right, he still couldn't stop himself from feeling very unhappy...

"Ay~!" Hualing once again patted his shoulder. "I say... Brat, you're already more than forty years old now; you're not in your teenage years anymore, okay? You must've turned stupid from all that practicing, haven't you?"

Ye Zhenji pushed away his hand. "In any case, I still feel unhappy!"

"Go talk to your master then!" Hualing also didn't know what else he could do now that he already said everything he could. After a moment of thought, he came close to Ye Zhenji then giggled deceitfully. "In fact, I think you might as well find yourself a little wife. With someone tiring you down, you'll definitely have no time to feel unhappy." 

"Go away!" Ye Zhenji said while pus.h.i.+ng him away. "You're talking nonsense!"

With a smile, Hualing said, "This is a genuine suggestion though. Although us Dao School cultivators don't encourage it, Dual Cultivation is a good thing in the end. Take a look at your master; at his age, he still—"

"My master's not old! He's only a hundred and seventy five, okay?! For a Core Formation cultivator, he's still very young. Moreover, he's about to form his Nascent Soul!"

Hualing was even more amused. "Just now, you still said you think your master's not pleasing to the eye—what are you defending him for now?"

"I..." Ye Zhenji opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

"Ay~ young people!" Hualing, who pretended to be an old man, said, "What are you being so disagreeable for?"

Ye Zhenji just hung his head without retorting back. After listening to what Hualing said, he indeed felt he was rather disagreeable. He didn't let others talk about his master, but he himself felt his master wasn't pleasing to the eye. 

"I think whatever I say now is useless. Actually, it's not that you don't understand; you're just not happy about it, right?"

Ye Zhenji heaved a sigh. "Right. Everything you said was right."

"In fact, I have a sincere suggestion for you," Hualing said earnestly.

"En?"

"You... better find yourself a little wife!"

Ye Zhenji swatted his palm at him. "Nonsense!"

Hualing once again burst into laughter. "Actually, I think the most important thing is that you're angry at your master, but you're not that angry at your aunt, am I right?"

"c.r.a.p! My aunt's still sleeping; this doesn't have much to do with her..."

"But didn't you just say that your aunt also seemed a bit strange whenever your master was concerned?"

"…"

Upon seeing Ye Zhenji's expression, Hualing laughed again. "Don't you realize? Your feelings toward your aunt are quite unusual."

Ye Zhenji, who sensed another meaning behind Hualing's words, glared at him and said sternly, "Stop saying nonsense! My aunt is my aunt—I've always respected her as a master and an elder."

"Ay~ that's not what I meant." Hualing promptly explained, "I'm just saying that because your aunt has always been your closest female elder since you were a child and moreover, she's also always treated you well, your heart must've set her as a perfect example of how women should be. That's also the reason why you feel your master's annoying, right?"

Ye Zhenji was stunned. He never thought about this point. However, upon more careful thought, that indeed seemed to be the case... If there was a woman in his life, of course it'd be best if she resembled his aunt in nature.

"Actually, your aunt's just an image of perfection you set in your heart. Before you love someone, this image will most likely be irreplaceable. Therefore, your heart's actually considering your master as your love rival..." 

"c.r.a.p!" What love rival? That was just too much...

When he saw Ye Zhenji's awkward look, Hualing smiled and said, "Anyway, that's what I meant—it's enough that you understand me. This is why I think if you find yourself a little wife, you won't be too—"

"Shut up!" Ye Zhenji said while lowering his head. "Before I advance to the Core Formation realm, I won't think about these trifles."

Hualing shrugged, showing his helplessness. "I'm not saying you have to do it; it's just a suggestion. But the way you are now is also alright. Generally speaking, you'll stop feeling like this once you grow up. You... just haven't grown up yet."

"Get lost!" Ye Zhenji said lividly, "You're the one who hasn't grown up!"