Be Gentle, Immortal Master

Bai Ye patted my back, gesturing me to let go. "He's here for Twin Stars," he said. "The surge of spiritual power when you broke the seal was too strong. He must've felt it all the way from the main peak."

I buried my face into his shoulder, not willing to move away. "I don't want to see him," I sniffled. "Not until you promise to never leave me. Not until you promise to stop treating your life so lightly like this."

For the first time today, I heard a small chuckle. "He's capable of coming inside himself if you don't go see him … and I can't help you right now like this. I'm afraid you don't have much choice."

I grudgingly let him go and gave him another glare, even though I knew he couldn't see it. I was hoping to push him a little and make him stop being so stubborn, but I suppose that would have to wait till next time. "Don't do anything foolish," I said and carefully leaned him back against the wall. "I'll bring you blankets later, and we'll sort everything out once I deal with our visitors. Just relax. Wait for me … and believe me."

He didn't respond, but he didn't protest either, which was already better than a few minutes ago. Pleased with my tiny progress, I dropped a light kiss on his forehead, then wiped my face dry and strode towards the front door. Hopefully, no one would care enough to notice my swollen eyes.

I knew from the sound of murmurs that it wasn't only the Gatekeeper alone waiting for me, but the size of the crowd still turned out to be a surprise. Teng Yuan, Su Nian … almost every master I could name was there, a pensive look or frown on their faces. I had never met with so many of them at once by myself before, and I wasn't even sure which greeting was the right one to use, so I simply bowed towards the front of the group, waiting for the Gatekeeper to speak first.

"Yun Qing-er." He didn't make me wait long. "You promised to stop using Twin Stars once we returned from Jade Temple. What is your explanation for this?"

He had the right to accuse me this time—Bai Ye did mention at Jade Temple that he would lock away these swords after the trip—but who would've expected everything that happened since then? Straightening myself, I decided to tell the truth. "I did stop using it," I said, "until today. Because my new swords—" I pointed at the new pair, which I had brought with me to Azure Dragon Palace earlier and was still conveniently hanging on my belt, "—don't have enough power yet. Circumstances required me to borrow the strength from Twin Stars."

"Circumstances?" The Gatekeeper raised an eyebrow. "What kind of circumstances required resorting to a power like this?"

I kept my voice level and replied calmly, "To break my master's meditation seal."

Gasps rose from the crowd. I expected none less—aside from the fact that meditation seals were known to be impossible to break, they were designed that way for a reason. It was extremely dangerous for a meditator to be interrupted mid-session, as the distraction could interfere with the flow of their spiritual power and lead them awry, sometimes even to the point of berserk. If Bai Ye was truly on a retreat, the consequences of me breaking his seal could have been dire.

"Yun Qing-er!" It was Su Nian who chided me next. "You've always been a troublemaker, and it was only because of your master's intervention that you escaped punishment every time. How could you be so ungrateful and do something this irresponsible to put him in danger?"

The Gatekeeper's face darkened as well. "You should know the discipline you face for such an act," he said to me.

"I shall face discipline if my actions lead to undesirable consequences," I replied. "But in this case, I haven't done it to interfere with my master's meditation. He was in danger, and I was only doing it to help him."

The crowd quieted then. Everyone looked at each other, as if they couldn't understand what I had just said. Only Teng Yuan's probing gaze was fixed on me the entire time. After a while, he finally asked, "How did you know he was in danger while he was behind the seal?"

I contemplated for a moment. I appreciated Teng Yuan asking the question to help lead the topic, but I couldn't tell the truth even to him. Not right now. What Bai Ye had done was too astonishing, and it would only make things more complicated if anyone else found out about it. So I said instead, "He has taken too long. It's been fifty days—"

"Nonsense!" Su Nian cut me off. "I just saw you yesterday, and you said Bai Ye never told me when he planned to return."

"It is true," I replied. "He never told me. But thanks to your visit, Master Su Nian, I thought over everything more carefully. My master's breakthrough shouldn't have been a huge one, because otherwise, I would've noticed a fluctuation of his power beforehand. Even you expected him to come back yesterday, didn't you?"

Su Nian's mouth hung open. Everything I said was true though, even including the fact that it was her visit which helped me put all the pieces together. I ignored her stupefaction and continued, "Many of you have also witnessed my master's challenge against the Jade Temple Keeper last month. He had told me after we returned that he wasn't holding back during that fight. He simply wasn't feeling his best. After reconsidering all these and linking them together, I realized that he might have encountered some obstacles with his breakthrough. That was why I had to break the seal and make sure he was safe."

Well, that part was a blatant lie. But no one needed to know.

Su Nian didn't seem to buy it though. "You, a fifth-year disciple, saving your master?" she scoffed. "Don't try to fool us. We know how much you are capable of."

I smiled. "But you didn't know I was capable of breaking this seal, did you? If I could surprise you once, then is it that difficult to do it twice?"

"Yun Qing-er." The Gatekeeper broke his silence, likely tired of hearing this pointless bickering. He glared at Su Nian, quieting her before turning back to me. "If you really did this to help Bai Ye, then show us to him. We are all concerned for him, and it will ease us to see him safe like you said."

He made a move to pass me and enter the meditation chamber. My heart skipped a beat. No, I couldn't let him step across this threshold. Judging from his attitude towards Twin Stars, the repercussions would be endless once he discovered Bai Ye's secrets and found out who I was. I wasn't afraid of what the Gatekeeper might do to me—at this point, that was the least of my worries—but if any more harm were to come to me, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a fool go out of his way to help me again. And for how little hope in life he had left, this time he might sacrifice himself for good.

I had to be strong. Not just for myself anymore, but for him as well.

A quick shift of my feet, and I cut in front of the Gatekeeper, blocking his way. To keep my gesture polite on the surface, I offered him a deep bow. "I apologize, Gatekeeper," I said humbly but firmly. "My master is still in the recovery period of his meditation. Interruptions are not ideal for him at the moment. I'm afraid that I can't let you in."

The Gatekeeper paused. "What did you say?" he asked incredulously.

I straightened, meeting his eyes. "I said that as my master's disciple, it is my responsibility to keep his surroundings the way he desires.. I cannot let you in."