"Aiya, if you want to listen, then just listen already!"
Paimon, seeing how conflicted the group of girls looked, couldn't help but sigh at their indecisiveness.
It's just a story, right? Why is everyone so eager to hear it?
…Okay, fine, she wanted to hear it too.
So she took the lead and floated ahead, waving for the others to follow her.
Yu Keke, watching Paimon go, had her fears about interrupting her brother quickly overridden by curiosity. She followed tightly behind.
"..."
"What are you staring at me for? Paimon and Keke already went—His Excellency won't blame us. Let's go, let's go~"
Shui Yue'er finally gave in before her sister and Zhu Zhuqing, bounding after Paimon and Yu Keke with excitement.
Seeing this, Shui Bing'er and Zhu Zhuqing followed in turn.
Aether took a moment to organize the scattered fragments of memory in his mind, planning to speak from the perspective of Yu Xiaogang and share with Bibi Dong both what had happened and what was yet to come.
Just as he was about to speak, he realized the group outside the door had already come over.
"…What are you doing?"
He looked at Paimon first.
"Eh? You're telling a story, right? Obviously, we're here to listen~"
Paimon floated beside Aether's shoulder, propping her face in her hands with an eager, gossip-hungry expression.
"…And you?"
Aether's mouth twitched as he turned to Yu Keke.
"I-I came to check on Fire Meow Meow! Yeah! The stone table's cold—I was worried it might catch a cold…"
Yu Keke, flustered by the question, darted her wide eyes around and quickly scooped up the cat sprawled on the table, petting it as she spoke.
"…"
Aether's face darkened.
Shocking! A hundred-thousand-year soul beast, Fire Meow Meow, caught a cold!
Is this the distortion of human nature or the fall of morality???
Oh… it's just because it was lying on a stone table…
"..."
Aether gave up on dealing with the suspicious little girl and turned to Shui Yue'er.
"I'm here to protect Keke!"
Hands behind her back, she replied loudly like a student answering a teacher's question, spouting her pre-planned excuse.
"Me too!"
Shui Bing'er, fully trusting her little sister, chimed in right after.
The two sisters had been doing this kind of double-act since they were kids.
"I… Mm-hmm!"
Zhu Zhuqing, startled by the sisters' loud voices, forgot her prepared excuse and just nodded along, echoing their stance with a string of affirmatives.
"…"
Watching their antics, even Aether couldn't help but twitch his lips. Off to the side, even Bibi Dong covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.
"Wow, big sis looks so pretty when she smiles~"
Yu Keke, seeing Bibi Dong's rare gentle smile, paused mid-pet of Fire Meow Meow, her face full of admiration.
"Hehe~ You must be Keke, right? I know you. You're very pretty too."
No woman dislikes being complimented on her looks. Even the Supreme Pontiff of Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong, was no exception.
And the one praising her just so happened to be the little sister of "His Excellency"—which made it all the more flattering.
No wonder the always-cold Bibi Dong, who usually looked like everyone owed her their life, was suddenly so gentle with a little girl.
In fact, she had long since memorized everything about Aether and those around him, including the Shui sisters and Zhu Zhuqing.
"Mm-hmm!"
Yu Keke nodded happily, too pure-minded to question how Bibi Dong knew her. She just felt a little giddy at being complimented.
"Alright then. Since you're all here, take a seat. I'll share a little story with you."
Aether looked at the group—he could tell that most of them were just like Paimon.
Fire Meow Meow catching a cold? Protecting Keke?
Come on. Let's be real—it's just curiosity. It's not like he'd bite anyone for being honest.
But since they wanted to hear it, fine. It wasn't some secret anyway. With an all-girls audience, this could even be a good learning moment.
"Thank you, Your Excellency…"
The Shui sisters and Zhu Zhuqing spoke in unison, bowing slightly.
Yu Keke was the first to sit beside Aether. Shui Bing'er took the seat next to her.
Since there were only four matching stone stools in the courtyard, and they were all now taken, Shui Yue'er's eyes lit up as she suddenly had an idea. She walked behind Aether, hands folded politely in front of her stomach.
Whatever she was thinking, her smile gave it away—she could barely hold it back.
Zhu Zhuqing saw this and silently gave her a mental thumbs-up.
Sis—this is why you're the MVP! Brilliant move!
Gotta copy this! Gotta learn!
Zhu Zhuqing mimicked her, standing to Aether's other side. The two of them flanked him like a pair of delicate, graceful attendants.
And while "attendant" usually implied a servant girl of no status, the beaming smiles on their faces clearly showed they didn't mind one bit—in fact, they were quite happy about it.
Just look at Shui Bing'er, sitting on the bench. Seeing their bold moves, her hands tightened into fists on her lap. She stared daggers at her sister and Zhu Zhuqing.
"Tch! Shameless little vixens—how disgraceful!"
She cursed inwardly, full of frustration and regret.
Dammit! Why didn't I think of that?!
Who cares about the seat?! I'm done pretending—I want to stand behind him too!
"Ahem~"
Unbothered by their little schemes, Aether shook his head and cleared his throat.
"Before I tell you this story, I want to share one thing with you."
"Lies don't hurt people. The truth—that's the sharpest blade."
He met Bibi Dong's gaze calmly, letting the words settle. It was a subtle warning to prepare her for what was coming.
"Lies don't hurt people… The truth is the sharpest blade?"
The girls silently repeated his words, the younger ones looking puzzled—like they understood, but not quite.
But across from Aether, Bibi Dong's expression shifted. As soon as she heard the line, her mind instinctively connected it to her own experiences. The lightness in her expression faded.
"In a certain place, people respected strength above all else. There was a young man whose father was the head of a powerful clan. Naturally, he became the highly revered young master of that sect…"
The others snapped out of their thoughts at the start of the tale, turning their full attention to the story.
"At first, his Dou Qi was only at the second rank, but he didn't give up. He believed that through hard work, he wouldn't be inferior to anyone else."
"But unfortunately, when he learned that his Dou Qi would never progress past rank two… his heart collapsed."
"Even though the sect members still treated him with the same respect, and his family kept searching for a way to help him break through… he believed that everyone was secretly laughing at him."
"Huh? No way! His father and his sect genuinely cared for him—how could he think like that?"
Behind Aether, Shui Yue'er looked confused, genuinely not understanding.
Everyone was trying to help the guy overcome his cultivation bottleneck, but he secretly resented them all?
"With a mindset like that, even if he somehow manages to break through one day… he'll never become a true powerhouse."
Bibi Dong shook her head. Her initial interest in this "young man's" rise had instantly turned to disdain.
At first, she thought he was a determined youth struggling against fate. Turns out, he was just weak-minded mud that couldn't be sculpted.
_
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