Chapter 74: Bite the mouth (Mouth)

“I…Where could I go?”

“I went to find Gou Hao, okay?”

Seeing Yu Xian’s expression like that…

“Wait, wait, why am I so nervous?”

“If I’ve done nothing wrong, I shouldn’t fear shadows.”

But Ren Bin’s voice sounded…inexplicably timid.

He was starting to get nervous.

“Where exactly?”

“It’s something private!”

“Gou Hao works as a bouncer at that gambling den, right? I just…” “…wanted to try it out.”

“Maybe it’s the scent from those maids that rubbed off on me?”

Yu Xian squinted her eyes: “Really?”

“Really!”

Ren Bin scratched his head with a guilty look on his face, heart pounding…

Ren Bin put his hand on her shoulder and held her gently.

“My dear wife, I really only have eyes for you. Truly, sincerely!”

“I would never…ever touch another woman!”

Yu Xian turned her face slightly away with a cold snort.

“Didn’t you just come back from the gambling den? Didn’t you get some perfume smell from over there?”

“Yeah…but that’s normal, isn’t it?”

“Then why were you so emotional just now? Why did it bother you so much?”

Yu Xian turned her face slightly and glanced sideways at Ren Bin.

“Go take a bath.”

“Okay, okay! I’ll go now.”

(After bathing)

“Phew…Nothing beats a nice bath!”

Ren Bin used his spiritual energy to evaporate the droplets of water on his body.

Back in the bedroom, Yu Xian was sitting and holding a book in her hands.

“What are you reading, dear?”

“Hmm.” (she gave a simple hum in response, still focused on her book)

Yu Xian nodded slightly.

“What book is that?”

She tilted her head a little, then blankly sat on the bed, seemingly deep in thought.

“I took it from your bookshelf. The title is Silence.”

“I actually quite like it. What do you think?”

“Ah, so it was that one.”

“It’s…not bad.”

Yu Xian scooted a little to the side, making room for Ren Bin to sit next to her.

Ren Bin suddenly thought of something.

“Oh right, dear—guess who I saw at the gambling den today?”

“Who?”

“That Liu Shijie, the one who used to cling to you like crazy?”

Ren Bin froze slightly.

“Wait…I can’t remember anyone like that at all…”

He mumbled to himself as if brushing it off casually.

“I’ll just say it directly—”

“I saw Beigong Xiaoxiao today.”

“…Who?”

“Who are you trying to get me to guess? Just tell me.”

Yu Xian’s brows furrowed slightly.

“You’re saying you went all the way to Da Meng because of her?”

“Yeah…but I really did run into her at the gambling den.”

“If she had caused trouble there, I probably wouldn’t have even been able to see Gou Hao today.”

Yu Xian closed the book.

“Wasn’t she supposed to have gone to Da Meng?”

“That’s what I thought too.”

“If she really was there, it should’ve taken her more time to return. How could she have shown up already?”

“Well…since she’s back, she’s back. What can we do?”

“But…she’s supposed to return to the main peak, right?”

“She already left the sect, and the sect approved it too.”

“So what reason does she have to come back now?”

Yu Xian’s gaze turned cold and sharp.

Yu Xian’s eyes turned icy cold.

“Back then, Master treated her like his own daughter.”

“But she still left so decisively. Someone like that…” “…doesn’t deserve to come back.”

Ren Bin leaned in closer to Yu Xian.

“Dear…do you hate her?”

Yu Xian closed her eyes.

“She abandoned us.”

“It was because she left Huazhu Peak that…” “…a lot of disciples ended up leaving the sect too.”

“There are far fewer people on the peak now.”

She replied flatly.

Ren Bin asked carefully: “Is it because I laughed at her before…and you felt I was making fun of her, so you’re upset?”

“Nonsense.”

“Don’t act like that.”

Ren Bin chuckled: “But it’s true, Beigong Xiaoxiao really is…” (he couldn’t help but smirk)

Ren Bin grinned cheekily and scooted even closer to Yu Xian.

“You told her to stay away from you…and said, ‘I hate you’—just to keep her at a distance?”

Yu Xian’s cheeks instantly flushed pink.

“I didn’t want you to misunderstand.”

Then she reached out and gently pushed Ren Bin’s face away, diving into the blanket to hide her embarrassment.

“That’s what Xiaoxiao herself said.”

“Sleep now.”

Her voice came out soft and fluffy, muffled under the blanket.

“Okay, okay, okay~ Let’s sleep.”

Ren Bin blew out the candlelight, then slipped under the blanket too.

“Dear wife…Can I have a kiss goodnight?”

“Do as you please.”

“Then I’ll kiss your little face!”

“No, I want to sleep!”

“Wait—wait, where are you trying to kiss me!?”

Ren Bin woke up very early.

He glanced at Yu Xian, who was still sleeping soundly in his arms, and gently placed a soft kiss on her forehead before quietly getting out of bed.

After getting dressed and washing up, he walked into the kitchen and prepared breakfast.

It was a simple meal: porridge and a few small side dishes.

Ren Bin used a charm to keep the food warm.

Then, without making a sound, he slipped out.

Since the clean-up of Huazhu Peak, Ren Bin had been wanting to tidy up one specific place.

It was only about a ten-minute walk, but no one had taken care of it for a long time— he was referring to the scripture pavilion.

Ren Bin pushed open the door, and immediately saw the old structure before him.

As soon as he stepped in, a layer of dust fell from above, landing right on his head.

“Ugh…so dirty.”

He instinctively used his spiritual power to shake the dust off, clearly displeased.

As the charm burned, Ren Bin took out another talisman.

A small vortex of air began to form at his feet.

Within minutes, all the dust in the room was drawn toward the center of the vortex and swept away.

The thick layer of dust throughout the building was completely cleaned up.

“Ah…finally spotless.”

The soft morning sunlight streamed in through a broken window, illuminating the entire scripture storage room.

Most of the bookshelves on the first floor were still standing, but some had grown moss, clearly having been left damp and unattended for a long time.

“Secret manuals? Cultivation techniques?”

In the corners of the room, there were remnants of burned scrolls and texts— even though these techniques weren’t especially valuable, they had still been ransacked.

“Those bandits really looted the place…”

Some of the techniques were clearly taken just to prevent them from falling into other sects’ hands, even if they weren’t useful themselves.

Scattered among the debris were damaged books and half-burned scrolls, now nearly unreadable.

Some of the bandits even chose to burn what they couldn’t take.

There were even valuable scrolls that had scorch marks…

Ren Bin sighed as he looked at the moss and mushrooms growing on the bookshelves.

He slowly lifted a fallen shelf and began cleaning off the mold and grime.

After working nonstop for nearly an entire hour, he finally managed to get the place into some kind of order.

Just then, a voice came from the doorway—

“So this is where you’ve been.”

Yu Xian’s voice reached him as he was wiping away his sweat.

“How did you find me?”

Ren Bin asked.

“It’s not that hard. You didn’t even bother concealing your presence.”

Ren Bin looked slightly embarrassed.

“Ah…right.”

“If you had just hidden your aura, I wouldn’t have found you so easily.”

Yu Xian walked into the scripture room and looked at the shelves Ren Bin had just finished tidying up.

“Hmm. You decided to clean the scripture room?”

“Yeah…it just suddenly came to mind.”

Ren Bin scratched his cheek awkwardly, trying to come up with an explanation.

Ren Bin explained: “Hao is coming back soon too.”

“I figure that Huazhu Peak will gradually get more and more people in the future.”

“Since we’re going to rebuild the peak, we should start by organizing the scripture pavilion.”

“It is, after all, the heart of the sect.”

Yu Xian nodded slightly in agreement.

“You’ll probably be done cleaning soon. Look—”

She gestured toward the area he had already cleaned.

“Isn’t it looking great already?”

Ren Bin looked a little proud of himself.

With his hands on his hips, he pointed and said:

“See? It’s all laid out exactly like before.”

Yu Xian looked at Ren Bin, then said gently: “…Let me help you.”

“Alright.”

The two of them walked toward the second floor, where more techniques and secret scrolls were stored— a section in even worse condition than the first.

The condition on the second floor was even worse than the first.

After all, this was where the more valuable techniques and secret scrolls were stored.

Ren Bin and Yu Xian got busy together.

It took them almost an entire hour just to get through it.

“Phew…”

Ren Bin helped Yu Xian as they worked.

By now, there was only a small portion left to clean.

“This last bit won’t take much effort.”

They walked toward a corner of the floor.

“What’s this?”

Ren Bin asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“If you’re doing a proper cleaning job, you shouldn’t miss this kind of stuff, right?”

Yu Xian was in the middle of lifting a bookshelf when something caught her eye.

In the corner, she spotted an old wooden chest with burn marks on it— traces of having been partially scorched, but somehow not destroyed.

The worn-out box was still tightly shut, its lock completely intact— it looked like no one had opened it.

Yu Xian tried to force the box open with brute strength, but despite her effort, the chest didn’t budge at all.

She even tried probing around the keyhole —

“Tsk…it won’t move.”

“Ren Bin, what now?” she called over.

Ren Bin came over and examined the lock.

“This lock doesn’t use a regular key…”

Instead, a spirit stone had been embedded into it.

“Wait…don’t tell me—”

He pulled out his Peak Master’s token and gently pressed it against the lock.

“Click.”

With a light snap, the lock clicked open— just like that.