Luoshui City
Amid the clear crowing of roosters, the golden dawn broke through the night.
Chu Yin opened his eyes, gazing out the window and breathing in the fresh morning air, quietly reflecting:
“Ever since I’ve been able to remember my dreams, waking up feels like opening a blind box—I never know if I’ve returned to reality or am still trapped in a dream…”
Given how much Lady Chunhan and Aunt Wen resembled each other, Chu Yin worried that one day when he opened his eyes, he might see Lady Chunhan, but the next moment it would be Aunt Wen instead.
However, based on his last experience, as long as that irresistible drowsiness didn’t appear, it usually meant he was just resting normally.
After washing up, he moved to Lady Chunhan’s courtyard.
She showed no sign of waking, and the chamber was quiet.
“Lady Chunhan should be resting today and will wake up later. If there’s an emergency, should I go wake her?”
The maid couldn’t predict Lady Chunhan’s rest patterns either—there was no fixed schedule.
“No need, I’ll wait here in the courtyard. Don’t disturb Lady Chunhan.”
Although Chu Yin was eager to learn the Yunshui Sutra quickly and catch up on the days he’d fallen behind, he had caught multiple glimpses of Lady Chunhan’s exhaustion during their late-night sessions handling official documents.
Today, she had mercifully allowed herself a break without pushing too hard.
Chu Yin really didn’t want to interrupt her peaceful rest.
“I wonder how Aunt Wen has been sleeping lately. I forgot to message her and check in. Next time she wakes up, I must call her.”
The thought made Chu Yin feel guilty.
During this summer after moving out, he had been torn between refusing to sell the inheritance to a suspicious supernatural guild and fearing his own stubbornness might trouble his family.
This inner conflict made him avoid contacting Aunt Wen.
Subconsciously, he began to evade and fear conversations with his family.
Now that the trouble was handled, he needed to correct this unhealthy mindset.
Inside, Lady Chunhan had already woken and was sitting at her dressing table, arranging her hair.
Since she didn’t need to handle official documents today, her attire was less formal—she wore a sheer white overcoat over a teal strapless long dress, cinched at the waist with a patterned sash that accentuated the contrast between her full bust and slender waist, elegant and refined like a beautiful young wife devoted to family life.
While fixing her hair, her gaze drifted to the window, just in time to catch Chu Yin’s absent-minded expression and occasional sighs, as if troubled by something.
Lady Chunhan called him inside:
“Chu Yin, since you came so early, why didn’t you have the maid wake me?”
“Just being cautious. If Master’s Wife gets enough sleep, she’ll be in a better mood, so when she guides my cultivation later, she won’t get headaches from my stupidity.”
The beautiful woman disliked flowery talk; mere contact with such words annoyed her.
She usually classified such speech as “nonsense”—superficial and lacking substance, a waste of communication.
But Chu Yin was an exception.
His motive was too pure; no matter how fancy or tactful his words sounded, his starting point was simply “wanting Master’s Wife to rest longer.”
Having slept well after a long time, and waking up to Chu Yin’s concern, Lady Chunhan was in a good mood—“pleasant” would be an understatement.
But she wouldn’t show it too obviously, maintaining her usual calm demeanor as she continued:
“I just saw you zoning out. What were you thinking about? Have you been busy cultivating your divination skills lately and also run into some worries?”
“Nothing much, just a little nervous thinking about finally cultivating the Yunshui Sutra.”
“You lied to me.”
The full-bodied and graceful lady said lightly, continuing to adjust her hairpin in the copper mirror.
She didn’t need to scrutinize Chu Yin closely—just a few glances at him through the mirror were enough to tell.
Chu Yin mumbled.
Master’s Wife didn’t change her tone or flash a stern look, but an invisible aura of authority had already spread.
This meant he couldn’t brush it off.
And he felt he couldn’t just make excuses easily either—she could easily see through any falsehood. Difficult!
He certainly couldn’t confess about the dreams.
“Master’s Wife… maybe because I’ve been around you more lately, I dreamed of my family last night. I woke up feeling a bit melancholy, but it’s nothing serious. It’ll pass soon.”
Lady Chunhan was suddenly at a loss for words, unsure how to respond.
She wanted to say something comforting but had no experience with such matters.
Since that nightmarish wedding banquet, she’d faced nothing but scheming and betrayal for interests.
Her daughter Zhang Wei was also distant from her, leaving Lady Chunhan little experience in consoling juniors.
In the end, she skipped the topic and said:
“Alright, let’s start cultivating. Let’s see how far you can get with the Yunshui Sutra.”
“All right!”
Chu Yin replied excitedly, secretly letting out a breath of relief.
He didn’t want to linger on the previous topic.
Since Lady Chunhan was willing to move on, all the better!
The cultivation system in Luoshui City centered on the Yunshui Sutra, but Outer Sect Disciples had no access to it.
They had to first cultivate various branch techniques and, if fortunate, enter the Inner Sect to complete the Yunshui Sutra.
It was like mastering fists, blades, and swords but lacking the complementary breathing technique.
This arrangement was common in major factions.
Once Chu Yin mastered the Yunshui Sutra, he could integrate the Yunshui Flying Sword Technique he’d learned before, multiplying its power several times.
Returning to reality, it would no longer be a mere mediocre telekinetic trick.
Under Lady Chunhan’s guidance, Chu Yin finally laid eyes on the true Yunshui Sutra and quickly entered the rhythm of cultivation.
But as cultivation began, Chu Yin’s heart sank.
Something felt completely off!
When self-studying ancient texts before, even if some phrases were obscure, he could grasp them with a snap.
Now, starting the Yunshui Sutra, he could understand the words but had no idea where to begin—no matter how hard he pounded his head, he felt nothing.
Even with Lady Chunhan’s hand-holding instructions, he struggled to operate the technique, let alone integrate it with the Yunshui Flying Sword Technique.
Fortunately, Lady Chunhan showed no disappointment, patiently guiding him and slowing down whenever he was slow to comprehend, which eased his internal pressure.
By the end of this first day’s cultivation, Chu Yin had finally touched the Yunshui Sutra but wore a heavy expression.
“Master’s Wife, I have a question. Is the reason Outer Sect Disciples aren’t allowed to cultivate this technique to avoid discouraging their confidence?”
“Don’t be discouraged. Even Inner Sect Disciples need years to cultivate it. Don’t mind a day or two of stumbling—just take it slow.”
“Thank you for the encouragement, Master’s Wife…”
Chu Yin smiled bitterly.
He knew his talent was average, but hadn’t expected it to be this average—the gap was a bit large.
Lady Chunhan generously said:
“If you now choose to back away and cultivate what you’re good at, I won’t blame you.”
Chu Yin wiped the disappointment off his face and said seriously:
“Wherever you are, I’ll be there. There’s plenty of time ahead. I’m already prepared to be scolded—let’s see when your patience runs out~”
Lady Chunhan looked into Chu Yin’s eyes and couldn’t help but recall his mention of dreaming about his family that morning.
She used a warm tone as much as possible:
“Chu Yin, missing your family is only natural. But since you call me Master’s Wife, that makes me like half your mother. If you ever have something on your mind, you can talk to me—don’t keep sighing alone.”
Chu Yin blinked and took a moment to respond, quickly saying:
“Thank you for your concern, Master’s Wife!”
The beautiful lady nodded in satisfaction and reminded him:
“Tonight before bed, come to Master’s Wife’s room. You’ll need a Pharmacological Bath to clear your meridians, or else tomorrow you’ll be in pain just trying to get out of bed.”