Jingliu's eyes shimmered with unshed tears, her voice trembling with years of longing.
"I long for that feeling from you, Master… It has remained unchanged for all these years! You clearly have feelings for me too!"
Kanzaki's gaze turned ice-cold. The air around him grew heavy, pressing down like the weight of unspoken judgment.
"You felt wrong."
The sudden shift in his expression cut deeper than any blade. Jingliu reached out with a shaking hand, desperate to touch his face, her voice fracturing.
"Master… why has the softest place in your heart never had room for me?"
Her fingers hovered in the air between them.
"In your heart, what exactly am I to you?"
Kanzaki stepped back, widening the distance between them without hesitation.
"Only master and disciple. Nothing more."
He took another step away.
"Do not remain obstinate. If you continue down this path, I will sever our bond as master and disciple. From that moment on, we will be strangers."
The words fell like a final verdict. They pierced straight through Jingliu's chest, leaving her hollow. Her mind reeled, the phrases echoing relentlessly.
Only master and disciple… If you remain obstinate, the bond will be severed… Strangers from now on…
Strength drained from her legs. She stood motionless in the shallow water, staring at nothing, her body suddenly too heavy to move.
Kanzaki watched the light fade from her eyes and felt a quiet pang of pity. He kept his expression unreadable.
Yet even in his rejection, he left her one last thread to cling to.
"It has been centuries, and that fellow Hoolay is still active across the galaxy. You claim to love me? Then bring back Hoolay's head and surpass me. Only then will we speak further."
Without another word, he turned and walked away.
The space fell silent except for the soft, steady drip of water from the ceiling.
Jingliu lowered her head. Her reflection stared back at her from the water's surface—pale, wet, and trembling. Her nails dug into her palms until pain bloomed, a reminder that this was no dream.
Heh… Master, you are so cruel…
She slowly raised her hand and brushed her fingertips over the corner of her lips where his kiss had lingered, then down the side of her neck. The memory of his touch burned beneath her skin. Despair in her crimson eyes gradually hardened into something darker, something bottomless.
Why?
Why, even now, do you still push me away?
Xueyi and Hanya could receive his tenderness so easily. They had stood by his side for so long. Yet she, who had offered everything, received only the threat of being cast aside.
Is it because I am not good enough?
No.
It was because he clung to the title of master and disciple. He cared too much about meaningless worldly conventions.
Jingliu slowly sank beneath the water until only her eyes remained above the surface. The swirling mist around her glowed with an eerie light that flickered deep within her pupils.
It is fine… As long as our relationship is not severed… As long as I can still remain by your side.
She would be good. She would hide this love where even he could not see it. She would endure. She would endure until she surpassed him—until the day he could no longer use the excuse of master and disciple to reject her.
Until the day only the two of them remained in this world.
"Master…"
Her voice carried a chilling, morbid obsession that had festered for nearly a thousand years. She savored the lingering warmth of his body, his breath, the desire he had tried so hard to suppress. It did not matter if his words were lies. Killing Hoolay? She would do it. One head or a thousand—it made no difference if it earned his recognition.
Surpassing him? She would surpass him.
"You will be mine sooner or later… You can only be mine."
He had claimed it was only the alcohol talking. Yet his body had not lied. If it had truly been the wine clouding his judgment, why had he come to her instead of Xueyi or Hanya? They had long since retired and rarely left the Qingxin Residence. He had skipped over the two people closest to him—the ones who had accompanied him the longest.
That could only mean one thing.
When his consciousness had blurred, the person he wanted most was her.
Jingliu's lips curved slowly. The smile carried a trace of madness, yet her eyes remained frighteningly clear.
Master only said it was not possible now because she had not yet met his requirements. Once she did, all of his restrained feelings would finally be released. The emptiness that had haunted her for centuries would be filled at last.
The beautiful face reflected on the water's surface was filled with that same chilling obsession.
That night, Kanzaki obtained a long-distance travel permit from the Sky-Faring Commission under the pretext of traveling to Pier Point for trade. He took over a hundred jars of Plum Blossom Wine and departed the Luofu with Hanya.
Jingliu watched them leave but said nothing. In her heart, she grew even more certain of one fact.
Master is a liar.
Trade? It was merely an excuse to avoid her.
It did not matter.
She would soon leave the Luofu anyway and rejoin the Expeditionary Team. The current Jingliu desired Hoolay's head more fiercely than ever before.
Centuries had passed, yet this new Borisin war leader remained active under the constant surveillance of the Divination Commissions across the various Xianzhou ships. He had never been captured or killed. Among all the leaders the Borisin race had ever produced, he was exceptional.
Jingliu did not believe the man was particularly cunning. She simply felt the gap between herself and her master was still far too wide.
The previous war leader, Ussa, had been just as troublesome. Yet in the end, he had fallen to her master's sword.
If the Divination Commission's prophecies were truly infallible, how had the Xianzhou suffered so many calamities and lost so many lives? Jingliu had long since stopped treating their divinations as absolute truth. She would not rely on them blindly.
The expedition under the banner of The Hunt lasted nearly a year.
By the time Jingliu returned to the Luofu, Kanzaki had already come back from Pier Point. He had indeed completed the trade, selling the hundred jars of Plum Blossom Wine for a considerable sum.
When master and disciple met again, the distance between them was carefully maintained. In Jingliu's eyes there was no trace of the intense emotions from before their parting—only the proper respect a disciple should show her master. She appeared perfectly composed.
Kanzaki showed even less reaction, acting as though that night had never happened.
Only a certain youth felt both joy and quiet melancholy.
He was happy because his strict master had been away for nearly a year. He was melancholy because his gentle grandmaster had been gone for half a year. Over the past six months he had followed the training plan left behind step by step, improving on his own. He had even received a rare compliment that he had done well.
Now that Jingliu had returned, Jing Yuan excitedly told her everything.
She stood with her back to the youth and chuckled softly.
A compliment…
She did not press him further. In her mind, it was enough that Master had only her as his true disciple. After all, Master had already explained why he was lenient toward Jing Yuan.
For the next dozen or so years, the Luofu remained relatively peaceful.
Jing Yuan grew quickly. He passed the adulthood examination, joined the Cloud Knights, and began participating in expeditions of The Hunt. Ever since Jingliu had been promoted to Valiant Guard years earlier, she had understood one simple truth: a Valiant Guard only needed to submit an application to be allowed to bring inexperienced recruits into battle. There was no need to follow the strict rules Master had once mentioned.
He had only said those things back then because his requirements for her had always been far stricter than for anyone else.