How can one become an immortal with such laziness?

"What do you mean, you..."

Suddenly, Hei Yang and Hong Li froze, stiffly turning their heads to find Hong Xiaochen and Hong Zhenjia staring at them with wide eyes—filled with immense confusion!

"Ahem, nothing happened just now, Uncle, please pretend you didn't see anything."

Hei Yang coughed awkwardly: "Don't worry, they're just spreading these baseless rumors for fun..."

"Hmm...the kid doesn't know any better, he was just passing it around as a game, a good beating will fix it!"

"The words are rough but the reasoning is not rough."

Hong Li nodded, looked at Hong Zhenjia, and asked directly without any hesitation, "Uncle, you don't really believe what they said, do you?"

"How could that be? I don't believe my own family, why would I believe outsiders?"

Hong Zhenjia shook his head and looked at Hong Li: "I not only believe it, but it was my suggestion to let you take Xiao Tian's place!"

After all, Xiao Tian is now... Don't worry, don't have any concerns. When the Five Elements Sect people arrive in a few days, Xiao Li, just go with them without worry. I'll take care of everything else!"

"Ah this..."

Hongli was dumbfounded: "You trust me that much?"

"of course!"

"or……"

Hongli whispered, "Why don't you try to have a doubt?"

"?????"

A series of question marks appeared above Hong Zhenjia's head. Was he too old to keep up with the pace of today's young people?

In no time at all, he was confused many times!

"Cough cough!"

Hong Xiaochen could still somewhat keep up with his daughter's thought process; after all, he'd developed a certain level of understanding over the years, hadn't he...?

"Um, brother, this child..."

Hong Xiaochen said somewhat awkwardly, "She might not really want to cultivate at the Five Elements Sect..."

"Yes, yes, that's so true, Dad! You really are my dad!"

Hongli nodded hurriedly. That was exactly what she meant. This assist was simply brilliant!

"Ah? There's such a thing?"

Hong Zhenjia was dumbfounded. How could someone actually turn down a clear opportunity to embark on cultivation?

"Wait, wait, let me calm down, let me take a break..."

Hong Zhenjia rubbed his temples, starting a brainstorming session, when he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Hong Li... and Hei Yang beside him!

"I understand!"

Seeing Hong Zhenjia turn his gaze to him, Hei Yang's heart skipped a beat. Damn it, what do you know!

"I see, I see. I'd heard about it before, but I never imagined it'd gotten this far..."

"What? To what extent?"

Hong Li was equally bewildered. Could the riddle teller please ( )?

"If I'm not mistaken, the reason you don't want to leave, Xiao Li, is because of Xiao Yang, right?"

A glint of wisdom flashed in Hong Zhenjia's eyes, as if he had seen through everything in an instant: "Because of your feelings for Xiaoyang, you can't bear to leave him, so you painfully rejected this opportunity, right?"

"Ah, I..."

Hongli wanted to yell "You're talking nonsense!" but then she remembered that this was an elder, and she wanted to desperately argue, "You're mistaken." But then she thought about the hellish life she would have to endure at the Five Elements Sect...

"You're absolutely right!"

Hongli nodded seriously: "I simply cannot imagine how I would live without Heiyang in my life!"

Hei Yang: "???"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 22 Let's stop here!

"???"

A row of question marks flashed across Hei Yang's head. Wait, wait, what's going on?

[Hei Yang: What happened? Did you confess your feelings to me? Oh dear, I wasn't prepared at all! How embarrassing!]

[Hongli: Get up!]

[Black Sun: ?]

[Hongli: Uh, no, brother, I'll call you brother, okay? Just play along!]

[Hei Yang: You call me 'brother' when you need me, but tell me to crawl away when you don't, right?]

[Hongli: What else?]

[Black Sun: ?]

[Hongli: I mean, of course not!]

[Hong Li: Please cooperate with me this once! Help! I can't be sent to the Five Elements Sect, what's the difference between that and hell!]

[Hei Yang: But for me, your being sent to the Five Elements Sect is like heaven, hehehe!]

[Hong Li: !!!]

[Hongli: Are we still good brothers? Are you going to help me or not?]

[Black Sun: Are you threatening me?]

[Hongli: So what if I threatened you!]

[Hongli: Sorry, that was a message from my second personality. What I meant was, we're brothers, you can't just stand by and watch someone die!]

[Hei Yang: And all those novels and biographies in your room...]

[Hongli: Here, take it all. Take whatever you want to see, okay?]

Hong Li's heart was bleeding. Hei Yang, that scoundrel, really wouldn't give up such an opportunity to negotiate, but in order to avoid going to the Five Elements Sect... she endured it!

[Black Sun: Deal!]

"Alas, now that things have come to this, I'm afraid I can't hide it from everyone anymore."

Hei Yang sighed: "Actually, Xiao Li and I have always had feelings for each other, long ago..."

[Hei Yang: By the way, what stage has our relationship reached in the script? Hurry up and prompt me with the lines!]

[Hongli: Huh? What do you mean by "which step" or "this step"? Just go ahead and improvise!]

[Hei Yang: Oh, I mean, you're already a mother of two, okay?]

[Hongli: I ******#]

[Hongli: Be serious! Just say... um, say you won't marry anyone but me!]

[Hei Yang: Wow, that's ruthless. What if I get caught later? Wouldn't I be a scumbag?!]

[Hong Li: Let's get through this first, okay? I'll be a jerk with you, alright!]

[Black Sun: You said it.]

[Hongli: Oh right, right, stop dawdling and hurry up!]

Taking a deep breath, Hei Yang seemed to be gathering his emotions, his eyes slightly red as he looked at Hong Li: "Actually, we made a vow to each other long ago. I, Hei Yang, will marry no one but her in this lifetime!"

"Ok!"

Hongli turned her head to look at Heiyang, her long hair obscuring her face, her whole body trembling, seemingly unable to hold back her tears due to overwhelming emotions: "I...I will marry no one but him..."

[Hei Yang: I can't hold it in anymore, what's with that expression?!]

Others might not be able to see Hong Li's face, but he could—that mask of pain, as if she were being pushed to the execution ground!

[Hei Yang: Am I really that disliked?!]

[Hongli: Ugh, of course not... Ugh—]

[Black Sun: ?]

[Hei Yang: Miss Hong Li, you're putting me in a difficult position. I'm afraid I won't be able to hold out until the end of the performance.]

[Hongli: No, I'm just trying so hard not to laugh. Sorry, sorry.]

[Black Sun: You're laughing at yourself, aren't you?]

[Hongli: Well, that's not something I can control!]

Hongli's lips turned blue as she shoved her head into Heiyang's arms, covering her face completely, and began to sob softly: "Waaaaah hahahahahahaha..."

[Black Sun: Holy crap, that rocket header almost knocked my air out!]

[Hongli: Enough with the nonsense!]