Are all the love-brained villains my apprentices?

Shen Mingshe's voice was filled with emotion: "But it is true, after all, it belongs to Master..."

His words stopped abruptly, and there was a hint of sadness in his eyes, and the unspoken words turned into a sigh.

Lin Wenyu also lowered her eyes, and the loose hair on her forehead hid the melancholy in her eyes.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore." Shen Mingshe smiled and changed the subject. He stood up, opened the door of Hede Hall, and pulled Dusheng, who was waiting outside, in.

"Why don't you tell me what happened tonight."

--------

After briefly telling Shen Mingshe what happened tonight, the three of them turned the topic back to Shen Mingshe.

"Brother, what are your plans next?" Lin Wenyu asked.

Shen Mingshe did not answer, but tapped the table rhythmically with his knuckles. His eyes were looking out of the open window toward the Hede Hall. He was very familiar with every tree and blade of grass he saw.

Over the past decade, nothing seemed to have changed in the Xuanling Sect, but something seemed to have changed.

After a while, Shen Mingshe let out a long sigh and smiled again: "I will be in seclusion during this period. Now is not the time for me to 'wake up'."

Now is not a good time. Although they already know the range of the traitor, if the traitor knows that he has awakened, he may not take any action in a short period of time.

This is very disadvantageous for them.

Du Sheng and Shen Mingshe had the same idea. After hearing Shen Mingshe's words, he didn't say much.

"Ahem." Lin Wenyu cleared her throat and said something that caught both of their attention.

"Maybe I have a clue here."

--------

After Lin Wenyu left, Du Sheng looked at Shen Mingshe, who said he wanted to prepare gifts for Lin Wenyu's disciples, and then took out a bunch of small things and started tinkering with them. He asked a question that he had wanted to ask for a while.

"Hmm... So Master, if I remember correctly, Junior Uncle went into seclusion."

Then why is it that Lin Wenyu, even though she is in seclusion, can know so much about what is happening in the outside world?

Do you even know more than before you started the retreat?

Can seclusion have such a magical effect?

Shen Mingshe understood the implication of Du Sheng's words, and slowed down his tinkering. He looked up and gave Du Sheng a meaningful look.

"Don't think about things you can't figure out. You might as well spend your time thinking about how to implement what your junior uncle just said."

Du Sheng felt helpless when he heard his master's disdainful tone.

"Yes, yes, I'll arrange it right away."

He's just a little curious!

Just as Du Sheng was about to step out of the palace, Shen Mingshe's voice rang out again.

"No matter what happens, you just need to remember one thing: she is just Lin Wenyu, nothing more."

Du Sheng turned his head and looked at Shen Mingshe.

The eternal lamp in the Hede Hall added a touch of warm yellow to the space. Shen Mingshe kept moving, and the object in his hand had already taken shape.

Du Sheng heard the formality behind Shen Mingshe's casual tone, and the corners of his mouth curled up, a smile appearing on his face.

"I know, Master."

He always knew.

--------

In the morning, Zhu Ping'an got up early as usual, and practiced the sword skills taught by Lin Wenyu in a sweat. She looked at the morning light in the sky, pinched her fingers and cast a cleansing spell for herself, and then prepared to go to the school for today's morning class.

But after opening the palace door, he was stunned when he saw a person standing not far away.

The figure also noticed the movement from Zhu Ping'an's side and turned around to look over here.

When he saw Zhu Ping'an, his expressionless face instantly turned into a big smile.

"Oh, little Ping An! Do you miss your master?"

Lin Wenyu took two steps at a time and walked in front of Zhu Ping'an.

"...Master." Zhu Ping'an stared at Lin Wenyu for a long time before he said, "Master has come out of retreat?"

"Yeah, I came out last night." Lin Wenyu stretched out her hand and rubbed Zhu Ping'an's head a few times, "Oh my, it's been a long time since I last saw you. Little Ping'an has grown a lot taller. It feels like he has grown half a head taller!"

Lin Wenyu rubbed Zhu Ping'an's head with one hand, while the other hand was not idle either. She exaggeratedly compared his head up and down, as if she was really measuring how much Zhu Ping'an had grown.

Zhu Ping'an helplessly endured Lin Wenyu's "ravages" until Lin Wenyu withdrew her hand, then he silently raised his hand to tidy up his hair.

Faced with Lin Wenyu's words, Zhu Pingan was too tired to complain.

The last time we met was 23 days ago. Even if she could grow taller, she couldn't grow even half a head taller...

"Master!" A surprised voice sounded from behind the two of them. Zhu Ping'an and Lin Wenyu turned around and saw Sheng Shuzhou jogging towards them with a look of surprise on his face.

Yayin followed behind Sheng Shuzhou. When he saw Lin Wenyu, his expression didn't change much, but there was a smile and joy in his eyes.

"Master, you're back!" Sheng Shuzhou ran all the way to Lin Wenyu, braked suddenly a few steps away from Lin Wenyu, and looked up at Lin Wenyu.

"I'm back, I'm back." Lin Wenyu also snored a few times on Sheng Shuzhou's head.

Sheng Shuzhou started chattering like a little bird about what had happened over the past twenty days.

It was nothing more than the usual practice and classes, but Lin Wenyu listened with great interest.

"Master." Just as Sheng Shuzhou was talking to Lin Wenyu happily, Yayin also walked in front of Lin Wenyu.

Lin Wenyu did not show favoritism and rubbed Yayin's head a few times as well.

Yayin: ...Actually, it’s good to show some favoritism occasionally...really.