The Year of Lihua: She Was Reborn

"I'm eloping with someone? I don't have any parents to control me. Going away to the ends of the earth with the person I love is called mutual love!"

Ye Hua broke free from his master's arms in a flash and immediately retorted.

"Okay, okay, my Hua'er will never elope with anyone. You must stay in Qingcheng Mountain and stay with me forever."

The master took a step forward slowly, wanting to hold her in his arms again.

But Ye Hua didn't give him another chance. He just took several steps back and spread out his hands.

"Master, you know I've always loved the vast world, traveling across mountains and rivers, and even more so adventure..."

As she spoke, her eyes unconsciously turned red. She controlled her sobs and continued.

"It's impossible for me to stay in Qingcheng Mountain for the rest of my life..."

"Every day is either fetching water and cooking, or practicing martial arts and swordsmanship. I can't stand it for a single day. So, Master, would you like to come down the mountain with me? This world is so big that there are all kinds of wonders..."

Ye Hua was getting more and more excited as he spoke, but when he noticed the concern in his master's eyes, the words he was about to say stopped abruptly.

She slowly closed her mouth and looked at her master quietly without saying a word.

The master watched her resisting him, listened to her spoken request, and stood still, unable to respond for a moment.

The two of them stood there, looking at each other, and I don't know how long they stood there.

The sunset is like a colorful painting, gently spreading across the entire blue sky.

It was as if the great painter of nature had carefully mixed the colors and rendered it crimson.

The rustling autumn wind is like a naughty child, happily shuttling through the woods and playfully blowing through the branches.

The leaves on the branches, which originally had some green color, have now begun to turn slightly yellow.

They make rustling sounds in the autumn wind, as if telling the passing of time and the changing of seasons.

However, the autumn wind was not satisfied with this, and it continued to ruthlessly destroy the already fragile leaves.

Finally, some leaves could no longer withstand the ravages of the autumn wind, and broke away from the branches one after another, slowly falling down with the autumn wind like dancing butterflies.

The fallen leaves danced lightly in the air and finally fell into the deserted courtyard, covering this silent place with a thick golden carpet.

Ye Hua, who had been standing still, could no longer bear the numbness and fatigue in his body.

She gently moved her long-numbed body, as if every movement required a huge amount of strength.

Then, like a bird that had lost its strength, she flew helplessly towards the bed in the palace.

When she fell on the soft bedding, her whole body seemed to be surrounded by warmth, but at the same time she felt a deep tiredness.

Ye Hua raised his head and looked at the curtains dancing silently above his head.

These curtains swayed gently in the breeze, like graceful arcs passing through the air.

They sway lightly or heavily, sometimes intertwining with each other, sometimes separating, as if performing a silent but poetic dance.

Ye Hua just stared at them quietly, his thoughts gradually drifting away...

She knew that her master would never leave Qingcheng Mountain for her.

A lonely look was revealed in her gradually crystal-clear eyes, and at this moment the emotion of unrequited love was finally released.

She cried, louder than ever, tears streaming down her face, and she curled up like a tiny snail.

The master was at a loss, and didn't understand her emotions. He wanted to go forward to comfort her but couldn't move his feet, and could only pace back and forth in the room.

Ye Hua stopped crying only after the crescent moon climbed up the branch. She wiped the tears from her face and sat up from the bed.

He spoke word by word in his hoarse voice, "Master, you will still be my master from now on, but there is nothing else between us. I hope you won't cross the line again."

The master understood the meaning of drawing a clear line in her words and immediately stopped his confused steps, staring at her with cold eyes that were still unwilling to believe.

"Yehua, do you know what you are saying now?"

"I know, of course I don't. I just don't want to have anything to do with you, the leader of the world's number one sect."

Ye Hua's emotions have reached the brink of collapse, from being calm as water at the beginning to being hoarse now.

"Yehua, once I've dealt with all the matters on Qingcheng Mountain, I'll go down the mountain with you, okay?"

The master sat down quietly beside the bed, stretched out his hands and held Ye Hua in his arms, he stroked her hair gently to comfort her.

"The issue between us isn't... whether you're willing to accompany me down the mountain. It's..."

Ye Hua suddenly pushed his master down on the bed, then stood up, pointing at his nose and cursing.

"You don't love me at all. You just love my appearance which is so similar to my mother's."

Master's face turned blue and red, like an overturned color palette, as ugly as it could be.

The rage burning in his cold eyes was as if someone had exposed his shameful secret.

"How much did you see?"

The master, who was lying on the bed, suddenly flashed like a nimble carp.

With a jaw-dropping speed and posture, he suddenly jumped up and stood up steadily!

Then, his large and powerful palm stretched out as fast as lightning and pinched Ye Hua's slender white neck hard.

Almost in the blink of an eye, Ye Hua didn't even have time to react before he was firmly grasped by his master's big hand like an iron clamp.

He mercilessly pushed her whole body against the icy wall behind him!

Because the master was tall and Ye Hua was relatively petite and weak, she was lifted up high by the master at this time.

Her feet were completely off the ground, and her entire body was in an extremely twisted and unnatural posture.

"When have you ever entered my secret room?"

Ye Hua said nothing, her hands clasping the wrist of her master that was pinching her neck, and her scarlet phoenix eyes stared at him defiantly.

"When did you know that I loved your mother?"

The master's face was ferocious, and the words he spoke were filled with naked murderous intent. The strength of the hand that was pinching her neck also increased unconsciously.

Ye Hua's forehead and neck were pinched so hard that veins popped out, and his breathing became difficult and weak.

But she still didn't say a word to beg for mercy, she just stared at him with wide eyes.

Only when her eyes rolled back and were about to close did her master throw her back onto the bed.

Ye Hua fell on the bed, stretched out a hand to rub his neck, and took several deep breaths before he recovered.

She raised her head and glared at her master coldly for several times. If looks could kill, her master would have been cut into pieces by her long ago.

"You admire my mother, is that so shameful?"

"Or is it that you can't get the love you want, so you want to replace Li Jiang with Tao, and I know that you, an old immortal, are furious?"

The master waved his hand, straightened his back, put his hands behind his back, narrowed his eyes and stared at Ye Hua mysteriously, muttering to himself.

There are so many shameful picture albums in that secret room, and I don’t know how many you have seen. If your mother knew about the dirty things I did in private, she would definitely punish me.

But it was also fortunate that she died early. She actually gave up her position as an immortal for an insignificant little demon, and ended up being deserted by everyone.

"If your mother hadn't threatened to kill herself, would I have let your mother marry an unknown little demon? I've been so good to her, but she just can't see me. What can I do, what can I do..."

At this moment, Master had gone mad when he recalled the past about Ye Hua's mother.

His eyes were bloodshot, and the corners of his eyes were extremely red and swollen. His black hair instantly turned white, and the bulging veins all over his body told of his unwillingness and regret.

"In the end, you ended up having your immortal bones dug out, and you entrusted me with you, asking me to protect you for a lifetime of peace and prosperity. I gave in to her in everything..."

"I begged her not to leave, but in the end she chose to die with that man, not even giving me a chance to take care of her..."

As they spoke, tears had already soaked their cheeks. Ye Hua couldn't believe that his master, such a pure and simple person, would do such a thing for his mother.

Seeing that her master had gone mad, the evil intentions in his eyes became more and more obvious as he looked at her. Only then did Ye Hua remember how to calm him down.

"Master, I... I just saw the portrait of my mother in your secret room, otherwise I wouldn't have gone down the mountain for so many years without returning..."

The master didn't listen to what she said at all, but just rushed forward and pressed her down on the bed.

"I originally wanted to treat you like my own daughter, but after passing the imperial examination, you were so attentive and fawning towards me. What's the matter? Today, I gave in to you, and you're not happy?"

The master's big hands, like a palm-leaf fan, easily grasped her two wrists, which were as thin as lotus roots.

She raised her hands high, as if to press them against the sky above her head.

His other hand lifted her delicate chin like a pair of pliers and looked at her carefully.

From time to time, he would blow his hot breath gently like a spring breeze onto her face, which was as white as mutton-fat jade.

"Master, take a good look at yourself now. You don't look like the person I used to like at all..."

Ye Hua shook his hand away from his face with a flick of his head, then turned around and glared at him angrily.

He reached out and pinched her stubborn face again, saying, "Do you really want me to return to my previous appearance..."

"Get off me right now! I will never be someone else's substitute, even if that person is my mother!"

Ye Hua raised his right leg and hit his master's lower abdomen with a knee and elbow.

Master's body is like a solid wall of iron.

Ye Hua's knees hurt so much that her lower body curled up and her face wrinkled into a ball.

"Girl, can't you be more honest? Although you are very similar to your mother, in my eyes, you are different..."

The master raised the corner of his mouth and smiled contemptuously, then lowered his head and kissed Ye Hua's neck.

You are not even a fraction as good as your mother, the only thing you resemble is her face...

"Master, Master... Your disciple knows his mistake. I will never say anything bad about my mother again. My mother is your most beloved junior sister. Naturally, no one can compare to her..."

"Um······"

"Master, you promised my mother that you would take good care of me, how could you treat me like this..."

The master turned a deaf ear to all her sobbing words and just lingered on her.

The warm touch, the increasingly rapid breathing, and the rising body temperature scared Ye Hua so much that he didn't dare to move at all.

The more she struggled, the more strength he put in his hands, and the kisses that fell like rain became more and more unstoppable.

"Brother, Li Li, save me..."

Ye Hua screamed with a hoarse throat.

"Mother, save me, Qingye mother, save me..."

Just as Ye Hua shouted out her mother's name at the top of her lungs, time seemed to freeze at that moment.

The master's hands, which were frantically tearing off her snow-white dress, suddenly stopped moving, and the whole person woke up instantly as if struck by lightning.

However, at this time, the plain clothes had been torn into tatters and it was almost unrecognizable.

But the master still stretched out his hand tremblingly and gently covered her delicate body with the plain clothes that had long been torn into strips.

It seemed as if he wanted to use this method to make up for the mistake he had just made. Then, with a look of regret on his face, he rolled off her and lay heavily beside her.

He had his eyes tightly closed, with a strong arm across his eyes, covering his face that was full of pain and regret.

After a moment's silence, he finally couldn't help but let out a low and weak roar.

"What on earth did I do?!"

These words echoed in the air like the howl of a wounded beast, lingering for a long time.

Ye Hua was frightened by his brutal behavior and turned pale, not daring to move at all. Only when he saw that he had no further action did he move his numb body.

But the noise she made displeased the master. When he saw her tearful face, he became even more annoyed and started cursing.

"Get out! Without my permission, you are not allowed to take even a single step out of Qingcheng Mountain."

Ye Hua, who had lost his soul, rolled and crawled out of the bed, staggering out of the hall with unsteady steps.

Li Li, who was hiding on the eaves in the distance, saw everything that Ye Hua had experienced clearly.

After Ye Hua walked out of the palace, he ran all the way until he reached a remote valley in Qingcheng Mountain.

She collapsed on the ground, her heart filled with despair and confusion.

Li Li followed quietly, took off his coat and covered her with it, then sat down beside her.

Then, he asked tremblingly in a low voice: "Master, I hope he didn't do anything to you?"

"Woooo..."

"Master, you have always been patient and restrained. In my opinion, your feelings for you have long gone beyond that of a master and a disciple. Perhaps he was a little impulsive today..."

"Woooo..."

"And don't you like Master? Why are you so depressed now?"

Ye Hua was even more confused by Li Li's three consecutive questions, so he started to retort.

"Look at me like this. He's definitely not just impulsive. No matter how I teased him before, he always turned a blind eye and sent me away..."

"Maybe he loves you so much he can't help himself, or maybe he sees you pleading for other men, or even fighting against him for other men..."

"That caused the master to become jealous and act like this in the heat of the moment."

Li Li guiltily excused his most respected master, his eyes fixed on the crescent moon in the sky, not daring to look at Ye Hua for even a second longer.

He was afraid that his faith would collapse in an instant when he saw her red and swollen eyes from crying.