He quickly took two steps forward, intending to raise his hand to wipe her tears, but, mindful of his status, he halted his hand in mid-air.
The little girl said she was wearing a black robe, which to her looked like a big hoodie.
Chen Ye glanced over and saw the little face under the hood, crying with a red little nose. His heart ached at the sight.
The little girl claimed to be in disguise, but there were flaws everywhere.
Yet, although she seemed clumsy, she was actually a smart child.
These flaws precisely indicated that she did it intentionally.
She hoped her master would recognize her at a glance but was worried that he wouldn’t, so she deliberately left flaws...
How could such a little scheme hide from Chen Ye, the expert on little girls?
"Alright, alright, don’t cry anymore."
Chen Ye’s voice unconsciously softened, though he still kept his tone low,
"Crying like a little kitten. Did your master... abandon you? Impossible, who would be willing to abandon such a cute little girl. If I were your master, I would wish to hold you in my arms all day."
Qing Jun was even more saddened, crying and rebutting: "He... he really did abandon me! He’s hiding someone else... um... hiding a senior sister... not hiding Qing Jun! Bad master, always holding the senior sister, sleeping with the senior sister, but never with Qing Jun!"
The final sentence was said quite smoothly.
This showed that the little girl had thought of this sentence a long time ago.
Chen Ye was taken aback; he could also feel Zhiwei moving uneasily in his arms, looking somewhat guilty.
What if...
What if the little girl discovered that her senior sister was right there in his arms? Wouldn’t that be terribly sad for her?
Chen Ye was not angry at the little girl’s unreasonable troublemaking.
On deeper thought... the little apprentice was indeed wronged, and it’s not her fault for acting like a little girl.
After all, she was just a little girl...
Chen Ye almost couldn’t resist reaching out to pat the little one’s head, but just then, a faint yet icy gaze landed on him, clinging to him like a remnant sore.
This person did not hide, and the gaze was akin to their warning.
"Foundation Establishment Third-Layer!"
Chen Ye’s gaze deepened as he suppressed his thoughts and started coaxing Qing Jun,
"Alright, alright, little kid’s temper. Don’t just say you don’t want your master anymore. I think your master might just be nearby finding a place to squat. If he hears that when he comes back, he might be sad."
The phrase "finding a place to squat" made Qing Jun, immersed in her grievances, pause, her phoenix eyes glistening with tears, carrying a touch of bewilderment and disdain.
She still remembered that day when her senior sister wanted to wipe her master...
She was totally disgusted.
Seeing her cries had eased a bit, Chen Ye seized the opportunity to shift to the side and pointed at the pile of rubble: "Seeing you crying so pitifully, it seems like there’s an unripe Spiritual Berry in that crack over there? Sour and tangy, would you like it? Take it as a sweet treat?"
He had completely adopted the tone of coaxing a child.
Qing Jun glanced in the direction he pointed, her tearful eyes blurry, but she didn’t move.
She wasn’t here for a Spiritual Berry! She came to get an explanation from her master!
"Don’t want it? Then forget it." Chen Ye shrugged, appearing utterly unconcerned, "Tsk, troublesome little crybaby. Whose child is this? Quickly take her home! I’ve got things to do."
He made a stance as if he was about to turn and leave.
The black robe swirled, truly displaying an indifferent attitude of not wanting to meddle further.
The little girl, at this moment, neither cried nor made a fuss, just stood there dazed.
The light in her eyes gradually dimmed.
"Sigh..."
Chen Ye eventually couldn’t hold back.
Whatever Xu Henshan, whatever guards, all were shredded by the little girl’s gloomy gaze.
He reached out, pulling the soft, small, and pitiful kitten into his embrace, ruffling her hair vigorously, allowing her snot and tears to smear all over his front.
"..." Qing Jun looked at him blankly, still not quite comprehending.
"How could the master not recognize his own disciple?"
Chen Ye pinched her red nose, already prepared for any confrontation.
But strangely enough,
Previously, ever since Qing Jun had started crying, that cold gaze had been fixed on him, but when he cradled Qing Jun in his arms, instead... the warning vanished?
"You... you’re my master?"
Qing Jun rubbed her red eyes, her voice muffled,
"Qing Jun didn’t realize you were master at all, if master hadn’t said so, Qing Jun wouldn’t have known... After all, master is quite ordinary, Qing Jun really couldn’t recognize you."
The little girl repeated several times that she couldn’t recognize her master, though it was unclear what she wanted to emphasize.
Chen Ye gently took her small hands, which were clenched into tiny fists, into his larger ones and laughed: "But master recognized Qing Jun at a glance."
"Master is lying!" The little girl didn’t believe it, pouting, her big watery eyes staring at her master, clearly still a bit expectant.
To be precise, Chen Ye sensed something was amiss at the first glance and only recognized it was Qing Jun at the second glance.
After all, when someone suddenly attacks you, how could you recognize them at the first glance?
But in any case, saying he recognized Qing Jun at a glance wasn’t a lie.
"Master didn’t lie, it’s just... master is concerned, you have guards behind you. As you’ve noticed, master is not in a good situation and cannot be discovered by the Xu Family."
Chen Ye pressed his forehead against his disciple’s soft one, her long eyelashes fluttering before his eyes, those pretty eyes staring steadily at him.
Through the faint mist left behind,
"But master, how could he bear to see Qing Jun sad? Even if it means opposing the world..." Chen Ye sweet-talked the little girl.
"Master..."
The little girl was once again dumbfounded, unconsciously snuggling in her master’s embrace, through this cuddling could sense the senior sister hiding beneath the master’s robe.
She bit her lip, pressing hard against her master’s head, realizing she couldn’t move him, she pouted, clearly dissatisfied.
"That... hmph, Qing Jun isn’t a fool! She’s one of Qing Jun’s subordinates!"