Female Emperor was standing still on the glacier like a sculpture right now.
Her eyes were still closed tightly and there was no expression on her face.
However, the bottom of her dress which was flying showed her fretful mood.
Past memories deep down her heart kept rushing back to her.
She couldn’t forget the sunny afternoon on the Jade Sky Peak that day. That very year, a seemingly ordinary thing had changed her life and her destiny from then on.
For her, it was the beginning of everything.
At that time, her master had brought back a little girl around four or five years old all of a sudden.
That little girl looked dainty and smart. Jie Mingkong had been fond of this little girl at the first glance.
And Jie Mingkong still remembered all the words they had spoken on that day.
“Master, who is this child? Is she your new disciple?” that was how she asked her master.
The reaction of her master was a bit strange. After a moment of silence, he answered, “She’s the daughter of my friend. But I’ll take her as my disciple from today. We’ll all live together.”
“She’s still young, Mingkong, you need to take good care of her.”
At that time, Jie Mingkong had been much more outgoing than now. Then she said with a smile, “Of course. Master, you can count on me.”
Chen Xuanzong nodded lightly while telling Jie Mingkong that this little girl’s parents were both dead by sound transmission secretly.
Jie Mingkong took pity on this little girl after hearing that. Then she bent over and held the little girl in her arms, saying, “This place is your home now. I’m your Senior apprentice-sister. Everything you need, just come to me.”
The little girl was still in a muddled situation and couldn’t understand what Jie Mingkong meant.
However, she did feel the kindness from Jie Mingkong.
The little girl also liked this young lady in white who was super pretty. So she didn’t reject being held up by Jie Mingkong and had no fear of this stranger. Instead, she laughed happily.
Seeing this little girl’s reaction, Jie Mingkong also got pleased and returned a nice smile.
The white-haired man who stood beside them watched this scene with a gentle expression in his eyes. However, there was another kind of emotion hiding in the deep of his eyes.
That emotion was something beyond Jie Mingkong.
She only had a feeling that she and the little girl in front of her would get along well in the future.
And Jie Mingkong was happy to have the little girl as her junior apprentice-sister.
“What’s your name?” Jie Mingkong asked the little girl in her arms smilingly.
“Lili…” the little girl answered lovely, “My name is Lili.”
“Chu Lili.” Chen Xuanzong who had been staring at them quietly suddenly said that.
Hearing his words, Jie Mingkong was in a daze for a second. Then she asked, “Chu… Lili? Master, I remember you have an old friend whose last name is Chu. That’s senior Chu, Chu Heng. Is Lili his daughter?”
Chen Xuanzong nodded and stopped talking.
Jie Mingkong didn’t pay too much attention to her master’s reply at that time.
And she only learned what that name meant until later.
Because Jie Mingkong found that Chu Lili was not like her.
She could walk freely in the World beyond Worlds. Everyone knew she was the personal disciple of Astro Sovereign.
However, Chu Lili could only live in the Jade Sky Peak. Even after she had formally acknowledged Chen Xuanzong as her master, Chu Lili was still not allowed to live in the Cold Wave Locale with Xie Mingkong. Instead, she lived in the back mountain by herself.
Chen Xuanzong, Earthly Sovereign and Concealed Sovereign were the ones who acknowledged her being there from the beginning. Except for them, nearly none of the top experts in the World beyond Worlds knew about Chu Lili’s existence.
And Jie Mingkong, Yue Zhenbei and Wang Zhengcheng were the only exceptions.
Luckily, Chu Lili was an optimistic girl. Although she often felt lonely, she still managed to grow up in peace.
Also, she was very close to Jie Mingkong, Yue Zhenbei and other few people whom she always met in daily life.
Because she had been too young when she had become the disciple of Chen Xuanzong, Jie Mingkong had cared for her since her childhood. So Jie Mingkong was more like a sister or a mother to Chu Lili.
As time went by, Jie Mingkong finally learned what had happened to Chu Heng.
She also realized the difference Chu Lili had from ordinary people.
However, since they were both disciples of Chen Xuanzong and could see each other every day, Jie Mingkong always got softhearted by Chu Lili’s happy smile.
She really hoped that her master’s attempt could succeed.
However, Jie Mingkong also detected other signs from Chu Lili as this little girl grew up day by day.
Now Chu Lili was a young girl who was longing for love now. And the man she had crush on was her master…
She had the closest relationship with Jie Mingkong and had never hidden anything from her Senior apprentice-sister.
In fact, she had already made her feelings so obvious. So Jie Mingkong was not the only one who knew about that.
This extremely optimistic young girl had no intention to hide her feelings. She especially hoped that her master could know how she felt.
“Senior apprentice-sister, do you think our master still regard me as a little child?” Chu Lili pouted and told Jie Mingkong her trouble depressingly. However, Jie Mingkong didn’t know how to respond.
Because she wanted Chu Lili to give up her affection to their master.
But she didn’t have the right to tell Chu Lili to give up.
Not only because Chu Lili trusted her, it was also because Jie Mingkong had also fallen in love with their master…Unlike Chu Lili, she just kept her feelings to herself.
Nevertheless, every time Jie Mingkong saw her Junior apprentice-sister expressing love to their master, she had a fretful feeling.
She had a strong impulsion to do the same thing as Chu Lili.
Even if she could only do it for once.
However, every time she was about to confess to her master, all of her courage just disappeared like snow smelting under the sun when she looked into Chen Xuanzong’s eyes. She didn’t know what happened to that decisive herself in the ordinary times.
Then one day when it was only a few days from Chu Lili’s birthday, Chen Xuanzong suddenly called Jie Mingkong over.
When she arrived, she saw a cute, short legged little beast which was like a white fox.
“A Feifei? A baby Feifei…” Jie Mingkong recognized its species right away. Then Chen Xuanzong said, “This is the birthday gift for Lili this year. I know you always accompany her, but you are getting busy lately. I’m afraid she will get bored living in the back mountain alone. I hope this Feifei could divert her from boredom.”
“Remember to give this Feifei to her on her birthday. She can also grow up by learning how to take care of this little creature.”
With her eyes flickering, Jie Mingkong tried to say something. However, none of the words in her heart came out of her mouth.
After a long while, she only spitted one sentence, “Are you going to be somewhere else on Lili’s birthday?”
“No.” Chen Xuanzong shook his head.
“Then you can present it to Lili by yourself. Isn’t that the tradition since her childhood?” Jie Mingkong couldn’t help saying that at last.
With her voice lowered, she continued, “Lili would be so happy if you can give the gift to her in person, Master.”
With her voice lowered, she continued, “Lili would be so happy if you can give the gift to her in person, Master.”
“This year is a bit different,” said Chen Xuanzong in his calm tone as usual. “Lili seems to have some different feelings for me… She’s my disciple and also the daughter of my friend. I should distance myself from her from now on. After all, she is a girl and I am a man. I have been so inconsiderate before. I’ll have to take some measures before it’s too late.”
Jie Mingkong was surprised at the first, then she felt happy about that.
After that, she felt sorry for Chu Lili because of the feelings she had just had.
At last, the only feeling in her heart was sadness.
She was also Chen Xuanzong’s disciple…
Suddenly, she decided to struggle for herself for the first time. Maybe because she had suppressed her feelings for too long. She uttered those words, “Master, can I also ask for a gift from you this year…”
