Lu Wuming actually didn't want to agree at all.
After all, his favorite gift was Liu Buli himself. If Liu Buli wasn't by his side, any gift would pale in comparison.
He didn't care, he didn't want anything.
He only wanted his master, nothing else mattered.
Having quickly reached this conclusion in his heart, Lu Wuming tightened his embrace around Liu Buli's waist. He nuzzled his head against the other's neck and said, "Master, I don't want any gifts, and I don't want that pill. Can't you just stay by my side forever? Why do you have to go into seclusion?"
Because you're too much trouble!
If I'm with you, I can't calm down to study these things!
Liu Buli responded angrily in his heart.
But looking at Lu Wuming's pathetic appearance, he really couldn't bring himself to say these words.
After a moment of silence, he sighed and said, "Be good, how about this: when I'm in seclusion, you can wait for me in the courtyard of the pill room. That way, when I come out after my research, you'll be the first person I see. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, perhaps you'll fall in love with me, your master, for a second time then?"
"No," Lu Wuming shook his head. "I've always loved Master, with the same intensity, it can't get any deeper."
Liu Buli was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
He felt like he was currently raising a disobedient child.
But what could he do? He had to indulge his own disciple.
Calming himself, he spoke to Lu Wuming for a long time. After much bargaining, Lu Wuming finally agreed to the month-long seclusion, and the matter was settled.
Liu Buli took the materials and prescriptions he needed and entered the pill room. Lu Wuming, as they had agreed, took a mat and sat in the courtyard outside the pill room to cultivate.
This was the longest time he had been separated from Liu Buli since entering the sect.
For the first three days of waiting, Lu Wuming meditated and cultivated without eating or drinking, his mind filled with Liu Buli's image. Although he had always known that his love for Liu Buli was bordering on madness, this was the first time he clearly realized that without Liu Buli by his side, his heart would feel as if it had died, causing him immense pain.
On the morning of the fourth day, as dawn broke, Lu Wuming stood up and went to eat. At his level of cultivation, cultivators didn't really need to eat and wouldn't feel hungry. However, his master had told him to eat and sleep on time to grow taller and stronger. So, Lu Wuming obediently ate and slept as before, and even took a bath every day to keep himself clean.
This way, when his master finished his seclusion, he would be the cleanest person to greet him.
Master was a clean person. If he were covered in dirt, Master wouldn't push him away, but he would definitely be uncomfortable.
Lu Wuming thought, his anticipation for Liu Buli's return growing.
As the days passed, Lu Wuming increasingly felt that he had overestimated his own patience.
He shouldn't have agreed to a month in the first place.
If the time had been shorter, say seven days... no, three days. Ideally, he wouldn't have let Liu Buli go into seclusion for even a day; that would have been the most correct approach.
On the twenty-ninth day, Lu Wuming stood at the entrance of the pill room. He told himself that if his master didn't come out tomorrow, he would rush in and destroy the house.
He wanted to ensure his master could never enter again, and never make him wait alone for so long.
Lu Wuming ran a hand through his hair.
He realized how much he had changed compared to before.
In the past, he had spent so many years alone without feeling any hardship. He hated humans, and even more so, he hated having people around him.
But now, after just a month without companionship, he was on the verge of madness.
It was truly strange.
But he liked his current madness.
The next morning, as the sun just rose in the east, Lu Wuming stood up and walked to the entrance of the pill room. Looking at the wooden door before him, he had already imagined countless ways to dismantle it in his mind.
In the end, he decided to use a gentler method.
As he reached out to touch the door, it was pushed open from the inside.
After a month apart, Liu Buli's appearance had not changed at all.
Seeing Lu Wuming at the door, he chuckled and said, "Wuming, you've been waiting for me impatiently, haven't you? I... ah!"
Before he could finish, Liu Buli was pulled into a tight embrace by Lu Wuming.
He held him so tightly, as if he wanted to meld Liu Buli into his own body.
Liu Buli found it a bit difficult to breathe, but he knew how much the other had missed him. He could only smile helplessly, rub Lu Wuming's head, and say, "Wuming, Master succeeded! I made the legendary pill that no one could make. Aren't you happy for me?"
Lu Wuming did not reply.
He merely tightened his grip on Liu Buli, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Master, you said you would give me a gift. I only want one gift. Can you give it to me now?"