The light in the room was dim, and Ye Tiancheng suddenly realized it. He quickly asked Pang Zi to turn on the light. After Pang Zi flipped the switch, both of them were shocked. Lin Xue looked utterly dejected, more so than they had ever seen her.
"What's wrong, Xue'er? Tell Master what happened. Don't bottle it up inside. Master doesn't want to see you sad and in pain."
Ye Tiancheng's voice trembled. His eyes had already been red before he came in, and now seeing his once ethereal disciple in such a sorry state made anyone's heart ache.
"Master, I'm fine. Just a small matter happened recently. I can get through it."
Ye Tiancheng's tears flowed again. It must be because of the curse. Otherwise, how could Lin Xue, who existed like a goddess, fall from grace so suddenly? There must be something behind this.
"Alright, then Master will go through it with you."
Pang Zi, standing beside them, realized that both master and disciple were in an extreme state. The best course of action was to control their emotions and prevent their negative feelings from escalating further.
"Alright, I see Miss Xue is fine. Let's not waste any more time. Let's tidy up here first. We can talk about things slowly. As long as nothing major has happened, it's fine."
Actually, Pang Zi's words were quite reasonable. Lin Xue might look miserable, but nothing truly terrible had happened. She was just not in good spirits at the moment. She wasn't missing limbs or anything, so the problem shouldn't be too big.
"Okay, there will definitely be no problems. My disciple is blessed with great fortune."
After Ye Tiancheng finished speaking, he helped Lin Xue to sit on the bed. Meanwhile, Pang Zi was tidying up the room. The two brothers cooperated well, ensuring they wouldn't be a burden to anyone. They displayed absolute maturity in handling this matter.
Lin Xue leaned on Ye Tiancheng's shoulder, so weak that it seemed only by leaning on her master could she barely support herself. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to stand it at all.
"Xue'er, if you feel unwell anywhere, tell Master. Although I am your master on the surface, you can consider me your brother or even your father; it doesn't matter. I just hope that when you are most distressed, you won't have any reservations with me and will be willing to rely on me."
Before Ye Tiancheng arrived, Lin Xue's days had been shrouded in darkness. Now that she finally had someone to support her, Lin Xue naturally shed her usual cold demeanor and transformed into an ordinary girl her age, willing to confide in him about her troubles.
"Master, I'm a bit hungry. I drank wine all day today and haven't eaten a single bite of food, so my stomach is empty now and I feel hungry."
The worst thing was if Lin Xue had no requests. As long as she voiced a request, it was a good sign. At least it showed Ye Tiancheng that Lin Xue still had the instinct to survive, rather than appearing completely unwilling to live, which would cause great worry.
"Alright, I'll make you food right away."
Pang Zi overheard Ye Tiancheng's words. He was always proactive when it came to such matters, as cooking was his domain. If someone else took over his job, Pang Zi would feel quite disappointed.
Pang Zi went into the kitchen and found only some dried noodles and a few not-so-fresh eggs in the refrigerator. Pang Zi knew that ingredients were crucial for cooking. As the saying goes, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice. No matter how skilled one is, good ingredients are necessary to truly create delicious food.
"Brother Ye, you take care of Miss Xue for a moment. I'll go to the supermarket downstairs to buy some things."
This house needed to be cleaned. It didn't matter to Ye Tiancheng and Pang Zi whether Lin Xue's residence was just a temporary rental or not. What they needed to do was to ensure Lin Xue lived in a good environment. The current state was absolutely unacceptable.
"Okay, go quickly and come back quickly. Xue'er must be quite hungry. Try not to make Xue'er wait too long."
In Ye Tiancheng's eyes, Lin Xue had reached a state of extreme weakness. At this moment, she needed even more meticulous care, much like taking care of a child. Ye Tiancheng could not afford even the slightest oversight.
"Master, I hope you don't treat me like a child. I'm fine. It's just because of the curse that I experienced a love tribulation and met a scumbag. But I didn't suffer any losses. It's just that psychologically, I can't get past this. I know it's the curse's effect, but the effect is too powerful, and I can't control my heart at all."
Lin Xue suddenly bringing up matters of romance surprised Ye Tiancheng. After all, in Ye Tiancheng's perception, Lin Xue was like someone who didn't eat human food. Anyone might fall in love and get involved with men, but he could never have imagined that Lin Xue, who was so isolated from the world, seemed disconnected from humanity, and didn't seem to have many friends, could actually be in love.
"You actually had a love tribulation?"
"It's because of the curse that I happened to fall for a complete scumbag. My greatest pain recently has also come from that scumbag. I didn't want to have any entanglement with that scumbag, but I couldn't control the steps of fate. I had no choice, Master. The story is too long."
It was evident that in just a few days, Lin Xue's entire demeanor had changed. Undoubtedly, there were stories that couldn't be spoken aloud. Ye Tiancheng understood that being affected by a curse, and with Lin Xue having no experience in love, it was inevitable for her to suffer some setbacks.
"Alright, you're still hungry. Don't think too much about it for now. Your Brother Pang will finish cooking soon. You can fill your stomach a little first."
Everyone believes their disciple is the best person in the world. No matter what Lin Xue had gone through before, Ye Tiancheng would definitely stand by his disciple. Others were definitely in the wrong. He didn't care and didn't want to hear anything about others. What he truly cared about was only Lin Xue, and that would never change.
"Okay, let's eat first. I really want to eat scrambled eggs with tomatoes made by Brother Pang."
Lin Xue now had a sense of weathered tranquility. While eating, she didn't think about eating delicacies. She simply felt that simplicity was the best. Looking back, she realized that what she had always pursued were the most down-to-earth things.
"Your Brother Pang's cooking has been getting better and better recently. I want scrambled eggs with tomatoes too. Let your Brother Pang arrange it later. Xue'er, don't think too much. You're not alone anymore. With Master by your side, no one can bully you. As long as Master is here, I will clear all obstacles for you. If anyone dares to bully you, Master will fight them to the death!"
The mention of fighting to the death seemed to strike a nerve in Lin Xue. "Master, I have nothing left to lose. I only hope that you, Brother Pang, and Phoenix will always stay by my side. Don't fight to the death, and don't hurt yourselves. I just hope you all will be well."
The Lin Xue before had never had such negative thoughts, nor had she had much understanding of this world. However, after experiencing some hardships, people truly change. Things she had never considered before, she was now slowly learning to think about.
"Alright, Xue'er, stop talking. The more you say, the more my heart aches for you. It's okay, Master is here for everything. In short, I won't let you be hurt again."
Pang Zi didn't dare to go too far, mainly to avoid wasting time. It was obvious to everyone that Lin Xue was truly starving, looking pale and thin. The best comfort for her wasn't any words, but rather to let her eat a good meal.
Pang Zi's cooking skills were also good. Soon, there were sounds from the kitchen. Most importantly, the aroma of the food. Food that can change a person's mood is the greatest meaning of food's existence.
Pang Zi was also meticulous with the ingredients. The meat used for stir-fried green peppers with meat was entirely lean, without any fat, and very fresh. He also made a bowl of tofu soup. Although the meatballs in the tofu soup were not handmade by Pang Zi but were frozen, which had a slight impact on the effect, the overall impact was not significant, as Pang Zi possessed a power to turn decay into magic.
When the two dishes and one soup were served, Lin Xue finally felt like she had come back to life. Before, she had been in a state of drowning, but now she could finally breathe air again.
When she tasted the food, Lin Xue's expression softened. Unlike when Ye Tiancheng and Pang Zi first saw her, where they felt a sense of gloom and an eerie, ghost-like feeling, which was not good. Fortunately, now she had regained some vitality, and her appearance was no longer so despairing.
"Brother Pang, your cooking is still as delicious as ever. After eating your food, I suddenly found the meaning of living again."
This statement alerted Ye Tiancheng. A person who had no thoughts of death would never say such a thing. Ye Tiancheng even began to suspect if Lin Xue had ever thought about ending her life. The more he thought about it, the more distressed he became. Ye Tiancheng grabbed Lin Xue's wrist and used his qi to probe her.
A terrifying scene instantly appeared in Ye Tiancheng's mind. People without cultivation could not probe others' privacy. The reason Ye Tiancheng could see past events was due to his unique true qi.
The woman cutting her wrists with a knife in the bathroom was someone Ye Tiancheng could not believe was his beloved disciple.
Ye Tiancheng emerged from Lin Xue's memory, his eyes wide open, his breathing rapid, like a fish stranded on the shore, about to die.
"Xue'er, why would you think of such a thing? So many people love and cherish you, yet you chose this path. If it weren't for your powerful spiritual energy that rapidly healed your wounds, if you were just an ordinary mortal woman, such deep wounds could have been fatal."
Death never favors anyone. If you court death, you will surely not live. Everyone knows that if one bleeds out, they will definitely leave this world. No one will be favored by the god of death.
"At that time, I couldn't bear it anymore. Even breathing was painful. Every second of living felt like enduring the most cruel torture in this world. I was so resentful and didn't want to be defeated like this. The only way was to leave this world. If I didn't feel pain, no one could control my thoughts anymore, nor could they make me sad."
Ye Tiancheng couldn't blame Lin Xue at all, because all this misfortune was caused by him. It was because of the curse that Lin Xue had to endure those past hardships.