"Then why were you muttering just now, saying something about ‘the greatest humiliation’?" Jieyou narrowed her eyes, her tone turning colder, and her eyes full of scrutiny. "Do you think my hearing is so bad that I can’t hear you? Tell me—who is this ‘greatest humiliation’ referring to?"

  Qiu Ling’s heart skipped a beat, secretly thinking that he was in trouble—he had never met such powerful people in his life. Both Palace Master Jieyou and the mysterious National Teacher were beyond his ability to resist. He originally wanted to say "powerful enemy", but when the words reached his lips, he was afraid of triggering the little ancestor’s bad temper, so he quickly changed it to "powerful person". He secretly thought: If I add "beautiful woman" to praise her, will I be punished less? It seems that he still had a lot to learn about the art of pleasing the palace master!

  "The greatest humiliation... I was talking about myself!" Qiu Ling put on a sorrowful face and quickly explained, his tone full of grievance and flattery. "I’m not as skilled as you, Your Highness. I was overconfident and dared to break into Yiyun Palace. Being easily captured by you is purely my own fault! To me, this is the greatest humiliation!"

  "The greatest humiliation?" Jieyou’s eyebrows shot up, and anger instantly flared up. "You’re a prisoner of war. Being able to practice with me is your blessing. How dare you be picky and complain secretly? Asking for a beating!"

  "No, no! It’s my mistake in understanding! I’m stupid and said the wrong thing! Your Highness, don’t be angry! I’ll never dare again!" Qiu Ling turned pale with fear, repeatedly explaining, and even wanted to slap himself.

  Before Qiu Ling could finish speaking, Jieyou raised her hand, and several dazzling golden lights flew from her fingertips. When the golden lights landed, they instantly turned into small golden palms the size of a palm, slapping Qiu Ling repeatedly—some slapped his face, some patted his arms, specifically targeting the most painful parts of his body. The force was not strong, but it was enough to torment him.

  At first, Qiu Ling begged for mercy, screaming his lungs out. But after being slapped for a while, he found that although the golden palms hurt, they couldn’t hurt his foundation. He simply threw caution to the wind and let the golden palms hit him, secretly thinking: Just kill me! It will be a relief, and I won’t have to suffer this pain here anymore!

  But he forgot—being confined in spirit didn’t mean his physical fitness had declined. He was still at the Heavenly Human Realm foundation. With just these ordinary-strength golden palms, even if they slapped him for a hundred years, they couldn’t kill him. They would only make him endure this piercing pain over and over again.

  The pain was real, hitting his body again and again, making him grin in pain and twitch all over. After enduring for a while, Qiu Ling felt that it was too bad to resist like this. He simply opened his throat and let out exaggerated screams, worse than a pig being slaughtered, deliberately pretending to be in extreme pain.

  Unexpectedly, this trick worked—Jieyou hated this kind of howling the most. Whether it was from humans or other creatures, it sounded extremely noisy, making her scalp tingle. She frowned, impatiently waved her hand to withdraw the golden palms, and shouted at him angrily: "Dare you do it again in the future?"

  "Absolutely not! I’ll never dare to complain secretly or mutter behind your back again! Please spare me, Your Highness!" Qiu Ling begged for mercy repeatedly, nodding his head like a woodpecker, his face full of flattery and fear, not even daring to breathe heavily.

  Palace Master Jieyou snorted coldly, ignored him, turned around and left, flipping her skirt in arrogance and anger, leaving Qiu Ling lying on the ground, gasping for breath, his whole body sore and aching.

  In the days that followed, Jieyou didn’t trouble Qiu Ling again, and didn’t even show her face. This made Qiu Ling heave a sigh of relief, thinking that he could finally repair the side palace in peace, and then slowly find a way to escape.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  In fact, that night, Jieyou had already thought of two plans in her heart, but she had been hesitant:

  First, let him go back. After all, although he broke into the palace and poisoned the water, he didn’t really hurt anyone in Yiyun Palace, nor did he commit any heinous crimes. She had acted on impulse and taught him a lesson, which was indeed a bit unreasonable.

  Second, take him with her to roam the jianghu—he came from the jianghu and was familiar with the rules and ways of the jianghu. She had never left Yiyun Valley in her life and was about to go out to explore the jianghu. Having a guide by her side would always be better and help her avoid detours.

  But she was also faintly worried. Xiao Bai had been hiding on her. If Xiao Bai appeared in the future and was discovered by Qiu Ling, revealing Xiao Bai’s existence, it would be troublesome. Xiao Bai was her little secret, and she didn’t want anyone to disturb him.

  Hesitant, she wanted to find Qiu Ling to test his feelings and ask if he was willing to go out of the palace with her. But as soon as she approached, she heard him mutter something about "the greatest humiliation". Jieyou, who was already extremely sensitive and concerned about the size of her chest, immediately thought he was mocking her. Anger flared up instantly, and she completely forgot her original intention of coming, her mind filled with teaching this arrogant prisoner a lesson.

  If Qiu Ling knew that he had missed the chance to regain his freedom just because of an unintentional "greatest humiliation", he would probably be so grief-stricken that he would beg to die on the spot.

  Especially after Jieyou left, the National Teacher gave him extra "care", tormenting him in all sorts of ways—sometimes making him clean up more ruins, sometimes making him carry more water and chop more firewood, and even testing him with formations from time to time. It made him suffer unspeakably and grow thinner day by day. This also made him more convinced of what his senior brothers had said before—if all women were this vicious and vengeful, he would rather be a bachelor for the rest of his life than marry!

  Full of absurd words, a handful of bitter tears. Everyone says the author is crazy, but who understands the feeling behind it? Qiu Ling’s mood at this moment was probably like this—full of grievances, but nowhere to vent, only able to endure it all in silence.

  A few days later, Jieyou couldn’t hold back her longing for the jianghu any longer. She secretly took Miss Jiu and left Yiyun Palace without telling the National Teacher. After leaving the valley, she found a quiet pond and stopped temporarily.

  The pond was not big, but the water was clear and rippling, sparkling in the light. The plants and trees by the bank were lush, reflecting in the water, creating a scene of sky and water merging into one, extremely quiet and beautiful. She carefully placed Miss Jiu on the soft grass by the pond, then sat on a bluestone beside her, facing the water, and slowly braided her hair into pigtails—this hairstyle had taken her a long time to practice in private. It was both cute and beautiful, and she had been waiting to show it off after leaving the palace.

  But halfway through braiding, she frowned again, secretly hesitating: She was the palace master of Yiyun Palace after all, dignified and noble. Braiding such cute pigtails—would it be too childish? Would people in the jianghu laugh at her?

  She glanced sideways, only to see that Miss Jiu didn’t care about her hesitation at all. She was lying lazily on the soft grass without touching the water, sleeping soundly, her little head nodding from time to time, as if she was smiling at the corner of her mouth, looking cute and lovely.

  "What a lazy bird!" Jieyou gently poked her fluffy down, her tone full of doting, not the least bit really angry.

  She had originally thought that once she left the palace, she could let go completely and let Miss Jiu show her true form as a red-crowned phoenix, so that she could show off in the jianghu and let everyone know that by the side of the palace master of Yiyun Palace, there was a divine beast accompanying her. But before leaving, the National Teacher had repeatedly told her to keep a low profile, not to easily reveal Miss Jiu’s true form, and not to flaunt her identity, so as to avoid unnecessary trouble.

  "Hmph, I’ve never been high-profile before—what’s the point of being humble!" Jieyou pouted, her tone full of dissatisfaction, but her hands didn’t stop. Her fingers moved nimbly, and soon, two cute pigtails were braided.

  As she braided, she couldn’t help but think of Xiao Bai, thinking of the days when Xiao Bai accompanied her. Her heart felt warm, mixed with a touch of longing. With a thought, the totem on her chest suddenly felt slightly warm, and a familiar warmth spread, as if Xiao Bai was by her side, accompanying her gently.