After Being Forced Into This Obsessive Love, the Master Is Starting to Get a Little Hooked - Chapter 15

Shi Changting did not even think about it before refusing once again. “No!”

Lan Qiao had not expected Shi Changting to refuse so decisively, and his expression grew irritated. “This matter is already set in stone. I am simply informing you, not consulting you.”

“Senior Brother!”

“Junior Brother! Now is not the time for you to be willful!”

No! I am not being willful! How can one force an apprenticeship? But he could not reveal the strange, tangled relationship he had with Bian Menghan. Shi Changting dared not even imagine what would happen if his little yandere disciple found out he was taking a new apprentice and abandoning him. The boy would likely explode with rage and “handle” him personally! That could not happen!

Shi Changting’s blind refusal aroused Lan Qiao’s suspicion.

“Junior Brother, I do not believe you truly have any master-disciple affection for that little demonic apprentice of yours. Junior Brother, your reaction makes me suspect there are secrets between you two that I am not aware of.”

Shi Changting squirmed uncomfortably. “I…”

Lan Qiao pressed him step by step. “Changting, tell me, what on earth has happened?”

The words were on the tip of Shi Changting’s tongue, but he forced them back down. No! I cannot say it! I cannot say it! It is too shameful! Too humiliating! I cannot say it!

“Nothing,” Shi Changting gritted his teeth, his mind a battlefield. “Senior Brother, it is nothing.”

Lan Qiao knew that if Shi Changting did not want to speak, no one could force him. He decided that there would be plenty of opportunities later, so he stopped questioning him. He simply said, “Changting, the matter has reached this point; there is no room for negotiation.”

The subtext was clear: whether you accept it or not, you have to accept it.

Shi Changting suddenly remembered something. He jerked his head up and grabbed Lan Qiao’s wrist, not even noticing the strange look that flashed across the man’s face. “Senior Brother, have the invitations already been sent?”

He was still clinging to a last shred of hope. If the invitations had not been sent and the news had not spread, perhaps the apprenticeship ceremony could be canceled, and everything could still be salvaged.

Lan Qiao was honest. “They started being distributed three days ago. By now, I fear they have all arrived.”

What!

This day had been truly harrowing. Every blow that followed was like a heavy hammer striking Shi Changting in the chest. Shi Changting felt his breath hitch and his vision darken; his body began to sway, ready to collapse.

However, at this critical juncture, a voice suddenly echoed in the depths of Shi Changting’s mind: Hold on! Host, hold on! We still have a chance!

Shi Changting suddenly felt he was quite resilient. At a moment when he was gasping for air, he could still hear someone’s encouragement.

I do not want to hold on. I want to faint. That way, I would not have to face what is coming next.

Shi Changting had a vague intuition: the reason Bian Menghan had not appeared yet was precisely because he had received the invitation and was deliberately testing his reaction. So, he had not escaped successfully; he had been let go on purpose.

So, what would happen on that day?

Shi Changting was gripped by a senseless panic. He considered running away again, but what would be the point? Bian Menghan would definitely find him, and with his current strength, he was no match for Bian Menghan at all. He could only hope that by staying in the sect and joining forces with Lan Qiao and the others, he might be able to withstand Bian Menghan.

If he could not withstand him…

Shi Changting immediately felt his muscles tighten and his face washed with tears. He felt he had been backed into a dead end by his own disciple and senior brother.

That night while sleeping, he dreamed that Lan Qiao and Bian Menghan were standing on either side of him. Lan Qiao was forcing him to take an apprentice, while Bian Menghan was threatening to kill him if he dared to take anyone else.

The next day, Shi Changting, having been tormented by nightmares all night, woke up looking haggard and was pressed into a chair to be groomed. Because tomorrow was the apprenticeship ceremony, the one preparing his appearance was none other than his future “apprentice,” Jin Shuangchen.

The boy was not old; he was a leader of the younger generation of the Jin family. He had refined features and a gentle, pure temperament—he looked like the standard “good husband” material. Shi Changting subconsciously compared the two. He actually looked somewhat similar to the old version of Bian Menghan, though his looks were slightly inferior.

Shi Changting looked at the boy’s profile. “Shuangchen, how old are you this year?”

Jin Shuangchen brushed his hair carefully. “Replying to Master, this disciple is 20 years old this year.”

Only a year older than Bian Menghan.

“Are your parents willing to let you come so far to apprentice? Do they not miss you?”

Jin Shuangchen blinked, a little shyly. “Replying to Master, my mother said that a young man should establish his career early, venture out into the world, and become a man of substance.”

“And your father?”

Jin Shuangchen said earnestly, “Father listens to Mother.”

Shi Changting smiled. “Your family is very close.”

Unlike his problematic disciple, whose mother died young and whose father was cold-blooded, and who had never known family affection since he was a child.

“Yes,” Jin Shuangchen said, ducking his head as if embarrassed, but his face looked very happy. “Father and Mother are both very good to me.”

The simple, gentle look was exactly like version 1.0 of Bian Menghan.

Shi Changting could not help but say, “It is not easy to be out training on your own. If you ever need help, feel free to come to me or Senior Brother Lan Qiao; we will both help you.”

“Really, Master?” Jin Shuangchen’s eyes brightened instantly. He bent his knees slightly, kneeling virtually on the ground, and rested his chin gently on Shi Changting’s right arm. “Then can I come to see you often, Master?”

The warmth of his skin slowly traveled through their physical contact.

“Anytime.”

Even the expectant gaze was so similar.

Shi Changting sighed lightly and reached out to stroke the back of the boy’s fuzzy head. Indeed, some people were already being missed even while they were alive.

Shi Changting had just stroked it twice when he suddenly felt an extremely dense aura of demonic energy surging toward the sky. That deep red demonic energy blotted out the sun and invaded everything. It exploded, wrapping the entire mountaintop tightly.

Bian Menghan’s eyes were blood-red, and a mark of his fall into the demonic path flickered between his brows. Amidst the raging wind, he walked toward Shi Changting, step by step, with heavy, rhythmic footsteps.

His gaze pierced the hand Shi Changting was using to stroke Jin Shuangchen. Those hands were slender and powerful, the muscles thin and resilient, the knuckles distinct as if sculpted with care. Every time he stroked him, it was so gentle and delicate that one could not help but linger.

But at this moment, those hands were placed on another man’s head.

An eyesore. Truly an eyesore.

Bian Menghan’s face was as dark as a sky before a storm, gloomy and terrifying. His narrow, long eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a cold, chilling light that made one shudder.

His Master… has he started liking someone else so soon?

Heh.

Good. Very good.

Noticing Bian Menghan’s gaze, Shi Changting felt as if he had been scalded and jerked his hand back. Thank goodness. Thank goodness I reacted quickly. He felt as if his hand would not have survived the next second.

“Master…” Bian Menghan’s voice seemed to have been soaked in ice water. Every word was chilling. “Did this disciple not say that Master must never think of running away? Otherwise, this disciple will be very angry.”

“It seems Master did not take this disciple’s words to heart.”

“Then, how should this disciple punish Master?”

Shi Changting’s heart skipped a beat. It was too terrifying. Too terrifying! He had never seen Bian Menghan like this before.

He stammered a frantic excuse: “Menghan… you misunderstood. Master was not trying to run away. I just came back for a visit. After all, Master has not come back to check on things for a long time.”

It feels a bit undignified. But a wise man does not fight when the odds are against him. If that thing is gone, so be it. It is not like I can eat it anyway.

Bian Menghan ignored Shi Changting’s explanation and just stared fixedly at him, as if trying to stare a hole through him. “Could the reason Master abandoned this disciple be him?”