“I want to learn!! I want to learn!!” At this moment, Mu Xueshi did not even spare the Third Prince a glance. He ran straight toward Yue Lingchai, grabbed her hand tightly, and clung to it as though afraid she might run away.
Seeing the eager excitement rippling through Mu Xueshi’s clear, watery eyes, Yue Lingchai immediately shot the Third Prince a meaningful look.
That look practically said: He is my son after all. He naturally feels close to me. If I want to keep him here, would I even need to use force?
Mu Xueshi rubbed his hands together excitedly, practically wishing Yue Lingchai would teach him a few moves right now. However, he had not become completely carried away yet, and still remembered to ask Yue Lingchai, “Aunt, can the Third Prince stay here with me?”
“No.”
Yue Lingchai rejected the idea decisively.
“Martial arts training emphasizes peace of mind. One must cultivate without distractions. If the Third Prince stays by your side all day long, how are you supposed to calm your mind?”
“I can calm my mind. It’s only when he isn’t here that I can’t calm down.”
From beginning to end, this was the only sentence Mu Xueshi said that managed to improve the Third Prince’s expression even slightly.
“That still will not do. Even if you can calm your mind, certain people would never bear to watch you suffer under my training. If he remains nearby watching you, the martial arts you should complete in half a year probably would not be mastered even after several years.”
Seeing the sharp look in Yue Lingchai’s eyes, Mu Xueshi’s heart twitched.
Didn’t she say there was a shortcut? Why does it still sound painful…
Yue Lingchai watched her son, who had only just shown a bit of backbone, already beginning to waver again. Anger rose in her chest, and her tone became heavier.
“Well? Are you training or not? If you truly intend to stay, then from now until the end of the year, you will undergo secluded training and meet no one.”
“Then I’m not learning anymore!”
Mu Xueshi instantly changed his stance and hurried back to the Third Prince’s side, looking uneasily at Yue Lingchai.
Yue Lingchai had just seen him moments ago desperately clutching her, afraid she would reject him. Yet after only one sentence, he immediately switched sides and ran straight back to the Third Prince. Her eyes nearly burst with fury.
“Aunt.”
The Third Prince finally spoke.
But Yue Lingchai completely ignored him and continued staring fixedly at Mu Xueshi. There was not the slightest trace of maternal warmth in her gaze.
“Are you learning or not?”
Mu Xueshi shrank his neck and said nothing.
“Aunt!” the Third Prince said again. “Xueshi currently has important matters to deal with. Let us temporarily set aside the issue of martial arts. If Xueshi still wishes to pursue it in the future, I will personally bring him here to apologize to Aunt.”
Mu Xueshi nodded vigorously.
“Exactly!! Aunt, I currently bear a heavy responsibility connected to the safety of the nation. I can’t think only about personal matters.”
After saying that, he even deliberately put on an expression of worrying for the country and its people.
“If you do not stay now, then do not ever dream of coming here again in the future.”
“Ah?…” Mu Xueshi looked miserable as he pleaded with Yue Lingchai. “Aunt, can’t you make an exception? Once I finish handling these matters, I’ll definitely come back to see you.”
Looking at Mu Xueshi’s pleading expression, Yue Lingchai unexpectedly felt herself wavering slightly.
Qingyun smiled quietly from the side.
Mu Xueshi looked toward Qingyun again and asked, “Qingyun, aren’t you coming back with us? Qingya and Qingzhu miss you terribly. They all thought something terrible had happened to you. They cried so hard today.”
Qingyun’s smile faded, and sadness briefly appeared on her face before quickly turning into determination.
“No, Young Master Xue. Please help me reassure Qingya and Qingzhu that I am doing very well. I want to devote myself wholeheartedly to studying martial arts under Master. I probably cannot see them for some time, but I will miss them.”
Mu Xueshi became somewhat dazed by Qingyun’s words.
He had never expected the normally delicate and sentimental Qingyun to cast aside emotional attachments so decisively after training only a few days.
If he himself stayed here training for half a year, then once the time came… would they perhaps not even be able to drag him away anymore?
Maybe he would not even remember who the Third Prince was.
Terrifying…
Mu Xueshi shivered involuntarily.
“Aunt, if there is nothing else, then Xueshi and I will not disturb you any longer,” the Third Prince said as he took Mu Xueshi’s hand and began walking toward the palace entrance.
“Wait!”
Yue Lingchai’s icy voice sounded from behind them.
The Third Prince suddenly pulled something from his robes and tossed it backward. Qingyun reacted quickly, catching it immediately before handing it over to Yue Lingchai.
The moment Yue Lingchai opened it, she discovered it was an imperial decree personally issued by the Emperor.
After reading the contents, surprise flickered through her eyes…
At this moment, the Third Prince and Mu Xueshi had nearly reached the tomb entrance already.
The passage became narrower and darker the farther they walked.
Mu Xueshi stayed close beside the Third Prince, practically wanting to glue himself onto him and let him carry him through the way, because he vaguely remembered seeing something horrifying earlier while entering.
Sure enough, the thing Mu Xueshi feared most appeared again.
The moment he saw the rows upon rows of dried corpses, he instantly went weak.
His legs buckled, and he nearly collapsed onto the ground.
“Th-this is way too terrifying… where did these… ahhh…”
Seeing Mu Xueshi frightened beyond reason, the Third Prince covered his eyes and carried him out of the tomb entrance in his arms.
By the time they emerged outside, night had already fallen.
Mu Xueshi and the Third Prince remained within the palace instead of returning to Ice-Fire Cave.
After bathing and changing clothes, the two climbed into bed early, enjoying this rare peaceful night together.
Ever since Mu Xueshi had gone to Chun Nuan Pavilion, the Third Prince had not experienced a single night of restful sleep.
Now, watching the person in his arms absentmindedly playing with the tassel hanging from his clothes while wearing such a calm and peaceful expression, the Third Prince felt an unusual sense of tranquility.
Suddenly, Mu Xueshi sat upright abruptly, clasped his fists toward the Third Prince, and loudly declared:
“Xueshi humbly offers his poor skills.”
The Third Prince looked stunned.
Mu Xueshi immediately relaxed again and grinned foolishly.
“How was that? I kind of looked the part, didn’t I?”
Because of the cultural difference, the Third Prince failed to grasp the hidden meaning behind Mu Xueshi’s words.
Seeing the confusion on his face, Mu Xueshi jumped down from the bed agilely, picked up the Third Prince’s sword, and held it with exaggerated seriousness.
Then he bowed respectfully toward the Third Prince again and solemnly repeated:
“Xueshi humbly offers his poor skills.”
Only then did the Third Prince understand what he meant, and he could not help laughing helplessly.
Mu Xueshi smiled sheepishly, returned the sword to its place, then climbed back onto the bed and let out a long sigh.
“What a pity…”
The Third Prince looked at Mu Xueshi’s incomparably beautiful face with amusement and asked, “What is such a pity?”
“I was clearly born to be a martial arts genius, and now all that talent has gone to waste!”
“Then why didn’t you stay?” the Third Prince asked as he gently stroked Mu Xueshi’s smooth, soft hair.
Mu Xueshi’s bright eyes shifted around for a moment before he snorted deliberately, refusing to say what the Third Prince clearly wanted to hear.
“I’m worrying about Yunxi’s safety. That’s why I painfully gave up the opportunity.”
The Third Prince showed no anger whatsoever.
He merely continued gazing steadily at Mu Xueshi, the affection in his eyes impossible to conceal.
“Just what sort of place did you come from?”
The moment Mu Xueshi heard this question, the sparkle in his eyes gradually faded.
The excuse he had used earlier, combined with the question the Third Prince had just asked, inevitably made him think of a very serious problem.
Today, the Emperor had entrusted him with an enormous responsibility.
And unfortunately, the Third Prince had also made a suggestion that Mu Xueshi found even harder to accept.
“If I trained martial arts with my master for half a year too, do you think I could become like Qingyun?” Mu Xueshi deliberately changed the subject.
The Third Prince’s gaze remained unchanged as he calmly asked, “Why do you avoid this question every time I bring it up?”
Mu Xueshi could no longer pretend.
His head dropped heavily onto the pillow as he muttered gloomily, “Can you not come back with me?”
The Third Prince’s eyes darkened.
Propping himself up on one arm, he looked down at Mu Xueshi beneath him and asked, “Why?”
Mu Xueshi turned over so his back faced the Third Prince.
“No reason. I just don’t want you to go.”
“When Aunt wanted you to stay in the tomb beneath Linhan Palace and train martial arts with her, you refused because you did not want to leave me. Yet when it comes to returning to your own world, you refuse because you do not want me to accompany you?”
“That’s different.”
Mu Xueshi’s thoughts were in complete chaos.
The moment he imagined the Third Prince seeing what he used to look like, it felt as though his entire world would collapse.
It was not that he doubted the Third Prince’s feelings for him.
He simply did not want the Third Prince to encounter the person he once had been—or the life that belonged to him before.
“Did you do something there that you are afraid I will discover?” the Third Prince asked dangerously.
Naturally, Mu Xueshi knew exactly what the Third Prince meant.
His expression instantly became absurdly complicated, mixed with helplessness.
“In that regard, absolutely impossible. I’m still very confident in myself.”
Futile Devices Scans 
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