Once a teacher, forever a husband

In the inn corridor.

Ye Shu left those women behind in the room, going off alone to search for the little beast that had run off.

“I’ll just let them stew for a while,” he muttered under his breath, striding down the hallway.

As soon as he turned the corner, he spotted a small girl with purple hair sitting in the corner by the stairs, crouched on the ground with her arms wrapped around her knees, her head buried between them, sobbing quietly.

In a single glance, Ye Shu recognized her as the transformed Little Beast.

He softened his footsteps, afraid of startling her away, approaching with the same patience he would use to catch a fish in a stream. He slowly crouched down two steps away from her and spoke in a gentle voice.

“Don’t cry.”

The girl in purple lifted her head, saw it was him, and immediately lowered it again. Her little feet scraped back and forth on the floor as she turned away, refusing to look at him.

“Liar!”

She muttered petulantly, as if sulking.

“What? How am I a liar?” Being scolded out of nowhere, Ye Shu felt both amused and exasperated. “You’re a teacher now. You can’t go around slandering innocent people.”

At that, the Little Beast became flustered at once.

She twisted her head around angrily, eyes red-rimmed, her big eyes full of fury. “Slandering you? Slandering you!”

“You’re a liar! A big liar!”

“You promised you’d teach me to read and keep me company, but then you drugged me and sneaked off without a word! You didn’t even say goodbye!”

“Do you know how scared I was when I woke up?”

“I searched every corner of that cave, even chased out into the forest, because I was terrified you didn’t want me anymore!”

She grew more frantic as she spoke, her little face flushed red, as if she were pouring out every ounce of grievance she’d held for years. She waved her small hands wildly, tears streaming down her face as she condemned Ye Shu’s crimes.

“And you? You really didn’t want me anymore!”

“Sixteen whole years! Sixteen years!”

She held up her fingers, shaking them vigorously in front of him.

“Sixteen years! Do you know how I survived those sixteen years? I thought about you every single day. I prayed every day to grow up faster, so I could transform and go out to find you.”

“But I was also afraid to leave.”

“What if you changed your mind one day, came back to the forest looking for me, and I wasn’t there?”

“So I just waited and waited, and waited and waited.”

“But you didn’t even come back for a single day!”

She stuck out one finger, waving it in front of Ye Shu’s face. “Not even one day did you come back to see me!”

“Actually, I did come back once...”

Ye Shu opened his mouth to speak, but then swallowed the words.

On second thought, it was better left unsaid.

If the Little Beast found out he’d come back to watch over her for an entire afternoon, only to leave without telling her, she’d probably jump up on the spot.

He pulled a bitter face, feigning innocence. “That’s not really my fault, is it?”

If he hadn’t drugged the Little Beast back then, there was no way he could have gotten away. The moment this little one started crying, he couldn’t bear it.

“Nothing is your fault!”

Hearing that, the girl burst into furious shouting.

“I finally found you, and yet you’ve got a whole pack of women surrounding you. Why?”

“I was here first!”

She stood up, hands on her hips, glaring furiously into Ye Shu’s eyes. Her big eyes burned with indignation, and her small chest heaved violently, making one wonder if she might explode on the spot.

Facing that barrage of accusations, Ye Shu had no way to fight back.

He could only let out a sigh and look at her helplessly. "Every mistake, big or small, is mine. Young miss, I confess, I admit my guilt, and I swear that from this day forward, I will never abandon you again."

"Will that make up for my sixteen years of loss?"

The girl pressed her lips together, looking down at him from above, crystal tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes.

"Then what do you want?"

Ye Shu raised both hands in surrender.

"As long as our Amethyst Lion can forgive this big liar, I'll do whatever it takes to make it right."

"Then... then..." The girl suddenly wore a troubled expression, "But you said it yourself — no going back!"

"I said it, and I won't go back!"

Ye Shu slapped his chest with complete certainty.

Seeing this, the little beast's big round eyes spun slyly, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

Finally hooked!

She cleared her throat, pulled out a stone tablet she'd kept hidden for a long time from her bosom, and said in a terribly grown-up tone: "Then I won't make things hard for you. After all, as they say — once a teacher, always a husband."

"As long as you become my husband, all debts are forgiven!"

"Wait, are you serious?"

Ye Shu looked at her triumphant grin and knew full well he'd been played.

But still, he nodded with a serious expression.

"You're willing to marry, and I'm willing to take you as my wife."

"Really?!" The little beast's eyes lit up instantly. She'd thought she'd have to keep pushing and pulling, but never expected it to be this easy.

"Great, Master! I love you so much!!!"

She spread her arms wide, beaming with joy, ready to throw herself into Ye Shu's embrace — but he held her back with both hands, asking with a grave face: "But I need to warn you in advance."

"Master won't have only you by his side."

"What you saw just now — that might only be the tip of the iceberg."

"With that in mind, are you sure you still want to marry me?"

Ye Shu asked very seriously, holding nothing back, laying all the cards on the table before her.

The little beast hesitated only for a moment before lunging forward.

"It doesn't matter!"

"Anyway... anyway, even if I have to share Master, to me, that's already happiness. I've waited sixteen years — I can't wait even one more day."

Hearing this, Ye Shu gently ruffled her little head with pity.

"Silly girl, what have I done to deserve this?"

"That's not true!"

The little beast pouted, with none of the accusing attitude from before — now all her words were in his defense: "Master is the best master in the whole world!"

"...As long as you think so."

Ye Shu was silent for a moment before speaking.

The two held each other, savoring a brief moment of warmth, much like how the little beast used to love lying on Ye Shu's lap to sleep.

After a while, Ye Shu finally asked.

"So, how come you were hiding in that corner crying? I thought you'd have run far away."

"Because I was afraid you wouldn't be able to find me..." The little beast said with a pitiful pout. After sixteen years of separation, having finally met the person from her dreams, how could she dare to run off on impulse?

What if he couldn't find her and just gave up looking?

"Then how did you recognize me?"

Ye Shu asked again.

This was his deepest confusion. Logically speaking, his disguise was flawless — even Mo Yu hadn't seen through it, yet the little beast had still caught him in the act that night.

"Your movements."

The little beast answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world: "How could I fail to recognize the person I love?"

Such an honest answer — there was simply no way to argue with it.

Ye Shu was silent for a moment before gently picking up the little beast from the ground.

"Come on, let's go meet your sisters."