Zhang Jingyun's residence was located just outside the Tandao Sect. Though not particularly far, for Yun Zi'an at this moment, the journey felt torturously long, as if she had been walking for ages without ever getting closer.
Along the way, plagued by a guilty conscience, Yun Zi'an desperately tried to strike up conversations with Zhang Jingyun. "Senior Brother, are you really not hurt?"
"Senior Brother, why don't you live inside the sect?"
"Senior Brother, are we not there yet?"
Zhang Jingyun offered perfunctory replies to a few of her questions while completely ignoring the rest. Yun Zi'an did not mind; after all, she was merely using the chatter to calm her own racing nerves.
No matter how long a road is, it eventually comes to an end. Yun Zi'an finally arrived at Zhang Jingyun's dwelling.
She stared at the structure, feeling a fleeting resemblance to the thatched cottage from her memories, even though in reality they looked nothing alike.
Yun Zi'an swallowed hard, her voice trembling slightly as she asked, "Senior Brother, is this where you live?"
"Mhm!" Zhang Jingyun nodded, then pushed the door open and said, "Go on inside. The demon beast core of the Thunder Flood Dragon is right in there."
"I..." Yun Zi'an peered through the open doorway. The dim light within made the room look like a bottomless black hole, ready to swallow her whole at any moment, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
Seeing her standing frozen, Zhang Jingyun urged, "Go in! Junior Sister, what are you hesitating for?"
"Alright... alright then!" Still clinging to a shred of hope that Zhang Jingyun might not have recognized her, Yun Zi'an steadied herself and stepped across the threshold. To appear more natural, she even took the initiative to look around, asking, "Senior Brother, where did you put the core?"
"A bit further inside," Zhang Jingyun's voice rang out with distinct clarity in the quiet room.
"Right here?" Yun Zi'an asked as she kept moving forward.
"A bit further in," Zhang Jingyun answered with the same concise tone.
Following his directions, Yun Zi'an found herself entering the bedroom before she even realized it. Puzzled, she asked, "Senior Brother, where on earth is it? Stop toying with me."
"I put it in the cabinet by the bed," Zhang Jingyun's voice remained completely devoid of emotion.
"In the bedside table on the left?" Yun Zi'an turned her back to search, but before she could even pull the cabinet door open, Zhang Jingyun shoved her hard onto the bed.
"Ah!" Yun Zi'an let out a cry of pain. Clutching her lower back, she started to scold Zhang Jingyun, but when she turned her head, she met his frost-cold gaze.
"Sen... Senior Brother, why are... why are you looking at me with such a terrifying expression?"
"Senior Brother?" Remembering how Yun Zi'an had almost gotten him killed, Zhang Jingyun felt his anger flare up intensely. He let out a cold snort and used the name she had borne as his maid: "Yuner, oh Yuner! After all these years, I finally learned your name is Yun Zi'an!"
"What years?" Yun Zi'an played dumb. "Senior Brother, did we know each other before?"
"I've always lived in the imperial palace. You must have mistaken me for someone else."
"Stop playing games with me!" Zhang Jingyun barked sharply. "Wasn't that Four Symbols Formation set up by you?"
"N... no!"
"Still trying to quibble? Aside from you possessing that unique constitution, who else could set it up?"
"Yuner! To think you actually used the things I taught you to deal with me?"
"I..." Realizing she could no longer keep up the act, Yun Zi'an's psychological defenses completely collapsed. With a soft thud, she dropped to her knees on the bed, crystal-clear tears streaming down her fair cheeks. "Mas... Master, I won't dare do it again. I'll never dare do it again."
Zhang Jingyun was momentarily taken aback, not expecting a mild scare to completely break her nerve. "Get up. Stand straight when you speak to me."
"I... I wouldn't dare. Yuner knows she made a huge, grave mistake this time. I cannot stand; I must kneel. I beg Master to punish me."
"Don't try to play the pity card with me. You used that trick too many times in the past; it doesn't work anymore." Zhang Jingyun pressed forward, demanding, "Did I wrong you in any way? Why did you want to drive me to my death?"
"I don't know!" Yun Zi'an wept even harder. "Ever since I overheard that conversation between Master and Zhuo Zhenru that day, I've felt so wretched inside."
"What did she and I talk about that drove you to such madness?"
"Tell me everything from the beginning—how you tracked down the Thunder Flood Dragon and set a trap to harm me."
Yun Zi'an stole a timid glance at Zhang Jingyun and muttered fearfully, "I... I don't dare!"
"You've already done it, what is there left not to dare? Confess everything right now!"
"I..." Yun Zi'an reached up to wipe away her tears, her voice choked with sobs. "I didn't mean to hunt down the Thunder Flood Dragon at first. I was just planning to find a suitable demon beast so I could set up the Four Symbols Formation."
"My luck was unusually good that day. I reached the middle of the mountain and stumbled right into the Thunder Flood Dragon's cave."
"Good luck?" Zhang Jingyun raised an eyebrow.
Yun Zi'an immediately slapped herself across the cheek. "Bad luck! Yuner's luck was terrible, absolutely terrible."
"Go on."
"I... I carefully crept into the cave and took a peek inside. I saw the Thunder Flood Dragon lurking deep within, and since it wasn't coming out anytime soon, I grew bold enough to set up the Four Symbols Formation."
"How did you manage to sneak into the cave? Tell me every single detail."
Driven to the point of numbness by Zhang Jingyun's interrogation, Yun Zi'an didn't dare withhold anything, yet trembled at the thought of speaking. "I... I used the Divine Concealment Technique that Master taught me."
"You certainly have both boldness and attention to detail, remembering everything I taught you in the past. I almost died inside your formation because of it."
"Sob, sob, sob..." Terrified, Yun Zi'an cried louder and louder. "Master, Master, I will never dare do it again. Please spare me this once."
Seeing Yun Zi'an looking so submissive, the anger in Zhang Jingyun's heart dissipated a little. He vaguely felt that Yun Zi'an's actions hadn't really stemmed from a desire to kill him, but rather felt more like a twisted bid to draw his attention.
Regardless of whether his intuition was accurate or not, he could hardly just kill Yun Zi'an outright. After all, she was now the princess of the Canglan Kingdom, no longer his former maid.
Zhang Jingyun furrowed his brows tightly. Yun Zi'an was like a hot potato—neither comfortable to hold onto nor easy to discard. In truth, given his current state of mind, even if he had recognized Yun Zi'an from the very beginning, he wouldn't have bothered with her.
At this moment, Yun Zi'an was behaving with utmost obedience, kneeling on the bed in a standard posture, quietly waiting for Zhang Jingyun's punishment.
After pondering for a long while, Zhang Jingyun decided he needed to use firm methods to keep Yun Zi'an under control so she would never again dare to pull the stunt of an insolent servant bullying her master.
"Yuner!"
Hearing Zhang Jingyun call her name, Yun Zi'an immediately responded, "Master! Yuner is here!"
"You are a princess of the Canglan Kingdom now. Will you still obey my words?"
"Yes!" Yun Zi'an nodded frantically, like a chick pecking at rice. "Yuner will obey whatever Master says, no matter what!"
"Then today, I am going to assign you a few tasks to begin with."