All The Female Disciples Want To Kill Me-Chapter 540 540: Chapter Three Hundred and Seventeen_1

Faint starlight danced upon Li Zijun's face. Strands of hair at her forehead were wet with droplets, trickling down towards her collarbones.
Her drenched clothes clung to her body, making her delicate, well-proportioned figure seem almost bare. Her jade-like arms were gently bent, every graceful curve revealed.
Her delicate hands gently gathered her soaked long hair behind her head. The water drenched her dress, outlining her perfect figure as she glanced at Ji Nanjue somewhat sheepishly.
Her garments, not yet completely removed, clung to her tender body, faintly revealing the color of her skin beneath. Usually, her loose-fitting dress concealed much, but now the true beauty of her form, her 'Mount Lu,' was visible.
Ji Nanjue watched her with obvious surprise, then a playful smile touched her lips as she said teasingly,
"It's no wonder master and disciple are alike, even in lying... you're cut from the same cloth..."
"Forget it. If you wish to call me Sister, then do so. Calling me 'Master's Wife' sounds rather old-fashioned, anyway," she added with a playful smirk.
"..."
Li Zijun's jade-like legs, hidden beneath the water, gently stirred the surface, sending up a few splashes.
Then Ji Nanjue, with a gentle push of her own arms, stood up from the pool, completely bare. The water barely reached the tops of her thighs, revealing the lower half of her slender, flat waist, which was free from any excess flesh.
"Take off your clothes. You can't bathe in them, can you?" Ji Nanjue said to Li Zijun.
This dress she wore had accompanied Li Zijun for who knows how long on their journey, though it bore no stains.
Li Zijun, somewhat shyly, slipped off her dress and placed it on the bank. She then immediately sat back down in the pool, submerging herself as much as possible.
Ji Nanjue didn't laugh at her and sat down beside her.
The air was somewhat heavy, and the period before rain always felt particularly restless.
Ji Nanjue's small hands gently scooped up water, letting it cascade down. Then, she suddenly spoke,
"You've only met him a few times. How can you be so certain of your feelings?"
"It's normal for someone your age to admire someone deeply, but your words and actions don't suggest you're an impulsive person."
"I'm very curious. Could you tell me what's on your mind?"
After a pause, feeling her question was indeed a bit probing, Ji Nanjue quickly added with a smile,
"Of course, if you'd rather not say, that's fine too..."
As she spoke, her eyes rested on Li Zijun.
"My thoughts?"
Li Zijun gently pursed her thin lips. Without looking at Ji Nanjue, she murmured softly,
Gazing into the somewhat murky water, she pondered for a moment before saying softly,
"Does one necessarily need reasons to like someone?"
"Isn't it that at a certain moment, because of something that stirs a deep palpitation in your heart, you find that someone has unknowingly taken up residence there?"
"Perhaps it's just a glance, or a single gesture."
Ji Nanjue was momentarily stunned. She noted a hint of sadness in Li Zijun's voice; though her tone was gentle, Ji Nanjue could somehow sense a great deal of repressed frustration in it.
Then, Ji Nanjue pulled Li Zijun tightly into her embrace, pressing her cheek against hers.
"Love at first sight?"
Perhaps Ji Nanjue would have previously scorned such a phrase, dismissing it as mere nonsense. The idea that two people could confirm their feelings for each other with just a single glance could only mean one thing: lust for the other's beauty.
Yet now, her heart was gradually beginning to accept the phrase.
Her own life path and Su Bei's always seemed to intersect inadvertently. That time they had returned from death's door, the bond forged between them through shared hardship was naturally profound.
Perhaps even before that night, his shadow had been imprinted on her heart, a truth her long-sealed emotions had never acknowledged.
"That's true enough," she conceded softly.
Li Zijun gave a bitter smile. It seemed Ji Nanjue had misunderstood her.
Her own feelings for Su Bei were far from the simple infatuation she had just described. It had taken nearly a century of mutual understanding and adjustment for her to be sure of her heart.
"Sister Nan Ji, Zi Jun is feeling a bit cold..."
She wrapped her arms around herself, blinking as she looked up at Ji Nanjue.
"Go on back then," Ji Nanjue suggested.
"As your... well, Sister wants to be alone for a while," Ji Nanjue said.
Ji Nanjue smiled warmly at her, her heart feeling somewhat complicated.
After all, she was a woman. Even though she knew there would never be a day when her relationship with Su Bei could be public, she still felt a sense of rejection towards any woman who wanted to take a share of his tenderness from her.
Moreover, this woman was his disciple... It felt like a transgression against both sentiment and reason.
A peculiar thought surfaced in Ji Nanjue's mind: his disciple (Li Zijun), and Li Zijun's own Master (Su Bei)... with herself stuck in the middle?
What a complicated relationship... Three generations under one roof, wasn't it?
It's all Su Dudu's fault.
There's no right or wrong in matters of the heart. But if blame had to be assigned, the root cause of it all was that philandering Casanova. If he hadn't sown seeds of affection everywhere he went, how could he have incurred so many emotional debts out of thin air?
He certainly had it easy...
Li Zijun waved her hand in front of Ji Nanjue's face a few times. Ji Nanjue snapped back to her senses, playfully tweaked Li Zijun's delicate nose, and chuckled,
"You've worn that dress of yours for quite a while. If you don't mind, wear this one of mine for now," she offered.
"..."
Her hand pointed to the white gauze dress on the shore.
Li Zijun blinked, then flashed Ji Nanjue a sweet smile.
With the soft rustle of fabric, she donned the dress and made her way toward the Daoist Temple.
As Ji Nanjue watched Li Zijun's retreating figure, she sighed softly.