Reborn As A Villainous Cannon Fodder-Chapter 458: Ch - The Gap

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"Get out and greet me properly."

When Chaerin coldly berated him with anger, Huai felt his body tremble. His pride took a hit that cut deeper than he could put into words. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Ever since Ye Chaerin had picked him up at age six and brought him back to the sect, Huai remembered years when his master had been gentle and kind.

Back then, even when Huai screwed up constantly, Chaerin always had the patience to teach him.

But somewhere along the way, everything between them had gone to hell.

Huai had no idea what he’d done wrong.

From his perspective, as he got older, Chaerin started pulling away deliberately. His master became less and less patient, even punishing him harshly for tiny mistakes...

But did Huai really not know why?

Deep down, he could guess.

As he grew up, his feelings for Chaerin had become... complicated. Dependent.

Huai still craved the closeness they’d had when he was little. He wanted to be treated gently, to be pampered like a child... but the reality was that Chaerin kept drawing harsh boundaries between them.

She’d kicked him out of Jinglan Peak when he turned twelve, forcing him to live alone.

Back then, at least their relationship had still been warm.

But after sixteen? Chaerin taught him less and less each year. His visits to Jinglan Peak became practically nonexistent.

Huai could guess what his master was thinking.

First: Chaerin believed he’d grown up. He should be independent, go make his own way, and maintain proper boundaries with his master.

Second: Chaerin had written him off as a cultivator. He wasn’t worth her time anymore.

Both possibilities were crystal clear to Huai.

And that’s exactly why he couldn’t accept it. Why the frustration ate at him year after year.

He desperately wanted every breakthrough to earn Chaerin’s approval, like when he was small. He wanted her to smile and pat his head with praise. He fantasized about someday standing at the peak of immortality as her pride and joy, her precious disciple...

But harsh reality? Chaerin advanced way too fast on the immortal path. Without his master’s support, Huai could never catch up to her again.

It must be my talent. That’s why she’s pulling away. Why she’s disgusted with me.

If Huai had been gifted like Yino, if he could stand firm under Chaerin’s Great Vehicle stage pressure like he did, then he wouldn’t have been kicked off Jinglan Peak. He’d be the one invited into her bedroom for all-night conversations.

But...

Thinking about it that way just made him more bitter.

He’d been talented as a kid too! Maybe it was because Chaerin had kicked him out, because she’d grown distant over the years, that his potential got buried. That’s why his cultivation had stagnated instead of climbing steadily like in childhood.

If...

If Chaerin still treated him with the same gentleness as when he was small, his talent definitely wouldn’t be any worse than Yino’s!

Round and round his thoughts went. A perfect logical loop.

None of this really had anything to do with Yino. Three years ago, Huai had already realized the agony of wanting something he could never have, feelings that would never be returned.

Yino’s appearance just forced Huai to see the brutal difference in how his master treated her disciples.

Huai had seen it with his own eyes...

Half an hour ago, his master had been chatting happily with Yino in her room!

The bed was messy.

Even if Huai didn’t want to overthink it, when a man and woman were alone with just one bed... obviously someone had slept there last night.

Huai’s limited imagination couldn’t even process it...

Even when he’d first arrived at Jinglan Peak at six years old, Chaerin had given him a separate guest room. She’d never even let him enter her bedroom normally.

That was true as a child, forget about now that he was grown.

Chaerin had kicked him out to live elsewhere. Now he didn’t even get a guest room...

Fine. That was acceptable. Huai could live with it.

But what about Yino?

What the hell was he supposed to be?

He was just some outside visitor, but last night Chaerin had invited him into her room to sleep! Not once, but twice!

The first time: when Yino collapsed, his master had actually walked over to help him up. She’d let Yino lean against her chest, helped him inside, even let him lie on her bed.

The second time: this morning, Huai had watched Yino walk out of his master’s room...

What the hell?

Huai could accept being kept at a distance. He was grown up now, a man—he shouldn’t be wandering in and out of his master’s chambers anyway.

But Yino?

Was he still a child somehow? Not a real man?

Just because his talent was better than Huai’s, Chaerin could treat them completely differently? Pamper him like that?

"I already told you, last night Yino and I simply sat on the bed talking. Nothing more. Besides, what we discussed involves secrets I can’t share with you."

Watching Huai kneel silently in the courtyard, his face unable to hide the resentment burning inside, Chaerin sighed in annoyance.

Honestly, she’d done everything she could for this disciple over the years.

He was a child she’d saved during a demon-hunting expedition in the East Sea long ago.

Back then, seeing how pitiful he was, good bone structure, decent talent, even sharing her surname, Chaerin had kindly taken him in at Liuli Sect and personally taught him cultivation.

The coincidental surname, the promising talent...

It had felt like fate to Chaerin.

So she’d decided to train Huai as her direct disciple.

But...

The longer they spent together, the more she realized there was something off about his personality.

All these years, Huai had never made a single friend his own age at Liuli Sect...

No matter how often Chaerin brought him down the mountain to socialize, Huai’s eyes seemed to see only her. Every day on Jinglan Peak, he acted more like a servant than a disciple, more focused on serving her tea than on actual cultivation.

Even when Chaerin traveled for extended periods, if she was gone too long, Huai would become anxious and restless alone on the peak...

Wait. Wasn’t that the mentality of a pampered pet?

That’s when Chaerin finally understood the problem.

She was raising a disciple, not a dog. She couldn’t spend her entire life by Huai’s side.

So when he turned twelve, Chaerin had sent him down the mountain.

She’d tried to distance herself, hoping Huai would make friends, discover that the world was vast and colorful, that his master wasn’t the only person in existence.

But years later, Chaerin’s approach had backfired spectacularly.

Distancing herself hadn’t transformed Huai. It had only made him suppress his feelings more...

He became even more timid, terrified of being disliked. Every meeting, he’d put on a fake sunny expression. He grew careful and stiff, walking on eggshells just to avoid his master’s displeasure.

Eventually, this overly cautious personality began affecting his cultivation too.

As if without Chaerin by his side every day, Huai simply couldn’t focus on solo training...

What a mess.

This was a kid she’d picked up off the street. Chaerin could only try so hard to counsel him.

But as time dragged on, she was just... exhausted.

At the end of the day, she was a female elder, Huai’s master in name only. Not his birth mother.

Huai had become an orphan because of the Demon Abyss, resulting in these psychological scars. Why should Chaerin have to play mother and clean up the mess?

Huai clearly had talent, but he refused to treasure it. Year after year, he wasted his youth...

But seriously, what did any of that have to do with Chaerin?

She felt zero guilt about giving up on Huai.

If she hadn’t picked him up back then, the Demon Abyss monsters would’ve dragged him back for sacrifice long ago.

Chaerin had given Huai a fresh start in life.

But instead of cherishing it, he kept demanding more emotional dependency from her. It had completely worn down her patience.

And now...

What made Chaerin feel truly ridiculous was that Huai was jealous of her relationship with Yino?

Sigh....

How stupid did someone have to be to suspect that Chaerin - a Grand Elder - had done something inappropriate with a young male last night?

How petty and jealous did you have to be to think an elder like her was playing favorites with some outsider?

The information gap between them was astronomical. Even knowing what Huai was thinking, Chaerin had no energy left to explain.

She wasn’t his mom.

Why should she cater to his feelings at every turn?

Besides, Chaerin had never treated Huai and Yino differently.

Emotionally speaking, all the care Chaerin had given Huai over the years was far gentler than the calculating relationship she had with Yino.

But the irony was...

After enjoying years of Chaerin’s attention, instead of working hard to become successful, Huai actually thought she treated him harshly while sucking up to geniuses like Yino.

Is there any chance you actually can’t measure up to a single hair on Yino’s head?

Yino was only seventeen, four years younger than Huai and infinitely more talented. At this age, he was already working for National Advisor, his mind constantly focused on prophetic destiny. Even Chaerin struggled to gain the upper hand when scheming against him.

What had Huai been doing at seventeen?

Talent? Not enough.

Cultivation? Zero effort.

He’d ignored Chaerin’s advice, volunteered for that tournament, got nearly beaten to death by Yuyan, then needed Chaerin to heal his injuries afterward...

And after being that pathetic, his brain still craved Chaerin’s approval and pampering!

At his age...

Still throwing tantrums like a child.

Every time she thought about it, just looking at Huai’s pitiful state made Chaerin’s mood turn sour.

"Instead of moping around because I scolded you, you’d be better off learning from Yino and doing something actually useful."

"Since you’re so suspicious, let me spell it out for you today."

"You really can’t compare to Yino. When hosting guests, Jinglan Peak only welcomes those with real strength."

"And for disciples, Jinglan Peak is a place for focused cultivation. Your mind is scattered and chaotic, nowhere near actual training. So from now on, my Jinglan Peak won’t welcome you anymore."

"So..."

"Before I say that word, you’d better leave on your own. Don’t make me look at your pathetic, useless face anymore."