The Apprentice's Road to Winning His Master's Heart

[Older master and younger disciple] Shu Gui had a master. His master was the coldest and most aloof immortal lord in the sect, yet also the person who treated him most gently. He taught him poetry and books, instructed him in propriety, and gave him his name. By a twist of fate, Shu Gui ended up in bed with someone. Night after night, they were entwined, doing all manner of reckless things. Shu Gui also had a secret. He was a spy for the demonic cult. After enduring countless hardships, he had finally waited for the day his mission would be accomplished. But he never expected his master to disperse his cultivation to shield the sect from disaster. At the victory banquet that night, as the demonic cultists looked on with awe and envy, all Shu Gui could think about was the distant glance his master had cast his way from across the crowd. Calm, indifferent, unflustered. Yet it left him feeling as if he had fallen into an icy abyss. For the first time in his life, Shu Gui went mad with the desire to make something right. In the pouring rain, drenched from head to toe, he appeared before the master who had taken all the blame for him. Shu Gui trembled, miserable and disheveled. Only when he saw that his master’s gaze still changed in response to his kisses did he feel a faint glimmer of hope. “So what?” The hand Shu Gui had cautiously reached out to hold was gently pushed away, in a way that left no room for refusal. His master’s voice as he called Shu Gui’s name was warm, as if nothing had changed, and yet everything had. “Xiao Shu, one day these feelings will fade.” Every word pierced his heart. No one had ever truly loved him before, so Shu Gui didn’t know whether the tender, intimate moments they had shared were real or just an act. This was the first time he had ever tried to learn how to love someone. Older master and younger disciple. A groveling redemption arc that isn’t quite a groveling redemption arc. A pitiful, needy bottom who acts crazy but is obedient inside x a top who has his own principles and knows how to discipline his disciple. Theme: Love and peace.