The long night stretched on.
Jiang Huai glared at Luo Yueguan with a hint of reproach. She was already over six hundred years old, yet in front of him, she always acted so unrestrained, completely unlike a senior. At this moment, Luo Yueguan leaned against the back of her chair, her snow-white and tender legs propped up on a stool Jiang Huai had brought. The bright lamplight fell on her warm skin, and the cool medicinal liquid, as it touched her snow-white and tender skin, emitted a faint mist.
“This is the last acupuncture session. To completely eradicate the stubborn cold toxin, it’s going to hurt a lot this time. I’m not teasing you; you need to endure it,” Jiang Huai reminded Luo Yueguan softly before inserting the needles.
“Mhm,” Luo Yueguan agreed quietly.
Jiang Huai picked up a silver needle. As he inserted the first one, he heard a very soft, muffled groan from Luo Yueguan. He turned his head, looking into her eyes. Luo Yueguan’s expression didn’t seem to change much, except for a layer of sweat that had already appeared on her forehead. The Cold Vein Poison Spirit was like a persistent ulcer within her. Logically, she should be in severe pain, but Luo Yueguan didn’t truly show it, nor did she shout and scream as Jiang Huai had expected.
In an instant, Jiang Huai suddenly realized that Luo Yueguan had cultivated for so many years and endured so much suffering. What was this slight pain to her? He couldn’t truly treat her like a little girl just because she had acted like one earlier.
Jiang Huai quickly picked up the second silver needle and gently inserted it into her body. Cold energy emanated from the needle, and his hand trembled slightly for a moment. Luo Yueguan paused for a second, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Jiang Huai shook his head. The Cold Vein Poison Spirit had developed sentience and knew he was the one causing it trouble. Once Jiang Huai completely removed the Cold Vein Poison Spirit, it began to try and burrow into his body. This act amused Jiang Huai. He had no spiritual qi within him to sustain these poison spirits. Within two days, the poison spirits that entered his body would starve to death. It would only mean he would suffer some cold toxin.
He soon began with the third and fourth needles. Luo Yueguan could only manage a soft hum at most and didn’t utter a single word of pain. Her eyes were fixed on the focused Jiang Huai, and she didn’t make a sound to disturb him. She could clearly feel that with each needle inserted, her body gradually became a little warmer. This warmth felt particularly awkward to her. She had been accustomed to the cold for hundreds of years, sometimes feeling like a dark, crawling snake, her blood cold, and her heart consequently cold. But the growing warmth within her body now felt so unfamiliar.
Jiang Huai was still diligently inserting needles. His complexion was much paler than before, and even his lips seemed to have a slight bluish tint. Luo Yueguan felt an indescribable ache in her heart, “Why don’t… you stop for a moment and continue tomorrow night?”
“Strike while the iron is hot. These Cold Vein Poison Spirits are very cunning; it’ll be troublesome if we don’t resolve them all at once,” Jiang Huai said softly and inserted another needle. Luo Yueguan’s body trembled slightly. Despite the sharp pain the moment the needle was inserted, she didn’t seem afraid at all, as if as long as she looked into his eyes intently, everything else faded away.
“Jiang Huai.”
“Mhm?”
“I have a question for you.”
“There are still two more needles. Wait a moment and then ask.” Jiang Huai looked at Luo Yueguan’s white and tender little feet in his sightline. He gently inserted the needle into her delicate pink sole. Luo Yueguan’s toes curled up, and her calf trembled slightly, seemingly spasming from the pain.
“The last needle.” Jiang Huai picked up the final silver needle and inserted it. As the Cold Vein Poison Spirit quietly transferred from the needle into his body, the cold toxin on Luo Yueguan was completely removed by him. He turned back to look into Luo Yueguan’s eyes. Luo Yueguan was obviously also a bit exhausted from the pain.
“Still hurting?” he asked.
“Much better.”
“It won’t hurt once we remove them after a while. What did you want to ask me?” Jiang Huai asked softly.
“You… why are you good to me?” Luo Yueguan asked earnestly.
This question made Jiang Huai feel a mix of amusement and exasperation. “Shouldn’t I be good to you?”
“I can’t think of a reason why you should be good to me, especially after how I treated you before.”
“Because you are a good friend of Master. Besides, you were quite good to me when I was young. I remember when I wanted to learn sword forging, you gave me a lot of materials for it. And when I got into trouble down the mountain and you happened to be nearby, didn’t you back me up? I remember all of that.”
“Is it just because of that?”
“Otherwise?” Jiang Huai blinked innocently. “Isn’t that enough?”
“Did your Master never teach you the principle that the kind are often bullied?”
“As long as you maintain a proper balance, it’ll be fine.” Jiang Huai didn’t consider himself a pushover, but he was willing to help when it was a small effort. The constantly chiming system in his mind sometimes gave him inexplicable fears. If one day he couldn’t suppress his wicked thoughts and desires, would he, with the system’s catalysis, turn into a bloodthirsty demon?
“Why is your face so pale?”
“The poison spirits hid in my body, it’s a bit cold… but in a couple of days, they’ll find that I don’t have a single trace of spiritual qi to feed on, and they’ll starve to death.” Jiang Huai’s body was shaking. Because of the cold. A cold that penetrated to the bone. He suddenly felt a little pathetic. After all, Luo Yueguan had endured much more cold than him before, yet she never showed any sign of pain. He had only absorbed a portion of it and was already trembling. Besides the cold, his head was buzzing. This was a sign of slight soul exhaustion. Fortunately, he only needed a period of recuperation to recover. Luo Yueguan suddenly reached out, her slender and white jade hand gently touching his cheek.
“Hm?” Jiang Huai was startled. Luo Yueguan gazed at him without speaking. She just looked at him like that for a while. “I owe you a favor, Jiang Huai.”
“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“But I hate owing favors the most in my life.”
“Heh heh, didn’t you say earlier that you were a selfish woman?” Jiang Huai replied playfully. The next second, Luo Yueguan lifted her legs, her slender calf suddenly moving to his chest, her white and tender toes lightly tapping on his chest.
“What are you doing?” Jiang Huai reached out as if to grab her ankle and move her leg away, but Luo Yueguan’s toes playfully moved downwards, lightly brushing against his lower abdomen.
“Do you want me to… serve you with my feet?” Her eyes were alluring and charming. Unfortunately, Jiang Huai’s face did not show the embarrassment and panic that Luo Yueguan had anticipated. Jiang Huai looked at her expressionlessly, then grabbed her ankle and moved her leg aside. “Why do you keep teasing a pure little boy like me every day?”
As soon as he said this, the atmosphere was completely ruined. Luo Yueguan’s chest trembled with anger, but she couldn’t do anything to him.
“If you must thank me, I’m more interested in your Master’s little secret,” Jiang Huai said with anticipation, looking at Luo Yueguan.
“And you think I would possibly tell you now?”
“…It seems unlikely.”
“That’s good to know,” Luo Yueguan sneered.
Just as Jiang Huai was about to return to his bed to sleep soundly, he realized that all four of his limbs had become somewhat stiff, making it difficult to move. He tried to move his lips with effort, “Help me, lift me onto the bed. I can’t move.”
Luo Yueguan came to his side and discovered that his body was as cold as ice. If he hadn’t cultivated the Immaculate Golden Body, he would have frozen to death here by now. She knew how to handle this situation. She stepped in front of Jiang Huai, picked him up, and walked towards the bathhouse in the backyard.
“What are you doing?”
“Soaking in the Spirit Spring of the Blazing Fire Warm Jade will help.”
“Oh…” So Jiang Huai stopped struggling. Primarily because he couldn’t struggle anyway, he was carried by Luo Yueguan to the backyard bathhouse. Luo Yueguan began to undress him. Jiang Huai felt a bit strange. “Can you leave one piece of clothing on me?”
“Are you shy now, little boy?” Jiang Huai’s face turned red, but he really couldn’t resist Luo Yueguan. He could only watch as Luo Yueguan took off his clothes one by one, then was pulled into the bathhouse. She activated the formation in the Spirit Spring, and Jiang Huai felt his body gradually warm up. Luo Yueguan sat on the steps of the bathhouse, her slender jade hand propping up her fragrant cheek, her eyes fixed on Jiang Huai without blinking.
“Can you stop staring at me?” Jiang Huai said aggrievedly. Seeing his embarrassed appearance, Luo Yueguan laughed even more cheerfully. “I even bathed with you when you were a child, remember?”
Luo Yueguan stepped into the bathhouse. Jiang Huai saw her walk behind him, scoop up some Spirit Spring water with a wooden ladle, and pour it over him. Luo Yueguan behind him leaned a little closer, her soft chest inadvertently brushing against his back, her fragrant breath falling on his neck. Jiang Huai found himself unable to calm down.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Luo Yueguan held a Blazing Fire Spirit Jade in her hand and gently slid it across Jiang Huai’s back, saying softly, “The Blazing Fire Spirit Jade will suppress the cold toxin to some extent.”
“I can do it myself…”
“Can your hands still move?” Jiang Huai tried hard to lift his hand, but his hands were indeed too stiff from the cold. So he stopped struggling and stood obediently, feeling as if… it was like a mother bathing her child. Perhaps, in Luo Yueguan’s eyes, she truly just saw him as a little boy. Jiang Huai’s sense of shame gradually disappeared until Luo Yueguan stood in front of him, looked down at him, and then flicked Jiang Huai’s forehead with her finger. Jiang Huai jumped up angrily, about to explode at her, but she had already swum far away, leaning against the side of the bathhouse and laughing uncontrollably.
“Hmph? Who told you to get so swollen? Auntie Luo is washing you, and you’re having impure thoughts about her. I’m punishing you.” Luo Yueguan put her hands on her hips, looking indignant.
… In the bathhouse.
Luo Yueguan, in a black dress, sat by the edge of the bathhouse, her snow-white and tender legs dangling in the water. She looked at Jiang Huai, who had buried himself entirely in the bathhouse, not even daring to show his head, and continued relentlessly, “Hmph? You’re angry? So petty.” Jiang Huai ignored her and splashed a faceful of water at her. This woman had no sense of shame!
Luo Yueguan dangled her snow-white calf. “Okay, okay, don’t be angry. How about I tell you your Master’s secret?” Jiang Huai buried his head in the water, indifferent, only blowing bubbles. He wasn’t going to talk to her!
