Chapter 141: Don’t You Like It?
Chu Xianning’s old injury had healed by 30%. With her acupoints opened, her body could be nourished to some extent. In a while, it would likely be about 40% healed.
Her old injury was caused by her spiritual energy being agitated, damaging her origin. The spiritual medicine needed to heal it was beyond what spirit stones could buy. If it were something that could be purchased, Jiang Huai would have been saving money day and night, without rest.
Whenever it was a rainy day, Chu Xianning would feel cold, dizzy, and her lower abdomen would ache severely. If she agitated her spiritual energy throughout her body, it would also cause a backlash, worsening her injuries. Jiang Huai remembered this and often rubbed her belly for her when her old injury acted up during their childhood.
Although it wasn’t very effective, it was merely psychological comfort.
“The day after tomorrow morning, I’ll set off for the Daoji Ancestral Land with Wen Wanwan. I’d like to borrow Master’s spirit boat then.”
Chu Xianning raised her hand, and a small spirit boat appeared before Jiang Huai. Chu Xianning’s spirit boat wasn’t large, not as grand or luxurious as Luo Yueguan’s, but it was sufficient for two people. Jiang Huai put it into his storage space and said softly, “Thank you, Master.”
“Be careful.”
“Don’t worry, it’s just to the Daoji Ancestral Land. The cultivators entering there will have a cultivation level of at most late Stage Foundation Establishment.”
“Even if you’re not afraid of late Stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, you must be wary of sneak attacks and ambushes. Some evil cultivators can use蛊虫 (Gu worms) to bypass secret realm rules. Be extra cautious; don’t be arrogant just because you have some reliance,” Chu Xianning couldn’t help but admonish.
“I know what I’m doing.”
When it came to self-preservation, few cultivators were as careful and serious as Jiang Huai. He was just saying that to avoid worrying Chu Xianning. If he truly encountered danger, he would flee faster than anyone else.
Jiang Huai took out the chessboard and placed it between them. “Two games?”
Chu Xianning nodded gently.
***
The next day.
Wen Wanwan came to the courtyard. After practicing swordplay with Chu Xianning, she emerged from her bath wearing an elegant, plain white and purple Hanfu dress. Jiang Huai accompanied her to Ziyun Pavilion. He used his spirit stones to purchase some more spirit treasures needed for the secret realm and also accompanied Wen Wanwan as she bought more beautiful dresses and cute little socks.
Jiang Huai happily bought a few low-grade talisman papers. After returning to the courtyard, he planned to modify the talismans himself. He had been to the Daoji Ancestral Land once before, spending half a month there, and was quite familiar with it. There was indeed not much to worry about.
Wen Wanwan had never explored this kind of secret realm before, so Jiang Huai explained a lot of knowledge about the Daoji Ancestral Land to her. With the Heavenly Way’s spiritual energy reappearing, it was likely that those entering the Daoji Ancestral Land this time would be the young elites from various regions of the Eastern Region. They were estimated to be sixteen or seventeen-year-old prodigies. By that calculation, nineteen-year-old Jiang Xiaohu was already considered an old man.
Back then, Jiang Huai had obtained the Heavenly Way’s spiritual energy in the Daoji Ancestral Land and achieved Heavenly Way Golden Core, making his name known far and wide in the Eastern Region. He wondered who would be qualified to obtain this Heavenly Way’s spiritual energy this time and become famous in the Eastern Region.
If possible, Jiang Huai certainly wanted to snatch all the Heavenly Way’s spiritual energy this time and give it to Wen Wanwan to form a Heavenly Way Golden Core.
***
Since they were traveling far the next day, Jiang Huai accompanied Wen Wanwan to the courtyard. Usually, Wen Wanwan didn’t go far from home. This trip, back and forth, would take at least half a month. Wen Fufu was naturally reluctant. She repeatedly and earnestly instructed Jiang Huai to protect her older sister well. Only after Jiang Huai agreed several times did Wen Fufu finally relax a bit.
Tonight, Wen Wanwan would sleep with Wen Fufu. Jiang Huai returned to his courtyard. As he opened the courtyard gate, Chu Xianning, standing in the center of the courtyard, was dancing alone under the moonlight.
Jiang Huai was momentarily dazed, quietly gazing at Chu Xianning’s figure under the moonlight. But as soon as the gate opened, Chu Xianning’s movements stopped. She was wearing a white dress, clearly having just emerged from a bath.
“Why did you stop dancing?”
“I don’t want to dance for you,” Chu Xianning replied frankly and directly.
Jiang Huai could only look at her sadly before he couldn’t help but start to nag, “If I don’t see Master dancing today, I’ll be very depressed. Being depressed will lead to an obstructed Dao heart, which will lead to a muddled mind. A muddled mind might lead to wrong judgments in the secret realm. Wrong judgments might lead to danger. Danger might mean losing my life. Master, you wouldn’t want your good disciple to die in the secret realm like this, would you?”
“Die well,” Chu Xianning slightly raised her chin, looking at him coldly.
“Just for a little while, a short while,” Jiang Huai looked at Chu Xianning with a wronged expression.
Chu Xianning turned her face away. After a few more breaths, she slowly said, “I just ate the Dragon Blood Spirit Pill, and my body is restless, so I can’t sleep, which is why I got up to dance.”
“Mhm, so just let me dance a little longer to help me sleep?”
Chu Xianning pointed to the stone platform beside her. “You… play the zither.”
Jiang Huai practically bolted to the stone platform in an instant, his movement seeming to bring the wind with it. He took out his guqin and placed his hands on the seven strings, his eyes blinking innocently. “What do you know how to dance to, Master?”
“Whatever you like… just one song.”
Chu Xianning seemed surprisingly gentle tonight. Jiang Huai’s fingertips lightly touched the strings, playing a cheerful tune. Chu Xianning’s skirt swayed, her eyes were cold, and her cheeks showed no hint of a smile. Yet, the courtyard seemed to be filled with the fragrance of warm jade. The moonlight shone on her hazy skirt hem, faintly revealing the graceful curves beneath her dress.
Jiang Huai was particularly reluctant to finish. He had been playing this song for a long time without completing it. Chu Xianning didn’t want to interrupt the music by her ears, but after a long while, Jiang Huai reluctantly lifted his hands from the zither and then began to clap enthusiastically. “Master dances much better than those at Luo Yueguan.”
“You’ve seen her dance too?” Chu Xianning’s eyes slightly lifted.
“Because I wanted Luo Qingyu to learn dancing from her to ease the relationship between mother and daughter. I happened to glance a couple of times when we were at Qingxuan Sect,” Jiang Huai explained righteously.
Chu Xianning responded coolly.
Perhaps it was because Chu Xianning had been too gentle with him recently, but Jiang Huai’s small desires grew increasingly rampant. He looked into Chu Xianning’s eyes and suddenly asked softly, “If Master gets tired from dancing, would you like me to rub your little feet?”
The moment these words were spoken, the gentleness in Chu Xianning’s eyes gradually solidified into frost.
Jiang Huai inwardly cursed his bad luck. Just as he was about to try and salvage the situation, Chu Xianning had already come before him. Jiang Huai was sitting on a chair, and Chu Xianning looked down at him from above. Jiang Huai’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat instantly, but his mind was a chaotic mess, unable to think of any remedial words.
Chu Xianning reached out her hand, and with a gentle flick of her fingertip, spiritual energy surged, causing Jiang Huai to roll off the chair and onto the ground.
Chu Xianning let out a cold laugh. In the next second, her slender white leg under her skirt was raised, and her delicate, pink jade foot stepped on Jiang Huai’s chest. The tip of her foot lifted slightly, pressing down hard on Jiang Huai’s chest twice.
“Didn’t I warn you to restrain yourself these past few days?” Chu Xianning’s voice was sharp. Jiang Xiaohu’s voice trembled, “I was wrong.”
“Wrong?” Chu Xianning’s white and tender little foot kicked Jiang Huai’s chest again. “I don’t see any sign that you know you were wrong at all?”
The wind blew her skirt hem. The moment she lifted her leg, Jiang Huai’s gaze was subconsciously drawn to her hazy skirt. Under the fluttering skirt, Chu Xianning’s snow-white and tender legs were faintly visible. But as soon as he glanced, Chu Xianning’s little foot kicked his shoulder again. “You haven’t learned your lesson!”
“Close your eyes!” Chu Xianning’s tone rose slightly again. Jiang Huai obediently closed his eyes, and darkness filled his vision. But at this moment, it seemed even more stimulating. Chu Xianning’s little foot kicked his chest again.
However, Chu Xianning never dared to use too much force. With her Eighth Realm cultivation, if she used a little more force, Jiang Huai would truly die. Therefore, she always adjusted the strength of her punishment based on Jiang Huai’s reaction. And Jiang Huai… no matter how hard Chu Xianning hit him, he would yelp in pain, so Chu Xianning’s punishments were always superficial.
“Do you still want me to rub them?”
“No more rubbing, no more rubbing. I was wrong.” Jiang Xiaohu adopted his spoiled act, his voice sounding as sincere as possible. Chu Xianning just let out a cold laugh, her white and tender foot still on his chest. The tip of her toe slightly lifted his chin. “If I hear you say that again next time, it won’t just be your chest I’m stepping on.”
“Then, then where will you step?” Jiang Xiaohu’s voice trembled.
“I’ll see if you’ll still have any face left then!”
Hmm, thinking about it makes me a little excited.
“I was wrong…” Jiang Xiaohu activated his spoiled mode.
Chu Xianning looked at him coldly and finally moved her little foot away. Jiang Huai slowly opened his eyes, gazed at Chu Xianning’s eyes, and blinked. After a second or two, he whispered, “Speaking of which, we’re leaving tomorrow morning. Master, would you like to have a few drinks tonight?”
“You seem to really like urging me to drink,” Chu Xianning’s voice grew increasingly icy.
“Did I? Did I?” Jiang Huai’s voice began to tremble again.
Had Chu Xianning already noticed his despicable little thoughts?
“Jiang Huai… do you think I know nothing?”
“What do you know, Master?” Jiang Huai’s heartbeat quickened, as if about to leap out of his chest.
But Chu Xianning suddenly fell silent.
Jiang Huai quietly looked up and saw Chu Xianning holding a wine pot in her hand. Her eyes looked down at Jiang Huai from above, her voice containing an undeniable commanding tone, “Open your mouth, you cheap dog.”
“Ah…” Jiang Huai obediently opened his mouth. In the next second, Chu Xianning tilted the wine pot, and the clear peach blossom wine drew a silver line in the air, falling into Jiang Huai’s mouth. But before Jiang Huai’s mouth was even full, Chu Xianning didn’t stop. His throat rolled a few times, and he couldn’t swallow anymore, with wine flowing from the corners of his mouth and wetting his clothes. Only then did Chu Xianning’s cool voice sound, “Have you had enough to drink?”
Logically speaking, if he lowered his head and apologized now, it would probably pass. Chu Xianning’s little grievances would also be vented.
However, Jiang Huai’s mind suddenly went blank, and he blinked at Chu Xianning.
“The wine Master fed me is so sweet, fragrant, I like it so much.”
Chu Xianning took a deep breath.
The snow-white and tender, slender legs under Master’s skirt were suddenly lifted. Her white and tender jade feet were almost against Jiang Huai’s face, suspended high above. The tips of her toes were slightly tensed, and her voice, tinged with coldness, filled with immense anger, asked, “You like it very much, don’t you?”
She tilted the wine pot in her hand, and clear wine liquid fell onto her white and tender jade feet, making them sparkle as if covered in flowing light. The clear wine liquid reflected the moonlight’s radiance, and the wine flowed from her toes onto Jiang Huai’s face. Jiang Huai immediately closed his lips in a look of humiliation, but Chu Xianning’s cold command echoed in his ears.
“Don’t you like it? Today, I’ll personally feed you enough, you cheap dog!”
