“Why are you hitting yourself?” Chu Xianning asked, confused.
“It’s nothing, nothing. I just had some strange thoughts in my head earlier, and I couldn’t shake them off without a slap,” Jiang Huai replied, sounding a bit guilty. He then focused his gaze on Chu Xianning’s delicate jade feet. His Master’s feet were so small and exquisite, smooth and tender, with the veins on the soles particularly visible.
But her small feet were a little cold to the touch. Jiang Huai gazed at her toes. Perhaps due to nervousness, Chu Xianning’s toes were slightly curled, like unopened flower buds. Jiang Huai gently pried them open one by one. Chu Xianning’s body seemed to resist subconsciously, yet she still tried her best to cooperate with him.
Perhaps because Jiang Huai was looking down so intently, he didn’t notice the faint pink blush on Chu Xianning’s earlobes, nor did he see her gently trembling eyelashes.
He meticulously located the acupoints on the sole of Chu Xianning’s feet and used a small wisp of ‘Qi’ refined from the Overlord Art to stimulate them, attempting to dispel the Cold Toxin. Gradually, Chu Xianning’s small feet began to warm up slightly. Jiang Huai breathed a sigh of relief, though he felt inexplicably dizzy.
This wisp of ‘Qi’ from the Overlord Art was naturally refined from his abundant Vital Energy, Spirit, and Mind. Now that it was depleted, Jiang Huai naturally felt a little dizzy. He tried to conceal it, knowing Chu Xianning would be unhappy if she found out.
Gradually, his Master’s delicate jade feet began to soften, and the snow-white soles also took on a lovely pink hue. Jiang Xiaohu was mesmerized. He then reached out and slapped his own forehead. He looked up at Chu Xianning and asked, “Master, are you feeling any better?”
Chu Xianning jolted back to awareness from her daze and softly replied, “Much better.”
“If we open the last two acupoints, the flow of Spiritual Qi will be smoother, and that coldness will be further dispelled,” Jiang Huai said cautiously.
But the remaining two acupoints for his Master were in particularly awkward locations: one at her tailbone, and the other on the inner side of her thigh, very close to her tender flesh. If Jiang Huai were to insert needles, it would require her to spread her legs wide. Such a humiliating posture might make Chu Xianning want to dig a hole and bury Jiang Huai just thinking about it, let alone allowing him to perform the needle insertion herself.
At this moment, Jiang Huai suddenly felt that Luo Yueguan was quite generous.
If possible, he would have preferred it if Chu Xianning’s last two acupoints were in very safe locations, like her arms or palms. No matter how he touched Chu Xianning, she wouldn’t feel ashamed, and he wouldn’t have that sense of illicit unease.
Chu Xianning remembered the locations of the last two acupoints.
She looked into Jiang Huai’s eyes, always trying to find the slightest trace of an evil thought in them. But Jiang Huai’s eyes were truly as clear as ever. The clearer they were, the more inexplicable an unease Chu Xianning felt. Why had he suddenly slapped his forehead earlier? What were those strange thoughts in his head? Perhaps she guessed… but she neither should nor could say it.
Would he be so restrained with other women? Would his eyes be the same as they were now?
Chu Xianning became increasingly unable to distinguish her own thoughts. But she shouldn’t be distracted now. After a moment, she turned her face away and said, “After your friend returns to the Western Region, we can talk about… the acupoints.”
“Okay, then after Bai Li leaves, I’ll open the remaining two acupoints for you, Master.”
“I didn’t say…” Chu Xianning stopped short of finishing her sentence. She looked at Jiang Huai’s innocent eyes, always feeling as if he had outmaneuvered her in some unclear way. But after a moment, she didn’t struggle any further, saying, “Never mind, as you wish.”
“Then, about the promised drinks, should we also wait until after Bai Li leaves to have them?” Jiang Huai suddenly thought of this and asked softly.
Chu Xianning was taken aback for a moment, then bit her lip slightly.
She hadn’t heard Jiang Huai mention it for many days since returning to the courtyard. She thought Jiang Huai had forgotten, or perhaps changed his mind. That would have been good… it would have been a narrow escape for her. But it seemed the little scoundrel had always kept it in mind. Clearly, he had been indulging in debauchery with Luo Qingyu in the courtyard these past few days, and this morning he had emerged from Bai Li’s room disheveled. She wondered what he had been doing in Bai Li’s room last night… Yet, at this moment, he still had an innocent look on his face.
His hand was even unconsciously playing with her small feet!
Chu Xianning turned her face away. “Can we not drink?”
“We can,” he replied.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Huai didn’t act spoiled or stubbornly insist. His reply was very natural, though his tone held a trace of disappointment.
Jiang Huai simply wanted to test his own soft spot.
It hadn’t seemed like long since he last left the courtyard, but so many things had happened these past few days. He had consummated his marriage with Wen Wanwan in the Daoji Ancestral Land, and he had no intention of avoiding it. Sometimes, he truly felt his beliefs were very pure. Since he had taken a woman’s body, he naturally wanted to be with her for life. Moreover, Wen Wanwan had saved his life, so how could he bear to let her down even a little?
Not long after Wen Wanwan, he and Qingyu had naturally advanced to Dual Cultivation. In the four days Qingyu spent in the courtyard, they had Dual Cultivated almost seven or eight times a day. Luo Qingyu had always been obedient and gentle with him. During Dual Cultivation, she liked a little pain. Jiang Huai felt that even his perversions were being influenced unconsciously. When a slap landed on Luo Qingyu’s soft, snow-white buttocks, causing a ripple effect, he seemed to feel a strange pleasure.
There was only a year left until Qingyu’s wedding. Wanwan would also be ready for marriage shortly after Qingyu’s wedding. Last night, he had chatted so much with Bai Li. It wasn’t just chatting; it was more like two hearts finally shedding their defenses under the influence of the faint alcohol, directly touching each other, and then everything flowed naturally.
As things stood, he was essentially betrothed to three women, and he could not fail them. He didn’t feel burdened; instead, he felt an indescribable sense of fulfillment and a bit of guilt. At first, he had thought finding a good partner and growing old together would be enough, but now he had become greedy.
However, Jiang Huai felt he couldn’t be any more greedy.
His Master, Chu Xianning, knew about his relationships with Luo Qingyu, Wen Wanwan, and Bai Li. Jiang Huai understood Chu Xianning well; his Master was a clean freak, both psychologically and physically. That was why, the last time Chu Xianning wiped his sweat, he had wanted to shy away… always worried about dirtying Chu Xianning.
So, in Chu Xianning’s eyes now, was he considered a dirty little scoundrel?
His bringing up opening acupoints for Chu Xianning this time was not to take advantage of her in any way. He just hoped to help her old injuries heal. And asking about drinking again this time… he really wanted to question his own heart.
It seemed his alcohol tolerance wasn’t very good. Many things happened quietly after a few drinks. It seemed that many of his hidden sensitive emotions surfaced when catalyzed by alcohol. Sometimes, he couldn’t distinguish his own thoughts, but he wanted to know if, when alone with Chu Xianning, and if both of them were drunk, if he knew that kissing her would be unnoticed or unmet with resistance… would he still have the desire, or the courage, to kiss her then?
He couldn’t guess now, but he really wanted to know. He had liked the cold, immortal Master for so many years, and it wasn’t something he could just let go of. But both reason and intuition urged him in his mind that he should let go.
Jiang Xiaohu had recently understood a very important principle.
To this world, he was an outsider. In his eyes, the concept of respecting one’s master was not that important. Instead, having read many strange novels in his past life, such as ‘Beautiful Master Falls in Love with Me’… in his mind, a master-disciple romance was merely breaking through a small barrier; there was nothing shameful or particularly embarrassing about it.
But recently, he realized that this was just his own perspective.
In Chu Xianning’s world, she had been instilled since childhood with the concept of respecting one’s master and not defying natural order. If a master and disciple fell in love, it would be against ethics and they should be beaten to death. Perhaps Chu Xianning could disregard the ridicule of the world because she never cared about others’ opinions, but she couldn’t overcome her own inner conscience. After all, her concepts, ingrained over six hundred years, were not easily broken.
His past affection for Chu Xianning was forcing Chu Xianning to tear apart her deep-rooted beliefs of six hundred years, forcing Chu Xianning to change herself. Trying to change one’s past self was always extremely difficult; tearing away layers of flesh and blood was far more than just a minor injury.
Therefore, when Chu Xianning said, “Can we not drink?”, he didn’t insist further, obeying Chu Xianning. He shouldn’t have such selfish thoughts about his Master. The so-called obsession with Chu Xianning was merely his possessiveness towards his Master, Chu Xianning, alone. He loved her cold elegance, her untainted purity, her loneliness and brokenness, hoping she could be his alone, to hold her tightly, never to leave, and accompany him forever. It was these despicable, greedy desires that were subtly at play.
Thinking this way now, could it be considered growing up? Jiang Xiaohu.
“Do you really want to drink with me?” Chu Xianning slightly raised her eyes, her gaze cold as she looked into Jiang Huai’s eyes.
“It’s up to Master. If Master wants to drink, we can have a little together and chat and heart-to-heart. If Master doesn’t want to, then we won’t drink…”
Jiang Huai realized recently that he was increasingly afraid to look directly into Chu Xianning’s eyes, unsure if it was guilt, fear, or both.
“Why don’t you dare to look at me?”
“Huh? Where… isn’t it impolite to stare at Master?” Jiang Huai looked up, his gaze falling back to Chu Xianning’s snow-white cheeks. Her eyes were as cold and clear as ever, like a bright moon hidden in dark clouds.
Chu Xianning stared directly into his eyes and muttered softly in her heart.
…As if you haven’t stared at me enough before.
They stared at each other for several breaths. Chu Xianning’s lips moved, her voice still cold, but with something else hidden within it. Jiang Huai couldn’t decipher it, but he heard the words clearly.
“I’m asking you, do you want to, or not?”
