Chapter 421 Poetry and Painting (3k)
“Hmph – you flirt!”
Splashing a little water, Bai Zhi instinctively stretched out her fair arms to cover her slightly raised chest. Her pretty face instantly flushed, and with a soft cry, she “plop!”ed back into the water, making bubbling sounds as the slightly fragrant water submerged her small face.
“Little fool, didn’t you say you wanted to teach me a lesson with vines? Why do you regret it after seeing your husband?”
Looking at Bai Zhi’s cute little movements, Su Jiu’s heart fluttered, and he chuckled teasingly, then his figure disappeared as if vanishing.
“Huh? Did he leave?”
Seeing Su Jiu’s appearance, Bai Zhi was stunned, floating on the water like a silly duck. She was just casually complaining. If Su Jiu really left, how could she get him to help her do the things she liked?
“Ah! Who?!”
While Bai Zhi was spacing out, she suddenly felt a warmth covering her chest, startling her. She quickly tried to get up to grab her weapon, but her arms were exceptionally strong. Even though the rabbit had the momentum to break free, it couldn’t resist the hunter’s skill.
“What were you just doing? You haven’t answered me yet.” A clear yet gentle female voice sounded from behind her.
After hearing the voice, Bai Zhi calmed down. She leaned back slightly, feeling a slippery sensation against her back. Her eyes shifted downwards, and she saw a hand wearing a familiar dragon head ring—
“This is the flirt’s hand.”
Immediately, a look of joy appeared on her face, then quickly, as if thinking of something, she said softly:
“Of course, I was painting.”
Then, a sly smile appeared on her face. With a slight curl of her lips, she held her brush and reached towards the center, wanting to discuss ancient painting techniques with Su Jiu.
“You flirt, let me… teach you too?” Bai Zhi’s ink-stained wolf howl rolled and landed on the slightly damp drawing paper.
“Painting?”
Su Jiu, behind Bai Zhi, was slightly taken aback, but suddenly felt a paintbrush probing his white paper, and a blush crept onto his face—this little fool actually dared to…
Just like ancient talented women, Bai Zhi held the wolf howl, chose a suitable direction, and on the grainy, somewhat frosted silk paper, with a stroke, a horizontal line, a probe, her technique was delicate yet graceful, undoubtedly a master of traditional Chinese painting.
Finally, as if the silk paper became too damp, it actually got stuck on the painter’s brush for a moment…
With her back to Su Jiu, Bai Zhi had the expression of an ancient young lady, raising her chin slightly, and gently flicking the scroll in her hand, she said meaningfully: “You flirt, the scroll paper you bought doesn’t seem to be good!”
“Little fool, you’ve practiced quite a bit, haven’t you?”
Su Jiu let out a hoarse chuckle, and loosened his grip on Bai Zhi’s restricting hand. Her body involuntarily leaned against him.
With another “whoosh!” Bai Zhi’s wolf howl in her hand finally regained freedom, but it was once again stained with ink, as if it was the ink that had already been on the silk paper.
Then, in the next second, a head rested on her fair and petite shoulder, her wet hair carrying a warm aura, and her rather sharp teeth gently rubbed against her tender neck.
After blowing two breaths towards her, Su Jiu used one leg to lock Bai Zhi’s feet, ignored her resistance, and with a slight pant, licked Bai Zhi’s neck and said, “Your painting skills are so superb, would you like to see my poem?”
“Heh heh, it definitely won’t be as good as mine…”
Hearing this, Bai Zhi’s body trembled slightly, her small mouth couldn’t help but curve, and she immediately pulled open the handles of the two scrolls, revealing silk paper cleaner than Su Jiu’s. The smooth silk paper was quite endearing and lovable…
Su Jiu chuckled lightly, showing off his talented woman demeanor, playing the role of a plagiarist for a good while: “Go as far as the water source, and you will find a mountain. The mountain has a small opening, as if it emits light. Abandon the boat and enter through the opening. At first, it’s very narrow, barely allowing a person to pass. After walking dozens of steps, it suddenly opens up.”
There are some writings that do not exist in this world, and “The Peach Blossom Spring” is one of them.
Hearing this, Bai Zhi’s eyes widened slightly. She turned to look at the smiling face, “No, you can really write?”
“Ying!”
Then she gently covered her mouth and exclaimed. Although she felt that they were good lines in her heart, she still clenched her legs and stubbornly said: “Hmph! Not as good as my painting!”
Su Jiu, biting her neck, spoke with a slightly muffled voice: “Not enough? But you are like the endless Yangtze River, rolling on, how can it be inferior?”
“Inferior is inferior!”
With her neck being bitten, Bai Zhi, like Li Bai missing his hometown, bit her lip and looked up at the white snow outside the window, as if distracting herself and denying the excellence of Su Jiu’s words.
“Then what about this line—Two orioles sing in the green willows, a row of white egrets flies into the blue sky…”
“What… Ah!”
…
“The world is changing, the knowledgeable and polite Miss Bai of the past is gone with the wind.”
Outside the bathhouse, Lin Mei listened to the sounds of their discussion on poetry and painting, shook her head, and walked towards her residence, wondering if she should also find a good man.
…
The next day, the thin mist dissipated, a little frost appeared on the leaves of the pomegranate tree, and the workshop became lively again. The workers all came to work, as if last night’s events were just an illusion.
In a simply decorated ancient-style dormitory, a girl tied her black hair with a red string, wore a slightly thick down jacket, and held a bowl of meat porridge, touching the bite marks on her neck.
Her gaze fell on Su Jiu, who was sleeping rather ungracefully on the bed. After looking around, she secretly kissed his cheek, a gentle smile on her face, and said softly:
“You flirt, it’s time for breakfast.”
As if sensing the fleeting kiss, Su Jiu’s eyes moved, and he smacked his lips. Suddenly, he smelled a fragrant aroma wafting towards him.
Only then did he slowly get up and look at Bai Zhi, who had tied her hair. She held her heavy head, seeming to have done many wild things last night.
“Mmm…”
Taking the fragrant porridge, although it didn’t fill her at all, she couldn’t bear to refuse seeing Bai Zhi, who looked like a married woman. She gently scooped up a spoonful of meat porridge, and while eating, she asked, “I’ve already purchased the Yin Yang water directly on the APP, and it should arrive today. How many ice-attribute magic crystals do you still need?”
“I need a lot…” Being asked by Su Jiu, Bai Zhi slightly put away her smile, lowered her gaze to her stomach, and said helplessly,
“I need about a hundred intermediate magic crystals. If it were high-grade magic crystals, I’d still need about ten. Thanks to your netizen, I managed to gather enough fire-attribute magic crystals before.”
“Ten high-grade magic crystals?! Why do you need so many?”
Hearing Bai Zhi’s words, Su Jiu was completely stunned. Magic crystals of a specific attribute were about twenty percent more expensive than generic ones.
With the money she had, she could only buy five or six high-grade specific attribute magic crystals. According to the one-to-eight exchange rate, if converted to intermediate specific attribute magic crystals, it would be much cheaper, about seventy or so. And if she bought beginner magic crystals, she could buy nearly a thousand…
With so many magic crystals, it would be enough to raise a Warrior-class Gugu Pig to High-Rank Battle General.
Bai Zhi shook her head and continued, “I don’t know. I feel like she’s like a withered seed severely lacking energy. Now that she’s only half activated, her development is extremely slow.”
Her gaze also shifted to Bai Zhi’s stomach. After a moment, Su Jiu looked up again and said, “Can beginner magic crystals work? If I buy beginner magic crystals, my money should be just enough.”
Without waiting for Su Jiu to continue, Bai Zhi shook her head, sighed, and said, “I tried, she’s very picky and doesn’t absorb that kind of mottled energy. Because her bloodline strength is already extremely high, if I weren’t this special plant body, I wouldn’t even have the ability to carry her.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll have to rely on Sister Youyou to help me purchase them. It’s not easy to borrow such a large sum of money from anyone…”
Seeing the helplessness on her face, Su Jiu slowly rubbed his chin, deep in thought. After a while, he flipped his hand, dialed the phone, and said—
“Hello?”
“Sister Youyou, I need to ask you for a favor…”
…
Su Jiu and Yan Youyou talked for about five or six minutes. As if feeling extremely heartbroken, she transferred almost all her wealth to Youyou.
“Tsk, you’re really doing well now, you’re my superior and richer than me— I’ve received the money from my special channel, and it will be delivered soon.”
After receiving the money, Youyou exclaimed repeatedly, then paused for a moment, and her tone changed, sweeping away her previous way of speaking, “By the way, I have something that needs your help too.”
“Something?” Su Jiu’s eyes narrowed slightly. She suddenly felt that this matter might be related to the snow mountain trip.
As expected, Youyou was silent for a moment, then said very seriously: “Recently, the children of several high-ranking officials or Battle King level powers have been kidnapped. You know the Southwest Military Region, right?”
Su Jiu was slightly stunned, then asked in confusion, “Isn’t that where my foolish brother went? He’s still trapped there now. What’s the connection between these two matters?”
Youyou remained as serious as ever, even her tone returned to that of Secretary Yan: “The daughter of the Military Division Commander of that military region also mysteriously disappeared after your brother went. When she disappeared—your brother and your brother’s girlfriend Liu Lin, along with the children of several high-ranking military officials, also went missing.”
She paused and said in a deep voice: “This matter is very serious. They have already concluded that Su Xiaoyu, dissatisfied with being trapped, took action and captured everyone with whom he had a conflict. If it weren’t for the old man repeatedly emphasizing Su Xiaoyu’s innocence, they would have already prepared to send people to the Dragon Hunters Alliance to request an arrest warrant.”
“If you are in Yue Nan, you need to go to the Southwest Military Region as soon as possible to investigate the reason—Ren is holding off the arrest request from the Dragon Hunters Alliance for you here.”
“No problem.”
Hearing Youyou’s words, Su Jiu quickly understood the crux of the matter. Thinking about the things she encountered on the way, after drinking some porridge, she slowly said, “Regarding this matter—I have some clues. This matter is highly likely related to the Ancient God Sect. They are trying to use these children of high officials to influence those officials to provide support to the Northern Kingdom.”
Youyou was silent for a long time, then said very seriously: “I will relay these things to the old man truthfully, so he can explain the situation to the Elder Council.”
As if thinking of something, Su Jiu asked in a low voice, “Is Ren free? I need him to go to southern Bear Country in advance to make some preparations.”
Hearing Su Jiu’s words, Youyou was slightly stunned, then asked, “Go to Bear Country to make preparations?”
Putting down the porridge she had unknowingly finished, Su Jiu chuckled and said:
“He needs to participate in the [Frost Break] plan, and there’s someone he’s wanted to kill for a long time—Si Chen.”
