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nEditor: Casey

nThis was the first time growing up that Gu Qiushu heard someone say they wanted to dual cultivate with him.

nShi Qing’s words nearly made his brain combust.

nHis hands couldn’t help but clench…

nHis ears grew redder and redder…

nAnd naturally, his heartbeat sped up as well.

nBy the time he recovered, the person who was teasing him had already reached the side of his next target.

n“Little Ye Zi, let me ask you something. How on Earth did you swallow such a big bug?”

nYe Zi, who had forgotten all about that while munching on his drumstick, turned green. He couldn’t swallow another bite of chicken, for he would vomit if he did. Yet he couldn’t spit it out and waste food either.

nIn the end, his foodie side won out. Ye Zi swallowed with a pained expression and muttered, “I don’t know either. I didn’t even know there was a bug in my stomach.”

nShi Qing tried to scare him. “If you didn’t happen to run into me, then who knows when you would’ve found out? The bug in you is called a Cycle Gu. It devours a cultivator’s spiritual energy to grow. When it matures in your body, it can reproduce asexually and lay a bunch of eggs. These eggs will migrate to your meridians and slowly grow up. Mature bugs eat spiritual energy, but they’re afraid of it as larvae. So when you reach the Nascent Soul Stage, the larvae will crawl out and eat your nascent soul, gradually laying waste to your cultivation.”

nYe Zi’s face turned even greener.

n“But that isn’t even the worst part. You’ll be mortal without your cultivation, and mortals have a limited lifespan. When former cultivators are about to die, a vestige of spiritual energy remaining in their bodies will emerge to protect their heart meridian. At that time, those larvae who’re afraid of spiritual energy will furiously dig around in your meridians and make you die of shock from the pain!”

n“Guess if that big bug’s eggs are in your stomach or not right now.”

nYe Zi was completely terrified.

nHe couldn’t help but retch a couple of times as he ran outside. Soon, the sound of vomiting could be heard. Gu Qiushu remained where he was and saw the happy smile on Shi Qing’s face. He suddenly spoke, “You scared him on purpose.”

n“Yep.” The Steel Bones Sect Master readily admitted it, smiling and raising his eyebrows at Gu Qiushu. “Although he vomited out the bug, its remnants remain in his body. If his body breaks them down, his cultivation will stop progressing for at least a century.”

nHe seemed quite proud of himself. “But now there’s nothing to worry about since I made him vomit everything out. I’m such a good person, ah.”

nGu Qiushu wrinkled his eyebrows. “You could’ve just told him. Was scaring him really necessary?”

n“Think of it as a personal preference.”

n“I’d be happy to.”

nThe person in front of him was openly flaunting his unrestrained nature. With quirked lips, he gazed genially at Gu Qiushu. “Don’t you think that results are more important than methods? What does it matter as long as the patient’s cured?”

n“I say Xianzhang, since you think of him as a little brother, doesn’t that mean you should thank me because I saved him?”

nGu Qiushu looked at the person in front of him. Although he appeared as frosty as ever on the surface, there were lingering doubts in his eyes.

nHe didn’t understand why Shi Qing always acted like this.

nInstead of being straightforward, he deliberately scared or misled others.

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nIf Ye Zi hadn’t appeared just in time, even Gu Qiushu himself didn’t know if he would’ve actually taken Shi Qing’s life.

nHowever, despite his objectionable stance on things, Shi Qing proved with his actions that he was actually trying to save lives.

nBut it was also clear that he treated everything like a game, even willing to risk his own life to achieve his goals.

nGu Qiushu didn’t understand.

nAnd Shi Qing didn’t bother explaining it to him. He stepped away and shouted to the people outside, “Send Little Ye Zi back, and brew him extra sugar water for his throat!”

nThen he came back and closed the door. He lifted his chin at the white-robed Xianzhang. “Lie down. I’m going to do acupuncture.”

nBecause of this incident with Ye Zi, Gu Qiushu felt that he had misunderstood Shi Qing. Even though that was the other person’s intention, he still felt a bit guilty inside.

nSo this time, he obediently went back to the bed and laid down quietly.

n“You’re behaving yourself this time. Good.”

nShi Qing took out a silver needle while running his mouth, “I won’t lie to you Xianzhang. This is my first time trying acupuncture. Please be understanding if I accidentally leave a silver needle in your body.”

nAfter watching him scare Ye Zi just moments ago, Gu Qiushu didn’t react to those words with anger or resentment.

nTo confirm his suspicion, he deliberately said, “Just focus on administering the needles. If they end up in my body, I’ll just expel them using spiritual energy.”

nAs expected, disappointment appeared on Shi Qing’s fair and devious face afterwards.

n“You aren’t scared?”

nGu Qiushu looked at him, still expressionless. “You want me to be scared?”

nThe person in front of him smacked his lips and patted his shoulder. “Boring. You’re so boring.”

nShi Qing seemed to have lost interest since he couldn’t scare Gu Qiushu. He started administering the needles in silence.

nGu Qiushu quietly laid there. He thought, “As I expected.”

nShi Qing hadn’t done anything to them after capturing them except for verbal threats.

nMaybe it was just for fun, or maybe he just liked to see others panic.

nBut he never did anything that would actually cause harm.

nHere was where Gu Qiushu’s trail of thought grew jumbled. He still didn’t understand what Shi Qing got from this. What was the point of making others fear and loathe him?

nHe probed Shi Qing in a cold voice, “I am grateful to you for treating my meridians.”

nThe pale, slender fingers applying needled above him paused before resuming their work.

nBefore, Gu Qiushu had been too busy being angry about being imprisoned to truly listen to Shi Qing’s words. Now that he’s calmed down, he noticed how crisp and clear his words were.

nWhen he didn’t deliberately slow down and make his voice deeper, Shi Qing almost sounded like a lively and bright youth. One that was a bit spoiled but still pure underneath.

nHowever, his words were filled with mockery, “Xianzhang, you really are a fool. Why would I help you guys if I didn’t get something out of it? I can’t believe you even thanked me. Hmph. It seems like your Heavenly Derivation Sect’s education needs to put less emphasis on books and more on common sense.”

nGu Qiushu’s tone was clear, cold, but very resolute. ”You having an ulterior motive doesn’t mean I can’t be grateful.”

nThe person above him snorted and leaned down slightly. A pair of beautiful eyes steadily looked into Gu Qiushu’s.

n“Then what if my ulterior motive…is you?”

nEven though he knew this was coming, Shi Qing’s deliberate teasing still made the white-robed Xianzhang face involuntarily flush.

nHe slightly averted his eyes from Shi Qing. “Behave yourself!”

nThe same two words as before, but now there was a touch of more panic and confusion.

nShi Qing picked up on it. His smirk widened.

n“Don’t worry Xianzhang, I’m a very disciplined person. Of course I won’t force you if you’re not willing.”

n“It’s only fun when both people want it.”

nHe deliberately made his words ambiguous. As expected, Gu Qiushu gave up on probing any further. He just closed his eyes and played dead.

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nShi Qing stopped speaking as well and concentrated on his treatment.

nAs time ticked by, Gu Qiushu frowned. He paused his mental recitation of his mantras and slowly opened his eyes.

nAt least six hours had passed by now.

nOf course that amount of time was nothing for a cultivator, but everyone knew Shi Qing was just mortal. How could he possibly stand six hours of intense concentration?

nHe did see sweat beading on the other person’s forehead. Shi Qing was also no longer smiling like before. Instead, there was a faint frown on his face.

nGu Qiushu never cared to get a good look at Shi Qing before due to being disgusted with him. Now that he did, he immediately noticed the other’s stunning, fox demon-like features.

nAnd those eyes that were focused on concentrating instead of being charming for the moment.

nGu Qiushu suddenly remembered what his shixiong had once remarked about him before.

n“You might not have even noticed yourself how much you’re concentrating during sword practice. Many female disciples couldn’t turn their eyes away from you then. Maybe it’s true that people are most attractive when they’re focused.”

nAt the time, Gu Qiushu didn’t understand his shixiong’s words.

nIt was just sword practice. What was there to see?

nBut now, looking at Shi Qing who was single-mindedly focusing on the task at hand, Gu Qiushu finally seemed to understand.

nThis kind of Shi Qing was indeed very beautiful.

nHe wanted to take a few more looks at him.

nDing! Gu Qiushu animosity value 97

/100

nEn? Shi Qing seemed a bit caught off guard. I didn’t even do anything yet but it dropped on its own?

nThe System quickly came to kiss up to him. It must be because of the Host’s bottomless charisma!

nShoo shoo shoo. Do you really think Gu Qiushu’s the facecon type?

nSurprisingly, the answer was yes.

nGu Qiushu was a straightforward, simple person. He already felt guilty for almost hurting Shi Qing before, and now Shi Qing had toiled for so long to treat him. His guilt only grew as time went on.

nHowever, he only knew one way to deal with other people, and none of them were like Shi Qing. Gu Qiushu stewed on what to do for quite some time. Although he was still expressionless, the corners of his eyes were tense, and his brow was furrowed. He seemed deep in thought about something.

nShi Qing picked up on this. “Xianzhang, what are you thinking about? Your eyebrows are almost furrowed enough to squish a fly to death.”

nGu Qiushu’s lips slightly parted, but he paused before speaking coldly. “Rest if you’re tired.”

n“En? But I’m not tired, ah.”

nThe person above him giggled again. The motion made a drop of sweat from his forehead roll down the bridge of his lifted and fair nose. It seemed to make Shi Qing itchy since he wiped his face before smiling at Gu Qiushu again.

nLiar.

nThe white-robed Xianzhang gazed coldly at the person on top of him.

nYou’re lying despite obviously being tired.

nThis person didn’t even know why his expression had cooled. He was still asking playfully, “Xianzhang, why are you asking this all of a sudden? Is it because you can’t wait to relieve yourself?”

nHe giggled and deliberately looked down. “It’s not good to hold it in, Xianzhang. Since you’re in a hurry, we’ll stop here for now.”

nEspecially since Gu Qiushu had been practicing inedia since long ago, why would he need to use the washroom?

nFor Gu Qiushu, if he had heard any of the Heavenly Derivation Sect disciples speak like this back at the Sect, he would punish them with three days of seclusion at the very least. But since Shi Qing wasn’t his to reprimand, he could only coldly ignore him.

nAfter not receiving a response to his teasing, the person above him stopped, unlike before. Perhaps because he knew Gu Qiushu was going to ignore him, perhaps because he was worn out from treating him for several hours straight.

nGu Qiushu closed his eyes again.

nBut his heart refused to settle down.

nThe image of Shi Qing’s sweat-covered forehead, the fatigue lining his fair face…

nHe couldn’t stop thinking about them.

nWith tightly knitted brows, Gu Qiushu was about to forcefully make himself forget when he suddenly heard panting.

nThe white-robed Xianzhang’s eyes snapped open. He saw how there was even more sweat on Shi Qing’s forehead. He also seemed more tired than before.

nHe could feel that Shi Qing’s breathing became slightly sharper.

nIt was obvious that the person above him was already exhausted.

nHowever, Shi Qing seemed like he didn’t care. He continued to concentrate on carefully applying the needles to various locations.

nGu Qiushu could clearly feel his meridians widening a few fractions as the treatment progressed. The sharp pain that had returned after he forced open the acupoint was also significantly lessened.

nFor someone who had chronic pain, it was definitely a cause for celebration for the pain to ease even a bit.

nHowever, Shi Qing had tired himself out like this to achieve that.

nGu Qiushu was expressionless. He wasn’t worried for Shi Qing’s sake.

nIt’s just that this person was just a mortal.

nIt was too much to ask a mortal to expend his energy to save a cultivator like him.

nBesides, Shi Qing was the master of this place. If something happened to him, Gu Qiushu would be implicated.

nAs he was frantically trying to justify things to himself, he saw the hands of the person above him falter.

nShi Qing frowned as his eyes glazed over. He slightly swayed from side to side before collapsing.

nAlmost subconsciously, the white-robed Xianzhang in the bed half rose and waved his hand. His sword immediately burst out of its sheath in response to his spiritual energy and caught the mortal that was about to fall off the bed.

n“En? Thanks, ah.”

nThe obviously pampered and spoiled head of a sect didn’t seem to care about what just happened. He casually got up and continued what he was doing, disregarding his fatigue entirely.

nIt was really uncomfortable to watch.

nJust as his hand was about to touch one of the needles, a large, slender hand blocked him.

nShi Qing looked over, puzzled. “Xianzhang?”

nOn the bed, the white-robed Xianzhang who was slightly propped up expressionlessly said, “We’ll end things here for today.”

nShi Qing wrinkled his brow. “Why? Just an hour more, and you’ll be pain-free for three days.”

nAn hour more? If we actually went on for an hour more, this mortal would’ve collapsed already.

nGu Qiushu, who had been practicing inedia since long ago, spoke coldly with a cold expression.

n“I need to use the bathroom.”

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nAuthor’s Corner

n3.8k!

nWhat an auspicious number!

nNight night~

nSending out random red pockets!

nAlso begging for more nutrient fluid mua mua mua

nRain

nAhhh I can’t believe I mislabeled the chapter. (;-_-)ノ

nThanks for letting me know guys.

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