Gu Xiqiao knew that Jiang Shuxuan had gone out, and could also guess what the heck he had gone to do.

He had been angry at the wedding banquet, and according to his attitude, Gu Xiqiao thought that he would definitely make some sort of move. So when Shu Chen was talking to her and she noticed him slip out of the house, she didn’t say anything.

Shu Chen didn’t stay for long, leaving after not even twenty minutes.

Gu Xiqiao toweled her hair as she looked at the bracelet on her wrist.

The bracelet was creamy white, a smooth and flawless texture all around. Gu Xiqiao could naturally recognize the jade to be extremely high quality. Its toughness and wear resistance were the strongest among the categories of jade, even the details on it were delicate.

The jade in her hands at least had a thousand years’ worth of history in it.

Gu Xiqiao raised her right hand, then her left, a jade bracelet on each wrist.

Both her hands had a jade bracelet, and while some might think it strange for a person to wear two jade bracelets like that, Gu Xiqiao could only feel that the two bracelets had been customized specially for her. The white sheep-fat jade stood out against her milky white skin, sparkling beautifully.

One was a pale, light blue, while the other was white. Under the light, both bracelets glowed softly with a pale green glow, but what Gu Xiqiao was looking at, was not the appearance of the bracelets, but the energy contained within. She squinted her eyes as she stared at them, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

Just when she was in her own world, the door opened with a click.

It was about time Jiang Shuxuan returned, and Gu Xiqiao looked up casually to see Jiang Shuxuan standing at the door.

“Brother Jiang,” Gu Xiqiao greeted, flashing him a smile. Then she walked to the bed, sitting down. She continued to dry her hair while on the bed.

There had been a lot of mixed smells in the banquet hall today, and Gu Xiqiao felt the scent sticking to her dress, and that was the reason she went ahead and took a shower first.

After toweling her hair for a while more, she found it strange that Jiang Shuxuan had yet to say anything since he came in.

She couldn’t help but stop what she was doing, turning to look at him. When her eyes met his deep, dark ones, she paused.

Jiang Shuxuan’s eyes slowly slid downwards from her face, watching the water drip from her hair, sliding down her face and onto her neck, then down her delicate collarbone.

The water droplet sparkled slightly under the light on her collarbone, and Jiang Shuxuan’s eyes narrowed slightly at the sight.

After he had stopped in his steps, he closed the door, turning the lock with a ‘click’.

Outside the door, Yu Ning, who had just reached the top of the stairs, saw the door closed and locked. He held the computer in his hands. “…”

“Alright, come on down.” Luo Wenlang called up to him from the bottom of the stairs. “Come and play cards with us. Butler Jiang has informed us that they have arranged rooms for us, so let’s bring some life into the Jiang residence tonight.”

“Yeah.” Yu Ning sighed, then trudged downstairs reluctantly.

He had always been fascinated by network technology. There was a code that he couldn’t figure out, which had only taken Gu Xiqiao two minutes to do it previously, so he wanted to ask her. Unfortunately, when he reached, Jiang Shuxuan was just closing the door!

Yu Ning was feeling laden with grief as he trudged back down.

Then, recalling the battlefield of blood that Jiang Shuxuan had been standing in just now, Yu Ning shrank into himself for a moment, his footsteps picking up as he hurried down to follow Luo Wenlang.

***

Inside the room, Jiang Shuxuan narrowed his eyes, looking at the direction of the door before turning around and walking towards Gu Xiqiao in an unhurried manner. “I’ll help you dry your hair.”

He reached out to take the towel from Gu Xiqiao’s hands. The bones of his knuckles stood out prominently, and he didn’t wait for her reply before taking the towel, his fingers brushing against hers. He had always been diligent in his care for her, but today felt different, and Gu Xiqiao could still feel the lingering warmth where he had brushed against her.

He was bent over slightly, his lips at her ear as he spoke into it. His voice was deep, a little hoarse and hypnotic. When he spoke, his breath was warm in her ears.

The room was quiet save for the rustling of the towel, and it magnified Gu Xiqiao’s feelings multiple times.

She wanted to turn her neck, but before she could move, Jiang Shuxuan pressed a hand to her neck. “Don’t move, I’m not done yet.”

He was really taking his time, almost as though he was toweling her hair strand by strand, meticulously combing through each strand with the towel.

Gu Xiqiao blinked, her long eyelashes trembled slightly with the movement. A faint blush was seeping into her usually pale, white face, the pupils of her eyes gaining a slightly pink hue as the time went on. Her body was also feeling unusually hot, and she tried to ignore it, but ultimately couldn’t. She bit her lower lip, then opened her mouth to ask, “Just now, you went and resolved the problem of those mutated beasts, right?”

“Yeah,” Jiang Shuxuan replied distractedly, his eyes dark with something that wasn’t anger that she couldn’t see as she was looking somewhere else. “There shouldn’t be any problems in the short term.”

“That’s good.” Gu Xiqiao’s mind was working quickly. She had always been smart, and even at this time, there were a lot of topics that she could pull out to talk about. She was trying hard to dispel the strange atmosphere that was in the room at this moment.

“You…”

Just as she opened her mouth to start again, Jiang Shuxuan chose this moment to become impatient, throwing the towel to one side and placing his hand on top of her head directly.

A layer of white mist covered the top of her head after a tick, and Gu Xiqiao’s wet dripping hair instantly dried.

Gu Xiqiao couldn’t say anything at his actions, an exasperated look on her face after she realized what he had done.

The next second, her chin was lifted up gently.

Their eyes met, and Gu Xiqiao saw his eyes, which were usually cold and distant, holding an unknown emotion in them. The breath was knocked out of her instantly.

She could feel his breath on her face, as he had leaned in closer to her after he had dried her hair.

Jiang Shuxuan took his time studying the face in front of him. The slender arch of her eyebrows, her long, delicate eyelashes, the clear and shining pair of eyes, the straight, sharp nose, and thin lips that resembled the color of cherry blossoms… He liked every single feature he saw on this person, to the point that he knew he couldn’t feel more affection than he did currently.

She didn’t know this, but when he woke up every morning, he would observe her face for a long time in the morning, as if he would never see enough of it in his lifetime.

Gu Xiqiao had just taken a shower, and he could smell the milky scent wafting from her skin. He remembered the shower gel in the bathroom was a milk smell, which was pleasant.

He had been enduring for a long time now, and today, he finally didn’t need to hold back anymore. He didn’t say anything as he leaned in, his lips on her eyelashes, eyelids, nose, and it seemed that he had kissed her entire face before finally landing on her lips.

As soon as their lips touched, he felt his body stiffened, his hands sliding down from her chin, all the way down to her hands.

He undid the white bathrobe, continuing to pepper her face with kisses when his hand touched the smooth surface of the jade bracelets on her wrists. His eyes were clouded as he rasped out, “This… did Mom give this to you?”

“Hmm…” Gu Xiqiao’s mind was a jumbled mess from the affection she was showered in, and she felt as though her brains were exploding.

These feelings had never been so vivid before. Although they lived together these days, Jiang Shuxuan was restrained, and almost a perfect image of a gentleman. Even in the caves that one time, they didn’t go all the way, and after that he took seven days to purify the poison from her body.

“Brother Jiang…” She couldn’t handle the overload of touch she could feel on her body, her hands coming up to rest on his collarbone area.

Her eyes were half-lidded, a clouded look in her usually clear eyes, and at a glance, she looked extremely confused.

Jiang Shuxuan reached up to intertwine their fingers slowly, leaning in closer to her as he whispered into her ears, “Say my name.”

His voice was deeper than usual, slightly muffled and unusually erotic. His breath tickled her ears when he breathed, and she shivered.

She had been biting her bottom lip, and it took a while before her brain processed the words he had said, and she stuttered slightly once she had a moment of lucidity through the haze that was clouding her mind. “Jiang Shuxuan… Shuxuan…”

His hands on hers tightened unconsciously the moment his name spilled from her lips, as though he was hearing her say his name for the first time. He lowered his head without hesitation, sealing her lips with his, swallowing up any other words that she was going to say.

***

Gu Xiqiao opened her eyes after the night, and beside her, Jiang Shuxuan was already awake. His eyes turned to her when he noted she was awake, and there was no hint of the usual coldness in his eyes when he looked at her, but rather a hint of a smile in it.

“Ugh… what time is it?” She felt a headache pounding behind her head, then remembered that she needed to serve Shu Chen and the others tea this morning1.

Then there were the matters to settle at Delxun Forest.

As she spoke, she pulled herself out of bed with little difficulty.

“Mom has dropped by before this, and she said to let you rest a bit more. She’s gone out to play cards with her friends…” Jiang Shuxuan stopped her, pressing a hand to hers.

She’s been here? Then she went out because they hadn’t got up yet? There was a deafening roar in Gu XIqiao’s mind at that, but before she could feel embarrassed, she was pulled down next to the warm body.

Gu XIqiao hadn’t even woken up fully, then she gave in to the slumber that overtook her once again.

When she woke up again, Jiang Shuxuan was once again up, shifting through some papers on the bed beside her. “You’re awake?”

He lowered his head to look at her, a soft expression on his face and a rare smile on his lips.

Gu Xiqiao could only stare at him unblinkingly, because she didn’t have anything to say. She looked at the sunlight that was streaming into the room that even the curtains couldn’t block, and knew that it wasn’t early in the day anymore.

She picked up the phone from the bedside table, and checked the time. It was already past three in the afternoon…

“The meal is still hot.” Jiang Shuxuan cleared away the papers that were on the bed, getting out of bed and bringing her a change of clothes. “Put on your clothes first, I’ll bring breakfast up.”

Gu Xiqiao accepted the clothes without much change in expression, then got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, washing up and changing her clothes.

Her body didn’t feel sticky anymore, and after her bath, there wasn’t any trace of the night’s activity left on her body at all. As she dried herself off and put on her clothes, she thought about it.

Although her physique was good, it doesn’t mean that it could ignore indulgence and excessive desires of a normal body.

She sighed and went to brush her teeth. After she was done, Jiang Shuxuan had already returned with a meal for her. She sat on the small sofa in the room, and Jiang Shuxuan also sat beside her, watching her eat, his hand on her back as he rubbed soothing circles.

When the great elders and the others gathered in the study, it was a similar scene they came upon.

Gu Xiqiao was sitting down on the chair, with Young Master Jiang standing behind her, massaging her shoulders.

She looked up to look at the great elder and asked, “What’s happened?”

Chapter 64: I Can Abuse You Even If I’m Not Here

The great elder came to discuss the recent outbreak of the mutated beasts. They had initially given a call to Jiang Shuxuan early in the morning, but the man had turned off his phone. The great elder then tried calling Gu Xiqiao’s phone, but was directly blacklisted by Jiang Shuxuan.

Now that elders heard the couple had woken up, the great elder stopped calling, heading for the Jiang residence directly instead.

They didn’t expect to stumble upon such a scene in the study.

Hearing Gu Xiqiao’s voice snapped them out of their daze. “Miss Gu, Young Master Jiang, the leaders of all the power circles around the world are here. The main purpose is to inquire about the mutated beast, and also about how China has revealed the secrets of the ancient martial arts world to the public. Their own people have already begun to panic.”

The leaders of the power worlds have been pressuring the ancient martial arts world all together, but the great elder wasn’t worried in the slightest, calmly talking to Gu Xiqiao.

“Panic?” Gu Xiqiao stopped typing, raising her head slowly to look at the great elder. Her eyes were narrowed, and it was hard to tell what she was feeling.

The great elder nodded his head. “Adding on the occurrence of the mutated beasts, they are all in a panic right now.”

“Can’t you handle it?” Jiang Shuxuan’s hands also paused as he pursed his lips, but his expression was softer than his usual cold, hard one. However, it didn’t mean there wasn’t a cold look on his face when he looked at the elders.

The great elder wiped away the cold sweat that had broken out. “The ancient martial arts world, as well as Japan and America are waiting for Miss Gu’s instructions.” It wasn’t like the great elder couldn’t handle it, but the only thing they could think of doing could only temporarily suppress the other countries. In order to completely solve the panic of the people, they needed Gu Xiqiao and Jiang Shuxuan to make an appearance.

Also, the great elder believed that Gu Xiqiao could handle the situation perfectly.”

“Alright, I’ll go with you all.” Gu Xiqiao tapped her fingers on the table, and Jiang Shuxuan stopped what he was doing instantly. She sent all the files on the computer to Zhu Yuan’s email, then turned to look at the great elder. “It so happens there are a few things that we need to tell you.”

“That’s fine.” The great elder smiled. “Thank you very much, Miss Gu.”

Gu Xiqiao didn’t reply, turning to look out the window instead. “After this meeting, Brother Jiang and I will be leaving.”

Leaving? The great elder knew that they had something they needed to do, but he didn’t think that it would be so urgent.

“When are you leaving?” The great elder’s face became somber. For them to choose this time to leave, it must be something extremely important.

Jiang Shuxuan walked slowly towards the bookshelf, pulling out a document as he replied faintly, “Seven in the evening.”

It was now five in the evening, there was still two hours before their departure.

Seven o’clock was also a time that Gu Xiqiao had decided. The time was the most auspicious number of the day.

In the Elders’ Pavilion, the various leaders of the power world had gathered there. The long table was full of people, the leader of America and Japan sitting at the side of the head of the table. The others seated in the further seats were all clamoring and making noises, and the two seats at the head of the table were still empty. The second elder was standing beside the chairs, his head lowered, as though he wasn’t concerned at all about the commotion that was happening in the Elders’ Pavilion at the moment.

“Leader Nozawa,” The person sitting below Nozawa cup his hands in greeting as he addressed Nozawa. “Don’t you also think that the approach the ancient martial arts world took is over the line? Announcing the existence of the ancient martial arts world, letting the ordinary people of our country panic, it’s something that none of us can do!”

Nozawa picked up his cup of tea, looking at the man who spoke to him without saying anything in response.

Perhaps it was because of the chilling look on Nozawa’s face, making the person who spoke felt like he was being looked down upon, but he didn’t dare say anything. They weren’t as strong as Japan after all. He turned to Wan Qijue instead. “Leader Wanqi, what do you think?”

“I also think it isn’t a good move.” Wanqi Jue smiled, playing with his phone in a casual manner. “Leader Jerry, I support you. Go on, destroy the ancient martial arts world. I have faith in you.”

As soon as Wanqi Jue said that, the leader of America couldn’t help the unkind smile that stretched across his face. Wanqi Jue just wanted to cause some drama, destroy the ancient martial arts world? Daring to say such a thing, he just wanted to watch the show happen in front of him.

“You…” Leader Jerry’s face flushed, but didn’t continue his words. Destroy the ancient martial arts world? He wouldn’t even dare to entertain the thought, they were just a small country, and just Jiang Shuxuan alone could easily wipe their country from the map.

Wanqi Jue sneered at his reaction, what a load of bullsh*t from someone who talked so much about the ancient martial arts world. It was just talk after all, he didn’t even dare mention Jiang Shuxuan’s name in fear. If he was more determined in his ideas, Wanqi Jue might have felt a hint of respect for him.

He couldn’t help but shake his head when he thought about it, and didn’t bother following up with the conversation.

Leader Jerry had become boring already, and so Wanqi Jue turned his gaze to the others around him, and discussed current matters.

These were all power circles of the smaller countries, their strength couldn’t even compare to a family in the ancient martial arts world. Most of the time, they were attached to the other countries, and even the ordinary people of their own country wouldn’t acknowledge them. So when Gu Xiqiao announced to the public about powers beyond the ordinary people, these smaller countries felt the hit from the secular world. Adding on the problems of the mutated beasts recently, these people from the power world were in a panic.

Apart from Wanqi Jue who knew the truth, everyone else was discussing this matter with a fierce intensity.

Most of their opinions were for Gu Xiqiao to clarify the matter again, to get rid of the suspicions of the other countries.

The second elder pretended to not hear any of these opinions being voiced out. In the end, he seemed to be bored of the repeating words, and he took out his phone and started to play with it.

Seeing the second elder in this state, the people thought that he was in agreement with them, and started to be more vigorous in their discussions.

“I also think Miss Gu has overstepped this time. Although she’s the wife of Young Master Jiang, your ancient martial arts world can’t just ignore her in this, right?”

“She needs to clarify this matter to the people of our country…”

Hearing those words, Wanqi Jue glanced at the person who had spoken. Young Master Jiang’s wife? Was that how they were defining her? Wanqi Jue touched his chin thoughtfully. These people thought that she was just Miss Gu, and hadn’t found out what her background was. Once they knew the true strength of Gu Xiqiao, the way they defined her would definitely turn around.

It would probably be Miss Gu’s husband the next time, instead of Young Master Jiang’s wife?

While these people were still in their discussions and debate, it obviously looked like they were not intending to stop anytime soon. At this time, the door to the Elders’ Pavillion open with a ‘creak’, and a greeting ‘Miss Gu’ was heard clearly by everyone seated in the room.

All of them quieted down immediately, their heads snapping behind to look at the door.

The door had opened, and two figures were walking in. One was thin and slender, her head lowered slightly and you couldn’t see what expression was on their face, while the other was the great elder.

Not seeing Jiang Shuxuan, these people from the power world immediately turned away, continuing on their discussion, ignoring Gu Xiqiao’s presence.

It was probably because in their eyes, Gu Xiqiao’s presence was not as domineering as Jiang Shuxuan’s, and couldn’t attract their attention.

Wanqi Jue and Nozawa looked at these people with some pity in their eyes. They couldn’t wait to see the shock of underestimating Gu Xiqiao dawning on their faces.

Only, no one saw the pitying gaze that Wanqi Jue gave them, as they were still immersed in their discussion that had picked up once again.

Gu Xiqiao sat in one of the two empty seats, while the great elder didn’t take a seat, standing behind her, an image of an obedient subordinate.

Wanqi Jue, Nozawa, and the leader of America immediately stood up, greeting her respectfully, “Miss Gu.”

Gu Xiqiao nodded slightly, and the three of them sat back down.

Although everyone else in the room felt it to be strange that the three leaders of the strongest power world were showing such respect to a little girl, they didn’t think too much about it.

Gu Xiqiao didn’t say anything, but her gaze swept across the room, looking at the loudest person in the room. She placed her chin on her palm lazily, her other hand tapping on the table in front of her. The tapping sound against the table was not heard over the chatter in the room.

After listening for a few more minutes, she more or less understood what was happening.

“You want me to apologize?” Gu Xiqiao retracted her hands, leaning back against the chair, looking at the people in front of her with a casual expression on her face.

A terrifying pressure immediately followed after her words, and the entire room was plunged into a terrifying atmosphere. All sounds stopped abruptly, as if a mute button had been pressed, and they all turned to look at Gu Xiqiao in horror. Disbelief slowly bled into their faces, and the blood drained from their faces.

They had only ever seen this level of spiritual power in Jiang Shuxuan, and even Wanqi Jue, who had been known for his strength, could not reach this level.

They had always thought that only Jiang Shuxuan from the ancient martial arts world could make them bow their heads. They didn’t expect that this woman in front of them was also so extremely strong!

Cold sweat broke out, and looking at the inattentive attitude Gu Xiqiao was displaying, all of them knew that she wasn’t even displaying her full strength. They didn’t dare to imagine what it would be like if she were to exert all her strength, and those people who were insisting she apologize were all silent.

They were desperately wanting to dig a hole to bury themselves, and then their mind was racing, wondering if they had said unnecessary things just now!

With her strength, to kill them was just a small matter after all!

Once all sound had stopped, Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes at them. Then she raised her hand, a tablet appearing in her hands. She waved her hand, and the device floated in the air. She dialed Feng Jiu’s number, and only the dial tone was heard for a while. Feng Jiu’s respectful tone was the same as the second elder, and came through once the call was answered, “Miss Gu.”

Gu Xiqiao didn’t say anything in response, but the second elder raised his head and spoke, “Mr. Feng Jiu, these leaders of the power world wants Miss Gu to issue an apology…”

Before the second elder could finish his words, Feng Jiu was already hurriedly replying, “An apology? Why? Even if Miss Gu agrees to it, the people of our country wouldn’t let it happen. Please assure Miss Gu that can do what she wants, we’ll all be backing her one hundred percent.”

The video call ended abruptly, and everyone on the scene was in a daze.

For the entire country to acknowledge the ancient martial arts world, and Gu Xiqiao herself, how in the world had she managed to do this?

Gu Xiqiao gestured with her fingers, and the tablet floated back to her hand. She stood up slowly, both hands placed on the table. “Mutated beasts? Exposing the power world to the public? Come, just you.” Gu Xiqiao pointed to the person who had been the loudest in expressing his opinion previously, and her voice was extremely gentle when she spoke, “Listen well, if you agree with my approach, then contact and discuss it with the Great Elder. If you don’t agree and intend to try to brainwash our ancient martial arts world, I’ll be able to dominate you even if I’m not around.”

1 in Chinese tradition, a tea ceremony is held before officially joining the new family.