When Lin Zhixue arrived at the entrance of the Gu manor, she happened to see three people walking out through the main gates.
Two male cultivators in grey robes, and one woman in red.
It was the very woman she had seen on the street yesterday.
Today, the woman wore a different silver hairpin. She stepped lithely over the threshold, turning her head to say something to the junior brother beside her, a relaxed smile dancing in her eyes.
So early, and coming out of the Gu manor.
She had spent the night at the Gu manor.
The moment the thought surfaced in Lin Zhixue's mind, her footsteps unconsciously slowed.
In her mind flashed the look Gu Yanqing had given the woman on the street yesterday.
That scrutinizing gaze that lingered for an extra instant.
Back then, she had kept her head lowered to stare at the tips of her shoes, but now it suddenly came back to her.
Standing by the entrance, she watched the figures of the three disappear around the corner of the alley.
Her hand rested against the doorframe, her fingertips slightly cold.
Then, she gave her head a firm shake, casting those jumbled thoughts to the back of her mind.
What was she thinking?
Who that man associated with, or who he looked at an extra time—what did any of that have to do with her?
She was here to tend the herb field, not to pry into other people's business.
Taking proper care of the herb field, getting her spirit stones, and going back to cultivate—that was what she should be doing.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and stepped into the Gu manor.
Crossing the front courtyard, she happened to run into Gu Yanqing. He was standing under the veranda, likely having just finished practicing with his sword, beads of sweat still dotting his forehead.
She greeted him as usual, her voice sounding no different from any other day.
He said nothing more, merely nodding before heading toward the rear courtyard.
...
Lin Zhixue squatted by the edge of the herb field, weeding.
There were more weeds today than usual. Several hidden near the roots of the spirit herbs had burrowed especially deep and required a trowel to dig out.
She worked diligently, pulling them out one after another, her fingers caked with soil.
Usually at times like this, Xiaoyu would be by her side chatting, grumbling about this and that while giving Gu Yanqing a thorough scolding from head to toe.
Today, it was still asleep. The field was very quiet, save for the rustling of wind blowing through the leaves of the spirit herbs.
With quiet came an even messier mind.
She recalled how that woman in red looked walking out of the Gu manor's main gates—brisk footsteps, natural expression, just like a guest who had stayed the night.
Merely staying the night—it was a completely normal thing. Yet there was an inexplicable knot in her heart, one she couldn't quite put into words.
“Zhixue!”
Xiaoyu darted out from the jade pendant, thoroughly rested and bursting with energy, circling her several times before coming to a stop.
It leaned close to inspect her face left and right, blinking its emerald-green eyes.
“What's wrong? You look like you've got something on your mind.”
It suddenly flew a bit higher, raising its voice slightly.
“Did that guy surnamed Gu bully you while I was sleeping? I knew he—”
“Nothing happened.”
Lin Zhixue cut it off, looking down to continue weeding.
“Stop imagining things.”
Xiaoyu gave an “oh,” floating beside her somewhat skeptically.
It felt Zhixue seemed off today, but since she said nothing was wrong, it refrained from pressing further.
A muffled, brief shriek drifted from afar. Gu Yanqing was soaking in his medicinal bath again.
The sound wasn't held very loud, but it could still be heard across half the courtyard. It was more stifled than before, sounding as if he were biting down on a towel to endure it.
Lin Zhixue didn't look up, only quickening her weeding.
Her fingertips pinched the root of a stubborn weed and yanked hard, tearing it up by the roots.
After a while, the muffled shrieks from the rear courtyard ceased.
After another moment, she heard footsteps approaching from down the veranda, stopping behind her.
Looking up, she saw Gu Yanqing standing at the edge of the field ridge.
He wore only a loose bathrobe draped over him. His damp hair fell naturally over his shoulders, his face a few shades paler than usual. At the collar of the bathrobe, skin scorched red by the medicinal broth was faintly visible.
“Come to my room for a moment,” he said.
Lin Zhixue's hand froze midair, a freshly plucked weed still pinched between her fingers.
She looked up at him, and once again the image of that red-robed woman's retreating back from this morning came to mind, along with the look he had given her on the street yesterday.
Now, he stood before her clad only in a bathrobe, telling her to come to his room.
“To your room... for what?” Her voice was slightly tight.
Gu Yanqing's expression flashed with an instant of awkwardness.
He averted his gaze, a faint blush appearing on his face.
“It isn't convenient to say here.”
Xiaoyu darted out from beside Lin Zhixue's shoulder, floating directly before her to block her line of sight like a palm-sized wall.
“To his room? No way! Zhixue, don't go! He's dressed like this and asking you to his room—he definitely has bad intentions!”
Squatting on the ridge, Lin Zhixue tilted her head up to look at him.
A bathrobe. Inconvenient to talk here.
Several images flashed through her mind, every single one making her heart race.
She had no experience with such matters, but that didn't mean she couldn't guess.
She had heard plenty of rumors about what young masters from prominent clans did to maidservants.
Yet she wasn't his maidservant. He wouldn't actually...
Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the weed in her hand, her knuckles turning faintly white.
Gu Yanqing watched the kaleidoscopic shift of expressions on her face, then looked at the artifact spirit beside her with hands on its hips and a look that clearly screamed “you brute!” He knew that if he didn't explain things right now, there would be no clearing this up.
Taking a deep breath, he cast aside both the embarrassment on his face and whatever dignity remained under his bathrobe.
“I want you to whip me.”
Over the herb field, silence reigned for two full breaths.
Xiaoyu's hands, still poised on its hips, froze in midair. Its emerald-green eyes bulged round, and its voice cracked.
“...What did you say?”
“Body cultivation techniques require tempering the physical body through whipping.”
Gu Yanqing spoke rapidly, terrified they would misunderstand him further.
“Repeatedly lashing the entire body with a demon beast hide whip breaks down the slack flesh, stimulating the skin to rapidly regenerate and harden. Paired with medicinal baths, once mastered, it can withstand attacks from those of the same realm head-on.”
“I couldn't find anyone else to help, so I could only ask you.”
Lin Zhixue squatted on the ridge, the weed still clutched in her hand.
Looking up at him, the unease in her eyes faded slightly, replaced by a far more complicated emotion.
Confusion, bewilderment, and an indescribably subtle loss for words.
She understood every single word he had said.
Tempering the body through whipping, a body cultivation technique, needing someone to help.
Yet she also heard Xiaoyu whisper a curse beside her: “Pervert.”
The tips of her ears gradually flushed red.
Her own thoughts had run wild just now, too.
Rate on N.U.
