Is he a devil?
How does he know everything!
Fang Jueqian felt both unbelievable and somewhat frightened, so he could only stubbornly put up a bold front:
“You are talking nonsense. I did not!”
“It seems I guessed right.” The youth unceremoniously handed down his verdict, then leisurely watched Fang Jueqian, who was trembling against the wall, and mused, “To think your memories started recovering at a time like this.”
Watching the Daoist Lord as if he were contemplating how to dispose of him, Fang Jueqian, amidst his terror, suddenly had a radar activate.
He had perused countless books on a certain green website, and some of those scenes went just like this: when person A discovered that person B knew about their unspeakable secrets, their first reaction was either to eliminate the other party or erase their memories.
Fang Jueqian took a deep breath, no longer caring about his fear, and mustered all his courage:
“You, you are not allowed to erase my memory!”
The Daoist Lord was taken aback, and then sneered:
“You say I am not allowed, so I am not allowed?”
Fang Jueqian instantly felt the sky fall:
“As a Daoist Lord, how can you have so little integrity!”
“What is integrity? Why should I have it?”
Such a shameless rogue!
Fang Jueqian was both angry, frightened, and anxious. Under the surge of his emotions, the heat wave inside his body that had already been suppressed gradually showed signs of reviving.
Before he could even react, merely feeling somewhat feverish and beginning to pant slightly as he spoke:
“If you do this, I will never forgive you for the rest of my life!”
The Daoist Lord looked at him, the amusement in his eyes fading slightly: “Uninteresting.”
He casually tossed a silk handkerchief from his sleeve right in front of Fang Jueqian:
“Wipe yourself. Your tears are even coming out.”
Fang Jueqian was stunned. He touched the corner of his eye and sure enough, he felt a trace of dampness.
Then, looking at the white silk handkerchief that had fallen beside his thighs, Fang Jueqian hesitated for a few seconds before picking it up. However, he only symbolically wiped his eyes and then clutched it tightly in his hand.
The silk handkerchief had a soft texture, as comfortable as ice silk, and was embroidered with intricate begonia flower patterns, which in no way looked like the Daoist Lord’s style.
Fang Jueqian secretly glanced at the Daoist Lord, only to discover that the Daoist Lord was not looking at him.
Su Nisheng turned sideways to look at the softly burning incense burner in the room, his expression reverting to its usual chill:
“Heartless little thing, one deception is enough to outweigh all the kindness I have shown you before? If I really wanted to erase your memory, would you even have the chance to bargain with me here?”
Fang Jueqian’s face turned red.
Recalling the conversation just now, he belatedly realized that he had misunderstood the Daoist Lord.
The internal temperature began to drop, and the more he thought about it, the more regretful he became. Normally, he was not someone who lost his sense of proportion, so why had he acted so irrationally just now as if he had eaten gunpowder?
Was the Daoist Lord someone he could afford to anger?
That was his only supreme golden thigh.
It must be a problem stemming from being in heat. Yes, that must be it without a doubt.
Fang Jueqian calmed his breathing and was about to speak when he caught sight of the youth’s flawless profile, causing his heart to start pounding wildly and disobediently once again.
He really had not paid much attention to this angle before. Let him take just one more look, just one more look.
A few seconds passed.
“Hmm?”
“Sorry.”
“Is that all your sincerity amounts to?”
“Husband, I was wrong. I should not have misunderstood you.”
Su Nisheng finally turned his head to glance at him with a hint of mockery:
“That little cat washing its face move you made when apologizing earlier was quite amusing. Do it again.”
That was not a cat washing its face!
Yet under the Daoist Lord’s cold gaze, Fang Jueqian only dared to complain inwardly.
He straightened his disheveled clothes, brought his knees together, kept his upper body upright, and pressed his buttocks against his heels. This was the standard sitting posture, which he had practiced for a long time when he first arrived.
Then, Fang Jueqian pressed his palms together and bowed to the Daoist Lord over and over again:
“Husband, I was wrong. I should not have misunderstood you. Please forgive me.”
The Daoist Lord made him repeat it four or five times before finally nodding: “We will leave it at that.” Then, frowning, he asked: “What on earth were you thinking, to assume I would erase your memory? And where on earth did you see that Blazing Path in a Sea of Blood earlier? Vulgar and utterly unrefined, I would not even deign to read it out loud.”
He actually still remembered it!
Fang Jueqian’s face instantly exploded into a deep crimson:
“It was just. I occasionally read a few idle books before.”
Actually, it was more than just a few.
“You had best read less of that unorthodox stuff that distorts the original intent.”
Fang Jueqian endured it.
Wait.
He suddenly widened his eyes:
“Husband, what do you mean by distorting the original intent?”
Su Nisheng said expressionlessly: “Isn’t thinking that I would erase your memory considered distorting it?”
So that was the distortion he meant. He had thought. But how could that even be possible?
Fang Jueqian sighed dejectedly: “Anyway, I will never get to read them again.”
So many lingering, deeply affectionate love stories. Ah, and he wondered if those few novels he followed before transmigrating had updated yet.
Su Nisheng looked displeased: “You still miss them that much?”
Of course Fang Jueqian missed them. Only after transmigrating did he realize how fresh and wonderful that certain green website, which he used to think always had bugs and frequently framed him for bad internet speed, truly was, and how talented and imaginative the authors writing on it were.
Not to mention those gentle, lovely, intelligent, sensible, and empathetic readers. What a pity he could never go back.
“Just a little bit, just a tiny bit.” Fang Jueqian compared the distance of a tiny bit using two fingers, attempting to muddle through the moment. “After a while, they will be gone anyway.”
Su Nisheng let out a cold laugh and did not bother arguing further with him.
“Since you have started regaining your memories, there is one matter I must make clear to you beforehand.”
Sensing the formal tone in the Daoist Lord’s voice, Fang Jueqian also unconsciously straightened up:
“Hmm, I am listening.”
Su Nisheng said calmly:
“I am not a cut-sleeve.”
Fang Jueqian’s expression changed drastically.
It was already quite late by the time he returned. Fang Jueqian took a hot bath and went to bed, but the moment he lay down, he could not help tossing and turning:
Flipping over:
“Why would the Daoist Lord mention this? Does he think I am a cut-sleeve? No, how does he know? Is it that obvious in my behavior?”
Flipping back:
“The Daoist Lord is actually not a cut-sleeve! Wait, why am I using the word actually? Didn’t I already know that? Woe is me, the Daoist Lord is actually not a cut-sleeve. Alas, the Daoist Lord is actually not a cut-sleeve.”
Flipping over again:
“Was the Daoist Lord warning me by saying this? He is underestimating me too much. I am not someone who only cares about looks; I am just relatively good at appreciating beautiful things. I appreciate everyone who looks good, and I do not mean anything else by it toward him. He is simply the best-looking person I have ever seen.”
Flipping back again:
“But why is he treating me so well? No, why did he treat the original Fang Jueqian so well, even helping out with something as unspeakable as the in-heat period? Is it purely out of gratitude for a favor? But the original Fang Jueqian is no longer here. Having received so much care from the Daoist Lord, should I tell him the truth? But what if he flies into a rage and slaps me to death with a single palm?”
Emotional turmoil made even his usually punctual sleepiness late by quite a bit.
Just as he finally managed to drift into a hazy slumber, Fang Jueqian vaguely felt as though he had forgotten something important.
What was it?
I will think about it tomorrow.
Zzzzz.
The next day, when Fang Jueqian arrived at the academy, he naturally began to doze off, his head bobbing up and down during class.
When class ended, several people in the class quietly found him, handed him a storage bag, and pleaded:
“Jueqian, this is our group’s entire savings. Can we beg you to have a word with Junior Uncle Qiu and let him sell us a few of the pills he gave you? The academic exams are coming up soon, and we have already searched for every medicine we could possibly find, but none of them work anymore.”
The few classmates pleaded with him pitifully, leaving Fang Jueqian in a bit of a dilemma. The cultivation pills he claimed to have gotten from Qiu Haoqing were entirely made up by him; they were actually given to him by the Daoist Lord. How was he supposed to explain that to Qiu Haoqing?
While he was hesitating, one of the more quick-witted classmates immediately changed his tune:
“Jueqian, if you find it difficult, just help us bridge the connection with Junior Uncle Qiu. We will go talk to him ourselves. Whether it succeeds or fails, we can accept it, and afterwards we will definitely not make things difficult for you, plus we will remember your favor. How does that sound? This is a courtesy gift for troubling you.”
Fang Jueqian had a soft heart. Seeing that they had put it that way, it was hard for him to refuse, but not daring to agree directly, he told them he needed to ask Junior Uncle Qiu first.
The few of them left expressing endless gratitude.
Afterwards, Fang Jueqian pulled out the communication jade talisman, first offering an apology. He explained how his previous fabrication of the pills’ origin using Qiu Haoqing’s name had led to people coming to him for help, and told Qiu Haoqing the whole story.
Within a few minutes, the communication jade talisman stirred.
Qiu Haoqing did not mind his previous use of his name at all, even telling him that in the future, whenever he encountered similar matters, he could feel free to pin it all on him and let him handle it. He also comforted Fang Jueqian, promising to properly deal with the matter and guarantee that those people would never bother his sister-in-law again.
With the troublesome matter resolved, Fang Jueqian let out a sigh of relief. Looking at Qiu Haoqing’s gentle and patient reply, no matter how he read it, it felt heartwarming. On an impulse, he ended up comparing it with As Open-Minded as a Valley.
Look at how well the man speaks.
Unlike a certain someone, whose mouth seemed to be smeared with poison.
【Looking Down Upon the Nine Heavens: Does the sister-in-law have any worries on her mind lately? If you do not consider me an outsider, you can casually chat with me about them. Keeping things bottled up inside is not only bad for your body, but it will also hinder your cultivation.】
Worries could even affect cultivation?
Fang Jueqian was taken aback.
Yet he recalled that he seemed to have seen this theory somewhere before.
Speaking of worries, Fang Jueqian thought back to his experiences with Daoist Lord Lingxiao during this period, feeling as though he was simply being played with like a monkey.
As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.
Should he perhaps inquire more about this from Qiu Haoqing?