After the afternoon nap came the healing session for the evening.
Over the past few days of being probed by the spiritual threads, Jiang Qianxun’s reactions had grown much calmer. Perhaps because she trusted her Master more now, she could even feel a tiny hint of comfort.
Though it was just a tiny hint, having this bit of sweetness to look forward to made her much less resistant to the treatment. Over the previous days, the spiritual pellets on her legs and arms had been completely broken open. The essence of these spiritual pellets was pure spiritual energy, once broken, they flowed along her spiritual meridians into her Dantian, transforming into her own spiritual power.
It could be considered keeping the fertile water within one’s own field.
Upon arriving at the cultivation room, her Master was already waiting there. Seeing her approach, she said, “Sit down.”
Jiang Qianxun sat down as told and asked, “Master, which spiritual pellet are we breaking today?”
Shen Qingchen thought for a moment and said, “The right shoulder.”
The spiritual pellets in the four limbs had already been cleared, so the remaining ones lay further inward. Currently, the furthest place from the Dantian was the right shoulder.
Jiang Qianxun nodded and immediately began loosening her clothes. Seeing her so nonchalant, Shen Qingchen’s face suddenly grew hot. She hurriedly stopped her, saying, “Wait, let me turn around first.”
“Oh.” Jiang Qianxun waited for a bit, and once the other had turned around, she continued loosening her clothes. Actually, she didn’t think it was a big deal, it was just exposing a shoulder, after all. Her Master was simply too old-fashioned.
Hearing the rustling sounds behind her, the flush on Shen Qingchen’s face grew as hot and vivid as blood. Although they were treating injuries and physical contact was inevitable, the shoulder was different from the limbs. How could it be exposed so casually?
“I’m ready, Master,” Jiang Qianxun said.
Shen Qingchen slowly and reluctantly turned around. Seeing that the other had only slipped out of one sleeve and tied the rest of her garment around her lower back, it turned out she had only exposed a single shoulder. It didn’t look that scandalous after all.
Calming her mind, she took a deep breath and asked, “Are you ready?”
Jiang Qianxun nodded.
Shen Qingchen materialized her spiritual energy into a thread, slowly guiding it into her shoulder, searching bit by bit. Finally, she located the spiritual pellet. It wasn’t very large, and dissolving it wouldn’t take too much time.
This was meticulous work that could not be rushed. Shen Qingchen slowly probed with her spiritual thread, peeling it away bit by bit until the entire spiritual meridian was cleared. She then gently nourished it, allowing the meridian to recover to its original size before finally stopping.
Looking up, she found Jiang Qianxun was also looking at her.
Shen Qingchen hadn’t thought much of it before, but ever since she discovered that her disciple had used her as a subject for drawings, she suddenly felt there was a deeper meaning in that gaze. She immediately pulled back to create some distance and said, “It is done.”
In reality, Jiang Qianxun had been looking at her own shoulder and only met her gaze when her Master looked up. But seeing that her Master remained silent after looking at her, and that her face was turning red and white by turns, she asked, “Master, you seem very uncomfortable. Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
How could Shen Qingchen dare to admit it? She hurriedly said, “It’s nothing. You rest first. I… I will go out to cook dinner now.”
“Master,” Jiang Qianxun called out to stop her. “You said you would teach me how to cook tonight. We still have a culinary lesson.”
With that, she couldn’t leave even if she wanted to.
Shen Qingchen could only sit back down. Before long, she began to feel that this small cubicle was somewhat cramped, and the air seemed to grow scorching hot. She suspected that Jiang Qianxun was keeping her here on purpose, yet she was the one who had proposed the culinary lesson in the first place.
Could this, too, be within Jiang Qianxun’s calculations?
Of course, this was impossible, but Shen Qingchen had already lost her composure. She constantly felt as though she were stepping into her disciple’s trap one step at a time. If everything she imagined were true, just how meticulous must Jiang Qianxun’s mind be? She didn’t even dare to think about it.
Perhaps even letting her discover the portrait was part of the plan.
She felt that the person sitting across from her wasn’t Jiang Qianxun, but a Jiang Qianxun she had never truly known. The girl was deliberately pretending to be innocent and pure to get close to her, while in the depths of her heart, she had already marked her Master as prey.
Seeing her Master looking restless, occasionally casting strange glances at her, and instantly pulling away to avoid eye contact whenever she tried to respond, Jiang Qianxun couldn’t help but say, “Master? Have you run into some difficulty? Why is your face so red, and why is there sweat on your forehead?”
To Shen Qingchen’s ears, this well-meaning inquiry sounded entirely like teasing, mockery, or rather, the patronizing attitude of seeing a prey fall into a trap.
What’s wrong, Master? Is your body trembling?
No way, could it be that this is your first time? For a Master so powerful, you don’t even have a shred of experience?
Look at me, answer me. If others knew you were like this in front of your disciple, what would they think of you? Hehe…
Those words, which she had unknowingly read somewhere, suddenly became vivid at this moment. Was that a plot from a storybook, or was it something that was about to happen right now?
Shen Qingchen felt she had reached the edge of a dangerous precipice. The moment she answered, no matter what she said, she would inevitably end up just like in those storybooks, done this way and that way, and then done this way and that way again, until she was slumped weakly on the ground, covered in red marks.
Unable to endure the mental interrogation any longer, she bolted out the door.
It was already evening. Driven by instinct, she flew toward Qianyu Peak. She needed help, she needed comfort, and she needed some space where she could breathe freely.
She refused to be eaten as prey by her disciple!
When she saw her Senior Sister, her eyes were filled with terror.
Nangong Jiang was startled and said, “What’s wrong? Has the Demon Realm invaded? Or are you about to face a heavenly tribulation? It can’t be that some Elder died, right? Who is it?”
Shen Qingchen opened her mouth, and finally managed to say, “…No.”
“If nothing’s wrong, why are you so tense?” Nangong Jiang asked in wonder. “Holy shit, I thought the sky was falling. Come on, tell me what difficulty you’ve run into. Your Senior Sister is right here, I guarantee I’ll solve it for you!”
Yet Shen Qingchen remained silent. She didn’t know how to say it.
“Speak up already!” Nangong Jiang grew anxious.
“I just want to stay here for a while,” Shen Qingchen said.
“There must be a reason for that, right?” Nangong Jiang didn’t know who Shen Qingchen inherited this personality from, it was likely from their Master, who was like a sealed jar. While others were dying of anxiety, she acted as if nothing was wrong.
Wanting to stay was perfectly fine, but the Main Peak was so large, she could stay anywhere. Why did she have to come here? It looked like she was hiding from someone. Thinking about it, Nangong Jiang suddenly had an epiphany. “Did you have a fight with your disciple?”
Shen Qingchen remained silent.
Nangong Jiang felt she had hit the mark. It made sense, there were only the two of them, Master and disciple, on the Main Peak. Who else could she be fighting with? But even so, there was really no need to be in such a panic. It wasn’t as if little Qianxun could actually eat her up, right?
She chuckled and said, “I thought it was a big deal. Ha, it’s fine. Look at me and Lian’er, we’re biological mother and daughter, yet we still argue eight hundred times a day. It doesn’t affect our relationship; the more we argue, the deeper the bond grows.”
Shen Qingchen wanted to say it wasn’t a fight, but such a clarification would be meaningless. The main reason she couldn’t speak the truth was that upon looking back, she realized her suspicions were entirely built on castles in the air.
Jiang Qianxun hadn’t said anything inappropriate, nor had she done anything out of line. It was her own excessive nervousness that made her mistake the other’s intentions. When she really thought about it, it was probably just her own delusion.
And if anyone was to blame for this misunderstanding, it had to be her Senior Sister.
It was her Senior Sister who gave her those storybooks, which corrupted her temperament and caused her to make such a fool of herself. Just the thought of going back to face her disciple made it hard for her to breathe.
But if she didn’t go back, her disciple would surely wait all night.
After some thought, she still decided to return. It would be highly inappropriate to be absent from the very first session of the cooking lesson they had agreed upon.
Seeing her rush over only to rush back so quickly, Nangong Jiang let out a knowing, motherly smile. “Young couples really are deeply attached, fighting at the head of the bed and making up at the foot of it. She barely just got here and she’s already rushing to leave, sigh…”