Jiang Qianxun was already well-accustomed to her master’s unpredictable temperament. Although she didn’t understand why her master was angry, she knew perfectly well that chasing after her right now would only achieve the opposite effect. It was better to give her some space first and go over to beg for forgiveness once her temper had cooled down.
She patted her own face, gripped her broom, and walked toward the backyard.
On the other side, Shen Qingchen wasn’t truly angry. She felt that she must have been overthinking things again, but if she had continued to stay there, she would have definitely been overwhelmed by embarrassment, which would only make things awkward.
She returned to the study, cleaned up the remnants of last night’s mess, and brewed some tea for herself. Only after drinking a few sips did she finally calm down.
Once calm, however, she began to fret again.
What worried her this time was not the matter of taking a disciple, there was still time before that happened. What pressed urgently before her was this afternoon’s healing session.
Jiang Qianxun hadn’t paid close attention, but Shen Qingchen knew perfectly well. There were a total of twenty-one spiritual marbles inside the girl’s body, currently, six had been broken. Five were in her limbs, and one was in her right shoulder. Moving further inward, the remaining ones were only located in the chest and lower abdomen.
The chest. The lower abdomen.
For an unmarried woman, these two areas were entirely off-limits to outsiders, highly private and extremely sensitive. Even as her master, she could not easily offend these boundaries.
Shen Qingchen had considered this issue early on. At the time, she thought that if there was truly no other way, she could operate through the fabric of her clothing. But after the past few days of treatment, she realized this idea was unrealistic.
Spiritual threads could penetrate through clothing, and finding the location wasn’t difficult. However, what she needed to do was shatter the spiritual marbles bit by bit. This shattering didn’t rely on brute force, but rather on a meticulous, patient, layer by layer peeling process. Because the spiritual meridians outside the spiritual marbles were already stretched taut and swollen, a single minor error would cause the meridians to snap, completely destroying the girl’s cultivation base.
That was a far worse outcome than having one’s privacy invaded.
Therefore, she had no choice but to heal her by pressing directly against the skin.
Thus, she fell into a dilemma. If she considered it purely for the other party’s health, she would not hesitate for a second. Yet, even the most skilled medical cultivator could not completely detach themselves and remain blind to everything before their eyes. Once a stray thought arose in one’s mind, the subsequent healing would become even harder to carry out.
So, for this first time, they had to establish the right approach.
Both sides needed to correct their attitudes and set a foundational tone, treating this matter as a noble and selfless act so that future healing sessions could proceed smoothly.
Shen Qingchen didn’t know if she could do it.
If it were her past self, she probably could have managed. But after reading those storybooks, her state of mind was no longer what it used to be. She was afraid she would give rise to wicked thoughts, and even more terrified that such thoughts would be noticed by the other party.
She racked her brains continually until the lecture ended, yet she still couldn’t come up with a foolproof plan. Jiang Qianxun observed her with trepidation for half the day. Noticing that her master’s expression remained grim throughout, she didn’t dare make a sound. She simply sat obediently on her mat, doing her best to minimize her presence.
It wasn’t until her master’s voice rang out.
“Qianxun.”
Jiang Qianxun had been hanging her head, playing dead. Hearing her master call her name, she immediately sat up straighter: “Disciple is here.”
“There is something Master needs to discuss with you,” Shen Qingchen said in a deep voice. She felt that this matter still needed to be discussed with Jiang Qianxun, since she was the person involved.
However, she did not expose her own inner thoughts. She merely asked what the girl thought, trying to see if they could discuss a feasible solution.
Only then did Jiang Qianxun realize this issue existed. Honestly, even if she was considered the most progressive person in this era, exposing her belly a few times wasn’t completely out of the question if it came down to it. But her chest…
That place was a bit special. Even just letting someone look at it felt weird, let alone touching it and not just a casual touch, but for at least half an hour. To put it bluntly, that duration could rival the first half of an erotic film.
But if they avoided healing because they were squeamish, that would be utterly absurd. Life and death were of paramount importance, could she really give up eating just to avoid choking?
Maybe she should just throw caution to the wind.
If she gets touched, she gets touched. Anyway, Master wasn’t an outsider.
Jiang Qianxun thought resignedly. Just as she was about to open her mouth, a makeshift solution suddenly popped into her head. She had once read about a type of talisman in a book. This talisman could allow two people to exchange their five senses. She couldn’t remember the exact name, but it could perfectly solve the current problem.
If she switched into her master’s five senses and used her master’s eyes to look at her own body, wouldn’t all privacy issues be completely resolved?
She suggested this idea, and Shen Qingchen also found it feasible.
“Then I will go fetch the talisman paper. You prepare yourself first.”
Shen Qingchen knew she was talking about the Sense Sapping Exchange Talisman. Although this item wasn’t common, she had it in stock. She immediately went to retrieve it. By the time she returned, Jiang Qianxun had already shed her inner garments, leaving only an outer robe loosely draped over her body.
The outer robe was light and airy. Caught by the breeze of her stepping inside, it fluttered slightly to reveal a fleeting glimpse of spring radiance. Shen Qingchen quickly averted her gaze, her throat suddenly feeling dry: “…Are you ready?”
It’s fine, she won’t be able to see it anyway in a moment.
Jiang Qianxun nodded. Shen Qingchen burned the talisman paper, and instantly, a peculiar scent drifted through the air. At this moment, neither of them realized that this proposal actually contained a massive trap. Immersed in the anticipation that the healing was about to begin, they slowly, slowly slid right into it.
Once the talisman paper burned to ash, the two exchanged their five senses.
Jiang Qianxun opened her eyes and saw herself lying flat on the mat. She suddenly couldn’t help but laugh out loud. The “herself” being laughed at had an indifferent gaze and merely asked, “What are you laughing at?”
“It feels like my soul has left my body, haha.” Jiang Qianxun laughed a few times, finding the expression on her own face utterly unfamiliar. She hadn’t even known she could make such an expression. She added, “Master, what do you feel?”
“I don’t feel anything,” Shen Qingchen said. “Let us begin.”
“Oh.” Seeing that the other party lacked interest, Jiang Qianxun stopped talking. She knew this talisman had a time limit, and the most important thing right now was to seize the time to heal.
But just as she extended her hand, she froze.
“Master, how do I do this?”
She hadn’t even thought about this part just now. Now that their five senses were switched, what was she supposed to do since she didn’t know how to perform medical healing?
Shen Qingchen pursed her lips and said, “Do you know how to condense spiritual energy into threads?”
Jiang Qianxun nodded. She tried to channel spiritual energy from her Dantian. With this channel, she discovered that the spiritual energy inside her master’s body was so profound it was like a rushing, endless river. She was slightly astonished, feeling like a novice trialing a level 99 maxed-out account, there was so much spiritual energy she didn’t even know how to use it properly.
After successfully forming the threads, she asked, “What next?”
“Next, press your fingers against the chest to let the spiritual threads penetrate and find the spiritual meridians. Once you find the meridians, it becomes simple. You can easily follow them to find the spiritual marble. The rest is just peeling it away slowly. I will use internal vision to assist you. Do not be afraid.”
Shen Qingchen explained it in plain, easy to understand terms, and Jiang Qianxun roughly grasped it. She immediately pulled the outer robe down a bit and gently pressed her hand down.
It was at this exact moment that Shen Qingchen realized something was wrong.
This realization came so incredibly late that she wished she could turn back time. How could she have forgotten that the five senses included sight, hearing, and touch? While the visual privacy issue was solved by switching, the sense of touch had also switched over. Now, Jiang Qianxun’s visual privacy was resolved, but the person bearing the physical sensation of being touched became herself.
When the other party’s hand pressed down, she had to expend immense effort just to suppress the urge to flee. But Jiang Qianxun was a novice, she couldn’t find the right spot and kept shifting her hand around. This felt practically no different from being fondled.
Yet, she couldn’t say anything. After all, the body being touched was Jiang Qianxun’s own body. Even if one took ten thousand steps back, the tactile sensation was merely her being touched by her own hand.
So, strictly speaking, no one was taking advantage of anyone.
But enduring the duration was pure torture.
Shen Qingchen closed her eyes, desperately suppressing her instinct to resist. It’s fine, it’s fine. Although it’s on the chest, it’s near the collarbone and hasn’t touched any dangerous areas.
But right at that moment, a certain spot was gently brushed by fabric.
She couldn’t help but let out a soft moan, immediately raising her hand to stifle the whimper in her mouth. Seeing her strange expression, Jiang Qianxun asked, “What’s wrong?”
How could Shen Qingchen dare speak the truth? She looked down and realized it was the flowing ribbon on her own sleeve. She felt a bit vexed, why on earth did she wear such an intricate outfit today?
But she couldn’t take it off now either, the treatment was at a critical juncture.
Only after confirming she wasn’t experiencing any discomfort did Jiang Qianxun continue her focused work. Looking at the intense dedication on the girl’s face, Shen Qingchen slowly calmed down as well. What happened just now was merely an accident and didn’t amount to much, she was just overreacting.
After that, nothing strange occurred.
Although extracting the spiritual marble took some time, Jiang Qianxun completed it exceptionally well. A while after the healing ended, their five senses finally switched back.
Shen Qingchen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
She felt that despite a tiny, discordant interlude just now, the overall process was very successful. At the very least, the privacy issue was resolved, and she was the only one who had to bear the pressure.
Jiang Qianxun remaining completely unaware was her greatest stroke of luck.
Jiang Qianxun indeed hadn’t realized anything, at least, her mind hadn’t realized it before they switched back. But by the time she put on her clothes and stood up, she felt something was off.
A certain place on her body felt strange.
She couldn’t describe it precisely, but it felt a bit like her period had arrived. She checked the mat and saw nothing, so she thought about going to the restroom to check.
After checking, she realized it wasn’t her period.
She squatted in the restroom, feeling distressed, completely unsure of what to do with these damp underpants. Wearing them wet like this was a bit uncomfortable, but not wearing them… would be a different kind of discomfort.
In the past, she hadn’t felt that the Qi Condensation stage’s spiritual energy was of much use. Now that she couldn’t use it, it really caused all sorts of trouble. Cleaning up required her own hands, and washing up required her own hands too.
After pondering back and forth, she decided to just run back to her room commando, change her underwear, and come back out. Anyway, the restroom wasn’t far from the side room, so she shouldn’t run into anyone.
As a result, the moment she stepped out the door, she ran straight into her master, who was on her way to the backyard. The other party had actually been waiting for a while, wanting to ask her what she wanted to eat tonight. Jiang Qianxun casually deflected with a few words and immediately scrambled back toward her room with her tail between her legs.
Shen Qingchen noticed the strange look on her face but didn’t press further.
It wasn’t until she walked a few steps away that she suddenly realized what Jiang Qianxun was hiding, in reality, what the girl was hiding wasn’t her own secret, but rather… she was the one who had soiled the girl’s undergarments.
Shen Qingchen’s body swayed, nearly fainting right then and there from sheer mortification.