Scooped up so casually, Lu Fengmian had no choice but to reach out and hold onto Qing Shi. Although she knew it was impossible for Qing Shi to lose her balance, a person would still instinctively grab onto something when suspended in midair.
Qing Shi carried Lu Fengmian into the room and placed her on the soft couch beside the bath.
Only after entering the room did Lu Fengmian realize how large it was. Aside from having a bath, there were various small items placed on the side that could be used for recreation while soaking.
Once inside, Qing Shi unhesitatingly began unfastening her own clothes.
Lu Fengmian instinctively turned around, while Qing Shi stepped into the bath, asking with a smile, “Is Mianmian not coming down?”
“Wasn’t this prepared for me? Why did you go in too?” Lu Fengmian asked her in confusion.
Qing Shi let out a soft laugh. “Soaking in a medicinal bath can’t be done just by soaking passively. If Mianmian wants to cultivate, the meridians in your body must be conditioned. Right now you don’t even know how to regulate your breath, so just soaking like this will greatly reduce the effect. These medicinal herbs were all gathered by me with great difficulty. As Mianmian should know, this world is incomplete, and spiritual energy isn’t that abundant.”
“It wasn’t easy to find them,” she said, her tone carrying a bit of cautiousness and grievance.
Lu Fengmian let out a sigh, truly unable to stand her acting as if she had been bullied.
Placing her fingertips on her coat buttons, she unfastened her clothes piece by piece, which she had only just neatly put on not long ago.
“Then close your eyes,” Lu Fengmian said, taking off her outer robe and glaring at Qing Shi when she was down to her inner garments.
Qing Shi let out a soft laugh for no apparent reason, the laughter carrying a hint of teasing.
“Okay~”
In truth, Lu Fengmian also knew that at Qing Shi’s level, whether she closed her eyes or not held no real meaning, but she simply wanted to seek psychological relief to avoid awkwardness.
As long as she didn’t meet Qing Shi’s gaze, she would pretend she hadn’t seen anything.
How could Qing Shi not know her thoughts? Thus, she still showed great respect, not using divine consciousness or anything similar to probe, and truly closed her eyes obediently.
Lu Fengmian removed her clothes and stepped into the bath, where the dense steam carried a rich aroma of spiritual herbs.
Soaking inside together with Qing Shi made it feel as though they were treating themselves like ingredients stewing in a single pot.
Qing Shi felt Lu Fengmian come to a stop directly opposite her.
The smile at the corner of her lips faded slightly as she said in a pitiful, aggrieved tone, “Does Mianmian dislike being close to me that much?”
Lu Fengmian gritted her teeth. Where on earth did this girl learn all these manipulative green-tea phrases?
She really hadn’t designed them, nor had she taught her, right?
“I don’t feel like moving, can’t you come over yourself?” Lu Fengmian felt her heart soften upon hearing her words, yet she was embarrassed to walk over voluntarily, so she could only make up a random excuse.
Hearing her words, Qing Shi immediately walked over and leaned clingily against Lu Fengmian.
“Can you be a bit proper? Where are you leaning your head?” Lu Fengmian looked down slightly at a certain Divine Maiden who was clearly taller than herself, yet insisted on leaning against her.
Leaning was fine, but she insisted on leaning against… that spot.
Perhaps the water was too hot, causing Lu Fengmian’s cheeks to flush bright red.
Qing Shi wrapped her arm around her waist, and though her eyes were closed, it seemed as if she could see everything clearly.
She nuzzled against the crook of Lu Fengmian’s neck, and then, as if playing a prank, bit her on the shoulder.
“Qing Shi! Are you a dog?” Lu Fengmian asked her in a bad mood.
Qing Shi chuckled in her ear, then grabbed her hand. “Whether I am a dog or not, Mianmian should know better than I do.”
Guided by her, Lu Fengmian was led to the middle of the bath. It was unknown what material this bath was made of, but walking inside, one didn’t have to worry about slipping at all.
“Sit down.” Qing Shi stopped messing with her and sat down in the water first, the water in the bath barely covering her chest.
Lu Fengmian’s gaze unconsciously peeked downward, and with just one glance, she felt she shouldn’t have, her heart beating uncontrollably.
At this moment, Qing Shi had pinned all her hair up, revealing her slender, fair neck.
Her rounded shoulders connected to her delicate collarbones.
Further down were rolling curves, and Lu Fengmian even knew the precise arc and measurements of those curves.
And… if held in hand, what kind of sensation it would be.
Her earlobes began to burn unconsciously.
Lu Fengmian hurriedly averted her eyes.
She sat down across from Qing Shi. Although Qing Shi had sealed her divine consciousness and closed her eyes, with her current cultivation level, she could still accurately determine positions relying on her other five senses.
The moment Lu Fengmian sat down, she grabbed Lu Fengmian’s hand.
“Mianmian’s heart rate is so fast,” Qing Shi said softly, calmly stating this fact.
Lu Fengmian felt somewhat embarrassed and annoyed by her extremely calm tone.
“Aren’t we supposed to be taking a medicinal bath? If we don’t hurry, the water will get cold,” Lu Fengmian spoke a bit fast, as if trying to cover up something.
“Alright.” Qing Shi actually calmed down, her tone no longer so seductive or ambiguous.
She had Lu Fengmian sit cross-legged just like herself, clearing her mind and sinking her breath into her dantian.
Lu Fengmian actually really wanted to ask her how to feel the dantian, and where on earth this thing was located.
However, she felt embarrassed to ask, because as her thoughts cleared, Qing Shi didn’t mention anything being wrong either.
Gradually, Lu Fengmian felt a warm sensation inside her body.
It wasn’t caused by soaking in the medicinal bath, but rather a warmth radiating from the inside out.
However, before this warmth could last long, Lu Fengmian’s expression couldn’t help twisting.
Following the warmth was a gradually intensifying pain.
It was not until Lu Fengmian felt she was almost unable to bear it that this pain stopped intensifying.
It stayed stuck right at the limit of pain Lu Fengmian could endure.
Lu Fengmian didn’t know how long this pain lasted, only feeling that when the pain slowly dissipated later, her entire body was nearly depleted of strength.
Even after opening her eyes, she was completely devoid of energy.
Qing Shi caught Lu Fengmian, who almost collapsed, into her arms, her brows remaining tightly furrowed.
Today’s medicinal bath was merely meant to cleanse Lu Fengmian’s meridians.
While the meridians were indeed cleansed once, the condition of Lu Fengmian’s meridians remained terrible, as if she simply had no way to help her heal them.
Qing Shi couldn’t understand why her source power combined with these spiritual herbs was utterly useless for Lu Fengmian’s body.
She couldn’t say it was completely useless either, as the cleansing function was present, but the healing function was almost zero.
Lu Fengmian opened her eyes and wanted to move, but found her body weak and limp, ultimately only able to slump limply in Qing Shi’s arms.
Qing Shi held her, washing away the impurities discharged from her body.
After washing her once, she cleared away the medicinal bath water along with the spiritual herb residue that had lost its medicinal properties, and injected clean water into the bath through another outlet.
By the time Qing Shi washed her a second time, Lu Fengmian was already truly unable to hold on and had fallen asleep.
After finishing the cleanup, Qing Shi carried Lu Fengmian ashore and dressed her in clean clothes.
Then she carried her back to the bedroom.
Looking at a certain someone sleeping soundly on the bed, Qing Shi’s slightly furrowed brows smoothed out gradually.
Leaning down, she planted a kiss on the corner of her lips.
No matter what, at least right now Lu Fengmian was by her side, and that was enough.
Perhaps it was because her spiritual power was insufficient that she could not heal Lu Fengmian yet.
It was also because the spiritual power stored in her body right now was less than one-third.
Almost all of her source power had been sealed at the center of the world to assist the Heavenly Dao in maintaining world stability.
Originally, Qing Shi did not care whether this world could evolve completely or not.
She possessed the strength of a demi-god, so even if the Liufeng World were destroyed, it could not destroy her, and at worst she could directly go to the Divine Realm.
However, the portion of power that was sealed seemed to have already been sealed at the center of the world before she woke up.
It appeared to be a decision made before she fell asleep.
Qing Shi didn’t remember why she had done so.
However, thinking about it carefully, Qing Shi realized it should be related to Lu Fengmian.
Otherwise, Qing Shi couldn’t understand why she had gone through all the trouble to preserve this world.
Qing Shi reached out and scratched Lu Fengmian’s chin, the corners of her mouth curving slightly.
“Mianmian, believe me, I will find a way.”
Lu Fengmian seemed to sleep exceptionally peacefully, with the corners of her mouth turned up even in her dreams.
She even turned around and hugged Qing Shi’s hand.
“Ah Shi~” she called out softly to Qing Shi.
Qing Shi sat beside her, gazing at her intently, her expression somewhat dazed.
She hadn’t heard Lu Fengmian call her like this for a long time.
It felt as though the last time she heard Lu Fengmian call her that was already hundreds or thousands of years ago.
Unconsciously, Qing Shi recalled some past events.
Back then, she also waited every day for Lu Fengmian’s arrival, waiting alone in the darkness with expectation.
Yet every time, Lu Fengmian would come, occasionally earlier, occasionally later.
If it was late, Qing Shi knew she must have been very busy that day.
No matter how busy she was, she would always come back to keep her company.
That was her only expectation and light in a desolate, dark world.
She would create new maps for her, taking her to see vast grasslands and misty, rain-swept regions south of the Yangtze River.
She said there were many places she hadn’t been to either, so she would treat it as having visited them in this world.
Back then, she would take the initiative to hold her hand, fingers intertwined, and then drop soft, careful kisses on her fingertips.
She was always so gentle and cheerful.
As Qing Shi thought about it, she felt that many past events had blurred again.
She seemed to have forgotten many, many things, such as how she had lost the person in front of her.
However, it didn’t matter, at least the person she had lost had returned to her side.
Lu Fengmian had a peaceful sleep, and upon waking up, she felt a hand resting on her waist.
She looked down and unconsciously placed her own hand over that hand.
Sunlight from outside the window shone into the room through the gaps in the curtains, the faint light illuminating the room a bit.
The breathing of the person behind her was steady.
The furnishings in the room were simple, yet filled with a sense of warmth.
Everything was so quiet and beautiful.
Lu Fengmian thought that if things could continue like this forever, it seemed quite nice as well. Spending a lifetime with Qing Shi like this, she would probably fall in love with Qing Shi.
She was too wonderful, making people feel far too much at ease.
Who wouldn’t love a person like this?
A high and mighty Divine Maiden, descending to your side to give you warmth you had never experienced before.
“Awake?” A slightly deep voice from behind pulled Lu Fengmian’s thoughts back.
Lu Fengmian turned around to look at Qing Shi, who didn’t even have the untidiness or dishevelment of someone who had just woken up.
“Mhm, awake.” Lu Fengmian stretched lazily. “How long did I sleep?”
“About eight hours, I suppose.” Qing Shi glanced at the time-keeping magic artifact on the side.
“I haven’t slept this deeply in a long time.” Lu Fengmian let out a yawn and then sat up.
After sitting up, she actually felt her body seemed a little different.
It wasn’t as heavy or exhausted as before.
This time Qing Shi dressed her neatly, although she knew she had probably been seen completely.
At least she didn’t have to face such an awkward scene directly.
As long as I didn’t see it, then it never happened.
Lu Fengmian thought self-deceptively like this.
“So you helped me cleanse my marrow earlier?” Lu Fengmian asked curiously.
“Mhm, sort of. To cultivate, one must definitely cleanse the marrow first,” Qing Shi nodded and said.
Lu Fengmian got out of bed knowingly, putting on her clothes unhurriedly.
As she dressed, she asked Qing Shi, “Aren’t you very weak yourself? Helping me like this, will it have any bad effects on you?”
These were not polite pleasantries from Lu Fengmian. She didn’t strictly have to cultivate, nor did she strictly need Qing Shi to help condition her meridians. After all, as long as the task made progress, her body would slowly improve.
If the task made no progress, even if she cultivated, her health wouldn’t get much better either.
“It won’t. Mianmian, you are merely a mortal, so cleansing your marrow doesn’t cost me much. It’s just that I have no way to heal your injuries, that’s all.”
“If I were in my prime, I might still have a way, but currently I indeed cannot manage to heal you.”
“I also cannot directly share some of my remaining power with you. Giving my power to you means my strength will decrease, while you won’t become very strong either.”
“So overall, it’s not a cost-effective thing to do.”
Qing Shi explained carefully to Lu Fengmian.
Lu Fengmian let out a laugh. “There’s no need. Since you follow by my side with nothing to do every day, why would I need your power? It’s better to let you protect me properly.”
Seeing that Lu Fengmian could understand her thoughts, Qing Shi instantly broke into a smile, the faint anxiety in her heart dispersing as well.
Her Mianmian truly wouldn’t be unhappy over such things.
“I’m just a bit curious, are you considered invincible in this world right now?” Lu Fengmian asked.
“No, having only a portion of my power, I cannot even be considered a top-tier powerhouse right now.”
“Most of my power was sealed. I don’t remember why it was sealed, but thinking carefully about it, it was probably used to maintain the operation of this world.”
“Right now, with less than one-third of my power remaining, walking in the world, any random Demon King should be able to defeat me,” Qing Shi blinked her eyes innocently.
Lu Fengmian: …
She had thought Qing Shi’s strength had dropped a lot, but she hadn’t expected her to be this weak.