Chapter 16

Xiao Rangchen woke up to the gnawing pain in his meridians. The agony receded like a tide the moment he opened his eyes, leaving only a faint tingle behind.

What felt far clearer was the other person clinging tightly to his body, along with that familiar, soft warm scent of sweet flowers.

Xiao Rangchen lowered his head, his wrist curved to push the person off, but just as his hand brushed the other's arm, the person in his embrace suddenly lifted their head —

Lou Yue's red lips were slightly parted, her damp bangs curled and fell against her fair, smooth forehead, with a few strands stuck to the curve of her ear.

Her damp eyelashes were like dewy butterfly wings, trembling gently, and her peach blossom-shaped eyes were veiled in a hazy layer of watery confusion, showing a softness she had no idea she was exuding.

It was an expression he had never seen on her before.

The daze in Xiao Rangchen's eyes lasted only a split second before it was swallowed by a surging, dark undercurrent.

His sight was fixed entirely on those slightly parted red lips so close to him, and those eyes, misty and unguarded as they looked right back at him.

His heart felt as if it had been brushed by a soft, warm feather, and then as if something had bumped into it — not hard, but enough to make his blood boil, and a heat spread to every corner of his limbs and bones.

Xiao Rangchen's Adam's apple bobbed. His fingers curled unconsciously, and the hand that had been about to push her away, as if bewitched, drew her half an inch closer into his arms instead.

Lou Yue jolted awake as if scalded, scrambling up in such a hurry that the medicinal bath water sloshed loudly out of the tub, splashing onto the floor and spreading dark stains across the stone.

She was soaked through, water droplets dripping down her sodden clothes, but she did not spare it a single thought. Stepping through the puddles on the ground, she darted out of the room in two quick strides.

The sound of her hurried footsteps faded, followed by a loud bang as the door to the next room slammed shut hard.

Little Qiu, who had been standing guard outside, peered curiously through the door crack, looking utterly confused before he quietly closed the door again.

The room fell silent.

Xiao Rangchen's gaze was fixed on the closed door, and after a long while, he slowly lowered his eyes.

The rippling water in the bath tub gradually stilled, and in its reflection, the man's features were cold and stern, yet beneath his eyes churned a searing intensity he had never known himself capable of.

It was the look of plunder, of unassailable possession, of a long-hibernating beast that had finally laid eyes on its prey.

Xiao Rangchen frowned, his thin lips pressed into a hard, unyielding line.

A moment later, he lifted a hand and disturbed the reflection in the water...

"Cough, cough!"

Feng Que cleared his throat, a hint of helplessness in his voice. "You two, did you completely forget there was another person in this room?"

He had just been seeing off the gu worms that had crawled out of the wound — after all, he had raised them for fifteen years, so naturally he had grown a little attached. Who would have thought that in the time it took him to dispose of their remains, one of them would suddenly run off, and the other would act like he did not exist at all.

Xiao Rangchen snapped back to his senses and looked over at him.

"Well, how do you feel? Pretty great, right?" Feng Que asked enthusiastically. Logically, with such a high-grade Bu Yan Flower paired with his gu worms, both the residual poison in Lou Yue's body and the blockages in Xiao Rangchen's meridians should have been completely cleared away.

Not only that, the Bu Yan Flower would repair his damaged spiritual meridians, and the gu worms would widen them. After this experience, his spiritual meridians would be far stronger than they had ever been, and the remaining power of the Bu Yan Flower would continue to nourish them for a long time to come.

To his surprise, the man in the tub had not even bothered to sense the changes in his own body. Instead, he asked absent-mindedly, "What?"

"...Your spiritual meridians! I'm asking how it feels to have your spiritual meridians healed!" Feng Que exclaimed loudly.

Only then did Xiao Rangchen circulate his spiritual energy, and he realized that the previously obstructed feeling had vanished entirely. His spiritual meridians, which had throbbed with pain day after day, now felt light and unburdened.

The look of astonishment on Xiao Rangchen's face did not escape Feng Que, who turned away contentedly, waiting for the thanks he was owed. But after waiting for quite some time, the words he expected never came.

Feng Que turned around in confusion, only to find that the man had already sat cross-legged and entered a state of meditative cultivation, completely oblivious to him.

...

For the first time in his life, Feng Que had the bitter experience of being cold-shouldered after saving someone. Neither his patient nor this "family member" of his had uttered a single word of gratitude, and both of them had treated him like he was air. The aggrievement he felt outweighed every bit of praise he had ever received in his life.

He glared at Xiao Rangchen fiercely, then huffily packed up his things and stormed out of the room, forgetting to even maintain his usual casual gait.

In the room just on the other side of the wall.

Lou Yue had been leaning against the door since she shut it, not moving an inch, letting the cold water drip from the ends of her hair and seep through her clothes, pooling into a puddle at her feet.

It was not until she heard the sound of Feng Que and Little Qiu talking outside that she jolted back to her senses, lifting a hand to touch the back of her neck.

The moment her fingertips brushed her skin, she snapped her hand back sharply.

Frustration flooded her in an instant.

Why did she run? And why did she run so fast, like she was fleeing in total defeat?

But the moment she thought of the wild, possessive look in Xiao Rangchen's eyes just now, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled again — that was her instinctive alarm at a threat.

Yet tangled up in that feeling was a strange, inexplicable flutter in her chest.

Lou Yue bit her lip, then kicked the door hard several times, muttering a curse at her own uselessness under her breath.

Knock knock.

The door was rapped on.

Knock knock knock —

"Speak!" Lou Yue snapped, her tone sharp with irritation.

"The old man has finished curing him. Now it's your turn to keep your end of the bargain," Feng Que said, sounding perfectly justified.

"Go ask the person you treated for payment! I'm not running a charity!" She had already gone out of her way to get the Bu Yan Flower for him, and now he expected her to pay Xiao Rangchen's medical bills? As if. Xiao Rangchen was her rival, for heaven's sake.

"You're going back on your word?!"

"I never said I agreed to anything in the first place."

Feng Que, standing outside the door, was so angry his beard bristled. "This old man can heal that boy just as easily as I can harm him!"

"Go ahead then. I won't stop you in the slightest." Lou Yue shot back, not backing down an inch.

Feng Que was pointing at the door, about to step up his threats, when a low, deep male voice sounded from beside him.

"Sir." Xiao Rangchen had stepped out of his room at some point. Plain black robes outlined his tall, straight figure as he looked at Feng Que, his voice slow and steady. "Whatever it is you desire, Xiao shall do his utmost to grant it."

At the sound of his voice, Lou Yue's eyelashes fluttered involuntarily.

Feng Que dropped his hand, sauntering over to pat Xiao Rangchen approvingly. "Hey, you're the one with real loyalty here, far better than your partner over there!"

Clang! The door was wrenched open violently.

"Partner?! You old coot, if you spout that nonsense one more time, I'll —" Lou Yue's angry yell died in her throat the second she lifted her eyes and met his deep, dark gaze.

Lou Yue was still wearing her soaked clothes, the thin fabric clinging to her skin. A bead of water was tracing a slow path down her fair collarbone, slipping beneath the edge of her robe. Xiao Rangchen's gaze lingered there for only a brief moment before he turned away. "Sir, why don't you tell us first what it is you seek."

Feng Que had been about to tease Lou Yue a little more, but Xiao Rangchen's broad frame blocked his view, so he held back and stopped paying her any mind.

"Fine, I'll tell you all about it. Come on, let's go inside and talk."

Feng Que walked back into Xiao Rangchen's room, with Xiao Rangchen following right behind him.

Lou Yue watched as the two outsiders waltzed right into the house without even a by-your-leave, and the whole situation felt utterly absurd.

Little Qiu, who had been watching the scene unfold, hurried over and draped a cloak over Lou Yue's shoulders. "Young Master, don't catch a cold."

Lou Yue took a deep breath, forcing her frayed nerves to settle, as Little Qiu continued, "You were occupied earlier, so I didn't get a chance to report. The Xuantian Capital just released news that the Ancient Tree Enlightenment event scheduled for the day after tomorrow has been moved up to tomorrow afternoon."

Lou Yue hummed in acknowledgement. She guessed that since she had used the Bu Yan Flower directly to heal Xiao Rangchen's spiritual meridians, the plot had shifted slightly to maintain its own coherence.

"Also, news just came in from the Liufeng clan of Langhua that the Saintess has entered the city, and she's currently staying at the Tingyu Courtyard."

"Liufeng Xin is here?" Lou Yue's eyes lit up.

The Liufeng clan of Langhua was the most proficient in the Dao of Alchemy among the four great clans. Liufeng Xin was their Saintess, and a top-tier expert in the Dao of Alchemy as well.

She had another identity too.

She was Long Aotian Xiao Rangchen's white moonlight, the woman he loved the most among all his consorts in his harem.

Lou Yue hurried back to her room, picked out a brocade robe in ginger yellow peacock green that flattered her complexion perfectly, then called Little Qiu over to tie a neat high ponytail for her, adorned with an exquisite jade hairpin.

Lou Yue checked her reflection in the mirror over and over, making sure her handsomeness outshone Xiao Rangchen's by a large margin, before stepping out quickly.

Little Qiu followed after her, unable to hold back his question: "Young Master, are you going to see the Saintess right now?"

"Of course, hurry up." Lou Yue replied casually.

The master and servant were chatting as they passed by Xiao Rangchen's wide-open door, neither of them spared a second glance inside.

Inside the room, Xiao Rangchen's words came to an abrupt halt.

Lou Yue's side profile, with the corners of her lips lifted in a smile, flashed past his field of vision.

Feng Que clicked his tongue, his tone full of teasing: "Now I believe the two of you aren't a thing. Dressing up so fancily this late at night to go meet a woman for a tryst is exactly the kind of behavior these young masters from aristocratic families would get up to."

"Sir, do not jest any further." Xiao Rangchen picked up the teacup on the table, tilted his head back and drained it. His fingertip slowly brushed over the rim of the cup as he said in a low voice, "Both of us are men, and we were barely acquainted to begin with. There must be some other consideration behind her saving me earlier."

"Ugh, being men isn't a problem." Feng Que waved his hand, lowering his voice, "You have no idea, there are no small number of people who secretly came to me for medicine made for relations between two men."

Xiao Rangchen's hand holding the teacup tightened slightly. He did not take the remark, only calmly steered the conversation back on track: "About the spirit insect you mentioned earlier, aside from the Queyun Chamber in Xuanitian Capital, is there really nowhere else we can find it?"

"Nowhere. I've already looked into every possible lead."

"The four great clans have a strictly hierarchical system. As the stronghold of the Lou clan, Xuanitian Capital is not a place that ordinary commoners, or even young masters from other aristocratic clans, can enter whenever they want. Let alone the Queyun Chamber, which houses all their secret texts and precious artifacts."

"No, you have a chance." Feng Que leaned closer to Xiao Rangchen, speaking with absolute certainty, "During House Lou's clan head's birthday celebration, the cultivation world will hold a junior cultivation tournament. These aristocratic clans, in order to show off their so-called 'magnanimity', will nominally allow commoners to take part. As long as you make it into the top three in the end, you will be able to enter the Queyun Chamber fair and square."

Feng Que paused here, lifting a finger to point at the room next door: "She's a member of the Lou clan, and holds a fairly high status, isn't she?"

Xiao Rangchen looked at Feng Que. His gaze was not sharp, but it was far from gentle.

"Tsk tsk, barely acquainted?" Feng Que glanced at him and put his hand down. "Relax, I have no interest in her identity. Even if you can participate in the tournament, you still need to get to the teleportation formation properly first. Get her to give you a title like personal bodyguard, and with her status shielding you, no one will raise any suspicion if you win the competition."

Xiao Rangchen fell silent.

Feng Que let out a deliberately exaggerated sigh: "Young man, I've gone so far as to sacrifice the Gu worm I raised with my own heart's blood for fifteen years just to save you. And besides, going to Xuanitian Capital this time will bring you immense benefits too.

Do you know that the Ancient Enlightenment Tree is a supreme treasure that has been nurtured in the Lou clan's ancestral grounds for thousands of years? Every single leaf and bud on it holds the purest spiritual energy between heaven and earth, which is tremendously beneficial to one's soul and spirit. What's even rarer is that it carries the lingering aura of the Lou clan's mighty elders when they achieved enlightenment. With a bit of luck, it can help you grasp your own great Dao. So many young people from other clans are coming this time precisely for that tree.

Your spiritual veins are damaged and your cultivation has plummeted, but when the Gu worm traveled through your body earlier, I noticed that your spiritual veins are far more powerful than any I have seen in my entire life. While the spiritual energy from the Wisteria Flower hasn't dissipated completely, you can draw fully on the ancient tree's spiritual energy during your enlightenment, and you won't have to worry about any risks at all.

Kid, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Are you really willing to let it slip through your fingers?" Feng Que's low, aged yet not feeble voice echoed through the room.

He did not wait for Xiao Rangchen to give a definite answer, nor did he say another word, before he left the Mianyun Courtyard directly.

Damaged spiritual veins are just like a riverbed that has lost its flowing water, with surging spiritual energy dried up and exhausted. If any cultivator dares to draw in qi and channel it through such veins, it would be no different than tearing at a piece of frayed silk — the pain would pierce through one's bones and blood, and it would destroy the last sliver of hope for recovery.

A riverbed without flowing water will keep shrinking. That is why the best time to use the Wisteria Flower after sustaining spiritual vein damage is within a month. The longer one waits, the harder it becomes to recover.

Xiao Rangchen's damaged section of spiritual veins had been injured for at least two years, but his spiritual veins had not shown the slightest sign of shrinking.

There was only one possible explanation for that —

He had been drawing qi into his veins every single day, enduring the excruciating pain of spiritual energy scraping past the stiffened meridians, constantly stimulating his spiritual veins to keep them active.

The entire process was such that even the slightest misstep, too much or too little, would cause his spiritual veins to shatter. But he had persisted for two whole years, forcing a thin trickle of flow back into a riverbed that was supposed to have long since withered away.

That level of perseverance bordered on paranoia.

That careful, daring, and precise mind was something ordinary people could never hope to match.

How could someone like that give up the chance to drag himself out of the mire so easily? He would do everything he could to grab hold of every possible opportunity to break free from the chains of fate.

That was exactly why Feng Que dared to take that gamble. From start to finish, he had been staking all his hopes of getting the spirit insect on Xiao Rangchen.

Lou Yue had no idea she was being schemed against by Feng Que. Her mind was completely wrapped up in thinking about how to win Liufeng Xin's favor when she met her, and she had even carefully picked out a perfect excuse to use.

Unfortunately, when she arrived at the Tingyu Courtyard full of excitement, she was met with a firm shut door. Even bringing up the Lou clan's name did not help her get in.

Logically speaking, the Liufeng clan should have given the Lou clan some face...

On her way back, Lou Yue kept wondering if the plot restrictions in this world were the reason she could not meet Liufeng Xin. After all, in the book, it was the male lead Long Aotian who met Liufeng Xin first, not her.

The male lead Xiao Rangchen was the core of this world. Maybe only he himself could unlock the appearance of this important character.

Lou Yue's mood sank to rock bottom. If that was really the case, it would be far harder for her to seize the first mover advantage.

"Young Master." Little Qiu called out to her.

Lou Yue listlessly lifted her eyes, and froze in her tracks the moment she caught sight of the figure ahead.

Xiao Rangchen was standing quietly in the shadow by the courtyard gate, his black robe merging into the night. His eyes were glowing bright in the darkness, fixed unblinkingly on her.

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Writing this got my own heart pounding (covers face and runs away)

I wonder, dear readers, are you satisfied with this chapter?