Chapter 48: End of the Month
The outer disciples who had stepped forward to admit their mistakes never came back.
It was said that they had all been sent to the spiritual fields, but no one actually went to visit them, so no one knew whether that was true or not.
The Verdant Cloud Sect also issued an announcement: Hu Ke had become a heinous traitor of the Deep Literary Pavilion. He had committed insubordination, killing three Foundation Establishment realm senior brothers including Fang Ziming with an explosion. The aftermath of the blast had also affected other cultivators; Zhang Xiansheng and four others were unfortunately killed in the explosion as well.
The once noisy outer disciples' compound suddenly fell silent. All the outer disciples began keeping their heads down, afraid of being labeled as Hu Ke's accomplices.
When Lu You heard the news, he nearly fell off the pile of spirit stones he was sitting on. Even though he had been mentally prepared, he hadn't expected the Deep Literary Pavilion to be this shameless, to actually pin Zhang Xiansheng's death on Hu Ke as well.
During this period, Lu You hadn't stopped cultivating. His sixth level Qi Refining cultivation was already approaching the level peak, and the consumption of spirit stones had been enormous. Because spirit stones had been piled up for such a long time, the floors and walls of Lu You's secret chamber had begun to turn clean and translucent from the overflowing spiritual energy.
After noticing this phenomenon, Lu You added a new daily task: constantly using Beginner Wind Talismans and Rain-Calling Talismans to wash the walls, accelerating their aging in order to conceal the abnormality of his secret chamber.
Another day passed.
Lu You woke up from bed. Last night in the Blood Shadow technique, he had fought ten Zeng Yan for thousands of rounds. His swordsmanship had improved once again, and his understanding of controlling the longsword had deepened. The same move, whether light or heavy, slow or fast, could now produce different effects.
The ten Zeng Yan shadows that had once overwhelmed him could no longer completely suppress him. Last night, relying on his refined technique, Lu You had taken down six shadows during the encirclement before exposing a flaw and being swarmed by the remaining ones.
"Soon enough, even ten senior sisters will have to submit under my sword," Lu You said with satisfaction at his own progress.
He jumped out of bed in one motion. The collar of his white sleepwear fell open, revealing a solid chest and eight-pack abs. Tempered by spiritual energy, Lu You's physique had become increasingly well-built. Just standing there, he resembled a poised leopard.
He pushed open the bedroom window and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air.
The window next door—unused for a long time—suddenly opened as well.
A girl wearing a light green nightdress stood gracefully by the window. The nightdress was as thin as silk, perfectly outlining her figure. She froze for a moment, clearly not yet processing the situation. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she then widened them in shock.
Her gaze first landed on Lu You's abs, then slid across his chest, and finally rested on his face.
Whoosh
A fragrant pillow flew out of the girl's window and landed directly inside Lu You's room.
The girl turned around, grabbed the longsword leaning beside the window, and ran downstairs with quick steps, angrily saying, "You brat, still looking? Just you wait until I get over there and teach you a lesson!"
The reason she had thrown a pillow instead of the sword was because Lu You looked fairly handsome and had a strong physique. Otherwise, the object flying over just now would have been the sword by the window.
Awkward.
Lu You caught the pillow and withdrew his gaze.
He had been cultivating in the secret chamber for too long and hadn't noticed that someone had returned to the room across from him. It seemed that this girl was his roommate sharing the place.
Thinking about it carefully, although that fat guy Zhou Lei charged a pretty steep price, he hadn't exaggerated his product. The girl really was very beautiful.
It was just that her temper wasn't as good as Zhou Lei had claimed.
After all, he had only seen her nightdress and hadn't seen anything private. What was there to be so angry about? In his previous life, the girls on those chat apps wore outfits that were far more provocative. Who knew which designer had created them—clothes that looked even sexier than not wearing anything at all.
Creak
Lu You's door was pushed open. The girl's action was actually quite polite—she didn't kick it open with a bang. Then came the tap-tap-tap sound of footsteps. Her shoes seemed deliberately designed with heels, producing a crisp and cheerful sound. Although the girl's face was full of anger, when Lu You saw the green figure rushing toward him, he didn't feel the slightest killing intent. Instead, he even found it a little cute.
"Hmph! You rented the room next to mine and stayed so sneaky and silent all the time. Were you planning to spy on me from the beginning?"
The girl walked up to Lu You with her tap-tap-tap steps. Only then did she realize that even wearing high heels, she barely reached his shoulder. She angrily slapped her sword onto the table, then pulled over a stool and stood on it herself.
Now she was taller than Lu You.
"This isn't something that can just be brushed aside. Think about how you're going to compensate me. It's almost the end of the month, and I still haven't drawn my talismans. You draw thirty talismans for me to complete my task, and I won't stay mad at you."
End of the month. Talismans. Thirty sheets.
The girl's intention was written clearly on her slightly chubby baby-faced cheeks.
Only then did Lu You notice something: the girl had rushed over in anger to accuse him of peeking, yet she hadn't even changed out of that light-green nightdress.
Lu You ignored what she said and suddenly asked,
"How many abs do I have?"
"Eight!? Why?—!" the girl blurted out instinctively—then quickly covered her mouth.
Lu You suddenly felt that his roommate was quite interesting. Shaking his head with a smile, he said,
"I moved in recently. When I arrived, I noticed the room across from mine was empty, so I never went to visit. These past few days I've been absorbed in cultivation and didn't realize someone had returned. My name is Lu You. I'm temporarily renting here. I hope the young lady will be accommodating."
"Pah, pah, pah! Who would 'accommodate' you the moment we meet!" The girl's small face flushed red as she spat lightly in annoyance, then jumped down from the stool.
Lu You's gentlemanly facade instantly cracked.
He had clearly meant accommodating in a perfectly normal way—what on earth was this girl thinking?
But strangely, that kind of odd train of thought suddenly pulled Lu You's mind from the immortal world back to memories of his previous life.
"Brother Lu, I'm Lu Xiao'e. Could you lend me thirty ordinary talismans? It's already the end of the month, and I won't be able to complete the sect's task," Lu Xiao'e said decisively, changing her attitude in an instant. Her voice shifted from irritated to coquettish.
Before asking for something: you brat.
After asking for something: Brother Lu.
Your face-changing is worse than a bandit cultivator's, Lu You thought.
Lu You curled his lips. If he had been someone born and raised in this world, he might really have been taken in by Lu Xiao'e's sudden change in demeanor. But with memories from two lifetimes, what kind of voice hadn't he heard before?
"I can't really accept that 'Brother Lu.' Although entering the Qi Refining realm can prolong youth, I only just turned twenty this year."
Cultivators were different from mortals. After entering the Qi Refining realm, spiritual energy could effectively slow aging. Even someone already forty could still look as young as eighteen.
"You're the one who's old! I'm only twenty too—yesterday was my twentieth birthday!" Lu Xiao'e protested, hopping angrily. She was trying to act cute here, yet Lu You was calling her old.
But then she suddenly burst out laughing.
"This time Fatty Zhou did a good job—he arranged a good roommate for me. You passed the test. If you'd been a fool or a pervert, this young lady would've beaten you out of here today. But since you're so interesting, I'll allow you to rent this room."
"Alright, now let's talk about the talismans."
She straightened up and introduced herself again:
"Lu Xiao'e, twenty years old, peak of the tenth level of Qi Refining tenth. Sword cultivator and talisman master. Too lazy to draw low-grade talismans, hehe—so I'm looking for a fellow daoist to borrow thirty ordinary talismans for an emergency."
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