Chapter 16: Report with gratitude, here it comes!

“A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring, little disciple-y!”
Seeing Meng Yingxing gulp down the water she had painstakingly scooped from the nearby stream, Xiu Qingcheng narrowed her eyes, her sword body swaying gently.
“D-disciple-y—” Meng Yingxing’s face instantly flushed red upon hearing Xiu Qingcheng’s address, probably out of shyness.
He covered his face, stammering, “N-naturally, Master’s great kindness, I will repay it well in the future—”
Calming himself, Meng Yingxing then rummaged through Xiu Qingcheng’s basket of herbs.
“Master, have you gathered all the herbs you need?”
“They’re the herbs you need, not me.”
“Uh, then have you, Master, gathered all the herbs I need?”
“Mm, good luck, I’ve found them all.” Xiu Qingcheng narrowed her eyes, deliberately teasing, “Actually, I also found something else, guess what?”
“I don’t know.” Meng Yingxing declared he wouldn’t guess.
Xiu Qingcheng pouted, “Hmph, so boring.”
Then Xiu Qingcheng didn’t press further.
The Ting Tian Sword flew up, rummaged through a pile of herbs, and unearthed a golden crystal from among the verdant plants.
Xiu Qingcheng casually tossed the Condensing Jade Crystal into Meng Yingxing’s hand, watching him clumsily catch it.
“Master, what is this?” Gazing at the dazzling golden crystal in his hand, Meng Yingxing’s eyes widened in surprise.
Even without knowing what it was, Meng Yingxing could feel its considerable value.
“Condensing Jade Crystal.
This one can be sold for a lot of money.
Go sell it, then buy whatever you want to eat, understand?” Xiu Qingcheng spoke with a burst of grandeur, feeling like a millionaire who had just handed this poor boy Meng Yingxing an unlimited black card.
‘Be grateful!’
“I heard many disciples who died in battle in Tianfeng Sect used to be buried randomly in the sect, and they often had many expensive burial items… Master… you didn’t go dig up someone’s ancestral grave, did you?” Meng Yingxing looked around, his gaze at Xiu Qingcheng a bit odd.
“What are you talking about!” Xiu Qingcheng jumped, her body trembling with anger.
“Am I that kind of sword!
This is something I picked up!
I didn’t dig up anyone’s ancestral grave!”
‘Her good intentions were so misunderstood by her disciple!’
‘If Meng Yingxing dared to misunderstand her like this now, she didn’t even dare to imagine what Meng Yingxing would do in the future!’
Meng Yingxing’s concern was understandable; after all, how could such a valuable item be casually picked up?
But between the immorality of digging ancestral graves and his master thinking for his sake, he chose to trust his master and carefully put away the Condensing Jade Crystal.
Holding such a precious item for the first time, Meng Yingxing felt a burning sensation in his arms.
Seeing Meng Yingxing put away the Condensing Jade Crystal, Xiu Qingcheng lightly snorted, not very angry.
“Come on, let’s go back and body temper you.
Don’t waste any more time.”
“Yes! Master!” Meng Yingxing straightened his back, respectfully answering, and actively carried the basket of herbs on his back.
After a bumpy journey, Meng Yingxing and Xiu Qingcheng safely returned to their small hut.
Xiu Qingcheng floated in the air, watching Meng Yingxing first hide the Condensing Jade Crystal under his bed upon returning.
She had a question: did all men like to hide things under their beds?
When she lived as a male in modern times, she also often hid some indescribable DVDs and books under her bed.
“Master, we can start!”
Having hidden the Condensing Jade Crystal, Meng Yingxing stood before Xiu Qingcheng, pulling the basket, looking even more eager for the upcoming body tempering than Xiu Qingcheng herself.
‘This kid probably doesn’t even know what kind of pain he’s about to face.’
Xiu Qingcheng was about to reply, but then she swayed her sword body.
Translating to Xiu Qingcheng’s non-existent body, it meant she frowned.
“So stinky—” Xiu Qingcheng suddenly shook her sword body violently, retreating a foot, then mercilessly aimed her sword tip at Meng Yingxing.
Outside, with the wind, it was fine.
But now, indoors, Meng Yingxing’s sweaty odor from his strenuous training emanated without reservation, assaulting Xiu Qingcheng’s soul.
She even wished she didn’t have a sense of smell right now, rather than a sense of taste!
“You just sweated a lot, go take a shower quickly!”
“No body tempering if you don’t shower!”
“You’re not allowed in the room to rest tonight either!”
Xiu Qingcheng sharply spun three hundred sixty degrees and vigorously smacked Meng Yingxing, sending him flying out of the room, then slammed the door shut with another smack of her sword body.
Meng Yingxing, whose reaction was a beat slow, struggled up from the ground, somewhat awkwardly sniffing his arm.
Indeed, there was an unpleasant odor.
Meng Yingxing stopped outside the door and knocked.
“Master.” He called Xiu Qingcheng’s name with a hint of grievance.
“What?” Xiu Qingcheng was cold and ruthless.
“The bathing tub is inside the room…” Meng Yingxing said weakly.
The room was silent for a moment.
Clang!
With the sudden opening of the door, Xiu Qingcheng emerged, spinning a large wooden tub with her sword tip, then tossed it like a hoop over Meng Yingxing’s head.
Clang!
Meng Yingxing, with the wooden tub over his head, hadn’t even taken it off when Xiu Qingcheng slammed the door shut again.
Clang!
The door opened again.
This time, before Xiu Qingcheng even emerged, a towel and several pieces of clothing were thrown together onto the wooden tub on Meng Yingxing’s head.
Clang!
The door was completely shut!
Meng Yingxing pulled off the wooden tub, then took off the towel and clothes, looking helplessly at the items in his hands.
“Master… these are two pairs of pants of different colors…”
However, Meng Yingxing didn’t ask for more.
He carried these things to the well to draw water and wash himself.
“Master reacted so strongly… does Master have mysophobia?” Meng Yingxing wondered as he poured cold water over himself.
After his shower, Meng Yingxing deliberately sniffed himself.
Only after confirming he had no odor did he dare to knock on Xiu Qingcheng’s door.
Although this was his home, Meng Yingxing felt that with Xiu Qingcheng present, his status in his own home had somehow diminished.
But a master, of course, must be obeyed.
Respect for one’s teacher and the Dao was paramount.
Xiu Qingcheng opened the door and saw Meng Yingxing without an upper garment, realizing she had given him the wrong clothes earlier when she randomly pulled them out.
After sniffing him and finding no unpleasant odor, she mercifully let him in.
“Master, do you have mysophobia?” Meng Yingxing found an upper garment to put on after entering, not forgetting to ask Xiu Qingcheng the question.
“A little, I suppose.” Xiu Qingcheng had nothing to hide.
It wasn’t much, mainly concentrated on personal hygiene.
Xiu Qingcheng seemed to be lost in thought now, the Ting Tian Sword floating in mid-air, regularly rising and falling as if breathing.
Suddenly, Xiu Qingcheng felt something soft caress her sword body.
“Eek! Eek! Eek!”
She instinctively shrieked, retreating a distance.
Xiu Qingcheng looked over; Meng Yingxing’s hand hadn’t retracted.
It seemed he had just been stroking her sword body.
“Don’t touch me randomly!” Xiu Qingcheng said, trembling and pouting.
She hadn’t felt anything when Meng Yingxing gripped her hilt, but his simple caress of her sword body somehow gave her an indescribable feeling—
Even a little shame.
‘Is this another new function after becoming a sword spirit!?’
“Master, you’re covered in mud.” Meng Yingxing extended the finger that had just touched the Ting Tian Sword; its tip was now stained with a bit of mud.
“So dirty!” Xiu Qingcheng then noticed that she too was covered in mud from her earlier digging.
Her slight mysophobia instantly flared up.
“Master probably can’t clean yourself, can you?
Disciple will help you.”
Meng Yingxing enthusiastically grasped the Ting Tian Sword’s hilt, firmly holding Xiu Qingcheng.
“Don’t come near me, ahhhhh!” Xiu Qingcheng, who felt she had imagined something, let out a scream that Meng Yingxing didn’t understand.
Meng Yingxing swore, he truly just wanted to help his master clean herself as a disciple.
A moment later, Xiu Qingcheng was half-submerged in water, her sword body vigorously scrubbed by Meng Yingxing with a loofah.
Her soul felt like it was being rubbed right out of her body by Meng Yingxing.
“I never thought this ‘gushing spring of repayment’ would come so quickly!”