Chapter 73: The Master’s Unladylike Ways

This time, Meng Yingxing once again prepared a grand feast, bringing plate after plate to the table.
However, this grand feast was completely different from the previous ones.
Each time Meng Yingxing brought a dish to the table, he no longer saw Xiu Qingcheng in her sword form by the table, but a woman whose appearance was even more appetizing than the food he had prepared.
If he hadn’t seen Xiu Qingcheng transform from a sword into a human with his own eyes, Meng Yingxing probably wouldn’t have connected the sword and the person; he might even have thought this was a body Xiu Qingcheng had “borrowed” from somewhere.

Meng Yingxing carried a freshly cooked dish to the table and saw Xiu Qingcheng sitting on a stool in a very unladylike cross-legged posture, affectionately stroking Sword Ghost the cat in her arms.
From Meng Yingxing’s angle, he could even inadvertently catch a glimpse of the edge of her undergarments beneath Xiu Qingcheng’s skirt.
Meng Yingxing silently poked himself in the eyes with two fingers of the hand not holding the dish.
‘See no evil!’
‘Especially not Master’s!’
‘That’s a capital offense!’
Meng Yingxing let out a muffled groan, swallowing all the pain.

“What’s wrong, disciple?”
Xiu Qingcheng, engrossed in petting the cat, also noticed Meng Yingxing’s actions. She blinked her grey eyes, curious to know what Meng Yingxing was doing.

Meng Yingxing resisted the urge to gasp deeply, and with his eyes closed, gritted his teeth and said to Xiu Qingcheng, “Master, your sitting posture… could you change it?”

“Sitting posture?”
Xiu Qingcheng held the cat in her hands, not quite understanding what was wrong with her sitting posture.
She cast a sidelong glance downwards, thinking Meng Yingxing was complaining that her posture wasn’t polite enough.

“I’m going to sit like this!”
Xiu Qingcheng extended her slender, fair neck, a defiant expression on her face.
“I’m used to it!”
This unladylike sitting posture had been Xiu Qingcheng’s habit since she was a man; she had never thought of changing it before, and it was even less likely now.
Once imprisoned as a sword spirit, now free in a spirit body, being able to use this comforting posture again brought Xiu Qingcheng a long-lost feeling.

Seeing that his Master was so stubbornly resistant to reason, completely lacking self-awareness, Meng Yingxing had no choice but to remind her, somewhat awkwardly, at the risk of offending her.
“Master…, your clothes are too short…”

“Too short?”
Hearing this, Xiu Qingcheng was startled.
Her somewhat slow brain finally started to process, understanding the meaning of Meng Yingxing’s previous words.
Very simply, her undergarments were showing.
Xiu Qingcheng silently put her legs down and brought them together, also placing the cat on her lap, looking like the epitome of a lady.
After abandoning her familiar posture, Xiu Qingcheng once again felt the unsettling coolness on her legs beneath the skirt.

Seeing that Xiu Qingcheng had recognized her “mistake,” Meng Yingxing seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as he placed a plate of large shrimp, which he had been holding, on the table.
“If that’s uncomfortable, Master, why don’t you change into a different outfit?”
Meng Yingxing offered a very reasonable suggestion.
Xiu Qingcheng, however, indicated that she couldn’t change at all.

“I’m a spirit body now, and I don’t even know why my human form’s clothes are like this.”
“If I were to change clothes, it would consume quite a lot of spiritual energy.”
Xiu Qingcheng said this while already starting to dig into the dishes.
“Moreover, continuously maintaining a changed outfit would constantly deplete my spiritual energy, and my form would quickly become unstable.”

“Master, is your spiritual energy so low?”
Meng Yingxing was surprised; he had originally thought that Xiu Qingcheng, being able to so easily cut down the demon, must be a super powerful expert overflowing with immense spiritual energy and a high cultivation realm.
Now Xiu Qingcheng was saying she didn’t have much spiritual energy.

“My ability to kill that Huang Cang demon has little to do with my spiritual energy.”
Xiu Qingcheng said as she ate, her hands peeling shrimp and covered in oil.
“It’s because I’m too sharp.”
“As a pure sword, the Ting Tian Sword itself can’t contain much spiritual energy. The spiritual energy I’m using for this body now is what remained infused in the Ting Tian Sword from your previous battles.”
“But it’s fine, simply maintaining this form, that little bit of spiritual energy is enough to last a very long time.”
Xiu Qingcheng waved her oil-stained hand at Meng Yingxing.
‘As long as Meng Yingxing’s spiritual energy was present and not haphazardly consumed, she could maintain this form indefinitely.’
Meng Yingxing nodded, as if he understood.
But he really didn’t understand much about sword spirits.
He could only say, ‘as if understood.’

“Mmm mmm mmm, these shrimp are delicious!”
“Don’t talk so much, I want to eat other things, are there any?”

Xiu Qingcheng stared at Meng Yingxing, her two eyes blinking, making it hard to refuse.
Meng Yingxing nodded.
“Yes.”
‘If Master wanted it, he would naturally provide it.’

Seeing Meng Yingxing about to turn back to the kitchen, Xiu Qingcheng quickly added:
“Disciple, I’m thirsty, do you have any alcohol?”
“Eating so well, it would be a shame not to have some wine.”
“Dry Wei, Red Island, Black Beer, she can drink them all!”
‘In her previous life, as a good youth of the new era, Xiu Qingcheng didn’t like soft drinks, only alcohol, and she never got drunk, no matter how many cups she had~’

“No alcohol, only tea, is that okay?”
Meng Yingxing turned to ask.
“…That’ll do.”

Looking at the clear eyes of the young man before her, Xiu Qingcheng suddenly felt a bit afraid to look at him.
‘Her disciple seemed to have no bad habits, diligent and hardworking.’
‘In contrast, Xiu Qingcheng herself had an unladylike sitting posture, loved to drink, and was stubborn and improper.’
‘She was even asking a fifteen-year-old boy for alcohol; she was truly afraid she would lead Meng Yingxing astray, and was even proud of these things.’

Not long after, Meng Yingxing brought up the tea.
He saw Xiu Qingcheng had reverted to her original cross-legged posture, her undergarments fully visible.

“Master.”
Meng Yingxing coughed, his hands behind his back.
Xiu Qingcheng knew Meng Yingxing was reminding her about her sitting posture.
“I still prefer my defiant look from before.”
Xiu Qingcheng said fearlessly, then stared directly at Meng Yingxing.

“Someone else will see!”
Meng Yingxing, seeing Xiu Qingcheng so careless, became a little anxious.
“Who will see? Only you can see.”
Xiu Qingcheng pouted, “I’m your Master, you’re my disciple. What kind of relationship do we have! It doesn’t matter if you see.”
‘She had just thought about being more mindful in front of her disciple, but now, between etiquette and shamelessness, Xiu Qingcheng still chose what made her comfortable.’

Meng Yingxing seemed even more agitated than before, his ears once again tinged with pink. “Master, how can you say that! Oh, that’s enough, any more and it’ll be impolite!”
“Master!”
“Alright, alright! If there are really other people in the future, I’ll sit properly, alright?!”
“Nanny disciple! Hehehe!”
Meng Yingxing couldn’t win an argument with Xiu Qingcheng, and she simply pretended not to hear him. He could only close his eyes from time to time, silently chanting, ‘See no evil.’

After Meng Yingxing regained his composure, he watched Xiu Qingcheng sitting cross-legged, peeling a shrimp, then watched Xiu Qingcheng peel another shrimp and pop it into her own mouth. Her red lips, glistening with oil, looked so bright that Meng Yingxing thought they would be as delicious as those desserts.
Meng Yingxing watched Xiu Qingcheng, and noticing his disciple staring intently at her, she thought he was too disappointed.
Just because she peeled shrimp for herself to eat, and then peeled shrimp for the cat to eat, but didn’t peel any for him.
‘Well, Xiu Qingcheng thought, perhaps she wasn’t being very nice.’
‘Her disciple had been busy back and forth, yet she couldn’t even peel a single shrimp for him.’

So, Xiu Qingcheng picked the largest remaining shrimp from the plate, peeled it meticulously clean, and then reached out and shoved it into Meng Yingxing’s mouth.
Meng Yingxing, still in a daze, was startled by Xiu Qingcheng’s sudden action.

“!?”
Meng Yingxing then saw Xiu Qingcheng looking at him with an expression of dissatisfaction.
“Why so agitated?”
Meng Yingxing lowered his eyes to look at what was pressed against his mouth—it was a peeled shrimp held in Xiu Qingcheng’s hand.
“What are you looking at? I won’t harm you! Open your mouth!”
Xiu Qingcheng pushed it forward again.
Meng Yingxing seemed to be greatly alarmed, repeatedly saying, “Master, you just eat it!”
“I peeled it so carefully, open your mouth!”
Seeing Xiu Qingcheng’s serious expression, Meng Yingxing still opened his mouth and gently bit down.
His teeth, besides touching the shrimp meat, also brushed against Xiu Qingcheng’s warm, soft fingers.
Meng Yingxing’s mind wavered.

“Is it delicious?” Xiu Qingcheng asked.
“Delicious.”
Meng Yingxing nodded, chewing on the contents of his mouth as if trying to discern something profound from it.