Chapter 22: Human, You Have So Many Partners

Just as Bai Li’s eyes grew hazy and her legs instinctively curled, she suddenly recalled Leng Qingqiu’s devilish whisper before leaving.
“If you dare make a move on Master, I’ll tell him you did that while he was asleep beside you.”
“You don’t want Master looking at you with disgust and banning you from sleeping near him, do you?”

Bai Li shivered, snapping back to clarity.
Realizing things could go very wrong, she broke the charged atmosphere.
“Didn’t you… say wash your feet…?”

Too shy to meet Chu Huaizhou’s gaze, she raised an arm to cover her mouth, her voice shrinking as her fingers nervously twisted her skirt’s hem, tightening the already strained fabric.
Chu Huaizhou stayed silent, his mind and body at war, his eyes glued to her, unable to look away.

“Hurry up and let me wash them…”
Seeing him ignore her, Bai Li muttered, not waiting for a response.
She rose swiftly, scampering off the bed with a tap-tap-tap and pushed open the door.
“I’ll get water! Back soon, meow!”
She left only a whiff of fragrance behind.

As the golden bells on her ankles jingled faintly into the distance, Chu Huaizhou sighed, lamenting his weak resolve.
When Bai Li returned with water, he swore—swore—to keep his eyes in check.
He, Chu Huaizhou, would rather jump off Heavenly Sword Peak and let the Calamity Plague Emperor Lord one-shot him than sneak another glance at her “grand peaks”!

“Human, is the water temperature okay?”
Bai Li knelt by the bed, adjusting the spring water’s warmth with her fingers, asking softly.
“Fine.”

She stopped tweaking the temperature, focusing solely on washing his feet, pushing other thoughts aside.
That afternoon, she’d reflected a lot.
She’d nearly done something bad, unable to suppress her feelings for him.
Then, realizing how good he’d been to her, she felt guilty for taking advantage.
So, she made a decision.
She adored him and wanted to do those things from her romance novels.
But it had to wait until he recovered his memories and strength.
That was fair—not taking advantage.
Once he was whole, she’d confess like in the novels.
If he accepted, great.
If not… she’d just make him, no problem!
Though she wasn’t sure she could beat him…

Earlier, her mindset wasn’t adjusted, making things awkward.
Now, she’d sorted herself out.
This palace, cold and ruthless.
But…
“Human, can you… stop staring at me?”
Glancing up, her barely suppressed emotions flared again under his gaze.

Chu Huaizhou guiltily looked away.
He couldn’t help it—his higher brain was trying to focus elsewhere, but his instincts kept winning, drawing his eyes back.
At her words, he forced himself to stop.
What was he, a creep?
He wasn’t that guy.

But with his eyes averted, the soft touch of her hands on his feet sparked even wilder thoughts.
To distract himself, he scanned the room, landing on a white-haired, blue-eyed, chibi-style plushie at the bed’s far end.
When he first woke up, he’d thought it cute, not knowing better.
Now, it was clearly a Q-version of Leng Qingqiu.
Realizing this, he felt uneasy, like he was cheating behind his partner’s back while she watched.

Using spiritual power, he pulled the plushie to his hands, fidgeting with it to ease the odd guilt.
Wait, why am I even thinking this? Is this some stand-in trope?
He was just having Bai Li wash his feet—nothing shady!
Plus, was Leng Qingqiu even his partner? That wasn’t confirmed.
Since Bai Li was always around, she’d know.

“Bai Li, do you… think Leng Qingqiu and I are partners?”

Her ears twitched, hands still washing, her charming face pensive.
“Mm… yeah, you’re partners.”
“Not just Qingqiu—Xiao Baiqian and Xiao Yinlu are your partners too, meow.”

Chu Huaizhou: ??? What, bro?!
He’d expected Bai Li’s scatterbrain to yield nothing useful, but this was a bombshell.
His first, second, and third disciples were his partners? Was this a joke?

He’d considered that, facing three beautiful disciples who might like him, he could blur boundaries over centuries and accept one.
But all three?!
Slap!
He smacked his own face. Was he even human?

Bai Li, puzzled by his self-slap, tilted her head.
“Human, why’d you hit yourself? Having partners is normal, right? I’m your partner too, meow.”

Chu Huaizhou: ????
Stunned, he almost asked, If we’re partners, what was that reaction earlier?
Then, recalling her usual dimness, it clicked.
His brain wrinkles smoothed out, a wave of calm washing over him, like strolling through a forest.
Knowing Bai Li, she’d likely misunderstood “partner” due to some past mix-up, probably from him or a disciple, and believed it ever since.

Clearing his throat, he asked the wide-eyed, innocent Bai Li, “Do you really know what ‘partner’ means?”

She gave him a suspicious look, as if he’d questioned her intelligence.
Was he doubting she didn’t know something so basic?
“Of course, meow! It’s just companions on the cultivation path, right? You can call them partners, meow.”
“There are different kinds—pure, uh, Ber… Ber-something partners, and novel-style partners, meow.”

Her voice shrank at “novel-style,” her ears blushing as she stole a glance at him, then looked away.
Her drooping tails perked up, wagging slightly.
“You told me, human, that those novels are just fox-tricking lies. In reality, no sword immortal would pin their partner down and…”
Her voice cut off, her entire fox-self turning shrimp-red.

Chu Huaizhou didn’t ask but could guess what “novel-style” partners entailed.
“So, what kind of partners are Qingqiu and I? Platonic or novel-style?”

Her tails froze.
She glanced around warily, ensuring Leng Qingqiu wasn’t near, then leaned in secretively.
“I don’t know, meow… But several times when I wanted to play with you, Qingqiu locked me out, meow…”

Chu Huaizhou: ???