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Join the ServerSu Qinghan rolled her eyes at Lu Hongzhuang, though a murmur of thought began in her mind.
‘A freak.’
‘Truly, a freak of the cultivation world.’
‘She recalled how, back in the day, to merely sense that faint wisp of spiritual energy, she had spent a grueling three months seated by her master’s meditation cushion, her backside practically worn flat; even then, she considered herself a prodigy of unparalleled talent.’
‘Yet, Lu Hongzhuang?’
‘Less than an hour!’
‘To whom could she possibly complain?’
“A newcomer seeking qi-sense?” Lu Hongzhuang echoed, clearly not grasping the deeper implication of those words.
Too disinclined to elaborate, Su Qinghan merely pushed at the food in her bowl, mumbling evasively, “Just eat your dinner; why so many questions?”
The evening meal concluded amidst this peculiar atmosphere.
Lu Hongzhuang, of her own accord, gathered the dishes and carried them to the kitchen for washing.
Meanwhile, Su Qinghan propelled her wheelchair back to the eastern wing, which served as her main bedroom.
She needed to arrange lodging for Lu Hongzhuang.
The western wing housed the guest room; though simple, its bedding was meticulously clean.
“Hey, you’ll sleep in the western room tonight,” Su Qinghan called out towards the kitchen.
“Understood,” came Lu Hongzhuang’s muffled reply from the kitchen, accompanied by the crisp clatter of dishes.
Wheeling herself into her room, Su Qinghan surveyed the familiar furnishings, a wave of ease washing over her.
‘There’s truly no comfort like one’s own humble abode.’
Just as she was preparing to transfer to her bed, Lu Hongzhuang entered from outside, wiping her hands.
“Um…” Lu Hongzhuang stood at the doorway, hesitating as if to speak, before finally asking, “When will I be able to use those talismans, just like you?”
She clearly yearned for those talisman papers capable of immobilizing spirits.
Su Qinghan’s eyes glinted, and a mischievous idea began to form.
Maneuvering her wheelchair, she glided to the bedside, then, bracing her hands against the edge, she pushed off with a practiced movement, settling herself steadily onto the bed.
This particular maneuver, which she had practiced for a long time, was now quite fluid.
“What’s the rush?” Su Qinghan patted the empty space beside her. “Come sit.”
Lu Hongzhuang hesitated for a moment but then complied, walking over and sitting down beside her.
Su Qinghan retrieved a yellow talisman from her robes; it was a rather poorly drawn, unfinished one from before.
She extended the talisman paper towards Lu Hongzhuang.
“You can sense ‘qi,’ can’t you?”
“Now, try to draw that ‘qi’ from your Dantian, guiding it along the meridians of your arm and into this talisman.”
Su Qinghan’s tone held a hint of persuasive guidance.
Lu Hongzhuang, half-believing, half-doubting, extended two fingers and lightly grasped the thin yellow talisman.
Closing her eyes, she followed Su Qinghan’s instructions, attempting to guide the faint, ethereal stream of qi she had only just perceived within her body.
The qi was incredibly faint, flowing sluggishly through her meridians like a strand of spider silk.
The moment it coursed down her arm, converged at her fingertips, and made contact with the yellow talisman—
A marvelous event unfolded!
Lu Hongzhuang distinctly felt the talisman paper in her hand come alive, the intricate patterns drawn in cinnabar faintly glowing with a delicate crimson light!
Though it vanished in an instant, she had undeniably witnessed it!
“It lit up! It lit up!”
Lu Hongzhuang’s eyes snapped open in delight, and she excitedly looked at Su Qinghan. “What next? What next? Does this mean it’s ready to be used?”
Su Qinghan observed her naive, wide-eyed expression, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips.
‘What next?’
‘What followed was…’
She extended her hand with lightning speed, slapping the talisman paper, now imbued with ‘qi-sense,’ squarely onto Lu Hongzhuang’s forehead.
A soft command escaped her lips.
“Still!”
The surprise on Lu Hongzhuang’s face instantly froze.
Her entire being seemed to have been paused, remaining motionless in the exact posture from the previous second.
Only her wide, rounded eyes could convey her current shock and indignation.
“You… again!”
She gritted out the words.
Su Qinghan, greatly amused by Lu Hongzhuang’s predicament, clapped her hands, preparing to push herself up from the bed, return to her wheelchair, and then go sleep in the adjacent room.
However, the very moment she began to rise
A tremendous force erupted from beside her.
Lu Hongzhuang’s previously immobilized hands suddenly shot out, grabbing Su Qinghan’s collar and forcefully yanking her back onto the bed!
Caught completely off guard, Su Qinghan tumbled headfirst into Lu Hongzhuang’s embrace.
A warm current, carrying the scent of soapberry and faint perspiration, instantly enveloped her.
“You…”
Just as Su Qinghan was about to erupt, she realized Lu Hongzhuang’s eyes had, at some point, already closed.
Even breaths echoed by her ear.
Drowsiness, like a surging tide, swept over Lu Hongzhuang.
It seemed she had merely, by her last vestige of instinct, seized the “culprit” beside her before succumbing to an overwhelming urge to sleep, plunging into slumber.
What was worse, she even adjusted her position.
Treating Su Qinghan in her arms like a human body pillow, she wrapped her arms around her and clamped her legs around her as well.
Su Qinghan: ‘…’
She was utterly trapped in Lu Hongzhuang’s embrace, her cheek pressed tightly against the other woman’s warm chest, unable to move.
‘Warm fragrance and soft jade in her arms.’
Yet, Su Qinghan now had only one thought.
‘Who am I?’
‘Where am I?’
‘What exactly am I doing?’
She tried to struggle, but found Lu Hongzhuang’s grip incredibly tight, a strength utterly unlike that of someone asleep.
‘Right, the talisman!’
A realization struck Su Qinghan, and with difficulty, she formed a hand seal.
“Release!”
However, nothing happened.
The talisman paper on her forehead remained entirely unresponsive.
It was then that Su Qinghan remembered: this talisman had been activated by Lu Hongzhuang’s own ‘qi’!
She was not the caster, and thus, she couldn’t undo it!
‘What was this called?’
‘To weave one’s own cocoon? To lift a rock only to drop it on one’s own foot?’
Su Qinghan wanted to reach up and tear off the talisman, but her hands were also held fast, utterly unable to be pulled free.
The night was utterly silent.
Su Qinghan remained in this humiliating posture, sinking into a prolonged silence within the darkness.
The next day.
The first ray of morning sunlight streamed through the window lattice, illuminating the room.
The talisman paper affixed to Lu Hongzhuang’s forehead, its spiritual energy depleted, silently disintegrated into a speck of ash.
Lu Hongzhuang’s long eyelashes fluttered as she slowly stirred awake.
She felt as though she had slept exceptionally soundly, though her chest felt a little heavy, as if something were pressing down on it.
Groggily, she lowered her gaze.
And then, she saw a small head resting on her chest.
The person, clinging to her like a koala with both hands and feet, was fast asleep.
The air solidified.
“Ah—!”
A shriek pierced the morning’s tranquility.
Lu Hongzhuang abruptly shoved the person off her, then frantically snatched the blanket to cover her chest.
*Thud!*
Su Qinghan was sent sprawling to the floor by an immense force, landing with a solid thud on her backside.
“Ow!”
She cried out in pain, rubbing her backside, her face a picture of bewilderment as she stared at the person on the bed.
“What happened, what happened? What’s going on? An earthquake?”
Lu Hongzhuang’s face was flushed crimson, almost as if it would bleed; she pointed at Su Qinghan on the floor, her voice trembling.
“Pervert!”
Hearing this, Su Qinghan’s temper flared.
‘Good heavens, it’s the pot calling the kettle black, yet again!’
Just as she was about to retort, she noticed Lu Hongzhuang’s eyes rapidly reddening.
Large, pearl-like tears welled in her eyes, threatening to fall, her expression a mix of profound grievance and lingering fear.
“You… could you please… stop using that spell to control me?”
Her voice was laced with a sob, her body trembling slightly.
“I’m scared…”
“I’m afraid that when I wake up, you’ll be gone again.”
“I’m afraid that, like in Qingzhi Town, if I wake up too late, you and Senior Sister Liu, and everyone in the town… will all be dead, leaving only me behind…”
Her words, like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguished all of Su Qinghan’s anger.
Su Qinghan watched her on the verge of tears, all her retorts caught in her throat.
Despite being thrown onto her backside and wincing in pain, she found herself, in the end, having to lower her head and admit fault.
“Alright, alright…” Su Qinghan scrambled up from the floor, settling back into her wheelchair, her tone softening. “I was wrong~~ Don’t be sad.”
“I promise, I’ll never use that method on you again.”
Only upon hearing her assurance did Lu Hongzhuang’s tears finally recede, though she still glared at Su Qinghan, her eyes red and puffed with indignation.
The morning’s farce finally concluded.
Both women, having composed themselves, began to pack their belongings.
Su Qinghan possessed few worldly goods: a few changes of clothes and various bottles and jars of medicinal herbs.
The item that took up the most space was a large wooden chest she kept hidden beneath her bed.
Lu Hongzhuang helped her drag the chest out; upon opening it, they found it filled with all sorts of peculiar items.
There were palm-sized flying birds crafted from wood and copper wire.
There were also strange, collapsible grappling hooks made from bamboo strips and ox sinew.
And small wooden figures wrapped in silk threads, along with oddly shaped metal components.
“What are these for?”
Lu Hongzhuang, like an inquisitive child, picked up a wooden bird, turning it over and over, utterly perplexed as to its purpose.
“Spirit tools,” Su Qinghan stated succinctly.
“Spirit tools? These… wooden trinkets?” Lu Hongzhuang’s face was a mask of disbelief.
Too weary to explain further, Su Qinghan simply directed her to carefully pack all these precious trinkets into a large bundle.
Once they were packed and ready, they prepared to depart.
Just as they pushed open the courtyard gate, they encountered the Village Chief approaching.
The Village Chief leaned on his staff, followed by several villagers, all carrying items: eggs and homemade cured meat among them.
“Doctor Su, are you… leaving?” The Village Chief’s face, as he looked at their packed bags, was etched with reluctance.
Su Qinghan nodded.
“Yes, we plan to travel and see the world.”
Hearing this, the Village Chief sighed, then smiled with a sense of resignation.
“That’s good. Young people should indeed venture out and experience more.”
He paused, his clouded eyes reflecting the benevolent affection and concern of an elder.
“If you ever grow weary, return to Apricot Blossom Village.”
“This place will always be your home.”
The excitement doesn't stop here! If you enjoyed this, you’ll adore The Fake Young Master Only Wants to Study After Rebirth. Start reading now!
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