Chapter 115: 113. Another Bamboo Leaf Gang (2/2)

113. Another Bamboo Leaf Gang (2/2)

Soon, Chen An left the Alchemy Room and walked toward Shen Qingyi's room.

Ever since that night, he had not seen Shen Qingyi again.

Shen Qingyi did not know what kind of mental block she had, but she had kept herself locked in her room the whole time without coming out.

He sent her food, she wouldn't eat.

He sent her water, she wouldn't drink.

She was like a fairy who did not eat the food of mortals.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, may I come in?"

Chen An stood outside Shen Qingyi's door and asked in a gentle, soft voice.

After a long while, Shen Qingyi finally responded, "Mm."

Mm?

Chen An was stunned.

She actually agreed?

He thought Shen Qingyi would most likely refuse, but he didn't expect to be able to enter just by asking.

He stopped overthinking it.

Chen An pushed open the door, walked inside, and saw Shen Qingyi sitting cross-legged on the bed, cultivating.

At this moment, Shen Qingyi was only wearing a thin, plain, loose silk garment, which highlighted her graceful and curvaceous figure, making her breathtakingly beautiful.

"Alchemist Chen, long time no see."

Shen Qingyi slowly opened her eyes, looked at Chen An with a faint smile, and said softly.

Chen An did not pretend to be a gentleman with her; he walked directly to her side, sat down, naturally reached out to wrap his arm around her fragrant shoulders, and said in a soft voice, "That's right, it's been over a month since we last met."

Shen Qingyi looked at Chen An's other restless hand and instinctively drew back her fair, beautiful feet, but once she remembered that she was already his, she stretched her Jade Foot—which could be held in one's palm—back out, letting him hold and play with it, her cheeks flushing a deep red.

Chen An took in this shy appearance of hers, feeling very puzzled.

Isn't she acting quite like a little woman?

Isn't there quite a lot of chemistry?

Why is the affection level still unranked?

Could it be that there is a distinction between physiological shyness and psychological shyness?

Chen An could not figure it out and could only let his thoughts wander aimlessly.

At this moment, Shen Qingyi spoke, her voice carrying a trace of shyness: "Alchemist Chen, the reason I've been avoiding you these past few days isn't because you were too frequent that night and made me loathe you; it's just that I didn't know how to face you, and I feel very embarrassed whenever I do."

Hearing her say this, Chen An seemed to understand.

Shen Qingyi had not fully thought things through yet and could not completely adapt to this relationship.

If nothing went wrong, as long as he could get her to adapt to this relationship and have her give both her body and heart, it should satisfy the system's standards for cultivating affection in the future.

Thinking this, Chen An pulled Shen Qingyi closer, naturally began to kiss her, and said with deep affection, "Fellow Daoist Shen, it's alright. You are just still a bit reserved; once some time passes, you will be able to face it calmly. Affection born from long-term companionship is always more solid than love at first sight."

"Mm."

Shen Qingyi gave a soft response, then shyly closed her beautiful eyes, letting Chen An do as he pleased with her.

Time passed very quickly.

Before one knew it.

Another half a month had passed.

During these days, Chen An came to find Shen Qingyi for intimacy almost every night.

Shen Qingyi never refused and silently accepted him.

On this day, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Chen An did not sleep; after covering the slowly drifting-off-to-sleep Shen Qingyi with a quilt, he moved his thoughts to pull up several notification messages to check.

【Sword Technique +1, Gold Spirit Root aptitude +1】 x55

【Sword Technique: Proficient (233/500)】

【Gold Spirit Root: Middle-Grade (233/500)】

"The improvement is indeed slow."

Chen An smiled silently, thinking that if he were this excessively frequent every day with his three wives and concubines, his Sword Technique would probably have already broken through to the Mastery level, and his Gold Spirit Root would have already broken through to High-Grade.

It seems the affection level is still important.

The experience gain brought by a 0-star or 1-star affection level cannot compare at all to that of a 3-star or 4-star level.

"Fellow Daoists of Baicao Lane!"

"The Thousand-Eating Insect outside has already been eliminated by our Red Fire Gang!"

"Everyone can come out now!"

Suddenly, a loud shout came from outside.

The voice was extremely penetrating, like a public square broadcast from his past life, reaching the ears of everyone in Baicao Lane.

This was a great cultivator using Spirit Power to transmit sound.

Judging by the range of this sound transmission, it was at least a Golden Core great cultivator.

"The Thousand-Eating Insect has been eliminated?"

Shen Qingyi sat up from the bed at once, her face full of joy.

Having been cooped up in Chen An's house for so long, she could finally go out and get some fresh air.

Compared to Shen Qingyi, Chen An, who was at her side, appeared somewhat mixed in his feelings.

He was happy because the disaster had ended and life could return to normal.

The worry was because of the concern that Shen Qingyi was going to move away.

Chen An calmed himself as much as possible, looked at Shen Qingyi beside him, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Shen, now that this Thousand-Eating Insect disaster has ended, what are your plans for the future?"

"I'll find a trade to make a living; if I want to settle down in the Red Cedar Forest, income is indispensable."

Shen Qingyi answered without even thinking.

This answer sounded like she meant she was going to move away.

Chen An felt a bit disheartened; he couldn't help but press her down onto the bed, look into her eyes, and ask, "Fellow Daoist Shen, just live in my home from now on; that way, you can settle down immediately."

"Alchemist Chen, I don't have any thoughts of becoming your wife or concubine for the time being..."

While saying this, Shen Qingyi unconsciously turned her head to the side, not daring to meet Chen An's gaze.

Chen An did not make a sound; he just gently straightened her head, lowered his own, and kissed her affectionately, then said, "Fellow Daoist Shen, you can live here even if you aren't a wife or concubine. Ying likes you, and Xiao Yuejian likes you too. Could you just stay for their sake?"

Silence for a moment.

In the end, under Chen An's aggressive gaze, Shen Qingyi had no choice but to "compromise" and give a soft "Mm."

Chen An smiled, pulled his hand, which was resting on Shen Qingyi's slender waist, slightly upward, and proficiently untied and pulled out the sash at her waist.

Shen Qingyi pressed his hand down, pursed her lips, and refused, "Alchemist Chen, can we wait until tonight?"

"Alright."

Chen An said this and tied it back for her, fully respecting her thoughts and wishes.

Shen Qingyi hesitated for a moment and said, "Alchemist Chen, how much is the monthly rent for living here? I will hand it to you punctually at the end of every month from now on."

"Just like before, the rent is waived. You can continue to teach me Dharma Spells in the future; I still have many basic Dharma Spells I want to learn."

"Mm, then let it be as Alchemist Chen says."

Shen Qingyi had no objections; she knew she was the one taking advantage and thought that she would let Chen An take advantage of her in other ways later, so neither would lose out.

Then.

She said to Chen An, "Alchemist Chen, I need to change my clothes and go outside to see what the situation is. Could you step out and let me change?"

Her body had already been thoroughly enjoyed, yet she still wanted to avoid suspicion when taking off clothes?

Chen An could not understand Shen Qingyi's train of thought and tentatively said, "How about... I help you change?"

Shen Qingyi was silent for a moment.

She wanted to refuse.

But she found she could not find a reason to refuse.

Helplessly, she had to compromise, nod, and agree, "Mm, then I'll trouble Alchemist Chen."

Seeing her agree, Chen An did not dawdle and immediately took a cloth band and a set of Black Tight Suit from her wardrobe.

Then, under her guidance, he carefully wrapped the cloth band around her body and helped her put on the form-fitting Black Tight Suit.

Soon, the two left the room.

Just as they arrived at the main hall, Chen An saw his wives and daughter standing at the doorway, looking at the situation in the lane outside.

"Husband, listening to the commotion outside, it seems the Thousand-Eating Insect disaster has ended."

Wen Zhiyun turned her head to look at Chen An and said.

Chen An nodded and said, "Your husband will go out with Fellow Daoist Shen to check the situation now. You all stay home properly and wait for us to return."

Wen Zhiyun: "Mm, I understand. Husband and Fellow Daoist Shen, please be careful."

Song Huaying was a bit uneasy, her voice sounding slightly worried: "Husband, come back early."

Gu Xinyue was also worried: "Husband must come back..."

"Rest assured, your husband will be back soon."

Chen An comforted his three wives and concubines for a while, then quickly walked out of the courtyard gate with Shen Qingyi.

Outside the house door.

On the lane.

As soon as Chen An walked out, he was shocked by the scene before him.

The sky was filled with the smell of burning.

The ground was covered with the corpses and remains of Thousand-Eating Insects.

Everything that met the eye was like being in a mountain forest that had been ravaged by a great fire.

At a glance, everywhere there were corpses and remains of Thousand-Eating Insects emitting wisps of charred smoke.

Chen An recalled the shouting from before; it seemed a gang called the Red Fire Gang had taken action to resolve these Thousand-Eating Insects.

Judging by the name of this Red Fire Gang, it was likely that the gang was composed entirely of Fire Spirit Root cultivators, and then a powerful expert took action to burn all these Thousand-Eating Insects.

To be able to burn insects on such a large scale, the cultivation of this Red Fire Gang expert must be at least Golden Core or above.

"Crack!"

Just as Chen An was looking at the Thousand-Eating Insect remains on the ground and thinking, a crisp sound suddenly came from ahead.

He followed the sound and saw that there were residents picking up the charred Thousand-Eating Insects from the ground and stuffing them into their mouths, devouring them greedily, as if they hadn't eaten for ten years.

They had been starved while trapped in their homes.

Continuing to eat to replenish nutrients.

Careless of whether it was a Thousand-Eating Insect or a Hundred-Eating Insect, as long as it was something that could be absorbed upon eating, they stuffed it all into their mouths, giving one the strange feeling that everyone was a Thousand-Eating Insect.

"Alchemist Chen, it seems this Thousand-Eating Insect disaster has truly ended."

A faint smile appeared on Shen Qingyi's face.

Chen An smiled faintly: "Yes, after enduring for so many days, we can finally have some peace for a while."

The same scene.

Was also happening in front of every household in Baicao Lane.

Many residents walked out of their houses, looking at the outside world that had returned to its former peace, all of them wearing smiles of survivors on their faces.

In this cultivation world where everyone is in danger.

As bottom-tier rogue cultivators, being able to escape any disaster is always something worth rejoicing over afterward.

At this moment, a deep, thick male voice suddenly came from the center of Baicao Lane.

"Fellow Daoists of Baicao Lane!"

"I am the Gang Leader of the Red Fire Gang, Zhou Tianyi, a cultivator at the Golden Core Early Stage Great Perfection; surely you have all heard of my name!"

"The Thousand-Eating Insect in Baicao Lane was just wiped out by me leading a group of Red Fire Gang members!"

"Your lives were all saved by me!"

"Starting from today, the Red Fire Gang will be stationed at Sanmei Lou in the center of Baicao Lane, and the entire Baicao Lane will be under the protection of the Red Fire Gang!"

"Correspondingly, all fellow Daoists residing in Baicao Lane!"

"Every household must pay 2 Middle-grade Spirit Stones to the Red Fire Gang every month as a Protection Fee!"

When this final sentence fell, the residents of Baicao Lane, who had just been loudly responding to the Red Fire Gang Gang Leader, instantly all fell silent.

Standing in front of his own door, Chen An felt a thought rise in his heart upon hearing the words about needing to pay 2 Middle-grade Spirit Stones every month.

It's over, I'm afraid this is just another Bamboo Leaf Gang.

PS: Setting out my bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!