Chapter 133: Two Faces Like Drunken Spring Approaching

Lingxiang got up and felt a sudden headache, which she assumed was caused by yesterday's hangover. She declared that she would never touch alcohol again. Feeling unbearably thirsty, she walked to the table to get some tea, but there was not a single drop of water left in the pot.

Although she was the youngest in age, she was, after all, the master of these three; why hadn't they even prepared tea for their master? This was truly unfilial!

What was the point of taking them in at Qingwei Peak if not to have them serve her? To be so incapable of doing things, they truly deserved to be punished.

Just as she was thinking this, she heard the door open suddenly. It was Long Qi, carrying a water basin and a kettle. Seeing that Lingxiang was awake, he smiled and set the water on the table.

"You're awake? Do you feel a headache?"

Seeing his beaming face, Lingxiang felt he was a bit strange. Why was he so full of smiles? Had something happened?

"You... what is wrong with you?" she asked suspiciously, her eyes full of disdain—Long Qi's appearance looked truly somewhat...

Somewhat asking for a beating...

Long Qi seemed not to notice the expression on Lingxiang's face. He just smiled, poured hot water into the copper basin, then wrung out a cloth and handed it to Lingxiang.

"It's quite inconvenient on this mountain. Even if I wanted to boil you a hangover soup, I wouldn't know where to get the ingredients. I only saw that you had some dried tangerine peel sun-drying, so I boiled some water for you to wash your face. I thought that would work."

Lingxiang took the cloth, her expression even more disdainful. For a hangover, naturally, one had to drink something for it to be useful. Tangerine peel and dried orange peel, seasoned with sandalwood, kudzu flower, and mung bean flower, then paired with a little ginseng and white cardamom kernels, stir-fried dry with salt, ground into powder, and then brewed into tea—that would be extremely helpful for sobering up. But using tangerine peel water to wash one's face...

Not to mention that the scent of the tangerine peel was not as refreshing as fresh orange peel, the inauspicious color of the cloth soaked in that water made Lingxiang find it hard to wipe it on her face.

It seemed she really needed to teach them some pharmacology. Her own disciples couldn't even learn half of her signature skills! Look at the Sixth Senior Brother's disciples; while one couldn't say they all had the ability to bring the dead back to life, they were top-notch in the medical arts, not to mention Maidong, who had inherited his true teachings.

She was, after all, an Elder of the Yuanqing Sect, wasn't she? She couldn't let herself have no successors, could she?

Thinking this, Lingxiang disdainfully slapped the cloth onto her face, held her breath, wiped it around haphazardly, and then tossed it to Long Qi.

Long Qi smiled as he caught the cloth, then picked up the kettle and said, "I figured you must be thirsty. This old tea isn't good to drink much of, so I poured it out earlier. I'm boiling fresh tea outside; it should be ready soon. I'll go pour you some."

Before Lingxiang could even call out to stop him, she saw him slip away in a flash.

Strange!

Truly strange!

It is simply...

Too strange!

Since when did Long Qi become so attentive? Even if the sun rose in the west, it wouldn't be this rare. Why was he acting so out of character?

Could it be that she got drunk yesterday and beat him up?

But how could she be so disgraceful?

Lingxiang couldn't help but frown as she tried to recall, but she only remembered some fragmented pieces...

"Oh... my disciple! Mother is back!"

Seeing Long Qi, Lingxiang giggled and reached out to pounce on him, but her feet were unsteady, and she nearly fell. Seeing this, Long Qi quickly squatted down and took the opportunity to hoist her onto his shoulder.

Yet, even while being carried like this, Lingxiang kept muttering.

"Hey... you disciple... you're so strange, actually carrying Mother like this..."

"Do you know how hard it was for Mother to raise you, changing your diapers and feeding you..."

"The Heavenly Dao is unjust! Why did that dead man have to leave so early!!"

As she spoke, she kicked her arms and legs, but Long Qi walked with extreme steadiness.

This Lingxiang, her tolerance for alcohol was truly poor. Making such a scene while drunk was just like those drunks he saw on the street when he was little. What "Mother"? How could he have been raised by her? And where did that "dead man" come from?

But seeing Lingxiang like this for the first time, it was truly somewhat...

Somewhat cute...

Long Qi naturally didn't know why Lingxiang was talking like this, but Xiaobai did. Weren't these the very scenarios from the storybooks he had found for Lingxiang a few days ago?

He looked at the flailing Lingxiang and suddenly laughed. Just a moment ago, while drinking, she had been full of sorrow; now she had become like this, with no trace of that sad look from before.

But seeing Long Qi carrying her further and further away, he felt a sudden sense of loss in his heart.

Ajin, you say I am not Lingxiang's destined path, so is he?

Long Qi had already carried Lingxiang into the room, but Xiaobai stared at the closed door for a long time before turning and disappearing into the night.

Lingxiang was settled onto the bed by Long Qi. He turned to pour her some tea, but Lingxiang suddenly sprang up. Without even putting on her shoes, she began to sing in the room. As she sang, she flicked her sleeves; that tune was exactly like the female guests in the brothels.

In the middle of the night, this shrill voice echoed through the empty valley.

There were two other people sleeping in the next room!

Long Qi hurriedly hugged Lingxiang and settled her back on the bed, but Lingxiang kept humming and singing, struggling to get up.

In the ensuing scramble, Lingxiang suddenly kicked Long Qi in the knee. Caught off guard, Long Qi stumbled and fell onto the bed.

It is said that coincidences make the story; this fall happened to land him right on top of Lingxiang. And as luck would have it, they were face-to-face, and even more coincidentally, Long Qi touched a patch of softness.

This softness came with a waft of wine fragrance, and even Long Qi, who hadn't been drinking, couldn't help but feel intoxicated by it.

Indulging...

Entangled...

Falling...

What! This Long Qi, he...

He...

He took advantage of her again!

No wonder he was being so attentive; it was because of this!

But...

The advantage had already been taken, what was the use of thinking about it now!?

As Lingxiang beat her chest and stamped her feet, she immediately grew to hate alcohol.

This filthy stuff truly ruins everything!

Just as she was feeling heartbroken and pained, she heard a series of footsteps approaching; it was Long Qi coming in carrying tea water.

Seeing him enter the room, Lingxiang looked full of wariness; the moment he neared the table and before he had even set down the hot water kettle, Lingxiang jumped up just like a startled rabbit.

This jump was no small matter, and it gave Long Qi such a fright that he nearly failed to hold onto the water kettle in his hand.

This girl was so jumpy, what was the matter with her? He had only gone out to pour a kettle of water, so how had things turned into this?

Looking at Lingxiang, whose face was flushed crimson and full of wariness, Long Qi was first filled with confusion, but then, upon thinking of last night, he understood, and his own face immediately became like a red-hot branding iron.

Long Qi was also someone who had been drunk; they all say that a drunk person is muddled and knows nothing, but in reality, their heart is as clear as a mirror, it is just that thinking about it gives them a headache and they do not wish to dwell on it.

Yet the way Lingxiang looked when she was drunk had truly drunk its way into his heart.

And right now, both of them had faces that looked as if they were drunk, standing in two corners of the room, neither speaking a word.

Sunlight filtered in from outside the window and spilled onto Long Qi; seeing this, Lingxiang suddenly felt that Long Qi was indeed quite good-looking.

In the courtyard, the pear tree was silently sprouting new branches; seeing this, it seemed that spring was about to arrive.