Chapter 59: Confessing Without Concealment, Discussing Shamelessness

Perhaps to escape the torment of Liu Xia and Xin Yi sooner, or perhaps because the medicinal power of the Lingxiang was potent, Long Qi's body recovered exceptionally fast; he was seven or eight parts better in just four days, and this day he was even able to go into the courtyard to practice two sets of Sword Techniques.

But as he practiced, his thoughts drifted elsewhere: Lingxiang had not come to visit him for a long time; could it be that she was truly angry with him this time?

Yet, Lingxiang did not always come to Zhuyuan before, and he had never been this restless back then.

Lingxiang had not been having an easy time these past two days either; she no longer went to visit the peaks of her fellow senior brothers as she used to, nor did she hide away on Qiuyun Peak to escape the winter in this cold weather.

Although this made a group of Elders quite strange, Zhaoming Zhenren breathed a huge sigh of relief: this little troublemaker could finally be at peace for a few days, and he did not have to worry about the treasures in his hall for the time being.

If one were to ask why Lingxiang was like this, firstly, it was because she had decided to fire up the furnace to refine a batch of Inner Fire Pill using the Great Fu Formula, and secondly, it was because what Long Qi did that day always left her distracted.

In recent days, no matter what she did, she often thought of that day's events, as if Long Qi's kiss had become her inner demon, always lingering in her heart and unable to dissipate, which was why she decided to refine pills to clear her thoughts.

But even with Alchemy, which she was most skilled at, she could not concentrate. Even when she was tempering the medicinal ingredients in that old Pill Furnace, she lost focus while adding the Yellow Tooth Powder, her bamboo stick poking at the powder bit by bit while her mind drifted to who knows where.

This day, she was in the courtyard fueling the furnace fire when she saw Fuyin Zhenren arrive with two disciples.

"Oh! Isn't this Sixth Senior Brother? A rare guest; why, since I haven't been going to Qiuyun Peak, you've been thinking of me, coming all the way to my Xianyun Abode to visit in this cold weather?" Lingxiang said, putting away her cultivation technique and standing up.

Fuyin Zhenren merely glanced at her upon hearing this, then instructed the two disciples to wait in the courtyard before walking into the room with his hands behind his back.

Seeing this, Lingxiang knew he had something to say, so she instructed the two disciples to watch the furnace fire and followed him in.

As soon as she entered the room, Fuyin Zhenren tossed a book at her; Lingxiang looked down and saw it was indeed that copy of "Joyous Secret Play."

"You! A young girl, where did you get this book? And you even gave it to Maidong, what kind of behavior is this!?" True Person Fuyin asked, his expression one of hating that she did not behave properly.

Lingxiang flipped through it casually and replied with a smile: "I thought it was something serious; it's just a little book of night tales, why is Senior Brother so angry? It's no big deal."

"No big deal?" Seeing Lingxiang flipping through the book as if nothing were the matter, Fuyin Zhenren hurriedly snatched it back and threw it onto the table.

"If I hadn't recognized Long Qi's Sword Technique, I'm afraid I still wouldn't know that such indecent things existed in my secret chamber!"

Lingxiang's eyes lit up when she heard this.

"What? Your little treasury was found by Maidong?"

Upon hearing this, True Person Fuyin inwardly cried out that it was bad and hurriedly said: "Are we talking about my secret chamber now? We are talking about your conduct! Even if the entire sect were turned upside down, one couldn't find a second person capable of coming up with such a rotten idea! You actually ordered Maidong to do it; is this something a maiden should do?"

Lingxiang rolled her eyes at this: You think your Maidong is an honest one? The malice in her belly is not necessarily less than mine.

"You, if you wanted to borrow the Sword Formula, you should have just told me; why go through all that extra trouble?" Fuyin Zhenren said, tapping the table as he sat down: This Lingxiang! Too outrageous!

Lingxiang, however, looked unconcerned; as Fuyin Zhenren sat down, she also sat to one side, crossed her legs, poured a cup of tea, and handed it over.

"So Senior Brother came to hold me accountable; no wonder you are so angry."

Fuyin Zhenren took the cup but ignored Lingxiang, simply drinking the tea in the cup himself.

Seeing him like this, Lingxiang knew he was truly angry, so she hurriedly changed her expression and began to act coquettishly.

"Aiya~ I was just afraid that you, Senior Brother, would value friendship and be unwilling to lend it to me; besides, I was also looking out for you, wasn't I?"

"Looking out for me?" Fuyin Zhenren pointed at the "Joyous Secret Play" on the table, even poking a hole in the cover, which made Lingxiang's heart ache—this was a rare edition!

"You call this looking out for me? Tell me how this is looking out for me."

"Aiya~ Naturally it is. In the sect, from the First Senior Brother to the Fourth Senior Brother, everyone is over a hundred years old and are practitioners of pure cultivation; sending this to them would be of no use. And while Zhaoming Senior Brother is also over a hundred, he has been married and has had offspring; I imagine he must have several grandchildren down the mountain. But you? Although your cultivation is profound, you are only at the age of fifty, and you have never had a joyous wedding. I, your Junior Sister, find it truly unbearable to watch! Such an extraordinary person, yet still inexperienced—how laughable it would be if it got out." Lingxiang said, slurping a mouthful of hot tea.

Fuyin Zhenren was extremely stifled upon hearing this: This is something a young lady would say? It would have been better not to hear her speak!

"If you had truly been thinking of your disciple and asked me for it, I would have lent it to you for the sake of our sibling bond, but you actually have such twisted logic. Listen to yourself; is there even half a shred of the self-respect a woman should have?"

"Aiya! For those who cultivate the Dao, why care about such empty things? They are just gossip for others," Lingxiang said with an indifferent air.

Fuyin Zhenren laughed when he heard her say this.

"Now you don't care? Who was it back then that cared about others' opinions, fearing they would say her cultivation was shallow?"

Lingxiang jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on the moment she heard Fuyin Zhenren say this.

"Was I caring about what others said? I was doing it for my own cultivation! Besides, can these two things be the same?!"

Seeing her like this, a hint of genuine amusement appeared in Fuyin Zhenren's eyes, but he stopped abruptly when he saw the book on the table: No! I was almost led astray by this girl.

He cleared his throat and said: "In any case, you are a young lady; can't you be a bit more reserved? Don't read just any book, and don't corrupt Maidong!"

Corrupt her? That dead girl is a rotten melon herself!

Lingxiang thought this, but she sat down, slurped a mouthful of hot tea, and said: "About the book exchange, I think Senior Brother shouldn't be too calculative with me. After all, you were the one who took my book without permission to make copies; in that sense, it's considered even."

Fuyin Zhenren was left speechless; who told him to be in the wrong first, and he had even agreed to this girl's request in the hall in front of all the senior brothers? He had truly lifted a rock only to drop it on his own feet.

Lingxiang sent Fuyin Zhenren out of the Xianyun Abode with a bright face, while Fuyin Zhenren wore a stern and upright expression, scaring the two disciples so much they dared not ask any questions.

Just as the three of them had traveled a short distance by riding the wind, they heard a "Boom" behind them. The three were greatly alarmed, and Fuyin Zhenren turned his head to look, only to see flames soaring into the sky in the direction of the Xianyun Abode.

Could it be that something went wrong with Lingxiang's Alchemy!?