Chapter 35: Treatment

Shen Tang sensed that the treatment might be even more intimate than the initial examination, so she wanted to drive Miss Qingli out, unable to bear being looked at endlessly.

The reality was indeed so.

The examination had merely involved pinching muscles and feeling tendons to confirm the condition, whereas the treatment required first aligning the tendons.

Because the tendons were severed, the two broken ends needed to be brought together first before considering reconnection, the same principle as setting a bone.

No one could see the severed tendons with the naked eye; they needed to be felt by hand, with spiritual energy probing in to smooth them out bit by bit.

Shen Tang watched helplessly as Lu Xingzhou reached out, lifted her skirt to her thighs, then seized her ankle, stroking lightly upwards along the path of the foot tendon.

If he missed the spot once, he had to do it again, rubbing repeatedly.

This time, forget her face; her whole body was likely red, even though Shen Tang actually felt nothing.

She felt nothing, but Lu Xingzhou did; that path of touch was indescribable in texture.

Her shoes had been removed, leaving only a pair of white socks, making her jade feet appear even more beautiful and delicate; in some games, one specifically wears them like this, truly extremely tempting.

No one knew that Lu Xingzhou was not a pure virgin; in his past life, he had dated two girlfriends, though both had broken up...

In this life, he had indeed gone nineteen years without tasting flesh, especially with Yuan Muyu of peerless beauty around daily; being able to look but not touch was even more unbearable. Yuan Muyu initially played the role of a cute little fairy woman, teasing the little brother day after day with charming smiles, brushing against him, and breathing like orchids. Yuan Muyu thought he was only in his teens then, finding it fun to deliberately provoke him, but who knew that shell contained an adult soul? That feeling was indescribable.

In other words, actually, my lord had been having his tofu eaten by an adult for several years without even knowing it... Lu Xingzhou was not the gentleman he appeared to be; if there was tofu, he truly ate it.

But no matter how much tofu was eaten, it never reached the level of lifting a skirt to touch legs... The two girlfriends combined did not have feet as beautiful as Shen Tang's, and the texture was worlds apart... This thing relied not only on natural talent; cultivation could improve the skin, creating true jade bones and icy skin, an advantage impossible to find in the mortal world.

Lu Xingzhou, who had been holding back for nineteen years, was truly starting to lose control; the flutter in his heart was not just a ripple, it had swung into a swing.

His hands subconsciously rubbed a few more rounds; when he realized it, he secretly despised himself. Regardless, this was treatment; he truly should not be distracted... So he steadied his mind and carefully pushed upwards along the foot tendon.

Shen Tang had been leaning against the head of the bed watching his profile; although she felt nothing from the extra touching, she seemed to discern the change in his thoughts from his slightly flushed face and secretly spat.

Did you take the opportunity to touch a few extra times just now? But asking this would only make everyone awkward, so Shen Tang forced herself to hold it in; fortunately, he was not a petty person and returned to normal quickly.

Shen Tang let out a soft sigh. Men...

He did not even hide his fondness for Miss Qingli.

I thought you felt nothing for me, yet you are lustful too.

Shen Tang's thoughts gradually wandered. He liked Miss Qingli... Actually, that was fine; at least now was not the time to consider matters of men and women, and his status was inappropriate too... But why did she feel a bit jealous when seeing his attitude toward Miss Qingli?

If Miss Qingli were truly her subordinate, playing matchmaker would be quite nice; at least he would not keep thinking about leaving... But Miss Qingli was not a subordinate.

She did not really want to play matchmaker either.

While her mind was wandering a thousand miles away, a faint numbness and itch came from below her left knee; unprepared, Shen Tang subconsciously let out an "Mm~".

That sound was truly soul-stirring; Lu Xingzhou's hand slipped, touching above the knee.

It was even softer than fat.

That "Mm" increased, accompanied by panting: "You... you..."

Lu Xingzhou quickly withdrew his hand and said casually, "Accident."

"You..." Shen Tang could not distinguish whether this was an accident or intentional, so she pretended nothing happened and said, biting her lower lip, "Be gentle..."

Lu Xingzhou: "..."

Outside the door, Miss Qingli stood expressionless, while a small head leaned against the door listening; hearing this, her eyebrows danced with joy: "Miss Qingli, won't you listen?"

Miss Qingli: "..." "I do not need to stick to the door to hear, and neither do you."

A Nuo said, "Do you think I am about to have a stepmother?"

Miss Qingli said, "Ordinary people do not like having a stepmother... You monitor me endlessly just because I took your spot pushing the wheelchair, yet you don't care about your master finding a wife?"

A Nuo was shocked: "You actually know I don't want you to push the wheelchair!"

Miss Qingli said, "Is that a hard thing to judge?"

"Not hard, I just thought you were stupid... Oh, no, I thought Miss Qingli was cold and indifferent, not caring."

"If a swordsman cannot detect malice, he dies early, just like the first half of your sentence you swallowed." But Miss Qingli truly did not care about this so-called malice; saying this, she continued asking the previous topic: "Do you truly not care about having a stepmother?"

A Nuo gazed blankly at the door, hearing the suppressed panting inside, and said softly, "As long as Master likes it, anything is fine, including letting you push the wheelchair."

Miss Qingli could no longer bear it: "Then thank you for your generosity, but no one wants to fight you for the spot pushing the wheelchair!"

The sound inside suddenly grew louder; both shut their mouths simultaneously, pricking up their ears to listen, but there was no more sound.

A Nuo was shocked: "So fast? That was only a few strokes..."

Miss Qingli was too lazy to deal with her; a few strokes had nothing to do with her.

Inside, Lu Xingzhou was covered in sweat; injecting spiritual energy to probe inside the calf to align the tendons was not easy. Having to endure Shen Tang's sounds made it even harder.

Her sounds were naturally because the two ends of the severed tendon were close, nerves were already giving feedback, and she had sensation; that numbness and itch was truly hard to endure.

"Done, no need to endure anymore." Lu Xingzhou picked up a smear of black ointment, carefully applied it to her severed tendon, then took out bandages to wrap it tight: "Avoid getting water on this area recently."

Shen Tang felt the numbness and itch vanish, replaced by a coolness, incredibly comfortable, and she let out a long sigh.

But where could she answer? The sounds just now were mortifying without needing to think about it.

There was still the other leg; another round was needed...

But seeing Lu Xingzhou covered in sweat, Shen Tang's expression was very complex, both ashamed and grateful; after thinking it over, she said, "You are tired, rest first."

Lu Xingzhou did not stand on ceremony, truly sitting down to rest, and casually took a silk scarf from his chest to wipe his sweat.

But after wiping once, he froze; Shen Tang's face, which was already very red, was now blood-red, as if it might drip.

That was not an ordinary silk scarf; it was the handkerchief that had wrapped the Five-Elements Grass when it was given to him.

Lu Xingzhou paused there, his voice stuttering a bit: "This, this was washed and intended to be returned to you, but there were many matters these past few days, so I forgot..."

Shen Tang held it in for a long time, finally turning her head aside: "No need to return it."

Then she never intended to take it back anyway... Besides, a man had used it to wipe sweat; which normal person would take it back to use again?

But in this situation, saying this made it feel even more ambiguous; somehow... she felt Lu Xingzhou was equally unsure whether to keep it or return it.

Lu Xingzhou simply stopped thinking about it, continued wiping his sweat with this handkerchief, stuffed it back into his chest, and said stiffly, "The other leg."

Previously, the outer leg had been treated; now the other one needed treatment. Lu Xingzhou sitting in the wheelchair seemed too far, not very convenient. Shen Tang moved both legs closer, the outer one even touching Lu Xingzhou's leg.

The two pretended not to know; Lu Xingzhou, expressionless, continued treating the other limb. Before long, the room once again echoed with soft groans.

"Whoosh!" Sheng Yuanyao appeared outside the room. Seeing the sight of Du Gu Qingli and A Nuo standing guard, she hadn't even asked a question before being startled by the sounds from within.

Du Gu Qingli glanced at her and said nothing.

Sheng Yuanyao likewise said nothing; the number of people pricking up their ears became three.

Why did I come here again... Never mind, nothing is more important than this live drama!

The treatment inside finally concluded; both felt a sense of relief. Lu Xingzhou exhaled a long breath: "There's no need to stretch the tendons like today anymore. I'll just come daily to change your dressing."

Shen Tang, who had been tilting her head to look at the wall, merely hummed "Hmm" upon hearing this.

With things already like this, what difference would it make whether it's needed again like today or not...

Lu Xingzhou took out another porcelain bottle and placed it by the bedside: "This is for internal use. It should originally contain ten pills, one daily for ten days. Now, Old Steward Huo has likely already consumed one, leaving nine... No big problem. I'll refine another to make up for it; at this point, it's not difficult."

In fact, Shen Tang's cultivation was far beyond Old Steward Huo's. If it truly reached the final stage of treatment, she could probably recover on her own; one pill really wouldn't matter.

Shen Tang could no longer play the ostrich; she sat up, a mix of surprise and joy on her face: "I thought what you said earlier would take a long time. Can it be cured in just ten days?"

"Ten days can heal the tendons, but full recovery is a long-term process. You will need rehabilitation training afterward. For ordinary people, it would take a very long time, but with your foundation, it shouldn't take too long."

Shen Tang took a deep breath, suppressing her excitement, and bowed to Lu Xingzhou: "Thank you, Mr."

Lu Xingzhou said, "You previously said I was being distant; now why are you even more distant?"

Shen Tang paused for a few seconds, then finally let her beautiful eyes swirl: "Hmm, Xingzhou."

That unintentional charm was an astonishing allure. The words "charming bones born naturally" flashed through Lu Xingzhou's mind; he found it somewhat unbearable and turned his head, saying, "I'll go back to rest... Shall I call Qingli in to help you up?"

"No need to trouble yourself." Shen Tang lightly pressed her slender hand against the bed, and her figure soared like a fairy ascending to the sky. She spun mid-air and landed precisely on her wheelchair beside her, smiling at Lu Xingzhou: "Let's go."

The two walked out side by side. When Shen Tang reached the doorway, she pulled; a little girl rolled in with a rumble, followed by Sheng Yuanyao stumbling in, nearly crashing into Lu Xingzhou's arms.

(End of this chapter)