Chapter 75: Reward

Shen Tang was completely dumbfounded.

When others' legs heal, isn't the first thing they do to use them to undermine their opponents? You, the first thing you do with your healed legs is this?

No, his legs aren't fully healed yet; he can only walk slowly and can't move recklessly... What on earth is he trying to do...

Amid Shen Tang's wild speculations, Lu Xingzhou applied slight force with his hands, pulling her up so they stood face to face.

Seeing Shen Tang's dazed expression, Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but smile, leaning close to her ear: "What, sister, have you forgotten you can stand on your own?"

With him leaning close, his breath tickled. Shen Tang, who thought she was used to their intimacy, instinctively shrank back, her face quickly turning a deep red.

Even her voice instinctively became weak and frail: "You... what exactly are you trying to do..."

Lu Xingzhou made no move to advance, simply wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her gently: "You said... to wait for me to stand up together. I don't want any other reward, just let me hold you... not the support for treating legs, just a hug..."

Shen Tang fell silent.

There had already been too many intentional or unintentional embraces between them; if this were called a reward, it would be as good as none.

But for some reason, yesterday when they nearly fell and clung together, both felt nothing special, yet today standing quietly, holding each other lightly, their heart rates soared straight up, beating faster and faster.

Shen Tang herself had almost forgotten when she said she would wait for him to stand up together, let alone thought about what significance those words held in his heart. Yet she could feel the tranquility in his heart, as if he had finally let go of some obsession...

Her hands hanging by her sides moved, slowly wrapping around him too, actively hugging his waist, speaking softly: "Only then is the reward complete, isn't it?"

Lu Xingzhou said nothing, simply holding her quietly, feeling the rhythm of her heartbeat.

Shen Tang's forehead rested lightly against his shoulder, as if whispering: "Xingzhou, do you know... the day we first met, I was sitting on the cliff edge..."

Lu Xingzhou made an "Mm" sound: "What?"

"You and A'nuo thought I was seeking death, spoke up to stop me, then later realized it was a misunderstanding." Shen Tang spoke softly: "Actually, you are both extraordinary; your intuition is terrifyingly accurate. If you both sensed the intent to end your life at the same time, it might not be a misunderstanding..."

Lu Xingzhou remained silent. This was true; his and A'nuo's intuitions were very accurate. One person's feeling might be wrong, but if both master and disciple felt she had the scent of suicide, it was probably true to some extent. At least her back view at that time was very desolate and melancholic.

"That period was the lowest point of my mood. I had doubted the meaning of my existence countless times, sitting on the cliff edge watching the white clouds and gray dogs, and from time to time a thought would pop into my mind... if I fell down, would it be all over?"

Lu Xingzhou finally spoke: "You must not think like that in the future..."

"But since I met you, I haven't thought like that at all." Shen Tang spoke softly: "People only have that kind of thought when they are desperate. As long as there is a little hope, no one wants to think that way. And having you is hope."

Speaking, as if making a firm decision, she suddenly raised her head and pecked his cheek.

Then she quickly pushed away, stepped back half a pace, and smiled charmingly: "That reward was too light; this is the reward... having only this, do not be greedy for more."

Seeing the nervousness hidden in her smile, Lu Xingzhou stepped forward half a pace.

Shen Tang, who was overwhelmingly domineering in battle, was actually scared back by this tiny half-step, hooked herself onto her wheelchair, and suddenly sat down.

Lu Xingzhou bent down and pecked her forehead lightly too: "According to your theory, only then is it complete..."

He straightened up quickly again, smiling: "This time it wasn't a sneak attack."

Shen Tang's face was as bright as clouds, her lips slightly pouted, her eyes full of shy anger and reproach.

Lu Xingzhou sat back in the wheelchair, turned it toward the door: "It's almost dawn... rest well. After lunch, we set off for the prefecture, sneaking in under the guise of the city lord's attendant... if the reconnaissance deems the timing appropriate, tonight will be the time to counterattack and burn the Incense Tower."

Shen Tang was stunned: "So soon? Your legs aren't fully healed..."

"Speed is precious in war; the Incense Tower won't expect us to arrive so quickly. Don't wait until they have made their preparations, which would only increase the difficulty. As for my legs..." Lu Xingzhou wheeled to the door, chuckled: "Who knows if there won't be a surprise by then."

The door opened, and as if foreknowing, he reached out and grabbed A'nuo who was about to tumble in, pulling him into his arms and leaving like a ball.

Faintly, his grumbling voice could still be heard as he departed: "Just know how to eavesdrop, just know how to eavesdrop, with such good cultivation talent, is this what it's used for?"

A'nuo's response was righteous: "If you went to ask Sister Yuanyao, she would also tell you that cultivation is used for this!"

"Oh ho, already Sister Yuanyao?"

"At least Sister Yuanyao really rubs the face she likes, unlike some people who like someone terribly but dare not move."

"I kissed her today..."

"Eh~ tell details..."

"Go, go, go, you're just a child."

Shen Tang's cheeks were burning hot, feeling as if they were about to catch fire.

Dugu Qingli stood expressionless in front of her. Shen Tang seemed a bit afraid to look at her, mumbling softly: "Qingli, I..."

Then she didn't know what to say and closed her mouth. Should I say I really like him now, but he likes you, and I'm stealing your man? That's not right; I came first, and you even told me to strive to become the person in his heart.

Dugu Qingli didn't know why either; although she had been shipping the pair before, now looking at them made her feel strangely unhappy. But she didn't mention that, just said with a stern face: "He is much calmer than you, knows that serious business is at hand right now, and has already gone out to find Sheng Yuanyao. Only you are still blushing at this time. Take it easy; I am responsible for your safety, don't ruin my mission!"

Translation: Don't get too close to men.

Shen Tang recovered some train of thought, looking at Dugu Qingli's cold face, and said cautiously: "Qingli, if the Imperial Preceptor knew you had a private affair with a demonic path man, what would happen?"

Dugu Qingli's eyes widened: "How can you falsely accuse someone of impurity out of thin air?"

"I'm saying, if, if..."

"I don't know, I've never seen Master face such a situation. However, Master seems to pay special attention to the Yanluo Hall..." Dugu Qingli said here, also somewhat confused: "Master has annihilated so many demonic paths, but I've never seen such an attitude toward the Yanluo Hall; it's very strange... Also, some of Lu Xingzhou's techniques..."

Shen Tang wanted to speak but stopped; she really wanted to say, I was just making a hypothetical about if you and a demonic path man, I didn't say that was Lu Xingzhou... You substituted yourself into the scenario so quickly, even elaborating further and further...

She sighed: "You don't know how the Imperial Preceptor is, but I know how my father is..."

This time Dugu Qingli knew why she insisted on asking this "if"; it turned out she was afraid of resistance from home and wanted a reference opinion.

I not only protect you, I stand guard while you kiss, and in the end I have to be your reference, right?

Dugu Qingli said coldly: "A swordsman's sword, once drawn, never returns; where are all these twists and turns? The Imperial Extreme Shocking World Sutra is indeed not a good cultivation method."

Shen Tang: "..."

"Rest then. Today's battle with the third grade, both of us have some internal injuries; we should recover to our best state as soon as possible." Dugu Qingli said indifferently: "The upper three grades are indeed remarkable."

Indeed remarkable. Cultivators like Shen Tang and Dugu Qingli, possessing supreme-grade techniques and possessing peerless talent themselves, challenging higher levels was a common occurrence. Facing opponents one level higher, they could often defeat them alone; if they couldn't, they could still retreat safely, not cowardly at all.

Concepts like demons and corpse puppets are different; let's not count them for now. Tonight facing Zhu Lianfeng might be the first time in their lives they jointly challenged an opponent one level higher, yet even working together they didn't gain even a slight advantage. If the opponent hadn't underestimated Lu Xingzhou's black flames too much, this battle might not have been won.

Even if they won, the opponent could fly, and they couldn't chase... In the end, it still relied on Zhang Shaoyou's hundred-mile flying sword to kill the opponent. Even without Zhang Shaoyou, they would have to mobilize Shen Qi; they couldn't kill him themselves.

The great bottleneck of the upper three grades is indeed extraordinary.

Shen Tang pondered: "On the surface, Zhu Lianfeng and Zhang Shaoyou, as the first and second guardians, are the two strongest combat-capable guardians the Incense Tower has; the stationed third grade does not have their level. But as a long-established third-grade sect, they often hide old monsters who are in secluded cultivation."

Du Gu Qingli nodded; she understood this point very well. Within the Heavenly Yao Sacred Land, there were many ancient monsters who hid themselves away, seeking only breakthroughs, and it was not solely her master, a Super Grade expert, who suppressed the present age.

However, by conventional judgment, the highest realm remained merely third grade. To bolster their reputation, sects would parade any second-grade experts they possessed as figureheads; the prestige of a second-grade sect was far greater than that of a third-grade one, and the benefits for the sect's development were self-evident. No one would hide a second-grade expert away just to ambush others; it would be a loss that outweighed the gain.

That is to say, there should exist ancient monsters of the upper third grade, or quasi-second grade, though how many there were remained unknown.

Additionally, although the remaining core of the Incense-Burning Pavilion consisted of alchemists, whose combat abilities were indeed quite laughable, their ranks stood firm and could not be truly ignored; casually summoning a few talismans could cause significant headaches.

Add to that the mountain-protecting formation... thus, this counterattack, even with the addition of Zhang Shaoyou and others to their side, might still not succeed.

The specifics would need to be observed before a conclusion could be drawn; if it was found that fighting was truly impossible, there was no absolute need to fight. In any case, the Incense-Burning Pavilion was now severely weakened, and Lu Xingzhou would naturally have many methods to slowly drag it down.

Hmm, in any case, there was Lu Xingzhou. Shen Tang found she needed to think of nothing; closing her eyes to recover her injuries and welcoming the next battle in optimal condition was all that was required...

At this moment, Lu Xingzhou was still within the Demon-Suppressing Bureau's government office.

The sky had already brightened; Sheng Yuanyao had not slept all night, monitoring this battle.

Zhu Lianfeng's corpse lay in the main hall of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau. Sheng Yuanyao paced back and forth with her hands clasped behind her back, her expression quite strange: "You truly won? Zero casualties, and no massacre?"

"Yes." Lu Xingzhou beamed, appearing to be in high spirits, though it was unclear whether it was because they had won the battle or because he had kissed someone: "Since my lord the City Lord did not allow me to be too vicious, I must honor that face."

Sheng Yuanyao's gaze became several degrees kinder as she whispered, "Thank you."

A Nuo could not bear to look directly and turned her small head away.

Lu Xingzhou said, "We will head to the commandery today. Is my lord the City Lord ready?"

Sheng Yuanyao looked earnestly into Lu Xingzhou's eyes: "I hope your claim of helping me investigate the demon case is based on actual leads, and not merely using the pretext of the City Lord's Guard to infiltrate the Dongjiang Commandery."

"I also need to verify the leads; I cannot speak blindly at present..." Lu Xingzhou smiled: "If the Commandery Governor holds a banquet to treat the City Lord to dinner tonight, would my lord the City Lord mind bringing an extra guard?"

(End of this chapter)