Chapter 51

The wretched couple were face-to-face, covered tightly, eyes locked, so close they could feel each other’s breathing, a tingling sensation.

He could even feel little Bai Mao’s rising and falling chest, quite soft, with more substance than it looked from the outside.

Lu Xingzhou knew it wasn't good to be pressing down like this, but he couldn't get up.

It wasn't because of his legs, but because of the heavy damage to his soul sea just now. Being able to fly over and tackle her had been his last bit of strength; now he felt dizzy and his vision was blurred. He wanted to use his hands to push himself up, but he couldn't muster any strength.

Dugu Qingli looked at Lu Xingzhou, who was pressing down on her, with her ice-like blue eyes, and asked quietly: "Soul injuries are a bit hard to treat... do you have any relevant elixirs on you?"

Lu Xingzhou’s thoughts were sluggish, and with a splitting headache, he thought: "Anuo’s lucky bag, help me..."

Dugu Qingli was stunned. You can't even refine soul-related elixirs yourself, and the one Anuo gave you is actually effective?

She reached into her robes, took out Anuo’s lucky bag, fished out the elixir, and stuffed it into Lu Xingzhou’s mouth.

Her fingers touched his slightly chapped lips, and she recoiled as if electrocuted.

Seeing Lu Xingzhou swallow the medicine and his pained expression ease slightly, Dugu Qingli pursed her lips and asked: "Does it hurt?"

Lu Xingzhou tried hard to think... what was she talking about? Oh, right, his calf was shattered.

It was a place that had no feeling to begin with, so no matter how it was whipped, it didn't hurt; it wasn't even one-thousandth as painful as bleeding from his seven orifices just now.

So he grinned: "I was going to replace this deformed leg bone anyway; helping me shatter it saved me a step."

Dugu Qingli was expressionless: "Since it doesn't hurt, why are you still pressing on me?"

Lu Xingzhou: "..."

I want to. Can I say that?

Although the atmosphere was amorous, this question seemed even more so, and Lu Xingzhou felt little Bai Mao turn even colder than before.

It was mainly because her expression was too flat, without any shyness or playful intent. From asking for the medicine to getting it and finally asking the question, her eyes were like a ten-thousand-year glacier, showing no emotion.

Before, she was an AI trying hard to learn human thinking; now, she was a block of ice. The little bit of humanity she had managed to learn had regressed.

Could it be a side effect of that big move she used to seal the soul sea?

The elixir was quite effective, and he recovered a bit of spirit. He couldn't keep lying there, so he braced his hands on the ground on either side and prepared to get up.

A gasp came from the passageway: "You... what are you two doing?"

Lu Xingzhou: "?"

Dugu Qingli: ""

Shen Tang’s head poked out from the passageway, looking on in shock.

Lu Xingzhou: "W-we aren't, that is..."

"Roar!" A corpse puppet’s angry roar came from the passage. Shen Tang flashed away, the corpse puppet rushed past her, and Shen Tang followed up with a sword thrust into its back.

Lu Xingzhou pushed off the floor and flashed back into his wheelchair. Dugu Qingli, ignoring her shame and anger, thrust her sword directly at the corpse puppet’s spirit platform.

Counting from the time the two of them accidentally entered the secret passage, it sounded like a long time, but in reality, only about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea had passed. Yet looking at the corpse puppet now, its body had been poked to pieces by Shen Tang, and the muscles that had seemed intact were long since riddled with holes.

It was clear that after being hit by the Soul-Fixing Array and Ghost-Repelling Talisman earlier, it was much weaker, and its reactions were sluggish. Under Shen Tang’s kite-fighting style, it was becoming less and less of a match.

Give Shen Tang a bit more time, and she should be able to solo it...

It was just that she suddenly noticed the door open, and worried about these two, Shen Tang had rushed in. This time the door was fixed open, and the corpse puppet had followed her in.

Shen Tang was so angry. She thought you two had encountered some difficulty inside, but when she came in, she saw you two playing "stacking games," and you even deliberately opened the door to stack for me to see, right!

So you are that kind of white-haired girl!

The corpse puppet realized that Shen Tang, who had been kite-fighting it, had gone berserk. Her aura was so ferocious it was as if she were the corpse puppet filled with hatred, determined to kill everyone.

The purple sword whistled in the air, its aura piercing through mountains and rivers, surging in a fierce assault.

The corpse puppet smashed out with a "clang," knocking the purple sword back, but a large chunk of muscle was sliced off its own arm.

Shen Tang didn't have an easy time fighting such a thing head-on, and she stumbled back. Lu Xingzhou endured the chaos and discomfort in his soul sea and struggled to summon a talisman.

He only had the strength to use the most ordinary talisman now, a Slowing Talisman... perhaps only enough to be effective on a corpse puppet of this level for a split second.

But that was enough.

Dugu Qingli’s sword arrived at the corpse puppet’s back of the head in an instant. The corpse puppet sensed the peerlessly sharp sword qi and tried to dodge, but its already sluggish movements were delayed by another half-beat by the Slowing Talisman. It failed to dodge completely and was struck solidly.

During their earlier exchange, the corpse puppet had completely ignored Dugu Qingli’s attacks, unable to even break its defense. But now, its dilapidated body and weak soul fire could no longer maintain its previous protection. Dugu Qingli’s sword qi pierced directly through the spirit platform where the soul fire resided, and her Soul-Freezing Ice Soul was fully activated.

With a "click," the soul fire seemed to freeze, changing from the cyan-blue of phosphorus fire to the deep blue of a glacier.

Shen Tang finally found her chance. She held her sword in her right hand to parry a punch and slammed her left hand onto the corpse puppet’s brow.

"Bang!" The soul fire finally shattered, scattering like green smoke along with ice crystals.

The corpse puppet collapsed to the ground: "I... am not reconciled..."

Shen Tang spat out another mouthful of blood, leaned on her sword, and slumped down.

Dugu Qingli hurriedly supported her: "What happened? Why did you suddenly fight so recklessly..."

Do you have no idea why I suddenly became so brave! Shen Tang was so angry she almost spat out a second mouthful of blood, but she forced herself to stop: "Because you two were there. Fighting recklessly to find his opening is the simplest way."

"Oh." Dugu Qingli nodded, very much agreeing with this combat strategy, and criticized: "Don't do that again in the future. Your life is important; don't let me fail my mission."

Shen Tang’s expression twisted, and she turned her head away, not wanting to speak, fearing she would break character if she did.

Turning her head, she saw the blood on Lu Xingzhou’s seven orifices and his mangled leg, and her heart skipped a beat: "Your injury..."

"The leg is fine, and I found a suitable object to replace it. I can try to refine it once we get out." Lu Xingzhou took out a silk handkerchief to wipe his face, realized it was Shen Tang’s, and coughed dryly before putting it away: "By the way, this place can now serve as a passage to our Sun-Moon Pool. We can take this route in the short term; we don't need to walk through the middle of the mountain pass every time, it’s too conspicuous."

This change of subject was so clumsy that even Anuo wouldn't be fooled. Shen Tang’s eyes darted between the two of them, and she didn't speak for a long while.

So you two would rather shatter a leg than stop stacking?

Dugu Qingli finally couldn't maintain her ice-block face either and turned her head away.

"Let's go, let's go outside first." Shen Tang turned and entered the passage, expressionless: "During the kite-fighting earlier, I discovered something over there. We can take a look."

She walked very fast, as if she didn't want to watch the wretched couple perform.

Dugu Qingli silently picked up the spirit water crystal from the ground and handed it to Lu Xingzhou: "It’s yours."

Lu Xingzhou took it, feeling the rich innate water spirit energy, and couldn't hide his excitement.

It wasn't easy... this battle was much harder than he had imagined. Now his soul sea was injured, his magic treasure was half-damaged, and repairing it later would be a headache.

But having obtained the bone-replacement material, it was all worth it.

Even if he only had one leg, at least he could play the "Heavenly Crippled Kick," and it could improve his cultivation foundation—that was the most important thing.

After all, the damage his body suffered in childhood was too great. Even after years of hard work and recuperation, his constitution and foundation could never compare to elites like Shen Tang and Qingli; in fact, he was far inferior even to his own apprentice, Anuo.

Wait, something’s wrong...

He turned his head and saw Dugu Qingli silently pass him and enter the passage, with no intention of pushing his wheelchair.

Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but call out: "Hey, hey, what about me?"

Dugu Qingli was expressionless: "Can't you row yourself? My mission is to protect Shen Tang, not you. So the object of my wheelchair-pushing is only Shen Tang, not you."

Lu Xingzhou really wanted to say, do you know what this looks like? It looks like a mistress feeling guilty after being caught by the wife, trying to cover it up...

But he wouldn't say that. He knew how to deal with the AI: "Besides the mission, we are still comrades."

"Do comrades have a mandatory requirement to push wheelchairs?"

"No. But shouldn't a comrade help when asked?"

Dugu Qingli thought for a moment, then silently walked behind the wheelchair and quickly pushed him out.

With all this hugging and pressing, how will we face each other in the future... and we were even cursed as a wretched couple.

I am a woman, Lu Xingzhou is a dog, where is the man?

"Actually, Qingli..." Lu Xingzhou suddenly said: "It was all just an accident. In battle, there are many accidental contacts. If you don't take it to heart, then it’s not an issue."

Why don't you ask if Shen Tang takes it to heart?

Dugu Qingli pursed her lips and didn't say it. Actually, the logic was sound. When she was tackled just now, she felt mostly gratitude... If Shen Tang misunderstood, she could just explain it. The main thing was the bumpy wheelchair ride earlier—it had all sorts of feelings, and, and... it was really hard to treat it as a combat accident.

Whose combat accident is like that!

She held it in for a long time, then blurted out: "I understand that even your wheelchair is a hidden weapon, but I can't understand why you would hide a sword hilt in your crotch! No wonder Shen Tang was so angry that I threw her into your arms."

Lu Xingzhou: "???"

No, what sword hilt?

Before he could think of how to answer this baffling question, Dugu Qingli whispered: "Just now... thank you for risking your life... if that vine had whipped a little higher, it wouldn't have just been a broken leg..."

"It’s nothing, you saved me first."

After one sentence each, there was finally silence.

It was clear that the glacial feeling Dugu Qingli had when she was being pressed earlier had faded, and she had returned to her usual self. But that momentary coldness still left Lu Xingzhou with a little worry—if her cultivation continued to deepen like this, would she really turn into a block of ice?

That wouldn't be as cute as the current AI girl.

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