Chapter 172: Senior Sister's Devotion

Three days later.

Luo Zijun practiced daily and took his Medicine Bath, and the scars on his body finally disappeared completely.

At the same time, his body had also recovered seven or eight tenths.

That evening, after he finished his Medicine Bath and bathed, he went out.

He first went to a shop that sold rouge and powder, took out the small pinch of rouge wrapped in paper, and asked the shopkeeper.

As it turned out, he asked three shops in a row, and none of the shopkeepers recognized it.

However, those shopkeepers all had a guess: this rouge had a peculiar fragrance, containing not only the scents of gardenias, peonies, and other flowers, but also seemingly the scents of "Daughter's Red" and "Daughter's Charm" from the Daughter Kingdom, so it was very likely brought over from the Daughter Kingdom.

"Daughter Kingdom?"

Luo Zijun had indeed seen this country on a map at the Academy.

Could it be that the female flower-plucking thief came from the Daughter Kingdom?

If that were the case, it would explain why the other party was so thirsty and "focused."

It is said that most women in the Daughter Kingdom do not need men and do not like men, but there are a small number of women who will suddenly become interested in a certain man.

It is said that those women who become interested in a man will like him for the rest of their lives once they have set their sights on him; they will never change their affections and will never look at another man again.

But how could the other party have suddenly come to Daliang?

Moreover, she seemed to be everywhere and possessed great supernatural powers, able to come and go freely even in the Inner City.

And why was it always such a coincidence that he met her every time he went out?

"Could it be that the first time, she left some kind of mark on me, so that every time I step out, she can sense it immediately?"

The Daughter Kingdom is mysterious and unfathomable, and the books in the Academy only recorded some general things.

But since that country has stood for thousands of years without falling, it must have its own magical and powerful aspects.

"Sigh..."

If that female flower-plucking thief really is from the Daughter Kingdom, she would be truly difficult to deal with.

Because he had no way to understand her at all.

Furthermore, she was elusive, and he reckoned it would be very difficult for him to catch her.

Was he just going to resign himself to his fate?

Of course not!

He had to continue working hard at his cultivation and become even more powerful.

When it came down to it, he was still not strong enough.

Once he cultivated to the realms of Martial Master, Grandmaster, Martial King, and so on, he would naturally have the capital to resist, or even the strength to kill in reverse.

He did not believe that once he reached the realms of Grandmaster or Martial King, she would still be able to knock him down and manipulate him!

Also, his soul cultivation could not be neglected either!

Once his soul cultivation reached the Fen Shen Realm, not only could he break free from the White Snake's tasks, but he could also leave his physical body for long periods at will.

Even if he were knocked down by that female flower-plucking thief at that time, he could just let his soul leave. He didn't believe that without a soul, that female flower-plucking thief would be interested in a "corpse" that had no reaction at all!

Thinking of this, his confidence suddenly increased greatly!

Thinking along the way, he soon arrived at Bao'an Hall.

Behind the counter, the cold, aloof young girl wearing a plain white dress was lying there in a daze; after seeing him enter, she only glanced at him indifferently before continuing to stare blankly.

Seeing that his master was not there, Luo Zijun went straight into the counter and asked, "Senior Sister, how much private money have you saved up?"

Su Qingling was lying there, her chest pressed flat by the table, her gaze vacant, blinking her long eyelashes, ignoring him.

Luo Zijun said, "I need money; could you lend me some, please?"

Su Qingling finally came back to her senses, glanced at him, and said indifferently, "How much do you need?"

Luo Zijun said with some embarrassment, "I need fifteen thousand taels, but you only need to lend me two thousand."

Su Qingling turned her head, stared at him for a while, then silently opened the drawer beside her, took out a single copper coin, placed it on the counter next to him, and then lay back down to continue staring blankly.

Luo Zijun: "..."

"Senior Sister, didn't I give you several thousand taels last time, and Liu also gave you the money from my book writing, so you have..."

"Does refining medicine not cost money?"

Su Qingling looked at him coldly: "Go out and ask how much the materials for the Five-Stone Powder and Corpse-Dissolving Powder cost, and how much the refining fee is. Even if you have money, there are few people who can refine these two things. The silver you gave is not only insufficient, it is far from enough; you currently owe me fifty-five thousand taels of silver."

As she spoke, she took the bill out of the drawer and placed it on the counter.

Luo Zijun opened his mouth, picked up the bill, and began to read it carefully.

"Dragon Saliva Flower, eight thousand taels..."

"Hundred-Legged Demon Centipede Fluid, twenty thousand taels..."

When he first learned medicine, he had read many books about drugs, and during that time he had also read books about Demon Beasts and various poisons; these two medicines were indeed recorded in books as being very expensive and very difficult to collect.

After reading the entire bill, he was somewhat puzzled: "Senior Sister, these medicinal materials are all rare items; where did you get them?"

Su Qingling said indifferently, "Naturally, I bought them at a high price."

Luo Zijun fell silent.

Taking another look at the cold, aloof young girl in front of him, he silently put the bill back on the counter and dared not mention the money again.

"Senior Sister, don't refine Corpse-Dissolving Powder for me in the future. If I ask you to refine other medicines with expensive and rare materials again, just tell me directly, or refuse me..."

He felt a bit guilty, and also a bit moved.

Every time he begged this girl to refine medicine, she never agreed immediately and would make things difficult in various ways, but every time he came back a few days later, those medicines were already refined.

She had never mentioned the hardships of the process.

"Senior Sister, please let me lick your shoes!"

Luo Zijun squatted down directly, lowering his head to look at the small section of white embroidered shoes revealed beneath her white dress.

"No."

Who would have thought, the owner of the embroidered shoes coldly refused him.

Luo Zijun raised his head and said, "Senior Sister, I am not asking to borrow money from you. I simply want to lick them, to make you happy."

Su Qingling said coldly, "But I don't want to make you happy."

Luo Zijun was stunned; he looked up at her and said, "Senior Sister, licking your shoes doesn't make me happy at all. I feel very humiliated and very sad."

A trace of mockery appeared in Su Qingling's beautiful eyes, and she said nothing more.

"Alright, I have things to do; I'll come back to keep you company next time."

Luo Zijun stood up, left the counter, and prepared to go to Liu Chujian's place to ask.

Just as he reached the door, a cold voice suddenly came from behind the counter: "Besides the shoes, you may lick elsewhere."

Luo Zijun's footsteps faltered; he turned his head to look at her and said, "Elsewhere? Where?"

The young girl was expressionless and said indifferently, "Anywhere."

Luo Zijun stared at her for a while and said, "But Senior Sister, I only like licking your shoes; I'm not interested in anywhere else."

The young girl narrowed her eyes.

"Talk to you next time."

Luo Zijun waved his hand and walked away quickly.

When he arrived at Chujian Bookstore, Xiao Lan and Bi'er were talking on the first floor. Upon seeing him, both Young Maids turned their faces away in unison and let out a "Hmph" at the same time. Luo Zijun was stunned; he reached out both hands, rubbed their little heads, and said, "What are you hmph-ing about? What's wrong?"

"Hmph!"

The two Young Maids kept their faces turned away and hmphed together.

Luo Zijun felt puzzled and immediately went upstairs.

Upstairs, Liu Chujian was wearing a white dress and placing books on a shelf. As she raised her hands, her sleeves slid down, revealing a section of her slender, snow-white wrists.

That delicate and graceful figure, like a willow in the wind, was not inferior even when compared to that Lin Meimei.

Luo Zijun walked over and couldn't help but gently hug her from behind.

With her delicate body in his arms—slender, soft, and with alluring curves—she exuded a young girl's unique, virginal fragrance, which couldn't help but make one's heart flutter and mind wander.

Fortunately, his body had not yet fully recovered, so he could still easily control himself.

Liu Chujian finished putting away the book, turned around in his arms, and looked at him with a smile, saying, "Brother Zijun, have you come today because you need Chujian's help with something?"

Luo Zijun said, "Can't I come to see you if there's nothing the matter?"

!

Liu Chujian gave a light hmph and said, "If there were nothing the matter, Brother Zijun wouldn't be hugging me."

"Nonsense, is your Brother Zijun that bad?"

"Yes, you are, hmph."

Seeing her cute appearance, Luo Zijun couldn't help but lower his head and kiss her little mouth. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist, which could be spanned by a single grasp, and whispered, "What's going on with Xiao Lan and Bi'er? It seems like they suddenly don't like me anymore?"

Liu Chujian's face turned red, and she laughed upon hearing this: "It seems like those two have never liked Brother Zijun, have they?"

"Is that so?"

Luo Zijun hmphed and said, "When the time comes for our wedding night, I'll make those two maids kneel to the side to scare them and crush their spirit!"

Liu Chujian giggled, then blinked her eyes and asked, "Brother Zijun, when will that be?"

Luo Zijun coughed and brought up the main business: "Chujian, do you still have silver here?"

"Hmph."

The young girl in his arms immediately pouted: "I knew Brother Zijun wouldn't come to be intimate with me if there wasn't something he needed."

Luo Zijun had no choice but to say, "Once the national mourning period is over, I will come every day."

"Really?"

The young girl did not believe him.

Luo Zijun said, "A gentleman's word..."

"Pfft..."

Before he could finish, the young girl in his arms giggled, then raised her little fist and gave his chest a light punch, laughing coquettishly: "Brother Zijun is lying again! Back at the Brothel, I don't know how many times you said this to Shui Shui and Mei'er, and now you want to lie to me too? Hmph, bad person!"

Luo Zijun said with a straight face, "Lying to outsiders is one thing, but I would certainly never lie to my own."

The young girl paused, a smile on her face, and asked, "How much silver does Brother Zijun need this time?"

Luo Zijun said, "How much do you have here?"

The young girl said, "Seven hundred taels. If that's not enough, I'll go borrow some more for Brother Zijun."

"That's enough."

Luo Zijun said, "Give me five hundred taels."

The young girl tilted her beautiful face and stared at him for a while longer before leaving his arms and going into the innermost room.

After a moment.

She came out with seven silver notes and said, "I just went to exchange these today; I was originally planning to have Bi'er send them to Sister Su tonight."

Just as Luo Zijun was about to take them, she suddenly pulled them back and smiled, "Did Brother Zijun ask Sister Su first? If not, I dare not give them to you."

"I did, I already did."

Luo Zijun didn't wait for more; he immediately hugged her, snatched them away, and pinched her delicate cheeks, saying, "Are you really that afraid of that girl?"

Liu Chujian smiled slightly and said, "Isn't Brother Zijun afraid?"

Luo Zijun chuckled and said, "How could I possibly... *cough cough*, never mind, I have to go back."

Liu Chujian looked at the sky outside and said with some reluctance, "Is it so early today?"

Luo Zijun put away the silver notes and said, "I have things to do; I'll come back to keep you company next time."

Liu Chujian's mood suddenly sank: "Oh..."

Luo Zijun felt guilty, lowered his head to kiss her little mouth again, and said, "I have been busy with that Second Miss Jia recently; once I finish resolving it, I will come over to accompany you."

Liu Chujian's gaze was gentle, and she obediently said, "Mm, go ahead, Brother Zijun."

Luo Zijun rubbed her head again before heading downstairs.

When he arrived on the first floor, the two little maidservants had been whispering, but upon seeing him, they immediately turned their faces away together, their little braids flicking in unison: "Hmph!"

"Hmph!"

Luo Zijun was not to be outdone; he also huffed at the two of them, then walked away quickly.

The two were stunned for a moment, then suddenly "pfft" and both burst into laughter.

As soon as Luo Zijun returned to Junzi Residence, Zhiyuan said, "Young Master, Third Miss was just here. She asked me to tell you that several young ladies from the Jia Mansion would like to visit you at the residence tomorrow, and she asked if you have time. If you don't, she will help you decline."

Luo Zijun thought to himself: Perfect, I need to find them too.

It is impossible for him to pay all of those fifteen thousand taels of silver; if those young ladies from the Jia Mansion chip in, they should be able to scrape some together—even a few hundred taels would do.

As for the rest...

"Zhiyuan, go reply to Third Miss and say that I have time tomorrow. Also, ask if Third Miss has time right now? I have a favor to ask of her."

Upon hearing this, Zhiyuan immediately agreed and went out the door.

Luo Zijun sat down at the stone table in the courtyard, secretly pondering in his heart.

He must resolve the matter of Third Miss Jia as soon as possible.

Otherwise, if it drags on for too long, he fears that complications might arise and some unexpected accident might occur in the meantime.

Therefore, he must scrape together the silver as quickly as possible.

Of course, he naturally cannot just hand over those fifteen thousand taels of silver for nothing.

However much he hands over, he will definitely earn back the same amount.

That Jia She is currently extremely covetous of any of his medicinal pills; earning silver from that person is simply too easy.

Toward such a cold-blooded, heartless, despicable, and shameless old lecher, he naturally will not go soft.

The money of the Jia Mansion cannot all be greedily taken by Lai Da and the others for nothing; since he has encountered this, he naturally must take the opportunity to get a share, just as if he were saving up dowries for those few young ladies.

Especially the silver used to build the Daguanyuan—that is all Lin Guniang's family property.

He must find a way to get some of that over as well.

(End of chapter)