Chapter 447: The Fate of Being Teased, No Matter What

March 16th, inside the Quiet Room.

Chen Shu sat cross-legged, his back against the wall.

There were no more Promotion Auxiliary Potions in front of him, only one Beast Pill and one Ninth-Rank Restoration Pill.

Chen Shu looked on with burning eyes, meeting Qingqing's gaze:

"The water wasn't full this time, right?"

Qingqing looked at him indifferently and did not answer.

After a few seconds, seeing him still staring at her, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and she shook her head.

"That's good!"

Only then did Chen Shu feel relieved, reaching out to summon the Beast Pill.

In an instant—

Omitted.

I do not know how much time passed before a knocking sound rang out outside the door.

Immediately, the door to the Quiet Room was pushed open.

Ning Qing turned her head faintly.

She saw the little girl walk in carrying a tray. In the middle of the tray was a mound of round white rice, which must have been packed into a small bowl and then inverted; surrounding the rice were the potatoes and Braised Pork left over from yesterday. There was more meat than potato, and she walked cautiously, on tiptoe, for fear of making any noise.

Walking up to the two of them, she glanced at her brother-in-law, handed the tray to her sister along with a spoon, and lowered her voice very, very low:

"Will brother-in-law shrink this time?"

"No."

"Why are you saying it so loudly?"

"..."

"Then I'm leaving. Eat quickly. I'll come back to collect the tray in ten minutes. If you haven't finished, you're not allowed to eat anymore."

"?"

"!"

The little girl was startled by her gaze and hurriedly restated: "I'll come back after a while longer."

"Didn't I say I wanted to eat kimchi?"

"There's only a little bit of kimchi left."

"?"

"Taozi Daren and I need to eat it."

"Did you get your Beast Pill?"

"!!"

The little girl frowned, and within a few short seconds, her brow furrowed tighter and tighter, twisting into a knot.

This woman! She always uses this to threaten her!

Is there no end to it!

"Whoosh!"

The little girl turned and left.

Not until the door opened and closed again, and the Quiet Room remained dim, did Ning Qing lower her head—although it was potato-topped rice, and although it was leftovers from yesterday, at least she had plated it, so it could be considered an effort.

Before long, the door opened again.

The little girl walked in carrying a small bowl.

In the bowl was the Bath Kimchi that Chen Shu had made earlier, filled only to one-third of the small bowl, and she had thoughtfully added a bit of MSG and chili oil, which could serve to enhance the flavor and soften the texture of the Bath Kimchi.

"I have some bad news to tell you," the little girl said to her sister. "I've decided, I'm going to Qingshan Ridge to catch Sword pigs later."

"Suit yourself."

"Then no one will bring you food."

"Suit yourself."

"Why are you saying it so loudly?"

"..."

Ning Qing took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then asked: "Then what about your Martial Body Arena tournament?"

"Guess."

"?"

"!"

The little girl avoided her sister's gaze: "I haven't finished speaking yet. I'll go to school for class during the day, fight in the Arena, and after class, I'll go to Qingshan Ridge."

"Mm."

Ning Qing's eyes flickered as she lowered her head to start eating.

The little girl frowned, feeling that her sister was becoming more and more detestable. It seemed that no matter what she said to her, she remained indifferent or appeared to have everything under control, so she couldn't find any opportunity to manipulate her... She wanted to say a few more words to her sister, but seeing her like this, she figured she wouldn't listen anyway, so she had no choice but to leave.

She would just stop bringing her food and let her starve.

Half an hour later.

The little girl came to collect the bowl and brought her another tray. On the tray were two boiled potatoes, with a small pinch of chili powder piled on the side. This was the dinner she had prepared for her sister for tonight; it could be eaten even after it had gone cold.

Ning Qing glanced at it—

Even a dog wouldn't eat it.

From morning, until late at night.

The Spirit Power fluctuations on Chen Shu's body surged rhythmically, wave after wave, impacting the Spirit Lock. When the Spirit Lock began to teeter, he decisively increased the intensity of the impact, breaking through it in one go.

"Boom..."

The Spirit Power radiating from his body surface formed a light breeze.

The Spirit Power field brought forth a faint glow, illuminating the Quiet Room in a riot of colors.

"Hoo..."

Chen Shu opened his eyes with difficulty.

Breaking through the Spirit Lock this time was not particularly difficult; what was difficult was resisting the agony of the Beast Pill. However, as he had expected, under the influence of the Divine Power, the ultra-high Spirit Power Quality made breaking the Spirit Lock relatively simple, to the point that he could advance to the Eighth Stage in one go.

Under normal circumstances, this would be inconceivable.

Chen Shu glanced at Qingqing.

He saw Qingqing sitting cross-legged opposite him, wearing traditional clothing, the wide hem of her skirt covering her lower body and spreading neatly on the floor like a lotus flower, while she stared at him with an indifferent expression, like a deity.

Chen Shu's gaze moved downward, aiming at the Restoration Pill.

"..."

Ning Qing reached out and beckoned, and the Restoration Pill flew into her hand; then, she leaned forward and reached out to feed it into his mouth.

This advancement was relatively simple; although his body was still ravaged beyond recognition by the Spirit Power of the Beast Pill, his Spirit Sea and Spirit Soul were not as exhausted. Chen Shu could have summoned the Restoration Pill himself using Spirit Power, but...

Since someone was feeding him, why do it himself?

As soon as the Restoration Pill entered his mouth, it dispersed into gentle Spirit Power, spreading along his body like fine rain sprinkling onto parched earth, filling the voids in his Spirit Sea and repairing his severely damaged body, Spirit Sea, and Spirit Soul. Then, amidst this gentleness like the soaking of spring rain, Chen Shu closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the boundless seabed.

Ning Qing pursed her lips and stood up.

She used Spirit Power to lift Chen Shu and walked back to the bedroom.

When she placed him on the bed, she returned to the Quiet Room, picked up the plate on the floor containing two boiled potatoes and a small pinch of chili powder, walked downstairs, and facing Taozi—who was in high spirits and staring at her with confusion—she placed the plate in front of it:

"Eat."

Ning Qing turned and walked back upstairs.

March 18th, 5:00 AM.

Chen Shu opened his eyes again and found himself lying on the bed, while Qingqing was right beside him, leaning against the headboard and reading "A Book". The dim yellow light cast by the bedside lamp made this scene appear exceptionally warm.

"Now..."

Chen Shu felt his voice was a bit strange: "What time is it now?"

"Twenty-eight hours and seven minutes have passed since you finished your advancement." Ning Qing was still looking at the book, yet she seemed to know what he was concerned about.

"Twenty-eight hours..."

"Mm."

"Did I wake up in the middle? What did I do when I woke up this time? Why do I have no impression of it? Did I not wake up?"

"..."

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"..."

"Why aren't you talking?"

"..."

"I'm asking you."

"..."

Ning Qing stared at the book and turned another page with her finger before saying softly: "Don't want to answer."

"Why?"

Chen Shu turned over to hug her, pressing his hand onto her book to stop her from reading:

"Say something."

"..."

"Hurry up and say it."

"No."

"Hurry."

"Beg me."

"I beg you."

"Still no."

"??"

"Think about it yourself."

"???"

Chen Shu suddenly felt his heart itching.

Ning Qing's reaction made him feel it was somewhat unusual. His first thought was—did he do something overly socially suicidal while unconscious, to the point that Qingqing didn't even want to say it out loud, wanting him to slowly remember it and then suffer social death on his own? Or did she "guess" that he would have amnesia, or even fail to remember, and wanted to tease him further, waiting until he let his guard down to release a set of ultra-clear Blu-ray videos?

Insidious and cunning woman...

Ning Qing glanced at him sideways, expressionless, and simply used her hand to brush away the hand he had placed over her book.

Chen Shu continued to hug her, his face pressed against her arm:

"I'm so hungry."

"Downstairs, in the steamer, Dumplings. They were put on to steam a few minutes ago; they'll be just about ready by the time you go downstairs."

"Alright then..."

Chen Shu let go of her and pretended to go downstairs, but suddenly made a feint to return, hugging her again: "Tell me quickly! What exactly did I do? Or did I do nothing at all and just slept until now?"

"No."

"You must give me an answer."

"Dream on."

"Hurry up!" Chen Shu placed his hand on her chest, grabbing her weak point, and urged her.

"Want to die?"

"Tell me quickly!"

Chen Shu gritted his teeth, his face fierce.

"Impossible."

Ning Qing remained expressionless and continued reading her book.

"..."

There was nothing he could do about this woman.

Chen Shu had no choice but to let her go and walked downstairs, feeling uneasy.

Having just advanced and finished recovering, his gait was still somewhat unnatural; he even had to hold onto the wall while walking down the stairs.

The lights were on in the kitchen downstairs, and there was the sound of the spirit stove burning and steam rising from the steamer; Chen Shu went over and lifted the lid, the Dumplings in the steamer were already translucent, and a piping hot fragrance rushed toward him, making him feel very hungry.

Two minutes later.

Chen Shu sat in the dining room, made himself a sour and spicy dipping sauce, and while eating the Dumplings, he felt out his own condition.

At the Eighth Stage, naturally, all aspects had been enhanced, but compared to the boost from the Intermediate Stage to the High-Tier when advancing from the Sixth Stage to the Seventh Stage, the proportion was smaller.

It is worth mentioning that after reaching the Eighth Stage, the effect of the mark had not diminished; on the contrary, it felt even stronger—the mark was more like a treasure vault, and high-quality Spirit Power Quality was the key to opening this vault, with the minimum requirement being the Seventh Stage; the higher the Spirit Power Quality, the more one would obtain from it.

Just as he was thinking about this, there was suddenly movement outside the courtyard.

"Squeak..."

"Whoosh!"

A human figure vaulted over the courtyard wall and landed in the yard.

"Xiaoxiao?"

Chen Shu chewed on a dumpling, staring at the figure, and couldn't help but frown: "Where did you go? Why are you coming back from outside in the middle of the night?"

"Brother-in-law, when did you wake up?"

"Just now."

"Oh." The little girl walked toward him, feeling inexplicably guilty, "I went to catch Sword pigs tonight."

"... How was the harvest?"

"I caught five, it was really fun."

"Why don't you use the door anymore?"

"It's too late, and no one can see anyway, so I'm too lazy to open and close the door." The little girl paused, "Sister Suannai always walks like this."

"Emmm..."

Chen Shu quietly observed the little girl's expression: "When did you go to Qingshan Ridge today?"

"I didn't go today."

"Hmm?"

"Today has only just begun."

"I mean this time."

"I went yesterday, at six o'clock last night."

"Then let me ask you, did I wake up halfway through my coma?"

"Probably not."

"Probably?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"Really."

"..."

Chen Shu scrutinized the little girl's expression and fell into hesitation.

Thinking of how the little girl had been asking favors from Qingqing recently and had been doing things against her own heart...

Could it be that she had agreed to lie for Qingqing under the threat of Qingqing's Beast Pill—Qingqing loved doing such things; she claimed not to lie, but ended up instigating others to lie for her; what difference was there between that and lying?

The little girl was also quietly observing him, but she found it very strange.

She didn't know what that hateful woman, her sister, had said to her brother-in-law, but why did it feel like her brother-in-law didn't seem to trust her anymore?

"By the way!"

The little girl ran to wash her hands, pulled out the chair next to Chen Shu, sat down beside him, tucked her feet up, stacked them together and swung them back and forth, then reached out to pinch a steamed dumpling from her brother-in-law's plate and stuffed it into her own mouth: "I'm playing in the Regular Group finals tomorrow, brother-in-law, remember to come watch."

Changing the subject so quickly?

Most likely she had something to hide.

"Alright..."

Chen Shu agreed while thinking this, simultaneously trying hard to dig up his lost memories.