Chapter 31: Sister Qiru, Let's Bathe Together!

On his way back, Jiang Yunzhou stopped by the blacksmith's shop to have a look.

His sword practice was decent, but lacking a spear, he couldn't execute the Breaking Heaven Spear Technique.

The spears on Dong Pangpang's open ground all had white-wax shafts and steel tips; he tried them and they were too light—before finishing a move, the shaft would snap.

Moreover, after freeloading someone's cultivation method, asking for a suitable weapon would be inappropriate.

Freeloading also requires finesse; constantly sponging off the same person gets boring.

A spear isn't suited for daily use; just find a stick to test one's proficiency in the Breaking Heaven Spear Secret.

Inside the blacksmith's shop, the proprietor, sweating from the furnace, bare-chested, wiped his sweat with a towel and said:

"What would you like, young sir?"

"Do you have spears?"

"Yes, yes, we have all kinds; tell me what you need."

"A 7.62 caliber will do."

"Young sir, what did you say?"

"It's fine, just browsing."

He actually wished the blacksmith would lower his voice so he could look at the Barrett he made.

Many spears were neatly stacked against the wall, polished to a bright sheen.

Since it's not for close-quarters use, there's no need to buy an expensive one; enough weight and feel will do.

So Jiang Yunzhou took a liking to the rough spear nearby that hadn't been finely polished; though it was coarse and unsharpened, it had substantial weight.

"This type is relatively cheap—just two taels of silver, not finely polished, so the tip and edge aren't very sharp."

"No matter, cheap and sturdy is fine."

After packing up and heading home, dusk had already fallen; Jiang Yunzhou repeated his old trick, sending the paper figure with the spear out before the gate closed to Yang Lake outside the city.

He himself sat cross-legged in the room, remotely controlling the paper figure to practice by the lake.

At night the lakeside was deserted; under the moonlight only the sounds of insects and birds could be heard.

The rough spear was gripped in the hand of the paper figure Jiang Yunzhou.

The spear is the king of weapons, the foremost of the nine long arms; its sharpest part is only six inches at the tip, thus suited for long-range attack, not melee—as the saying goes, the cold gleam arrives first, the spear thrusts like a dragon; once unleashed, it's best to kill the foe outright, at least to press the attack.

A saying goes: 'monthly staff, yearly blade, a lifetime with the spear; a sword is kept at hand.' Though many claim the saber is the most domineering, the spear is in no way inferior in that regard.

Jiang Yunzhou filled both hands with qi, let out a low shout, the rear hand gripping the spear exerted force, his whole body pressed down, and the spear tip, led by the qi sea, smashed toward the ground.

Boom!

With one move, Pressing Heaven and Earth, the spear tip and the upper half of the spear instantly sank into the ground.

The exploding miracle swept away leaves, flowers, and grass on both sides in an instant; the strong vibration caused ripples on the lake water.

He leapt up suddenly, and the move Returning Head Break Army struck the thick tree trunk accurately.

Pfft!

The cold gleam pierced straight through the trunk; Jiang Yunzhou hesitated slightly, flicked his wrist, and swung his arm left and right.

Crack!

Qi surged along the spear's sharp blade, cleaving out and directly ripping the pierced trunk apart.

Just as Jiang Yunzhou was about to continue practicing, he heard the west-side door move; the footsteps sounded like Sister Qiru and Bai Zhi.

He had once tried to have his flesh body and the paper figure do two things at once, but the result was poor—like trying to draw a circle with the left hand and a square with the right; perhaps his skill just isn't up to it yet.

So upon hearing the commotion outside, Jiang Yunzhou had the paper figure lift the spear and temporarily jump onto the tree, while he himself rose to open the door and greet them.

He saw Sister Qiru again holding a medicine jar, the weapon in front of her just happening to hold the jar firmly in place.

Behind her, Bai Zhi clung to a large wooden bucket, her little face flushed red from strain.

Jiang Yunzhou hurried forward to help and said:

"Sister Qiru, what is this?"

Bai Zhi then relaxed and said:

"It's not that the young lady thinks you've been working too hard and came specially to reward you, young master—oh dear!"

"Don't talk nonsense, Yunzhou; I've re-adjusted the last medicine, this time the dosage is surely well controlled. After drinking the medicine, let Bai Zhi prepare your bathwater so you can circulate qi and regulate breath later."

So that's it; he had thought she wanted him to drink the medicine and then bathe together with her here as a reward.

Actually, Shen Qiru indeed wanted to express gratitude deep down, since Jiang Yunzhou had helped her a lot over these past days.

He had routed the disturbance-causing Far-reaching Escort Agency; curing the eyes of Princess Ning Le had brought fame to the Azure Medical Hall......

But when it came to expressing thanks, she actually didn't know how to do so for a moment.

Just saying it with words seemed too distant and failed to convey her inner gratitude.

Offering gold and silver as thanks? She keeps a hundred taels of gold here—she's hardly a miser; giving money would be an insult.

So she could only try to help a bit during practice; while just brewing the medicine, she chatted with Bai Zhi, this little girl still talking nonsense:

"Isn't this simple? The young lady could just offer herself—then she'd thank the young master and keep him at the Azure Medical Hall."

This earned Shen Qiru a good scolding:

"Miss, stop spouting nonsense; Yunzhou's lifelong affairs are his own decision—I won't use such means to keep him at the Azure Medical Hall."

Bai Zhi rubbed her forehead and retorted stubbornly:

"So... it's just that the method is unsightly; emotionally, the young lady actually has no objection, right? Oh dear, oh dear, I won't say more, I won't say more!"

Bai Zhi, being sensible, placed the bath bucket and then went out first to prepare hot water.

Having learned from last time, Jiang Yunzhou was much more cautious when taking the medicine this time, checking bowl by bowl that his blood vessels weren't overly affected.

Shen Qiru sat beside him, watching to ensure the medicine caused no trouble.

"Is this medicine much milder this time?"

Jiang Yunzhou didn't speak, turned his head, propped his chin, and looked at the medicinal primer by the lamp, Shen Qinqi.

Under the lamp, gazing at the beauty, three parts allure, seven parts turmoil.

Seeing Jiang Yunzhou gazing at her gently, Shen Qinqi brushed aside the black strands at her temples and said:

"How?"

"Looking at Qinqi elder sister's medicinal primer, its effect is better."

"Smooth talk."

Shen Qinqi said this but did not avoid him, nor did she reach out to flick his forehead again; instead, she likewise raised her head to look at Jiang Yunzhou.

The two stared at each other for a moment; Shen Qinqi was about to open her vermilion lips to say something, but Jiang Yunzhou suddenly furrowed his brow.

Shen Qinqi thought there was something wrong with the medicine, her face full of worry as she lifted Jiang Yunzhou's forehead, unaware that the paper figurine on the lakeside tree had been startled by a sudden explosion of lake water nearby.

Originally the paper figurine was staying fine on the tree.

Boom—

A huge sound came from nearby.

The sudden change made the paper figurine on the tree instinctively glance toward the lake surface.

Only to see the lake surface nearby suddenly explode into a water column several meters high for no apparent reason.

Jiang Yunzhou's true self, far away at the Cang Medical Hall in the city, puzzled, failed to control his expression and furrowed his brow.

Shen Qinqi frowned slightly with worry and said:

"Yunzhou? What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Jiang Yunzhou naturally couldn't explain, and waved his hand, saying:

"Qinqi elder sister, let me calm down first."

"Okay."

Shen Qinqi was not entirely reassured; after hesitating, she still took hold of Jiang Yunzhou's hand.

Both to check his pulse for abnormalities and to give him as much comfort as possible.

Taking advantage of the fact that Qinqi elder sister's side had detected nothing unusual, Jiang Yunzhou focused on controlling the paper figurine to check for any special circumstances by the lake.

As a result, just after jumping down from the tree, he saw several figures leap out from where the lake surface had exploded, as if they had flown out of the water, those people treading on the lake surface and flying toward the shore.

No one could match him in lightness skill; the paper figurine went along the shore to intercept those figures flying toward them.

But before he had gone far, Jiang Yunzhou sensed something was off.

Because the leading figure among them looked somewhat familiar.

Although in the dark night, even with moonlight, one couldn't see very clearly, but the leading figure among those black silhouettes stood out because he was dressed all in white.

"No way, heroine, why is it you again!"