Chapter 11
Lin Queli’s doubts about himself seemed to be numerous. He had an undetectable spiritual power, and now there was this equally undetectable but malicious presence.
This must be the reason for Lin Queli’s discomfort.
Although Lin Queli was not conscious, when his hand touched Helan Xue, he subconsciously grabbed Helan Xue’s wrist.
“Cold, cold…” Lin Queli nuzzled closer, directly hugging Helan Xue’s arm, and then his whole body followed, leaning against Helan Xue’s side.
Helan Xue’s hand, which usually felt too cold to Lin Queli, could perfectly alleviate his discomfort at this moment.
After snuggling up to Helan Xue, Lin Queli’s tightly furrowed brows in his sleep relaxed a little, but his body still couldn’t stop trembling.
Helan Xue tried to pull his hand back.
The unconscious Lin Queli was obedient. He didn’t resist, just let out a soft whimper.
Lin Queli was not a tall figure to begin with, and now, curled up in a ball beside Helan Xue, he looked extremely pathetic.
Helan Xue frowned slightly but didn’t move again.
Lin Queli’s senior martial brothers had long become mature and steady after entering the Cangsheng Sect, so this was the first time Helan Xue had experienced this troublesome process of taking care of a child.
Ji Chun probably would never have imagined that at this moment, Helan Xue would be patiently infusing spiritual energy into Lin Queli.
Unlike Ji Chun’s earlier attempt, Helan Xue was infusing him with cold qi. But cold qi could not be directly transferred like true qi, especially Helan Xue’s, which was sharp and powerful. The cold qi was also completely different from the circulation of the body. A slight mistake could damage the meridians and harm the body.
Therefore, Helan Xue pinched Lin Queli’s wrist and closed his eyes, allowing the spiritual energy to flow gently between them.
In his sleep, Lin Queli only felt the spiritual energy enter his body from his wrist and gradually spread. A layer of frost soon formed on his eyelashes.
No matter how ferocious the evil qi was, it couldn’t withstand Helan Xue’s cold qi. Lin Queli slowly stopped trembling and fell into a peaceful sleep, but he was still unwilling to let go, uncharacteristically not afraid of the cold.
The cave fell into its usual silence once again.
…
…
The next day, when Lin Queli woke up, he found himself curled up on the stone slab, tightly hugging Helan Xue’s hand as a pillow, his head also resting on Helan Xue’s palm.
Helan Xue had let him use his hand, while he himself remained in meditation with his eyes closed, like an unmoving rock.
Even in the early morning, the Ice Cave Abode was cold and silent. Lin Queli thought he had been frozen stupid, or that he was still in a dream.
…What was going on?!
And as Lin Queli’s consciousness returned, the System also woke up, and the accumulated point rewards from last night popped up all at once.
【Congratulations, Host, for completing physical contact: Holding Hands, Touching Forehead. Reward: 3 points each!】
【Congratulations, Host, for completing physical contact: Sleeping Together for a Night. Reward: 10 points!】
【Congratulations, Host, for completing physical contact: Healing with True Qi. Reward: 5 points!】
【Congratulations, Host, for completing physical contact: Clinging Like a Little Bird. Reward: 4 points!】
Lin Queli: “??!”
【Holy shit, Host… a total of 25 points! What did you do last night!!】
Lin Queli: “Watashi doesn’t know either!”
Seeing that Lin Queli was awake, Helan Xue still didn’t open his eyes or look at him, just said lightly, “Let go.”
“Oh…!”
Lin Queli quickly let go, a little puzzled. If Helan Xue wanted to break free, wouldn’t it just take a flick of his finger? Why would he let him hug him for a whole night?
And…
After carefully studying the descriptions of the point rewards, Lin Queli moved closer to Helan Xue, blinking his eyes with great interest. “This disciple fainted for some reason last night… did Shizun carry this disciple in afterwards?”
Helan Xue: “It was Ji Chun.”
“Oh… then did Shizun transfer true qi to this disciple?”
Helan Xue: “It was Ji Chun.”
“Then was I sleeping while hugging Shizun?” Lin Queli smiled. “That couldn’t have been Ji Chun, right? I was still pillowing on Shizun’s hand when I woke up!”
Helan Xue: “So what?”
“Hehe, this disciple is happy!” After recovering from his illness, Lin Queli’s cheeks were rosy again, and his eyes sparkled as he looked at Helan Xue.
—Of course he was happy, that was a whole 25 points! The child had never been so rich in his life!
Helan Xue looked at Lin Queli’s unrestrained joy over such a small matter, his eyes brighter than the stars in the sky, and then he remembered the outrageous words he had said before.
This child…
Lin Queli remembered another thing. He quickly took out the discipline ruler and handed it to Helan Xue. “Then didn’t I not finish my five hundred swings! Shizun, why don’t you punish me?!”
Lin Queli’s face couldn’t hide his thoughts. The expectation of being spanked was practically written on it.
Helan Xue remembered what Ji Chun had said about this child being an orphan and frowned. “You can’t even swing a sword properly. Did the elders of the Changming Clan never punish you before?”
Lin Queli blinked. “Umm… no… I don’t think so?”
Helan Xue shook his head.
Then he asked again, “Have you ever been injured before, been secretly attacked, or practiced any special techniques?”
“No… I don’t think so.” Lin Queli was even more confused and said timidly, “This disciple doesn’t know why he fainted last night. Could there be a problem?”
Could it be that he found out he was a furnace cauldron or the Demon Lord?
That’s not something he can find out!
Helan Xue paused, then shook his head. “You had a fever.”
“Oh…”
Lin Queli thought to himself, it must be the reward for taking a cold shower and being exposed to the wind last night.
Lust is a knife on one’s head. That spring palace picture was too terrifying… He would stuff it into the deepest part of his spirit pouch when he got back and never look at it again!
【Host… could it be that it’s not the spring palace picture’s fault, but your constitution’s? Last night, after you fainted and I lost contact with you, I was so anxious that I watched ten ads in a row to check the lore. Host, you don’t know how many times I’ve seen broken houses and harem concubines… ah, that’s not important, the point is!】
【You are a furnace cauldron, and the reason furnace cauldrons have a low status and can only be used for dual cultivation is that if they are not dual cultivated with every month, the heat in their bodies will flare up, and the longer they go without being dual cultivated, the more serious it will become!】
Lin Queli: “…”
This was too much of a scam.
Lin Queli: “Then the original owner lived for so many years, how did he solve it?”
【The great Demon Lord would naturally not debase himself with others, so what the original owner did was to practice evil techniques, relying on killing cultivators with high yang energy and eating their livers, gallbladders, and hearts to reverse-cultivate and suppress the heat.】
Lin Queli: “…”
He couldn’t do that either! To him, that was much more difficult and grotesque than debasing himself with others!
No wonder Helan Xue asked him if he had practiced any special techniques or been secretly attacked. He must have figured something out. This was too dangerous…!
After thinking about it, he could only earn points as soon as possible, either to complete the mission before the heat flared up, or to exchange for an item to suppress it.
Points were too important!!
Seeing that Helan Xue was ignoring him again after speaking, Lin Queli fought for it. “Is Shizun not going to punish me?”
“Lin Luo.” Helan Xue finally opened his eyes. “If you make any more noise, you will make up for the number of swings you owe right now.”
“…!”
Eek!
Lin Queli got up. “Then this disciple will take his leave and go back to wash up…!”
…
Not long after he left, Ji Chun came in a hurry with Shouyang.
“Shizun!”
After getting permission, Shouyang strode into the cave and cupped his fists at Helan Xue. “There’s a new discovery! Another fragment of the Demon Sword has been found, in Yangjing Village, not far from the foot of the mountain!”
Ji Chun nodded like a bobblehead and handed a scroll to Helan Xue. “This records the recent strange phenomena in Yangjing Village, and someone has also discovered people from the Demon Palace.”
Helan Xue took the scroll and frowned after reading it.
The information was very detailed. It was indeed a fragment of the Demon Sword.
“Shizun, the Demon Sword has just appeared not long ago, and the first fragment has already been intercepted by us. The Demon Palace will definitely attach great importance to this second fragment and send their strongest forces. If the Demon Lord is not dead, he might show himself here. And Yangjing Village has a large population of ordinary farmers… This matter must not be taken lightly!”
Shouyang patted his chest. “Why not let this disciple go down the mountain to meet them personally!”
Ji Chun said worriedly, “But the grand competition is less than a month away…”
Shouyang was the main organizer and the defender of the arena.
Helan Xue said, “This Venerable will go down the mountain to take a look.”
The two paused, but after thinking about it, this was the most appropriate solution.
The Demon Palace must be very keen on this fragment. If Shouyang went down the mountain, he would have to bring a group of disciples and elders to ensure that nothing went wrong. Instead of making such a big fuss and affecting the preparations for the grand competition, it was better to let Helan Xue go.
For the past thousand years, Helan Xue had either been in seclusion cultivating or slaying demons and exterminating evil in the mortal world. Wherever he went, there would not be a trace of demonic energy. With him taking action, just him alone, even if the Demon Lord himself came, it would be like an egg hitting a rock.
“With Shizun here, the fragment will surely fall into our hands smoothly!” Shouyang breathed a sigh of relief.
The few of them roughly finalized the plan. Helan Xue looked at Shouyang. “While I am away, take good care of Lin Luo.”
Shouyang and Ji Chun were both stunned.
Helan Xue was actually asking them to take care of someone? And it was the rebellious junior who was said to be disliked by Helan Xue?
Helan Xue said, “This child has lacked the care of elders since he was young. Shouyang can act as an older brother and care for him more, so that he can understand ethics.”
“Yes…?” Shouyang was even more surprised. “But this disciple thinks that this Lin Luo is still quite simple and cheerful…”
Ji Chun silently agreed. He was very—cheerful.
Helan Xue shook his head. “A child’s nature, deliberately making mistakes to attract attention.”
Otherwise, why would he like to be punished and strictly disciplined?
Deliberately making mistakes to attract attention…?
Shouyang was still digesting this when he saw a disciple rush in.
Shouyang was a little worried. “What’s wrong? Is there news of another Demon Sword fragment?”
“N-no!” The disciple scratched his head. “It’s Young Master Lin, he-he was roasting a chicken in the back mountain and was discovered by Elder Ding. Elder Ding was so angry that he went forward to put out the fire and teach him a lesson, and in the chaos, his robes were burned…”
“Now Elder Ding is furious and is dragging Young Master Lin to the sect’s ancestral hall…”
“…”
In that moment, Shouyang seemed to understand something.
Didn’t he just recover from his illness?
He’s already causing trouble?
Click.
Helan Xue’s movement of turning the cinnabar beads paused. He put away the prayer beads and stood up with a dark face.
