Mei Man’s heart suddenly clenched, the feeling shooting straight up into her throat.
That Qiu fellow had obviously grown suspicious and was trying to find the person impersonating Xie Xu.
And the real Xie Xu was still standing in front of her. His face was blank as he silently shaped the words with his mouth—
“Afraid of being discovered?” he asked without a sound.
Mei Man pressed her lips tightly together. Her entire back had gone rigid and numb, and she was terrified that the door would be thrown open.
The shop assistant was a cultivator as well, though his cultivation was shallow. He said, “That cultivator just now? Um... I didn’t pay much attention, and I didn’t sense any spiritual power from him either. Please forgive me, Immortal Master. There are so many people coming and going throughout the building, so it’s inevitable that we overlook someone. If you’re in a hurry, I can find someone to ask.”
“No need.” Qiu Yingling smiled. “He may have already left. I’ll go back and look for him. The bill, please.”
“Of course, of course! Right this way.”
Qiu Yingling began to move, and the footsteps behind him gradually drew closer.
Mei Man was so nervous that she didn’t even dare move her fingers, afraid he might suddenly push open the door.
The footsteps came nearer and nearer—
Wait.
The smell!
Mei Man’s heart clenched again as she suddenly remembered that, when she had disguised herself as Xie Xu, she had smeared some wood-scented balm on herself to cover up her natural scent.
If Qiu Yingling smelled it, wouldn’t he know she was in here?
She no longer had time to worry about whether he would hear any movement inside the room. She hurriedly took out a pill she had gotten from Shen Shushi and crushed it between her fingers.
A bitter medicinal fragrance abruptly burst forth, overpowering every scent on her and Xie Xu.
At the exact moment the smell exploded through the air, Qiu Yingling happened to pass outside the room.
He paused, apparently having caught the sudden medicinal scent. But after only a single breath, he continued on his way.
Mei Man let out a small sigh of relief, unable to stop herself from feeling a little smug.
Hmph! No matter how devious he usually was, hadn’t she still managed to trick him?
But that feeling quickly gave way to anxiety.
Qiu Yingling was about to return to the Tianyan Immortal Manor.
She hadn’t revealed her true appearance in front of him just now, but he was far too cunning and sharp. He was exceptionally good at gleaning the truth from the smallest clues.
She was afraid he would suspect her. After all, she had struck him quite hard just now. It had felt satisfying, but if he caught her, she would suffer for it.
Yet Qiu Yingling could teleport to the mountain with a single spell. Even if she took a shortcut, it would still take her at least half an hour to get back.
Mei Man was worried about that, but she also hadn’t forgotten Xie Xu’s ambiguous words. If he accepted that pill, became a disciple of the Sword Sovereign, and rose above her, it would upset her terribly.
Thus, she kept glancing at the door one moment and peeking at Xie Xu the next. Her heart burned with such anxiety that it felt ready to catch fire.
Xie Xu said, “Just now, you wanted me to find Qiu Yingling and get the immortal pill from him. But judging by your reaction now, you seem even more afraid that I’ll go. Are you worried that I might suddenly have a stroke of luck and climb above you? Manman, to be this miserly, and yet put on the appearance of a good disciple in front of Immortal Master Shen... It must be difficult for you.”
He was a very blunt man. At times, his words were sharper than knives, stabbing straight into people’s hearts.
The worst part was that everything he said was true, leaving her no way to refute him.
Being so sincere and solemn while exposing someone’s thoughts made him especially difficult to deal with—and extremely irritating.
Mei Man gritted her teeth. She decided to stop concealing her ugly thoughts and stared at him as she asked, “So you’re going to find him?”
“You can see for yourself.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Whether I accept this so-called ‘good opportunity’ or stay in the Servants’ Courtyard.” Xie Xu raised a hand, brushed it past her shoulder, and pushed open the door. “See for yourself. Come and make certain. I won’t tell you. A definite answer would only make you abandon me again and again. Manman, if you care, if you’re afraid of my answer, then come and see for yourself. See with your own eyes whether I’ve left or remained in the Servants’ Courtyard.”
Mei Man stubbornly said, “I don’t care.”
Xie Xu cast her a sidelong glance. “Is that so? Then all the better, Manman. You’ve finally cultivated the bearing of a gentleman. How gratifying. How commendable.”
“You wretched bastard! Go to hell! Go to hell!” she cursed furiously, wishing she could dig out his heart and see just how broad-minded it really was.
Xie Xu, however, suddenly took a very old little pouch from inside his robes and handed it to her. “I earned some spirit stones last month.”
The pouch was heavy with spirit stones. Mei Man immediately reined in her anger and took it.
“Thank you,” she said.
She still wanted the money. No matter what, one should never get angry with money.
Xie Xu pushed the door open and started outside. Mei Man stuffed the spirit stones into her robes, then hurriedly grabbed him.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
“To die,” Xie Xu said expressionlessly, stepping past her and walking out.
“Wait—” Mei Man truly panicked. “Are you going to find Qiu Yingling?”
“If you let Qiu Yingling leave, will you still have time to get back?” Xie Xu’s gaze shifted to her hand. “If you don’t let go, he’ll be gone.”
The implication was that he intended to stall Qiu Yingling for her.
Though Mei Man didn’t know what his purpose was, she knew that he was an upright man and would not play tricks in a matter like this. She therefore released him.
“Don’t leave yet. Take this with you.” She pulled a sachet from her storage pouch. “I made it two days ago. It’ll cover up the medicinal smell on you.”
As she spoke, she rolled the sachet over his face, neck, and body in a haphazard fashion before stuffing it into his arms.
Xie Xu accepted it in silence.
“Remember to keep him talking for a while,” Mei Man reminded him anxiously.
He cast a sidelong glance at her dark eyes, looked at her silently, and left.
Mei Man slipped out of the room after him, crouched down, and furtively hid around the corner of the staircase to spy on what was happening below.
By then, Qiu Yingling had already settled the bill and was preparing to leave. Xie Xu called out to him.
Qiu Yingling stopped and turned around. With a smile, he greeted him. “Junior Brother Xie, I was just asking the shop assistant whether you had left. So you were upstairs.”
“My headache flared up, so I stopped by to get some medicine.”
“How did you come to suffer from headaches, Junior Brother?”
Seeing the two of them begin to talk, Mei Man stopped listening and hurried back to the room she had been in earlier. She climbed out the window and groped her way down.
The moment she tumbled to the ground, she didn’t even have time to brush the dust from her clothes before she took off running toward the main peak.
She ran as fast as she could, driven by sheer determination.
Her legs had been her companions for more than ten years, and they truly didn’t let her down at the crucial moment. A journey that normally took nearly half an hour was completed in barely more than fifteen minutes.
At long last, she avoided the others and made it back to Shen Shushi’s cave dwelling. She couldn’t even climb through the entrance to the Library Pavilion and instead leaned against the doorway, gasping heavily.
Her legs were as soft as overcooked noodles, trembling uncontrollably. Her heartbeat thundered so loudly it seemed ready to burst through her eardrums. Her throat felt as though it had been stuffed with fire—painful and scorching—and every breath brought up the metallic sweetness of blood.
She was exhausted to death.
Fortunately, this disguise pill was unlike a spirit-nourishing restorative pill; even mortals could take it, and it wouldn’t cause pill poisoning. Otherwise, she would have suffered even more.
She struggled to swallow, then ran a hand through the hair damp with sweat on her forehead and crawled her way up to the second floor.
As she wiped her face, the communication jade slip hanging from her waist vibrated.
Mei Man picked it up and saw that it was glowing with a pale light.
This was the jade slip Shen Shushi had given her. Whenever he wanted to find her, he would normally activate it.
A few wisps of white mist drifted out of the jade slip, intertwining and solidifying in midair into an image—the face of Shen Shushi.
“Mei Man,” he called.
He was the only one visible in the image, but she caught sight of a corner of a plain blue-green robe in the background.
That damned fox spirit—how could he be so devious?
Suppressing the urge to cough, Mei Man did her best to keep calm and replied, “Immortal Master, is something the matter?”
Shen Shushi asked, “Are you in the library pavilion?”
Mei Man nodded and moved her hand aside, revealing the book she had been pressing down. “I’m reading Illustrated Studies of One Hundred Medicinal Herbs.”
“Put it aside for now and come to Clearheart Pavilion.”
“All right,” Mei Man replied.
The scene in the air faded away. Only then did she finally give in, covering her mouth as a fit of violent coughing seized her. She drank two or three cups of water in succession before barely managing to soothe her throat.
Mei Man applied some scented powder to herself to cover the herbal smell from earlier, then rubbed her face several times until it was no longer so flushed. Only after her breathing had settled did she set off for Clearheart Pavilion, her legs aching as she walked.
Qiu Yingling was indeed there.
He looked much as he had at the Immortal-Seeking Tower earlier: covered in injuries, with a shallow cut running across his forehead. It had not been treated and was still slowly oozing blood.
When he saw her, he smiled. “Manman.”
Mei Man put on an expression of surprise and said in astonishment, “What brings you here, Eldest Young Master?”
Shen Shushi explained, “Yingling heard that you had taken me as your master. He was worried about you, so he came to check on you.”
Qiu Yingling said, “Manman, you certainly had some hidden talents. You’ve only been gone a few days, and now you’ve become Immortal Lord Shen’s disciple. Why didn’t you write to tell me about such wonderful news?”
Mei Man answered frankly, “I didn’t know where you were, Eldest Young Master, so I had no idea where to send the letter.”
“That’s true. It was my fault for leaving without telling you where I was going.” Qiu Yingling smiled warmly at Shen Shushi. “If I’d known Immortal Lord Shen intended to take a disciple, I should have brought it up before. Then she wouldn’t have had to suffer needlessly in the outer sect courtyard.”
He had said it without thinking, but his words brought Shen Shushi’s mind back to what had happened that day.
Shen Shushi’s expression changed for an instant before he said, “Mei Man’s temperament is not suited to staying in the outer sect courtyard for long. I was afraid she might be bullied. Although she has a mortal body, she has some talent for preparing medicines and refining pills, and her temperament is good. If she can cultivate here for a few years, she will be capable of making a life for herself after returning to the mortal world.”
“Exactly. There is something I will be frank about, Immortal Lord.” Qiu Yingling spoke unhurriedly. “Manman grew up in the Qiu residence and is practically half a member of the Qiu family. We share a deep bond with her as well. When I heard she had taken a master, I couldn’t put my mind at ease, so I hurried here. Now that I’ve confirmed it is true, I can finally relax.”
Tch!
Mei Man secretly sneered at him inwardly.
If he truly regarded her as half a member of the Qiu family, why had he come all the way here? Clearly, he was suspicious of her.
Shen Shushi glanced at the wound on his forehead, looking as though he wanted to say something but stopped.
“Rest assured. As long as she applies herself diligently, she will surely accomplish something.” He changed the subject. “You should also take care of your health. You’re so badly injured—why haven’t you treated it?”
Qiu Yingling replied, “This injury is difficult to deal with. On my master’s orders, I went to the demon cave to retrieve a dragon bone. Some demonic energy seeped into the wound. Ordinary spiritual arts and pills can’t heal it; the demonic energy must be expelled first.”
Perhaps because Shen Shushi had now taken Mei Man as his disciple, he had developed a somewhat protective attitude toward her. Seeing that Qiu Yingling was indeed so concerned about her, his manner softened a little.
He said, “There are signs that some demonic energy has entered your body. You must be careful. As for the wound on your forehead…?”
Mei Man’s eyelid twitched. Her hand clenched tightly as she thought, Honestly, this man really knows how to bring up the one subject best left untouched.
“It happened when I accidentally knocked my head just now. The demonic energy hasn’t been cleared away, so I didn’t dare casually use any spiritual arts.” Qiu Yingling tilted his eyes toward Mei Man with a smile. “Manman, this wound really hurts. I remember you often carry hemostatic ointment with you. Could you apply some for me? I can’t see where the wound is, and I’m afraid I’ll make it hurt worse if I smear it on blindly.”
Mei Man nearly pulled out a mirror for him.
But he was the employer who paid her, while she was merely his paid lackey, so she obediently took out the ointment and rose to stand before him.
Mei Man scooped up some ointment and applied it to his forehead, adding at the appropriate moment, “You really should be more careful, Eldest Young Master.”
“Thank you, Manman. What would I do without you?” Qiu Yingling said with a beaming smile, as though he were expressing heartfelt gratitude.
Shen Shushi heard him, but found the words rather strange. He drew his brows together almost imperceptibly.
Mei Man did not lose her head over a single sigh from Qiu Yingling. Sure enough, his next question was, “Have you been staying in Immortal Lord Shen’s residence these past few days?”
Here it comes.
Mei Man did her best to suppress every tiny movement. She did not even dare lift her eyelids.
“Not the entire time,” she said. “I’ve spent most of my time here, though I occasionally go out to buy things.”
“You should relax your mind from time to time and take care not to overwork yourself.” He suddenly raised a hand and gently clasped her wrist, his fingertip pressing precisely against the vicinity of her pulse. “Have you been in Immortal Lord Shen’s residence all day today? The spring sunlight is lovely. Have you gone down the mountain for a walk?”
