Xie Xu was an excellent cook.
That wasn’t to say he could prepare the sort of exquisite dishes served in prestigious restaurants. He probably wouldn’t even know how to handle the ingredients.
But when it came to simple home cooking—steamed buns, rice porridge, stuffed buns, stir-fries, and the like—he was perfectly competent.
Back when she was living at the Qiu residence, nearly everyone there was a cultivator. Even those with shallow cultivation could abstain from food, so they only ate an occasional meal.
Mei Man, however, needed to eat three meals a day.
At first, no one in the Qiu family had realized this.
When she had first arrived at the Qiu residence, Qiu Heyang had been in a dazed, unconscious state because of the incident in which he had fallen into the water.
Qiu Yingling and the young miss were both away from home, and everyone in the residence was occupied with Qiu Heyang. Since Qiu Heyang refused to let go of Mei Man’s hand, they also took care of her.
But they rarely ate, especially with such a major incident taking place in the household. They had even less time to bother with meals.
After going hungry for two or three days, Mei Man finally couldn’t stand it anymore. She took a few bricks, hastily built a stove, and stir-fried several plates of wild greens to eat.
The Qiu residence’s steward discovered her afterward. He gave her some money and told her to go outside and buy food.
Mei Man was still somewhat muddled at the time, but she had already begun to show signs of stinginess. She couldn’t bear to spend the money, so she saved most of it as private funds and used only a small portion to buy vegetables.
Half a month after she arrived at the Qiu residence, Qiu Yingling returned home from studying the sword under the Sword Sovereign.
He had come back to visit his injured younger brother. The first time he saw her, his eyes curved into crescents as he smiled and asked, “Where did this monkey come from?”
If only she were a monkey. At least then she could swing around from place to place and pluck fruit to eat.
Qiu Yingling had not yet become so deep and calculating back then. His emotions were written plainly across his face.
After the Qiu family’s servants explained her origins, his expression changed. He stopped teasing her and instead examined her, as if judging whether she had truly saved Qiu Heyang or was harboring some other scheme.
Still, after he returned, the entire Qiu residence was no longer as chaotic as before. Everything became much more orderly.
Mei Man finally had food to eat.
Although it was so terrible that it could kill a person.
Sometimes she even wondered whether the entire Qiu residence was incapable of producing a single tongue with a sense of taste. Otherwise, how could they swallow food that was worse than dog food?
The vegetables were half raw, the meat was gray and dull, the soup was thin and watery, and the rice was coarse and unpleasant to eat.
Yet every single person ate with relish.
Every single one!
That was even more terrifying.
She wasn’t some honored guest, so it would have been inappropriate to offer any criticism. Thus, she lowered her head and ate those awful meals for several years.
Whenever she felt she was treating herself far too unfairly, she would casually make up an excuse and go out to eat a couple of meals.
Sometimes, Mei Man thought that perhaps the twisted, peculiar, and gloomy personality she had developed was inseparable from all those terrible meals.
That was, until Xie Xu found her.
Whenever he came to see her, he either brought snacks bought from outside or cooked something himself.
At first, she had been unwilling to get involved with him, so she naturally refused to accept anything. She would even say things designed to annoy him, such as, “I don’t eat dog food,” or, “Get lost.”
But what he didn’t know was that every night, Mei Man would curl up beneath her covers and think about the fragrance of those dishes. Sometimes, she would even shed tears in secret.
In the end, Mei Man could no longer bear to mistreat herself and began eating the food he brought.
That idiot Qiu Heyang even excitedly told her, “Little Mei, this is wonderful. You’ve finally put on some weight. You’re not as scrawny as before. It’s good to be a little plumper—you’ll have more strength when wielding a sword.”
Mei Man had truly wanted to stuff the food cooked by both the Qiu residence and Xie Xu into Qiu Heyang’s mouth and ask him whether he had any sense of taste at all.
Was that stuff fit for human consumption?
Were there no normal people left in the entire Qiu residence?
This time, Mei Man had no intention of being polite. As soon as she entered, she sat down at the table. When he brought over the porridge, she immediately picked up the bowl and began to drink.
The moment it entered her mouth, a rich fragrance of rice spread across her tongue. She had not tasted food this good in ages, and she drained the bowl in one go.
After finishing the steamed buns, she said, “How come these buns don’t have any filling?”
Xie Xu casually handed her a bowl of sweet soup. “I’ll make stuffed buns next time.”
“Why would I come again?”
“Vegetable or meat filling?”
“Meat. Braised pork.” Mei Man stirred the sweet soup in her bowl. Thinking of Fan Zilang, whom she had just encountered, a wave of resentment rose in her heart. “Just wait. I’m going to kill him sooner or later.”
Xie Xu asked, “Who?”
“A piece of trash.” Remembering the matter, Mei Man began thinking again.
She still needed to find a way to temper her meridians until they became more resilient. Only then would they be able to withstand spiritual power or demonic energy.
With that thought, she asked Xie Xu, “Which pill is best for nourishing and protecting the meridians? The Meridian-Nourishing Pill, the Nine-Turn Meridian-Tempering Pill, the Meridian-Reforging Pill, or something else?”
Xie Xu had long been accustomed to the way her thoughts and topics leaped all over the place. In his usual tone, he asked, “Who’s going to use it?”
“Me.” Mei Man didn’t want to tell him that she intended to cultivate immortality. She was afraid he would say she was indulging in a foolish fantasy, and at the moment, she couldn’t bear to hear anything like that. So she merely said, “I went up the mountain this afternoon, and my legs are so sore they’re practically cramping. They hurt terribly. I need to take some medicine to replenish myself.”
Xie Xu glanced at her legs, then crouched down.
He placed a hand around her calf and pressed down slightly, massaging along her leg.
A wave of soreness and numbness suddenly rushed over her. Mei Man hissed and instinctively tried to kick him.
Xie Xu held down her knee. “Don’t move.”
As he spoke, he continued kneading her leg.
Mei Man urged him, “You still haven’t told me about the pills.”
Xie Xu often carried a book on alchemy with him, and he knew these things like the back of his hand. Without needing to think, he said, “There aren’t many pills that nourish and protect the meridians. The Meridian-Nourishing Pill can gently nourish the channels and cleanse impurities from the meridians. As for the Nine-Turn Meridian-Tempering Pill and the Meridian-Reforging Pill, although both have potent medicinal effects, they’re mainly used to widen and strengthen spiritual meridians and are commonly taken by cultivators. Given your circumstances, the Meridian-Nourishing Pill would be best.”
“Hmph. You certainly know a lot.” Mei Man thought for a moment. “But I’ve noticed that those cultivators often take the Nine-Turn Meridian-Tempering Pill, while they hardly ever use the Meridian-Reforging Pill. The Meridian-Reforging Pill isn’t expensive, yet hardly anyone sells it.”
“The Nine-Turn Meridian-Tempering Pill has gentle medicinal properties. Like the Meridian-Nourishing Pill, it can nourish and cleanse the meridians, but it also has the added effect of strengthening them. Taking it regularly won’t cause any problems. As for the Meridian-Reforging Pill…” Xie Xu took hold of her other leg and kneaded her calf and Achilles tendon in the same manner. “The Meridian-Reforging Pill completely reshapes the meridians. Its medicinal effect is so potent that the slightest mistake could damage all of one’s meridians. I imagine few cultivators would stake their entire cultivation—or even their lives—on a single pill.”
By the time he finished speaking, Mei Man’s heart was pounding so hard it felt ready to burst from her chest.
Reshaping the meridians?
Wouldn’t that mean there was a chance of directly forging meridians strong enough to withstand spiritual power and demonic energy?
She grew more and more tempted, practically itching to go buy a Meridian-Reforging Pill right then and there.
But when she remembered how miserable she had felt after taking the Spirit-Nourishing Tonic Pill last time, she suppressed the impulse and changed the subject. “I thought the inner sect cultivators would be somewhat better, but it turns out there are even more irritating ones. Today I ran into a cultivator named Fan Zilang. He was arrogant and domineering—so obnoxious he practically begged to be beaten. If my legs hadn’t been so sore that I could barely run, I would’ve fought him. Still, I did curse him out a few times, so that was satisfying enough. In any case, I’m not afraid he’ll come looking for trouble. I could tell that Shen Shushi is protective of his own people. He probably won’t side with an outsider.”
By the end, she was looking rather pleased with herself, chin tilted up, making no attempt to hide her bullying air.
Xie Xu suddenly stopped, the corners of his mouth pressing into a flat line.
Mei Man failed to notice anything amiss and grew even more enthusiastic.
Now that she had thought of a way to cultivate, she was truly delighted, so she told him honestly, “Xie Xu, if I ever manage to cultivate, you can too. But you mustn’t surpass me. Otherwise, I’ll get really annoyed. I don’t even know why, but I just will.”
Xie Xu suddenly said, “That’s because you sense a threat.”
Mei Man froze and looked at him. “What?”
Xie Xu lifted his chin slightly, his expression calm. “If someone is above you, you feel threatened. You become unhappy, and even come to resent them. Manman, it’s because you’re always thinking only of yourself.”
The words were extremely blunt, almost mocking. But Mei Man did not get angry. Instead, she admitted it frankly. “Yes, that’s exactly right. What about you, then? Are you going to accept Qiu Yingling’s things, or stay here?”
Xie Xu maintained his earlier answer. “You’ll have to see for yourself.”
Mei Man lowered her neck and stared intently into his dark eyes, trying to find the answer there.
But he always wore that stern, icy expression, and she could not discern the slightest hint of eagerness.
Mei Man realized that her thoughts were becoming increasingly twisted, and she was desperate to find an outlet for them.
So she stopped studying him and stopped trying to guess what he was thinking. Instead, she pecked him on the lips.
Those repressed, warped thoughts seemed to flow away with the kiss.
A dizzying pleasure spread through her.
Still half-crouched, Xie Xu tilted his head up and kissed her back. He lightly bit her lips, his kiss slow and gentle as he lingered over them.
Before long, Mei Man wrapped her arms around his neck. He naturally placed a hand around her waist, the muscles in his back tightening and relaxing, and lifted her straight off the ground.
He carried her toward the couch. Every so often, their tongues tangled and rubbed together, sending a tingling itch through her body.
Even at a moment like this, Mei Man had not forgotten to conceal what they were doing.
She stretched her neck toward the window and peered outside. Only after confirming that it was pitch-black and no one was there did she pull her head back, breathing unevenly.
Xie Xu was breathing just as hard. A faint sheen of moisture had seeped into his pitch-black eyes, making him look more spirited than usual.
Mei Man sat propped against the wall, one hand still gripping his arm. He had spent years using brute strength, and his muscles were firm and taut. The moment she curled her fingers slightly, she could feel his throbbing pulse beneath them, striking lightly against her fingertips again and again.
Xie Xu bent over her, the warm breath that came with him seeming to envelop her completely.
His hands pressed down on either side of her. Then he suddenly asked, “Not cursing me now?”
Mei Man stared at him in disbelief. “Don’t tell me you really are a shameless bastard who comes begging to be cursed.”
Xie Xu did not answer. Instead, he brushed the tip of his nose against her earlobe, then slid it upward along the curve of her ear. Halfway there, he asked, “Want me to lick it?”
His warm breath poured into her ear, sending a tingling numbness through her. Mei Man could not help shivering.
She nodded, no longer thinking about those jumbled thoughts. Lost in the darkness, she said, “But keep it quiet.”
Xie Xu deliberately teased her. “Are you afraid someone will hear you—especially that upright and honorable immortal master of yours—hear you fooling around with the shameless bastard in your mouth? Is he really that powerful? Can he hear what’s happening here from all the way inside his own cave abode?”
Mei Man said, “Then get lost!”
Xie Xu gave a soft “tsk,” the end of the sound rising slightly, like a brief, quiet laugh.
He kissed her over the heart and said, “Manman, you really are petty.”
But before Mei Man could start cursing him again, he lowered himself.
His lips met her once more, supple and warm, his breath brushing over her skin. Mei Man immediately sank back against the wall as a numb sensation began to slowly climb through her, leaving her thoughts hazy.
Her eyelids drooped slightly, and she caught sight of his crown of black hair—and those eyes.
Xie Xu had not lowered his head completely. He often liked to watch her, his eyelids languidly lowered while his pupils remained tilted upward, as though he refused to miss a single one of her expressions.
Mei Man turned her face away. Her quickened breathing mingled with faint, barely audible moans.
Then, amid those intimate sounds, a sudden, jarring vibration rang out.
At first, she did not react. It was only when the corner of her eye caught the soft glow coming from the jade slip at her waist that she abruptly came to her senses.
It was the communication jade slip Shen Shushi had given her.
Mei Man instantly sobered and instinctively reached for it.
Because she had no spiritual power and could not activate the jade slip directly, Shen Shushi had placed a spell on it. As long as she twisted the bead on its cord before it vibrated three times, she could forcibly interrupt the transmission.
But the moment she reached out, the numbness suddenly sharpened, shooting through all four limbs and every inch of her body.
Mei Man narrowed her eyes. Her breathing grew more rapid, and her hand came to a stop.
Strands of spiritual power flew out from the jade slip, intertwining in midair and forming an image.
Mei Man’s scalp prickled instantly.
To make matters worse, the figure appearing in midair was not Shen Shushi at all.
