Mei Man’s hand paused as she wiped away her tears. She looked at him and asked between sobs, “Really?”
“Mm.” Shen Shushi’s brows drew together slightly as he suppressed the trace of panic in his heart. His expression turned solemn. “I have thought it over carefully. If you continue staying here, you will be in real danger. This time, we were lucky enough to restrain my demon form with that chain, but what about next time? What will you do if my demon form manages to break free?”
Mei Man wiped her tears dry, then suddenly asked, “Immortal Master, you truly don’t remember anything? I mean, when you turn into your demon form.”
“Not even for a moment. Did that demon form hurt you?”
“No.”
He was practically turning into a dog already.
Shen Shushi’s brows relaxed slightly.
“Immortal Master, don’t worry. That demon isn’t so frightening. If it happens again, I’ll just stay far away from it.” Mei Man paused. “If you’re worried, why not try separating it from yourself?”
Shen Shushi froze. “What do you mean?”
Mei Man lowered her head. “Since you have no memory of becoming that demon form, and the demon doesn’t resemble you at all, doesn’t that make it no different from there being two people? Rather than trying to prevent the demon form from appearing, why not simply separate it from you?”
At her words, Shen Shushi felt as if clouds had parted to reveal the sun.
In the past, he had always assumed that the demon and he were one entity, and so he had tried countless methods to suppress his demonic nature. He had attempted to channel in more spiritual power and even refine pills to subdue the demon.
But he had never considered splitting it in two.
Although this method would inevitably cause a significant loss of cultivation, it could solve the problem once and for all.
Shen Shushi’s brows furrowed slightly, then smoothed out.
At that moment, Mei Man took out her notes and held them out to him. In a muffled voice, she said, “Immortal Master, these are my assignments from the past few days. If you’re going to send me away, you should at least check my work first.”
Shen Shushi’s gaze fell on the notebook. He did not open it, but he could tell from its well-worn appearance alone how much effort she had put into it.
His heart stirred.
The several disciples under his tutelage were all intelligent, but most of them paid lip service while doing as they pleased. He saw many things, but simply chose not to point them out.
Only this youngest one was truly diligent and earnest.
He let out a soft sigh.
Mei Man tightened her grip on the notebook and secretly glanced up at him.
“I’m not sending you away.” Shen Shushi took the notebook from her and turned to leave. “Come inside. Don’t bring this up again.”
Only then did Mei Man walk with him into the residence, heading toward the Pure Heart Pavilion.
On the way, Shen Shushi asked, “Where did you buy that chain?”
“At the Spirit Market.”
“Quite resourceful.” He asked again, “When did you put it on that demon form?”
Mei Man obviously could not tell him that she had put it on from the very beginning and had even kept the white wolf tethered like a dog for several days. So she said, “A couple of days ago, when it wasn’t paying attention.”
“Do not do such a thing again. That creature is savage. Countless puppets have been destroyed by it in the past.”
“I know. Immortal Master, that white wolf howls all the time, day and night without stopping. Are you like that when you turn into your demon form?”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“Oh.”
“I rarely transform into my demon form. Even when I do become a demon, I can still speak like a human.”
“The wolf’s mouth doesn’t look like it could speak human language.”
“Spells can accomplish that as well. Stop discussing this.”
“Oh.”
“How many spirit stones did that chain cost?”
“Two. The shopkeeper said it could restrain even someone with ten thousand years of cultivation.”
“That is somewhat exaggerated, but the quality is acceptable.” Shen Shushi paused. “That chain was accidentally damaged by me. You have been here for more than a month and have yet to receive your monthly allowance. Take these. Consider them both your allowance and compensation.”
With a casual seal, he summoned a brocade pouch covered in a faint radiance. It appeared out of thin air and landed in Mei Man’s hands.
It was heavy. From the feel of it, there seemed to be spirit stones inside.
Back at the Outer Sect Academy, they had received a monthly allowance as well.
Each person was given two low-grade spirit stones per month. Most of the disciples there came from wealthy families and did not care about such a small sum, but Mei Man had treasured hers and saved every one.
Now, holding this heavy pouch, her first thought was that it contained more than ten low-grade spirit stones. She even thought that this man was surprisingly generous.
But when she untied the pouch and looked inside, she found five high-grade spirit stones, more than a dozen mid-grade spirit stones, and several pieces of jade she could not identify. Their quality was clearly extraordinary, each one covered in a faint radiance.
She immediately tied the pouch shut again, clutched it tightly to her chest, and stared at him in shock.
Shen Shushi continued, “Although you have no spiritual power, you receive the same benefits as your senior brothers. In addition to the spirit stones, you will receive three pieces of Primal Chaos Jade Marrow each month. Once refined with spiritual power, the jade marrow can strengthen spiritual artifacts. Heyang and Guiya often use it to forge talisman brushes and bows and arrows. You may keep it or sell it; the choice is yours.”
Halfway through his explanation, he noticed that there was no response behind him. He stopped and turned around.
Mei Man stood several steps away, hugging the pouch tightly and not moving at all.
He frowned slightly. “Mei Man?”
“Ah? Oh, it’s nothing. Thank you, Immortal Master.” Mei Man hurried to catch up.
For some inexplicable reason, she now felt like a thief. She almost wished she could swallow the pouch and hide it in her stomach.
She had saved some private funds herself, but she kept them scattered in various hiding places and never carried so many valuables on her person.
In an instant, she felt as if countless pairs of eyes were watching her—especially the things clutched to her chest.
She became extremely uncomfortable, hunching her shoulders and bending slightly at the waist. Even though there could not possibly be anyone else in the residence, everywhere she looked seemed suspicious.
She crept along like a guilty thief for the entire journey, and although Shen Shushi did not notice anything amiss, the effort nearly exhausted her.
The moment she returned, Mei Man took everything out of the pouch and hid the items in different places. Only then did she go to the loft to read.
At the market below the mountain, she had bought a large bird’s nest made of thick cotton and brocade. The shopkeeper had said it was something beloved by the winged folk.
Mei Man had never met any members of the winged folk and could not tell whether the claim was true, but the nest was very comfortable to curl up in, so she had bought it. She usually sat inside it while reading.
As evening approached, Shen Shushi sent a puppet to summon her to the tea room in the Pure Heart Pavilion.
She kept her guard up and asked, “Is anyone else there besides Immortal Master?”
The puppet stared blankly ahead. After thinking for a moment, it answered, “Immortal Master Qiu.”
“Which Immortal Master Qiu?”
“Qiu Yingling. He came here before as well and asked where you were.”
Mei Man was reminded of the things he had said.
A faint gloom settled over her expression. She shrank back into the nest and said, “I’m not going. Just tell Immortal Master that I must have caught a chill and am feeling unwell, and that you couldn’t wake me.”
The puppet looked at her and suddenly said, “You’re awake, and you haven’t caught a chill.”
“You really are an idiot!” Mei Man could not help scolding him.
The puppet fell silent.
After a long while, he said, “You want me to deceive him.”
Mei Man nodded.
“No.” The puppet’s expression remained blank. “I am formed from the Immortal Lord’s spiritual power. There is no way I could deceive him.”
“You—forget it.” Mei Man took advantage of the moment to lie down in the nest and curl herself into a ball, putting on an extremely pitiful expression. “My head hurts.”
The puppet stepped forward and stared at her woodenly. “What’s wrong?”
“My head hurts. I must have caught a chill.” Mei Man clutched her head and spoke weakly, her eyes half-closed as she groaned softly. “Could you tell Immortal Master that my head hurts? I just took some medicine, and I’m terribly sleepy. I’m afraid I can’t walk there.”
“Does it hurt badly?”
“Mm.” Mei Man nodded, her eyes still half-lidded as she continued to moan. “But I just took some medicine. It should feel better after a while.”
“I understand.” The puppet rose and headed outside.
Hearing his footsteps descend the stairs, Mei Man stopped moaning and sat up at once.
Tch! It was only a matter of saying one sentence. She had to put on an act first.
Meanwhile, the puppet went to the teahouse and relayed everything truthfully.
When he heard that Mei Man was ill and unable to come, Qiu Yingling’s hand, resting on his teacup, tightened slightly.
“Is it very serious?” he asked. “Do you know what medicine she took? Should I go see her?”
Before the puppet could answer, Shen Shushi said, “There’s no need. My library is home to countless book spirits, and they have never liked outsiders coming near. Too much living breath may cause trouble. Mei Man isn’t a child; she knows how to take care of herself.”
“True. Going over at a time like this would only be an imposition.” Qiu Yingling took out a long, slender box made of rosewood. “Then I’ll trouble you to pass this on to her. It’s a brush made from lightning-struck wood and phoenix feathers. I asked her to help me with something before, and this is a token of my thanks.”
The puppet accepted it.
He was a brisk and efficient sort. Turning around, he went straight to the library.
Yet he returned before long, the box still in his hand.
“Immortal Master Qiu,” he said, placing the box back on the table, “Immortal Mei says it’s only a writing implement, so there’s no need for anything so valuable. She won’t accept it.”
The smile on Qiu Yingling’s face faded slightly. “You didn’t tell her why I was giving it to her?”
“I did.” The puppet thought for a moment. “Immortal Mei also said that if you’re doing this because of what happened a few days ago, there’s no need. It was only a trivial matter, and she didn’t take it to heart. She’s long since forgotten all about it.”
The smile remained on Qiu Yingling’s face, but it had become stiff, as though carved there—a fake smile in every sense.
His breathing grew heavier, as if he were trying to ease the faint, dense ache in his chest.
Only a trivial matter? She hadn’t taken it to heart? She had forgotten all about it?
He thought back to that day. Although he had been briefly disoriented by the backlash of demonic qi, and everything that had happened seemed veiled in a hazy mist, he could still vaguely remember some of it.
He remembered how she had kissed him, how she had held him close, pinned down his hands, and slowly—so slowly and gently—rubbed against him.
The wet, sticky sounds and her soft moans had lingered by his ears, circling there endlessly. Whether awake or asleep, they had tormented him these past few days, forcing him to confront desires that had never arisen in him before.
There was also the way she had repeatedly ground the scabbard against him. He imagined she probably hadn’t understood what was happening, and naturally had no idea how to deal with it. In her bewilderment and helplessness, she had resorted to a method that was almost laughable.
But he thought it didn’t matter.
He had once assumed that, given her sensitive and suspicious nature, she would never accept something so far beyond her expectations. Yet perhaps this was an opportunity. Although he still hadn’t figured out a way for mortals to cultivate immortality, he could comfort her and tell her that they had grown up together, that they were already accustomed to one another, and that they still had thousands upon thousands of years ahead of them.
Every moment, he had been turning over possible explanations in his mind.
And in the end, all he received was: “It was nothing important”?
“Is that so?” Qiu Yingling withdrew the box. He suddenly felt that the tea room was too small, too cramped, so stifling that it made breathing slightly difficult.
He rose and said, “I do feel rather indebted to her. Her headache must not have fully healed, and she may still be a little muddled. I’ll come see her again another day.”
The puppet nodded blankly.
But Mei Man had seemed perfectly well to him. She had even been able to eat.
Mei Man didn’t want to see Qiu Yingling. Whenever she thought of what he had said that day, she became unbearably distressed. Sometimes she didn’t even realize it, and her face would already be wet with tears.
She didn’t understand. If he truly didn’t care about what had happened, why did he keep trying to find her? Was he planning to remind her not to tell anyone, or warn her not to read too much into it?
But did she really not understand those most basic things?
She chose the simplest solution: she hid herself away like a quail, refusing to see him or hear his voice.
For several days in a row, Mei Man stayed inside the library. Qiu Yingling had tried contacting her through a communication jade slip, but fortunately, all she had to do was twist the bead on its cord to forcibly cut off the connection.
After a few days passed, someone came to the library looking for her.
It was Yu Guiya.
