Xie Xu had no intention of paying any attention to the person outside. After casting him a sidelong glance, he withdrew his gaze and gently rubbed his cheek against Mei Man’s.
His movements were slow and delicate, carrying the lingering warmth of unfinished tenderness.
The person outside, however, had no intention of giving up. He impatiently pounded on the door several times and shouted, “Who’s hiding in there? Come out, now. Don’t think I can’t sense your spiritual power!”
Mei Man recognized Qiu Heyang’s voice at once.
She shot upright with a “whoosh,” astonishment appearing between her dark, gloomy brows.
How had he found this place?!
Her scalp prickled. She snatched up her clothes and hurriedly draped them over herself. The warmth that had colored her face moments ago vanished, replaced by a sudden chill.
Qiu Heyang called out, “What are you pretending for? Are you mute or deaf? If you don’t answer, I’m kicking the door in.”
Mei Man shoved Xie Xu. He spoke up, “Wait a moment.”
The commotion outside finally subsided for a while. Qiu Heyang said, “So you are willing to make a sound after all. Hurry up. I don’t have much patience.”
Xie Xu straightened his clothes and rose from the bed. Mei Man looked around, finally fixing her eyes on the window on the other side.
She quietly edged toward the side of the bed. Xie Xu noticed and turned to ask, “You’re leaving?”
Mei Man sat on the edge of the bed and nodded. She pointed toward the door, then at the window.
Xie Xu frowned. Leaning down, he whispered beside her ear, “Don’t go. I’ll send him away.”
Mei Man turned her face and pressed her lips to his ear as she whispered back, “No! He might discover me.”
People often said that every matter had both good and bad sides. The same was true of the fact that she was not a cultivator.
The flow of spiritual power left traces, so cultivators could usually detect spiritual energy. Since she possessed none, she would not be discovered easily.
But if Qiu Heyang released his divine sense and heightened his five senses, he might be able to catch her scent, hear her breathing and heartbeat, or even detect the faint sound of her hair brushing against something.
Shen Shushi had warned Qiu Heyang earlier not to casually heighten his senses, lest it affect the recovery of his sea of consciousness.
But if this man were willing to heed advice, he would not be Qiu Heyang.
To prevent that possibility, she had to get away quickly.
Xie Xu’s lips pressed into a straight line. Then he suddenly bent even lower. Supporting himself with one hand on the bed, he lifted her face with the other, leaned in, and pecked her on the lips. He then cupped the back of her neck and kissed her slowly and thoroughly.
Mei Man pressed against his arm, her lips and tongue sinking into the tingling pleasure, yet she still had to spare part of her attention to listen to the noises outside.
She feared Qiu Heyang might suddenly lose his temper, and worried that the sticky sounds of their lips and tongues would be too loud for him not to hear.
Before long, Xie Xu’s fingertips began to stroke and knead the back of her neck. With unsteady breaths, he asked softly, “Are you truly unwilling to stay a little longer? We haven’t even bathed yet.”
Mei Man hesitated, but only for a brief moment before shaking her head. Her fingers gathered around his ears to cover them, and she pressed her mouth to his again, whispering, “It’s too dangerous.”
Xie Xu did not try to persuade her further. He crouched down and put her shoes on for her.
By then, Qiu Heyang had begun making a racket again outside. “Are you sleeping in there in broad daylight? You’ve been dawdling forever. I’m really going to kick it in. At worst, I’ll pay for the repairs!”
Xie Xu twisted his brows in displeasure, disgust flashing through his eyes.
“Coming,” he said.
He usually wore an expressionless face and rarely revealed his emotions so plainly. This time, however, he remained visibly annoyed until the very moment he opened the door.
Before he did, Mei Man quietly crept to the window. Carefully pushing it open, she rolled straight through.
The instant Xie Xu opened the door, she disappeared behind the window.
The door swung wide. Qiu Heyang stood outside with his arms folded, looking as though his patience had been completely exhausted.
“Finally decided to open up?” When he saw that Xie Xu’s clothes were somewhat disheveled, he gave a cold laugh. “You’re a disciple of the Servants’ Courtyard, aren’t you? Instead of diligently cultivating in broad daylight, you curl up in your room like a rat to laze around. At this rate, who knows when you’ll make it into the Outer Sect Courtyard, let alone the Inner Sect.”
Xie Xu’s expression was no better.
He loved the tenderness that followed when everything was over—the way he could hold her against him, skin to skin, as their breaths gradually mingled, as though even their hearts had become inseparable.
Once the soreness in their bodies slowly faded, all that remained was a comfort so profound that both body and mind seemed to empty themselves. At times like that, driven by selfishness, he would hold her and kiss her now and then. She never refused; instead, she enjoyed it as much as he did.
But Qiu Heyang had barged in without warning, ruining all of it. With his frustration having nowhere to go, Xie Xu replied coldly, “What exactly do you want? If you came all the way here just to lecture me, perhaps you should first try earning yourself the title of Immortal Lord.”
He was no less sharp-tongued when mocking people. Qiu Heyang stared at him in disbelief before knitting his brows and glaring furiously.
“You dare lecture me?” he snapped. “Don’t think I won’t kill you!”
“Mm.” Xie Xu’s face remained impassive. “So what exactly is the matter?”
Qiu Heyang calmed himself. As he surveyed the surroundings, he asked, “I’m looking for someone. A few cultivators from the Outer Sect Courtyard said they saw her coming this way. She’s a female cultivator with black hair, wearing the sect’s blue robes. Her name is Mei Man. Have you seen her? Did she go toward the Spirit Market on the left, the Scenic Lake on the right, or somewhere else?”
“So you’ve come to ask someone for help after all.” Xie Xu was just as venomous with his words, stating bluntly, “It’s rare to see anyone ask a question with that sort of attitude. Your heart is smaller than a grain of rice, yet your airs are higher than the heavens. Should I call you ‘Master’ before speaking to you from now on?”
“You—!” Qiu Heyang was truly incensed. Violent fury surged through him, and he desperately wanted to kill Xie Xu on the spot.
But there were more important matters at hand. He forcibly reined in his anger and instead asked, “You’re lazing around during the day, and you still think you’re in the right? If you don’t devote yourself to cultivation, I’ll go ask the Disciplinary Hall whether you were invited here to live in seclusion and rest, or to cultivate diligently. If you don’t want to invite that trouble, then tell me honestly whether you saw anyone.”
Xie Xu did not want to waste any more time arguing with him. His face cold, he said, “No. Few people come around here. I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“No?” Qiu Heyang turned around and looked down the path.
There was only the Servants’ Courtyard between here and the Outer Sect Courtyard. Beyond it, the road split into several branches.
After a moment’s thought, he did exactly as Mei Man had feared. Enduring his headache, he released his heightened senses and carefully perceived every movement around him.
He heard very little—but he caught a familiar scent.
And it was coming from inside this ramshackle room.
Qiu Heyang’s expression changed abruptly. He turned his gaze sharply toward the space behind Xie Xu.
“Move!”
He sent a strand of spiritual power flying, striking Xie Xu in the shoulder.
Xie Xu had not expected him to attack without warning and failed to dodge in time. The force drove him several steps backward.
Clutching his painfully injured shoulder, he suddenly cast a sharp glance at Qiu Heyang, who had already entered the room. He strode forward and seized Qiu Heyang by the arm.
Xie Xu yanked him back. “What exactly are you trying to do? Do you truly have no manners at all?”
The room was small, and in that brief span of time, Qiu Heyang had already surveyed it from end to end.
There was little inside, and the furnishings could only be described as meager. Still, everything was neat and clean. Only the bed was somewhat disordered, with the bedding carelessly piled to one side.
It looked as though there was no one else there.
And yet that familiar scent remained.
He withdrew his gaze and turned it to Qiu Heyang, suddenly breaking into a smile. He looked open and amiable as he said, “I’m sorry. I was injured some time ago, and I’ve forgotten everything that happened before—I can’t remember a thing. I also suffer from headaches fairly often. Whenever one strikes, I become a completely different person. I’m terribly unreasonable and can’t control myself. If you don’t believe me, you can ask my master or my senior brother. I apologize for any offense, Junior Brother. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Xie Xu had also heard Mei Man mention his amnesia, but he had never witnessed his talent for changing moods. Seeing him so friendly, he believed him to some extent.
His grip loosened slightly, and the muscles that had been tense relaxed a little. “It’s nothing. Your illness—”
Before he could finish, Qiu Heyang suddenly turned aside, crossed the distance in a few quick steps, and opened the tightly shut wardrobe door.
The clothes inside were neatly arranged, and there was no one hiding within.
Xie Xu had not even had time to react. His hand was still raised in midair when he fell silent for a moment. “…Is this also one of your symptoms?”
Qiu Heyang did not answer. He reached into the wardrobe, yanked down a sachet hanging inside, and demanded, “Where did you get this?”
The sachet’s fragrance was different from the one Mei Man usually used, but its shape and the embroidered mark in the corner were clearly from the same shop.
Xie Xu’s eyelid twitched faintly.
Mei Man had stuffed it into his hands the last time they were at the Immortal-Seeking Tower, but he answered without hesitation, “I bought it.”
“Bought it?” Qiu Heyang asked suspiciously. The familiar, faint fragrance filling the room grated against his nerves. He pressed on, “When did you buy it? Which shop? How much did it cost?”
“The Fragrance Pavilion in the spirit market of the Outer Sect Courtyard. One mid-grade spirit stone, last month.” Xie Xu paused, then added, “Does your illness also include opening other people’s wardrobes without permission and interrogating them about their belongings?”
He had answered without the slightest hesitation. Mei Man often liked buying little trinkets, occasionally picking up something cheap and then secretly showing it off to him—just like these sachets.
But at present, he was more concerned with something else.
Why was Qiu Heyang acting so suspiciously, questioning him so relentlessly?
Qiu Heyang’s suspicions gradually faded. He tossed the sachet back to him and smiled, shamelessly admitting, “I’m sorry. It’s like this—when my mind gets muddled, I’ll do just about anything. Please forgive me, please forgive me. Since you haven’t seen that person, I’ll be leaving first. I still have something urgent to discuss with her.”
He left the room and looked toward the several paths branching ahead.
Qiu Heyang considered the matter. If she had gone to the spirit market, she could have headed there directly from the Outer Sect Courtyard; there was no reason for her to take a longer route.
The scenery around Viewing Lake was nothing special and could not compare with that of the Inner Sect.
With that thought, he turned onto the path farthest to the right, which led into the bamboo grove.
Meanwhile, Mei Man was running in a panic. She had initially planned to hide in the spirit market, but before she had gone very far, she spotted several people in the distance.
At the front was a young woman seated in a wheelchair.
A young attendant walked beside each side of the wheelchair. Despite their childlike appearances, they possessed none of a child’s innocence. Each was silent and reserved, their steps steady and measured.
In truth, Mei Man had not yet seen the young woman’s face clearly. But the moment she caught sight of that wheelchair, the hairs all over her body stood on end, and she turned to leave.
“Mei Man.” The call of an attendant drifted over from afar, clear and childish yet calm and indifferent. “Where are you going? Don’t leave.”
