“Ah… Master! Don’t touch me!”
Gu Qingying almost reflexively used all her strength to push Lu Li’s hand away.
Her voice carried a sharpness and tremor even she did not notice!
Clearly, she didn’t want Lu Li to touch her, for fear of provoking the strange stirring within her body.
She also didn’t want Lu Li to end up like her, falling victim to Gong Shangyu’s powder.
Lu Li’s hand froze in midair, stunned.
He obviously hadn’t expected his eldest disciple to react so violently—he had only just brushed her hand…
Gu Qingying realized she had overreacted.
Looking at her Master’s startled expression, her heart grew increasingly frantic and chaotic, and that inexplicable heat surged stronger, almost swallowing her reason.
“Ah… I’m—I’m sorry, Master! Let me clean this up myself! This Disciple is dirty—I dare not sully your hands!”
Gu Qingying babbled, then abruptly squatted down, and at lightning speed, almost with bare hands, started picking up the hot shards and sticky porridge from the floor.
She moved so fast that afterimages nearly appeared.
Just like that, in no time at all, Gu Qingying, relying on pure instinct, cleaned up the mess on the floor in a flash.
Once done, she sprang to her feet and, not daring to look at Lu Li, quickly bowed her head and spoke.
“Master, your Disciple has finished cleaning!”
“Disciple… may have disrupted my cultivation just now, and after drinking a whole pot of hot porridge, I feel rather overheated. I’ll head to the Warm Pavilion for a cold wash to calm myself!”
Without waiting for Lu Li’s reply, she shot out of the Dan Room like a frightened little black rabbit—or more like a cannonball—racing straight towards the Warm Pavilion, leaving only Lu Li and Gong Shangyu behind, along with a gust of flustered wind.
Watching Gu Qingying flee so disheveled, Gong Shangyu immediately realized that her little Shimei must have been affected by the powder while cleaning up the porcelain shards.
Noticing this, Gong Shangyu’s lips curled in a schadenfreude-laced smile.
Lu Li stood dumbfounded, staring at his eldest disciple’s hasty retreat, then glanced down at the hand Gu Qingying had forcefully swatted away.
He frowned, his eyes full of confusion.
“Hmm? What’s gotten into Qingying…?”
“Why did she act so strange just now? First, she gulped the porridge down like a starving wolf…”
“Then such a big reaction… Could it be she made a mistake in her cultivation earlier?”
Looking over at Gong Shangyu, who, though slightly gloating over her Shimei’s mishap, was still disgruntled by her foiled plan, Lu Li was even more perplexed.
Hmph…
Lu Li!
Fine!
Just you wait, you little thing!
Gong Shangyu forcefully suppressed the raging anger in her heart and forced a twisted, polite smile at Lu Li.
“Hehe~ Master… Since the porridge is gone…”
“And Senior Brother Gu… has gone for a bath, this Disciple will take her leave as well…”
Gong Shangyu was nearly grinding her teeth as she said this to Lu Li, then stood to go.
But as she was about to rise, Lu Li suddenly called out behind her.
“Bai Yu, wait a moment.”
Lu Li rubbed his brow, temporarily putting aside his eldest disciple’s odd behavior.
There was something more important now.
“I wanted to discuss the matter of Zhujidan refinement with you. You come from the Pill Cauldron Pavilion and are more familiar with these matters than I am. You can help me review my approach.”
Gong Shangyu paused at his words.
Although she knew the Zhujidan Lu Li wanted to refine was definitely for that annoying little Shimei Gu Qingying, the chance to spend time alone with Lu Li still made her perk up instantly.
She quickly composed herself and, as she turned around, had already donned a respectful, professional expression.
“Hehe~ If Master commands, this Disciple will do her best. What difficulties or uncertainties does Master have with Zhujidan refinement?”
Gong Shangyu sat back down, her eyes quickly scanning the dazzling array of medicinal ingredients in the Dan Room as her mind raced.
Lu Li pondered aloud, “Qingying has reached the peak of Qi Refining; it’s best to form her foundation soon. I’m preparing to begin refining a furnace of Zhujidan for her. I’ve already gathered most of the required materials while out buying earlier.”
“However, when it comes to the control of heat and technique during alchemy, there are still many aspects I don’t fully understand…”
While Lu Li and Gong Shangyu were discussing the details of Zhujidan refinement in the Dan Room—
***
Duanqing Peak, inside the East Warm Pavilion.
Splash—
A whole bucket of ice-cold spring water poured down over Gu Qingying’s head.
Her slender, slightly awkward figure was instantly outlined by the water, revealing subtle, graceful curves.
Gu Qingying tightly shut her eyes, letting the bone-chilling cold wash over her, hoping to douse the inferno surging up from her dantian, threatening to burn away her sanity.
Yet, things did not go as she wished.
The icy spring water, meeting her burning skin, didn’t soothe her at all.
Instead, it was like hot oil splashing onto snow, making the heat inside her lash back even more fiercely!
Far from clearing her mind, Gu Qingying’s thoughts ran wild, replaying the scene in the Dan Room over and over again.
Ah… when Master approached just now, that crisp, clean scent on him…
Ah… the anxious tension when Master reached out, his fingertips almost touching her…
And the frown and confused gaze when Master stared at her in shock…
Every detail replayed and magnified endlessly in her mind, tangling together with the effects of the medicine in her body, weaving an invisible net that tightly ensnared her.
With Lu Li’s gentle smile and features flooding her mind, a faint, mosquito-quiet murmur slipped uncontrollably from Gu Qingying’s lips.
She bit down hard on her lower lip, her teeth sinking deep into the softness in a desperate attempt to use pain to wake what little reason she had left.
But… it was useless!
Completely useless!
That porridge mixed with Yiqingsan, through the wound on her fingertip, had seeped straight into her blood.
The effects were direct and overpowering.
Her agitated mood, now overflowing with thoughts of her Master, only fanned the flames higher.
Gu Qingying felt her whole body burning up, especially a strange, empty heat swirling in her lower abdomen, making her knees weak—she could barely stay standing in the bath.
Her once-bright violet eyes now glimmered with a misty sheen, a delicate blush rising at the corners.
“Ah… Lu Li, Master…”
Gu Qingying unconsciously murmured, sliding down against the cold wall of the Warm Pavilion bath, curling up tightly in a corner.
She lifted the wooden bucket again, cold water still pouring over her head, but she no longer felt any coolness.
It was as if she was being roasted over a scorching stove, suffering a slow torment.
Her mind screamed for calm, telling her to drive out the medicine with her cultivation.
But every time she tried to steady her thoughts, her Master’s gentle voice, handsome face, and clear scent would burst in, shattering what little focus she could muster.
Gong Shangyu… you—damn you… just how much medicine did you slip into Master’s food just now!?
Ah!
So hot… it’s unbearable…
Lu Li, Master…
If only Master were here…
No!
No, I can’t!
Master mustn’t see me like this!
Her thoughts boiled and crashed within her like boiling water.
At this moment, Gu Qingying yearned for the one figure that could calm her heart, yet also feared that same person seeing her so wretched.
She struggled to circulate the Duanqing Jue and her Heart Purification Art of Glazed Glass, hoping these two disciplines—meant to sever desire and purify the heart—could suppress the turmoil within her.
But as soon as she activated her skills, the spiritual energy flowing through the meridians affected by the medicine only brought an even fiercer, overwhelming surge of heat, and waves of tingling softness that made her scalp prickle.
“Ah—”
Gu Qingying let out a pained whimper, with a hint of helpless pleasure, pressing her flushed cheek tightly against the cold wall, vainly seeking some comfort to suppress the unrest in her heart.
Steam drifted in the Warm Pavilion of Duanqing Peak, and Gu Qingying’s suppressed, broken breaths echoed for a long while, forming a stark and strangely bizarre contrast to the solemn discussion of alchemy taking place in the distant Dan Room.