55 – Care
They reached the hall, and were about to open the door… when the door was opened from the inside, and a candidate came out with a sigh.
Xue Qilin first glanced at the candidate, and the looked at Xia Xue.
“Really, what took you so long? Did you bring her?”
Xia Xue glanced at Shui Yuner who walked in after Xue Qilin, and pouted, “I won"t bear the responsibility for this!”
“I know, I know. I"ll talk with Little Seven, okay?” Xue Qilin rolled her eyes, “Are we free now? I have something I want to verify.”
“Of course we"re free! Just now, that was the last candidate.”
“Really? how fast.” Xue Qilin said casually and walked towards the table, “Give me a writing brush.”
“What are you going to do?” Nevertheless, Xia Xue handed Xue Qilin a writing brush.
“Well, you"ll know soon.” Xue Qilin waved at Gong Tianqing, “Little Qing, help me grind some ink.”
“Yes.” Gong Tianqing picked up an inkstick and began to grind it.
“Is there cinnabar?” Xue Qilin asked Xia Xue.
“This is the Leisure Manor,” Xia Xue spoke meaningfully, “there"s everything here.”
“Then help me get some, okay?”
“Go yourself.” Xia Xue rolled her eyes.
Xue Qilin wanted to talk back, when she heard a voice intervene, “I"ll go.”
The speaker was Qian Duoduo.
“Uh … then I"ll have to trouble you.”
He nodded in response, and then opened the door and went out.
“Yun"er…” Xue Qilin stopped somewhat awkwardly, and then turned to look at Shui Yuner, and asked probingly, “Can I call you Little Yun?”
“Not Senior Sister Shui?”
Seeing the faint expression of surprise on the other party"s face, Xue Qilin looked away awkwardly, “I"m older than you.”
The girl froze, and then looked at Xue Qilin as if they had met for the first time and re-examined her. The skeptical gaze left Xue Qilin uneasy.
Huh? Xue Qilin suddenly found a clue, and detected a hidden smile in Shui Yuner"s eyes.
“You already knew it, right?” Xue Qilin said hesitantly.
Shui Yuner covered her mouth with her hand and laughed, “Senior Disciple Sister, you"re so cute. I couldn"t help…”
Xue Qilin made an “ah” sound and blushed.
Aside from feeling shy, she also felt a little embarra.s.sed. She felt shy because this was the first time that someone has praised her like this. As for the embarra.s.sment she felt, it stemmed from the remaining consciousness in her heart that has not been worn away yet.
Embarra.s.sment seeps into time and flows accordingly.
That d.a.m.n Xia Xue, she"s gloating! Xue Qilin gritted her white teeth and glared at the Merak Temple"s Fifth Elder who is laughing inwardly.
“Our Little Jiujiu is really cute.” Xia Xue"s words gave Xue Qilin a great blow.
“The… the ink is ready.”
The sound of the door opening sounded.
Xue Qilin looked gratefully at Qian Duoduo who just returned. Xia Xue tsked, a little unreconciled.
“What happened?” Surprised, Qian Duoduo looked back and forth between Xue Qilin and Xia Xue.
“It"s nothing.” Xia Xue answered with little interest.
“Oh… Right, Junior Disciple Sister, I brought what you asked.” He walked up to Xue Qilin and handed her a small parcel. At first glance, the thing wrapped in paper looks like a yellow amulet [1].
“Thank you!” The la.s.s opened the thing, and bright red sand grains came into her view.
Good quality! Cinnabar of high quality is odorless. Xue Qilin didn"t smell any odor from the cinnabar in her hand.
Without hesitation, she poured the red sand grains into the ink Gong Tianqing has ground, and then picked up a writing brush and stirred it. Because of the addition of the grains, the color of the ink gradually became dark red.
“Junior Disciple Sister, is there enough cinnabar? If not, I can get some more.”
“It"s enough.” Xue Qilin nodded her head with satisfaction. Then, she remembered something, and said to Qian Duoduo, “Little Duo, leave for a moment. Don"t let anyone near here.”
“I got it.”
“Done.” Xue Qilin turned her head, “Little Yun!”
Holding the brush daubed in ink, Xue Qilin shouted towards Shui Yuner without looking back. She emphasized the words “Little Yun”, stating that the other party cannot object to this form of address.
“Yes.”
“Undress.”
“Ah!” Shui Yuner exclaimed.
“Didn"t you take off your clothes readily during the a.s.sessment? Why are you surprised this time?”
“Honestly, Junior Disciple Sister. The circ.u.mstances are different… At that time, I knew that I would have to undress for the bone touch, so I was mentally prepared.”
“Uh… you care so much about that? Would you like to take some time to prepare?” Xue Qilin has just asked blankly, when Xia Xue uttered sarcastically, “Heavens, there"s a fool here.”
“No need, I"m just a bit scared, that"s all.” Shui Yuner smiled bitterly, then took off her clothes.
The sound of fabric rustling rose as the girl lost one item of clothing after another. Before long, the girl was almost naked.
The delicate, porcelain skin shining with a moist gloss is exposed for everyone to see.
“Remove the undergarments as well.”
Shui Yuner revealed a very surprised expression, but Xue Qilin didn"t notice it. Her gaze is wandering all over Shui Yuner body in order to capture the qi pa.s.sageways hidden under the skin.
As the la.s.s looked very concentrated and serious, no one disturbed her, and Shui Yuner was no exception. She just did as she was told.
When she was completely naked, she covered her private parts with her hands, her cheeks red.
“Don"t cover yourself!” An unquestionable order rang.
The girl moved her hands away subconsciously.
The candles flickered gently, and the shadows danced.
As if waking up in an instant, Xue Qilin"s pupils shimmered and turned gold.
Then… the brush moved, and flowed on Shui Yuner"s delicate body with great speed. With each stroke, a red line was drawn on the fair skin.
Countless lines crisscrossed and entangled, and gradually a complicated pattern took form.
“Oh, are those qi pa.s.sageways?” Xia Xue"s hesitant voice entered Xue Qilin"s ears, but not her mind.
At this time, she completed the key part. The originally flowing movements suddenly halted, and the writing brush stopped on Shui Yuner"s left chest.
That is where all the lines point to, the spiritual center above the heart.
According to Xue Qilin"s theoretical knowledge, martial arts cultivation methods can allow martial pract.i.tioners absorb the spiritual qi in the world. However, the spiritual qi is not true qi, and cannot be used directly. The key place where spiritual qi can be transformed into true qi is the spiritual center, which Qi Qiqi calls “core qi source”.
Plop – a drop of vermilion ink hanging from the tip of the brush for a long time finally dropped and fell of the floor, and like a blooming red flower, exuded a strange beauty.
At the same time, Xue Qilin finally moved again.
Countless crimson lines converged towards the left chest, and then twisted, intertwined, and dispersed, depicting an extremely complex pattern.
Xue Qilin took in a deep breath, feeling a light stabbing pain in her eyes. Unwittingly, perspiration emerged and moistened her eyes.
“Done.”
“What"s this?” Curious, Xia Xue asked immediately.
“Qi pa.s.sageways.”
“Are you saying that these lines can replace qi pa.s.sageways?”
“Of course they cannot replace them completely, but it"s enough to perform the next test.”
Xia Xue frowned. She still has many questions that she wants to ask, but Xue Qilin didn"t let her.
“Okay, let"s get started.” Xue Qilin clapped her hands, and Shui Yuner who was absorbed in observing the lines on her skin recovered her composure.
“Ah! Okay.”
Shui Yuner wanted to cover her private parts somewhat unnaturally, but then stopped, probably because she remembered Xue Qilin"s instruction not to cover herself. The embarra.s.sed look on her face evokes a fascinating sense of playing hard to get.
Xue Qilin couldn"t help swallowing.
Then, she noticed that her eyes started to move towards some areas without her permission, so she quickly turned around and said, “Put on your clothes first.”
“May I?”
“Yes.”
As if relieved of a burden, Shui Yuner quickly took her clothes from Gong Tianqing and dressed.
The rustling of the fabric gradually calmed down, and Xue Qilin turned back. She saw that Shui Yuner was already fully dressed. But the flush on her cheeks hasn"t completely receded yet.
“Little Yun, next I will focus true qi on the lines on your skin. At that time, you may experience some queer feeling. Bear with it. Don"t try to interfere with the flow of true qi, understood?” Xue Qilin instructed sternly.
“Okay.”
“Very good.” Xue Qilin approached Shui Yuner and took her left hand. The la.s.s didn"t stop to take the tender feeling in.
The lines on Shui Yuner"s hand emitted bright blue light. Then, the light extended.
Even the lines hidden under the clothes emitted light bright enough that could be seen from under the clothes.
Like countless rivers converging in a lake, the blue light in the lines flowed towards the complicated pattern on the left chest, and finally filled it.
Xue Qilin released her hand and narrowed her eyes.
The light suddenly dissipated.
Just when everyone was surprised…
Water poured out from under Shui Yuner"s feet.
The water didn"t disperse, but instead turned into numerous streams flowing around Shui Yuner.
“Where did the water come from!” Xia Xue exclaimed, and her eyes widened to the extreme.
“This…” Clearly shocked, Shui Yuner was speechless for a long time.
The moment she wanted to touch one of the streams…
As if they lost their support, the streams lost their shape and splattered to the ground.
“Hmm, it looks like you"ve run out of true qi.” Xue Qilin nodded her head, not paying any attention to everyone"s surprised looks.
“Little Xue, add Little Yun"s name. I admit her.” Xue Qilin threw the writing brush to Xia Xue, and then said proudly.
Xia Xue retracted her gaze from the water on the ground and gave the la.s.s a deep look, as if to say “I"ll listen to your explanation later.”
“Okay.” Xia Xue answered and went to amend the result in the note book.
“I am admitted?” Shui Yuner"s head seemed to be in the clouds.
“You are. I have the final say.”
“Who are you?”
“Don"t you want to see that person?” Xue Qilin replied naughtily.
Shui Yuner suddenly exclaimed: “You are the Merak Temple"s Young Ancestor…”
Xue Qilin was about to nod her hear in response, but then came the second half of Shui Yuner"s sentence.
“… ‘s disciple?”
Xia Xue burst out laughing, Gong Tianqing"s face distorted, and Xue Qilin"s expression became unsightly.
“You aren"t?”
“I am…” Xue Qilin originally wanted to say “I am not”, but then suddenly had a mischievous thought.
“Yes, I am her disciple.”
“Ah! I see.” Shui Yuner"s eyes showed a look of admiration.
Upon seeing this, Xue Qilin laughed secretly. When they return to the Merak Temple, what kind of face will Shui Yuner make when she learns that the one she thinks to be Xue Jiujiu is actually Xue Qilin?
“Alright. Miss Shui, go and wait for the results. Although there have been many accidents, but some formalities still have to be observed.” Xia Xue spoke suddenly, clearly driving the other party away.
“Oh, yes.” Shui Yuner naturally detected this.
She bowed towards Xia Xue, and then glanced at Xue Qilin. After the la.s.s nodded and signaled that there were no problems, she smiled in relief and left.
When Shui Yuner"s aura was gone, Xia Xue asked impatiently, “What was that just now? Who is this Shui Yuner? Why can she use your spells?”
She asked several questions in a row, and Xue Qilin was taken aback for a while.
Xue Qilin raised the corners of her lips and said meaningfully, “Some people are born with care…”
“With whose care?” Xia Xue frowned.
But Xue Qilin didn"t answer. She just pointed her finger in a certain direction, in the direction of the sky.
[1] – Yellow amulet