Lingxiao Xianzun's body had always carried a refreshing cold fragrance. But now, with that scent drifting around him, it’s something a little more dangerous.

Qi Shu was forced to kneel on the cold floor tiles in front of the window, his upper body pushed onto the bed. His mind went blank.

Cultivating and seeking the WayOf the Dao. is actually an extremely dangerous process. Starting from foundation building, the higher the realm or level, the more dangerous it becomes, and even the slightest bit of carelessness could lead to qi deviation.

Even Qi Shu had fallen into several crises during his cultivation.

But Lingxiao Xianzun is extremely talented, so how could he

"M-Master…"

Qi Shu was pressed down so that it was hard to breathe, he subconsciously moved, but in return he was restrained with more force.

That cold hand tightly grabbed his wrist, and the other hand clamped around his waist, pressing Qi Shu's entire body onto the bed with deadly force.

The force was so strong that it even hurt a little.

From the time he entered the Sect, he had never seen Shizun look like this. Lingxiao Xianzun has always been calm and collected, unperturbed by changes, when had he ever been in such a frenzied state of mind?

What to do

"Master, it's me, let go of me…"

Qi Shu could see that his Master’s situation was mostly due to the fact something had gone wrong in his practice and his awareness was somewhat unclear, not yet to the point of going into qi deviation. But if it continued like this, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Thinking of this, he forced himself to calm down.

Qi Shu tried to remember what Shizun had done in the past when he was in danger during practice. He relaxed his body, his voice extremely gentle as he said, "Master, don't be afraid, it's okay. Can you let go of me first, I can help you…"

"You want to leave?" Gu Hanjiang's voice was low.

"...huh?"

"Where do you want to go?" Gu Hanjiang's voice became louder, like when he used to reprimand the laziness of disciples within the Sect in the past, sounding very angry.

Qi Shu didn't even understand why he was angry now.

He wanted to go on coaxing, but suddenly there was a little moist and slightly cool touch behind his ear.
Gu Hanjiang had dropped a kiss as light as dragonfly skimming over water behind his ear.

“!!!”

The sensitive back of his ear had never been touched like this before, and the sanity that Qi Shu had managed to accumulate almost instantly spiralled up into the sky, even his legs went limp.

"M-Master!"

But a person whose consciousness was chaotic would not pay any attention to him.

Therefore Gu Hanjiang merely lowered his head and touched him once again. A tingling itch rose up from his spinal cord, and the moist touch behind his ear was unbearable for Qi Shu, but he dared not move, and could only clutch the thin blanket beneath him with all his might, trembling minutely all over.

The moonlight reflected their overlapping figures onto the floor, and for a moment all that could be heard in the darkened room was the panting of repressed breaths as Gu Hanjiang continued to touch his disciple.

He didn't know how much time had passed before the pressure on Qi Shu's body finally loosened a little.

Qi Shu was the most senior shixiong of the Kunlun Sword Sect, so he was able to break free from his opponent's grip after only a moment's lapse. He grabbed Gu Hanjiang's wrist with his opposite hand and took him onto the bed with him.

The two of them switched positions instantly, with Qi Shu straddling Gu Hanjiang's body and placing two fingers together on Gu Hanjiang's forehead.

Qi Shu's hand was still trembling, and his voice was as calm and steady as he could make it, "Master, regulate your breathing and concentrate."

Rolling spiritual energy flowed through his fingertips, and Gu Hanjiang finally calmed down.

It was under control.

Qi Shu sighed with relief.

How come no one had ever told him that going off the deep end would change a person’s temperament in this way?

Qi Shu touched his ear with his free hand, and it was as if the touch of the other party was still there, the earlobe to the neck was red from his playing and still hot.

Too frightening!

Although…it was already good that he didn't seem to be at a disadvantage or suffer any losses.

Gu Hanjiang's breathing gradually smoothed out, as if he had finally fallen asleep. Qi Shu lay on top of his master, looking intently at him through the moonlight and the shimmer of spiritual energy.

He rarely had the opportunity to look at his Master like this, so close that even the tiny downy hairs on his face, and the long, feathery eyelashes could be seen clearly.

Gu Hanjiang's face was still pale, even his lips were white and tightly pursed. Before today, Qi Shu would never have imagined that those lips, with their sharp contours, would be so soft.

Qi Shu licked his lips and actually reached out his hand, wanting to touch those lips again.

But he stopped just before it touched.

No.

His Master had almost qi deviated tonight and he had already taken advantage of him, so he couldn't bully people.

Taking advantage of someone is never a decent thing to do.

Qi Shu said this seriously to himself in his heart.

Let's just take a look.

Qi Shu thus persuaded himself and lowered his head to admire the beauty of his Master's sleeping face.

He was so absorbed in watching that he did not even notice that the sky was turning light.

Gu Hanjiang's eyelashes trembled slightly and he opened his eyes.

He looked a little dazed, and it took a while for his eyes to focus and fall on Qi Shu's face.

"Master, you're finally awake."

Gu Hanjiang did not speak, his eyes slowly moved down.

Qi Shu followed suit and looked down.

Qi Shu: "..."

It was only then that he realised how indecent their current position was.

He sat astride his master, with his legs wrapped either side of the other’s waist and one hand by his master's shoulder, propping him up. Even the flower-picking thiefSomeone who sexually assaults another. that everyone in folklore shouted about could not have done a more rogue position than him.

Qi Shu's face instantly turned red and he said, "Sorry, Master, I'll get off..."

But the busier he was, the more mistakes he made. Qi Shu's arms and legs went limp from not moving for so long and he fell straight onto Gu Hanjiang's chest.

"I…your disciple seems to have numb legs…" Qi Shu was so embarrassed that he wanted to find a crack in the ground and climb into it on the spot.

Gu Hanjiang just shook his head, and raised his hands to wrap around his waist, holding him gently in place. "You have consumed too much spiritual energy, close your eyes and rest, don't move around anymore."

His voice was low and hoarse, his chest vibrating slightly as he spoke.

It wasn't actually impossible to get down off the bed. Lingxiao Xianzun's bed was wide and large enough to sleep two people perfectly well.

With a gentle nudge, Gu Hanjiang could have pushed Qi Shu off him.

But he didn't do so, and Qi Shu didn't move again either.

He rested the side of his face against Gu Hanjiang's chest and obediently closed his eyes.

His Master’s strong, steady heartbeat could be heard in his ears, and the hands that were wrapped around him were still cold, but not as cold and hard and rough as they had been last night. Gu Hanjiang gently wrapped his arms around Qi Shu's waist, as if in an extremely tender and loving embrace.

This kind of intimacy, even if it was fake, even if it was only for a moment, was precious to him.

After another moment, Qi Shu felt his strength gradually recovering. Determined not to continue to take advantage of his master, he slid out of the other man's arms with pain.

Qi Shu straightened his messy clothes and knelt down on the edge of the bed with a thump.

"Last night, Shizun was in danger during his practice. Disciples are not allowed to offendIn this case he means 'invade the privacy of' or 'interrupt' rather than being offensive in the normal sense. the Master. I hope that Shizun will punish me."

Gu Hanjiang did not reply.

Out of the corner of his eye Qi Shu saw the latter sit up and look at him with a deep gaze. For some reason, he felt as if his master was even angrier than he was last night.

"Why were you here last night?" It took a moment for Gu Hanjiang to break the silence.

Qi Shu: "This disciple…I couldn't sleep, so I came out for some air, and heard a noise in Master's room."

He had woken up last night because he had a nightmare and had gone out for air, when he heard a noise in Gu Hanjiang's house, so he went over to investigate.

After a long night of tossing about, Qi Shu had almost forgotten the cause. It was not until Gu Hanjiang asked that he recalled the dream again.

In the dream, Gu Hanjiang was also close to qi deviation.

Was this just a coincidence?

Qi Shu knew that some cultivators would gain the ability to peer into the heavens after reaching a certain level of cultivation. Yet prying into the heavens was an act against the heavens, and even worse, could be extremely costlyHe's saying that going against the Dao, by looking into the heavens can lead indirectly to qi deviation and death..

Therefore the Master had never taught him this skill.

He couldn't…have suddenly learnt this method, could he?

Qi Shu quietly raised his eyes to look at Gu Hanjiang.

The other man was sitting on the bed in front of him, wearing only plain white inner robes.

Although Gu Hanjiang was taller than Qi Shu, his body was thin, and his waist was almost too narrow under his clothes and his face was pale with a hint of weakness.

It seemed to fit in with the furnace physique as mentioned in his dreams.

Qi Shu thought for a moment and asked tentatively, "Master last night…what happened?"

"The cultivation was hindered and it was difficult to break through, so my internal breath was disordered and consciousness was unclear." Gu Hanjiang did not conceal it.

Qi Shu: "How could this happen?"

Last night, when he was channeling spiritual energy to Gu Hanjiang's, he felt that the other party had clearly been in seclusion for nearly five years, but his cultivation had not improved as drastically as he had imagined.

On the contrary, the other party's spiritual energy in the sea of consciousness was sluggish and there was a deficit.

Gu Hanjiang did not answer.

He stared at Qi Shu for a moment and then moved his gaze away, "I don't know."

Qi Shu didn't believe him.

His master had almost never lied. Except for once when he first joined the Master's Sect. Qi Shu had not yet been cleansed from the grainTransitioning from eating food to inedia practiced by cultivators. and was starving every day, so Gu Hanjiang learned to cook for him.

He was the best in the world with a sword, but he was clumsy with a kitchen knife, and it took him several days to make a meal that was barely edible. He had blamed a restaurant below the mountain for the terrible food.

What restaurant's food could be that bad?

At that time, the expression on his Master's face was exactly the same as it was now.

Seeing that his master most likely did not want to say more, Qi Shu did not press further and changed the line of questioning, "Then do you know how to break through the block in your cultivation?"

Gu Hanjiang again did not say anything.

When he didn't say anything, Qi Shu couldn't guess whether he didn't know, or whether he knew and didn't want to say anything.

A moment later, Gu Hanjiang said, "Yesterday I discussed with Qing Lan that in a few days I will officially pass the leadership of Kunlun to him, he has done a good job over the years, I can rest assured."

"...As for the rest, there will always be a way."

He said this lightly, but Qi Shu's heart trembled.

The Kunlun Sword Sect had been founded by Gu Hanjiang, and he had been the head of Kunlun for a longer period of time than even Qi Shu had been alive. How difficult a situation must it be for him to give up his position?

What's more, cultivators were often so long-lived that they didn't usually step down easily unless they were reaching the end of their lives.

Qi Shu's throat was dry, "Master, you…"

"Don't think nonsense." Gu Hanjiang interrupted him, "I am fine, it's getting late, go practice.

Qi Shu opened his mouth and wanted to say something else, but Gu Hanjiang had already closed his eyes and started to meditate. Qi Shu gently said, "I will leave you," and got up to go out.

Just as he reached the door, Gu Hanjiang called out to him again, "Wait."

Gu Hanjiang opened his eyes, his tone still unperturbed, "The next time there is something like last night, you should not come near."

"But…"

"When the spiritual power is disturbed, the consciousness is difficult to control, so I am afraid that it will hurt you." Gu Hanjiang said, "Be obedient and go."

After he said this, he closed his eyes and adjusted his breath.

Qi Shu did not rush to leave. He stood near the door and looked at the person inside the room through the thin screen. Gu Hanjiang was sitting on the bed, his handsome, slim face frowning slightly, as if the flow of spiritual power was still not smooth enough.

Although his master did not tell the truth, based on the information he revealed, Qi Shu had already guessed seventy to eighty percent.

His cultivation had suddenly hit a bottleneck and he had nearly suffered a qi deviation. He clearly knew what the cause was and how to solve it, but refused to say so. He had even predicted a difficult future and handed over the position of Sect Leader in advance.

When the causes and consequences were strung together, the answer was self-explanatory.

Qi Shu breathed a silent sigh of relief, yet vaguely felt a little heartbroken.

His Master, ah, didn't dare to tell others about his special physique, didn't dare to ask for help from anyone, and tried to carry on by himself.

What a fool.

He had to find a way to help him.

Authors Corner

The author has something to say:

Qi Shu: It’s my turn to save my wife!

Gu Hanjiang: ?

Chapters

2 Comments

  1. LicoLico

    Aww (つω⊂* )We will see who will be the wife ~ Thank You for the new chapter! (*’∀’人)♥

  2. ruoruo

    aiyaa, QiQi, Master has given you a way out but really, it’s you who didn’t want to take it *shrugs*

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