Lu Shiyuan simply couldn’t handle a scene like that—having someone’s clothes stripped off. It had been an accident, but since it was already done and irreversible, she decided to go all the way with it. She handed the initiative over to Shang Si, ensuring no one would think she’d done it on purpose.
That cry of “It hurts so much,” though, had been genuine.
Every inch of her meridians felt like it was being sliced by knives. It wasn’t just moving that hurt—even speaking or taking a breath brought agony.
What had just happened had been incredibly dangerous, but with Shang Si there, it didn’t seem quite so terrifying.
Shang Si had saved her again.
If she tallied it up properly, she owed the woman even more now. Yet the familiar faint fragrance lingering at the tip of her nose seemed to have a slight pain-relieving effect. Lu Shiyuan actually found herself wanting to laze against her, unwilling to move.
However, Shang Si took Lu Shiyuan’s words to heart. Her attention shifted fully to the girl’s injuries, and she stopped dwelling on that awkward moment from before.
The woman reached out, wrapping an arm around Lu Shiyuan’s soft waist, and lightly leaped from the pool—like a lotus emerging from the water. Clear droplets pattered down as she landed on the nearby soft couch.
Both of them were soaked through.
Soon, a clean thin robe was draped over Lu Shiyuan.
Shang Si pressed her right palm to the hollow of the girl’s shoulder and said gently, “Circulate your qi. Mobilize the spiritual energy still left in your body. Don’t let your mind wander.”
Lu Shiyuan did as instructed.
With Shang Si’s help, she quickly felt the damage inside her easing considerably. Even the pain faded a good deal. Still, an injury like this would take at least ten days to half a month to fully heal.
Once the urgent matter was handled, Shang Si finally had time to ask what had happened. With a puzzled expression, she said, “You got distracted while meditating, which caused your spiritual energy to go out of control and trigger qi deviation. What were you thinking about just now?”
“I…” Lu Shiyuan hesitated for a moment, then coughed lightly and gave her reason. “This morning, I went to the Official Residence to check on Senior Brother Shen. He still hasn’t woken up, and I was worried about his injuries.” To cover up certain things, she had no choice but to tell a little white lie.
She certainly couldn’t tell Shang Si, I was thinking about the sight of you undressing just now. That would only lead to misunderstandings.
“It seems you really care about this Shen Guang.” It was an answer Shang Si hadn’t expected.
Worried enough to suffer qi deviation and lose focus during cultivation? Shang Si slowly curled her fingers, her expression unchanging.
“Forget it. It has nothing to do with me. Your senior brother will wake up in at most three days. If there’s anything you need then, just tell Liuzhu directly. You don’t need to come report it to me.” Her face showed no hint of joy or anger. With so much happening today, Shang Si had no interest in bantering with Lu Shiyuan. There was clear impatience in her words, and Lu Shiyuan noticed her breathing had grown heavier.
Her lashes lowered slightly, and as her gaze fell, she caught sight of Shang Si unconsciously twisting her wrist. The small, exquisite Gold Bell swayed, tinkling crisply. Lu Shiyuan realized she’d accidentally stepped on a landmine again by covering one lie with another.
“Shang Si.” She suddenly reached out and caught that restless hand. “I know you’re hurt too. Let me check your injury. Otherwise, I won’t feel at ease.”
It was the first time anyone had made such a request of her—insisting on seeing her wounds.
And coming from Lu Shiyuan’s lips, it felt different.
“I’m fine.” She tried to pull her hand back, but the strength she exerted was inexplicably feeble.
“Just let me see.”
“It’s only a minor injury.”
“Let me see.”
“…” They fell into a stalemate. Shang Si’s fine brows furrowed slightly, annoyance rising in her heart, but in the end, she still rolled up her sleeve. A section of her lotus-root-pale arm extended before Lu Shiyuan—a concession.
Forcibly interrupting a circulating technique earlier had caused some backlash, but to her, it was just a minor discomfort.
Having gotten her way, Lu Shiyuan gently placed her hand on Shang Si’s wrist and sent a wisp of divine sense probing inward.
What she hadn’t expected was the fierce rejection the moment it entered.
Perhaps sensing an intruder, the spiritual energy circulating in Shang Si’s body surged forth instantly, enveloping the fragile wisp. Just as Lu Shiyuan thought it would be mercilessly crushed, the turbulent energy around it suddenly calmed. It receded like the tide.
A false alarm.
Having felt it all happen firsthand, Lu Shiyuan sighed. “That’s really strange.”
“There’s nothing strange about it.” Shang Si withdrew her hand and smoothed down her sleeve. A faint smile played at her lips, making her striking features even more captivating. “Our divine senses have merged, and I transfer spiritual energy to you every day. How could the energy in my body fail to recognize your aura?”
With that explanation, it all made perfect sense.
That meant not only did Shang Si recognize her, but even the spiritual power within Shang Si recognized her as well.
A flicker of emotion stirred in Lu Shiyuan’s heart.
But it lasted only an instant.
The moment passed, and she cleared her throat before stating the fact she had just detected. “Your cultivation may be impressive, but that bit of help you gave me earlier has left your inner breath unstable. Why not stay here tonight and regulate our breathing together?”
“Do you think I’d just brush it off after heading back?” Shang Si’s lips curved in a high-sounding excuse, her icy expression melting away in that instant.
Lu Shiyuan fell momentarily lost in thought.
Should she say it? Every time Shang Si smiled like this, traces of her youthful arrogance and willfulness lingered—like the blazing sun, unrestrained and vibrant. It perfectly overlapped with the figure that had inexplicably flashed through her mind earlier, when Shang Si had lost control and sealed off her six senses.
“This is what you said. I never said anything like that.” Her thin lips pursed lightly, a sly glint flashing in her eyes as she slowly looked away.
Whether it was true or not, Shang Si wasn’t the type to press for answers.
Seeing Lu Shiyuan dodge the topic, she shifted to something else, her tone growing more serious. “By the way, last night while treating your senior brother, I discovered a hidden curse planted on him—one identical to the one I found on Shang Luo before. If you’ve had any contact with Demon Race members in Yedu lately, you need to be extra careful.”
“If you’re bringing that up, it reminds me of something.” Lu Shiyuan lifted her gaze to meet hers again. “A few months ago, didn’t I go to that auction house to find a decent gift for you?
I didn’t notice at the time, but on second thought, most of the medicinal materials there seemed to have been bought up by Demon Race people.”
“I know.” Shang Si’s voice remained utterly calm.
Lu Shiyuan was surprised. “You know?”
“What else did you think?” Shang Si finally elaborated a little. With a wave of her hand, a thread-bound ledger appeared in her grasp. “Shiyuan, Yedu is my territory. I was naturally there on the day of the auction—and not only that, I have the venue’s accounts right here.”
She already knew exactly what the Demon Race had purchased while covering their tracks.
Telling Lu Shiyuan all this was simply to put her mind at ease.
Who would have thought… Lu Shiyuan merely gave a faint “oh,” then pivoted sharply with a question that seemed casual but cut deep. “So, you knew all along that the Golden Step-Shake had ended up in my hands?” For all she knew, even Hua Qiu’s unsolicited gift had been at Shang Si’s instruction.
That alone was one thing, but when Lu Shiyuan had delivered the item herself, Shang Si had put on an act of ignorance and asked, “What is this?”
No one could have anticipated how quickly the conversation would twist and turn.
They had been discussing serious matters, and Shang Si hadn’t noticed the inadvertent slip in her words—until Lu Shiyuan caught her red-handed.
It wasn’t some dark secret; admitting it outright would have been fine. But recalling how Lu Shiyuan had just danced around the issue with her, Shang Si refused to answer directly. Instead, she threw the other woman’s recent words right back at her, drawing out the syllables with a touch of amusement. “This is what you said. I never said anything like that.”
