Gifted

“…”

Lu Qiancha took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the roiling shame and anger.

Under Xun Xue’s scrutinizing gaze, she struggled to keep her voice steady, but a wronged, tearful tone still leaked out, “It’s… nothing.”

She turned her face away, her small paw secretly tugging at the crumpled hem of her skirt behind her back.

“Just disciplining an unworthy junior sister, that’s all…”

“Then perhaps… I should give you two some privacy?”

Xun Xue looked at the pair of martial siblings, her tone exceptionally considerate as she made a gesture to leave.

“No… need!” Lu Qiancha practically ground the two words out through her teeth.

She stopped looking at Xun Xue, and instead, her small face hardened.

She retrieved a heavy, polished Zitan wood discipline ruler from her storage ring.

Controlled by her spiritual sense, the ruler hovered in mid-air, pointing at Gan Tang with an air of cold judgment.

“Hand.”

Lu Qiancha’s voice was completely flat.

“…Yes, Senior Brother.”

Gan Tang flinched, then squeezed her eyes shut, and tremblingly extended her slender, pale left hand.

Smack—!

The ruler, whistling through the air, landed with precision.

A distinct red mark instantly appeared on her fair palm.

“Hiss!” Gan Tang sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, her eyes instantly turning red, but she didn’t dare pull her hand back.

Smack! Smack! Smack…!

Nine more crisp strikes echoed in the silent hut.

Gan Tang’s fingertips trembled uncontrollably, tears welling in her eyes, but she didn’t dare make a sound.

“Go back to your room!”

Lu Qiancha withdrew the ruler, her voice cold.

“Remember today’s transgression well.”

“Yes…” As if granted a pardon, Gan Tang clutched her swollen, painful palm and, like a frightened rabbit, scurried out of the room without daring to lift her head.

Lu Qiancha stood rigidly in place.

Only after Gan Tang’s footsteps faded into the distance did her tense shoulders finally slump.

Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the hard bed, burying her burning face deep into the pillow—her mind replayed the enchanting and utterly mortifying scenes from the previous night: the disordered clothes, the white stockings clinging to her legs, the fatal, slippery, numbing sensation on the sole of her foot…

“Wuuu…” A soft whimper was muffled by the pillow.

“Having a tiff with your junior sister?”

Xun Xue sat down silently by the bed, her presence warm, her fingertips gently brushing away a few stray strands of hair stuck to Lu Qiancha’s cheek.

“No!”

Lu Qiancha shot up as if her tail had been stepped on, her blue eyes moist as if freshly washed.

She explained in a fluster, “I-it’s my junior sister… she was being too outrageous! She did something wrong! That’s why I…”

“Mm~” Xun Xue placed a forefinger gently on Lu Qiancha’s pouting lips, her smile soft and knowing.

“Whatever Little Qiancha wants to say, Mother understands~”

She blinked, gently wrapping her arms around Lu Qiancha’s awkward little body.

“There, there. Get a good night’s sleep. We can talk about everything tomorrow.”

“…Mm.”

Lu Qiancha replied, curling up in Xun Xue’s arms.

Perhaps it was the influence of their bloodline, but she felt an unprecedented sense of security.

The small hut grew quiet, with only the sound of soft breathing.

After a long while.

“…Um…” Lu Qiancha’s small paw gently clutched Xun Xue’s sleeve, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, tinged with a mix of longing and shyness.

“Mother… tail… tail massage…”

Xun Xue looked down, her eyes on the pair of blue ear tips that were trembling slightly in anticipation.

A cunning arc formed on her lips as she said slowly, “Acupressure massage is wonderful for clearing the meridians, but too much of it can harm one’s foundation. It’s limited to once a month.”

“Mhm…”

Lu Qiancha, buried in the warm embrace, responded with a hum.

Amidst her disappointment, she also felt an inexplicable sense of relief—at least, for now, she wouldn’t have to face that extreme pleasure that made her lose all reason.

She closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, on Tianquan Peak.

In the faint light of dawn, Xuan Mo hummed a cheerful tune, steering her small boat as it leisurely drifted over Tianquan Peak.

Looking down, she saw two figures, one large and one small, bustling with activity on the open ground beside the peak’s lake!

Lu Qiancha, dressed in a green scholar’s robe, held a compass, concentrating on setting the lines.

Beside her, Gan Tang, in a blue dress, was huffing and puffing as she wielded a shovel, vigorously digging the foundation trenches.

Amidst the flying dust, it looked as if a major construction project was underway.

“Little—Qian—cha—!”

Xuan Mo performed a nimble flip, her toes touching down on the soft grass, landing lightly beside Lu Qiancha.

She clapped her on the shoulder with unconcealed excitement, “Extraordinarily good news! Your wine! It’s sold! And—” she held up her fingers, waving them vigorously in front of Lu Qiancha’s face, “It sold for ten! Ten high-grade spirit stones a bottle!!”

“?”

Lu Qiancha, who had been concentrating on her lines, felt her wrist jerk.

The compass needle trembled wildly.

She whipped her head around, staring in disbelief at Xuan Mo’s triumphant, smiling face for a full three seconds before managing to squeeze out a single sentence, “…Martial Aunt… you are truly… exceptionally talented!”

To be able to sell something worth five mid-grade spirit stones for two hundred times the price…

It was a waste for such a genius not to be a grand elder in the merchant pavilion.

“Oh, it’s nothing, nothing!” Xuan Mo was glowing from the praise.

She then looked curiously at the sweating Gan Tang. “What are you two doing…?”

“Martial Aunt,” Lu Qiancha collected herself and replied with a bow, “This disciple wishes to build a residence here for Senior Xun Xue, and an alchemy room next to it.”

“Is that so…”

Xuan Mo waved her hand with magnanimous flair, “You two can stop messing around. I’ll go to Tiangong Peak later and find a few skilled disciples to come over. I guarantee they’ll build it for you quickly and beautifully!”

“Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for those senior brothers and sisters?”

Lu Qiancha hesitated.

Tiangong Peak was notoriously expensive.

Right now, with the need to buy a furnace and refine the Soul-Returning Pill, every spirit stone had to be carefully accounted for.

“What trouble! It’s just a matter of a few words!”

Xuan Mo waved her hand dismissively, then said to Lu Qiancha, “I’ll arrange this. You have other things to do.”

“Please speak, Martial Aunt.”

“The Raging Waves Sect placed an order with me for thirty bottles of Clarity Jade Dew wine. They want the finished product before the end of next month.”

Xuan Mo grinned and continued, “You just focus on brewing the wine for me. Leave these trivial matters to your Martial Aunt. It’s not like I’m taking that thirty percent profit for nothing.”

“In that case… thank you, Martial Aunt, for making this possible!”

Lu Qiancha gave a deep bow, this time with gratitude straight from the heart.

“I’m off. I’ll spend the next few days helping you look for a suitable furnace.”

Xuan Mo laughed heartily, stepped onto her cloud boat, and humming a little tune, disappeared once again into the light and clouds.

As she watched the cloud boat disappear, Gan Tang sidled up to Lu Qiancha conspiratorially, tugging at her sleeve and asking hopefully, “Senior Brother… if the senior brothers from Tiangong Peak are coming to work… does that mean I don’t have to dig anymore?”

“Mm,” Lu Qiancha nodded.

“Woohoo—! Long live Senior Brother!!!”

Gan Tang instantly transformed into an unbridled rabbit, flinging the shovel away with a whoosh and bolting towards her grass hut without a single look back!

Watching her joyful, disappearing figure, Lu Qiancha couldn’t help but shake her head and chuckle.

This junior sister of hers, still the same carefree, silly girl.

She hadn’t changed a bit…

However, as her thoughts wandered, the absurd scenes from the previous day unexpectedly crashed back into her mind…

“…”

Lu Qiancha could feel her cheeks heating up uncontrollably.

She quickly shook her head, trying to banish the images.

‘What kind of strange things are in that junior sister’s head?! To actually do something like that yesterday…’

‘Hopefully, those ten strikes with the ruler… taught her a lesson.’

She took a deep breath of the cool morning air and returned to her small hut.

Since the matter of building the house had been handed over, she might as well finish the order her martial aunt had entrusted to her.

On the table, various spiritual materials and fruits were laid out in an orderly fashion.

She placed them one by one into the medicine cauldron according to the recipe, lit the fire, and waited for the medicinal liquid inside to melt.

With a gentle shake of a jade bottle and a slight guidance of a magical formula, spiritual energy circulated, and the clear, original essence was precisely injected into thirty jade bottles.

The mouths of the bottles were sealed, and with a flash of spiritual light, the seals were complete.

In less than six hours.

The last jade bottle was carefully placed into the storage pouch.

Lu Qiancha let out a long sigh of relief, now only needing to wait for her martial aunt’s next visit to hand it over.