Discuss

The night was quiet, and Lian Qiao crept along her path unnoticed.

She kept watch on her surroundings as she knocked on the door.

Once, twice, there was no response.

She knocked again, and a sound-insulating barrier suddenly appeared on the door.

Lian Qiao was speechless.

‘Fine, fine, treat me like this, will you? Just wait until it’s his turn to suffer. See if I don’t torture him to death!’

But for now, if she didn’t get inside, she would be the one wishing for death.

Lian Qiao swallowed her pride and had no choice but to shift to the side window, her voice a low warning. “Open the door for me! If you don’t, I’ll rush out and tell everyone what kind of Gu we’re both infected with.”

The window opened instantly.

Lu Wu Jiu’s voice was calm. “Is it you?”

Lian Qiao gritted her teeth. “Who else? Besides me, who else would be up in the middle of the night looking for you?”

The words had barely left her mouth when she suddenly understood. It was entirely possible someone else would come by in the dead of night. For instance, that Miss He whom Lu Wu Jiu had saved today…

Lian Qiao pointed at him, realization dawning. “Oh, oh, you’re afraid…”

“Afraid of what?”

Lu Wu Jiu raised a slight eyebrow, his face clearly saying that if she dared to utter another word, she could forget about coming in tonight.

Lian Qiao decisively shut her mouth, but she scoffed coldly in her heart. ‘He’s the one attracting all the bees and butterflies, yet he won’t let anyone talk about it!’

After entering the room, Lian Qiao was still unbearably hot and fanned herself furiously a few times.

Lu Wu Jiu said faintly, “What exactly is wrong with you today?”

Lian Qiao felt a pang of guilt. “It’s hot, don’t you think?”

Before Lu Wu Jiu could answer, she added, “Oh, of course you don’t think so. I forgot, you’re cold-blooded.”

Lu Wu Jiu was silent.

Then he glanced, almost imperceptibly, at her sweat-dampened hair. “You seem… to have it worse than I did last time. Last time it was within a few steps, three steps? Then this time, it seems you need to be even closer…”

Lian Qiao cut him off flatly. “Nonsense! I… I was just walking a bit too quickly just now and broke a sweat.”

“Oh?” Lu Wu Jiu raised an eyebrow, then casually drew a line with his sword. “In that case, you stay in the outer room, I’ll be in the inner one. Leave on your own after one hour.”

Lian Qiao carefully compared the position. The line was drawn exactly at a distance of three steps.

‘He’s doing this on purpose, isn’t he?’

‘He just has to see how many steps I can endure?’

She turned her head with a cold laugh. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to rush me. I’m watching the clock.”

Then, Lian Qiao plopped down at the pearwood table, idly twirling her hair out of boredom.

Lu Wu Jiu went into the inner room, pulled the screen shut, and the two of them went their separate ways.

It had to be said, Lu Wu Jiu was an incredibly boring person.

If Lian Qiao didn’t speak, he wouldn’t say a single word.

It was just being cold and aloof, right? As if she couldn’t do the same.

‘Perfect, a chance to secretly see what book he’s been studying.’

Lian Qiao carefully rummaged through the shelf. When she saw the title, she was dumbfounded. “The Mountain Classic.” What was so interesting about this thing that he had to burn the midnight oil for it?

‘No, he must have hidden the important secret manuals underneath.’

So Lian Qiao bent down again, carefully searching through the book titles.

After looking for a long time, it was either The Sea Classic or The Medical Classic.

She even found a book called A Small Record of Feline Slaves, which was about how to raise cats.

Lian Qiao was having an existential crisis.

‘Don’t tell me this person stays up reading all this random junk every night?’

‘Then how did he manage to get first place in his Daoist magic and talisman classes?’

‘Also, what the hell is this cat-rearing book? The edges are already curled from use, but I’ve never seen Lu Wu Jiu with a cat!’

‘But he must be planning to get one. Hah, Taotie, your position isn’t so secure after all, is it?’

So Lian Qiao decided to treasure this piece of information, planning to use it to deal a heavy blow to Taotie the next time they argued.

However, apart from these books, Lian Qiao really couldn’t find anything related to cultivation.

She guessed Lu Wu Jiu must have hidden them by his bed so she wouldn’t find them, but she had no way of getting to them.

So she could only pass the time by silently counting the drips of the water clock, waiting for the hour to pass.

But the more difficult it was, the slower time seemed to move.

The terrifying thing was, this Gu was indeed getting stronger every day.

A distance of three steps was far from enough.

Slowly, even the soles of Lian Qiao’s feet began to itch.

She wanted to get closer to Lu Wu Jiu, just a little closer.

She couldn’t help but sneak a peek. She found that his shoulders were quite broad, and looked like they would be nice to lean on.

His waist, too, seemed quite lean and firm, looking very hard.

Further down, those long, slightly bent legs, the smooth lines…

Lian Qiao subconsciously swallowed, the sound quite loud in the darkness, which startled her.

‘Pah!’

‘What am I thinking?’

‘This stupid Gu is always stuffing my head with all sorts of nonsense.’

‘I should clearly hate his guts!’

But now, Lu Wu Jiu seemed to be asleep.

‘Since that’s the case, then there’s nothing wrong with getting a little closer to relieve the poison, right?’

So Lian Qiao moved her stool, inching quietly toward the inner room, little by little.

Two steps, one step…

As expected, she felt clear-headed and refreshed!

This time, the effective distance was indeed within one step.

Lian Qiao was overjoyed, and her movements became a little more daring.

However, her joy turned to sorrow.

Just as she was about to move next to Lu Wu Jiu’s bed, he suddenly opened his eyes coldly.

A jolt went through Lian Qiao. Her hand slipped, and she lunged forward.

Then, with a ripping sound, she saw a flash of fair skin before her eyes…

It seemed she had torn off Lu Wu Jiu’s clothes!

And where exactly was she lying?

Lian Qiao was a little dazed.

Her hands were braced on the edge of Lu Wu Jiu’s bed. She blinked, staring at the abdominal muscles before her, too surprised to speak for a moment.

In that instant, she suddenly remembered something Yan Wushuang had said.

Yan Wushuang had once said that her perfect man would have Lu Wu Jiu’s face and their Senior Brother’s body.

The reason was that she liked tall, powerful men with well-defined muscles.

A tall, slender man like Lu Wu Jiu, with his ethereal aura, was probably not her type.

Lian Qiao had once deeply agreed, but today, seeing him up close, she realized she was sorely mistaken.

Lu Wu Jiu didn’t look like much on the surface, but who would have thought that the scenery under his clothes was in no way inferior to his face.

The lines were smooth, neither gaunt nor exaggerated, the perfectly sculpted lines sliding smoothly all the way down to his lower abdomen.

Lian Qiao’s gaze slowly moved downwards. When she caught sight of a slight bulge, she frowned slightly, feeling it was a bit incongruous.

However, before she could figure out why it was incongruous, the clothes in her hand were swiftly pulled away like a flowing cloud, then gracefully draped over Lu Wu Jiu’s body.

In an instant, he was fully dressed again, standing two steps away, looking back at her coldly.

“What are you doing?”

His tone was cold, tinged with a hint of scrutiny.

Only then did Lian Qiao realize where she had been looking…

She sheepishly withdrew her hands and scrambled up from the bed. “It was all a misunderstanding, just an accident!”