Different II

Different II

"There's no need for payment, and I'm not short of money anymore. It's just that Wan'er doesn't have the sort of thing you want either. To Wan'er, that kind of martial art is less useful than the Life Nurturing Technique. For people like us, prolonging life is far more worthwhile than cultivating those pitifully weak killing arts.

"But Wan'er has thought of a good way."

"What way?"

"If you truly wish to learn, there are also sects and major gangs made up of ordinary people beneath our noble families. They have internal cultivation manuals of this sort. You may choose one to join as you see fit. Wan'er can even recommend one for you. What do you think?" Duanmu Wan asked softly.

"That won't be necessary. If Miss Wan can give me some information on the nearby gangs and sects, that will be enough." Lu Sheng did not stand on ceremony. Though he did not know why Duanmu Wan regarded him so highly, one should not trouble two people with the same matter. He already owed her a favor over the internal cultivation manuals. Since he had accumulated quite a debt already, he might as well trouble her a little more.

"Wan'er will have someone deliver it to you later." Duanmu Wan smiled. She lightly extended her hand, her eyes somewhat unfocused, and tried to slip it into Lu Sheng's clothes.

"Miss Wan, please conduct yourself with dignity!" Anger rose in Lu Sheng's heart as well, but he did not want to inexplicably enter into a relationship with this woman of unknown origins—especially when she was treating him as a substitute. If one day she suddenly lost her mind again and no longer wanted to play with him, he might well end up in deep trouble.

"Just call me Wan'er, that's all." Duanmu Wan's eyes were like silken threads, her cheeks peach-red, and her body burning hot. She had clearly been stirred by desire.

She reached out again to touch Lu Sheng's lower abdomen.

"Miss Wan." Lu Sheng grabbed her hand. "If you are treating me as some sort of substitute, then not only are you deceiving yourself, you are also disrespecting your own body."

"Disrespecting it?" Duanmu Wan froze. She lowered her head and fell silent.

After a long while, she suddenly let out a long sigh.

"That's right. Wan'er wasn't this kind of person before." All at once, she seemed utterly dispirited.

Lu Sheng took two steps back without speaking, merely watching her.

"There is a largest gang nearby called the Red Whale Gang. Its gang techniques are somewhat interesting. If you are interested, you can go take a look. But that gang is too small. Once Wan'er has the chance, she will move you somewhere else—to the Central Plains. The gangs there are far stronger than the Red Whale Gang."

"Thank you, Miss Wan. I'll first go investigate and have a look. As for the future, we can speak of it in the future." Lu Sheng silently committed this to memory, then cupped his hands.

"You still call me miss? Haven't you already learned what my body feels like?" Duanmu Wan looked at him resentfully.

Lu Sheng was taken aback. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw Xiao Qiao outside the half-closed window of the hall, staring from afar with her big eyes opened round, utterly dumbfounded.

At that moment, he and Duanmu Wan were posed with one of her hands at his lower abdomen, held fast in his own hand. Their bodies were pressed close together, separated by barely any distance—ambiguous beyond measure.

"All right, I won't tease you anymore. I still have things to do, so I'll take my leave first." Duanmu Wan lightly stepped back a few paces, her smile fading.

"Young Master. Tell me honestly—do you think Wan'er is a terrible, shameless woman?" With a trace of hope and an inexplicable expectation, she looked toward Lu Sheng, as if waiting for him to give a different answer.

Lu Sheng was stumped at once.

She had helped him twice and told him so much useful information for free. To call her shameless and a bad woman to her face—he could not say such words.

He had always yielded to softness, not hardness. Whoever treated him well, he treated well in return. Yet this truly left him at a loss.

Lu Sheng weighed his words and carefully examined Duanmu Wan before him.

At this moment, although Duanmu Wan was dressed provocatively, she somehow carried a faint softness and cleanliness about her. Like the obedient Little Girl next door, timidly asking him what was wrong with her. "Miss Wan, you're quite all right. Everyone has their own way of dealing with the world. You're merely a little more uninhibited."

Lu Sheng spoke sincerely. After all, in his previous life on Earth, there had been plenty far more uninhibited than Duanmu Wan. There were even those who bared themselves naked online for countless people to see. In his eyes, Duanmu Wan was merely a little unconventional.

Duanmu Wan had watched Lu Sheng very seriously as she asked that question.

To her surprise, she discovered that Lu Sheng truly meant every word. He was not comforting her; he genuinely believed it from the bottom of his heart. That matter-of-fact attitude, that unconcerned attitude toward the question, was completely different from the many people she had asked before.

"You..."

A trace of complexity flashed through Duanmu Wan's eyes, and something inexplicable began to surge faintly within her heart.

"Although I don't know why you need so many manuals and internal cultivation arts, I still have two more here. I'll give them both to you." She lowered her head, her expression obscured, and swiftly drew out two thin booklets from her person and placed them on the table.

"Wan'er has matters to attend to, so she'll be leaving first." As soon as she finished speaking, she hurried out the door.

Only after Lu Sheng came to his senses did he hastily chase after her. Yet the courtyard was empty. In the blink of an eye, Duanmu Wan had vanished.

He stood there blankly in the courtyard, unable to gather his wits for a moment.

After quite some time, he returned to the hall and picked up the two thin booklets on the table. Written on them were: Yin-Yang Guiding, Azure Pine Single-Minded Art.

They were precisely the two secret manuals he had not chosen when he first bought internal cultivation arts from Duanmu Wan. It seemed Duanmu Wan had only possessed these three internal arts. When she had brought them out back then, she had simply been indulging some unknown playful impulse—or perhaps other complicated thoughts.

Outside Nine Links City.

Duanmu Wan's figure drifted through the air before she lightly landed by Suiyang Lake.

The waters of Suiyang Lake were calm as a mirror, like one rimmed with white snowy lace.

All around the lakeshore stood vast stretches of white forest. Snow powder covered every leaf and branch, silver-clad and frost-wrapped, with ice sculptures everywhere.

"The famed Qingqiu Princess Duanmu Wan, with three thousand male favorites, actually has such a demure little-girl side to her. This trip in answer to the invitation was truly worthwhile." A sinister, low male voice surged in from all around.

Duanmu Wan tightened the black gauze around herself, her pretty face turning cold. "Zhang Xinyuan, you traveled thousands of miles to Northland just to watch me make a fool of myself? Shall I dig out your eyes for you and see whether you can still laugh?"

"Heh heh, Princess, quell your anger. The Zhen Family and Juan Ren Estate are at war, and Qingqiu Princess knows Ye Lingmo. I came here hoping to ask the Princess for an introduction." The voice continued. It swept from left to right, yet no figure could be seen, nor could his exact location be determined.

"An introduction? Have you prepared the payment?" Duanmu Wan's expression abruptly changed, instantly becoming gentle and seductive.

"I have long heard of the Princess's rules. Naturally, the benefit has been prepared." The voice continued.

Duanmu Wan gave a light laugh, her eyes shifting. "Why not consider spending a night with this Princess? If you satisfy me, perhaps I'll even waive your fee?"

"I'd best decline. I have long heard of Qingqiu Princess's great name, and this old man would still like to live a few more years." The voice gave two dry laughs. "If the Princess can tell me the whereabouts of that supreme treasure—who exactly obtained it—I can double the reward!"

"The Red Dragon Calamity is still in Obsessed Daoist's hands. No one has obtained it. A few days ago, Juan Ren Estate and the Zhen Family fought a great battle. Midway through, they triggered the Red Dragon Calamity's sacrifice, resulting in a massive explosion. All three sides suffered grievous losses. If you wish to interfere, this is your best—and final—opportunity.

"Because too many people died, the Red Dragon Calamity is about to complete its sacrifice." Duanmu Wan spoke swiftly.

"Is that so?" The voice fell silent. "Thank you for informing me, Princess. The payment will be handed directly to your guards. I take my leave." The voice rapidly receded, soon vanishing entirely over Suiyang Lake.

The smile on Duanmu Wan's face slowly faded. Her eyes fixed upon the mirror-still lake, and no one knew what she was thinking.

What had happened in Nine Links City deeply stirred Lu Sheng.

After Duanmu Wan left, he ate lunch and returned to his room to begin cultivating internal energy. He also instructed the kitchen to brew a large quantity of tonic medicinal paste, similar to donkey-hide gelatin, and deliver it to his room for him to consume whenever needed.

After this period of conditioning, he planned to cultivate the two Life Nurturing qigong arts he had just acquired.

From the Jade Crane Skill, Lu Sheng had seen that Life Nurturing qigong could replace the expenditure of one's essence, qi, and spirit, and be used to enhance other martial arts. It was more like a backup battery, accumulated and stored in ordinary times, then put to great use when needed.

Lu Sheng tightly shut his door and sat cross-legged on the bed.

He gently opened the booklet of the Azure Pine Single-Minded Art. Its lines of text had all been handwritten, looking delicate and elegant, as though penned by a woman.

'A person should emulate the azure pine: unbowed by wind, unbroken by ice; in any desperate place, life endlessly endures.' There was only that one line on the booklet's first page.

Lu Sheng continued turning the pages. On the second page was an image of an ancient pine, just like the one in the Jade Crane Skill.

A dark bluish-green old pine clung to the roots of a sheer cliff, growing horizontally outward. Its branches were luxuriant and leaves flourishing, thick and dense, carrying an incomparably vigorous vitality.

This Life Nurturing Technique emphasized stillness: guarding one's qi, guarding one's spirit, allowing the body to follow its most natural instincts as it cycled and breathed, naturally producing thread after thread of the purest life-nurturing inner qi.

With the foundation of the Jade Crane Skill, Lu Sheng picked up this sort of Life Nurturing Technique quickly. He soon became proficient and began meditating. This meditation was not simply sitting quietly; at specific times, he also needed to use particular breathing and postures to suddenly guide it.

After cultivating according to the technique for a while, Lu Sheng rose and consumed a piece of tonic medicinal paste. He was just about to resume cultivation. This time, he intended to cultivate the Black Fiend Skill and use Deep Blue to raise it to its highest level.

Knock, knock, knock.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Young Master, Daoist Priest Yan Kai and the others have arrived." Xiao Qiao's timid voice came from outside.

Lu Sheng opened his eyes from the bed, swiftly got down, and put on his outer robe and shoes.

"I'll be there at once."

He left his room and quickly entered the hall, where he saw Yan Kai, Duan Rongrong, and Zhuan Feng all present.

"Young Master Sheng, it has been some time. You seem to be in fine spirits." Yan Kai cupped his hands, his tone relaxed.

"Please, all three of you, have a seat first." Lu Sheng smiled.

After the maidservants had finished serving tea, withdrawn, and closed the doors and windows behind them,

he continued, "Daoist Priest, what exactly happened last night?" Lu Sheng asked once more.

Yan Kai did not conceal anything. He recounted, point by point, the explanation Duanmu Wan had given earlier. By the time he finished, half an hour had passed.

What he said this time was even more detailed than Duanmu Wan's account. Perhaps because he felt somewhat embarrassed about ruining several of Lu Sheng's horses, Yan Kai also answered Lu Sheng's questions very earnestly.