Teasing Emotions I

Teasing Emotions I "Why did you wear long boots? Aren't they hot?" Lu Sheng said casually. "Actually, your legs are the prettiest part of you."

Chen Yunxi froze, lowering her head slightly as her cheeks flushed.

"You don't like boots? Then from now on... from now on, I'll show my legs. Only for you to see."

Lu Sheng had merely said it in passing, never expecting... For a moment, the atmosphere between them turned somewhat strange. Neither spoke again, merely walking slowly across the grass.

Lu Sheng was briefly dazed.

Half a year had passed.

During these six months of recuperation, he had not encountered anything related to demons, ghosts, or ghostly entities again, nor had he heard any news of Duanmu Wan or Yan Kai. It was as if everything he had experienced before had been an illusion, and all had returned to peaceful, placid everyday life.

If not for the internal qi constantly circulating and growing stronger within him, if not for the Deep Blue Modifier he could summon and inspect at any time, perhaps he truly would have believed he lived in a peaceful world without ghosts.

"Brother Lu..." Chen Yunxi suddenly called softly, interrupting Lu Sheng's train of thought.

"What is it?" Lu Sheng stopped.

Chen Yunxi lowered her head, her cheeks flushed red as she said quietly, "My father... wants to invite you to visit our home and have a simple meal together."

Lu Sheng was immediately taken aback. Was this meeting the parents? But he and Chen Yunxi were not even in a relationship yet. Wasn't this moving a little too fast?

"Brother Lu, are you unwilling?" Seeing that Lu Sheng did not answer, Chen Yunxi's face faintly revealed a trace of disappointment. "It's only a simple meal. Father... he just wants to see what sort of person you are."

Lu Sheng was speechless at the sight. He did have some affection for Chen Yunxi, but it had not reached that point. And things had suddenly developed so quickly that he was caught off guard.

After pondering for a moment, he still said, "This student would also very much like to see what kind of figure Old Master Chen, who commands wealth over an entire region, is."

Hearing this, Chen Yunxi immediately broke into a smile. "Then you'll be disappointed. My father is just a grizzled old man. He likes to keep a stern face, but in private, he's an old rascal!"

Lu Sheng laughed along with her. Yet he always felt as though none of this was real—or rather, as though he did not belong here.

If her family was satisfied next, then he should bring Chen Yunxi to meet his father and Second Mother. Then the two families would arrange the betrothal, prepare the bride price, choose an auspicious day and hour, and afterward, they would marry.

Of course, that was if everything went smoothly. But truthfully, he had no plans to marry so early.

"The Yearly Examination is coming soon. If you pass this time, which academy do you plan to attend, Brother Lu? It concerns the direction and heights of our future official careers.

"I had someone specially work through last year's examination questions. There are five different solutions. If Brother Lu needs them, shall Yun Xi send someone to deliver them to you later?" Chen Yunxi asked softly. "Doing more questions and studying this year's examiners' thoughts can't hurt."

"Then I shall thank Yun Xi." Lu Sheng hesitated, but ultimately accepted. Yet inwardly, he felt somewhat lost.

If things went this smoothly—passing the Yearly Examination, then the Prefectural Examination, then the Metropolitan Examination, and after that the Palace Examination—if he passed every stage all the way through, he would ultimately enter officialdom. And not as some minor official, either. His future soaring to great heights would be beyond question.

But...

So what? He suddenly recalled the things Duanmu Wan had mentioned to him. If they were all true, then what meaning was there in entering court as an official? "If you pass the Yearly Examination, you'll gain scholarly status in the city and be considered a scholar. You won't have to pay miscellaneous taxes anymore. Even if you do nothing afterward, you can still live comfortably by attaching farmland under others' names. This is something countless people dream of. Brother Lu must surely have everything well in hand already," Chen Yunxi said quietly.

"Perhaps." Lu Sheng smiled and said nothing more.

No one knew that he had another identity. No one knew that he cultivated both inner and outer arts, that his blade techniques were formidable enough to stand against demons and ghosts. Even martial world experts at the Power Through level could not last ten moves beneath his hands. Once he erupted, he was simply a humanoid tyrannosaur.

His strength was still continuously rising along with the Black Fiend Qi that grew day and night without rest.

The Black Fiend Skill and the Jade Crane Skill complemented each other. One tempered the body, while the other healed and restored it, faintly forming a perfect cycle.

Yet in the eyes of Chen Yunxi, Song Zhenguo, and the others, he was still merely the young master of a moderately wealthy family from Nine Links City. Unlike other country-born youths, Lu Sheng lacked that rustic air, and his bearing surpassed that of ordinary people. But that was all.

"But in an environment like this, what meaning would an official robe even have? If that demon-and-ghost force, Juan Ren Estate, comes after me, I'll still have no way to deal with it and can only rely on myself. In such circumstances, could it be that I truly should follow Father's advice and pursue a martial title?" He felt utterly out of place among those around him.

Listening to the distant laughter and drinking from the pavilion, Lu Sheng felt an odd sense of isolation.

"Brother Lu, I heard the dried grass plums on West Township Street taste quite good, and there are also many dried fruit shops there. Why don't we go have a look together tomorrow evening?" Chen Yunxi suggested softly. "Tomorrow is a major festival, after all. The Dragon Dance Festival is always so lively."

"Sure." Lu Sheng had nothing to do anyway. He was waiting for news; he had sent servants to inquire about the Red Whale Gang, then spent money purchasing a large amount of valuable medicinal ingredients. The little money he had on hand was already nearly gone.

Without money, the pace at which he could nourish his body for martial practice slowed. He had to find a way to make money as soon as possible.

He wandered with Chen Yunxi for a while longer. The girl kept talking about amusing incidents at the academy, as well as topics concerning the other companions they spent time with. She seemed to be in excellent spirits.

Lu Sheng walked a few more steps with her before they slowly returned. The group drank a few more cups in the pavilion, then took their leave one after another and headed home.

After bidding farewell to Chen Yunxi and Song Zhenguo's group, Lu Sheng slowly walked along the streets back home.

As he crossed the City Moat, several mountain folk carrying shoulder baskets chatted while entering the city.

"The Pine Cypress River's about to reopen, isn't it?"

"About time. My fishing nets are ready at home. Once the fishing ban ends, I'm going to make a good haul." An old farmer laughed.

"If the waters don't rise, this year's catch should be good. The fishing ban has been so long, after all."

"That's true."

The mountain folk swayed into the city beneath their loads of mountain goods and vegetables.

Lu Sheng listened from the side and smiled as well.

"This place is far more peaceful than Nine Links City," he remarked.

He quickly returned to his residence. The place Lu Sheng lived in now was a small house near the city gates. Below the two-story Small Building was a distillery, while the second floor above was Lu Family property. Three households' worth of rooms had been opened up and combined into one home.

For convenience, Lu Sheng did not cook at home. Instead, he arranged meals at a restaurant beside the distillery and went there at a fixed time each day to eat.

After eating and returning to rest, he did not cultivate his internal qi. He merely took a little medicinal paste to replenish his blood and qi, then went to bed early.

Early the next morning, he hired a carriage and headed straight for West Township Street.

Sitting in the carriage, Lu Sheng still felt somewhat weary. Thinking his constitution might be lacking in qi, he reached for the Waist Pouch he carried with him.

After feeling around inside the Waist Pouch a few times, he took out a red pill. Just as he was about to swallow it, he suddenly sensed something wrong with his body.

After carefully checking himself from top to bottom, he lightly felt around inside his sleeve and found a pale yellow slip of paper.

The note had been rolled into a tube and discreetly stuck to the inner wall of his sleeve. Only when he reached back for his Waist Pouch and brushed against it had he noticed something amiss.

"Hm?"

Lu Sheng removed the note and slowly unfolded it.

Several concise, clear lines were written on the paper: 'Young Master may rest assured. Juan Ren Estate attempted to control a terrifying ghostly entity and has suffered a great calamity. Its forces have been destroyed, leaving it no time to concern itself with its small grudge against Young Master. —Wan.'

Expressionless, Lu Sheng rolled the note back up and placed it in his Waist Pouch.

"So Duanmu Wan has been keeping an eye on me all along..."

"Juan Ren Estate has always been the great enemy I worried about—a powerful force capable of controlling demons and ghosts. At my current level, I absolutely couldn't oppose it. Yet it was simply destroyed just like that." Lu Sheng once again felt how dangerous this world was.

After putting away the paper roll and waiting a while longer, the carriage slowly came to a stop before Xunyang Tower, where he had arranged to meet Song Zhenguo, Chen Yunxi, and the others.

Lu Sheng got out of the carriage and saw that the entrance to Xunyang Tower was packed with people flowing in and out.

The twelve-story red Xunyang Tower, shaped like a reliquary pagoda, had every floor below the tenth packed with dense crowds of people who had come to watch the dragon dance.

The cries of hawkers taking the chance to sell their goods rang out in chaotic, unending waves.

Lu Sheng pushed through the crowd and entered the tower first, making his way up to the tenth floor. The number of people gradually thinned, and it was no longer unbearably crowded.

"Are you Young Master Lu?" A maid came forward to ask as soon as he reached the tenth floor.

"Over here, Brother Lu!" Song Zhenguo and his group were already waving at him.

Chen Yunxi was there as well. She had changed into a pretty, fitted green dress that perfectly showed off her lovely girlish figure. Her long hair fell smoothly down her back, only loosely tied at the ends with a green ribbon.

Lu Sheng smiled and walked over.

"I must thank you all for securing such a good floor for me!"

Song Zhenguo repeatedly waved his hands. "We're the ones basking in your glory. Yun Xi pulled some strings and specially arranged this banquet for you, Young Master Lu."

"Indeed, indeed. If Miss Yun Xi hadn't stepped in, we probably could only have made it to the ninth floor at most. We wouldn't have been able to come up to the tenth." Another academy student laughed. This man was named Wang Ziquan, from Purple Splendor City. He was also a handsome young man whose looks could compare to Song Zhenguo's, and his relationship with Lu Sheng was fairly good.

"Not at all. It was only by chance, by chance that I happened to know someone." Embarrassed by their words, Chen Yunxi's pretty face flushed as she secretly glanced at Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng sighed inwardly, then smiled at Chen Yunxi and took the initiative to step forward and sit down.

The group began drinking, laughing, and chatting merrily, tossing in a few doggerel verses they considered suave and literary. The atmosphere was quite lively.

Lu Sheng had been seated beside Chen Yunxi. Two other girls had come along as well, one sitting beside Song Zhenguo and the other beside another academy student with a cool, aloof expression. They all appeared to have come in pairs.

Boom! A massive golden firework suddenly exploded outside Xunyang Tower, transforming into a huge peony against the night sky.

"It's starting! It's starting!!" Everyone cheered, rising to surge toward the edge of the tower to watch.