A Deal

Moonlight dappled through the trees.

A quiet stone forest, one man and one woman, kindling and tinder, no lights to see by.

"What do your bruises have to do with me?" Xiao Ning'er pouted her rosy lips and tossed some firewood onto the campfire.

Could it be... the bruises on Xian Wu's face and the one on her foot were symptoms of the same illness?

If things were really as she suspected, perhaps the condition that had tormented her for so long could finally be cured.

It hurt. It really hurt.

The bruise on her foot had been there for six or seven months, and every so often it sent a stabbing pain through her.

Though she had endured it with sheer determination, the pain tormented her every moment of every day.

She felt like a mussel with a pebble lodged in its shell, suffering the grinding pain day and night.

Xian Wu's words were like a ray of light shining into the darkness, tearing apart the despair that had enveloped her.

Though she had refused Xian Wu with her words, her body was still honest.

Xiao Ning'er slowly took off her shoe, revealing a jade-white foot as smooth as cream.

A bruise stood out clearly on the top of her left foot.

Xian Wu knew Xiao Ning'er was a prim and proper hypocrite who never meant what she said, so he wasn't offended by her cold attitude.

He hadn't come to argue. He'd come to get... a Bronze Demonic Spirit.

Xian Wu got straight to the point. "I have a few questions for you. I hope you'll answer honestly, since... this concerns your illness. Xiao Ning'er, you don't want to keep suffering from pain every day, do you? So... please."

Hmm... why did that sound a little like something a Japanese person would say?

Xiao Ning'er neither nodded nor shook her head. She sat before the roaring campfire, hugging her knees tightly.

"Your silence means you agree." Xian Wu smiled and shook his head. Xiao Ning'er was the sort who said one thing and meant another; there really was no dealing with her.

"First question: do your feet feel as if they're burning?"

Xiao Ning'er nodded.

"Second question: do you feel cold every day, no matter how many clothes you wear?"

Xiao Ning'er nodded again.

"Third question: at midnight, do you feel as if you've fallen into an ice cellar, like you're about to freeze stiff?"

Xiao Ning'er nodded once more.

"Last question: when did you start cultivating your Soul Force at night?"

"About a year ago." Xiao Ning'er's voice was barely audible. Every one of Xian Wu's questions had struck home. It seemed there was hope for her illness after all.

She couldn't let herself look too excited. What if he used the promise of a cure to pressure her into giving herself to him? That would be bad.

Still, from the time they'd spent together, Xian Wu might have been a bit of a bastard, but he wasn't bad at heart.

"All right!" Xian Wu clapped his hands and sat down opposite Xiao Ning'er, facing her across the campfire.

He got straight to the point. "I know what's wrong with you. You have Extreme Cold Syndrome, just like me. It's caused by cultivating Soul Force at night."

"How did you cure it?" Xiao Ning'er rested her head on her knees and gazed at Xian Wu with eyes as bright as stars in the night sky.

Her beautiful eyes were full of longing and pleading.

Xian Wu sat cross-legged and explained, "I cured myself with the Guidance Technique."

"The Guidance Technique? I've never heard of it." Xiao Ning'er's eyes filled with doubt. Was Xian Wu making it up to trick her? Born into a Prominent Family, she had read widely, yet she'd never heard of any Guidance Technique.

Xian Wu raised his nose in the air and said proudly, "Of course you haven't. Only two people in the world know the Guidance Technique, and I'm one of them."

"Who's the other?"

"My adoptive father!"

Xiao Ning'er rolled her eyes. "You could've just said your adoptive father taught it to you. Why beat around the bush?"

"My adoptive father can't have contact with women for certain special reasons, so I'm the only one who can treat you," Xian Wu continued.

"What do you want?" Xiao Ning'er's heart raced like a frightened deer. She was afraid Xian Wu would ask her to marry him or say something equally ridiculous.

"I want you to..." Xian Wu deliberately dragged out his words. When he saw Xiao Ning'er coldly reach for her sword hilt, he quickly added, "I want you to give me a Bronze Demonic Spirit."

"A Bronze Demonic Spirit?" A heavy stone lifted from Xiao Ning'er's heart.

"Deal!" Xiao Ning'er replied readily.

"Wait!" Xian Wu told Xiao Ning'er not to rush. "Good things come to those who wait. You have to write me a promissory note. What if you go back on your word afterward? Your Prominent Family is powerful and influential. I can't afford to offend you."

Xiao Ning'er gritted her teeth and shot Xian Wu a vicious glare.

Sure enough, he was a complete bastard, a total idiot.

How much could one Bronze Demonic Spirit cost? Her family's monthly allowance was enough to buy five or six. Did he really think she'd welch on the deal?

"Don't you trust me?" Xiao Ning'er asked through gritted teeth.

Xian Wu shot back, "You were just about to stab me with your sword. How am I supposed to trust you? Once I've treated you, you could kick away the ladder and leave me helpless. Nobody would believe the word of a shameless creep like the 'Pants-Stripping Fiend.'"

"You certainly know yourself," Xiao Ning'er said with a faint snort, then took paper, ink, brush, and inkstone from her Space Ring.

"Come here!"

"What for?" Xian Wu got up, brushed off his backside, and walked over.

"Lie down!"

"..." Xian Wu looked around. "Lie down where? On you?"

Xiao Ning'er tripped him with her leg, and Xian Wu lost his balance and fell flat on his face.

"Don't move!" Xiao Ning'er laid a sheet of paper across Xian Wu's broad back, ground some ink, and began to write.

Xian Wu was on all fours, feeling deeply uncomfortable and very afraid that Xiao Ning'er would climb onto his back.

"Done!" Xiao Ning'er gathered up the paper, ink, and inkstone, rolled up the paper, and held it in her hand.

Feeling the weight lift from his back, Xian Wu got up and brushed the dirt from his knees.

"Give it to me." Xian Wu held out his hand for the promissory note.

Xiao Ning'er put it away in her Space Ring and smiled slyly. "You want something for nothing? Dream on! Treat me once first. I want to see how well it works!"

"Fine." Xian Wu nodded.

"The Guidance Technique is a kind of massage. It requires... physical contact..." Xian Wu gave Xiao Ning'er a look that said, "You know what I mean."

A blush suddenly spread across Xiao Ning'er's cheeks. She furrowed her brows and warned him, "Let me make this clear first: you may only massage the bruised area. If you touch anywhere else, don't blame me for turning on you."

Seeing Xiao Ning'er look ready to eat him alive, Xian Wu raised both hands in surrender. "My dear young lady, I wouldn't dare. If I touch you anywhere else, you can stab me with your knife. If I even try to dodge, I'm no man."

Hearing him say that, Xiao Ning'er relaxed a little.

She sat on the ground and shyly placed her jade-white foot on Xian Wu's thigh.

Holding Xiao Ning'er's foot in his right hand, Xian Wu stared at the bruise on its top without blinking, his brows knitted together.

"What is it? Is it serious?" Xiao Ning'er asked nervously.

Xian Wu said, "Uh... did you wash your feet?"