Not Lustful

"Help my father?"

Hearing what Ye Yonglie said, Ye Qingshi finally recalled his introduction from just a moment ago. The youth before her had actually awakened a Heart Manifestation?

Doesn't that make him even more impressive than my father? Ye Qingshi felt a great sense of astonishment in her heart.

Although she had not been exposed to cultivation before this, as the daughter of the Hall Master, she had learned a few basic concepts through osmosis. At the very least, she understood more about common martial knowledge than Fang Can.

She often heard her father, who was usually steadfast and resolute, sighing unconsciously whenever he looked at the Heavenly Secret Ranking inside the martial arts hall.

After this happened many times, she understood the crux of her father's sighs: his martial path had not made any progress for ten years. Aside from improvements in technique, his realm seemed to have reached the limit of his aptitude.

"In other words, this youth can help my father improve?" Ye Qingshi stared at the handsome youth before her. Her delicate fingers subconsciously pinched the corner of her green dress as she fell into an internal struggle, debating whether to agree to the youth's request for help.

She could certainly see that the youth had a favorable impression of her (not really), or perhaps he just wanted to use proximity to get close to her (actually, yes). But given the strict social boundaries between men and women, even if she wanted to help her father, she couldn't bring herself to be so brazen.

However, while she was struggling, Ye Yonglie had already made the decision for his daughter: "Yuan Dang, Li Fei, you two go tidy up a room for Young Hero Fang. The one right next to Qingshi's will do."

As soon as these words were spoken, Yuan Dang stood frozen in place. He was being asked to tidy up a room for Fang Can so he could get closer to his Senior Sister? This was simply salt in the wound.

Fang Can smiled and looked at the two disciples, saying, "I'll have to trouble you both. I didn't bring much luggage, so just getting it tidy will be enough."

As the resentful Yuan Dang and his senior brother went to clean the room, Ye Yonglie laughed and said, "Qingshi, Young Friend Fang has just arrived at the martial arts hall. You should take him around the neighborhood to familiarize him with the environment on my behalf."

Even if Ye Qingshi were slow-witted, she could see what her father meant. But since a father's word is law, no matter how dissatisfied she was, the young girl could only suppress it. She said to Fang Can with some gloom, "Follow me. I'll show you the way."

Watching the clearly displeased girl, Fang Can calmly lifted his legs to follow, and they walked out of the main hall together.

Until they reached a deserted corner, Ye Qingshi turned her head, her expression cold, and pointed a finger at Fang Can: "You..."

"I know what you mean," Fang Can cut her off a step early. "Hall Master Ye thinks I'm interested in you, so he wants to play matchmaker. But you have no feelings for me and want to persuade me to give up, right?"

"Uh—" Ye Qingshi was stunned for a moment after hearing Fang Can's words, then said, "That's right, so..."

"Rest assured, I am very clean, so I don't have many thoughts about beautiful girls who have basic physiological needs."

Fang Can smiled appropriately and said, "For the next few days, other than pestering you, I won't engage in any inappropriate behavior. You can explain this directly to the Hall Master as well."

"You..." A faint red flush rose on Ye Qingshi's face out of anger.

The man in front of her was simply different from anyone she had ever met. He had said everything she wanted to say, leaving her with nothing to add.

But Fang Can's expression remained much more indifferent, because he knew the only obstacle to staying by the girl's side was the Lieyang Hall Master.

In this ancient era of "parents' orders and matchmakers' words," children did not possess the right to control their own bodies.

Ye Qingshi, a woman who hadn't even touched the martial path, was even more so; she didn't even have the right to choose the major events of her life.

Right now, Ye Yonglie was practically becoming a sycophant to Fang Can for the sake of martial arts. As long as his subsequent behavior wasn't too outrageous, hanging around the girl wouldn't be a problem.

Therefore, Fang Can simply laid his cards on the table with the girl from the start, expressing his own stance.

"Then... what exactly do you want to do?" Ye Qingshi asked, her fair and tender face filled with confusion. "Saying you don't like me on one hand, but pestering me on the other—don't you think that's contradictory?"

"It's not contradictory," Fang Can shook his head and confessed. "In any case, for the next few days, I'm just going to follow you around without affecting your daily life. I hope you don't mind."

How could I not mind? Ye Qingshi thought to herself, the favorable impression she had just felt vanishing instantly.

Realizing she couldn't reason with this blockhead, she prepared to go back tonight and badmouth Fang Can to her father to get him kicked out.

After shutting down the conversation with a series of sigma male quotes, Fang Can stopped talking. He followed by Ye Qingshi's side, slowly circulating his Tiger-Subduing Dragon-Taming Golden Body, letting the vibrations cover every corner of his body.

Just like that, with Ye Qingshi leading the way and Fang Can silently practicing his martial arts—two completely unrelated activities—happening at the same time.

After spending over ten minutes having Ye Qingshi give him a rough tour of the entire martial arts hall, Fang Can finally couldn't help but say, "Could you stop for a moment?"

"What did you say?" Ye Qingshi saw that Fang Can had finally spoken, but she didn't understand what the youth meant.

Of course, it's because you walking back and forth is making my cultivation signal bad, causing my efficiency to fluctuate, Fang Can complained internally, but he worried that saying this would cause the girl to break down, making her difficult to cooperate with later.

So, after thinking about it, he said, "Because my cultivation method requires Miss Ye to be by my side."

"Me? What does that have to do with me?" Ye Qingshi looked suspicious.

"Martial arts efficiency is related to one's mood. The happier the mood, the better the cultivation effect," Fang Can stared at Ye Qingshi's stunningly beautiful face and said, "And Miss Ye is very beautiful."

"Just as seeing beautiful things makes one's mood better, in order to improve my cultivation efficiency, I must follow Miss Ye. This is also my cultivation method. There is no other reason; it is purely for the sake of feeling happy."

"W-what is that supposed to mean?" Suddenly caught off guard by being complimented, Ye Qingshi subconsciously stepped back in shyness, while Fang Can took two steps forward, trying his best not to let the "WiFi signal" weaken.

"This concerns my martial path. I ask that Miss Ye allow me to stay by your side for the next few days," Fang Can said seriously, wrapping his lecherous intent in a layer of extreme solemnity.

Because of the Idealist Martial Dao, this world was filled with all sorts of systems and cultivation methods.

So, for a moment, Ye Qingshi couldn't tell if the other party was just wrapping his lechery in the guise of martial arts, or if his cultivation really required it.

The young girl stammered, "Then... you, you can follow if you want."

"Then may I ask Miss Ye to pause for a moment and rest somewhere, so I may borrow your peerless beauty to cultivate?" Fang Can asked sincerely.

"This... there's a pavilion up ahead. I'm tired of walking anyway, so let's rest there for a while," Ye Qingshi said, two blushes appearing on her cheeks.

The two walked into the pavilion just like that. Ye Qingshi sat gracefully on a stone stool, waving her hand gently in an attempt to dissipate the heat on her face.

As for Fang Can, just as he had said, once the "signal base station" stopped moving, he sat cross-legged and circulated his energy, practicing his technique as if no one else were around.