Zhu Zhuqing secretly raised her eyes and shot Gu Chensha a quick glance.
Sunlight fell across his tall, straight figure, outlining his sharp jaw and smooth shoulder line.
His face was so handsome it was almost bewitching. He was indeed an unmistakably young man.
She hurriedly lowered her head. Her heart pounded so fast it nearly leaped out of her throat.
Reason told her that her teacher had once been the Primordial Demon Spider Emperor, a Soul Beast rather than a human. She couldn't judge him by human standards of morality.
He was only treating her injuries. He had no other intentions.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quell her flustered embarrassment. Her ears burned as if they were about to catch fire.
Gu Chensha's hand was just about to lift the animal hide covering her.
In a moment of desperation, she quickly changed the subject.
"Teacher... why can you appear in physical form? Couldn't you only possess me before?"
At her question, Gu Chensha drew back his hand and gave a slight nod.
This did call for a brief explanation.
He wasn't good at explaining things, and in the past, he'd never needed to explain anything to anyone.
But facing the little girl before him, her cheeks flushed red, he still patiently began to speak.
As it turned out, he had indeed only fully awakened through the Primordial Demon Spider Emperor's fluctuations of power when Zhu Zhuqing had been driven to the brink and released her Second Martial Soul.
Otherwise, he had no idea how much longer he would have remained asleep.
This time, his slumber had lasted far longer than expected, but it had also brought an unexpected benefit.
As Zhu Zhuqing's Soul Power increased, so too did his control over this body. He had also unlocked an innate core ability of the Martial Soul:
Martial Soul Separation.
"This isn't a true resurrection in the flesh. It's only a form temporarily manifested by the Primordial Demon Spider Emperor through our soul connection."
Gu Chensha's voice was calm and even. "The advantage is that it consumes very little. The moment I appear uses up a little of your Soul Power, but maintaining this state is almost effortless."
"Otherwise, given how badly injured you were, I couldn't have brought you here."
"The drawback is that there's a time limit."
He paused, then added, "I can only appear for one shichen each day—that's two hours."
"But this limit will gradually increase as your Soul Power grows."
Zhu Zhuqing lifted her head.
Only two hours each day...?
She gazed at Gu Chensha, her feelings a tangled mess.
So her teacher hadn't deliberately broken his promise or intentionally watched her fall into danger without appearing. He had only just awakened.
She'd even sulked and ignored him before, and secretly blamed him in her heart. She really had been so inconsiderate.
A trace of guilt welled up in her, along with a strange sense of cherishing him.
So the time she could spend looking at him like this and talking with him was only a brief two hours each day.
"All right, stop overthinking it. Let's apply the medicine."
Gu Chensha picked up the dark green medicinal paste from the stone bowl again.
"No! I... I can do it myself."
Zhu Zhuqing hurriedly reached out and snatched the bowl from him, her cheeks red as ripe apples.
That wasn't enough. She shrank back like a startled kitten and said softly, "Y-you turn around."
Gu Chensha froze for a moment.
A feeling utterly unfamiliar to him welled up inside.
He'd seen the corpses of countless human Soul Masters—men and women, old and young. What kind hadn't he seen?
Back then, he'd wiped out three sects in a single night, leaving bodies strewn everywhere, and it hadn't stirred the slightest ripple in him.
Yet now, looking at Zhu Zhuqing like this, he somehow felt awkward.
He'd already seen everything he needed to see.
When he'd changed her clothes and treated her wounds earlier, he hadn't held back at all.
So why was she resisting so much now?
Humans really were strange creatures.
Still, instinct made him turn around, putting his back to her.
"Apply it yourself wherever you can reach. Call me for the places you can't."
Wangcai was still standing there, dumbfounded, curiously craning its neck to look. Gu Chensha reached back and smacked it on the forehead.
"You're male, too. Turn around."
Wangcai whimpered plaintively, then obediently turned around as well, facing the wall with its huge head.
It was only a tiger, after all. It certainly didn't have any improper thoughts about human females. It was simply curious:
Why was human skin so smooth, with hair only in a few places?
Didn't they get cold?
It had never examined them closely while eating them before...
Humans were such a hassle. Tigresses weren't this fussy. When they liked one, they pounced and wiggled their lower halves. That was all there was to it.
Only after confirming that both of them had turned away did Zhu Zhuqing breathe a sigh of relief. Carefully, she lifted the animal hide covering her.
She looked down at herself. Her tattered Spirit Hall uniform was long gone, replaced by several roughly cut but surprisingly soft pieces of animal hide.
The workmanship was clearly terrible, but they just happened to cover her chest and lower abdomen.
The moment she thought of Gu Chensha personally taking off her bloodstained clothes and changing her into this little hide garment, her face started burning again. She accidentally tugged at the wound on her arm and let out a pained "Mm."
"What's wrong? Do you want me to—"
"No! Don't turn around!"
Zhu Zhuqing hurriedly called out, her voice thick with embarrassment.
Wangcai secretly turned its head, hoping for another look, only for Gu Chensha to swiftly smack it back around.
It buried its head between its paws in wounded silence, giving up on its curiosity completely.
Zhu Zhuqing took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
The pale green medicinal paste gave off a faint herbal fragrance. She dipped a fingertip into it and gently applied it to the wounds on her arms and legs.
Her skin was fair and delicate, like the finest mutton-fat jade, its surface glowing softly in the dim light.
The vicious scratches and bites had already healed almost completely, leaving only faint pink marks. There was no sign they would scar at all.
Clearly, Gu Chensha had used excellent medicine and carefully tended to her while she was unconscious.
She quickly applied the medicine wherever she could reach, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't get to the deeper wounds on her back and shoulders.
She bit her lip and hesitated for a long while before speaking in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz:
"Teacher... I can't reach my back and shoulders..."
At that, Gu Chensha slowly turned around.
He crouched down and extended his long-fingered hand, taking the bowl of medicine she held out to him.
Zhu Zhuqing's back tensed slightly. She could clearly feel Gu Chensha's breath against the nape of her neck.
Gu Chensha picked up a little medicinal paste and gently touched his fingertip to her shoulder.
"Hiss..."
The instant the paste touched the wound, a prickling pain, both numb and itchy, spread through her.
Zhu Zhuqing couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath, and her body trembled involuntarily.
Gu Chensha slowly spread the paste over the wound, bit by bit.
His movements were focused and careful.
Yet every time his fingertip glided over her skin, it was like an electric current shooting through her, raising fine goosebumps all over.
The wounds on her back were deeper, so he had to press a little harder to help the medicine seep in.
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