Hands and Feet

"Sister, lend Ruan Su to me for a month..."

"No."

"~"

"Sister can teach her cultivation methods..."

"No."

"~"

"..."

Silence.

Though this was an opportunity to probe her true intentions, Qin Yi still refused with utter decisiveness.

Lending him was fine. Lending his sister was not.

In Ruan Su's dazed, foolhardy state, there was no way she could handle being a spy. If he really sent her, she would most likely get tricked into giving away information instead, then happily return a month later with a pile of fake intelligence to make his life miserable.

Besides,

Without Ruan Su, how was this "fool" supposed to live?

As a savage in that little courtyard?

Agreeing to this exchange would be as good as plainly telling the Meng mother and daughter that his brain injury had healed, and that he might have been pretending on the night Granny Meng visited.

The quiet improvement of his brain injury might be Qin Yi's only advantage against the Meng mother and daughter.

Meng Peijiu did not get angry. With a flip of her slender hand, a small pouch appeared in her palm. She weighed it, and the pleasant clink of silver rang out from within.

"Fine. Since you don't agree, I won't force you. This is the silver I promised you. You can count it—one hundred and thirty taels in total."

Qin Yi did not take it. He hopped down from the embroidered bed, pulled out the Disrupted Scripture from his robes, and handed it over.

"Big Sister, do you recognize the words in this?"

"I do."

Meng Peijiu did not hide anything. She seemed to have expected this all along, and studied the boy before her with interest. "Why do you ask?"

Qin Yi watched her expression and gave an innocent smile.

"Sister, can you translate it into Shu script for me? Hehe..."

"Oh~~"

Meng Peijiu drew out her clear, pleasant voice slightly. She glanced at Ruan Su, who was peeking out from behind the screen with only her little head exposed. "I can, but about your sister..."

At once, Ruan Su shrank back behind the screen.

She was a little afraid Qin Yi might really sell her off.

"Then forget it." The childish reply was still simple and decisive.

Warm autumn sunlight streamed through the window lattice.

Outside the screen,

Ruan Su lowered her head, the hand gripping her arm tightening slightly as her dark eyes blinked and blinked.

Inside the screen,

A shadowy gleam flickered uncertainly in Meng Peijiu's eyes. After considering it, she let out a soft sigh and smiled with narrowed, slender eyes.

"Fine. Since you still refuse... but I have to do business too. I'll charge you silver, then. Split the difference—three hundred and eight taels."

"..." Qin Yi.

The Killing Ape and the goods had been worth one hundred and thirty taels. Added to all of Ruan Su's possessions, the total came to exactly that amount.

Qin Yi raised a hand and made a tiny fingertip-universe gesture, asking tentatively,

"Uh... Is translating such a thin book really that expensive?"

Meng Peijiu ignored him. She turned and sat at the desk by the window, opened a drawer, took out a stack of xuan paper, then casually picked up a wolf-hair brush and spun it silently around her fingertips.

"You're such a little old fox. Figure out for yourself whether it's worth it."

Qin Yi calculated swiftly for a moment, took all of Ruan Su's belongings from her, walked over to the desk, and set the Disrupted Scripture and the money pouch down together. He smiled brightly.

"That's true. Big Sister, you're right."

"Hmph, hmph..."

With a soft snort through her nose, Meng Peijiu placed the Disrupted Scripture before her. She casually dipped the wolf-hair brush into the inkstone, just about to write, when she saw the boy beside her standing on tiptoe, sprawled over the right side of the desk, craning his neck to stare over without blinking.

After a brief thought, Meng Peijiu suddenly gave a light laugh. Half-turning in her chair, she leaned down, slipped both hands beneath the boy's arms, lifted him around, and settled him on her lap.

"?" Qin Yi.

This intimate gesture was entirely beyond his expectations.

The soft feel of the girl's body pressed against his back. Even through her gauzy clothes, he could feel her warmth.

Her black hair fell across his neck, tickling him slightly and carrying a faint fragrance. Meng Peijiu's voice entered his ear from behind, so close he could feel the warmth of her breath.

"Didn't you want to watch? You'll see more clearly this way. You spent so much money—your sister can't let you spend it for nothing, can she?"

As she spoke,

She picked up the wolf-hair brush again and casually rested it against Qin Yi's lower abdomen.

"..." Qin Yi.

"..." Ruan Su.

Qin Yi lowered his eyes to stare at Meng Peijiu's fair, slender hand for a moment, then tilted his head back and glanced at her equally fair profile, which showed no hint of anything unusual.

This... was against the law, wasn't it?

Though the laws of Shu Court were about as useful in Yellow Bamboo Town as toilet paper.

With that thought, Qin Yi simply leaned back slightly, resting fully against the girl's upper body. From up close, he felt her rhythmic breathing and the rise and fall of her chest as he replied softly,

"Mm-hm, all right."

"..."

The air fell silent.

Ruan Su still watched secretly from beside the screen. She did not feel anything unusual, only that this Sister Meng was being a little too nice to the brother and sister.

Without changing expression, Meng Peijiu glanced at the cover of the Disrupted Scripture, then calmly wrote two large characters on the blank xuan paper.

Nine Songs.

Hm...?

What was this woman writing?

Read as Disrupted Scripture, written as Nine Songs?

Qin Yi stared at those two characters, his mind racing.

Was she cheating a child out of his hard-earned money?

No. She should not be short of money.

From the moment he first met this Meng girl, Qin Yi could tell that she had never cared much for worldly possessions such as silver. Her bargaining with him had been nothing more than teasing born of her nature.

Then why was she writing nonsense?

Did she simply not recognize these words, or was she doing this on purpose?

Scene after scene since their meeting linked together rapidly in his mind. Qin Yi realized that from the instant she saw the Disrupted Scripture, Meng Peijiu had been guiding him toward bringing the book to her.

He still did not know her motive, but he knew her goal.

She was... deliberately trying to give this Nine Songs to him?

Time slipped silently away amid the stillness.

Graceful ink characters spread over the xuan paper bit by bit. As the content gradually expanded, Qin Yi, seated amid warmth and softness, began trying to extract information from it.

Nine Songs was not a collection of scattered notes like the Disrupted Scripture, but poetry about the folk customs of the Qin Lands. Its contents were loose and varied, ranging from depictions of mountain gods and strange tales to songs of love.

Meng Peijiu wrote as Qin Yi read.

Gradually, a wholly new breathing method took shape in his mind.

It was somewhat more difficult than the Disrupted Scripture.

It took thirty breaths as one cycle, with far more variations in the turning of the breath.

Moreover, this Nine Songs seemed more complete than the Disrupted Scripture. Judging by the amount of xuan paper Meng Peijiu had prepared, she had probably only written half of it so far. It might contain the use of some "techniques."

But soon, the faint sound of panting by his ear drew Qin Yi's attention first.

The chilly autumn wind slipped into the bedchamber and stirred the girl's black hair hanging over the boy's neck. Qin Yi went still for a moment.

He had not heard wrong. It was extremely faint, but she really was panting.

Meng Peijiu was.

What was going on?

This sudden change made Qin Yi temporarily gather his thoughts.

Was she panting because of him?

That could not be right, could it?

But if it was not because of him, Meng Peijiu had not done anything else that could leave her short of breath...

Wait.

Qin Yi suddenly recalled how he reacted after overloading the light sphere. He did not need to move at all; he would simply start panting. He inconspicuously glanced at the hand she had placed on his lower abdomen.

Outputting Spirit Resonance...

This woman was tampering with his body?