Time seemed to crawl...
Gu Qingnian deliberately slowed down, keeping his eyes on Ma Xiaotao's changing expression as he guessed what was going through her mind.
From the moment Ma Xiaotao first regained consciousness, Gu Qingnian had already been observing her condition with his Six Eyes, all while calculating his next move.
The evil fire had exceeded his expectations somewhat earlier, but fortunately, everything had turned out fine overall.
Just as he more or less finished planning, Ma Xiaotao was also about to wake up. With a shift in his thoughts, the scene that followed fell into place.
Now, seeing Ma Xiaotao's expression, Gu Qingnian felt a pleased little stir in his heart. Then he leaned down, his lips parting slightly.
Ma Xiaotao's heart pounded at the sight. Here it comes! she thought. Then she closed her eyes as though in despair, her tongue trembling slightly, looking as though there was nothing she could do to turn the tide.
Gu Qingnian's expression remained unchanged as he lowered his face straight toward hers. Just as he reached her cheek, he abruptly tilted his head, touched the tip of his nose to the bridge of hers, and blew gently. Ma Xiaotao instantly shivered, a tingling weakness spreading from her ears through her entire body, and hurriedly opened her eyes to look at him.
The moment Ma Xiaotao looked over, Gu Qingnian lifted his head without hesitation and said calmly, "Senior Xiaotao, it looks like your evil fire is fine now. Let's get up and head back to the academy, or Dean Yan will start worrying."
Then he abruptly pushed himself to his feet, leaving Ma Xiaotao lying there in a daze, at a complete loss.
Gu Qingnian rubbed his chin, crouched beside Ma Xiaotao, and watched her, a smile curling at the