A Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Elder

She seemed more alive because they were more familiar with each other, and because Qiu Wuji had felt Chu Ge's kindness and the effort he had put in.

No one rolled their eyes at strangers or fooled around with them. She now considered him "one of her own"-someone who lusted after her a little. That desire was entirely understandable, and her attitude was worlds apart from the wariness and distrust she had felt upon first arriving here.

Even much of the bewilderment she had felt toward this unknown world had faded.

It was nothing so extraordinary after all.

Qiu Wuji collected the clothes from the balcony and ducked into the bedroom to change. When she emerged, she was once again an elegant, mature office lady. Facing Chu Ge's suddenly sparkling eyes, she curled her lip. "Someone like you would be a villain in your own book."

"I could also be the protagonist," Chu Ge said with a perfectly straight face. "Only men other than the protagonist are villains for acting like this."

Qiu Wuji couldn't help laughing. "It seems your Chu Tiange has been hiding it quite well in front of me. Is he a better actor than you?"

"That's not it. Chu Tiange really doesn't have any designs on you right now. Don't go back and beat him up."

So you're admitting that you do, and beating you up would be pointless? Qiu Wuji didn't know whether to laugh or get angry. Quite helplessly, she said, "I need to buy new stockings. I can't wear the old pair anymore."

Chu Ge glanced at her legs. Just to have stockings, she had specially conjured a pair around them, which was oddly adorable. She still didn't know that plenty of people were looking at the black stockings wrapped around her legs rather than the legs themselves. If she found out, would she think this whole world was full of perverted villains?

"All right, sit there cross-legged. I'll teach you about your meridians... Get into position with your five centers facing heaven. If you tell me you don't know how again, I'll beat you."

Looking thoroughly aggrieved, Chu Ge assumed the five-centers-facing-heaven pose. Qiu Wuji stepped forward and studied him for a while, then reached out to correct his posture and adjust his hands and feet.

With her so close, her delicate fragrance washed over him. Chu Ge's mind started wandering, only for a sharp rap to land straight on his head. Qiu Wuji sneered. "What are you thinking about?"

Chu Ge didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "So now it's your turn to be the worm in my belly?"

Qiu Wuji sneered. "Who couldn't see through those little schemes of yours?"

"Mm... We take turns getting inside each other... Ow, fuck..."

A piercing pain began at the Shoulder Well point. Chu Ge felt as though an entire meridian had been stretched and yanked, and sweat poured from his head.

Qiu Wuji pressed a finger against his shoulder, her expression somewhat grave. "Your body looks strong, but it's weak inside. Very depleted. Your meridians are all congested and blocked, but that's not even the worst of it. You look tall and robust, yet your muscles are slack and your internal organs are out of balance."

Chu Ge felt rather embarrassed.

He knew his health was less than ideal. He looked fine, but there were problems all over-actually, his shoulders and neck really did have issues. When he went for a massage, the pain made him grimace, and the massage therapist would tell him which parts had problems. A healthy person wouldn't feel so much pain; they might even find it comfortable.

Qiu Wuji's opening of his meridians worked on a similar principle, only it went deeper and hurt more.

Qiu Wuji withdrew her hand and shook her head. "With your constitution, you can't cultivate yet. You'll need to nurse yourself back to health first... You're far too depleted..."

"Could you stop emphasizing 'depleted'? You're making it sound like a different problem..."

"You think there's nothing wrong with that part of you?" Qiu Wuji gave him a scornful sidelong look. "The internal organs include the kidneys and their water energy."

After all, she was a mature woman who had cultivated for thousands of years, not an innocent little girl. Qiu Wuji knew what Chu Ge was thinking without even trying.

Chu Ge flushed all the way down to his neck and protested loudly, "Who says so? I can last half an hour!"

A man could fail at anything, but not that!

Especially in front of a beautiful woman!

He blurted out without thinking, "Want to give it a try?"

He had expected a beating, but none came. Qiu Wuji merely looked him up and down with contempt and said nothing.

That expression... Chu Ge wished he could tear a hole in the floor and crawl inside. This was more than any man could bear!

I really can last half an hour! Please believe me! My hand gets sore doing it!

"I... I'm starting to exercise today!" Chu Ge buried his head in the sofa and, in a muffled voice, made the most earnest vow of his life.

"Not just exercise. You also need to watch your diet and your sleep schedule." As they ate braised chicken outside the apartment complex, Qiu Wuji spoke unhurriedly. "You eat at such irregular times. That day, you didn't have dinner until the hour of the Dog, and you said you hadn't eaten all day. That damages your stomach. You also habitually stay up late, which damages your liver."

"You cultivators can go without eating or sleeping," Chu Ge muttered.

Qiu Wuji said leisurely, "Isn't the whole point of cultivation to do what ordinary mortals cannot?"

"Shit, that makes so much sense." Chu Ge ventured, "So should I be calling you Master now?"

Qiu Wuji looked at him with a faint, ambiguous smile. Restraining the urge to dump the braised chicken over his face, she said calmly, "Then should I call you Father God?"

Chu Ge was delighted. "That sounds great! We can each use our own title... Ow..."

Qiu Wuji withdrew her high heel from under the table and lowered her head to eat. "From what I know of everyday life, cooking at home is clearly cheaper and cleaner than eating out. You're hardly wealthy, so why do you eat at restaurants every day? Is that another difference in this world?"

"That part's the same. The difference is that this world has lots of lazy people, like me."

"..."

Chu Ge suddenly perked up. "Hey, can you cook? I never wrote about your life before you started cultivating, so..."

Qiu Wuji remained expressionless. "You didn't write it, but you must have imagined it, or planned it out?"

"Mm, equally capable in the drawing room and the kitchen. Of course." Chu Ge was immensely pleased. It was wonderful that even this matched his character design. "So you can."

No wonder I somehow knew those mundane skills. Qiu Wuji sneered. "So what if I can? Why should I cook for you?"

Chu Ge settled the matter with one sentence. "That's your rent."

Instant defeat.

Qiu Wuji clenched her teeth around a piece of chicken and ground it to shreds, as though she were chewing Chu Ge rather than chicken.

"Let's go buy firewood, rice, oil, and salt!"

"No need for firewood. The apartment has a gas stove. We'll look for rice and seasonings at the supermarket in a bit."

"I want to buy stockings!"

"Buy them! Buy a whole bundle!" With his royalty payment in his account, Chu Ge waved a lavish hand. "Oh, and pajamas. Shall we pick some out?"

Standing in front of the pajama display, Qiu Wuji planted her hands on her hips and watched Chu Ge furtively pull a sales assistant aside to talk. His gaze was fixed on two identical sets of silk pajamas, one for a man and one for a woman.

She had no concept of matching couple outfits. Chu Ge told her, "Doesn't your sect wear a uniform? People under the same roof, rising and sleeping together, wearing the same clothes-that's perfectly natural!"

The reasoning seemed normal enough, but no matter how Qiu Wuji thought about it, something felt off.

Are you trying to fool a ten-thousand-year-old elder?

Also, I don't want these cute, big-headed cartoon dolls printed on them. Can't we get something else? I am stern and dignified, my might shakes heaven and earth. Am I here to wear clothes with children's designs?

Unfortunately, her financial benefactor gave her no room to object. He cheerfully bought the matching pajamas, paid, and whisked her away.

Qiu Wuji, too, made a vow in her heart: I must start earning money!

(End of chapter)

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