As Ma Xiaotao recalled what had just happened, her flushed cheeks grew a few shades redder with embarrassment and annoyance.
Then she looked at Huo Yuhao. The young man was watching her with great interest.
"What are you looking at?"
Ma Xiaotao gritted her teeth, growing even more embarrassed and annoyed. Her pretty face flushed, and a dangerous look flickered in her phoenix eyes as she glared fiercely back at him. But her eyes were so full of springtime charm that they held no menace at all. If anything, she looked as though she were acting coquettish.
Huo Yuhao was entirely unapologetic. "You showed it all, and now you won't let me look? I saw even more exciting things just now."
Ma Xiaotao felt a rush of heat shoot straight to her head, and her cheeks turned red enough to drip blood.
Whenever she remembered how she had followed Huo Yuhao's advice and brought this upon herself, she wanted to find a hole and bury herself in it.
Fortunately, Huo Yuhao had been decent enough not to take advantage of the opportunity to rob her of her innocence.
Unfortunately, she had lost every last shred of face.
She felt she would never be able to hold her head high and stand tall in front of Huo Yuhao again.
Ma Xiaotao glared at Huo Yuhao again, then hurriedly took some clothes out of her Soul Tool and pulled them on.
Huo Yuhao reluctantly looked away.
It wasn't as though he was some decent person. He looked at what he should look at and touched what he should touch.
If Jiang Nannan and Tang Ya hadn't been right outside the door, making it a bit too beastly to take Ma Xiaotao right then and there, he would have done what he should have done long ago.
With her clothes covering her, Ma Xiaotao finally felt a little more at ease.
"You're not allowed to tell anyone about what happened today, understand?"
Ma Xiaotao threatened him fiercely.
Huo Yuhao smiled. "Of course-I'll use this secret of yours for all it's worth for the rest of my life!"
Ma Xiaotao moved closer, waved her fist, and gave him a dangerous look. "If you dare tell anyone, I'll beat you up!"
With that, she got out of bed without waiting for Huo Yuhao to answer.
Ma Xiaotao stretched.
She had never felt so clear and unburdened before. The feeling was so refreshing.
Then she checked her condition.
"Wait, why has my cultivation dropped so much? Where's my Soul Power?"
In the end, Ma Xiaotao left with a thoroughly gloomy expression.
Her Soul Power had dropped four ranks, so she had to hurry and cultivate it back.
Huo Yuhao greatly admired Ma Xiaotao's diligence.
Now this was a top-quality, fully automatic Pal. He got a share of the Soul Power Ma Xiaotao cultivated every time.
"Yuhao! Are you all right?"
Jiang Nannan rushed into the dorm room, her face full of concern. She took hold of Huo Yuhao and anxiously looked him over from head to toe.
"Yuhao, your face has gone pale. You must have worn yourself out!"
"Look how weak you are. You need to build your strength back up!"
The corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched. He pulled Jiang Nannan into his arms, her soft, warm body pressed against his chest.
"Sister Nannan, take a look. What part of me is weak?"
Jiang Nannan's body stiffened, and her cheeks turned rosy. She lowered her head and said softly, "Yuhao, don't. Xiaoya's still here. Besides, didn't you say you only thought of me as your own sister? Who treats his sister like this?"
When did I ever say something so fucking stupid?
Huo Yuhao was dumbfounded for a moment, but he quickly realized this was Qian Renxue's handiwork.
Fucking Qian Renxue! If I don't get her back when I return, I'm a dog!
Hmm, since we've swapped places, if Qian Renxue suffers, I'll be the one suffering too. Forget it, then. I'll be a dog.
Anyone can suffer, but not me.
Woof, woof, woof!
Tang Ya followed close behind and walked in. She looked around the room, then stared dumbfounded at the dorm room, which had been burned into a complete mess.
Wait, what kind of novel play were you two trying? How did you even set the dorm room on fire?
Then she saw Huo Yuhao holding Jiang Nannan in his arms.
Tang Ya blinked, her bright eyes widening into circles as she watched with rapt attention.
Listening through the door wasn't enough, but now there's a live show right in front of me!
How exciting!
Tang Ya's eyes shone like lamps, so conspicuous that her stare made even Huo Yuhao embarrassed.
He first let go of Jiang Nannan. Once Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan had sat down, Huo Yuhao said seriously:
"You might have misunderstood. My Martial Soul has a sacred attribute and can purify Evil Fire. Ma Xiaotao and I simply have a transactional relationship. Nothing else happened."
Jiang Nannan breathed a sigh of relief. "Just a transactional relationship!"
Tang Ya sounded regretful, her voice full of indescribable disappointment. "Just a transactional relationship..."
Huo Yuhao gave Tang Ya a curious look. He found it strange. Why did he feel that Tang Ya was acting oddly?
"All right, I'm leaving for a while tomorrow. As it happens, I've prepared gifts for you both, so I'll give them to you today."
With a turn of his hand, Huo Yuhao took out two jade boxes.
One box had "ink jade divine bamboo" written on it, while the other bore the words "narcissus jade muscle bone."
When he had swapped over, he had brought the Soul Tool containing the Immortal Herbs with him. These two Immortal Herbs were just right for Jiang Nannan and Tang Ya.
"What's this?"
Tang Ya opened the box curiously and found a black bamboo shoot inside, smooth as jade all over.
Jiang Nannan also opened her box with curiosity. Inside was a pure white narcissus.
"These are Immortal Herbs," Huo Yuhao replied.
"Immortal Herbs!!!"
Jiang Nannan froze for a moment. She opened her mouth, then abruptly pressed her lips together.
These are Immortal Herbs!
A major part of the reason the Shrek Seven Devils had been able to rise to prominence back then was the Immortal Herbs.
They were so precious that they were even more valuable than a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
Tang Ya shot to her feet, her hands trembling as she looked at the box in them.
As the master of the Tang Sect, how could he not know how precious Immortal Herbs were?
The Tang Sect had once searched desperately for traces of Immortal Herbs, but had never found any.
She had never expected Huo Yuhao to simply place an Immortal Herb before her like this.
"Yuhao, this is too precious. You need this Immortal Herb more than I do. My Innate Soul Power was rank nine; I don't need to absorb an Immortal Herb."
Jiang Nannan closed the jade box and pressed it back into Huo Yuhao's hands, her tone solemn.
Tang Ya looked at Jiang Nannan, then at the Immortal Herb in her hands, but she couldn't bring herself to say she would give it up.
She had never dared forget the Tang Sect's deep-seated enmity for even a moment. Now that a chance to grow stronger was right in front of her, she lacked the resolve to give it up as Jiang Nannan had.
Huo Yuhao smiled and pushed the jade box back to her. "Sister Nannan, I prepared this especially for you. Go ahead and absorb it. I have an Immortal Herb that suits me better."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao took out another jade box.
Jiang Nannan was reassured and took the jade box back.
"Yuhao, I..."
Tang Ya clutched the jade box, a sense of guilt rising in her heart.
She was not as good as Jiang Nannan. At that moment, she saw the difference between them with perfect clarity.
Jiang Nannan's feelings for Huo Yuhao were pure, while she herself had other motives, after all.
Huo Yuhao's gaze remained gentle as he patted Tang Ya's head. "Sister Xiaoya, you don't need to say anything more. I know what burden you carry."
"Besides, I promised you I'd help you get revenge. This ink jade divine bamboo is only the first step."
Tang Ya was touched. She bit her red lip and gazed tenderly at Huo Yuhao, her clear eyes shimmering. The next moment, she rushed forward and threw her arms around him.
He hadn't forgotten!
He had remembered all along!
I was wrong about him!
Tang Ya felt both guilty and moved. Her eyes reddened, and she buried her head in Huo Yuhao's chest.
Huo Yuhao patted the young woman's back, a smile in his voice. "What's this? Are you being so polite with me now, Sister Xiaoya? You weren't this reserved when you seduced me back then."
"What seduction?" Jiang Nannan homed in on the key point.
"Nothing, Nannan, you heard wrong!"
Tang Ya hurriedly pulled free, flustered as she tried to cover it up while signaling to Huo Yuhao with her eyes.