Sickeningly Sweet Inside

Just when he thought Qiuyuan was going to make him kneel a while longer, her cool voice rang out again.

Her tone was as cold as ever, but what she said left Kexi stunned. "That spirit fruit was indeed effective. My cultivation has advanced a little."

Kexi jerked his head up, his eyes wide. "Then... then you don't blame me anymore, Master?"

Qiuyuan finally turned around.

Kexi finally saw her face. Her features were as exquisite as a meticulously detailed painting, but her thin lips were pressed tightly together, and her gaze was as indifferent as if she were looking at a cloud.

But the knuckles of the hand holding her sword were slightly white, and the tips of her ears were tinged with a barely noticeable blush.

"That side effect-" Her voice was still icy, though she spoke a little faster than before. "You are not to mention it again. You are not to mention it to anyone."

Kexi nodded frantically, the boulder in his heart finally falling away.

It looked like he had managed to muddle through this ordeal.

Qiuyuan glanced at him and said indifferently, "Three months of confinement, and an additional two hours of sword practice during morning lessons every day. Any objections?"

"No, no, none!" Kexi shook his head like a rattle drum.

What was that? Heaven had already shown him mercy by letting him walk out of Clear Heart Hall alive.

"And another thing-" Qiuyuan suddenly took a step forward.

The step was soundless, but Kexi felt the pressure in all of Clear Heart Hall change in that instant.

The next second, a length of cold steel pressed against his chin, forcing him to raise his head.

Qiuyuan tilted her head up slightly, her eyes, as cold as icy pools, staring straight into his. She lowered her voice until only he could hear her. "That fruit was the only time I have lost my composure in the past several hundred years. If you dare tell anyone-"

"I'll guard the secret with my life!" Kexi raised three fingers, his expression even more solemn than if he were taking an oath.

Qiuyuan stared at him for a full three seconds.

During those three seconds, Kexi felt as though he were being scrutinized from the tips of his hair to his heels, his very soul pulled out and given a thorough shaking.

Then she withdrew her sword and turned her back on him. Her voice returned to its eternally unchanging coolness. "Go. Don't be late for morning lessons tomorrow."

Kexi was about to leave Clear Heart Hall, but before he could take a step, that cold voice pinned him in place again.

"Stop."

The single word was not loud, but it made every hair on Kexi's back stand on end.

He turned stiffly, forcing a bitter smile onto his face. "Is there anything else you need, Master?"

Qiuyuan still had her back to him.

A long silence passed, long enough for Kexi to begin wondering if he had imagined hearing her, before she spoke.

Her voice was still cool, a little softer than usual, as though she were asking casually, yet also as though she had been working up to it for a long time.

"When you jumped off the cliff, did you hurt yourself anywhere?"

Kexi was startled for a moment, then quickly shook his head. "No, no. My senior sisters took care of me. I just scraped a little skin, and it doesn't hurt at all-"

Before he could finish, Qiuyuan had already turned around.

There was no unnecessary expression on her frost-cold face, but her brows drew together almost imperceptibly, and her gaze swept from his disheveled collar to the edge of the gauze faintly visible beneath his sleeve.

The next second, a small white porcelain bottle appeared in Kexi's arms. It was cold to the touch, though the bottle still held the lingering warmth of Qiuyuan's palm.

"Apply it externally. Twice a day." Qiuyuan withdrew her hand, her tone still commanding, but she looked away a little faster than usual.

Kexi looked down at the bottle of ointment in his hand. The white porcelain was as smooth as jade. He opened his mouth to thank her, but before he could speak, Qiuyuan said something else.

"If the injury lingers, you'll suffer for it later." She put her hands behind her back again, returning to her cool, distant manner.

But Kexi noticed that after she had thrust the medicine into his hands, she had tucked her hand into her sleeve as she pulled it back, as though hiding something.

A sudden sense of foreboding welled up in Kexi's heart.

He thought no more about it, tucked the bottle into his robes, and bowed gratefully. "Thank you, Master! I'll take good care of my injuries and do my best to recover soon, so I won't bring you shame."

"Mm. Go."

Kexi turned toward the hall doors, his steps a little lighter.

He had never expected that Qiuyuan would spare the life of a disobedient disciple who had offended his master, much less pay him such special attention.

He had just reached the doorway when Qiuyuan's voice came from behind him once more.

This time, her tone was still cold, but her words made Kexi's feet freeze.

"Come to my room tonight at the hour of the boar."

Kexi nearly ran headfirst into the doorframe.

He spun around, his eyes as wide as copper bells.

"...Huh?"

Qiuyuan remained motionless with her back to him, her figure dignified and saintly, as though what she had just said were perfectly ordinary.

"You missed three days of lessons. You'll make them up tonight."

Her tone was as calm as ever, but a careful listener could hear that she clipped the final word a little short, as though eager to finish speaking, or as though concealing a somewhat unnatural pause.

After a pause, she added, "Do not let them find out. Especially Yangyang."

Kexi stood in the doorway, the white porcelain medicine bottle in his hand still carrying the lingering warmth of Qiuyuan's palm.

He stiffly lowered his head and looked at the medicine bottle engraved with the character "宵," then looked up at Qiuyuan's dignified, saintly back, and down at the bottle again.

Cold on the outside, sickeningly sweet inside.

When the thought popped into Kexi's head, he felt goosebumps all over his body.

No, no, no. I'm overthinking it.

Master just cares about her disciple.

How could a sword immortal be described as "sickeningly sweet inside"? She's a peerless expert, a sword immortal several hundred years old, pure and unsullied.

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

He shook his head hard, shaking the dangerous thought out of his mind.

But when he turned and left Clear Heart Hall, his steps were noticeably several times faster than when he had entered. He was practically fleeing.

The moment the hall doors closed, Qiuyuan stood alone before the screen and slowly let out a breath.

She looked down at her hand-the one that had accidentally touched him when she thrust the medicine bottle at him. Her fingertips were still trembling slightly.

She put her hand behind her back, clenched it, relaxed it, and clenched it again.

No one could see the blush on the tips of her ears in the dim hall. Only she knew how hot they were.

She hurriedly sat down cross-legged, pulled the guqin beside her over, and took a deep breath.

Play the guqin.

Play the guqin.

Calm.

Calm.

"Twng." A string snapped.

Qiuyuan's face flushed red. She looked down at the broken string, took a deep breath, and set the guqin aside. Then she closed her eyes, still sitting cross-legged, and tried to suppress it with the most basic breathing exercises.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths-

On the third breath, her eyelashes began to tremble.

On the fourth, she bit her lower lip.

Before she had finished exhaling the fifth, her eyes flew open.

Something's wrong.

The spiritual energy in her body was clearly circulating smoothly, and there were no signs of blockage in her meridians, but something was rampaging through her body, disturbing her so much that she could not enter meditation.

She looked down at her hand. The fingertips that had touched Kexi still retained a strange, tingling sensation, as though wrapped in something warm, impossible to shake off no matter how hard she tried.

Then she remembered the spirit fruit.

The spirit fruit of unknown origin that Kexi had offered her, the one that had made her whole body burn.

The feeling from that night returned,

Her face turned scarlet, even redder than it had been that night, a faint pink spreading all the way down her neck.

She struggled for a long time, reason and instinct waging a smokeless war inside her.

At last, she clenched her teeth, one hand gripping the hem of her robe tightly.

"Damn heart demon... ruining my Dao heart..."

She bit her lower lip, her voice low and hoarse, every word seemingly forced out through clenched teeth.

She closed her eyes, no longer trying to suppress it, nor trying to deny it.

Since none of the righteous methods can suppress it,

This is the only way.

No one will see, no one will know, and this is the last time anyway. After tonight, I'll definitely be able to pull this damned heart demon out by the roots.

"So sweet."

"Kexi... disobedient disciple... what on earth did you feed me...?"