Chapter 67: Rose

“Hiss~”

In the rental house, Qiu Wuji was applying medicine to Chu Ge’s wound while he grimaced in pain and said, “Do we really need this primitive method? Healing techniques seem more convenient.”

“The tip of the dagger pierced into the flesh bit by bit. The wound isn’t big or deep, so we don’t need to treat such minor injuries through healing techniques! You wrote that.”

Chu Ge sighed, “…I’m an idiot.”

When you’ve never been stabbed by a dagger, it’s easy to write about characters who treat minor injuries lightly. But once you actually get stabbed, you realize how painful it is.

“I’m applying a hemostatic treatment for you. I looked it up on the internet; we’ll just apply some medicine and a large-sized adhesive bandage later. Considering your constitution, you’ll recover quickly.” Qiu Wuji said with a serious expression, “Not fully healing with healing magic is a lesson for you to remember.”

“Remember not to act like a hero in the future?” Chu Ge asked. “But we agreed at the beginning that you wouldn’t show up. I can’t always rely on you to take the front line… Don’t accuse me of pretending. Even if your identity isn’t an issue, this is really a matter of manhood! It’s not something I can do, watching you fight while I cheer from behind.”

“What nonsense are you talking? I want you to remember how to fight in the future!”

Chu Ge: “?”

“What if you had learned attack techniques? You didn’t need to get injured in the first place!” Qiu Wuji was frustrated, “When two people lose their balance, you beat up only one person? What about the other? Are they supposed to be beaten up on their own? Also, your fist possesses an extraordinary strength that can knock out or at least daze an ordinary person. And look at the strength you used! When will you stop holding back? Do you think you’re me?”

“Ummm…”

The tone before seemed to naturally justify this act of heroism, but the actual outcome was far from impressive.

Chu Ge could only smile apologetically, “We discussed early on that we needed more real combat practice, so we focused on defense and escaping first.”

Qiu Wuji let out a “hmph” and fell silent.

Chu Ge wasn’t the type to seek fights or be aggressive. On the contrary, he was a shut-in who spent his days typing in front of a computer. He didn’t even know if he had ever fought with other kids when he was young. Being a rookie, it was his first time facing a group of intimidating men armed with daggers, so the fact that he managed to hold his ground was actually quite commendable… Qiu Wuji thought for a moment and felt that Chu Ge himself had a hint of violence, but he didn’t display it on his face like a scholarly person.

Well, having a hint of violence was a good thing. How could the female sect leader of the cultivation world, who had experienced life and death struggles, appreciate someone who only knew how to talk?

While Qiu Wuji cursed verbally, deep down, she felt somewhat satisfied… It seemed like the sense of detachment between the two of them wasn’t as strong as before.

There was silence between the two for a while. Chu Ge lowered his head, watching Qiu Wuji attentively and earnestly treating his wound under his rib. The fragrance of her hair wafted in the air. He looked at her face, she was so intellectual, beautiful, and gentle.

She was also so angry before, saying, “You dare hurt him?”

Suddenly, it didn’t hurt at all, as expected, minor injuries don’t need treatment!

Qiu Wuji finally finished applying the medicine and looked up to say something, but she met Chu Ge’s gentle gaze and forgot what she wanted to say directly, “…What are you looking at! See how easily you got hurt!”

“Cough.” Chu Ge avoided her gaze and clumsily changed the subject, “I feel like I should ask Lin Wuyang for some compensation for the medicine.”

“Ask Zhang Qiren instead.” Qiu Wuji said, “It’s not for medicine, it’s for the clothes! Last time you took a hit for him, your clothes got torn, and today you took another hit, your clothes got torn again! Is it very easy to earn money, painstakingly typing out each and every word?”

She’s really good at managing the finances… Chu Ge wondered, “Are you sure today’s incident is related to him?”

Qiu Wuji sneered, “He was waiting outside to intercept someone, but you took the opportunity to be the hero. In the end, when we left, he let someone else go out and show off, not only concealing our presence but also shifting the blame onto his brother… By the way, the person he used was the one who tried to assassinate him last time, presumably his brother’s person.”

Chu Ge processed the information in his mind and exclaimed, “This Qiren has some interesting methods.”

“Yes,” Qiu Wuji said, “Those few intriguing ability users were the ones he hired to cause trouble. Putting aside our perspectives, this incident itself is about eliminating evil, so these individuals who appear to be from the righteous side are willing to take up the task. And since it’s outsourced, it conveniently allows him to distance himself.”

Chu Ge chimed in, “But in reality, his strikes against other nightclubs and underground gambling dens are probably more about competition within the underworld. We all thought he would target his own brother, especially since his brother attempted to assassinate him… But he showed some understanding, refrained from attacking his own family, and instead targeted his rivals. I wonder what his father thinks about it…”

Qiu Wuji said, “It’s considered a major taboo in the martial world to involve the authorities in attacking rivals. I’m not sure about the rules in your world.”

“It’s probably similar,” Chu Ge said, “So he used his brother’s people to drive the anger of the underworld toward his own brother … It’s a roundabout way, but it’s ultimately about vying for position.”

After a moment of silence, Qiu Wuji asked, “How many birds does this stone hit?”

“No matter how many goals he has, if we consider the act of helping the police combat drug trafficking, it’s unquestionably just. Even Lin Wuyang would probably commend him for it.”

Chu Ge took a deep breath, as if experiencing toothache, and after contemplating for a while, he sent a message to Zhang Qiren: “Compensate me for the clothes, two pieces.”

Zhang Qiren quickly replied, “So you’ve figured out that I’m behind all this… It’s really strange, I can’t seem to understand you anymore. Where did you acquire such confidence? If you had been this confident earlier, would we have ended up in such a pathetic situation?”

Chu Ge replied, “I think it’s a waste of talent for you to write novels. If you had been this confident earlier, would you have ended up in such a situation?”

“I developed these skills through writing novels. I have even more devious protagonists in mind…”

“If I’m so skilled at seducing women in my writing, then why am I not skilled at it in real life?”

“…,” Zhang Qiren couldn’t come up with a response. After a few seconds of silence, he resurfaced and quickly said, “Okay, I’ll compensate you. Take a look at your novel.”

Chu Ge, feeling puzzled, opened the novel app and was greeted by a shiny golden banner that dazzled his eyes: “Your work ‘The Boundless Heavens’ was rewarded with 10 million points by the Golden Alliance.”

Chu Ge made a speechless expression, not knowing what to say.

After deducting the shares, would he earn 50,000? No, after deducting taxes, even less… Why did he suddenly feel a bit regretful? You compensated me for my clothes, so why are you taking some as well?

Zhang Qiren replied with a playful expression, “What? Do you feel like you’re helping me launder money?”

Chu Ge said, “Why so many words? My clothes are cheap stall goods, just give me the appropriate amount. What’s with the generosity?”

Zhang Qiren said, “Aren’t I your reader? As the author, can you control how your esteemed readers choose to reward? It’s not just you, I’ve become the Grand Alliance of over a dozen books in the past few days, even in the Silver category. It’s a bit late for me to reward you now, but mainly I didn’t want you to overthink things.”

Chu Ge: “…”

Zhang Qiren continued, “Chu Ge, no matter how you look at it, my transformation hasn’t resulted in corruption. But I can assure you of one thing, in my territory, there will never be drugs.”

Chu Ge: “Hmm, I believe you.”

“In that case, let’s leave it at that. If you need to contact me, it’s better to have a direct conversation and minimize written records. I’m afraid it might implicate you if something goes wrong.”

With that, Zhang Qiren went offline.

Chu Ge stared at his phone for a moment in a daze, and finally put it away, looking at Qiu Wuji.

Qiu Wuji seemed to have just realized what had happened and muttered absentmindedly, “Why didn’t he reward my character… my star value…”

Chu Ge: “…”

Qiu Wuji just stood up disinterestedly, suddenly remembering that there was something she had forgotten to do. She pushed aside her star value and rushed to the cupboard to find a glass bottle.

Inside the bottle was a rose that had survived countless tribulations, still vibrant and dripping with color.

She filled a bottle with water and carefully inserted the rose, gently touching its petals and watching as it emitted the fragrant scent of life.

The rose was placed on the coffee table, and the dim living room suddenly became vibrant. The dog tail grass on the windowsill swayed as it reflected the beauty of the exquisite rose.

Qiu Wuji blinked her eyes and suddenly felt that it resembled herself and Chu Ge. Her mood improved, and she smiled happily, saying, “After I return, you must take care of it and change the water every day.”

Chu Ge didn’t immediately understand and asked, “Huh? You didn’t stay here for long this time, right? Is it because what happened tonight was too exhausting?”

“The action tonight didn’t consume much,” Qiu Wuji casually replied, “It’s because imbuing the life vitality in this rose required significant energy consumption.”

Chu Ge felt like he was holding back a mouthful of blood. Was it all for this?

Women!

Qiu Wuji calmly entered the room, intending to escape to bed and travel to another world. Just before entering the room, she paused for a moment and turned back with a smile, saying, “I had…a great time tonight.”