Chapter 33.3

Working On It (3)

Their skin pressed against each other, and Shen Rongyu’s voice came from above her head. “Whether it’s three hours or five hours, you can have as many hours as you want.”

“Oh.” Ji Qingzhou calculated her cultivation progress. She knew that at her original cultivation speed of three hours per day, it would take a number of days for her to reach the 3rd stage of Qi Refining. In addition, each advancement stage would increase the ability required for advancement by a certain percentage. Therefore, if she wanted to reach the 5th stage of Qi Refining before the annual assessment, she needed a daily average of —

“Four hours and five incense sticks are enough, not five.” Ji Qingzhou accurately calculated the average daily training time.

Shen Rongyu’s hand holding her wrist tightened. His fingertips were warm, but his tone was still cold and resolute, with a hint of exasperation because of her failure to meet his expectations: “Is that all you’ve been thinking about?”

Ji Qingzhou was baffled: “What else, Xiao Yu-shixiong?”

What else was she supposed to think about other than calculating the time required for their cultivation? Wasn’t she trying to shorten the time to trouble him less?

“Blockhead,” he said.

“Yes,” Ji Qingzhou subconsciously responded.

After a while, she realized what it meant. “I’m not a blockhead.”

Shen Rongyu didn’t argue with her anymore. He held her wrist and started to help her cultivate.

For the current Ji Qingzhou, she was used to Shen Rongyu’s vital energy in their cultivation space.

To be honest, the red qi that belonged to him appeared fierce, but in fact, they just rubbed against her and did nothing else. They still ended up leaving her a little room to breathe.

Some time ago, the red qi had been rubbing against her neck, but today, they were acting a bit differently.

Ji Qingzhou turned her head sideways, and she noticed that the red qi slowly crawled up until they reached her ear.

It tickled, so she shrugged and dodged them, but the current that enveloped her immediately tightened, preventing her from struggling.

Fine, since they were restraining her from moving, she’d just stay still. Anyway, she had long known that Shen Rongyu was a big villain. He usually appeared so gentle in front of her, but while they were in the cultivation space, he showed his true colors.

Ji Qingzhou’s neck was stiff, and she remained motionless. She felt someone bite her earlobe, neither light nor hurtful. It felt like lips made out of those red qi.

Ji Qingzhou had just gotten used to his touch, rubbing against her neck, but now that it had changed to another spot, she felt utterly helpless. She closed her eyes and raised her hand to push away the red qi that bit her earlobe.

As a result, he took another bite of her fingertips, biting whatever he caught; it was altogether beastly.

He approached again and squeezed her hand away, moving decisively. Ji Qingzhou remembered that she had reminded Shen Rongyu not long ago that she was not tasty.

What is he doing now? Is he resistant to sourness?

Ji Qingzhou felt troubled and aggrieved, but she couldn’t get away from him no matter how much she tried. It never occurred to her that the source of all this was what she said.

Whether she tasted good or not, of course, he had to taste to know.

Today’s cultivation was much longer. Ji Qingzhou tried her best to avoid the red qi, because it was ticklish. Whenever he pecked her, her nerves trembled.

When she finally quit the cultivation state, she couldn’t stop rubbing her earlobe. Shen Rongyu noticed her movements, and wondered to himself if she had discovered his sneaky bite when he carried her.

He grasped her hands, pulled them apart a little, and asked her, “Is it itchy?”

Shen Rongyu’s low voice swept over the side of Ji Qingzhou’s ear. She cocked her head, not daring to look at him squarely. “No.”

She was rather annoyed and a little embarrassed. Look at him, he was still asking. It was clearly he who bit her, and now he had the nerve to ask her innocently.

Ji Qingzhou withdrew her hands and hid them in her sleeves: “Xiao Yu-shixiong, I’m going back.”

Shen Rongyu sent her back, but he was still puzzled. Logically, Ji Qingzhou couldn’t have found out, but on the way back, she had raised her hand and rubbed her ears multiple times.

“Why do you keep rubbing it?” he asked again, with eyes cast down.

“Xiao Yu-shixiong…” Ji Qingzhou considered it again, but she still decided to share it so that Shen Rongyu could restrain himself.

“Didn’t you bite it?” Ji Qingzhou asked him with a straight face.

“…..” Oh no, he was found out.

He didn’t know how Ji Qingzhou found out, but he thought his sneaky bite of her while she was sleeping had fallen through.

“I won’t bite you next time.” This time, Shen Rongyu averted his gaze. He avoided looking at her, and instead focused on the fog in the forest in the distance. “Zhouzhou, you said last time that you aren’t delicious, but I wanted to check.”

Ji Qingzhou didn’t expect that it was the consequence of her own words. She opened her lips and wanted to say something, but her words ended up incoherent, and she hardly organized a complete sentence.

She was really terrible at communication. From now on, she’d better speak less. Thus, she merely uttered “En”, and then shut up.

Shen Rongyu sent her back in silence. Ji Qingzhou noticed it, and an indescribable emotion rose in her heart. Shen Rongyu had no way to control his actions in the cultivation space, and she originally shouldn’t have stayed awake either. Had she stayed unconscious, this matter would have boiled down to just the intermingling of two different vital energies.

Aside from his current perfect disguise, he was indeed a wicked villain, and such an act was normal for him.

Ji Qingzhou hated herself for being too awake. She didn’t know why her consciousness remained awake even when she was in the cultivation space.

For this reason, she tugged at Shen Rongyu’s sleeve. “Xiao Yu-shixiong, aren’t you going back?”

Shen Rongyu turned his head sideways, looked at her, and after a long time, the thin ice in his eyes seemingly glistened.

“Sorry,” he said to her.

Ji Qingzhou shook her head, her cheeks puffed up. She didn’t know what to say, but she wasn’t totally annoyed.

Shen Rongyu left, and his figure disappeared into the forest.

Ji Qingzhou immediately closed the courtyard door and leaned her back against the door. She heard her heart pounding.

When it was time to go to bed, her shyness had yet to dissipate. Moreover, she found even hugging her quilt on the bed a bit uncomfortable, because there was none of Shen Rongyu’s scent on it.

H-He’s a peculiar one, she thought.

In the end, before going to sleep, she slapped her head after reacting to that thought.

Wasn’t she supposed to be the one capturing the villain? How come it seemed to be her who was getting captivated?

——————–

Afterword:

Xiao Yu-shixiong was actually like this. He has been very restrained in front of Zhouzhou, but he couldn’t restrain himself in the cultivation space.

Shen Rongyu was thinking: She is a wood, and she should be glad I’m willing to Dual Cultivate with her. Why doesn’t she get it? She actually wants to find something else to replace me? I’m jealous.

What Ji Qingzhou was thinking: What am I to do with my annual assessment results? I must pass the Cultivation Class, so I have to calculate how long I can practice efficiently when I am free.