Chapter 44.2

Jing Shuxing simply turned his face to the other side, not daring to look at her.

Chi Lu thought to herself that it was one thing for his physical condition to deteriorate, but why was his temperament also regressing? She reached out, pinched Jing Shuxing’s jaw, and forcibly turned his face back.

She heard a long, drawn-out sigh.

“Young Sect Leader, I am not worth it,” Jing Shuxing murmured, “Besides, you know I don’t like this.”

He was rejecting her.

It was hard to imagine that just not long ago, Jing Shuxing had been holding her hand, pitifully saying:

“Young Sect Leader, please don’t leave me.”

“Young Sect Leader, don’t like Jing Luoyun,” and so on.

Now, he was actually putting on a demeanor of keeping others at a distance, refusing even to drink water. This behavior was somewhat reminiscent of when they first met.

Chi Lu pressed down on Jing Shuxing’s shoulder and gave a firm push.

Even though Jing Shuxing had awakened his powers, he was still a useless person on the surface, having lost all his spiritual power, and his physical condition was even worse than that of an ordinary person. With just a slight exertion of force from Chi Lu, he couldn’t bear it, and he uncontrollably fell back.

He ended up resting on Chi Lu’s shoulder, and frantically trying to sit back up.

Before him, a pair of round almond-shaped eyes suddenly brightened, as Chi Lu looked down at him: “Is that so?”

“But why do I feel like, back in Fengyue City, you quite liked this?”

She was open and honest, her words and actions as clear as a bright mirror, without a trace of concealment.

Jing Shuxing’s face turned deathly pale in an instant, then flushed with an unnatural redness.

Feeling both embarrassed and annoyed, he lowered his head and took a few sips of warm water from Chi Lu’s hand. Unable to suppress his urge to cough, he turned his face downward, resting on the back of his hand, and covered his mouth as he coughed forcefully.

He coughed so hard that his entire face turned bright red, like a fresh, plump peach.

Chi Lu hesitated for a moment, then reached out to gently pat Jing Shuxing’s back to help him catch his breath. Worried that he might be invaded by Yin energy in the spiritual vein, she moved the fire closer so that Jing Shuxing was nearer to the heat source.

She rummaged through her space bag, found a fox fur coat, and draped it over Jing Shuxing.

Her heart grew more certain that Jing Shuxing was definitely facing some trouble, possibly related to the “storyline” mentioned by the system. She couldn’t inquire about it directly, so she decided to keep the matter to herself, planning to find an opportunity to ask about it in detail later.

…For now, she just needed to make him feel less uncomfortable and let him recover a bit.

Chi Lu worked for a while, carefully molding her spiritual power into an extremely fine thread. After confirming it wouldn’t cause further damage to his shattered spiritual platform, she directed the spiritual power into Jing Shuxing’s body, slowly penetrating deeper.

Even so, when her spiritual power touched his chaotic meridians, Jing Shuxing’s entire body trembled. He endured the discomfort, not making a sound.

Chi Lu felt a bit distressed. “You can cry out if it hurts.”

Jing Shuxing clenched his teeth tightly and, after a long while, muttered in a muffled voice, “It’s better if the Young Sect Leader stays away from me.”

He propped himself up, pressing on his chest and panting heavily for a while before he managed to steady his breath.

“I am capable of lying, Young Sect Leader. Not only can I lie, but I also think about harming others. I…”

“I can lie too,” Chi Lu interrupted him with a laugh. “Besides, you’ve never harmed me.”

On the contrary, it was she who had been coerced by the system, constantly causing him trouble. Even when she tried to make amends, the system would undo her efforts.

She half-forced Jing Shuxing to drink the entire cup of warm water, patted his shoulder, and with a smile, asked, “Want to lean over and rest for a bit?”

Jing Shuxing did lean over, but his posture was a bit strange. He spread the wide fur coat open and pulled Chi Lu into it with him.

“The spiritual vein is filled with heavy Yin energy, which can even corrode cultivators. The Young Sect Leader should also keep warm,” he whispered softly.

He wrapped his arms around Chi Lu from behind, buried his face in the side of her neck and nuzzled with his eyes closed.

Hearing Jing Shuxing’s reminder, Chi Lu chuckled and tapped him on the forehead.

“If Yin energy can corrode even cultivators, shouldn’t you be bundling up more? Don’t just worry about me.”

Jing Shuxing’s lips moved slightly, but he decided not to speak further, closing his eyes to enjoy the embrace he had deceitfully obtained.

Chi Lu pressed her fingers against his shoulder and slowly pushed him forward. She tugged on the drawstring of the fox fur, tightening it around Jing Shuxing’s neck, and then suddenly released her strength.

Caught off guard, Jing Shuxing fell forward. He could have supported himself, but perhaps sensing that Chi Lu was teasing him, he simply closed his eyes and didn’t resist.

Unexpectedly, Chi Lu didn’t dodge either and caught him steadily.

He rested his head on the girl’s lap, his eyes filled with surprise. He struggled to turn onto his back, only to be met with a pair of eyes brimming with amusement.

Chi Lu placed her palm on the back of Jing Shuxing’s hand. Her hand was much smaller, unable to completely cover his, but the spiritual energy gathered in her palm flowed warmly into his body, spreading through his limbs and bones.

“Rest for a while, I’ll keep watch for you,” she suggested with a smile.

Jing Shuxing knew he should get up immediately and move away from Chi Lu.

Chi Lu might be unaware, but he wasn’t. Being so closely intertwined like this, anyone who saw them would undoubtedly mistake them for a pair of Dao companions in the throes of passionate love.

He lowered his eyelashes, which fluttered slightly, and replied with a muffled, reluctant voice, “Indeed…”

The bonfire crackled, burning ever more vigorously, driving away all the cold and dampness.

Jing Shuxing turned his face away from the fire, gently exhaled a breath of turbid air, and closed his eyes as if to take a nap.

He was truly exhausted. Since this body had been shattered and reshaped, it had reverted to the state it was in a month ago, where even walking a few steps left him slightly breathless.

He had long grown accustomed to such suffering, and even while resting with his eyes closed in front of the warm fire, he could control his consciousness, preventing it from scattering and falling into dreams.

He heard Chi Lu maintain her silence for a long time, and then, as if she thought he had fallen asleep, she moved her palm from the back of his hand to his shoulder and gently hummed an unfamiliar tune.

The soft singing was like a feather, constantly stirring Jing Shuxing’s heart.

Whenever he felt he could no longer endure it, when he was on the brink of losing control and falling into madness, the hard bracelet would touch his shoulder, reminding him that the situation was anything but ordinary.

It was as if a pair of eyes were watching from a corner that neither Chi Lu nor he could see, coldly observing everything.

He wished he could gouge those eyes out of the corner, throw them into the dirt, and stomp on them a few times.

Just to vent his anger.

None of these thoughts showed on Jing Shuxing’s face.

In Chi Lu’s eyes, once Jing Shuxing closed his eyes, he seemed to fall into a quiet sleep.

He looked very peaceful while sleeping, his long eyebrows smooth and relaxed, and his raven-black eyelashes resembled a round fan, occasionally fluttering lightly.

When Jing Shuxing was asleep, he resembled a delicate porcelain doll, coated from head to toe in fine white glaze, making one unable to resist admiring him from every angle.

The more she looked, the more she felt an urge to reach out and give him a playful tug.

Chi Lu’s little thoughts were interrupted by the screeching cries of mischievous spirits.

The spiritual vein was full of mountain spirits and demons, and when a gust of cold wind blew through, Chi Lu knew something was approaching. She quickly set up a barrier, ready to deal with the incoming creatures.

The disorganized shouts grew closer and closer. A dozen little creatures of various shapes were carrying a large red sedan chair, running in Chi Lu’s direction.

They were shouting, “Wrong, wrong, that one is wrong!”

As the creatures got closer, a few of the smarter ones turned their heads toward Chi Lu, their eyes shifting shrewdly and said: “This one’s the right one!”

With that, they swarmed toward Chi Lu.

Before Chi Lu could make any move, the little creatures were suddenly lifted into the air, as if caught by an invisible net, and flung violently to the side. Some even had their bodies torn apart, but thanks to the abundance of spiritual energy in the vein, they quickly regenerated.

The creatures immediately howled in pain, gathering around Chi Lu but not daring to get too close.