Chapter 39

Xu Qiao and Qin Chi stood side by side, watching Jiang Rui get in his car and drive away.

“Sorry, did I cause you any trouble?”

Once Xu Qiao retracted her gaze, Qin Chi offered his apology as well.

Xu Qiao was about to speak when the sound of a child crying suddenly came from the second-floor balcony above. She looked up to see Aunt Liu hurriedly turning away.

Xu Qiao paused, wondering if Aunt Liu had been peeping upstairs every time Jiang Rui came over.

Aunt Liu was a friend of Jiang Rui’s mother. After just witnessing Jiang Rui being attacked by Qin Chi, would she tell Jiang Rui’s mother? Did Jiang Rui’s mother know that her son spent a long time in the hot sun here every Tuesday just to see a little healer for a brief moment?

Suppressing these questions, Xu Qiao first responded to Qin Chi: “It’s okay. But what about you? Is its condition worsening again?”

Qin Chi fell silent for a moment and said, “I can’t say for sure. It has its own temper. Sometimes it cooperates during that ten-minute outing time, but other times it suddenly becomes aggressive.”

As she walked inside, Xu Qiao asked with the mindset of a healer, “Did something happen that caused it to change like this?”

Psychological issues like this often required understanding the underlying causes.

Qin Chi replied, “It has always thought of itself as very strong and is used to crushing lower-level exotic beasts during missions. Once, during a battle, it suddenly went berserk, and since then, it has become difficult to control.”

Xu Qiao stopped outside the entrance and thought for a moment before saying, “Let’s go eat first. After dinner, I’ll come find you.”

As soon as Xu Qiao entered Room 101, Lu Yang leaned over and asked, “What just happened? Did Teacher Qin attack Jiang Rui?”

Xu Qiao: “… You saw it too?”

Lu Yang had already prepared an excuse: “The living room is spacious. I was practicing my sword moves over here. I didn’t want to look, but I couldn’t help seeing it.”

Xu Qiao couldn’t reveal Qin Chi’s secret, so she made up a story on the spot: “Jiang Rui suddenly had the idea of using his wind ability to cool me down, and Teacher Qin thought he was going to attack me and misunderstood.”

Lu Yang’s expression changed, and he scoffed, “Serves him right for being so fawning.”

Xu Qiao said, “Alright, go make dinner. I’m hungry.”

Even if her cooking skills weren’t great, she was still satisfied to come home from work and eat a ready-made meal.
—-
After taking a shower and drying her hair in the master bedroom, she heard Lu Yang still cooking outside. Xu Qiao sat on her bed and messaged Jiang Rui, whom she had added as a friend but had never contacted before: [I forgot to ask earlier, did you get hurt when you bumped into that?]

Jiang Rui had already returned to the East District, parked his car by the roadside, and replied: [No, you don’t have to worry.]

Xu Qiao: [That’s good. After thinking it over, I think it’s better if you don’t come to see me anymore.]

Jiang Rui stared at the message for a moment before asking: [Can you tell me the reason?]

Xu Qiao: [It’s just that your long trips are a bit of a burden for me. I didn’t want to refuse you before because you seemed so sincere, but today I suddenly realized that maybe your family knows about your efforts, which turns it into a double burden for me. Of course, I’m just guessing that they might not be aware.]

She believed in the personal cultivation that Jiang Rui displayed, but she didn’t know his mother well. Xu Qiao didn’t want a day to come when the other party suddenly appeared in front of her, accusing her of keeping Jiang Rui hanging or blaming her for letting him get hurt.

Jiang Rui: [There’s something I haven’t told you. Actually, my mother asked Aunt Liu to help introduce me to a girlfriend first, which is why I brought gifts to Aunt Liu and pretended to run into you while going out.]

Xu Qiao bit her lip.

Jiang Rui: [My mother knows you’re not interested in me, so she didn’t ask about it again. Even if she did, I wouldn’t say anything. Since I started going to the clinic to see you, my subsequent pursuits have all been my personal actions. I’ve also talked to Aunt Liu and asked her not to disturb you or tell my mother about my visits every Tuesday.]

Jiang Rui: [Did she end up secretly keeping an eye on us and you discovered it?]

Jiang Rui: [It was careless of me. I won’t go in front of your building anymore. I’ll change my car and park it in another spot. If you don’t want to see me, I won’t get out, but please keep the opportunity for me to see you, okay?]

Even though it was just through a screen, Xu Qiao felt as if she could see the pleading black eyes of Jiang Rui.
—-
Today, he had faced an inexplicable attack and lost face in front of someone he liked, but he managed to control his angry spirit in time, showing restraint in front of Qin Chi.

Xu Qiao: [You can come, but when you finally decide to give up, please don’t ask me for gas money or compensation for your time lost.]

Jiang Rui laughed: [Maybe I’ll feel very sad on that day, but until then, every time I meet you, my happiness is hard to measure with points.]

Jiang Rui: [I swear on the honor of the guard army that I won’t ask you for any compensation because what you give me far exceeds what I put in.]
—-
After dinner, Lu Yang washed the dishes, and Xu Qiao went to Room 102.

As soon as she walked in, Xu Qiao noticed the changes. Qin Chi had rearranged the living room layout and added a double sofa.

“Have a seat; I’ll go get some fruit.”

After a simple greeting, Qin Chi headed to the kitchen. It didn’t take long for him to bring out two fruit platters—one filled with freshly cut watermelon cubes and the other with shiny, round purple grapes.

Xu Qiao laughed, “I feel like I’m just a neighbor who comes over to mooch off the food.”

Qin Chi sat on the nearby single sofa and replied, “As long as you like it, you’re always welcome.”

Xu Qiao pierced a piece of watermelon with a fruit fork, enjoying its sweet and juicy texture.

Suddenly, she thought of her grandfather. When she was a child, she didn’t understand much and would crave fruits, begging her grandfather to grow some for her. While other families planted more economical vegetables in their yards, her grandfather’s yard had both watermelons and cherries, making all the neighbors aware that the old man had a greedy little granddaughter.

Without realizing it, Xu Qiao ate a second and a third piece of watermelon before remembering the main issue. She set down the fruit fork and said softly to Qin Chi, “Aunt Meng’s beast transformation was caused by her spirit body losing control of its emotions. Although you don’t show symptoms of beast transformation, the agitation of your spirit body is also an emotional problem. How about I give it a try? If it works, great; if not, there’s no loss.”

Qin Chi appeared to be deep in thought, and the fire dragon in his mind was already excitedly spewing flames.

Qin Chi said, “I’m afraid it might hurt you.”

Xu Qiao replied, “Is there really no room for communication and discussion?”

Qin Chi responded, “I’ll give it a try, but its appearance is really quite unappealing, so it’s best to conduct this experiment in the dark to avoid scaring you.”

Xu Qiao glanced outside; it was already seven o’clock, but it wasn’t fully dark yet.

Qin Chi said, “I’ll go back to my room and discuss it with it. If it’s willing to cooperate, I’ll pull the curtains.”

Xu Qiao waved the fruit fork and said, “Alright, take your time. I’m not in a hurry.”

Qin Chi’s gaze lingered on the lips of his little teammate, which had been moistened by the watermelon juice, before he got up and went to his bedroom.

Xu Qiao continued to eat fruit while listening attentively, but she didn’t hear any noise.

Suddenly, the lotus spirit body emerged, its normally vibrant green leaves drooping limply at the edges. A stream of water flew toward Xu Qiao, forming words: [It might hurt me.]

Xu Qiao whispered, “I’ll be by your side. Let him hold back his spirit body; if anything feels off, you come back immediately.”

Lotus: [I can hide. What if it hurts you?]

Xu Qiao squeezed a grape, biting into it with force, and after swallowing, she huffed, “In the spirit of teamwork, let’s give it a chance. If it dares to grab me, then we’ll just ignore it from now on and let it stay locked up by Qin Chi.”

The lotus leaned against her cheek and then moved closer to the two fruit platters to sniff.
—-
After about ten minutes, Xu Qiao felt too embarrassed to keep eating watermelon for fear of leaving an empty plate. Finally, Qin Chi emerged and looked at her, saying, “Shall we give it a try?”

Xu Qiao nodded.

Qin Chi went around closing the curtains. The three-layer curtains provided excellent light-blocking, and when he turned off the lights, everything was pitch dark. Xu Qiao took a while to adjust, unable to see Qin Chi’s shadow across from her.

After confirming the darkness effect, Qin Chi turned the lights back on and led Xu Qiao to the largest bedroom. He stood inside the doorway while Xu Qiao stood outside. He then pulled out a small refrigerator from the space, perfectly sized to block the bedroom door. It was about as tall as Xu Qiao’s waist, and he even carefully checked the gaps between the refrigerator and the walls on either side.

Xu Qiao asked, “Is it effective? It can fly out.”

Qin Chi replied, “I’ll hold its head down. Are you ready?”

Xu Qiao took a deep breath.

Qin Chi said, “Then I’ll turn off the lights.”

He stood still, but he could control the wind to turn off the lights in the living room.

The pitch-black darkness enveloped them. Xu Qiao first released her spirit body; the lotus appeared beside her, its petals slightly above the top of the refrigerator, while four lotus leaves were tightly pressed against the stem in a protective manner, with soft water sounds coming from below.

Under the intentional control of the spirit body, the water it carried floated without touching the floor.

The fresh fragrance of the flowers slowly spread around them. In the quiet, there was a movement from directly across, as if something had bumped into the refrigerator.

Xu Qiao’s heart tightened, and the lotus spirit body leaped into her arms.

Xu Qiao felt a pang of heartache; the large black scorpion that Aunt Meng transformed into didn’t scare the lotus, which bravely tried to heal her. What exactly was this mysterious spirit body of Qin Chi’s that was so volatile?

On the inside of the bedroom door, Qin Chi tightly gripped the head of the fire dragon between its two horns with one hand. The fire dragon, forced to restrain its entire fire attribute, was now crouching on the ground, its face pressed against the cold refrigerator.

It irritably swung its tail toward Qin Chi’s leg.

Xu Qiao heard a “thud.”

Qin Chi explained, “It slapped me; it wasn’t too hard.”

Xu Qiao relaxed a little.

The two of them fell silent, quietly waiting for the soothing effect of the lotus spirit body.

Qin Chi suggested, “Maybe you can expand the range of the lotus pond; it seems to want to play with water.”

Of course, the therapist would cooperate with the “patient’s” needs.

The lotus spirit body expanded its territory into the bedroom, but only the water flowed in, leaving no lotus leaves behind.

The fire dragon joyfully swam around inside. The lotus was fragrant, and the water carried the scent of flowers, coolly brushing against its every scale.
—-
In a part of the area Qin Chi couldn’t see, the fire dragon played in the water, its tail shrinking in size as it quietly poked its head around the refrigerator, peering outside.

The lotus’s flower plate remained alert against Xu Qiao, but its stem protruded from the leaves, revealing a long segment.

Suddenly, something hard bumped into its stem.

The lotus immediately thought of the other spirit body’s sharp, pitch-black claw and hurriedly retreated back into Xu Qiao’s body.

Xu Qiao’s expression changed. “Is it attacking the lotus?”

Qin Chi quickly withdrew the fire dragon and turned on all the lights.

The refrigerator that blocked the way remained still, leaving only the two teammates staring at each other.