Chapter 33: Loquat Fruit (Part 7)

Shen Suwei brushed past her, moving to the side of the punishment platform, intending to watch her wield the whip.

A contemptuous mother-in-law had said that when administering the whip punishment, she should use roughly the same force as when she cracked a chestnut. However, because she was whipping in front of her senior brother, Xu Qianyu was very nervous. So, she gathered all her strength and, with enough force to shatter two chestnuts, struck hard against the punishment platform.

The platform was made from a single slab of spiritual stone, as tough as dark iron. When she hit it, a crisp “snap” resounded, and two sparks flickered off the tip of the whip.

Shen Suwei watched her quietly, without commenting, then stepped behind her, grasping her hand from behind, and delivered a whip stroke himself.

At the moment the whip struck, Xu Qianyu’s eyes widened, feeling the force transmitted through her hand, sharp and powerful, as if slicing through jade—much stronger than even contemptuous mother-in-law’s force by several times!
Xu Qianyu stared nervously at the whip, thinking that with a strike like that, the whole punishment platform might just split in two. However, the stone platform was sturdier than she’d expected; the whip still only produced a crisp “snap,” sending two sparks flying.

Shen Suwei released her hand. “Understand?”
Xu Qianyu, beads of cold sweat forming, couldn’t help but say, “Could you…do it one more time?”
She’d been too shocked earlier and had forgotten to observe the direction and technique of the force.

Obliging her, Shen Suwei bent down, grasped her hand again, and guided her through several whip strokes.

Xu Qianyu sensed that her senior brother’s way of applying force was different from what Contemptuous mother-in-law had taught her—more decisive and more succinct. Although the power of his whip was great, it lacked the exaggerated show of breaking through the air.
But then, thinking that her senior brother had reached the level where his whip could coil around people, she did not question it.

Seeing her practice with the whip for a while, Shen Suwei asked, “How did you get out here?”
Xu Qianyu was startled; she’d almost forgotten that her senior brother had come here to question her.
She put down the whip and rolled up her sleeve to show him the hand-painted command mark on her arm.

Shen Suwei held her arm and examined it for a moment before asking, “How many more days will you be here?”

Seeing that he didn’t seem inclined to blame her, Xu Qianyu immediately replied, “Three days.”
In truth, the contemptuous mother-in-law had only asked her to fill in for a day. But seeing the opportunity, Xu Qianyu had decided to cover all three days for her, letting the contemptuous mother-in-law rest inside without worry.

“Good. Return after three days.” Shen Suwei didn’t doubt her, pressing two fingers on the command mark, which began to shift and transform, ultimately altering its form.
Clearly, he’d modified the command to have a time limit. After three days, it would expire.

Shen Suwei handed her the whip. “For the next three days, stay here. Use the same level of force and do five hundred lashes each day. If there’s no one to punish, whip the stone platform.”

“Wait,” Xu Qianyu stopped him. “With this much force…”

Wouldn’t this be enough to injure the disciples?

Understanding her concern, Shen Suwei replied, “Don’t worry. The whips in the punishment hall are enchanted. To protect the disciples, no matter how much force you apply, the strength of the strike will be about the same.”
Xu Qianyu nodded, realizing why the platform hadn’t shattered.
But then she looked at the whip and couldn’t help but ask, “If that’s the case, then how were you able to make that disciple scream just now?”

Shen Suwei looked at her and, after a pause, said, “Because enchantments are man-made. My cultivation surpasses that of the person who set the enchantment, so I can override their restrictions as I see fit. Understand?”
Xu Qianyu looked at him, partially understanding.

Shen Suwei said no more, turning to leave. She thought of something and called after him, “Could I possibly…” She hesitated, adjusting her phrasing more politely, “Could Senior Brother Shen lend me…no, could I borrow…”

Once she’d composed herself, Xu Qianyu spoke the words loudly: “Could Senior Brother Shen lend me an elixir?”

Borrowing was much easier to say than asking outright.
She could pay him back tenfold once she became successful in the future.

Shen Suwei noticed her change in address; though she wasn’t a sect disciple, she called him senior brother. Since he had guided her, it wasn’t inappropriate, and he found it pleasant, so he did not correct her. He turned and asked, “What for?”

“To save someone.”

Shen Suwei turned back toward her. “The person who taught you the whip?”
Xu Qianyu nodded, briefly explaining the contemptuous mother-in-law’s condition.
Shen Suwei glanced at her. Today, Xu Qianyu was dressed appropriately in the white disciple uniform, with a red mark on her forehead, appearing pure and ethereal, though it made her seem slightly fragile. No wonder some disciples gave her a hard time.

He found her personality quite interesting. She could speak kindly on behalf of others, and she even seemed able to bear the “polishing” process.
But he did not show this on his face.

“I don’t have one on me today,” Shen Suwei said, lowering his gaze. “If you practice diligently, I’ll ‘lend’ you one on the third day.”

Xu Qianyu agreed, fairly satisfied with the outcome. However, Shen Suwei suddenly walked back to her and pressed his fingers to her forehead.

Immediately, Xu Qianyu felt a warm current flowing from her forehead to her entire body. She was surprised to find herself growing taller, her body changing.

As the mist cleared, she raised her arms to see a pair of wrinkled hands that weren’t hers and gasped.
“Where are you going?” Shen Suwei grabbed her by the collar as she attempted to run and look at herself in a mirror. “There’s no need. It’s just a disguise.”

“How could you?” Xu Qianyu felt her anger flare, guessing she’d been made to look like contemptuous mother-in-law, and she stomped her foot in frustration. “Why would you make me look like this? Change me back now!”

Shen Suwei replied, “If others saw you, they would ask about your identity, wasting time back and forth.”
“Practice. It will wear off after three days.”
With that, he left decisively.
Xu Qianyu knew he’d done it to protect her safety, but she wasn’t pleased and lashed the stone platform fiercely, sparks flying.

The whole afternoon, she felt frustrated and stifled, but luckily, with the punishment duties, she could vent her anger through the whip, easing her mood somewhat.

After about a hundred lashes, she felt numb.
Following her senior brother’s method of whipping was exhausting. Hungry and tired, she found she didn’t have the energy to be annoyed.
At two hundred lashes, Xu Qianyu was drenched in sweat, feeling utterly drained.
By the time she reached three hundred, her breathing had become heavy, as if needles pricked her lungs. Exhausted, she took a moment to sit down, hugging her knees, feeling as if her whole body was soaked in water, her arms aching terribly.

At four hundred lashes, the sky had darkened. It shouldn’t have taken so long, but she was so worn out that she had to stop and rest after each few strikes, dragging the process into the night.

She felt like she was at her limit. In the past month, had she ever been this exhausted in a single day? She couldn’t help but wonder if her senior brother was deceiving her. How could someone endure five hundred strikes in a day? If she really had to complete five hundred, would she even survive?
But how could her senior brother lie?
In her impression, Shen Suwei was the very model of integrity, someone who always kept his word.
So, she swayed as she stood up, summoning all her strength, striking once, pausing, then striking again. Who knows how much time passed before she finally completed the five hundred strikes? Xu Qianyu’s clothes were drenched, her arms stiff as stone; she had dropped the whip three times before finally hanging it back in place.

The moment she pushed the door open, she sought out contemptuous mother-in-law to complain. But upon seeing her appearance, the contemptuous mother-in-law only laughed, enviously noting that Xu Qianyu had received guidance from an inner sect senior brother, advising her to follow his instructions faithfully.

Xu Qianyu didn’t want to talk to her. She collapsed onto her bed and lost consciousness.
The next morning, Xu Qianyu opened her eyes. When she raised her hand and saw her large palm, she felt the pain and pulled the blanket over her head, unwilling to get up.

But after lying there for a while, she remembered she hadn’t yet obtained the elixir. Begrudgingly, she got up and headed to the discipline hall in humiliation.
Shen Suwei passed through the wall during her break from the morning’s whipping.
Xu Qianyu glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, ignoring him and grimly striking the stone platform, busy counting in her head.

Shen Suwei stopped behind her, surprised.

He knew Xu Qianyu had a bit of a crafty nature, prideful and domineering. When dealing with her, one had to guard against her bargaining. So yesterday, he had reported the maximum number for disciple practice: five hundred strikes.
He expected her to quit after two or three hundred strikes, exhausted, at least managing some practice. But he hadn’t expected her to actually complete the five hundred strikes.
No wonder she only returned in the middle of the night.
In truth, he hadn’t been there to supervise…
Shen Suwei sighed at the thought.

Despite her young age and arrogant facade, she was surprisingly innocent and easy to deceive.
Feeling a slight twinge of guilt, he noticed Xu Qianyu’s weariness and lifeless expression and said, “Turn around.”
Xu Qianyu ignored him.
He continued, “I’ll help you adjust the transformation technique.”
He had altered her appearance to prevent her from encountering disciples like Chen Duo again and to help her focus without distractions. But he hadn’t expected she’d care this much.

Xu Qianyu immediately dropped the whip and turned to him, raising her forehead. Her senior brother placed two fingers on it, and after a moment, she saw her arms changing rapidly in the mist, restoring their fair, full look, though her size remained the same.
Shen Suwei had likely transformed her into a woman in her twenties with a taller build.

At least she looked like a young woman now. Xu Qianyu’s expression brightened, though her mouth still turned down as she asked coldly, “Am I pretty?”
“…” Shen Suwei thought, if she drew too much attention, wouldn’t that cause more trouble? What was the point of changing her at all? But seeing her persistence, he subtly adjusted her features. “You could be considered elegant.”
Satisfied, especially with her height, Xu Qianyu had long wanted longer legs to play polo. Now, with her temporary transformation, she kicked her legs, stomped her feet, and sarcastically said to Shen Suwei, “So, aren’t you afraid I’ll run into disciples like yesterday?”
Shen Suwei replied calmly, “Now that you know the force needed for a whip strike, if you encounter someone like that again, just aim for his face.”

If she wasn’t going to avoid trouble, what else could be done?
He stood behind her, guiding her strikes again. Xu Qianyu noticed the force felt slightly different from yesterday.
Her forearm and wrist felt like blades, and her hand went numb from the shock of each strike.
After Shen Suwei chanted an incantation, her upper arm felt frozen, unable to move, and she struggled instantly.
“Not moving is normal,” Shen Suwei explained. “You’re only to use your forearm and wrist.”
“Today is still five hundred.”
Shen Suwei turned to leave, and after a moment, Xu Qianyu cursed loudly behind him.
After all, striking relied heavily on shoulder strength. With her shoulder and upper arm frozen yet maintaining the same force, how much strain would her wrist and forearm endure?
Shen Suwei ignored her, not adjusting the number for her. Since she called him “senior brother,” he’d see her through this.

Xu Qianyu truly couldn’t complete five hundred strikes.
In her desperation, she came up with a solution: Shen Suwei had only specified a total of five hundred, not that it had to be done with one hand. She could alternate, doing two hundred and fifty with each hand, sharing the load. And when one hand grew tired, she could switch to the other.
This way, her shoulders wouldn’t end up too imbalanced.

With that thought, Xu Qianyu struggled back up, alternating hands with each strike. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could return to bed.
Even so, she still didn’t finish until the moon was high in the sky.
The moment she stepped over the threshold, her strength gave out. Without a word to her contemptuous mother-in-law, she collapsed onto her bed in a deep sleep.
On the third day, it was a contemptuous mother-in-law who woke her.

When Xu Qianyu opened her eyes, her vision went dark, and she no longer knew what day it was. She didn’t want to get up, not because she feared her altered appearance but because she sensed her senior brother would likely increase the difficulty again.
A wave of dread pinned her to the bed.
But when the contemptuous mother-in-law, supporting her injured shoulder, shakily poured her some water with a tender gaze, Xu Qianyu thought, Well, it was the last day anyway. After today, she would never cover for a contemptuous mother-in-law again.

Her intuition about Shen Suwei proved accurate.
That day, her upper and forearms were completely immobilized, leaving only her wrists free to move.
Xu Qianyu furrowed her brows, cold sweat streaming down her face, and dropped the whip.
If she completed five hundred strikes, her wrists might be permanently damaged.
She still needed these hands—to write, to hold chopsticks.
“Not practicing anymore?” Shen Suwei was not surprised and turned to look at her.
“I really can’t do five hundred,” Xu Qianyu replied firmly.

Shen Suwei paused for a moment, then suddenly fed her a pill. Xu Qianyu hadn’t reacted to what it was before she swallowed it whole, supporting her chest with a look of surprise and suspicion.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine now.”
“Really?” Xu Qianyu asked doubtfully. “I don’t feel any different.”

Shen Suwei lowered her gaze and said, “You’ll understand it yourself.”

In fact, it was just an ordinary qi-refining pill.

After all, she hadn’t built her foundation yet, and such intense physical training might make her faint. It was just to give her a boost.
Aside from that, it had no special powers.

But if she really used the pill for assistance, all the hard work of practicing over the past few days would be in vain.
Xu Qianyu believed her, and perhaps the “elixir” gave her courage. She picked up the whip again and began to wield it with her wrist.
Two hundred and fifty strikes with each hand.

There was a psychological effect; after “understanding it” for a while, Xu Qianyu felt as if her internal energy was abundant and she was not as tired, but it could also be that her wrist had gone numb from the vibrations, making her unaware of her fatigue.
The duration of her practice on the third day was almost the same as the second, ending at midnight.

However, after finishing, she still had no sensation below her wrists, as if they were broken.
Xu Qianyu did not hurry back to that small courtyard.

If she returned today, she wouldn’t be able to come out tomorrow. It was hard-earned freedom for three days, and if she only practiced the whip in the small house without exploring, she would miss out.
So tonight, she decided not to go back and planned to sleep here. If she delayed returning to the restricted area until later the next day, wouldn’t that give her half a day of freedom to roam?
When Shen Suwei arrived, he found her sleeping against the torture platform, and she hadn’t returned all night.

Three days had passed and the transformation technique had worn off, causing Xu Qianyu to revert to her original appearance. She sat hugging her knees, appearing quite small, with the bright cinnabar mark on her forehead contrasting with her pale face. It seemed she had lost quite a bit of weight over these days, and her chin had become sharp.

Seeing her come all this way, Shen Suwei knew she wouldn’t sleep anywhere but on a soft bed or jade couch. If she was not properly attended to, she would scold in a delicate voice. Now, however, she was curled up quietly by the stone platform, looking very pitiful and lonely.

Dawn was approaching, and the servants who used to execute punishments would return to the execution room. It would not end well if they stumbled upon her. Shen Suwei wanted to move her outside the discipline hall.

He first considered lifting her but then remembered how easily Xu Qianyu could get angry upon waking. So, he changed his posture and picked her up instead. He held his breath, unconsciously lightening his movements. But Xu Qianyu did not wake. Her long eyelashes were drooping, and she slept very deeply, looking extremely exhausted.

He placed Xu Qianyu on the stone platform behind the flowering tree, rolled up her sleeves, adjusted the date on the secret order by a day, extended the transformation technique for another day, and then drew a seal with his sword before leaving with it.

Since she didn’t want to go back, she might as well explore for another day.
Walking without her original appearance wouldn’t be considered a violation.