Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Shen Qingyu still understood very little about relationships between people. Yet even in that state of ignorance, he had somehow learned to secure “benefits” for himself.

Throughout those endlessly repeating days and nights, how many liberties had he taken with her?

Qiao Ying glared at Shen Qingyu.

He kept his face turned away and refused to confront her. His nails scraped the Blind Staff with an incessant rasp.

Ding Ling remembered that her home was in Yunling Prefecture and wanted to return. Qiao Ying did not mind traveling with her, but she had not expected Yan Yanchi to be going there as well.

Yan Yanchi looked displeased. “I don’t wish to go either. Consider it seeing the good deed through to the end.”

A Daoist talking about seeing a Buddha to the west sounded rather absurd.

Qiao Ying admired him wholeheartedly. “You have no ties to Miss Ding, yet you help her without seeking any reward. You truly are a man of exceptional virtue, Daoist Master.”

Yan Yanchi held his sword, straightened his back, and gave a proud grunt of agreement.

Shen Qingyu smiled. “Is it not because you nourished the Living Soul with your own Yang Qi, and she must therefore depend upon you until she returns to her body? If you abandon her halfway and the Living Soul perishes, that would be the same as killing someone, wouldn’t it?”

Yan Yanchi’s expression stiffened.

Qiao Ying glanced at the young Daoist Master and almost pitied him. He had made such an arrogant and imposing entrance, only to suffer setback after setback at Shen Qingyu’s hands.

It would be cruel to prolong his embarrassment. She was about to smooth things over when Shen Qingyu took her hand and led her away.

Ding Ling had already bid farewell to the Stone Lions. She wanted to remain near Qiao Ying, but Shen Qingyu terrified her. And since Yan Yanchi was now nourishing her soul, she could not stray far from him.

In truth, she was still afraid of Yan Yanchi. But she gathered her courage and said softly, “Whatever your reason, you helped me. Thank you. You saved my life.”

She nervously clutched her skirt. Loose black hair concealed most of her face, leaving only a pair of bright, clear eyes visible.

Yan Yanchi’s expression remained frosty. “It would be best if you return to your body. If you fail and transform from a Living Soul into a ghost, I will not spare you. So put away that affected expression. I am not a man who can be bewitched by beauty.”

With that, he stepped around Ding Ling, leaving only an indifferent back.

She did not understand why the Daoist Master disliked her. She had never tried to seduce anyone. Hurt but afraid to speak, she floated after him and maintained a distance of three paces, becoming something like the spirit haunting his shoulder.

Yunling Prefecture was far more prosperous than Fangcun City. Merchants from every corner of the world filled its streets alongside Gu women from Miao territory, foreign traders from the Western Regions, wandering monks, swordsmen, and other exotic travelers. Shen Qingyu’s unusual appearance attracted far less attention here.

Once they arrived in Yunling Prefecture, Shen Qingyu and Qiao Ying parted ways with Yan Yanchi and Ding Ling.

Qiao Ying studied the street vendors with curiosity and muttered, “From what Miss Ding said, the Ding family should be wealthy and easy to find. Daoist Master Yan doesn’t seem easy to get along with, but he’s cold outside and warm inside. He isn’t a bad person.”

Shen Qingyu did not answer.

She looked up at him. “What’s wrong?”

His lips curved. “Today, you have mentioned that Daoist Master eight times and that Living Soul ten times.”
Qiao Ying gave him a strange look. “And?”

“Today, you have called my name only seven times.”

Her expression grew even more complicated.

Shen Qingyu was kindness and consideration itself. “Do you like them? Shall I take you to see them?”

His smile could not have looked more false.

Qiao Ying rose onto her toes and leaned closer, sniffing beside his neck.

Shen Qingyu felt the warmth of her breath. The skin along his neck suddenly itched and tingled. His body, unaccustomed to the strange sensation, instinctively wanted to retreat. But he remembered that he was the most powerful person in the world. He could not retreat.

His fingers secretly tightened around the Blind Staff to suppress his discomfort, while his face remained as calm and pleasant as a spring breeze.

“What are you doing?”

“Smelling you,” Qiao Ying said.

“Do I have a smell?”

She nodded solemnly. “A distinctly sour one.”

Shen Qingyu tilted his head in confusion.

When he remained rooted to the spot, Qiao Ying took his hand and continued along the bustling street with him.

“Shen Qingyu, you clearly knew there was something wrong with Guang’en Temple. Why did you make me live through the same day so many times?”

He remembered her promise to settle accounts with him. Perhaps that tingling at his neck had been the beginning of her punishment.

He had indeed underestimated her.

All she had done was stand on tiptoe and sniff him, yet his entire body had become strange.

If she truly laid hands on him, his body might respond even more poorly.

After careful consideration, Shen Qingyu said, “You told me you wanted to stay like that with me forever.”

“Like what?”

“Sleeping in my arms, holding me, kissing me, touching me with your hands…”

Qiao Ying hurriedly covered his mouth. She glanced at the passing pedestrians, her face red, and lowered her voice. “We’re in public! If anyone hears you, they’ll accuse us of indecency. Watch what you say, Shen Qingyu!”

Her embarrassment only pleased him. Laughing behind her hand, he asked, “If you committed indecent acts upon me, why can they not be spoken of?”

Qiao Ying knew from experience how devastating it was to open her eyes in the morning and find Shen Qingyu’s exquisite face directly before her. If she had failed to restrain herself and taken liberties with him every night, it was entirely plausible.

She lowered her hand, frustrated by her own weakness. “Just because I said I wanted to stay like that forever, did you truly plan to make me spend the rest of my life repeating the same day in that ruined temple?”

“Why not?” Shen Qingyu asked.

“Do you think living the exact same day over and over is interesting?”

He looked puzzled. “Why would it not be?”

“Every morning you open your eyes to the same scenery. You meet the same people and say the same words. Everything you do and every sound you hear repeats without end. Shen Qingyu, wouldn’t a life like that become boring and painful?”

“You become accustomed to it.”

Qiao Ying went still. “What kind of life did you have to become accustomed to?”

Shen Qingyu smiled. “Would you like to try it?”

She answered cautiously, “If you can guarantee my safety, I suppose I could.”

His voice turned bright and eager. “Then we shall find an opportunity.”