Chapter 1944: It Hurts, Brother-in-law!
“Ji Dengtu?” Zu An repeated, his eyes widening. Even though he'd had his suspicions, he was still shocked to hear it confirmed.
After all, the people in the capital had always thought of the late libationer’s second disciple, the doctor, as a benevolent individual - a handsome, holy, immortal-like being. He really found it hard to associate such a description with that perverted guy from Brightmoon City, that wretched old fart who hid in a dark room while reading pornographic novels.
“It seems the libationer does know about him,” Shen Xuzi said with a chuckle.
“I do know him, and we even know each other quite well,” Zu An said.
Ji Dengtu’s appearance only remained in his mind for three seconds, however. The remaining time was completely occupied by his lovely and gentle daughter, Ji Xiaoxi. He reflexively touched his lips. It was as if that soft feeling from back then still remained. In the past, when he was escorted away by the Embroidered Envoy, Ji Xiaoxi had pretended to be his lover in front of everyone in order to help him. She had kissed him, then secretly fed him a Fake Death Pill. That really was a kindhearted young lady… He couldn't help but smile warmly whenever he thought of Ji Xiaoxi.
“By the way, why didn’t she want to tell me about this when I asked Jiang Luofu before? We were all in Brightmoon City back then,” Zu An suddenly asked curiously. He just felt as if Jiang Luofu was hiding something.
“Huh?” Shen Xuzi exclaimed. He now felt a bit regretful. “If I had known seventh sister was going to act like that, I would have waited for her to tell you.”
“Just what don’t I know about?” Zu An continued.
Sang Qien's eyes widened too. She had some impression of Ji Dengtu too. It really was hard for her to imagine him having anything to do with that cool and aloof Jiang Luofu.
Shen Xuzi sighed, saying, “It really was a heartbreaking story. In the past, second brother’s skills in medicine were truly incredible, and he had even boasted proudly that even if the king of hell himself wanted someone to die at sixty, he could make them live to a hundred. He believed that there was no illness in this world he couldn't cure.
"Even so, in the end, he couldn't save his own wife, who was seventh sister’s own older sister.”
Zu An was stunned. He recalled that he'd heard about theat relationship back in Brightmoon City. He'd also been curious as to why even though Ji Dengtu loved to collect underwear, he had never given the stunning Jiang Luofu a second look. So it was because of that…
Shen Xuzi then said, “Because of that, even though seventh sister knew it wasn’t second brother’s fault, she just couldn't help but hold a bit of a grudge. She believed that it was because he was too arrogant and was punished by the heavens. Second brother also let himself waste away ever since then, not taking any patients or treating illnesses. We brothers and sisters tried to advise him to change his mind for a long time, but it didn’t work at all.
“Later, one day, he suddenly disappeared. We were in a panic trying to look for him, but teacher stopped us. He said that second brother needed a place to cool down for a while, and that time would slowly heal everything.
“However, just like that, more than a decade passed. Everyone had already forgotten that there was a doctor among teacher’s disciples, and we only learned that he was in Brightmoon City from junior sister not too long ago.”
Zu An couldn't help but sigh. He asked, “Right, do you know what kind of illness his wife had in the past? How could it be that not even someone with his skills in medicine could heal her?”
If she had been able to give birth to a daughter as adorable as Xiaoxi, she definitely also had to have been a warm and good person, right?
Shen Xuzi shook his head and said, “I don't know the exact details. Second brother has always kept the answer a secret. You should ask seventh sister about it when you get a chance.”
Nearby, Sang Qien said, “Big brother Zu, I don’t think you should ask about it. Judging from her attitude toward Ji Dengtu, her relationship with her big sister must have been extremely close. If you ask her with your current status, it would put her in an awkward situation. I think it would be best to wait until she tells you about it herself one day.”
Shen Xuzi chuckled and said, “As expected, it's still women who are more careful with these things. It's as Little Qien says; I was a bit too rash.”
Zu An recalled Jiang Luofu’s usual icy exterior. He decided to not sprinkle salt on her old wounds for now.
The three of them all felt a mix of emotions. Eventually, they changed the topic and talked about the remaining ingredients. Shen Xuzi had a worried and troubled expression as he said, “I have seen the auspicious beast Bai Ze before in some ancient texts, but I've never heard of anyone encountering it in reality. It might only exist in some ancient secret dungeons.
“As for the Sphinx, that’s even more foreign to me. If the libationer ever finds one, please let me know so that I can widen my petty experiences.”
When he heard the reply, Zu An thought, As expected. The hardest thing to get was the main ingredient. After they spoke for a while longer, he no longer disturbed the two’s studies. He bade them goodbye and left.
…
Zu An returned to the small courtyard at the top of the mountain. The young women there were play-fighting happily, making him sigh. Regardless of how much proper etiquette and noble upbringing they had experienced, and how many harsh situations they’d been forced to endure, they were still teenage girls in the end. They still carried some of their innocence. He had to admit that playing with pretty young ladies, no matter how one looked at it, was a delightful thing.
“Youzhao, you and little sister Qinghe should study the cultivation method diligently outside. Huanzhao, follow me inside,” Zu An said, doing his best to put on a stern expression. These young ladies were really a bit too much. They hadn’t even started reading such a precious skill manual yet!
Murong Qinghe felt a bit guilty. She quickly pretended to read the manual in her hands. Chu Youzhao was a bit unhappy and asked, “Brother-in-law, why does she get to follow you inside, but we have to cultivate outside?”
“Heh, you still don’t get it? That’s because brother-in-law likes me more!” Chu Huanzhao replied, hooking her arm around Zu An's and giving her sister a taunting look.
Chu Youzhao gritted her teeth in anger.
This lass is so shameless!
Even so, she was pretending to be a man right now, so how could she run over and strive for Zu An’s favor? She could only sulk.
“Stop causing trouble. The two of us have proper matters to discuss inside,” Zu An said, his expression darkening as he dragged Chu Huanzhao into the room.
When she saw Chu Youzhao sulk, Murong Qinghe found it quite amusing. She said, “Big brother Chu, there's no need for you to feel too bad. This might not be a bad thing.”
“It’s a good thing?” Chu Youzhao replied. She thought, Even little sister Qinghe is taunting me now.
“Of course it’s a good thing! Big brother Zu is so formidable, and he's the court’s regent. Who knows how many of the capital’s well-bred young ladies wish to marry him? Their clan’s seniors want that even more than they do. Your older sister married him in the past, but they're divorced now. If your second sister can become his lover, that will be a great blessing for the Chu clan,” Murong Qinghe explained.
Chu Youzhao was speechless. She naturally knew about such a thing.
Even so, why can’t I be the one to do it? Why does it have to be second sister?
Of course, these were only things she could think about. She knew she presented as the Chu clan’s young master and that there was no way she could return to living as a woman. However, that only made her even angrier. She replied, “Little sister Qinghe said that so many noble daughters want to marry him. Does that include you too?”
Murong Qinghe didn’t get upset and instead looked at her with a big smile, saying, “If I hadn’t met big brother Chu first, I wouldn’t have minded becoming one of them.”
When she saw that deep smile, Chu Youzhao couldn't bring herself to get angry. Instead, she replied in annoyance, “Who could say for sure? Your wish might just come true in the future.”
Murong Qinghe was stunned, asking, “What did you say, big brother Chu?”
“Nothing,” Chu Youzhao said, although she was too embarrassed to explain herself.
As long as little sister Qinghe also likes big brother Zu, that will make everything much easier…
Chu Huanzhao suddenly shouted from inside the room, “Brother-in-law, please be gentler, it hurts!”
Chu Youzhao and Murong Qinghe immediately widened their eyes. What were the two of them doing?
Big brother Zu looks refined and gentle, but I didn’t expect him to be so rough…
Murong Qinghe’s face was completely red as she thought of that.
“Why did brother-in-law only do that to her? It clearly should have been me!” Chu Youzhao thought, but she accidentally said it out loud. In the end, out of annoyance, she grabbed Murong Qinghe and tried to leave, saying, “Let’s go; I don’t want to listen to these disgusting sounds.”
“Huh? Big brother Chu, why are you so angry?”
“Hmph, she’s not your big sister.”
“If she really were my big sister, how great would that be? My father could just die from happiness.”
Chu Youzhao was speechless.
…
Meanwhile, inside, Zu An’s expression darkened. He stared at the young lady in front of him and asked, “Can you please not scream like that?”
Chu Huanzhao looked at him with tearful eyes, saying, “Brother-in-law, but it hurts a lot… I can’t take it.”
Zu An was speechless.
Since he wouldn't be able to gather the ingredients for the Marrow Cleansing Pills in the immediate future, he could only help this brat raise her aptitude a bit through other means for the time being. Cultivation aptitude did involve one's powers of comprehension, but it also depended on the quality of one's body. Some people’s meridians were thin like hairs, while others were like water pipes. The aptitude of the latter naturally far surpassed the former. The Marrow Cleansing Pill could improve both, but, Zu An could only temporarily improve the body’s conditions first. Thus, he had decided to use his own ki to help open up her meridians. After the meridians were widened, Huanzhao’s cultivation would immediately become much faster.
It sounded easy, but in reality, the process was quite difficult. After all, meridians were the body’s weakest part. It was even more difficult for those meridians that were as thin as hairs to endure external force. Firstly, the process needed someone whose cultivation was extremely high and didn't mind exhausting a lot of their own ki to help another widen their meridians. Even then, as long as that person was even slightly careless, they could explode the patient’s meridians and kill them.
That was why in the real world, very few did such a thing. The risk versus reward was just too unequal. Usually, only clan elders would improve the bodies of their clans’ most outstanding disciples, thus bringing them up another level. However, as for disciples with more ordinary aptitudes, no one had ever tried to use such a process on them. It was way too easy for the user of the technique to damage their own cultivation, frequently losing a decade of painstakingly gained cultivation from an accident. In addition, it was easy for other problems to occur, such as the meridians being too fragile and breaking. The difficulty of such a thing was way too high, so rather than wasting all of that effort, it made more sense to nurture those with better aptitudes.
Even so, Zu An didn’t have such problems. He didn’t have any duty to a clan; he always did things as he pleased. He felt that it was worth it to help Huanzhao, so he naturally didn’t mind using a bit of ki to give her a helping hand. Furthermore, the Heaven Devouring Sutra he cultivated was quite unique. He had absorbed quite a bit of ki from the great battle to begin with, so it was the perfect opportunity to use some to help nurture Huanzhao. On top of all that, his current cultivation granted him very precise control over ki, so the degree of danger was decreased substantially.
“Sit properly and don’t move around. I’m trying to widen your meridians right now. Big problems can easily occur if there are any accidents at all,” Zu An warned.
“It’s fine. If brother-in-law ends up crippling me, I can just rely on you for the rest of my life,” Chu Huanzhao said with a giggle.
Zu An was speechless. He really didn’t know whether to praise this girl as being open-minded or ignorant.
His fingers continuously tapped her body. He had to admit that this young lady’s body was quite dainty and flexible, a completely different sensation from the fullness of Liu Ning. He was scared of breaking her from using too much strength.
Zu An suddenly found it a bit laughable. His Shining Finger skill that was originally designed for slaughter had now been developed to this extent… The original creator of the skill would just die from anger, right?
…
Meanwhile, two people were walking side by side up the mountain. One of them was dressed in black silk stockings and had a cold expression; she was, of course, Jiang Luofu. There was a middle-aged man next to her with a long, thin mustache. His entire appearance looked a bit wretched.
“I didn’t expect you to come back,” Jiang Luofu said coldly.
The middle-aged man next to her said with a sigh, “Teacher has passed, so how can I not come back and take a look?”
“Teacher died in the secret dungeon. We cannot even pay our respects to his remains,” Jiang Luofu said, looking aggrieved.
The middle-aged man remained silent for a moment, saying, “I’ll try and talk to the new libationer. He witnessed teacher’s death. Right, who is that person? Why haven’t you told me all this time?”
“He's actually an old acquaintance of yours. Second brother, or should I call you brother-in-law?” Jiang Luofu replied with a conflicted expression, as if she was thinking about her big sister.
The middle-aged man was naturally Ji Dengtu, who was the academy’s second disciple.
“An old acquaintance?” Ji Dengtu asked, briefly puzzled. Even so, Jiang Luofu didn’t tell him, so he could only wait patiently in annoyance.
As they chatted, they inadvertently arrived at the mountaintop. Jiang Luofu looked at the small hut in front of her, saying, “We’ve arrived. The new libationer is inside.”
Ji Dengtu was about to say something when a shy voice suddenly cried out, “Brother-in-law, be more gentle. It hurts!”
Jiang Luofu and Ji Dengtu were speechless.
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