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“Well met, Senior.”

Upon hearing the way he addressed her, Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s eyebrows shot up. Looking him up and down briefly, she suddenly started wondering what exactly was going on. Something seemed off to her. Two months ago, she’d sensed that his mood was unstable. That seemed even more obvious to her now. After all, women are generally much more sensitive to such things than men.

Don’t tell me it’s that nitwit Chen Erniu, up to more shenanigans.

Arch-Immortal Plumdark quickly came to the conclusion that her speculation was correct. However, she didn’t reveal that via her facial expression. Stepping into the sword pavilion, she waved her hand, causing the door to slam shut behind her.

A man and a woman together, with the door closed. In those circumstances, Arch-Immortal Plumdark gracefully sat down cross-legged and took out a medicinal bottle.

“Xu Qing, this trip you messaged me about, does it involve leaving Sea-Sealing County?”

Xu Qing nodded.

Looking straight at him, she said, “In that case, you really don’t have enough in the way of defenses. Sit down.”

Her gaze caused him to sigh inwardly. Walking over, he sat down opposite her. He was so close that her perfume swept completely over him, filling his nose and swirling around his heart and mind.

“Presumably you have some defensive items given to you by your Master. Given that you’re leaving Sea-Sealing County, what you really need are some concealment magics.” She carefully put the medicinal bottle off to the side.

“In that bottle is some blood. I collected it years ago when the emperor of the Spiritsound forbidden ground caused chaos in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. During that event, the prefectural sects joined with the Swordsage Court to crush Emperor Sword. And I managed to get some of his blood.

“I’ve gained a lot of enlightenment from that blood over the years. Today, I’ll use what little is left, along with my personal dao, to paint some concealment symbols on your body.

“Because the paint itself will be the blood of Emperor Sword, it will temporarily increase your personhood and also hide all auras associated with you, ensuring that no one will have any idea who you are or what you really look like.”

Shaken, Xu Qing looked at the bottle sitting next to Arch-Immortal Plumdark. He knew full well how valuable that blood was, and given what she was about to do, he was deeply moved.

“You’ll be fine unless you tangle with someone in the fourth stage of Void Returning or higher. Entities like that usually occupy extremely high positions, so it’s unlikely you would ever encounter one of them. That said, keep in mind that the blood symbols won’t last long. At the very most, they’ll be effective for three months.”

Xu Qing opened his mouth but wasn’t sure what to say. Before he could speak, Arch-Immortal Plumdark smiled.

“You don’t need to say all the polite things required by etiquette. Now, take your robe off.”

Xu Qing was very taken aback.

“What are you staring at? If I’m going to paint symbols on you, you have to take your uniform off.” She blinked playfully a few times.

Xu Qing wouldn’t have hesitated if it was someone else. But he always felt nervous around Arch-Immortal Plumdark. That said, he knew how important these concealment symbols were going to be, so he took a deep breath and removed his swordsage uniform robe, leaving him completely bare-chested. [1]

A faint flush appeared on Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s face as she looked at him. Then she reached out and tapped his shoulder, causing him to spin around in place so his back was to her.

“Calm yourself,” she said, her voice as delicate as a feather drifting through his mind and heart, sending out faint ripples.

Xu Qing was deeply nervous. Never in his entire life had he done anything like this, and his heart was absolutely racing. As he sat there, he felt as stiff as a board. Behind him, Arch-Immortal Plumdark picked up the medicinal bottle, opened it, and poured out a single drop of golden blood. Her expression turned very serious.

“Xu Qing, these symbols are complicated. And they need to be completed without pausing.”

The skin of her hand was as fair as snow as she put it into the blood of Emperor Sword from the Spiritsound forbidden ground. Then she placed her finger onto the skin of his back and began gently painting the first magical symbol. Sometimes her finger slid slowly across his back. Other times, she moved it quickly. As the golden lines of blood created a pattern on his skin, he shivered.

All of the fine hairs on his body seemed to be standing on end.

The sensation of her finger on his back caused the hair on his head to feel like it was curling up. The feeling seeped from his skin to the depths of his heart, where it rippled through the rest of him until his scalp tingled. His heart beat faster and faster, and he couldn’t stop himself from breathing heavily.

Finally, he gritted his teeth, took a few deep breaths, and then started mentally reciting the Classic of Plants and Vegetation.

That method seemed to work, as his heart began to calm.

In that matter, time slipped by slowly but surely.

By the time he’d mentally recited the Classic of Plants and Vegetation three times, it was dawn outside. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead. At this point, Arch-Immortal Plumdark had completed the majority of the concealment symbols.

“Now your front,” she said, and this time her voice didn’t sound the same as before. Before Xu Qing could even think about what that meant, she tapped him again, causing him to turn a half circle.

Now they were facing each other.

As her breath caressed his face, he noticed her eyelashes fluttering slightly, and saw a faint red flush creeping up her neck.

She’s nervous too?

Xu Qing was very taken aback.

He’d never seen a facial expression like this on Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s face. As that thought occurred to him, she cleared her throat. Though she was blushing and her eyelashes were fluttering, her eyes shone brightly as she put her finger onto his chest.

As she started painting, Xu Qing felt so shaken he had to close his eyes to settle his energy and mind. Then he started reciting the Classic of Plants and Vegetation again.

Her finger slid like water across his chest, making it very difficult to recite the text properly. As the golden lines appeared on him, the sensation sent waves of shock slamming into his mind.

After enough time had passed for an incense stick to burn, it was bright outside. Arch-Immortal Plumdark suddenly stopped moving her hand, leaving her finger touching his chest.

“Your heart’s racing, Xu Qing,” she said softly. The sword pavilion was so quiet that it felt like she was speaking right into his ear.

He inhaled deeply and opened his eyes to look at the blushing Arch-Immortal Plumdark.

Their eyes met, and when she spoke next, her voice trembled a bit. “Stay still. I’m almost done.”

Her finger moved again, sliding up his chest to his neck. Then it reached his chin, and finally his ear. That required her to lean a bit closer to him.

Xu Qing was so stiff he couldn’t move, and couldn’t even focus enough to remember a single word from the Classic of Plants and Vegetation. His eyes were blank and even glazed.

As Arch-Immortal Plumdark leaned closer to him, he suddenly heard the excited voice of the Captain outside the sword pavilion.

“Little Ah Qing! What’s going on? Are you coming out? We need to get moving. Our big job starts today! Hey, why do you have an extra layer of defenses up? What are you up to in there, little Ah Qing?”

Arch-Immortal Plumdark retracted her finger and got to her feet, looking a little bit unsettled. Normally she liked to tease Xu Qing. Toy with him a bit. However, this current situation was one that neither she nor Xu Qing had been in before. Face still flushed, she straightened her hair and forced herself to look calm.

Clearing her throat, she didn’t dare to look at Xu Qing as she said, “Have a safe journey, Xu Qing.”

Turning, she walked elegantly, yet at the same time a bit hurriedly, to the door of the sword pavilion. Pushing it open, she found herself right in front of the Captain, who had a quizzical expression on his face.

All it took was a moment for the Captain’s quizzical expression to turn into one of outright shock. Eyes wide, he stared at Arch-Immortal Plumdark, then looked past her at Xu Qing, who was putting his robe back on.

“I didn’t see anything!” he blurted, backing up a few paces. “I saw nothing. Absolutely nothing!”

Waves of astonishment smashed his heart. There’s no way the two of them actually—

“Chen Erniu,” Arch-Immortal Plumdark said coolly, before the Captain’s thoughts could run too wild.

“Here, ma’am!” the Captain replied, squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as possible.

“Last month I got a message from the Eight Sect Coalition. Apparently, the ancient snake skeleton has gotten a bit dirty.”

The Captain shivered as the implications of her words hit him. He tried to think of what mistake he’d made, and it didn’t take long for him to come to a realization. He had interrupted a good moment... and he had seen something he shouldn’t have seen.

“Arch-Immortal,” he said quickly, “last night I experienced some problems in my daily cultivation. As a result, I suddenly went blind.”

Arch-Immortal Plumdark snorted coldly then continued, “Also, I have a very good friend by the name of Li Shitao. A few days ago she mentioned seeing a very shifty character sneaking around the Administration Palace, spying on her while eating peaches. Any chance that was you?” [2]

“It was definitely not me,” the Captain said somberly. “I would never spy on anyone. Besides, I prefer apples!”

“Oh.” After a few more perfunctory words of farewell, she left, her heart racing.

When the Captain was sure she was gone, he opened his eyes, looked around to confirm they were alone, then sauntered into the sword pavilion. Still looking surprised, he said, “What was going on just now?”

Xu Qing already had his uniform back on. Expression the same as ever, he said, “What’s up?”

“Huh??” Stunned, the Captain looked Xu Qing up and down, then sidled a bit closer to him and quietly said, “Did you and Arch-Immortal Plumdark—”

“It’s about time to leave, Eldest Brother,” Xu Qing said, walking out of the sword pavilion.

The Captain looked in the direction Arch-Immortal Plumdark had left, and then back at Xu Qing. Then he pulled out a peach and took a bite. Chuckling, he hurried after Xu Qing.

There was no snow, but it was quite windy. It was also a very clear day, without a cloud in the sky. Because of that, the light of sunrise was particularly bright, illuminating the two of them and causing their shadows to stretch out.

The wind carried with it sarcastic chuckles. However, as the two of them made their way into the distance, the chuckles turned into quiet conversation.

“Little Junior Brother, you can tell the truth to your Eldest Brother. Last night, did you finally... grow up?”

“....”

“Why aren’t you saying anything, little Junior Brother? Feeling a bit bashful, eh?”

“....”

“Aiya. Fine, fine, fine. I’m not going to tease you. However, my most dearest little Junior Brother, once we’re back, you have to introduce me to my Taotao. I also want to... grow up.”

“....”

1. I feel like most of you probably know this, and it’s also obvious from context, but just to make things very clear, the “robe” element of ancient Chinese garments was generally worn over an inner garment, which could simply be a pair of trousers, or might include other more elaborate articles of clothing. ☜

2. Don’t forget that the “tao” in Li Shitao is the character for “peach.” Please keep this in mind going forward…. ☜