Chapter 43 - Living Corpse
Lin Shu: “Yes.”
The corner of Ling Fengxiao’s mouth quirked up slightly: “That’s great.”
Lin Shu heard the sound of the senior brothers’ jaws hitting the ground.
Presumably after today, in addition to “What is the true appearance of Junior Sister Folding Bamboo”, there was also one more curiosity added to their hearts: “Who in the world is the Junior Brother next to the Big Miss’.
Why was the Big Miss pampering such a junior brother?
Lin Shu also wanted to know.
But the last time he asked the Big Miss about this, the Big Miss only said, “If I don’t support you, should I be raising Xiao Lingyang?”
This was almost equivalent to winning the lottery, asking the staff why he won, and the staff replying if he even needed to ask.
——Yes, Ling Fengxiao had that exact expression at the time, as if she was looking at the mentally disabled person. It made him too embarrassed to ask again.
After buying the weapons, the two of them went on their way downstairs. When they arrived at the lobby on the first floor, Ling Fengxiao stopped, “Give me a minute.”
And she proceeded to the commissions wall.
It made sense. It was said that the wealthy Phoenix Villa owned half the oceans in the world, but jade souls were not the normal golds and silvers of the mortals. One still needed to take up commissions to earn them. The numerous weapons that they had just bought burned nearly two hundred thousand jade souls, a sum beyond Lin Shu’s wildest imaginations.
However, when he saw the commission that the Big Miss was taking, he knew how she had gotten so many jade souls.
Ling Fengxiao spent without batting an eye, and sometimes even went for the most expensive options.
She did the same with her commissions.
As long as they were commissions the disciples of the Immortal Institute could accept, such as vanquishing the water demons that haunted the lower banks of the Minjiang River, exploring the “Shique Cave” which no one has ever returned from, venturing to the deepest part of “Thousand Demon Hole” to pick the rare medicinal “White Bone Flower”, were all within Ling Fengxiao’s consideration. Each was evidently very dangerous, and correspondingly, the price reward was extremely high.
Ordinary disciples who wished to take on such a task had to gather groups of people before they dared to go, and then divide the jade souls equally. However, the Big Miss with a high level of cultivation and martial arts skills, and who was able to single handedly defeat the corpse king in Minzhou City, could easily accomplish them herself.
After accepting some jade contracts, Ling Fengxiao explained to him, “Can finish on the way back from Huandang Mountain.”
Lin Shu nodded.
Lin Shu looked at the more than a dozen jade contracts above the wall that had dimmed, indicating that the commission had been taken. The tasks covers various states, and just travelling would eat up a large chunk of time.
“Originally I didn’t have to accept so many,” the Big Miss smiled: “But there is one more person now after all.”
Lin Shu touched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed.
After all, he was not lost in the fantasy of being supported by a rich woman, and felt guilty for the undeserving expenditure.
But the Big Miss seemed to be in a good mood, and did not look annoyed by the need to take up more of these commissions.
The academy was not completely restrictive. Every three months, there was a one-month break where disciples could travel freely to complete their commissions, or stay in the academy to continue their studies.
Two weeks later, it was the day to go to Huandang Mountain. According to Bai Xiaosheng’s records, it would take about ten days to travel to Huandang Mountain. Doing some quick math, he would be able to catch the first holiday since entering the academy after returning from Huandang Mountain.
Lin Shu planned to organize his schedule for this one month break.
Then, he found a problem.
The Big Miss was going to Huandang Mountain as well, and must have a token.
Previously, she had asked him if he wanted to go to Huandang Mountain.
At that time, he was not aware of his pet status, and wanted to test his martial arts in the field, thus rejecting Ling Fengxiao’s offer.
Now, he was ranked 30th on the True Martial Rank, qualified to enter the Huandang Mountain. The academy would lead the group of 30 and enter the mountain by taking the flying ship of the Shu Institution.
So, when they meet on the flying ship, how should he explain this to Ling Fengxiao?
Heyyy Big Miss, I’m sorry, although I refused your help, I managed to get a token through my own hard work.
The Big Miss would say: Oh? How did you qualify?
He could only tell the truth: I made it to the top 30 in the True Martial Rank.
The Big Miss would definitely ask: What name do you go by on the rank?
What should he say?
I’m Folding Bamboo?
No, the Big Miss was disgusted with Folding Bamboo.
What could he do now?
Lin Shu felt his panic rising.
To tell the truth, or make up a lie?
What kind of lie would work?
In the event that he was busted, the Big Miss might rage again.
Lin Shu’s throat closed up.
He followed the Big Miss out of the Treasure Hall, lost in the wild thoughts running in his head. It was not until they reached the entrance, did the pattering of rain jolted him back.
In the short span of time they were inside, it had started to rain again, and now it was a thunderstorm.
Ling Fengxiao let loose a word unbefitting of her poise, and opened her umbrella.
“Are you hungry? Let’s go to the dining hall.”
Lin Shu considered for a moment. It was indeed time to eat. Hence, he nodded.
Ling Fengxiao disliked rainy days with a passion. First, she complained that the window seats offered a free shower, then muttered that the inside of the dining hall was too stuffy. Finally, she reluctantly chose a seat in the middle of the dining hall.
Lin Shu returned from picking up the dishes and saw that there was only a small cup of white almond pudding in front of Ling Fengxiao. Stirring it carelessly with a silver spoon, she looked as if she could not decide between eating it or not.
He paused, and finally decided to express his concern for his ‘owner’: “Are you not eating?”
Ling Fengxiao said: “I’m not feeling well.”
Lin Shu asked cautiously, “What’s wrong?”
“When I was a child, I used to practice “Xuanjue Bone Formation Arts”. It wasn’t a conventional martial arts technique, and whenever it rained, the heaviness of the qi in the water would cause it to backfire.” Ling Fengxiao said lightly.
Lin Shu blinked in confusion.
It turned out that when the Big Miss was young, she had also randomly practiced various martial arts techniques?
But this “Xuanjue Bone Formation Arts”, the name itself sounded vicious and strange. It did not come across to Lin Shu as something the Big Miss of the Phoenix Villa would practice.
Ling Fengxiao seemed to catch what he was thinking, and placed her spoon down, resting her left hand on the table.
It was a pair of really pretty hands.
Slightly pale, the only touch of colour was the faint stain on her nails, like jade. Her fingers were long, her bones were thin, the joints were distinct, every inch was flawless, much less calluses.
——Those who used swords must try their best to avoid calluses on their hands after they reach a certain level of practice. Reason being, once they have a callus, even if it was just a thin one, it would affect their cognizance of their sword.
Therefore, basic swordsmen did not have calluses in their hands due to their lack of practice, intermediate swordsmen held their swords all year round, resulting in calluses on all five fingers, while advanced swordsmen returned to their pristine state, their fingers delicate as jade.
Thus, the hands of this Big Miss were perfect no matter for appreciating or wielding swords.
But then, the next movement of these hands caused Lin Shu’s eyes to shoot wide open.
Ling Fengxiao’s right hand moved to cover her left, twisting gently.
There were a few barely audible clicks, and the hand suddenly did not seem to be a living thing, but rather a plastic artwork, which could be molded at will—stretched or shortened, thickened or thinned.
After messing a good deal with her hand, Ling Fengxiao returned it to its original state, saying: “As a girl, you might as well be perfect, changing your bones to make it look better.”
Lin Shu felt a deep sense of admiration.
Girls really would do anything and everything to look good, suffering a little every rainy day.
His eyebrows pinched, thinking back to his previous life, wondering what did girls do when they were uncomfortable.
The sparse life experience told Lin Shu that they should drink hot water.
There was no hot water near him, and after a moment’s thought, pushed a bowl of steaming bamboo shoot and duck broth in front of him to Ling Fengxiao.
Ling Fengxiao smiled: “You are quite sensible.”
Naturally.
He should perform his hamster role well.
Faced with this bowl of soup, Ling Fengxiao was not as distracted as she was with her almond butter pudding. Instead, she slowly drank it by spoonful by spoonful.
After the meal, they went to the library.
Lin Shu’s job was to run around between the bookshelves. The last time Ling Fengxiao had accompanied him to the library, she ran around with him.
But this time, knowing that the Big Miss was not feeling the best, to the point where she did not even want to eat, Lin Shu was alert.
He said: “You should sit down.”
The Big Miss regarded him with a smile, and asked, “Why don’t you let me follow?”
This person was too good-looking. Her typical expressionless front, cold as frosty, was already lauded as a first class beauty. When her smile reached her eyes, it had a crime-level visual impact.
Lin Shu’s eyes passed over other places, far, far away from the source of the visual assault, and then said: “After all, you are not feeling well.”
“Never mind...” Ling Fengxiao said, “It’s rare for someone to care about me.”
Lin Shu was a little embarrassed, “Then, I’m be off.”
Ling Fengxiao hummed her agreement, and said, “I’ll be waiting for you here.”
Frankly, there was not much waiting to be done. They were still on the same floor, not too far apart. At times, they were even in each other’s line of sight.
Lin Shu shuffled through the bookshelves, occasionally approaching the area where the disciples’ reading area. He saw that Ling Fengxiao was not paying much attention to her book. Resting her cheek in one hand, she was gazing in his direction, with an expression that could be called gentle.
When has the Big Miss ever treated others like this?
Those disciples who witnessed this scene, all looked as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
Was this what a hamster pampered by its owner looked like?
–Maybe.
He sent those thoughts away and continued to do his work diligently.
The library spanned a very large area, drowned in books. When there were only a few people, it was especially quiet and peaceful, especially those deep bookshelves, where not enough light reached.
Lin Shu sorted the books according to their number and section, returning them to their rightful position.
This time, he walked into a particularly deep shelf, and in the huge place, only footsteps could be heard.
Gengwu Section...
He was holding a book called “Chronicles of Autumn Mountain”, and weaved through row after row of bookshelves, looking for Gengwu Section.
This section was hidden too deeply, probably because most of the disciples of the academy preferred martial arts books, and very few people were interested in the collections of miscellaneous history.
He walked a little more, and finally saw the word “Gengwu”.
Exhaling a breath, just as he was about to relax slightly, he almost suffered a heart attack.
——This ghost of a place actually had humans!
A woman in the grey robes of the Confucian Institution was standing in front of a bookshelf with her head tilted up. Her long black hair was loosely pulled up, as if it was coming untied anytime. In this context, she was almost like a female ghost.
Lin Shu regained his breath, searching for the place where “Chronicles of Autumn Mountain” should belong, and put the book away.
On his way back past that bookshelf, and the girl was still standing over there, not having moved at all.
When this thought popped up, he could not help but stop, and turned to look at the girl’s chest.
There was definitely no problem with his eyesight, that he was certain.
And the distance between him and the girl was not very far.
There was no movement at all.
No breathing.
If it were not for the appearance of a person, one could mistake it for a sculpture.
There must be something strange going on–Lin Shu’s first reaction was to find Ling Fengxiao.
Too late.
Just as the alarm bell rang in his heart, planning to leave quickly to find the Big Miss, the girl turned around slowly in a very mechanical motion.
Pale face, dull eyes.
Lin Shu had just learnt of the terms “blood poisoning” and “living corpse” today when Ling Fengxiao talked about the cause of the coma.
But now, without a doubt, he was certain that this girl was one of them.
He held his breath, his body tensed, and his heart started beating violently.
Old Lord Yue, you were really a little bit unreliable.
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