It was a winter night. A frigid wind wailed through the forests of Qing Jing Peak, the thousands of bamboo stalks rustling with the gusts.
Shen Qingqiu reclined upon his bed, not asleep but resting with his eyes closed. As he rested, from the small world on the other side of the screen there came a quiet, restrained creaking. It was as if the person there was tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
Then the sounds of restless shifting abruptly ceased, and someone lightly got off the bed, lifted the curtain, and exited the Bamboo House.
What was Luo Binghe doing, slipping outside in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? Shen Qingqiu didn’t recall this period of the plot having an adventure that required sneaking outside during the wee hours of the morning. Curious, he also rose.
His cultivation was on a different level than Luo Binghe’s, and his movements were both light and swift. Therefore, even once he’d circled around to come up behind Luo Binghe’s back, his disciple completely failed to notice.
Luo Binghe hadn’t gone very far either. He hadn’t headed to some secret and mysterious location for an adventure. Rather, he simply stood in the backyard before he pulled up a small stool to sit on. The clothes on his upper body had already been removed; they now lay neatly folded upon his left thigh, while his right hand poured a small amount of something into his left palm, which he applied to his body. When he rubbed himself a couple times thereafter, soft gasping breaths escaped his mouth.
Beneath the moonlight, his youthful fifteen- or sixteen-year-old body wasn’t frail, but it also wasn’t strong: it was covered with belt after belt of purple bruises, and the faint fragrance of medicine and alcohol drifted over on the night wind.
“Luo Binghe,” said Shen Qingqiu.
The person in question jumped in shock, springing up from the stool. The neatly folded shirt fell to the ground. “Shizun!” said Luo Binghe, astounded. “Why are you awake?”
Shen Qingqiu walked over to him. “This master wasn’t sleeping.”
“Did this disciple wake Shizun?” asked Luo Binghe. “I’m sorry! I came out because I didn’t want to disturb Shizun’s rest, but to think I still…”
So the child had been afraid that his tossing and turning would wake him. That was why he’d come out in the dead of night to apply a medical tincture to himself. The pain must have been truly overpowering.
“Where did these injuries come from?” asked Shen Qingqiu.
“They’re not a problem!” said Luo Binghe. “It’s just that recently, this disciple failed to properly conduct his cultivation training, so he needlessly ended up with more injuries than usual.”
Shen Qingqiu looked closely at those injuries. “Bai Zhan Peak picked on you again, didn’t they?”
Luo Binghe didn’t want to say yes, but he was also unwilling to lie.
The more Shen Qingqiu regarded his silent appearance, the angrier he became. “What did this master teach you before?”
“If you can’t beat them, run.”
“And did you do that?”
“But… But if this disciple did that, wouldn’t he lose a great deal of face for Qing Jing Peak?”
“Hitting people just because they feel like it—what’s the difference between Bai Zhan Peak and the common thugs and bullies down the mountain? In all seriousness, exactly which of us has lost face? Is it Qing Jing Peak or Bai Zhan? This master is off to look for Liu Qingge this instant. There are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year; if he took just one of them to discipline his juniors, they wouldn’t be so barbaric.”
Luo Binghe grabbed him. “Shizun, you mustn’t! If Shizun ends up quarreling with Liu-shishu again because of this disciple, then he…then he…” Unable to restrain Shen Qingqiu, his legs went limp. When Shen Qingqiu stopped, he quickly added, “Besides, these aren’t all from my Bai Zhan Peak shidi. I injured myself more getting knocked around during cultivation training; that’s why it looks so awful.”
At the sight of his agitation, Shen Qingqiu let out a sigh. “When cultivating, one must proceed gradually and step-by-step, following the natural path. How can one force growth? As you are, it’s as if you’re uprooting sprouts to make them taller. If you end up damaging your base, won’t you live a life full of regret?”
And one day, Shen Qingqiu would definitely think of some way to teach those Bai Zhan Peak brutes a lesson. He’d even use Liu Qingge to discipline them, so that they’d be unable to voice their objections.
The seventh-ranked peak dared to challenge the second-ranked? Had they no concept of seniority at all? How could he let this go!
“Yes,” Luo Binghe murmured.
“You should head inside,” said Shen Qingqiu.
Luo Binghe waved his hands back and forth. “No. I’ll stay outside. If I go in, I’ll disturb Shizun’s rest.”
Shen Qingqiu curled his finger, and the shirt on the ground flew into his hand. He shook it out and draped it over Luo Binghe’s shoulders. “What rest? Now that this master has seen you, how can he allow you to stay alone outside while braving the cold wind?”
Once the two of them were back inside the Bamboo House, Luo Binghe wanted to return to his bed, but Shen Qingqiu took the medicine he was holding and gestured for him to get on the couch in his personal chamber.
Luo Binghe was pulled over to it, still stunned, and he remained so until Shen Qingqiu started to unfasten the sash he’d just retied. Then his entire face flushed red as he pulled his collar tightly shut and backed up several steps. “Shizun, what, what, what—what are you doing?!”
Shen Qingqiu shook the little bottle of medicine. “Applying medicine for you. I’ll massage your bruises after.”
“No need, I’ll do it myself!” Luo Binghe flung himself forward, trying to grab the bottle, but Shen Qingqiu flipped his right hand over and grabbed his wrist. He pulled Luo Binghe’s arm toward him and said expressionlessly, “Can you see the location of the bruises on your back?”
Luo Binghe shivered. “I’ll…I’ll just apply it everywhere!”
He still refused to give up on retaking the bottle. Normally, Luo Binghe was unfailingly submissive, gentle, and calm. This was the first time Shen Qingqiu had seen him with his ears so red that they seemed about to drip blood. He found it amusing, and he thought that it was probably because the child had grown up a little; thus he now felt that being beaten was shameful, and having his master apply medicine for him because of that was even more shameful.
Though Shen Qingqiu was secretly laughing in his heart, his face remained solemn. “Nonsense,” he scolded him. “Qian Cao Peak always sends a set amount of medication every time. How can we let you waste it so?”
“I…I…”
Luo Binghe couldn’t even manage to say “this disciple” anymore. Tears welled in his eyes as he held his shirt tightly closed over his chest, looking like he had completely lost his wits.
Shen Qingqiu grasped him by the shoulder to swivel him around. Then he swept off his shirt in one go before applying the liquid inside the little bottle to the wounds on his back.
Taken by surprise, Luo Binghe made a small sound: “Ack.”
Shen Qingqiu swiftly lessened the force of his touch. “Was I pressing too hard?”
Luo Binghe shook his head violently.
“Then what are you crying out for? You’re a big, strong man. Yet you can’t withstand even this tiny bit of pain?”
Luo Binghe’s voice was like a mosquito. “No, it’s not pain…”
Putting aside his worries, Shen Qingqiu rubbed the wounds for a while, then attempted to send a slow stream of spiritual energy into Luo Binghe from his palm.
“Ah!” Luo Binghe cried out again.
Shen Qingqiu was confused. “How can you make such a fuss? You’ve entirely lost your sense of decorum. Can you claim to be a disciple of my Qing Jing Peak with such manners?”
“I…I… This disciple, this disciple is fine now that the medicine’s been applied,” Luo Binghe said in a quavering voice. “Shizun doesn’t need to waste his energy.”
Shen Qingqiu’s right palm pressed seamlessly against the bare skin of Luo Binghe’s back as it moved slowly. “Does this feel all right?”
Luo Binghe didn’t speak. He seemed to be biting his lip.
Shen Qingqiu had one hand on his waist as he massaged, light and gentle, but internally, he was confused. Did it not feel good? That couldn’t be. He hadn’t misremembered the body’s acupoints. And the level of spiritual energy ought to be just right. The bruises had faded by quite a bit as well, so why did Luo Binghe seem so agonized? It couldn’t be… Was Shen Qingqiu one of those people who was all thumbs?!
He withdrew his hand, and Luo Binghe breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes bloodshot. He could never have predicted that in the next moment, he would be yanked into someone’s arms and wholly enveloped in an embrace.
While holding Luo Binghe, Shen Qingqiu lay down on the couch.
Luo Binghe sounded like he was about to breathe his last. “Shizun… Shizun!”
Shen Qingqiu hadn’t removed his inner robes, but there was only a thin layer between them as their heartbeats pounded against each other. There was greater contact area within an embrace, hence the amount of spiritual energy that could be transmitted was also greater.