After the Stand-in Hugged the White Moonlight's Thigh Tightly - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: “Senior Brother Taught Me Well.”

Three years later, they returned to Seven Stars Sect.

Senior Sister saw them from afar and immediately ran back, shouting: “Master, Ji Ying, Senior Disciple Brother and Junior Disciple Brother are finally back!”

As soon as the two dismounted the immortal crane, Senior Sister came over to scold them: “I sent you down the mountain to buy medicine, and it took you three years to come back! Do you know how worried I was about you?”

Ruan Mingyu: “Senior Sister, we know we were wrong. It’s not that we didn’t want to come back, we were trapped in the cave and couldn’t get out!”

Senior Sister: “Still arguing with me.”

Both of them had grown quite a bit taller, looking more upright than before. However, Ruan Mingyu’s face clearly showed signs of illness; his small face was thin and pale.

“Senior Sister, where is Shishu (Master’s Junior/Senior Brother)?” Song Chenxi asked.

Senior Sister: “That old man drank too much wine last night and is still asleep. It might take him two or three more days to wake up. You can go find him in a few days.”

“No, we have to find him today.”

Song Chenxi pulled Ruan Mingyu without explanation and kicked open the door to True Lord Sanqing’s room.

“Who is it?” The old man was tipsy, the smell of last night’s wine hadn’t dissipated, he must have drunk quite a bit.

Song Chenxi led Ruan Mingyu in front of him: “Your newly accepted little apprentice is going to die if he’s not treated soon.”

Ruan Mingyu: “…”

The old man was startled enough to sober up quite a bit. “Wah!” he cried, “I finally took an apprentice, he must not die!”

Song Chenxi: “If you don’t want him to die, then examine him.”

True Lord Sanqing climbed up and checked Ruan Mingyu’s pulse: “No change compared to before. Your body is like a leaky funnel. The speed at which you absorb spiritual energy can’t keep up with the speed at which it dissipates. At this rate, you’ll only live for fifty or sixty years at most.”

“Fifty or sixty years—isn’t that a natural lifespan?” Ruan Mingyu thought to himself. How is that “not living long?”

Ruan Mingyu himself didn’t feel it was a big deal, but Song Chenxi showed a sad expression: “Can’t he be cured?”

Old Man Sanqing pulled out a bottle of elixirs and handed it to Ruan Mingyu: “Take this Vitality-Nourishing Pill. Since we’re Master and apprentice, I’ll give you this bottle. The subsequent ones will cost spiritual stones.”

After a moment, his expression turned solemn: “Where did you get poisoned this time?”

Song Chenxi still had the poisonous arrow he had pulled out of Ruan Mingyu. He handed it to the old man, who was shocked upon seeing it.

Old Man Sanqing: “Demon Clan…”

“Demonic qi has entered his body. If not treated soon, he’ll have to start cultivating the demonic path!”

If Ruan Mingyu truly wanted to cultivate the demonic path, he had a ready-made teacher right beside him—he could just go find Song Chenxi.

Ruan Mingyu asked: “Then, can this be cured?”

The old man’s face changed as quickly as turning a page in a book, and he immediately returned to his smiling demeanor: “Soaking in the Heavenly Pool for three days and three nights will eliminate any demonic or evil qi.”

“Cen Tao is a girl, so it’s inconvenient. Ji Ying is busy refining pills and can’t spare the time.” He said to Song Chenxi, “You accompany him.”

Then he said to Ruan Mingyu: “Once your illness is cured, I will teach you some real skills.”

The Heavenly Pool was located in a very remote part of Seven Stars Sect. Song Chenxi lifted Ruan Mingyu and they flew over on the immortal crane.

From a distance, they could see a jade-green lake. Mist curled around the edges of the pool, making it look like a celestial realm.

“Go ahead,” Song Chenxi said.

Ruan Mingyu took off his shoes and socks and dipped his foot in to test the temperature. The pool water was a bit cool.

Song Chenxi: “Stop stalling, hurry up and get in.”

Ruan Mingyu quickly grabbed the hem of his robe. To be honest, he was a little afraid of water.

“Let me prepare myself.”

“There are no knives in the pool. What do you need to prepare for?” Song Chenxi gave a wicked smile and pushed him in.

With a plop, Ruan Mingyu fell into the pool. His black hair floated on the water’s surface, his body was soaked, outlining his slender figure. His brows and eyes were completely wet, making him look a bit pathetic.

Ruan Mingyu swam over and grabbed Song Chenxi’s robe: “Senior Brother, this water is a bit deep. Pull me out.”

Song Chenxi raised an eyebrow: “How long have you been soaking? Do you really intend to cultivate the demonic path?”

Ruan Mingyu pitifully shrank back into the water.

Song Chenxi pinched his black hair, then suddenly thought of something and asked him: “We had only been apart for a short time, and you were injured when I found you. Who exactly hurt you?” Judging by his tone, was he going to seek revenge for him?

Ruan Mingyu said: “I can’t remember clearly. The forest was all foggy, and my head was spinning. I forgot what happened then.”

Song Chenxi flicked his forehead: “Clumsy ghost.”

Ruan Mingyu puffed up his cheeks and looked at him: “Only you are smart.”

Song Chenxi: “Learning to talk back?”

Ruan Mingyu: “Senior Brother is supremely intelligent, resourceful, exceptionally quick-witted…”

Song Chenxi: “Enough, you’ll be exaggerating if you keep going.”

While Song Chenxi wasn’t paying attention, Ruan Mingyu slowly swam over, grasped the edge of the shore, and was about to climb out. Perhaps due to a past drowning experience, Ruan Mingyu had a natural fear of water.

Song Chenxi: “It seems you haven’t taken my words to heart?”

Song Chenxi pushed him into the water again. Ruan Mingyu grabbed his robe and wouldn’t let go, and both of them tumbled into the pool.

“I see now. You had ulterior motives. It’s one thing for you to dispel your demonic qi, but you had to drag me in with you,” Song Chenxi said.

Ruan Mingyu didn’t talk back. In the water, he instinctively hugged him.

Song Chenxi raised an eyebrow: “What does this make us? Taking a lovers’ bath? Oh, no, we’re bathing in the little sparrow’s bathwater.”

Ruan Mingyu held him tightly, refusing to let go, looking quite shaken.

“Coward. How did you make up your mind to escape that place with me back then, weren’t you afraid my Senior Brother would come looking for trouble?” Song Chenxi asked.

Ruan Mingyu didn’t want to recall that time and nervously asked: “You’re a demonic cultivator. Is it going to be alright for you to be in this pool?”

“Are you concerned about me?” Song Chenxi looked at him.

“It would be terrible if you just died like that,” Ruan Mingyu said, seeing his expression change, and immediately corrected himself, “Senior Brother has high cultivation, so I’m sure nothing will happen.”

“How is your little mouth so good at talking, as if it were smeared with honey?”

“Senior Brother taught me well.”

He pinched Ruan Mingyu’s chin and suddenly leaned closer: “Tell me what I taught you.”

They were extremely close, able to feel each other’s breath. Ruan Mingyu felt inexplicably nervous.

“The cultivation mental techniques, the entry-level moves, the brilliant sword techniques—Senior Brother taught me all of those…”

“Incorrect, what else?”

“What… else?”

“I taught you to be full of flattery, only saying nice things that I like to hear.”

“…”

After soaking for a long time, Song Chenxi finally agreed to let Ruan Mingyu come ashore.

Ruan Mingyu crawled onto the bank and knelt on the ground, spitting out a few mouthfuls of water. He was completely soaked and felt very uncomfortable.

He took off his soaking outer robe. Song Chenxi glanced at him and immediately turned his back.

“You… you’re taking off your clothes again!”

Ruan Mingyu: “How else am I supposed to change if I don’t take them off?”

Song Chenxi: “Don’t you know the Body Cleansing Spell?”

Ruan Mingyu: “No.”

Song Chenxi: “Forget it, hurry up and change.”

Afterward, Song Chenxi watched him soak in the pool for several more days, except this time Song Chenxi was on the shore while Ruan Mingyu was in the water. And he was incredibly bothersome, not allowing him to take off his clothes while soaking.

Once the demonic qi in Ruan Mingyu’s body was almost completely gone, Old Man Sanqing began to teach him how to refine elixirs.

He called Ruan Mingyu into the pill refining room.

“Do exactly as I do later. You mustn’t make a single mistake, and the timing must be precise.”

Ruan Mingyu nodded vigorously.

The old man threw different medicinal ingredients into the pill furnace, and Ruan Mingyu followed suit by his side.

“The most crucial step is to inject our spiritual energy into the furnace. The heat control is the most important,” True Lord Sanqing meticulously instructed.

Ruan Mingyu copied his movements exactly.

After completing the final step, True Lord Sanqing said: “Wait for two hours, and the elixirs will be ready.”

Two hours later, he lifted the lid of the furnace Ruan Mingyu had refined. Two pills were perfectly formed inside the furnace.

“It doesn’t seem too difficult…” Ruan Mingyu said.

True Lord Sanqing: “I was waiting for those very words.”

He stroked his beard and said approvingly: “A teachable student.”

“Excellent! Starting tomorrow, you will join me in the pill refining room to refine elixirs. We are responsible for all the pills, big and small, in the sect, and you cannot be negligent for a moment. We have so many furnaces to watch. What are your thoughts?”

It seemed he was being treated as labor, but disciples were expected to work. Ruan Mingyu had no complaints and tried to pick the best words, saying without batting an eyelid: “We have a great responsibility. We are not refining mere elixirs, but the future of Seven Stars Sect…”

True Lord Sanqing nodded repeatedly, thinking this young man was sensible: “Truly my apprentice. Good. Since you know how to refine elixirs, you can go to the sect to apply for a pill furnace.”

Although he said that, Ruan Mingyu simply couldn’t spare the time. Since learning, he spent all his waking hours and closing his eyes thinking about refining elixirs. Song Chenxi also seemed very busy lately, so they only saw each other at night when they went to sleep.

Apart from the evening, Ruan Mingyu rarely saw him.

Finally, when Song Chenxi returned relatively early, Ruan Mingyu forced himself to stay awake. He lay in bed and tilted his head to say to him: “Senior Brother, you’ll be resting tomorrow, could you please help me fetch a pill furnace?”

Song Chenxi: “You’re ordering me around now.”

“Senior Brother, please,” Ruan Mingyu pleaded, tugging on his sleeve playfully and acting spoiled.

Song Chenxi didn’t express an opinion, looking at him with a half-smile. Ruan Mingyu couldn’t tell if he agreed or disagreed, so he stopped his actions, thinking he’d just have to find time to go himself if necessary.

He stopped pleading halfway, and Song Chenxi was displeased.

“I didn’t say no. What should you say?”

Ruan Mingyu immediately smiled again: “Thank you, Senior Brother! Senior Brother, you are truly a good person!”

“Now you know I’m good?” Song Chenxi said. “Just wait.”

The next day, Song Chenxi woke up early. Since he was alone, he didn’t need the immortal crane and traveled by sword, which was faster.

The disciple registering items saw Song Chenxi and quickly came forward: “Senior Brother, what brings you here?”

“I’m here to fetch a pill furnace for my Junior Brother. Get me a good one,” he said.

The disciple picked out the best one for him: “To prevent loss, a name can be engraved on it. What would you like engraved?”

Song Chenxi thought for a moment, a smile playing on his lips, and engraved a few words.

Ruan Mingyu was tired from a day of work, his whole body aching. When he came back at night, he saw a small pill furnace on the table. It must have been brought back by Song Chenxi. He heard this type of pill furnace could change size, from as small as a palm to as large as a house.

He picked it up and was immediately fond of it. His finger touched a rough spot on the bottom. He flipped it over and saw a few words carved there: “Pill Furnace of the Little Sparrow of Yuantai Peak, Seven Stars Sect.”

Ruan Mingyu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.