Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 16 

Shen Lezhi’s utterance, that suppressed, restrained, yet alluring sigh, caused Wang Xi to pause, even though she did not believe there was anything inappropriate about their current posture.

Wang Xi slightly released her grip on the girl, and upon seeing Shen Lezhi’s flushed face, she was reminded that Shen Lezhi was currently maintaining her pretense of “adoring” her.

Adoring her own Master, adoring the person who raised her.

Anger flared up in Wang Xi’s heart. She had punished the other party slightly last time; had Shen Lezhi still not abandoned these sickening thoughts?

Wang Xi raised her hand and pinched Shen Lezhi’s wrist. Sweat had beaded on the other party’s palm, a sticky sensation that displeased Wang Xi. She moved around to stand in front of Shen Lezhi, gazing at Shen Lezhi’s blush of shyness, yet noting the stubborn refusal of her head to lower.

Wang Xi moved one step closer, extremely near but not touching. She saw Shen Lezhi flustered and panicky because of her proximity, yet afraid to retreat even half a step.

It was as if Shen Lezhi was absolutely certain that she would not blame her for such naked emotion.

The fury in Wang Xi’s chest continued to build. Shen Lezhi’s reckless display of these feelings was entirely due to the boundless indulgence she had previously shown Shen Lezhi.

She was furious that Shen Lezhi trampled on her former sincerity, and also furious at her own inability to see through this person’s hypocrisy.

Wang Xi couldn’t stop herself from lowering her head slightly, using her fingers to lift Shen Lezhi’s chin, forcing the other party to look up and face her.

She pressed her lips together and leaned closer to Shen Lezhi’s face, closer to her lips. She wanted to see if Shen Lezhi could continue her pretense when kissed by her own Master.

Wang Xi moved closer and closer to her target. Frost clung to her thin lips, and the chill in her fingertips had reached a bone-piercing degree. There was not a trace of warmth in her eyes, yet she made the motion of kissing.

Shen Lezhi’s heart pounded like thunder at this moment, the sound of the violent thumping heart in her chest felt as if it would explode from her body.

Kissing between lovers was natural, not a special act, but an expected one, especially since Wang Xi had already kissed other parts of her.

But the face pressing down upon her now—intimate, yet it filled Shen Lezhi with panic.

She truly didn’t dislike Wang Xi. She had convinced herself to endure the intimacy between them; after all, she was inhabiting the body of the original female protagonist, and sometimes Wang Xi’s natural closeness was too sudden to dodge.

But when the intimacy reached the point of a kiss, and Wang Xi’s breath was close enough to mingle with hers, all that remained in Shen Lezhi’s mind was escape.

She abruptly took a step back, breaking free from Wang Xi’s restraint, trembling all over, her face paling somewhat.

“Master… I…” Shen Lezhi struggled to speak, attempting to explain, for such an inexplicable and direct rejection would be unacceptable to any lover.

But Wang Xi did not respond to her. Shen Lezhi looked up and saw the other party standing coldly in place, her gaze fixed on her face carrying a chilling frigidity.

Shen Lezhi couldn’t articulate the feeling, but she was instinctively afraid, yet felt guilty, assuming Wang Xi was angered by her refusal.

But she was not the original host and had no real dating experience. She truly didn’t know how to appease the other party and could only awkwardly change the subject.

“Master, I want to continue learning.” After saying this, she dared not look at Wang Xi’s expression again, desperately recalling the demonstration Wang Xi had just given and the instructions she had received.

She clumsily performed the movements on her own. She tried hard but couldn’t grasp the essentials, making it quite comical, yet she dared not stop.

Because Wang Xi was constantly watching, and because everything around them was colder than before.

Frost fell onto the branches not far away—real frost. Shen Lezhi witnessed the sight of exposed branches instantly being frozen solid.

She lowered her head, her eyes feeling stung, daring not to look again.

Shen Lezhi continued practicing until sunset, finally stopping when she couldn’t support herself anymore. Even when Shen Lezhi made mistakes, Wang Xi never stepped forward to guide her again. When Shen Lezhi stammered her goodbyes, Wang Xi still didn’t speak another word.

Shen Lezhi left in fear. After running a few steps, she couldn’t help but glance back, her gaze naturally falling upon Wang Xi. The latter stood rigidly, alone. Although her eyes were looking directly at Shen Lezhi, she seemed not to be in the same space.

The setting sun could no longer offer her warmth, and the deepening shadows seemed to meld with her.

She was like a lone boat in the clear wind and white moon, drifting without purpose.

This scene seared Shen Lezhi’s eyes. She didn’t dare look again and ran all the way to the foot of Linglong Peak before finally catching her breath.

The thought of having to go back to practice again made her wilt instantly.

The only comfort was that after practicing and contemplating for most of the day, she had genuinely grasped some of the techniques of the Shu Step Technique.

She used the Shu Step Technique as she ran down the mountain. Although not as graceful as when Wang Xi performed it, it was smooth enough, and much faster than her usual descent.

When she returned to her small house and carried the Weeping Soul Strand back to her room, the turmoil in Shen Lezhi’s heart caused by Wang Xi finally subsided.

In the past, she had only considered the Weeping Soul Strand to be a spiritual plant she found and cultivated. It just happened to talk and was more sentient than other spiritual plants—a pastime in this world for her.

She valued the Weeping Soul Strand and liked this spiritual plant, but she held no lingering attachment to it.

But after the last incident, in a moment of danger, the Weeping Soul Strand unexpectedly grew rapidly, desperately saving her, and then quickly withered and broke completely.

Shen Lezhi knew that the other party had saved her life.

Shen Lezhi hugged the Weeping Soul Strand’s flowerpot tightly, pressing her forehead against the break in the root, hoping to hear that familiar voice.

This was something she did every day after waking up.

Unfortunately, there was still no sound today.

“Little Crybaby, if one day I learn to control the kind of spiritual energy you want, will you be able to wake up?” Shen Lezhi lay on the table, whispering to herself.

This was one of the reasons why Shen Lezhi insisted on learning spells from Wang Xi.

However, she had always wanted to learn the art of alchemy, but after consulting Wang Xi, she did not receive support.

“You have a Water spiritual root; you cannot learn alchemy,” Wang Xi had replied to her.

Shen Lezhi didn’t understand what that meant at first. Later, after attending the main alchemy class at Medicinal Herb Peak, she learned that cultivators need to use the Fire Method to control the temperature during refinement. Ordinary mundane flames do not reach the high temperatures of flames conjured by a cultivator’s spiritual energy, and flames released using Fire Talismans cannot be precisely controlled, so alchemists are universally Fire spiritual roots.

But Shen Lezhi was not discouraged. Chefs don’t breathe fire when cooking, do they? If precise instruments could be manufactured, why couldn’t the heat during alchemy be properly controlled?

Shen Lezhi decided to start practicing with the simplest low-grade trauma medicine, and she had reserved plenty of Green Cloud Branch fruit, which was the required material.

In Shen Lezhi’s estimation, a modern gas stove was a device that could control fire very precisely. She had also considered an induction cooker, but that required a circuit diagram, and Shen Lezhi could only admit that she was a specialist in agriculture.

But she wasn’t really trying to build a gas stove. When she was little, at her grandparents’ home in the countryside before gas stoves were common, Shen Lezhi remembered the kind of bellows used by every household for cooking.

Using wind power to boost the fire, designing a tiny, precise outlet like a gas stove’s burner, and relying on gear components and switch settings to accurately control the flame size, it was entirely possible to achieve more effortless control over the flame during alchemy than a Fire spiritual root cultivator.

However, the purity of the flame and the device’s sustained performance were the key elements of Shen Lezhi’s idea.

The device would need to be powered by a Fire Talisman and a Wind Talisman. High-grade talismans were hard to obtain. Shen Lezhi did know someone who had what she needed. After thinking it over, she decided to go to Talisman Peak to find that person.

After tending to the spiritual plants in the field, the Green Cloud Branch had another harvest today. The Laughing Flower had also matured earlier, but she was recovering from her injuries at Medicinal Herb Peak at the time, and Senior Sister Qi had managed it for her.

She gave half of the harvested fragrant fruit and petals to Senior Sister Qi. This item wasn’t particularly valuable, but many cultivators would buy it, as the sachets and pills made from it later were very popular.

Shen Lezhi did not turn in the remaining half to exchange for new seeds, reserving it instead to try making some sachets herself.

This time, she exchanged the submitted Green Cloud Branch for new seeds: the seeds of the Fierce Scarlet Leaf and the White Ice Grass.

These were the main ingredients for making Fire Talismans and Wind Talismans, respectively.

After completing these tasks, Shen Lezhi headed to Talisman Peak.

The person she was looking for was not hard to find. It was the Senior Disciple of Talisman Peak, Yunsha. Already in the late Foundation Establishment stage before the age of 30, she was the most gifted among the younger generation of cultivators in the Xuan-Yu Sect.

“Lezhi, what brings you here?”

“Senior Sister Yunsha,” Shen Lezhi gently called out, meeting the other party’s smiling gaze.

The woman before her wore jade ornaments in her hair, which was tied up with a red ribbon. Her eyes were bright and piercing, and a black and gold scepter hung from her waist.

She looked at Shen Lezhi with a smiling gaze, possessing a noble yet gentle and polite demeanor.

Shen Lezhi slightly lowered her eyes, somewhat afraid to meet her gaze.

Yunsha.

Also the person with whom the female protagonist in the original text was destined to fall in love.