18 Legacy World 1.8 I Need Your Help

As soon as the first spoonful of soup went down ZhangYong's throat, his eyes grew wide. He quickly took another scoop. Then another. Finally, he whispered in astonishment, "Is this some cooking secret arts? Who taught you this? I thought you didn't have anyone else tutoring you in cultivation other than me."

"How does it feel?" Xinyi asked him back without answering his question.

Having secret masters was not uncommon, so ZhangYong let it slide, thinking that it was one of those cases. "It feels... refreshing and my spiritual power feels slightly replenished."

Xinyi raised her eyebrows upon hearing his answer. Just slightly? "You don't feel cleansed at all?"

Zhang Yong shook his head.

Xinyi realised that this was her chance to try changing variables she never thought she could before. ZhangYong who was at mid level Heaven realm was the ideal candidate for comparing the effects of changing the consumer and the one infusing the power into the soil.

/A confounder for today's results could also be the shorter length of time the plant was indirectly nourished…/ Remembering to keep everything else constant besides the independent variables, an experimental design was quickly planned out in her mind.

"Does GongZi mind helping this small servant out with something?"

Her sudden extremely courteous manner of speaking made him sit ram-rod straight in reflex. Thinking that it was something serious, his look and tone became serious as well. "What is it?"

"I need your help with something, but this needs to be held in utmost secrecy."

Zhang Yong looked at her head bowed low in front of him. While he was still debating whether he should help her or not, she looked up and met his gaze.

At the same time she did, her eyes reflected the flickering flame of the candle on the table and the golden specks hidden in her grey eyes shone. As quickly as it appeared, it disappeared.

ZhangYong instantly got captivated by that momentary beauty and he found himself wanting to see it again. In a soft and gentle voice, he complimented, "You have beautiful eyes."

"What?" Xinyi was completely thrown off by his randomness.

Suddenly, as if he had never gotten distracted, he gave her a proper answer to her question. "I trust that you won't do anything bad. What do you need me to do?"

/Do my eyes look trustworthy or something...?/

Xinyi thus started explaining to him the experiment she had completed, how she was now thinking of changing some elements of it, and why she hypothesized that the effect would vary depending on these variables.

Throughout the whole time, half of ZhangYong's attention was on admiring her eyes that looked more spirited than normal.

"Who would have thought of this? You have a good head on your shoulders." He complimented her again.

/He has a glib tongue, doesn't he?/ Xinyi remarked.

[Isn't giving compliments a sign that he likes you? Also, see how he agreed to help you just like that? Let's keep riding on his coattails and clear this world like a boss!] BaoBao suggested once more.

/… BaoBao. What's your obsession with ZhangYong's feelings for me, using him, latching onto him, and riding on his coattails?/

[Records of other hosts' experiences show a higher success rate when one makes use of the lead's love, especially when it's strong enough to make a character go out of character!] BaoBao said excitedly.

/Alright, now that I've taken note of that, I'll let you know if he ever likes me, okay? It seems to me that you still need to learn a lot more before you can tell if someone's in love…/

ZhangYong waited at the stone table while Xinyi retrieved 2 pots from the shed at the back and planted new edible herbs in it.

She came back to find ZhangYong looking up and admiring the moon without a trace of a smile on his face. The melancholic yet peaceful sight felt quite surreal to Xinyi. The moonlight highlighted his graceful yet masculine features and the silver embroidery of his black garments.

[Xinyi, jump him.] BaoBao said while drooling.

/… Do you only think of sick and impure things whenever he's involved?/ Xinyi lightly chided.

She then went up to ZhangYong and started demonstrating to him how he could infuse his spiritual power into the soil while cultivating, so that it would not be a waste of his time. It essentially involved cultivating with the pot between his hands and imagining the pot as part of his body while he circulated his spiritual energy throughout his body.

"Would you be free to do this everyday?"

ZhangYong nodded.

"Then, please do this everyday for three straight hours, no break. Bring it back to me half a year later." She continued to remind him of the other things he would have to do and keep consistent.

"Leave it to me." He assured her.

With that, she excused herself to return to her room to sleep.

When she was at her doorstep, ZhangYong bade her goodnight and goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."

She froze in her spot then quickly spoke before he left. "I read every afternoon. I only practice martial arts in the morning. I won't change my schedule to fit you."

"What do you do at night then?"

"Cultivate."

"Switch your morning and night activities." He left her courtyard without giving her a chance to argue.

The corner of her lips twitched in annoyance. /How much more high handed can he be? And he's still just 15 years old.../

Fortunately for ZhangYong, it did not feel that much of a difference to switch her morning and night activities, so she did as he said.

Unbeknownst to her, Zhang Yong was so insistent about practicing with her in the afternoon or night because he was fixed on improving her living conditions.

In the end, he could not bring himself to tolerate the way she lived. He believed that someone like her deserved to be rewarded at least a little. Being treated this shabbily was simply unacceptable.

Aware of how his actions were considered self-satisfactory, he did not expect to be appreciated for what he would be doing for her. On his way home, he was already making plans in his mind to have materials delivered to his house before he would personally deliver it to her courtyard.

ZhangYong ended up visiting three times every week.

Whenever Xinyi studied under the plum blossom tree, he would be busy in her courtyard building a new and bigger stove and a pulley system over the well.

She would then return to begin 3 hours of instruction and sparring.

The first time she returned and saw him with many extra things in the back of her courtyard, she was momentarily stunned. After she recovered her senses, she sighed and decided to let him do whatever he wanted as long as it did not disturb her.

After three hours, he would order her to take a bath, not forgetting to remind her that water has already been boiled. He was afraid that she would habitually go to the well to retrieve cold water then bathe in it.

BaoBao felt thoroughly pleased with ZhangYong boiling water for Xinyi's bath. Ever since he got closer to Xinyi, he would feel bad seeing how badly she shivered during and after her bath.

On the other hand, Xinyi began to think that ZhangYong had a weird way of killing time while she practiced under his instruction. She knew how tedious it must have been to slowly boil small pots of water, one after another, when the new stove was still not done yet. With the new stove, he still had to tend to the fire. Basically, it was extra work that he did not need to do.

By the time Xinyi returned back outside, fresh from her bath, hot food would already be placed on the stone table.

ZhangYong would always unceremoniously help himself to the herbs she grew in her garden and add it in to other ingredients he brought. Xinyi had no complaints about it since her sole nutrients now came from the herbs in her garden.

After having dinner together, they would wash the dishes together as well. Only then would the both of them retire for the day.

Sometimes Xinyi would wonder in amusement about the reactions people would have if they found out about the things that the great prodigy, ZhangYong, was doing for her.

Not wanting anyone to come looking for her for trouble because of his changed lifestyle on his side, she made a casual remark about how free he seemed to be.

ZhangYong seemed to have caught on to the true meaning behind her words and assured her that he would not be here if he was not free.

Xinyi also realised how awfully quiet BaoBao was being about ZhangYong's treatment. /BaoBao, don't get your hopes up. This won't last./

Xinyi could not believe that BaoBao had learnt his lesson and changed his mind this quickly.

Her reminder that seemed to come out of the blue turned out to hit the nail on the head. BaoBao sulked by himself and refused to participate in her pessimistic thinking. Humph! I shall not say anything. [Time will prove to her that I'm right. ZhangYong is in love with her.]

Meanwhile, the people around ZhangYong noticed some changes in him.

Although his schedule was as packed and strict as usual, he seemed to have become a night owl. Unbeknownst to them, this was a result of ZhangYong's rearrangement of his schedule so that he could meet Xinyi.

They were also unaware of how much he had to rush between the camping site by the border, his house, and Xinyi's courtyard. If not for his endurance and stamina, a normal person would have long passed out from exhaustion.

They did notice, however, that ZhangYong got much more particular about being disturbed while he rested. He had even specifically instructed for people to not disturb his rest unless it was for an emergency. What they did not know was that his extra precaution was so that he would not be interrupted during the experiment.

Fortunately for him, everyone obeyed and no one questioned a thing for he gave them no reason to. Not only did his performance not drop, it seemed to be slowly improving. Additionally, although he was still a commander in training, everyone was already treating him like a commander whenever his father was not there. Everyone was prepared for him to take up his father's mantle.

3 months flew by.

It was a sunny but cool and breezy afternoon. The perfect weather to be reading outdoors. Xinyi was already on her final book on poison. She would have to leave the estate soon to procure more resources for herself.

Suddenly, BaoBao warned her that a group of people was on their way here.

/To this secluded part of the estate? I have a bad feeling about this./

Her suspicions grew when the group of people came into view. A strong looking guard stood at the front of a group of servants and maids.

As precaution, she shrunk away and tried to hide behind the tree. It was the only place she could hide anyway.

She heard the deep voice command the others, "Search this area. She must be here."

Xinyi now knew that there was definitely something wrong. Unsure why they were looking for her, she did not dare to act rashly and end up looking more suspicious. She looked down at the book in her hands. It would definitely give off the wrong impression but it would be worse if they found her trying to hide it or dispose of it.

Making up her mind, she lazed against the tree and ignored them until the entire group stood before her.

"Second Miss, we've been looking for you." The guard's tone lacked respect and sounded blaming.

"Is that so?" Xinyi sounded nonchalant and stood up to face them squarely. "What are you-"

Before she could finish her question, a maid's shriek interrupted her. "Look!"

Everyone looked at what the maid was pointing at and their expressions soon turned furious.

It was the poison book in Xinyi's hand.

Without any warning, maids tried to restrain her but she knocked them back. Before she could play the part of an angry rich young miss and chide them for their audacity, other servants tried to restrain her. She easily knocked them all away with her martial arts as well.

Since maids and servants did not focus on training their martial ability, they were far weaker and easier to deal with. The guard, however, would be a different case.

Before the guard stepped up, Xinyi quickly used the brief lag caused by everyone's surprise to scold them. "How dare you touch me, a miss of this house?! Did you come here just to insult me?!"

"You're suspected of having harmed HuiShan XiaoJie and have to follow us back to your courtyard now." The guard said through gritted teeth.

Although they had already deemed her as guilty, she was right that their ranks were still beneath her and they had to wait for further orders before they could deal with her. It was only if she resisted returning back with them would they need to resort to force. From the guard's point of view, the maids and servants had been too stupid and rash.

"Why didn't you say so from the start?" She no longer raised her voice but her tone was scolding and punishing. She did not wait to be led to start returning to her courtyard.

Although she had a stone cold expression on, alarm bells were ringing in her head.

/What happened to HuiShan? Wasn't she out with WangWei and ZhangYong?/