At this moment, Xiangbei is going through an ordeal, wishing she could jump up and torment Cheng Mo a thousand times. Unfortunately, she can't open her eyes. The pain in her entire meridian system is like being pierced by tens of thousands of steel needles. Yet, her consciousness keeps flashing into space, revealing clearer and more complete details. Her mental strength has noticeably increased. It's a rhythm of both pain and love. Does this adolescent boy realize that such a flashy move could be deadly? Fortunately, the needling sensation is decreasing, and her eyelids aren't as heavy. Is it almost over?
When the tightly closed phoenix eyes on the bed suddenly opened, Cheng Mo felt as if he saw an empty valley after the rain or plunged into the vast and ancient sky. It was like dewdrops on the tip of an orchid leaf and illuminated the night sky with countless stars. Cheng Mo wanted to lose himself in that gaze. A slap landed on his arm without giving him time to react. Xiangbei's erupting inner power came crashing towards him. Both hands vigorously struck him.
"Are you trying to kill me? Did you want to make me suffer so much pain? I can't meet a bad person again; will I even get a chance to encounter a bad person? Are you that bad person? Returning kindness with enmity! What's wrong with me practicing fitness? What's wrong with me not having internal strength? Did you have to teach me? This pain is so intense it could take a life. Oh, why is it so painful? What exactly did you do to me? I'm in so much pain, wuu wuu wuu..."
After Xiangbei's burst of anger, the pain gradually subsided. Her voice turned into sobbing. Cheng Mo wiped away the tears sliding down her cheek, grabbed Xiangbei's hand, and pulled her up.
"I'm sorry. I was too aggressive and didn't consider that you have no martial arts foundation. It's hard for you to endure the pain of expanding your meridians. I'll ease it for you now, and it will be over soon, okay?"
"No, once is enough. Whether you didn't consider or didn't understand, are you treating me like a guinea pig? I don't want to die so early. Go quickly," Xiangbei turned her head, struggling to pull her hands out, but without success. She was so desperate that she was about to cry again. "Go quickly, let me lie down, please? I want to lie down. Go quickly, wuu wuu wuu..."
"Don't cry, don't cry. I promise it won't hurt this time. I'm just going to ease it for you, and you'll be fine soon, okay?" Cheng Mo, disregarding her nonsensical babbling, grabbed Xiangbei's hands and sat down facing each other. He forcefully sent two streams of true qi toward her.
When the familiar warmth came again, Xiangbei closed her eyes in despair. "If this adolescent boy isn't taken by the heavens, I'll die painfully today. Let my soul go back and reunite with my parents." As things quieted down, her body seemed less painful. The two streams of true qi gradually swept through her enlarged meridians, soothing the stabbed nerves, until they converged into a small vortex in her dantian, bringing a comfortable feeling, and she was about to fall asleep.
At this moment, Cheng Mo was greatly shocked. Xiangbei's dantian was forming a small realm, autonomously absorbing the true qi slowly flowing in, confirming his earlier judgment. The profundity of the Tai Chi martial art was beyond imagination. This time, Cheng Mo didn't dare to be careless. He gently placed Xiangbei down and covered her with a quilt. After instructing the maids waiting outside, he went to the neighboring room to stay awake overnight and left the room. He needed to discuss tonight's events with Uncle Zhong and Cheng Tian.
The little vortex in Xiangbei's dantian stopped rotating after absorbing all the true qi Cheng Mo had input. It dispersed into her sea of qi and disappeared without a trace. At this moment, Xiangbei felt relaxed throughout her body, and her consciousness wandered in space.
The estate she was in was vast, extending endlessly into the thick fog that concealed the boundaries. Buildings were displayed as gray-white foundations and outlines in the space, resembling a sandbox model. Only the houses she had lived in and walked through could be opened and entered. However, they were all empty, devoid of any furniture or belongings. Except for naturally growing things, cultivated farmland showed only fertile soil, without any cultivated crops. The fog's edge extended ten miles from the previous night's boat house to the outside. The valley where she escaped and the dragon cave from two days ago were in the northeast direction of Peach Blossom Cove, passing through the estate, flowing into the Qingbo River at the dock.
Humph, Uncle Zhong is also a sinister man. He'd rather sail out for dozens of miles and then come back, just to deceive me about the real escape route. It seems there's a secret in that valley. But I can understand. After all, he saved me instead of ending my life with a knife. In this life, I just want to live simply according to my heart. Forget about curiosity; I've forgotten it. I can't find it anymore. But wait, can't I still find that muscle guy I saw before I passed out? Ah, I can never see Mr. Muscle again. Goodbye.