Living with Minghe (Not)

The next few days, Qin Yi stayed at home and focused on making elixirs without going out at all.

He seemed to have forgotten that this residence had been given to him and had been living in that courtyard all the time. Apart from the fact that Li Qinglin's family had moved out, making the residence much quieter, nothing seemed to have changed.

Minghe lived in another guest room in the courtyard and spent most of her time sitting cross-legged, studying the sword formation. It seemed that she really found Liusu's formation very valuable. And she was doing exactly as she had promised, practicing her cultivation without disturbing Qin Yi's refining work. Although they were living in the same courtyard, both were too unaffected to make any romantic encounters possible.

It seemed that Minghe had reached the stage of not needing any human food at all, nor did she seem to need showers or use the toilet, so no such embarrassing scenes had ever happened. Cheesy, suggestive plots in cheap novels with names like "Living with Minghe" didn't apply here, and when they ran into each other outside on occasion, Minghe would greet him properly before walking past him.

Qin Yi didn't even know what to say to her. Her Milky Way aura didn't go away. On the contrary, whenever she didn't speak, she seemed even more distant—to the point that he felt speechless around her.

Because no one would talk to a star light years away.

He could understand how frustrated Donghuazi must've felt when she lived in the Eternal Temple to some extent—with such capable help under his roof, Donghuazi wouldn't have known what to do with her. Begging for her assistance would only have made her despise him, but he wasn't knowledgeable enough to have academic discussion with her either. What a waste of such a capable cultivator. Before he could ask her to pay for her accommodations, her great formation almost killed his demons off.

The more Qin Yi thought about it, the more he felt sorry for that man—he had to be the most unfortunate boss ever.

Luckily, Qin Yi had never planned to talk to Minghe. She was too pretty, and her Taoist robe was too seductive in its own way, making him feel that getting in touch with her too often was inappropriate. After all, he didn't want to give Li Qingjun the wrong idea. Living with Minghe like she was a stranger really suited him.

"By the way, clubbie, since you've experienced so much, have you ever seen that legendary look, where one appreciates something beautiful with the purest intentions?"

Liusu asked, "What the hell is that?"

"I heard that all beautiful women have had that experience. Most people only have lust in their eyes when they look at a beautiful woman, but there's this one person who only appreciates her without any other desires. She's then convinced that the person is the one she's been waiting for," Qin Yi said.

Liusu commented, "I have no idea what you're…"

Qin Yi heaved a sigh. "I think I'm the second type."

Liusu finally saw what he was getting at and chuckled. "Have you been hit in the head? Do you think Minghe will think this much just because you look at her?"

"I'm pretty sure you didn't hit me." Qin Yi chuckled. "I'm just kidding. It's not like I have a thing for her."

Liusu asked suspiciously, "Really?"

"I told you already. My intentions are very pure."

Liusu said, "Look at me, then."

Qin Yi gave it a contemptuous look.

"Good. That's a very nice look. I like it when you have to put medicine on me no matter how much you despise me," Liusu said.

"Damn you…" Qin Yi sat down with the herbal paste he made and put Liusu flat on a cushion.

Although everyone had been preoccupied these days, Qin Yi somehow found life quite unrestrained like this. It was like he had returned to the village when he used to live alone with Liusu… The two of them used to take precautions against each other back then, but things had improved a lot now. They could banter freely and felt much more comfortable than when they were in the village.

However, Qin Yi felt rather weird himself as well.

Li Qingjun had been too busy to visit lately, but Qin Yi never felt the way people in love felt when they didn't see a loved one for a few days. He had been making medicine and cultivating as usual, and yearning never set in or affected his mood. He felt calm and only missed her when he was resting, which felt a little normal.

But should people in love behave this way? Qin Yi had never been in love before, so he wasn't sure. The grades of straight-A students didn't seem to have been affected when they were in love. So this was probably normal, and romance novels were lying?

"Clubbie," Qin Yi asked Liusu as he rubbed some herbal medicine all over it. "Am I too heartless?"

"Huh?" Liusu was enjoying this treatment and didn't understand the question right away. "What do you mean?"

"I don't get the feeling that I want to be with Qingjun all the time. Shouldn't people in love miss each other every moment?"

"How am I supposed to know? I've never…" Liusu stopped mid-sentence, realizing what it said would sabotage its image of an experienced creature.

Qin Yi was too preoccupied to notice.

Liusu heaved a sigh and switched to a matter-of-fact tone. "I don't think it's abnormal. Li Qingjun isn't inseparable from you either, is she?"

Qin Yi was surprised by the answer and realized that it really was the case…

"Maybe you're just not there yet," Liusu said casually. "Right now, you both have a lot of things on hand, and you have to be really heartless to still be able to act lovey-dovey. Moreover, Li Qingjun isn't the type to play political games, and she must be exhausted now. She can't be in the mood for anything else," Liusu said.

"Why does it sound like you're enjoying her predicament?" Qin Yi could finally think straight again.

"Do I?" Liusu denied it. "You're so distracted that you're overthinking it."

"I'm not distracted. Over 90% of my medicine has succeeded, and that's even better than before," Qin Yi said.

"You've been distracted the whole time you've been putting the soul-lingering grass on me." Liusu gave him a speech. "You have to stay focused on whatever you're doing. If you wander off while applying some medicine now, you might do the same thing during cultivation, causing yourself to enter a manic state. You have to remember: even the greatest dam can be destroyed by an ants' nest. Stay cautious…"

That did seem to make sense, so Qin Yi didn't retort and continued rubbing in the medicine.

This comfortable feeling made Liusu sigh.

It didn't take all that long to put some medicine over a spiked club. Soon, there was an even layer on it, and Qin Yi put it in the right position before asking, "Is this rubbing really going to work? Your soul needs nourishing, not the club itself."

"This club isn't my body. I'm asking you to put an even layer on me because the medicine needs to be evenly distributed so that my soul can be thoroughly nourished." Liusu suddenly said, "Hey, this grass might not be all that potent, but to someone like me who hasn't received external help for years, this is a big deal and very effective. I couldn't hit you before, but now, I can smash your head in when you're asleep. Are you scared now?"

Qin Yi casually flicked a spike, as if stroking a cat. "There, there. Behave."

If Liusu really was a cat, it would've bristled by now.

"Qin Yi!" Li Qingjun called his name outside. Elated, Qin Yi ran out to greet her.

Li Qingjun walked in, looking as haggard as a shriveled eggplant. Qin Yi held her arm and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just so difficult…" Li Qingjun looked more than haggard. She was exhausted and was hanging onto Qin Yi. "State affairs are so complicated…"

Liusu was right.

She wasn't born for it and had been given this job at short notice. It was like forcing the worst student to achieve all As. The process was tormenting, and they probably wouldn't make much progress.

Qin Yi pursed his lips and felt stronger about the idea of abandoning Nanli and taking her away. Of course, he didn't let it show and only took out a pill concocted with purple lotus root as the key ingredient. "I made this. Take it back and run a bath with it. It'll nourish your internal energy and relieve fatigue."

Li Qingjun leaned over and picked the pill up directly with her mouth. Her languid movements reminded him of Night Wing.

Qin Yi couldn't help but rub her head. In the end, he couldn't help but ask tentatively, "If managing state affairs doesn't suit you, how about you stop forcing yourself?"

Li Qingjun walked into the courtyard and leaned forward on the stone table. "I can't… You have no idea how bad the situation in Nanli is… The coffers can barely manage to pay the army… and there's more… It's just a total mess, and we probably can't turn things around in a few years' time. Mang Zhan has run off. Donghuazi knew us so well, and he probably told Mang Zhan everything… With a next door enemy who knows everything about us, how could I leave…?"

Qin Yi fell silent.