Chapter 64 [064] Detoxification

When did the mountain ghost appear behind you?
Zhongli Jin found that he had not noticed it at all.

But it seems useless to think about these things now.

The mountain ghost has been killed by Shi Qing.

The girl was very close to him, so close that Zhongli Jin felt the aura from her was strong and terrifying, as if a savage and unreasonable beast had forcibly broken into his Tao heart, which had been so hard to stabilize, and disrupted it again.

A gust of wind blew by and everything around returned to calm.

The night was filled with fog and there was an unpleasant fishy smell in the wind, but when Shi Qing stood nearby, the smell faded and was replaced by the fresh fragrance of the young girl.

With a feeling of comfort and security.

"Are you okay?" Shi Qing put away his sword, looked at Zhongli Jin, and asked calmly.

"...Not bad." Having said that, the young man felt as if his heart was hit hard by something, and it was rushing against his chest like a wild beast, even causing some pain.

"Well," Shi Qing turned around and walked towards the fairy ship: "That's good."

Zhongli Jin followed behind her. The girl walked with her spine very straight and her head held high, like the soldiers in the mortal world who protected their country.

She seemed to be able to sense any danger at the first sign of trouble and rush over immediately.

Mountain ghosts are best at hiding and are difficult for ordinary people to find. Unless they are sensed by spiritual consciousness, the owner will instantly notice if something breaks into the spiritual consciousness territory.

Shi Qing was some distance away from him, and it was dark at night. He couldn't see a mountain ghost secretly following him with the naked eye.

Zhong Lijin couldn't help but ask, "You wouldn't be spreading your spiritual awareness all the time, right?"

Shi Qing nodded: "Yeah."

This is true.

"This is very tiring." Zhongli Jin frowned slightly.

Shi Qing said: "But it's convenient."

It is convenient to detect all hidden dangers, protect others, and patrol at night.

The young man suddenly realized something, "So when I first arrived at Sanqing Mountain and went to the Giant Python Peak at night, you were also using your spiritual sense to patrol the night?"

"Ah."

"..."

Zhongli Jin finally understood why Shi Qing was able to arrive directly after he arrived at Giant Python Peak not long after.

Back on the fairy ship, the purple color on Luo Zhenyue's skin had almost spread to her ankles. If it covered her entire body, she would surely die.

"Junior Brother Zhongli!" Seeing Zhongli Jin coming back, Cangying's eyes lit up and he stepped forward to ask, "Have you found an antidote that can be used?"

"Found it." Zhongli Jin smiled at the girl, his brows were gentle and his smile was warm. He took out a yellow talisman from his arms and slowly opened it. A colorful feather was lying quietly inside.

Cangying was stunned: "This is——"

"The Yellow Springs Bird." Zhongli Jin said, "The most beautiful poisonous creature in the Yellow Springs Valley."

Disciple Xu responded: "Is it the bird with poisonous feathers all over its body, which is said to be the soul guide?"

"Yes, the Skybirds are the natural enemies of the Sulphur Centipedes. They feed on the Sulphur Centipedes, so they are naturally not afraid of the Sulphur Centipedes' poison."

Cangying understood: "Not being afraid of this poison means there is something in your body that can neutralize the toxicity of the sulfur centipede."

It just so happens that feathers are poisonous, which is the best way to fight poison with poison.

Zhongli Jin placed the feather between Luo Zhenyue's eyebrows.

When the feathers touched the skin, the toxicity immediately penetrated into the body through the pores of the skin. Soon, the purple color on Luo Zhenyue's face began to fade, and from head to toe, it gradually returned to normal flesh color.

The old man reminded: [This bird feather cannot be in contact with the skin for too long. Even if it is for detoxification, it must be taken off immediately after the girl's skin has basically returned to normal color, otherwise she will be poisoned by the bird again. ]

Zhongli Jin responded: [I understand. Thank you, senior.]

About half an hour later, all the purple color on Luo Zhenyue's body faded away.

The young man took it off through a layer of yellow talisman, wrapped it up again, and put it into his sleeve.

Cangying used his spiritual power to enter Luo Zhenyue's body again, and only after confirming that the poison in the body had been eliminated by the celestial bird feathers did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"The crisis is over," she waved her hand tiredly, "Go back and rest."

Finally, one thing was solved.

Disciple Xu said, "Okay, Senior Sister Cang should also take a rest soon."

With Luo Zhenyue occupying one room, there were only three rooms left on the fairy ship. Upon seeing this, Chen Xiang immediately said, "Senior Sister Cang, please sleep at my place!"

Cangying was a little surprised that this little girl would be so generous, "What about you?"

Chen Xiang smiled and said, "Me? I'll just keep watch with my senior sister."

Cangying: "...Really? Can you really keep watch instead of sleeping?"

It’s no wonder she was suspicious. Was there ever a night when Chen Xiang didn’t sleep soundly?
Even on that night at Tushiling, when she and Disciple Xu were almost killed by Liu Xitong, this girl was still sleeping soundly.

"Senior sister, don't believe me! I am no longer the Shi Xiang of the past. Now you have to call me Niu Hulu Xiang!" Chen Xiang snorted delicately. She looked quite charming in the night in her red dress. She had a well-behaved and cute face, but she could always make some alluring expressions and seductive looks. It really gave people a strange sense of disconnection and yet a very fitting contradiction.

Cangying: "...Twisting the wheel? What wheel? The wheel of a car?"

Chen Xiang: "Anyway, Senior Sister Cang will sleep in my room tonight!!"

Cangying: “…”

Fine.

Maybe this girl just said this in order to have a good rest.

The girl sighed softly, revealing a slightly kind and helpless expression, and looked at Shen Xiang.

——We can’t let Junior Sister down.

"Then I'll sleep in your room tonight. Don't regret it if you feel sleepy in the middle of the night." Cangying said.

Chen Xiang nodded: "Of course! Good night, Senior Sister Cang, Senior Sister Shi Qing and I will go to keep watch!"

After she finished speaking, she happily took Shi Qing's arm and led the girl to the deck.

Cangying finally looked at Zhongli Jin beside her and said, "Thank you for your hard work tonight, Junior Brother Zhongli. Good night."

"Good night," the boy smiled, "I wish you a sweet dream."

*
[Do you really want that little bitch Luo Zhenyue to wake up, host? ! She will put a curse on the hero! ! ] The system saw that Luo Zhenyue's poison had been removed and started to go crazy again.

Chen Xiang smiled and took Shi Qing's arm as they sat cross-legged on the deck. She remained calm when she heard the system's words, still wearing an innocent and lovely smile. However, when she opened her eyes again, the color between her black pupils was cold and indifferent, even a little mocking: [It's just a poison, it's just the simplest love poison. Even if the male protagonist is poisoned, with his male protagonist aura and his own strong willpower, he can always get through it, and——]

The girl narrowed her eyes slightly: [Don't you always hate it when the plot gets out of control and doesn't develop according to the original direction? Luo Zhenyue puts a curse on the male protagonist here, which is part of the plot. Why are you so anxious? Or do you actually not care about how the plot develops, you only care whether the plot is beneficial to you, or - whether it suits your wishes? ]

Shen Xiang's words left the system speechless. It was filled with rage that it could not vent, and it also felt annoyed and resentful that its heart had been completely touched.

[Host...] It finally gritted its teeth and said: [You will regret it.]

【Oh.】 Chen Xiang didn't care, 【Then let me regret it first.】

Now sitting together with Shi Qing, she didn't want to listen to the system's meaningless nagging anymore.

The faint fragrance of the girl beside her was like the finest tranquilizer, easily calming the turmoil and madness in her heart.

Shen Xiang looked at Shi Qing's profile.

Shi Qing would never agree to keep watch together in the past. But perhaps he had behaved more maturely in the past two days, and tonight he took the initiative to give his bed to Cangying, so she felt a little more assured about him, so she agreed to keep watch together, and no longer put her in the position of a vulnerable group that needed protection.

Shen Xiang was very satisfied with this.

This means that Shi Qing recognizes some of her roles as a sword cultivator.

The girl next to him closed her eyes and meditated, her awareness spreading around, listening for any slight movement.

Shen Xiang quietly moved closer to her again, tilted his head, leaned on her shoulder, and looked up.

The sky above Huangquan Valley was filled with clouds and mist. The deep ravines were already far away from the sky, and with the smoke and fog covering the sky, naturally nothing could be seen.

But at least for this moment.

Shen Xiang is satisfied.

She will work harder and be a good junior sister who can help Shi Qing.

*
Zhongli Jin's room was on the other side. The young man stood in the corridor of the fairy ship and did not go back yet.

His eyes fell across the corridor on the two girls on the deck.

Shi Qing was meditating, and Shen Xiang's head was resting on her shoulder in an intimate posture.

Although such interactions between senior and junior sisters are common, ever since seeing the unrestrained behavior of the Lingxia Sect disciples at Lingshen Mountain, Zhongli Jinlian has developed a subtle sense of déjà vu about the actions between the sisters.

——Maybe I’m overthinking it.

The young man frowned slightly.

It’s just the junior sister’s dependence on the senior sister.

Zhongli Jin said this in his heart.

however--

Even so, he still inexplicably felt that the scene on the deck was dazzling and somewhat weird.

And that weird feeling reached its peak after Shen Xiang secretly kissed Shi Qing on the cheek.

"Chewmi!"

Shen Xiang smiled and said, “Sister, although you have been practicing swordsmanship for many years and are not afraid of wind, frost and scorching sun, why is your skin still so good?”

She pretended to be envious and reached out to poke Shi Qing's face, "It's soft when you kiss it, and it's bouncy when you poke it twice."

Shi Qing opened his eyes, turned his head, stared at Chen Xiang, and asked, "Q bullet, what does it mean?"

Chen Xiang said: "It is based on a soft foundation, and after being touched, it will bounce back like jelly."

Shi Qing: "Jelly? What is that?"

Shen Xiang: “…”

Chen Xiang: "I'll make it for you when I have the chance."

"No need," Shi Qing said, "No need, it's a waste of effort."

"But it's delicious and sweet!" Chen Xiang blinked and tempted, "Sister, don't you want to try it?"

"I don't want to." She responded calmly.

Chen Xiang suddenly looked down in disappointment: "After all, it is a little gift from Junior Sister. Do you really care about me? You don't even want to taste something I made by myself. Are you tired of me?"

She has mastered the art of tea.

Shi Qing: “…worry too much.”

"Then I'll make some jelly, you must try some!"

Shi Qing: “…”

Shi Qing: "Okay."

*
When Zhongli Jin returned to his room, he closed the door a little roughly.

Maybe the boy himself didn't realize it.

It was Disciple Xu who heard the door creak in the next room and asked in confusion: "Junior brother, what happened?"

Zhong Lijin came to his senses through a wooden wall and quickly apologized: "No, it was just a bit windy just now, and I didn't have time to close the door, so it was blown open by the wind and scared you, brother. I'm really sorry."

"Wind? Well, I'm glad that you're okay, Junior Brother." Disciple Xu believed the young man's words and did not ask any further questions.

The night was quiet, with only some nocturnal creatures and the wind making a slight noise.

The young man in white on the bed took off his clothes, and he used a talisman to burn the white shirt that was soiled by kneeling on the ground.

She was still wearing a snow-white undergarment, hanging loosely on her body.

Zhongli Jin let her hair down, and her thick black hair fell down, soft and smooth.

That handsome, fair, delicate and beautiful face looked even more beautiful and charming when hidden in the dim flickering candlelight.

He was supposed to continue refining the elixir tonight, but the young man couldn't concentrate several times because he found that the scene of Shen Xiang kissing Shi Qing's profile on the deck always appeared in his mind.

If you are distracted like this, you are destined to not be able to refine any good elixir.

[What's wrong with you, youngster? You seem a little absent-minded.]

Zhongli Jin recovered the heavenly fire in the furnace and simply gave up refining the elixir tonight, saying: [Nothing, I just feel that my Tao heart is not firm enough. ]

[Is it because of that girl Shi Qing? ]

【…】

[Senior,] Zhongli Jin frowned helplessly, and said with a bitter smile: [I thought that I had successfully stabilized my Dao heart by ignoring the illusion about Shi Qing tonight, and that I would definitely be able to get back on track in time and no longer be troubled by worldly feelings. But until I returned to the fairy ship and was saved by Shi Qing from the claws of the mountain ghost, I realized that perhaps ignoring Shi Qing's illusion was not because I had stabilized my Dao heart.]

——But he knew clearly that the illusion was not the real Shi Qing.

Once the real, authentic girl suddenly appeared before him.

Then even the long passages of the Purification Mantra will eventually become useless blanks.

Zhongli Jin knew that he had feelings for Shi Qing, and he would not deny it like his fourteen-year-old self. He was trying to find a way to resolve this emotion that was affecting his cultivation, but unfortunately, there was no useful solution so far. He could even vaguely feel that this emotion was getting worse.

Otherwise, even the intimacy between Junior Sister and Shi Qing wouldn't have made him so irritated.

*
Cangying woke up before dawn the next day.

I went to bed late last night and didn’t sleep well, so I had to get up early.

She opened the door of the next room and went in to check on Luo Zhenyue's condition.

The girl's breathing was steady and she had no external injuries. After the door made a sound, her eyelashes even moved and she slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing he saw was Cangying's face. Luo Zhenyue was startled, then immediately stood up and said vigilantly: "What did you do to me, bitch?!"

Cangying: “…”

She looked at Luo Zhenyue as if he were an idiot: "Is this how you treat your savior? Oh, yes, I forgot, you are the best at repaying kindness with enmity."

Luo Zhenyue's face turned red due to her ridicule: "What did you say?!"

Cangying sneered, "Am I wrong? Yesterday, Shiqing rescued you from the Santu River, but not only did you not say a word of thanks, you even insulted me. Last night, we helped you detoxify the sulfur centipede, but you called me a bitch this morning. You really performed the Farmer and the Snake to perfection. I admire you."

Here I come!! Good night! ~~~