Volume 3, Chapter 34 – Clear Heart【1】

Such a “sensuous” reward, yet the entire ride was sheer torment for Bai Zhuqing.

A woman in the passenger seat stretching her black-stockinged feet out onto the driver’s lap—if it were anyone else, that would be blatant flirting, teasing, playing with fire.

But Bai Xiang was different, and by now Bai Zhuqing had figured out her temperament… This was, with very high probability, just a further test—to see whether she could “sit in someone’s lap without her heart being stirred” while driving.

Of course, there was another huge factor here: Bai Zhuqing really couldn’t beat her.

The convoy soon merged onto the main road, followed the route into the city, and found the hotel they’d reserved in advance, where everyone settled in for the night.

Taking advantage of the darkness to hide the details, Bai Xiang deliberately kept her feet there until they reached the destination; only then did she pull them back and put her shoes on. Afterward she glanced at the driver and tipped her chin. “You didn’t disappoint me.”

If only you knew how hard I was holding it together the entire way!

Bai Zhuqing’s expression almost cracked, but she still kept up a serious, stiff front. “I know what’s important. Getting Auntie here to rest safely comes first.”

“I don’t know where you picked that act up, but you don’t need it in front of me,” Bai Xiang said mildly.

Seeing that this one sentence made her little sister visibly wilt, she added, “If you want your reward, come up and take it.”

With that, she opened the door, got out, and led Ma Yue and the others inside.

The hotel booking wasn’t something Bai Zhuqing handled personally—she really couldn’t do absolutely everything herself. It had been arranged by Chen Shi, who hadn’t been able to come along this time, supposedly with a bit of help from his family connections.

Chen Shi’s father, Chen Shulin, was the head of “Jiangnan Pharmaceuticals.” A hotel found through those channels was, of course, no shabby place. It was called the “Nan Sheng International,” rated six stars by international standards, and its interiors were extremely luxurious—no different from many of the big hotels Bai Xiang had seen in her past life.

She was only staying one night, yet the hotel manager had reserved an entire floor of rooms just for her. The accompanying disciples could pick freely, and food and fruit were delivered by cart right to their doors—there was no need for them to show their faces in the lobby at all.

Picking a room at random, Bai Xiang told Ma Yue and the others to come find her tomorrow.

“Someone will come with a message for you,” was how she put it.

“Don’t worry about it. Whatever it is, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

Once she locked the door, she pulled off her waist sash; right there in front of Bai Zhuqing, she removed her longsword and started undressing.

Bai Zhuqing didn’t react at first—she just caught a flash of white-jade skin. By the time she tried to focus for a better look, Bai Xiang had already stepped into the bathroom, leaving her feeling very regretful.

But that regret was soon drowned out by shock.

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Because once Bai Xiang stepped under the showerhead, the warm lights cast her full silhouette onto the glass wall, and the rising steam laid a gauzy veil over it, making the scene even more suggestive.

Of course—most hotels loved this kind of design.

Bai Zhuqing stared for a moment, then her eyes turned. After putting her things down, she sat on the bed and very properly “started cultivating.”

When Bai Xiang came out from her shower, the first thing she saw was the little lass sitting there with her eyes closed, clearly pretending. She said nothing, just wrapped in a bath towel, walked up behind her, pinched her like a kitten by the back of the neck, and tossed her straight into the bathroom.

“Ah—!”

The shower floor was still wet. No sooner had she been tossed in than there was a splash and a cute little yelp.

Heh…

Bai Xiang narrowed her eyes slightly, the corners of her lips curling.

“Hurry up and wash,” she said from outside, eyes fixed on the shadow on the glass. “Once you’re done, we’ll talk business.”

Business?

What business?

Bai Zhuqing was at a loss, and started undressing on reflex.

Halfway through, she suddenly froze as a term she’d once learned in a big lecture popped into her head: “relativity.”

She’d forgotten what the original theory was about, but she still remembered what “relative” meant.

Here was the problem—just now, when Xiang’er-jie was in here washing, Bai Zhuqing had been able to see all her movements and her shadow perfectly clearly.

So relatively speaking, now that she was the one inside… wouldn’t Xiang’er-jie be able to see her just as clearly?

Oh crap.

Bai Zhuqing’s blood rushed to her head, a warm, shy feeling rising in her chest.

And outside, Bai Xiang saw the petite shadow behind the glass suddenly turn bashful and fidgety, with that half-on, half-off, half-refusing, half-inviting allure.

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…She can’t be doing that on purpose, can she?

At first Bai Xiang didn’t think much of it and watched a little too intently. Once she caught herself, she frowned slightly, wondering if the girl was trying to tease her.

On second thought, that seemed unlikely. Bai Zhuqing only got especially dopey when it came to her—it was hard to imagine her having that kind of scheming.

So this had to be pure, natural girlish silliness.

That was her conclusion.

Jade Spirit had long since scanned and copied Bai Zhuqing’s body model down to the very last hair.

Bai Xiang had seen those detailed models countless times; normally, they were like plain boiled water to her, stirring up not the slightest feeling. But now, suddenly, she found herself interested.

Instead of sitting cross-legged to cultivate, she moved to sit directly facing the glass and calmly watched the entire process from start to finish.

…Something really has filled out a bit more.

All those high-waisted pseudo-traditional long skirts really had been hiding things.

After a torturous wash, Bai Zhuqing wrapped herself in a bathrobe and stepped out—only to find Bai Xiang staring at her without blinking.

Th-this was pure torture. She couldn’t help turning her toes inward, so embarrassed she practically forgot how to walk.

“Come here,” Bai Xiang ordered.

“Why are you just standing there? It’s not like I’m going to eat you.”

“O-okay…”

When she thought about it… that was true.

She’d be more than happy to throw herself at her; Xiang’er-jie barely gave her the time of day as it was—it wasn’t as if she’d suddenly trick her now.

Still… that scene just now had really been mortifying.

The way the light hit, it was like whoever was showering had been turned into a display piece, forced to wash while fully aware she was “on exhibit.” It was a bit too stimulating.

By the time she reached the edge of the bed and sat down, Bai Zhuqing’s legs felt weak.

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Bai Xiang was much more straightforward. She simply lifted one leg and set her freshly washed foot in Bai Zhuqing’s lap. “I’ll speak, you repeat.”

Bai Zhuqing’s eyes stayed fixed on the pair of white feet resting in her lap. Her hands moved on their own, holding them gently, thumbs pressing into the soft, smooth soles.

A bit of a shame, really.

She thought.

Xiang’er-jie’s feet were beautifully shaped, and even when she sweated they hardly had any smell. On top of that, these days Bai Xiang usually used the gliding-through-air technique to travel, so her legs and feet hardly ever got damp. Properly speaking, they looked their best wrapped in black stockings; bare white like this actually felt a level down.

On the other side, Bai Xiang began to recite an incantation.

“Beneath the Little Sumeru, bamboo keeps itself clear.”

“Receiving the wisdom past, ornate thoughts lose their shape.”

“This thought, true method, clears desire and stills the scene.”

“Cultivate toward the spirit, and fail not the former heart.”…

The formula was long and intricate. After following along once, Bai Zhuqing was shocked to find it had more than a hundred lines. Stranger still, the more she chanted, the more her inner body-scape and heart-veins began to move in tune with it, and her emotions grew calmer and calmer.

When she looked down again at the feet in her lap, there wasn’t a trace of stray thought left—only a pure sense of beauty, a desire to protect and care for them.

“Auntie!” She looked up in surprise. “What is this?”

“The Clear-Heart Formula,” Bai Xiang said, a smile touching her lips. Then she went on, “You’re still very young. Just lecturing you doesn’t mean you’ll truly understand, so I took it upon myself to come up with something for you, specifically to treat your restless, wandering mind.”

Some things couldn’t be fixed by sheer force. No matter how strict she was, Bai Zhuqing was only seventeen. Her lived experience simply didn’t allow her to be as steady as Bai Xiang.

So the medicine had to match the illness.

Rather than constantly coming up with extreme “tests,” it was better to use Jade Spirit’s calculations and the detailed model she’d compiled of her little sister over these days to tailor a technique just for Bai Zhuqing, one she could chant and cultivate herself.

“This method was created specifically for you. Every line of the formula hides subtle changes of rhythm and Vibration Art,” Bai Xiang said, fixing her gaze on the girl. “When the vibrating sound moves, it ripples through all your muscles and bones, guiding the meridians and calming the heart. You must engrave it in your mind and recite it properly.”

“Auntie…” Bai Zhuqing was so moved she almost couldn’t speak.

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Her restless thoughts were suppressed, but her attachment to Bai Xiang only grew deeper.

Because she knew exactly what that phrase “created specifically for you” meant.

Xiang Xian had indeed thrown her some preliminary Jade Spirit calculation materials to study before, but unfortunately, Bai Zhuqing hadn’t been able to master them in the end.

She did have talent, that was true—but whether it was innate or influenced by Bai Nianchan’s gift, her mind was more restless than most, harder to quiet.

So in Bai Zhuqing’s eyes, this Clear-Heart Formula had to be something Bai Xiang had “poured heart and soul into” creating over these recent days, just to solve her problem of calming down.

In reality, that wasn’t how it was at all. Bai Zhuqing’s body data had been fully archived long ago; all of this was ready-made. Bai Xiang hadn’t spent that much effort—she’d merely filled in the last stretch along the way, and it just happened to be ready to use now.

Apparently she’d been misunderstood…

From the look on her face, Bai Xiang could guess exactly what was going through the girl’s head.

But would she listen if Bai Xiang said it wasn’t like that?

Forget it. If she wanted to misunderstand, she could.

While directing Bai Zhuqing’s hands to knead her instep, Bai Xiang hugged Feixiang Heaven to her chest and reclined comfortably against the pillows.

Every so often she’d toss out a question to test her, looking thoroughly at ease.

“I said I came here to see Zhang Xianzhi, but I’m not going to visit him tonight.” Half-closing her eyes, she locked her gaze on the girl’s face. “Do you know why?”

“Of course it’s… because Auntie wants him to come to you,” Bai Zhuqing said after thinking it over.

“What Auntie wants to discuss with him is important—it concerns the structural arrangement of the four circuits in Maozhou. That absolutely isn’t something we can casually compromise on. So we can’t show any hint of weakness—not even the attitude of ‘calling on him first’ can be fully displayed.”

In her understanding, their “calling on him” had only been done halfway—the part where “we go from Zhennan Circuit to Chilong Circuit” counted as half.

The remaining half would be going directly to the Roads Directorate, and that would be a textbook display of inferiority. Resting comfortably first, as Bai Xiang was doing now, was the correct approach.

“You came up with that yourself?” Bai Xiang was a little surprised.