Just what is happening?

Just what in the heck is happening?

The boy looked at the exchange happening in front of him with widened eyes and disbelief in his expression.

“Oh, Ms. Chyou, how is your strength?” the teenage boy with a pretty face asked, revealing a feminine and pretty appearance.

“I’m at the 4th stage of Blood Condensation right now!” Li Chyou spoke with an exciting look and desire in her eyes. “But I feel that I’m close to the 5th stage.”

The boy couldn’t comprehend what was going on. But when he heard what she said, he couldn’t help but panic. NOOOOOO!!

The boy coughed lightly and reminded her, “Ahem! Young Miss, I don’t think this is a good subject to talk about.”

“What?” Li Chyou snapped her head around and glared hard at him. It was as though he had murdered her family.

“I…” the boy couldn’t say anything. Just how could he explain something like not giving out personal information to enemies to her? This was common sense! And it’s not like he could say this outright with Murong Fang right in front of him.

“Oh, and who is this?” the boy seemed to have caught the attention of Murong Fang.

Murong Fang had long black hair with streaks of blue in them. He had his hair tied up with a blue-colored hairpin. He had a slender face and yellow eyes with some purple mixed in them. His pupils were slightly oval in shape, however from certain angles; they’d appear vertical, making him look like a snake. Well, his facial structure also did the same but that’s beside the point. No, actually, that is the point.

“This is my new butler!” Li Chyou introduced him with a hint of pride.

“Oh?” Murong Fang looked intrigued as though in deep thought. So, he’s the reason why she seems less eager. Normally, she’d tell me these things without even needing to ask.

If the boy learned of this fact, he’d definitely vomit blood and curse out loud.

“Why does he wear that cloth around his face?” Murong Fang pointed towards the mask he used to cover the lower half of his face.

“It’s because he’s-” before Li Chyou could finish explaining, the boy cut her off and glared at her, “It’s because my face is unsightly, so, I need to cover it up. My lady needs not to view the unsightly me.”

“Uh…yeah!” Li Chyou was taken aback by his glare. It was her first time seeing his glare. Could her obedient and tactful butler glare at someone like this?

Of course, he had his own reason for doing so. Just looking at Murong Fang’s face, it was obvious that he was a scheming person. If Li Chyou wanted to get schemed against, she’s happy to do so but he didn’t want to be dragged in. Heck, he’s pretty sure Murong Fang started scheming the moment he laid his eyes on him.

Thinking about this left him in tears. Man, is it that hard to live peacefully? Well, being a butler for Li Chyou did the same to him. Looking at Li Chyou eagerly explain her halberd moves to Murong Fang made him rub his aching temples. Is this what love does to you? Then please don’t let me fall in love.

“Oh, did you know, Fang? Mom just came back from a business trip!”

“Oh? Where did Aunty Fen go?” Murong Fang asked with an interesting look.

“She went to make a deal with-”

“Ahem!” The boy coughed loudly.

Li Chyou turned around to look at him for a moment before turning back and continuing, “She went to make a deal with-”

“Ahem!”

“She went to make a-”

“Kheuk!”

“She went to-”

The boy sneezed. And that was the cue for Li Chyou to blow her top. She turned around to look at him with a furious look. She looked like she wanted to rip into a thousand pieces. There was a frown on Murong Fang’s face as well.

“Is something the goddamned matter?” Li Chyou yelled at him.

“Ah no, Young Miss!” the boy scratched his head awkwardly. “My throat feels a bit itchy.”

“Then go get some medicine and stop being annoying,” Li Chyou pointed towards the door.

“Ah?” the boy pretended to be startled. “How can I do that?” He then patted his chest, “A butler must be near his Mistress at every moment.”

“That is an order,” Li Chyou drove the point home. The boy paused and looked at her with his deep ocean-blue eyes. Afterward, he nodded, “Very well, Young Miss!” He bowed and left the room.

After he left, Li Chyou cupped her fists towards Murong Fang and apologized, “I’ve made a mockery of myself.” She looked at him with a worried and apologetic expression.

To her relief, Murong Fang lightly dismissed it, “Think nothing of it, Ms. Chyou.”

Within the halls of the Patriarch’s villa-like house, the boy roamed. He made his way through the halls, trying to head towards the Servant’s Quarters. He then remembered that he had to practice archery and his expression became glum. As he walked in solitude, Butler Yu appeared in front of him.

“Butler Yu,” he bowed.

“The Mistress is calling for you,” Butler Yu relayed orders.

“Understood!” the boy received his orders with cupped fists and a bow. When he looked up, Butler Yu had disappeared from his sight. With a sigh, he turned around and made his way towards the master bedroom where Li Fen was. He felt really exhausted, both mentally and physically.

The exhaustion from learning archery and doing his butler duties was enough to knock him out at the end of the day when he hit the pillow. Combined with the fact that he had to sleep very late and wake up really early, the exhaustion from every day kept piling up. With the way things were going; it would seem that at one point, the exhaustion would become unbearable.

But currently, he had no way to deal with this. The words that Li Fen told him this morning kept ringing in his ears. Why don’t I become a cultivator?

But he shook his head and smiled bitterly at that thought. Let’s put aside the fact whether or not the Li Clan would let him cultivate, he did not even have a Cultivation Art. Families keep Cultivation Arts close to them and consider them heirlooms while the Sects will only let their disciples learn their Cultivation Arts.

And if he tried or did steal any of them, he’d be hung from the highest yardarm once he got caught. Now that all his paths were cut off, he didn’t entertain the thought of trying to absorb Qi by himself. Old Man Ouyang had drilled into him the dangers of doing so. The human body has 108 acupoints and Qi is absorbed through them where it is then carried throughout the body by meridians and stored in the dantian.

Cultivation Arts were just pathways or recorded sequences of Acupoints needed to absorb Qi. If he used the wrong acupoint to absorb Qi, it would undoubtedly spell death for him. If one absorbs Qi from a particular acupoint then he needs to know the next sequence of acupoints to drive Qi through. Most of the Cultivation Arts these days follow the one-acupoint absorption system.

Of course, there are two-acupoint, three-acupoint, and more systems but those have become long outdated.

As he remembered Old Man Ouyang’s words, he had a sudden stroke of inspiration. Why not absorb Qi through all the acupoints at the same time!? That way, there’s no risk of failing the sequence!

He felt that his idea was good but right now; he had no way to confirm his thoughts. He sorted out his thoughts as he made his way out towards Li Fen. After a while, he came in front of the door to the master bedroom.

He cleared his throat and knocked on the door, “Mistress, it’s me!”

“Come in,” Li Fen’s sultry voice came from the other side.

The boy took a deep breath and entered the door. As soon as he entered, he saw Li Fen on her and Li Yan’s bed. It was massive! Almost 2 and ½ the size of a king-size bed.

She lay on the bed with her head at the end of the bed and looked at the boy with watery eyes. She smiled mischievously, “Did you finally get a taste of Chyou`er’s crush?”

“Haah~” he sighed, “I don’t think this is a good thing for the Young Miss.”

“Well, you’re right about that!” Li Fen sat up on the bed. “And take that mask off!”

The boy did as he was told and looked at her with a puzzled look, “Then…?”

“Are you asking why we let her tell that pretty boy everything?”

“…yes!”

“Well, it’s because we have nothing to fear!”

“Huh?” the boy was caught off-guard.

“Simply put, half of the things that Chyou knows are wrong!” Li Fen explained with a smirk.

“…what?”

“You don’t understand, correct?” She scanned him from head to toe and asked. The boy nodded in response.

“Most of the information that reaches her ears is misinformation,” she paused for a second and continued, “Stuff like where I had gone to make a business deal, what trades Yan has with others, what things we bought, etc., etc.”

“Won’t she get mad when she realizes what’s going on?” the boy was stunned, “And how has Young Master Murong never realized it?”

“That’s why I said half, no?” Li Fen calmly spoke, “They are all half-truths. Right now, Chyou must be telling that snake boy where I went and who I traded with. But out of those she only knows where I had truly gone, not who I had dealt with!”

“B-But Mistress, this strategy doesn’t work when it comes to Young Miss’ personal information!” he looked at her in disbelief.

“Unfortunately not,” Li Fen shook her head. She then looked at him with a smirk before lifting her fair jade-like arms and pointing at him, “However, that’s where you come in!”

“Me!?” he pointed at himself.

“Yes, you!” she reaffirmed his thoughts, “You’re going to show her Murong Fang’s true colors!”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“You’re a Li Clan butler, are you not?” she smiled slightly, “That status should give you some sway amongst the servants.”

“I…” the boy felt his words get stuck in his throat. He understood that regardless if he refused or accepted the order, he’d still have to do it. How troublesome!

“I’ll try my best, Mistress!” he bowed. He didn’t want to think about his task right now. He’ll leave them for the future him.

“Good boy!” Li Fen revealed a gentle smile as she made her way towards him. She stretched out her arm and lifted his chin before looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

“Haah~” she sighed ruefully, “Why couldn’t she fall in love with someone like you? You’re smart, handsome, and innocent to boot!”

The boy really wanted to say that he was someone like himself but he really didn’t want to be Li Chyou's husband, lover, spouse, or rather anything really. Even as his Young Miss, she gave him constant headaches; he couldn’t fathom what she would do to him once he became something more.

Li Fen looked at him mischievously, “You know if you were born just 15 years earlier, I might’ve gobbled you up!”

“I-I see…” he really didn’t have any way to reply to her flirtatious remarks.

“Now then,” Li Fen stepped back and turned around, “If there’s nothing you may leave!”

“Understo-” the boy was nodding when he remembered something. He lifted his head and said, “Actually, Mistress, I do have something to ask.”

“Oh, what do you want to ask?” intrigued, she turned around.

“It’s about Qi absorption.”

“Ho?” she raised an eyebrow at that, “Didn’t Yan forbid you from learning Cultivation Arts?”

“Well, I can’t learn any Arts so I won’t ask any questions about it.”

“Then, what do you want?” she frowned in incomprehension.

“Mistress, can a person absorb Qi through all the acupoints simultaneously?”

“…” Li Fen stayed silent and looked at him in bewilderment. The silence persisted for almost a minute before she started speaking, “You can.”

The boy’s eyes lit up. There is hope!

“However,” she continued, “It would take at least four times as long for you to get any result.”

The boy pretended to be disappointed and frowned.

“Well, it’s obvious. With one-acupoint Arts, you absorb massive amounts of Qi through a single acupoint which then courses through your body. Granted this coursing takes time but it is still better than trying to use all your acupoints. You would need massive amounts of focus to use 107 acupoints.”

“107?” the boy repeated. Weren’t there 108 acupoints?

“Try and absorb Qi through your Zhongmen acupoint-” Li Fen touched his glabella with her index finger, “-and your head will burst like a bubble.”

The boy shuddered at the thought.

“Well, as mortals, it was our instinct to absorb Qi when it surrounded us. The first men absorbed Qi using all 108 of their acupoints as it was their instincts. It was through many years of experimentation and experience did we come up with the optimal one-acupoint system.”

“Mistress, is this some secret information?” he asked worriedly.

“No, no,” Li Fen chuckled, “Most people in the world know this. Only an oddity like you is unaware of this fact!”

“I…” the boy scratched his head awkwardly.

“Are you going to try to become a cultivator by using all 108 acupoints?” she looked at him as she laughed.

“I can’t say as it’s-” however, before he could finish, Li Fen laughingly said, “If you can get to the first stage of Qi Refinement with your method in the next four years, then I’ll let you see me naked!”

“M-Mistress, I don’t think that’s very appropriate,” the boy shuddered and backed away slightly.

“There’s nothing wrong with letting a handsome boy see me! I just don’t believe you can get any results like that!”

“I’ll try my best!” he hurriedly cupped his fists and bowed.

“Ho?” she looked at him with a mischievous expression, “You’ll try your best, huh? Do you want to see me undressed that bad?”

“N-No,” the boy shook his head frantically, “If there’s nothing, I’ll leave!” saying that, he left the room in a hurry.

He closed the door behind him and speed-walked out of there. After a while, he stopped and looked around. Seeing that no one was around, he beamed. He was happy, incredibly so!

Li Fen’s words had basically affirmed his thoughts. Although it could be called hearsay, there might be some basis to it. He really didn’t care about advancing realms or becoming a Cultivator. He only sought the invigorating effects from Qi when it courses through one’s body. It was the perfect thing to get rid of his exhaustion.

The boy skipped through the halls with a smile on his face and happiness in his mind. This day was really fruitful!