The silence felt uncomfortable, at least for him. At this point, Li Chyou was soaking in the large bathtub with her eyes closed. Both of them did not know what the other was thinking. The boy took some soap in his hand and rubbed his hands, it smelled like Li Chyou’s scent.

Lathering the soap all over Li Chyou, he kept quiet and focused on his task. Li Chyou opened her eyes and looked at him, “Why the soap? The water’s already scented.”

That was true. The scent from flower petals floating on top diffused into the water. But she just wanted him to stop smearing soap on her. The slippery feeling of the soap and his warm hands made her feel embarrassed yet comfortable.

The boy smiled, “Water can’t get out all the grime by itself; that’s why soap exists.”

“I’m not that dirty…” she mumbled but obediently let him clean her. After cleaning her with soap, he took some oils and mixed some of the soap with it. After mixing it, he started massaging her hair. The massage made her feel as though she was melting, her stress from the hard day leaving her.

“Soap doesn’t feel that good~” she mumbled out the words but it still reached his ears.

“Has Young Miss always been using bar soap to clean her hair?” the boy didn’t stop cleaning, “That’s not good for your hair. It’ll make your hair hard and cluttered.”

“Really~?”

“Really.”

“So what are you doing then?” Li Chyou asked with her eyes half-opened.

“Hmm~ I guess I’m using shampoo to clean your hair,” the boy said as he stopped scrubbing her hair.

“D-Don’t stop,” Li Chyou unwittingly opened her eyes and looked at him pleadingly.

“I can’t do that, Young Miss,” he smiled, “Too much of one thing isn’t good.”

“Mou!” she pouted before dipping down in the bathtub and blowing bubbles.

“Haha!” he chuckled, “If Young Miss is truly unwilling, then I’ll teach some of the maids about it.”

“Really?” Li Chyou stood up and excitedly asked. Some of the water in the tub fell to the floor.

“Really,” he nodded. “And please sit down, Young Miss.”

“Ah!” she had just noticed that she was currently naked and dripping with water. She immediately sat down with embarrassment but then remembered that he couldn’t see anything.

After washing the shampoo from her hair, it looked glossy and sparkling. Of course, the boy couldn’t see and was only guessing from what he knew would happen.

“Young Miss,” he beckoned.

“Mn?” Li Chyou hummed a response.

“Would you like to try a new detoxification massage I’ve learned?”

“Detoxification?” Li Chyou frowned, “But I’m not poisoned.”

“It’s not only detoxification,” the boy shook his head. “It can also help you expel built-up impurities from your body.”

“Then do it,” Li Chyou agreed after pondering for a while. She knew that impurities would gather in a person’s body when they ate or drank and expelling these would help a great deal in strengthening the body.

“Then excuse me, Young Miss,” the boy took out a needle and pricked her right hand’s index finger.

“What’s this for?” Li Chyou didn’t flinch. She’s suffered worse pain before and a prick won’t make her flinch.

“The impurities need to come out from somewhere, no?” he put the needle away. Of course, he was lying. You don’t need to create an outlet to expel them; they can come out from the pores of the body. Li Chyou had also forgotten to notice something- expelling impurities should only be done before taking a bath because the impurities are extremely odorous and filthy.

“Young Miss, please scoot forward, so I can get started and place your right hand outside the tub.”

She did as she was told because she could somewhat understand what he wanted to do. He stealthily placed a bowl under her finger to catch the poison. After everything was done, he placed both of his hands on her back and concentrated.

“What are you doing?” Li Chyou asked but got no reply. Soon, she found a warm current invading her body. She looked at him quietly. Is he channeling his Qi inside me? She didn’t put up any resistance and let his Qi course throughout her body.

The boy knew the problem with doing this. Sure, he can discharge Qi through the acupoints in his palm but he can’t absorb them again. He would need a Cultivation Art to do that which he doesn’t have. So, he will be expending all of the Qi he had painstakingly stored over the past few days.

He made his travel throughout her body and quickly found the congregation of poison in her body. Since these were made without imbuing any Qi, he just needs to deal with the physical poison and not any Poison Qi.

Slowly, he wrapped the poison with his Qi and guided it towards the hole in her index finger like he was doing an escort mission in a video game. The Qi steadily kept decreasing as his hold over the poison gradually weakened.

“Hmm?” Li Chyou also felt the poison inside her body moving around but she didn’t know what it was. Connecting the dots, she figured that this lump might be the impurities her butler was talking about. It made sense; she’s been eating food for her entire life and only expelled her impurities once in her life when she was five or six years old.

The boy was sweating buckets at this point. Channeling Qi was tough, even more so for people who have never done it before. But he knew the principle and he wished he could say that that was all that mattered because this is still hard as hell!

With the end in sight, he molded the ball of poison into a thin stream and expelled the black poison out through her finger and into the bowl underneath. Immediately, Li Chyou felt as though her body had gotten lighter; as if the pressure had been relieved from her bloated stomach.

The boy took his hands off her back and panted. He felt terribly spent but he still wasn’t finished. Putting away the bowl, he stood up and grabbed a towel.

“Feel better, Young Miss?” he asked softly.

“I feel…” she paused for a bit before answering, “A bit like I'm flying.”

“Then it must’ve worked,” he nodded even though he knew the answer.

“Where are the impurities?” Li Chyou asked with a child-like curiosity.

The boy raised an eyebrow but soon calmed down and answered, “I’ve already thrown it away.”

“Why?”

“It’s all black and incredibly smelly,” the boy shook his head. “You wouldn’t want to see something filthy when you’ve just had your bath, right?”

“I guess you’re right,” she simmered down. The boy finally confirmed his own thoughts. The poison really did slow down her mental faculties to a certain degree and expelling them wouldn’t just automatically make her better, especially since she was under the effects for most of her life. At most, it would just clear her cluttered mind.

Just now, although her childish personality still hadn’t gone away, she became calmer. She was no longer as stubborn as a mule and knew how to relent. This made him happier than he thought, for his job would now become much easier. A calmer person was much easier to handle than a spoiled brat.

Hmm? I hope I’m not setting off a flag…

He then quickly wiped her down and dressed her. In front of the dressing table, the boy took his blindfold off and tried to comb her hair. Li Chyou held her hair with sparkling eyes.

“So, glittery and smooth!” she caressed her hair gently and asked with awe, “Is this me!?”

The boy felt speechless. It was only shampoo. Why are you acting as though you got reincarnated?

“Yes, Young Miss, it’s still you.”

“Is this the wonder of shampoo?” she asked excitedly.

“Y-Yes.” Seeing his surprise, Li Chyou reined herself in.

“Young Miss,” he beckoned.

“Yeah?” she responded but her eyes were glued to her hair.

“I need to report something to the Mistress.”

“Is it about the shampoo?”

“No, something much more important!”

“Then, go!” she waved her hand dismissively.

“Thank you, Young Miss,” he bowed and quietly left the room, taking the bowl of black poison with him.

After walking a bit, he knocked on Li Fen’s door.

“Come in,” he heard her voice from the other side. After he got permission, he opened the door, headed inside, and closed it. He turned around and saw her sitting on a sofa, drinking tea.

“How are you doing?” she asked with a flirtatious smile.

“Just fine, Mistress,” he replied concisely, not wanting to waste too much energy on her antics.

“Ho?” she raised an eyebrow when she saw the bowl of black sludge in his hand. “You wanted to make some soup for your beloved mistress yet ended up making…that!” She chuckled gently, “So, tell me what did you bring this lady here?”

“Poison.”