Chapter Thirty-Six: The Intimacy Between Man and Woman

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Delicate Boundaries Between Men and Women

“You little pervert, stop touching my chest!” Qin Wan’er’s exasperated voice rang out from the room.

“What’s the big deal? It’s not going to explode if I touch it. It’s fake anyway, isn’t it?” Guoguo retorted scornfully.

“Guoguo! You’re groping again!”

“Wan’er, are you afraid you’ll ruin it? It was expensive! Why don’t you try on the 36G bra I bought for myself?”

Qin Wan’er collapsed onto the bed in utter despair. This little imp was driving her insane. She’d even bought lingerie for herself, in a 36G size no less!

How could she possibly understand how someone as gentle and graceful as Ruan Qingshuang could have a daughter so cunning, sharp, and mischievous?

Xu Yun sauntered over to the door of Qin Wan’er’s room, a mischievous grin on his face. He knocked three times, deliberately raising his voice. “Qin Wan’er, do you need any help?”

“Xu Yun! If you dare come in, I’ll kill you!” Qin Wan’er shrieked in terror, hastily grabbing her clothes to shield her bare body.

Inside, Guoguo egged him on, shouting, “Daddy, Daddy, come help me hold it up! I’ll open the door for you right away! Hee hee hee!”

“Guoguo!” Qin Wan’er swore this was the most speechless pair of father and daughter she’d ever encountered!

Ruan Qingshuang shook her head helplessly. This bunch—she really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined her life would one day become so lively and colorful.

“Qin Wan’er, hurry up. I have something important to tell you. If you don’t come out soon, I really will go in,” Xu Yun continued to tease her, then flopped onto the sofa. He turned to Ruan Qingshuang, “As for Guoguo’s major life events, as her mother, you should listen too.”

Ruan Qingshuang was taken aback, staring at Xu Yun in confusion. Guoguo was only seven—wasn’t it a bit early to talk about major life events? She hadn’t even considered her own yet!

Still flustered from Xu Yun’s earlier scare, Qin Wan’er didn’t have time to fuss over her appearance. She quickly dressed and dragged the mischievous Guoguo out with her. “What? What serious business could you possibly have with me?”

It wasn’t that Qin Wan’er didn’t trust Xu Yun, but in her experience, he never involved her in anything serious. For example, when he raided the Four Wolves Gang’s den today, he hadn’t called her along.

“The new school year is about to start. Help Guoguo find a school,” Xu Yun said with a gentle smile. “She can’t just stay in the medicinal cuisine restaurant every day.”

A flicker of surprise crossed Ruan Qingshuang’s face. She hadn’t expected Xu Yun to be so attentive. She too had considered Guoguo’s schooling and had even inquired at two elementary schools. But without household registration, Guoguo couldn’t enroll anywhere. The better the school, the stricter the requirements.

Qin Wan’er nodded, utterly unfazed. “That’s not a problem. The best elementary school in Hedong City is the Bilingual International School. It’s famous nationwide.”

“Wan’er,” Ruan Qingshuang said with a helpless expression, “I’ve already asked. Without household registration, no school will accept her.”

Qin Wan’er frowned. “No registration? As her mother, you… Wait, Guoguo doesn’t even have a household record? Qingshuang, were you too young when you had her? Is that why—?”

“What are you talking about? Guoguo is my… she’s my…” Ruan Qingshuang hesitated, afraid to hurt Guoguo by mentioning she’d been found and not born.

But Guoguo, bright-eyed and carefree, announced, “My mother found me.”

“Uh…” Qin Wan’er froze. No wonder their personalities were so different.

Xu Yun raised his eyebrows. “How about it? We’re all outsiders around here. You’re a local girl—this kind of thing should be easy for you, right?”

Guoguo looked up at Qin Wan’er, her eyes pleading, “Sister Wan’er, my future is in your hands!”

Looking into Guoguo’s tearful eyes and remembering her tragic circumstances, Qin Wan’er felt a surge of pain. Such an adorable child—how could her story be so sad? She resolved to fix this for her.

“Don’t worry, Guoguo! I promise you’ll get into the best elementary school!” Qin Wan’er thumped her chest in a show of guarantee.

Guoguo stuck out her tongue. “I love you, Sister Wan’er! But you screamed so loudly when I touched you just now, and now you’re hitting yourself so hard—aren’t you afraid it’ll pop? I guess it really is real.”

“Of course it’s real!” Qin Wan’er gritted her teeth, furious that this little brat would doubt her chest. Wait—was that supposed to be gratitude?

Xu Yun felt a bit dizzy watching them. Guoguo was so lucky. If only he were a little girl, then he could help big sisters put on their bras too…

“Keep staring and I’ll gouge your eyes out!” Qin Wan’er shot Xu Yun a frosty glare.

Ruan Qingshuang grabbed Qin Wan’er’s hand. “Wan’er, I don’t even know how to thank you!”

“Qingshuang, why are you being so formal with me?” Qin Wan’er pretended to be annoyed. “Are you treating me like an outsider?”

“Of course not!” Ruan Qingshuang quickly replied.

Guoguo chimed in, “Sister Wan’er isn’t an outsider. I’ve even thought about making her my stepmom, but I’m afraid Mommy would get jealous.”

Ruan Qingshuang decided she couldn’t indulge Guoguo any further. Picking her up, she smiled apologetically at Qin Wan’er and briskly walked back to their room, scolding, “If you keep fooling around, you’re going to the little dark room! Come sleep with Mommy!”

“Thank heavens I’m not her mother,” Qin Wan’er sighed, patting her chest. If she had a daughter like that, she’d go crazy.

Xu Yun finished his water. “Thanks for handling Guoguo’s situation. I owe you one.”

“My, since when are you so sweet?” Qin Wan’er’s expression was one of disbelief, as if the sun had risen in the north.

Xu Yun snorted. “Fine, then I curse you to wear the wrong bra forever.”

“You jerk, Xu Yun!” Qin Wan’er grabbed a sofa cushion and hurled it at him. Xu Yun leaped up and darted back to his room to hide.

After everyone had gone to bed, Qiu Yan returned to Xu Yun’s room. She had to persist with her acupuncture treatments. Only once her internal injuries were healed could she return to her former self as the fierce Fox Sovereign, and only then would she have the strength to protect Guoguo.

Xu Yun had already prepared the silver needles. He smirked, waiting for Qiu Yan to remove her top. After her initial embarrassment the first time, Qiu Yan no longer hesitated. She turned her back to Xu Yun and removed her top without a second thought.

“Tonight might be a little uncomfortable. Bear with it. Although the stagnant blood in your body has cleared, there’s still a strange internal force causing trouble,” Xu Yun said as he readied the needles.

Qiu Yan nodded without hesitation. She took out a silver needle, deciding that she should do what she could herself rather than have Xu Yun do it for her.

Xu Yun raised the needle and pierced the Spirit Terrace point. Hundreds of strands of internal energy merged into one, slowly flowing through the silver needle into Qiu Yan’s body. Suddenly, a strange force within her surged up, and the two streams of energy collided violently!

Qiu Yan felt a stabbing pain as her meridians fell into chaos. Her eyes squeezed shut as the silver needle slipped from her trembling hand and fell to the floor.

“Steady!” Xu Yun’s heart tightened. He hadn’t anticipated this development.

Qiu Yan had been struck by the Seven Despair Palm! Xu Yun knew the world was full of masters, but few could wield such a technique with this level of mastery—either a top-tier expert or someone on the brink of surpassing that level.

Xu Yun sucked in a breath of cold air. No wonder Qiu Yan was willing to separate from Guoguo for her safety—their enemies were truly formidable.

A surging force broke through Xu Yun’s silver needle, reversing course toward the Middle Pavilion point on Qiu Yan’s chest!

“Not good!” Xu Yun was alarmed. At this point, he couldn’t care less about propriety between men and women. With his left palm, he struck Qiu Yan’s left shoulder, spinning her to face him. In the same instant, his right hand grabbed a silver needle and thrust it into the Conception Vessel point at the center of her chest!

The malignant force surging up from Qiu Yan’s chest was immediately neutralized by Xu Yun’s energy, drawn out through the needle and expelled from her body. Qiu Yan’s tightly closed eyes snapped open as a mouthful of clotted blood welled up and dripped from the corner of her lips.

Phew… That was close. Xu Yun’s forehead glistened with sweat. If he’d hesitated for even an instant, that evil energy would have torn through her key acupoints and attacked her heart and lungs. It would have been too late for anything then.

As calm returned, Xu Yun realized Qiu Yan was now facing him, bare-chested. This wasn’t an attempt to take advantage—her life had been at stake.

Worried he might get a nosebleed, Xu Yun quickly turned away. He was also wary of Qiu Yan’s temper—the Longyuan soft sword was no kitchen knife.

Qiu Yan had no time for such concerns. She focused all her energy on steadying her breath and clearing her meridians.

Throughout, Xu Yun leaned against the window, gazing out at the night. A few drunken hooligans were puking on each other in the street below, making him feel quite ill. The view outside was a world apart from the view inside.

Qiu Yan finally calmed her breathing. Though she knew Xu Yun had seen her body, she said nothing, quietly putting on her clothes. She didn’t blame him—her very life belonged to him now.

Before leaving, Qiu Yan took the small bottle of rare medicine Xu Yun had given her and set it on the table. “The Nine-Treasure Resurrection Pill is precious. Since you helped with the acupuncture and drove out the evil energy, I don’t need it anymore. Please take it back.”

Xu Yun picked it up and tossed it right back to her. “I’ve got plenty of those. Just treat it as a snack.”

“What?” Qiu Yan was stunned yet again. He had so many of these rare pills that he treated them like snacks? The word ‘extravagant’ wasn’t enough.

Xu Yun’s expression turned serious. “Maybe it’s valuable to you, but not to me. I was able to draw out the residual force of the Seven Despair Palm tonight because the medicinal power protected you. If you want to recover quickly, keep taking it—acupuncture might not even be necessary.”

“You…” Qiu Yan was at a loss for words and simply turned to leave.

She didn’t know how she could ever repay Xu Yun. Words were useless—she vowed silently that her life now belonged to him.

Xu Yun put away the silver needles and went to bed. More and more, he felt that Qiu Yan’s temperament was just like someone else’s—always swallowing her words and keeping everything inside.