bookbashuk Chapter 36 Falling Flat
Chapter 36 Falling Flat
This time, Shen An finally felt a sense of pride. "Did I actually create my own cultivation technique?"
However, that brief moment of self-satisfaction lasted for less than a breath.
"Gurgle—"
An extremely untimely sound suddenly came from his abdomen.
The ultimate physical transformation was like a top-tier alchemy furnace, almost exhausting all the energy accumulated within his body. A strong sense of hunger swept over him with the force of a landslide and a tsunami, instantly washing away the Buddhist nature of that "Great Sun Dharma Form."
Shen An chuckled and shook his head.
Before one can become a Buddha or an ancestor, one must first have enough to eat.
He lowered his eyes and looked at his blood-stained body again. Hmm, it seems he needs to clean himself up properly first.
He took a step towards the door. With each step, he felt as light as if he had no weight, yet the bluestone slabs beneath his feet clearly exerted a solid counterforce. This strange sense of contradiction gave him a preliminary understanding of his newborn body.
He casually opened the door.
"Squeak—"
Outside the door, bright and warm sunlight flooded in instantly, making him squint slightly.
Golden sunlight bathed the entire courtyard, casting a warm glow on the stone steps, fallen leaves, and moss. The air was filled with the fragrance of morning grass and trees.
Is it already the next day? Shen An was somewhat dazed. He felt that he had only been meditating and comprehending for about an hour, but he did not expect that it had already gone from dusk to mid-morning.
Just as he stood at the doorway, basking in the long-awaited sunlight, a trembling, weak, and tearful cry rang out in front of him.
"Young...Young Master!"
Immediately, a petite figure, with an unwavering determination, rushed over and threw herself into his arms, clinging tightly to his waist.
It's Wang Xiaocao.
The body in his arms was thin and frail, yet trembling violently. Scalding tears instantly soaked the dried bloodstains on his chest, bringing a warm, wet sensation.
Shen An was somewhat bewildered.
He looked down and could only see the top of the girl's dark hair and her thin shoulders, taut from the effort. The girl buried her face in his chest, and the sobs she had suppressed for so long finally burst forth at this moment.
"Waaah... Waaah... Young Master... You... You scared me to death... I thought you... Waaah..."
She cried so hard she could barely breathe, her words fragmented, but her heartfelt worry and fear instantly dispelled Shen An's somewhat indifferent state of mind caused by his great advancement in martial arts, pulling him back to reality.
He got it.
Before meeting Li Qingde yesterday afternoon, when I resolved to truly practice this martial art, I told her that I should not enter and disturb her this time.
The silly girl saw that she had been in the room all day, but because of her orders, she dared not come in. She could only watch helplessly from outside the door, lost in thought and suffering greatly.
Waiting from yesterday's dusk until noon today, the unease must have been excruciating.
Even now, as she pushes open the door and steps out, the first thing she sees is this blood-soaked, inhuman, ghostly figure... She must be terrified.
Shen An raised the hand that had just been making a whistling sound, but the movement was somewhat stiff and clumsy.
He hesitated for a moment, but finally carefully and gently landed on the girl's trembling back, awkwardly patting her as he did the gentle elders he remembered.
"Don't cry, I'm fine." His voice was slightly hoarse from not speaking for a long time, but he deliberately made it extremely gentle. "I just... I just sweated a little from practicing martial arts, it's not blood."
The excuse was so clumsy that even he found it laughable.
The crying in her arms indeed stopped abruptly.
Wang Xiaocao sobbed as she slowly raised her face, which was completely ruined by crying. Her eyes were red and swollen, and glistening tears still clung to her long eyelashes.
She looked at the large, shocking patch of "bloodstains" on Shen An's chest, now soaked again with tears, and then at Shen An's pale but unharmed face. Her lips trembled, and she retorted with a thick nasal tone:
"You're kidding! Sweat doesn't look like that... and... it smells like that..."
As she spoke, she seemed to imagine some terrible scene again, and tears welled up in her eyes once more, which she had finally managed to stop.
Shen An sighed helplessly and could only continue to gently pat her back with his large, blood-stained hand, repeating in the calmest tone, "You're really fine. Look, I'm perfectly alright, aren't I? I don't even have a single wound. It's amazing, isn't it? It's just... I'm a little hungry."
Perhaps it was the word "hungry" that awakened another concern in Wang Xiaocao's heart. Or perhaps it was that she finally confirmed from Shen An's calm eyes and uninjured body that he was truly safe and sound.
The girl's crying gradually subsided, leaving only soft sobs.
Just then, her brain seemed to finally come back to function from the chaos, and she suddenly realized—she was...she was holding the young master tightly!
Moreover, the young master was shirtless!
"boom!"
A wave of heat instantly shot from the soles of her feet to the top of her head! Her face, which had just been covered in tears, turned from deathly pale to bright red at a visible speed, and then from bright red to burning hot, like a pink pufferfish.
Like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, she cried out "Ah!" as if electrocuted, abruptly releasing her grip and jumping back several steps to create distance between herself and Shen An.
She kept her head bowed, her gaze fixed on her toes, her hands nervously twisting the hem of her clothes. She didn't dare look at Shen An again, her voice barely audible, tinged with tears: "I...I'm so sorry, young master! I...I didn't mean to...I..."
She stammered "I" for a long time but couldn't utter a complete sentence, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into immediately.
Seeing her adorable transformation from deep sorrow to utter embarrassment, Shen An couldn't help but smile. The last trace of alienation he felt from studying the esoteric Buddhist techniques vanished completely.
"Alright," he said gently, "go prepare some hot water for me; I want to take a bath. Also, food... the more the better."
"Yes! Yes! I'll go right away!"
Wang Xiaocao, feeling as if she had been granted a pardon, responded as if fleeing for her life and turned to run towards the kitchen. Perhaps because she was too flustered, she almost tripped over her own foot after running a few steps, which made Shen An chuckle again.
As Wang Xiaocao fled in panic, once she was out of Shen An's sight, her mind began to wander uncontrollably.
Young master's chest is so firm...
When I was holding it, my face felt like it brushed against something hard...
Could it be...?
Wang Xiaocao's legs buckled, and she really fell.