Chapter 15: If You Dare Toss Me into the Bathtub Again Next Time

Hearing Xu Mu’s weak voice, Xu Shuangyi hurried forward and pulled him up.

However, she suddenly let go as if she had seen something, causing Xu Mu to collapse back into the tub, his head submerging completely. When Xu Shuangyi pulled him up again, her face had turned a deep, burning red.

At this point, Xu Mu was too weak to utter a single word. With no other choice, Xu Shuangyi kept her eyes half-closed as she steadied him. It was then that she caught the pungent, foul stench. The medicinal water in the tub had already turned into a murky black, and Xu Mu’s body was covered in thick, grimy residue.

Xu Shuangyi’s brows knit together tightly. Though she was the foster daughter of his adoptive father, she had always lived a life of privilege and had never had to serve anyone else. Yet, given Xu Mu’s condition, she knew he would need to be washed again. She considered calling for servants to boil more water, but she did not want them to know she and Xu Mu were alone in the room. If word got out, people would say they were disregarding the boundaries between siblings and acting against moral norms.

Left with no choice, Xu Shuangyi left Xu Mu in the tub. "Hold on for a moment, I will go boil more water."

After heating several more buckets of water, she finally lifted Xu Mu out of the tub. In a moment of clumsiness, Xu Mu slipped and landed on the floor, lying face-up. By now, Xu Shuangyi’s face was flushed dark with embarrassment. Having never had intimate contact with a man before, she had to steel herself to scrub his body. She noticed then that his skin was flushed a deep, alarming red, as if he had been scalded. The ten-fold concentration of the medicine was simply too potent.

Although she desperately wanted to look away, she couldn't clean him properly otherwise. She couldn't very well leave him there reeking, or else his foul temper would surely lead him to cause trouble for her later. She felt as though she had never been so mortified in her life; the passing moments were the most agonizing she had ever endured. She would have found it easier to kill someone than to bathe and dress Xu Mu. Once it was all over, Xu Shuangyi finally let out a sigh of relief.

***

After lying in bed for two hours, dawn broke. Xu Mu awoke and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. His eyes were brighter than the day before, with a subtle sharpness that seemed capable of piercing through everything.

Assessing his condition, he found that his eight extraordinary meridians had not yet been fully cleared, and most still held significant impurities. Xu Mu sat cross-legged and began to cultivate, guiding the faint, lingering essence through his body using the Origin Primordial Technique. His Ren meridian was now open, and he could barely count as a martial artist at the early stage of the Body Tempering Realm.

The Body Tempering Realm uses essence as its foundation, supplemented by various rare treasures to hone the physique and strengthen bones and flesh. However, tempering the body is not an overnight task; this physical vessel remained frail and required patient refinement. Although the path of martial arts is long and difficult, Xu Mu was merely retracing a journey he had already walked in his past life. This body lacked natural martial talent, but he was confident that with the experience of his previous life, he could reach the pinnacle of martial arts.

Xu Mu stopped his cultivation and stood up to stretch. A stinging sensation from the medicinal bath still lingered, but his body felt clear and his breath was steady. When he walked out of the room, he found Xu Shuangyi standing in the courtyard. Seeing that Xu Mu’s skin was still slightly flushed but his expression was incredibly clear, she was startled.

Last night, Xu Mu had used ten times the standard dose of the tempering decoction; by all logic, he should have been bedridden for three to five days. Only a few hours had passed, yet he was already walking freely. Could he have completed his body tempering and entered the Body Tempering Realm in just one night? Even a peerless genius would need at least a month to enter the realm through tempering. Xu Shuangyi herself, who was exceptionally gifted, had spent a month and a half and twenty medicinal baths to reach that level.

Thinking back, her adoptive father had always said she had more martial talent than the other heirs, while the younger Xu Mu had been dismissed by him as being worth less than a servant.

"You’ve entered the realm?" Xu Shuangyi asked, stunned.

Xu Mu walked past her with his hands behind his back and stopped. "If you ever dare to throw me into the tub like that again, I’ll let you taste what the bathwater is like. Oh, and by the way, we need to get more medicine today—the same ten-fold dosage."

With that, Xu Mu walked out of the courtyard.

***

Recalling how she had accidentally let him slide into the tub last night and the disheveled, filthy sight of him when she pulled him out, Xu Shuangyi felt her face flush. Then, for the first time ever, the corners of her mouth curled upward. That faint smile was like a snow lotus on a mountain peak blooming in the biting wind.

During the day, Xu Mu busied himself with chores around the manor, and at night, he soaked in the medicinal bath to cultivate. A day passed.

The Vice Governor’s residence sent men to urge Liang Shucheng, who then went to Jinhua Pavilion to find Li Baofu. The shop clerk told him that Li Baofu hadn’t been seen for two or three days. Liang Shucheng cursed Li Baofu under his breath for a long time before going to his home to look for him, thinking he had grown lazy after making some money.

When he arrived at Li Baofu’s home, however, he was stunned. The courtyard was clean and tidy, but completely deserted. After a thorough search, he realized there were no personal belongings left, as if no one had lived there for a long time. Where had Li Baofu gone? Liang Shucheng ran to the neighbors, but everyone claimed they hadn’t seen Li Baofu in days.

Had he made off with the money? If Li Baofu had fled, Liang Shucheng would have no way to answer to the high-ranking officials. Twenty thousand taels of silver—after deducting the fifteen-percent commission, he still owed them seventeen thousand! Liang Shucheng checked several places Li Baofu frequented, but to no avail.

Liang Shucheng panicked completely. He had been thoroughly swindled by that son of a bitch! Li Baofu had run off, but he couldn't afford to; the Vice Governor had promised him an official position, and he was waiting for his chance to rise in the world.

Lost and desperate, Liang Shucheng returned home as night fell. Upon entering the main hall, he found a burly man sitting there. His parents were standing to the side, respectful and terrified, not daring to let out a breath.

"Vice Governor, why have you come in person?" Liang Shucheng hurried forward to bow, his face plastered with a forced smile.