Chapter 20: Concealment (2)
When he awoke, everything in front of him was pitch black.
This darkness caused Su Chen to feel frightened at first, thinking that he had once again lost his sight, but then he saw the moonlight that passed through the window screens.
So it was because it was nighttime.
Su Chen let out a breath of air.
At this moment, he finally had an opportunity to revel in the marvelous feeling of regaining his sight.
Even though the night was black, he could still vaguely make out the furnishings of the room under the pale yellow moonlight.
He was currently lying on a sandalwood bed, with a red muslin canopy with a picture of a hundred birds looking up to a phoenix embroidered on it hanging from the bedposts. At the foot of the bed was a dresser made out of red sandalwood, on top of which was some rouge and face powder. The window screen was made out of soft cotton, and there was even a five-colored glass screen in front of the bed.
This place…… should be Gu Qingluo’s room.
She had actually brought him to this place?
At this moment, Gu Qingluo wasn’t in the room. Su Chen took in everything in Gu Qingluo’s room to his heart’s content. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any etiquette but rather, because he had lost his sight and then regained it, Su Chen could not repress the yearning and urges to see everything of this rich and diverse world.
Upon seeing the colorful scenes in front of him, Su Chen would have raised his head and let out a long cry if not for the fact that he was not in the right place to do so.
Three years.
Three years he had bitterly waited, holding fast in the utter darkness. How could one not feel excited and agitated upon successfully experiencing the light at the end of the tunnel?
Su Chen could not restrain himself from getting off the bed. He then discovered that the wounds on his body had actually healed to a considerable extent. Even the pain had been drastically reduced. He could tell that it was due to Gu Qingluo’s medicine.
Outside of the room he had just exited was a quiet chamber. Gu Qingluo sat cross-legged in the middle of the room, and dense white Qi swirled around her forehead. As expected, she was cultivating.
Upon hearing the noise, Gu Qingluo did not open her eyes. Instead, the corners of her eyes revealed a slight smile, “You’ve awoken. Sit for a moment, I will be done in a bit.”
Su Chen let out an “En” in agreement, then found a place to sit on the side to avoid disrupting her, watching her cultivate.
A few months ago, Gu Qingluo was only of the Body Tempering Realm like him. Based on her current appearance of drawing Qi into her body, she had clearly entered the Qi Drawing Realm, becoming an official Origin Qi scholar. Su Chen finally understood why she had not appeared in this period of time. She had definitely been devoting her efforts towards charging through the boundaries between realms and had been too busy to be distracted.
In the end, she was still faster than him by a step.
Su Chen let out a sigh in his heart.
However, it didn’t matter. Now that he had regained his sight, the time that he had once lost could be recovered in a short period. He could definitely enter the Qi Drawing Realm in a year.
As he thought, Su Chen began to closely watch Gu Qingluo’s movements.
He originally was somewhat bored and was just carelessly watching. However, having watched her for a few moments, he discovered that something wasn’t quite right.
At this moment, Gu Qingluo was cultivating, drawing Qi into her body and allowing it to relax, washing herself in Qi.
This was not in and of itself a big deal. The issue was that when Su Chen watched Gu Qingluo, he could faintly make out the flow of Qi near her nose created by her breathing.
What Gu Qingluo inhaled was white Origin Qi, but the Qi she breathed out was very obviously much fainter.
Something had definitely remained in her body between her inhalation and her exhalation.
What was that?
Origin Energy?
Su Chen did not know.
At this moment, he was trembling because of the discovery that he had made.
Su Chen was very clear on the fact that Origin Energy was invisible, just like air. Although everyone knew that it existed, they had no way of fathoming it.
But now, this Qi was visible in Su Chen’s eyes.
Although it was somewhat vague and difficult to discern, it was still there.
Not only this, but Su Chen also felt that his eyesight could faintly pierce through skin and see even more. This was because he could faintly see the process of what happened to the Qi flow after entering Gu Qingluo’s body. However, this process was even more blurry and indistinct. It was more like an illusion than reality. If it weren’t for the fact that this “illusion” would disappear upon reaching Gu Qingluo’s neck, Su Chen would have no way of verifying this.
The clothing obstructed Su Chen’s vision.
“It is your misfortune to have met me because I will bring you suffering; It is your fortune to have met me because I will give you a future with unlimited possibilities… Let me exchange your eyes. It will allow you to see much more, see the true appearance of this world!”
Let me exchange your eyes. It will allow you to see much more!
Allow you to see much more!
See much more!
Much more!
The old beggar’s words resounded in Su Chen’s ears like echoing thunder.
Su Chen’s eyes began to gleam.
If one were to say that his firm belief in the old beggar’s words had been because he was holding on to his last vestiges of hope in a dark, bleak situation, upon confirming that the first half of his words were not fake, the truth in the latter half of his words began to emerge.
The old beggar hadn’t lied.
He hadn’t blinded him. Rather, he had exchanged his eyes.
A pair of even more mystical eyes!
After settling in Su Chen’s body for over three years, they had finally acclimated and become active.
The bitterness had ended, and the sweet had finally come!
Su Chen was so excited that his entire body began to tremble.
Although he did not know what destination these eyes would bring him to in the end, Su Chen could imagine that the final destination of these eyes was not merely just to recover his sight.
Perhaps in the not so far off future, they would give him even more surprises.
But at this moment, Su Chen did not bother thinking too much about it. Recovering his sight was already the greatest happiness he could receive right now.
As he continued to gaze at Gu Qingluo, Su Chen finally began to understand why Gu Qingluo’s skin seemed so sparkling and transparent. Perhaps his own eyes played a role in that, and it wasn’t just Gu Qingluo’s natural beauty.
As he was fantasizing, Gu Qingluo had already finished circulating her martial arts.
She opened her eyes to see Su Chen sitting there and giggled, “Hey, you seem pretty lively to me. It seems as if I really do have quite some ability to be able to save you. Well, as for this matter of saving your life, don’t worry about it. This maiden is very chivalrous and compassionate to all living things. Yours was just a small matter.”
She waved her small hand. Although she said with her mouth that she did not care, her expression was one that beckoned flattery.
Su Chen bitterly laughed upon seeing this. Just as he was about to speak, Gu Qingluo waved her hand again and said, “However, in the end you are still wounded. It’s best if you avoid moving too much for now.”
Su Chen, “The Lin Clan……”
Gu Qingluo continued to wave her hand, “I already know about what happened with the Lin Clan. The person killed by you was actually Lin Xie, someone of the Qi Drawing Realm. How did you do that?”
Su Chen replied, “While he was not prepared……”
Gu Qingluo was already speaking, “You blinded him, I know. They already told me. That Lin Xie was probably too careless. Even if he’s in the Qi Drawing Realm, that doesn’t make his body invulnerable, not to mention weak spots such as his eyes. Your movements instantly blinded him. That way, both of you could not see, but you were an old blind man who had been blind for three years, while he was still newly blinded. He definitely wouldn’t be able to compare with you, and so naturally you killed him.”
The young lady had just finished treating him and saving his life. She was still very exhilarated to see that her first attempt at saving someone had gone so well, so she chattered on and on.
Su Chen sighed. While the logic behind her words was accurate, she still didn’t know that he was heavily injured before blinding Lin Xie. There had been no chance when facing him head on. If it weren’t for the fact that his eyes had recovered, the person dying would still have been him.
Also, what do you mean, calling me an old blind man?
How and when did I become an old man?
I am not blind anymore, okay?
He opened his mouth, “My eyes……”
Gu Qingluo continued to wave her hand, interrupting him and chattering away, “Your eyes are still not good, so you can stay here temporarily. Don’t worry, they won’t dare search my place, and they think that you have already escaped to the lake. They are currently searching its perimeter for you. I’ll think of a way to send you out of here later.”
Su Chen grumbled, “Hey, how about you give me a chance to say something?”
Instead, he saw Gu Qingluo let out a lazy yawn, then carelessly raise her hand. She had already taken off her robes.
It was springtime at the moment, and Gu Qingluo wasn’t wearing much. Upon taking off her outer garments, she revealed the pink undergarments underneath.
Su Chen’s eyes immediately went straight.
What did she mean, taking off her clothes without even a word?
He then saw Gu Qingluo stretch lazily and say, “I just finished circulating my martial arts and released a lot of filth, so I feel really dirty. I’m going to go take a bath first. Don’t worry, I sent out all of the servants; it’s just you and me here.
As she spoke, she headed towards the quiet side of the small room, where a large tub of heated water had been waiting for quite some time.
Gu Qingluo continued to remove her undergarments as she walked. In the blink of an eye, a stark naked jade body appeared in front of Su Chen’s eyes.
Gu Qingluo walked barefoot towards the bathtub and was about to step into it before suddenly thinking of something, saying, “That’s right, what did you want to say earlier?”
As she said this, she had already sunk into the bathtub, closing her eyes and savoring the feeling.
Upon seeing the jade body partially submerged in the water, Su Chen swallowed the saliva in his mouth, answering with great difficulty, “Noth- nothing much……”
In the end, Su Chen did not say that he had recovered his sight.
He didn’t dare to think about what Gu Qingluo’s reaction would be if she found out that her entire body had been completely seen by him. Even if they were friends, the outcome would most likely not be good.
As for the sayings that if he had seen her body, he would have to marry her, Su Chen didn’t even think about it.
In this time period, strength commanded respect. Even if it was a woman, as long as she possessed some strength, she would also have a corresponding social status. Thus, there did not exist a principle of being forced to marry someone upon seeing their body. Rather, those with violent personalities abounded. Thief, you dare to peep at this maiden taking a bath? Many people would dig out his eyes once again for such an action, inadvertent or not.
Although Gu Qingluo’s personality was lovable and not at all vicious, Su Chen still felt that it was best just to avoid taking that risk.
Subconsciously, he also had the thought that if Gu Qingluo didn’t know the entire time, perhaps this kind of matter would happen again in the future…… Tsk tsk, I, Su Chen, am very righteous. How can I look forward to these kinds of things?