# 472
Chapter 472 – Qiye Obedience Elixir
Lin Qiye: ……
Lin Qiye was completely bewildered. Ever since a certain moment two months ago, Jialan’s attitude toward him had turned odd. After every “Sword-Tide Tempest” training session she still carried his unconscious body back to his room, tucked him in, even tidied the place, yet the instant he tried to talk to her she’d turn away like she was sulking.
Could he have been too brutal in training lately?
That didn’t make sense—he was the one taking all the beatings.
After mulling it over and getting nowhere, he shook off the distracting thoughts and focused on the drill ahead.
With a flick of his fingers, two Straight Blades flashed from their sheaths like twin meteors and began circling Jialan. At the same time a dozen grey magic arrays unfolded overhead, pouring out tons of dark iron that condensed into sharp cones.
Prayer Abyss in his left hand, Lin Qiye released a sheet of night beneath his feet. He ghosted past every falling spike, tapping each cone’s tail as lightly as a dragonfly skimming water.
Instantly the iron cones became black steel meteors and thundered down.
Jialan’s body swayed, evading them all, but Lin Qiye pressed his palm to the air; the spikes that had buried themselves were swallowed by utter darkness, twisted, and snapped together into a black-iron cage.
Jialan snorted, thrust Celestial Gate skyward, and a thick golden beam lanced through the roof of the cage, boring straight at Lin Qiye.
He vanished, reverse-summoning onto the Straight Blade behind her.
Clang——!
The blade rang uselessly against her; the blue robe fluttered and a fair fist shot like lightning toward his chest.
Lin Qiye crossed his sword, cancelling every shred of kinetic force. Jialan’s hand settled softly against his chest like a spring breeze.
Hm?
Her fingertip met something hard; puzzlement flashed in her eyes.
On reflex she squeezed—pop!—and a cloud of dense purple vapor burst from his breast pocket.
Lin Qiye: ???
“Crap!” He paled, stumbling back and trying to tear the coat off, but the mist An Qingyu had concentrated was dozens of times stronger than before. In seconds his mind blurred; he reeled and toppled.
Jialan realized she’d caused it. Panic filled her pretty face; she darted in and caught him.
“Qiye, Qiye… are you all right?” she whispered, crystalline eyes brimming with worry. Pressing a soft palm to his forehead, she sent in a thread of mental power. “Mental contamination? This concentration—how…?”
After a moment’s hesitation she bit her lip, cheeks crimson, and began stripping his clothes.
Jacket and shirt gone, his torso met the air—solid, sculpted muscle beneath fair skin, powerful yet balanced, like a craftsman’s masterpiece.
Her face burned. Gritting her teeth, she scooped him up and sprinted clear of the purple fog.
Outside, she started to lay him down, remembered his bare back and the dirty ground, and simply kept him in her arms.
“Nn…” A flush crept over his dazed face; his lips parted. “Jialan…”
“Ah? Y-yes, I’m here.”
She jerked her guilty gaze from his body.
“My head’s spinning…” he murmured. “Could you… take me to your room?”
“!!!” Her heart hammered. “T-to my room?”
“Any empty room… just needs a bed… softer would be better…��� His eyes were glazed.
“Th-that’s not proper!” She turned away. “You already love someone… this isn’t right!”
“Love someone? Jialan, what are you saying…?”
“You said it yourself—someone you love but can’t meet.” Her lips tightened, mood drooping.
“That wasn’t me. If it were, I’d kill anyone who kept me from her… Besides, with a beauty like you beside me, how could I look at anyone else?”
“Ah?!”
The last line struck her like electricity; crimson swept to her ears. “Wh-what did you say?”
She pretended to look away, but her mouth curved helplessly upward, eyes sparkling. The cloud that had hung over her for two months lifted; her face glowed like a ripe apple.
“I’ll take you to a room…” She stamped off the ground and shot toward the warehouse.
Once the pair vanished, three heads peeked from a corner.
“Who knew we’d come to call them for dinner and witness something this wild… A sin, a sin.” Cao Yuan coughed and murmured Amitabha.
Baili Pangpang clicked his tongue. “Qingyu, what exactly was that purple stuff?”
“Liquid mental contamination I extracted from Bell Cranel,” An Qingyu answered, expression odd. “No idea why it has that effect, though.”
“‘Liquid mental contamination’ sounds awful.” Baili Pangpang pondered. “I’d call it ‘Qiye Obedience Elixir.’ Turn a block of iron into mush—greatest invention of the century.”
“‘Cao Yuan Chastity Lock,’ ‘Qiye Obedience Elixir’…” An Qingyu shrugged. “Our list of weird inventions keeps growing.”