Ji Xiaoxi grabbed his hand and ran towards his staff residence.
Zu An was stunned. He would’ve definitely headed in that direction if it was Zheng Dan who had come looking for him.
But surely Ji Xiaoxi wouldn’t be having such thoughts—that was completely against her nature!
“Xiaoxi, what’s wrong? Why is your hand so hot?” Her hand had felt soft and tender to Zu An at first, but he soon realized that something wasn’t right. Her body temperature was way too high.
“Let’s head to your room first.” Ji Xiaoxi pursed her lips and continued forward.
Suddenly, her entire body convulsed, and she was forced to a stop. Her legs clamped together, and she seemed unable or unwilling to move again.
“I’ll carry you there.” Zu An noted her conflicted expression, and surmised that she probably just needed to use the restroom. She was an incredibly introverted person, after all, and there were many things that she didn’t feel comfortable saying out loud.
He looked around to make sure there was no one around him, and then he walked over to pick her up.
Ji Xiaoxi’s was light enough to be easily carried. She felt incredibly soft in his arms.
“Don’t touch me…” Ji Xiaoxi cried out in alarm. Unfortunately, Zu An had lifted her up in his arms before she could finish her sentence.
“What’s wrong?” He felt the young lady’s entire body quiver strangely. Zu An really was quite puzzled.
“It’s nothing. Can you bring me to your room?” Ji Xiaoxi buried her face in his chest, hiding her expression from him.
A sudden thought flashed across Zu An’s mind. Her expression and reactions seemed somewhat familiar! Both Snow and Zheng Dan had displayed similar reactions before.
Could it be… an aphrodisiac? Zu An rejected this thought as soon as it entered his mind. After all, Ji Xiaoxi had grown up under Ji Dengtu’s tutelage. Who would possess the skills necessary to poison her?
They soon arrived at his staff residence. Zu An wondered just how he was going to help her without hurting her ego. After all, with how things were headed, she might…
Ji Xiaoxi spoke into his thoughts. “Big brother Zu, can you prepare a tub of water for me? I need the water to be completely cold.”
The academy had many rune masters who did research into how to improve the quality of everyday life. The staff residences were the first to benefit from any breakthroughs. Each residence had their own bathroom, with hot water available at any time. The amenities were similar to a guest house in his previous world.
“Bath?” Zu An’s expression grew bizarre. He had the urge to google what it meant for a woman to take the initiative to go to a man’s house to take a bath.
Did she really come here to seduce me?
He quickly caught himself. Ji Xiaoxi was definitely not that sort of person, and her requests were a little strange. “Can’t I even use a little bit of hot water?”
“I don’t have time to explain.” Ji Xiaoxi struggled free from his embrace and ran towards the bathroom. She proceeded to pour cold water into the bathtub on her own.
She often played at her little aunt Luofu’s house, so she was quite familiar with the layout of the staff residences.
She wouldn’t have run over to him if her little aunt had been around.
“What exactly happened to you…” Zu An tried to ask, but she pushed him out of the bathroom. He heard the sounds of clothing being removed, and the sound of someone entering the water.
Hearing those sounds, Zu An quickly asked, “Xiaoxi, you didn’t fall down, did you?”
There was no response at first. Zu An had almost reached the limit of his patience when Ji Xiaoxi’s weak voice finally came back. “No.”
“Just call me if you need anything!” Zu An hollered loudly. She really was acting strange today, which worried him. He didn’t dare stray too far away, so he decided to grab a chair and sit down by the door..
A while later, he heard Ji Xiaoxi’s weak voice again. “Big brother Zu, are you still there?”
“I’m right here!” Zu An replied, but his heart skipped a beat. Her voice suddenly seemed cuter than usual.
There was a moment of silence. “Big brother Zu, can you come in?” he finally heard her say.
Zu An was thoroughly confused.
What the heck?
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He looked all around him in panic, afraid that Ji Dengtu could be hiding in some corner.
“I have something… I need your help with.” He could sense her embarrassment and distress through the wall.
“I’m coming in then! You better not scream, or else someone might just think that I’m up to something,” Zu An said as he pushed the door open.
Ji Xiaoxi’s entire body was immersed in the tub, her back leaning against the edge of the tub. Only her neck and part of her shoulders were exposed. She looked like a lotus flower that just broke through the surface, or a chick that had just pecked its way through its egg. She seemed almost as clear and as fragile as a crystal, as if a single touch would break her.
“Okay. Big brother Zu, can you stand over there?” Ji Xiaoxi said weakly.
Zu An stared blankly. Only then did he remember that the entire tub was full of cold water. If he got any closer, he would be able to see everything.
“All right, I won’t move.” Zu An raised his hands up. “By the way, what happened to you? Why are you all red?”
He also realized that there was definitely something wrong.
“Throw me the medicinal herbs in my pouch first.” Ji Xiaoxi looked towards the clothes scattered on the ground. She had clearly been in a rush to strip off her clothes.
Zu An had a strange look on his face. He picked up her clothes, which were still warm. They smelled of medicine, mixed in with the scent of a young lady.
Ji Xiaoxi’s face grew even redder when she saw the clothes she had just worn in the hands of a man. She quickly told him where to find the various herbs she had brought.
Following her instructions, Zu An tossed the medicinal herbs into the tub.
After a while, Ji Xiaoxi’s expression finally eased a little. “Thank you. I was afflicted by a dirty… aphrodisiac.”
Zu An was furious. “Which bastard poisoned you? I am going to beat the hell out of him!”
Ji Xiaoxi looked at him with a strange expression.
Zu An blinked at her. It took him a long while to finally get what she meant. “It was me? No way!”
Ji Xiaoxi pursed her lips. “It was that bottle of liquid you just gave me. The effects are really strange… they seem similar to those of the legendary ‘Eighteen Spring Winds’.”
“Eighteen Spring Winds!” An exaggerated expression immediately appeared on Zu An’s face. No wonder Chen Xuan stored it so carefully! If it had been me, I would have guarded it carefully as well!
Ji Xiaoxi was stunned by his tone. “Huh? Does big brother Zu also know about this medicine?”
“I’ve heard of it before.” Zu An laughed awkwardly. He had not just heard about it, he had personally experienced its effects!
As he said this, his expression grew strange. When Zheng Dan had been poisoned, he had given his all to eliminate the poison from her body. However, Ji Xiaoxi was the one who had now been poisoned…
Damn it! The gorgeous principal and Ji Dengtu will both kill me!
Screw it, I don’t care about that right now. I can’t just watch someone die, right?
If I don’t jump into hell, who will?!
He was just about to walk towards the tub when something struck him. “You only tasted such a small amount of it. Are the effects that potent?” he asked.
Ji Xiaoxi had thought that it could have been poison, so she hadn’t ingested much of it at all. She had a naturally strong resistance to poisons as well, so why was her condition so serious?
Is she doing this to test me?
Ji Xiaoxi’s voice colored with embarrassment. “I couldn’t figure out what it was at first, so I tried it a few more times.”
This was the first time Zu An had entrusted her with something, and it was something she specialized in. She would have been ashamed if she couldn’t figure out just what kind of medicine this was. That was why she had gone all out this time.
Besides, she was confident that no poison could harm her. Who would have expected Zu An to give her an aphrodisiac?
Her expression became a bit strange. “Big brother Zu, did you give me such a drug on purpose…”
Zu An immediately grew hurt. “Do you really think big brother Zu is someone who is so shameful and despicable?”
Ji Xiaoxi acknowledged his point. “I didn’t think so either.”
If she had, she wouldn’t have taken the initiative to allow him in.
“So? Did you neutralize the effects?” Zu An asked in a hurry.
Ji Xiaoxi closed her eyes and carefully examined her condition. She shook her head. “Not quite. The temperature of the water isn’t low enough. It would be great if first miss Chu was here. She could help me turn the water into ice.”
“I can help with that too,” said Zu An.
Hearing Zu An declare that he could turn water into ice as well, Ji Xiaoxi hesitated slightly before saying, “Please turn the water in this tub into ice water, then.”
She knew that this wasn’t something appropriate, but she really needed to suppress the medicinal effects right now. If she made a mistake and allowed the medicine to permeate her body, the consequences would be even more unbearable.
Zu An nodded. “I’ll close my eyes.” He walked up to the tub and reached his hand into the water.
His skill with the Snowflake Sword had yet to reach the level where he could create ice from a distance.
Who would have thought that what he sensed with his palm was not the chill of the water, but something smooth and gentle instead?
“Big brother Zu, please… please move your hand a little to the side.” Ji Xiaoxi’s voice was extremely soft.
“Sorry, sorry. It was an accident.” Zu An was embarrassed. He really wasn’t doing this on purpose! If he really wanted to take advantage of someone, he would have done so openly. Why would he resort to tricks like this?
Ji Xiaoxi grunted in acknowledgment, but said nothing further.
Zu An focused his mind and began to channel his ki. The water in the bathtub grew cold.
As this was happening, Chu Huanzhao was skipping and hopping her way over to the staff residences, fiddling with the key she had taken from Zu An previously. Stinky brother-in-law, it’s all your fault that I couldn’t sleep well last night! I’m going to catch up on some beauty sleep now.
She had found her current lesson extremely boring, and so she decided to just run off. To her knowledge, Zu An should be in class right now, so no one would know if she took a nap here.
