Chapter 37: She should be punished a little for eating hot pot.
"System, why don't you just stop appearing in the future?" Hua Deng pleaded.
System: "Waaah, I didn't want to either."
Hua Deng: "Go into hibernation."
She held the bowl and plate in her hands, but couldn't eat.
It would be fine for others, but Qiu Ce is so strong, she definitely can't do this mission. She might as well just give up the mission and shorten her lifespan.
As she was lost in thought, a butterfly flew over the flowers and gently landed on her fingertips.
Hua Deng reached out to touch it, but a jarring voice suddenly came from behind: "It's poisonous."
She turned around and saw Chen Zhou sitting to the side with her arms crossed, drinking her cola through a straw.
Hua Deng: "Put it down!"
Shen Zhou: "I've finished drinking."
The lantern leaned forward to snatch it, and sure enough, not a drop remained in the cup; the butterfly also flew away silently.
It was only then that she realized, "Wait a minute, isn't your internal energy supposed to be able to resist ordinary toxins?"
Shen Zhou: "Oh, I forgot."
Forget you, my foot! You just wanted a Coke, didn't you!
"I didn't even have a chance to touch it," she complained.
"Ugly thing, what's there to touch?" Shen Zhou poured himself another glass of cola. The cup had a cat pattern with two pointed ears standing up on it, and he felt a strange sense of amusement when he held it.
Hua Deng doesn't want to say much about his aesthetic sense; everything is ugly in his eyes, and she herself is probably no exception.
She picked up another cup and asked Chen Zhou, "You're in the late stage of the Fusion Realm now, right?"
"Um."
"When are you going to attempt the Tribulation?" Hua Deng asked. "You have so many enemies. Can you defeat them without attempting the Tribulation? For example, Sword Master Qiu Ce. He is recognized as the number one swordsman in the world."
"Chou Ce?" Shen Zhou bit his straw. "Useless."
Hua Deng chuckled: "They're in the tribulation stage."
Shen Zhou: "A useless person in the Tribulation Transcending stage."
"He's a piece of trash, so how come you're so powerful and haven't reached the Tribulation stage yet?" Hua Deng pointed and said, "Besides, you lost to him four years ago, have you forgotten?"
Shen Zhou glanced over and said, "Who told you I lost to him?"
"Yu Heng."
"You actually believe what she says?" Shen Zhou sneered. "I should have torn her to pieces back then."
"So you didn't lose? Really?" Hua Deng seemed quite surprised.
"Of course it's true." Shen Zhou put down his cup with an unhappy expression: "Who is Qiu Ce? Is he even worth your attention?"
Hua Deng shook his head politely: "No, you're right, he's just trash!"
What kind of plot is this? I'm not scared at all!
"So why haven't you broken through?" she asked, even more curious.
Shen Zhou's gaze swept lightly over Su Yiqing and Pei Jianming.
Did anyone say anything to her?
Su Yiqing groaned incessantly, burying her face in the bowl, not daring to utter a sound.
Seeing that he was distracted, Hua Deng nudged him with her elbow: "I'm asking you a question."
Shen Zhou turned his gaze and said, "After I leave, I will go into seclusion to break through my limits. There's no need for that now."
Hua Deng tentatively asked, "What if you don't leave?"
Shen Zhou: "That's impossible."
Hua Deng pursed her lips and said somewhat unhappily, "I think it's okay."
Shen Zhou picked up a piece of pastry and said casually, "Don't worry, you'll be fine even if I leave."
Is that what she meant?
Hua Deng snatched the pastries from him and shoved them into Pei Jianming's hand: "Here, take them and eat."
Pei Jianming looked up shakily: "Huh? Mine? Mine?"
Hua Deng: "Yes, yours."
She then turned to Chen Zhou, her face full of innocence, and said, "Oh dear, it seems there's no share for you."
Shen Zhou smiled calmly, and without realizing it, he took the plate of yam cake in front of her to cleanse her palate. He took a bite and said leisurely, "Now I have it."
"This is the last piece!" Hua Deng lunged forward menacingly. "You're not allowed to eat it, spit it out now!"
Shen Zhou took another bite in front of her, but each bite was extremely light, as if he was deliberately trying to provoke her.
Hua Deng was indeed enraged. She leaned in and bit the half-piece of food in his hand, even taking Chen Zhou's fingers into her mouth.
"hiss."
Shen Zhou withdrew his hand, the teeth marks on his knuckles still visible. He chuckled softly and raised his hand to press her head down.
"Not bad, even a bite from a peak Golden Core cultivator hurts more."
Hua Deng stiffened, turning her eyes away as if she hadn't seen anything. Shen Zhou deliberately extended his hand, asking her, "So how are you going to compensate me for this?"
"You still want compensation?" Hua Deng glared at him. "What do you want me to compensate you for?"
"I won't compensate you for anything." Shen Zhou restrained her hand and pulled it to his face. "Let me bite back."
This request is reasonable. He will repay anyone who dares to hurt him a thousandfold. He should have cut off her hand, but he only bit her back. He has already restrained himself.
"No!" Hua Deng abruptly pulled her hand back. "Is your biting the same as my biting someone?"
Why are they different?
Shen Zhou seemed to take a liking to her, so he stopped teasing her and instead grabbed her chin, forcing her to open her mouth.
"What are you doing?" Hua Deng asked vaguely.
A finger slipped into her mouth, and as Chen Zhou explored it, he chuckled and said, "Let's see if your teeth are sharper than mine."
Before long, my fingertip touched a sharp canine tooth.
He smiled slightly: "This one, right? I'll take it apart right now—"
Before he could finish speaking, his finger stung again. Hua Deng clenched his teeth tightly, maintaining the position, and looked up at him defiantly.
Chenzhou abhorred pain, and anything that caused him pain had to die.
His hand, which was gripping the chin of the lantern, tightened its grip almost immediately.
He thought she should be punished.
His gaze slid down from her dark, gleaming eyes to her crimson lips.
Because of the spicy food, her lips were more vibrant than usual. The firelight cast a dim glow, and her red lips glistened with barely perceptible moisture as she lightly pursed her lips against his fingers.
Her eyes were clearly defiant, yet her actions seemed almost like flattery. Shen Zhou suddenly felt that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad not to punish her. He unconsciously moved his thumb, his fingertip tracing upwards along her skin, pressing it against her lips and rubbing it firmly twice.
It was unexpectedly soft.
Hua Deng seemed uncomfortable; he frowned and opened his mouth, clearly seeing the tip of the tongue trace across his fingers.
He withdrew his hand expressionlessly, his fingertips twirling lightly at his side, and said, "I won't hold it against you today."
Hua Deng wrinkled his nose: "I'm not going to argue with you!"
That's what she said, but when she realized that Shen Zhou wanted to leave again, she simply reached out and pulled him down: "Don't be so unsociable, let's eat something together."
Shen Zhou sat down again, looking uninterested: "It has no flavor, what's there to eat?"
"You don't understand. Spiciness is a sensation of pain; you can taste it." Hua Deng picked up a piece of vegetable soaked in chili oil with his chopsticks. "Try it!"
Shen Zhou put the food in his mouth, paused, and swallowed it expressionlessly.
"Huh?"
Could it be that the perception of spiciness is different during the fusion stage? But Shen Zhou's current body is a Nascent Soul.
She looked closely and noticed that although Shen Zhou's expression hadn't changed, his brows were slightly furrowed and there was a hint of red at the corners of his eyes.
Hua Deng: I understand. It's not that it's not spicy, it's just that I can tolerate it.
She suppressed a laugh and picked up another piece of beef with her chopsticks: "Try this, it's not spicy."
Shen Zhou glanced at it and saw that the beef broth was yellow rather than red, and reluctantly put it in his mouth.
He had barely chewed a bite when he froze, coughing twice.
"Just kidding, this is the spiciest one, hahaha!" Hua Deng clapped his hands and laughed so hard he couldn't stand up straight.
After coughing, Shen Zhou forcefully suppressed the intense spiciness with his magic and resumed his expressionless state.
Hua Deng took a bite herself and found it too spicy, so she quickly took out the iced Sprite she had prepared.
One bite—
"Cough, cough! Who changed my Sprite to a hot one?!"
Shen Zhou not only replaced her Sprite with a hot one, but also seized the opportunity to stuff a bite of beef into her mouth. Hua Deng was not to be outdone, so she grabbed the plate and poured it into his mouth. The meal turned into a battle of wits.
By the time they were tired of fighting, Su Yiqing and Pei Jianming had eaten everything on the table.
Hua Deng: "..." Never mind, it's all Shen Zhou's fault!
That evening, after they had eaten and drunk their fill and were playing mahjong under a tree, they received a notice addressed to all their disciples.
The notice stated that Senior Sister Yu Heng, who was guarding the Heavenly-grade magic treasure, had defected from the Qingyang Sect and her whereabouts were unknown, which led to the Heavenly-grade magic treasure falling into the hands of other disciples. To ensure the fairness of the competition, they specially prepared a new Heavenly-grade magic treasure, the location of which each disciple must find on their own.
After reading the notice on the jade tablet, Hua Deng looked up and asked, "Where is the Heavenly-grade magic weapon?"
Shen Zhou released a wisp of his divine sense and quickly replied, "Southeast direction."
Hua Deng: "Then let's set off tomorrow!"
Shen Zhou: "We can do it now."
"ah?"
Shen Zhou acted immediately, lifting her up and landing her on the flying sword. Hua Deng quickly stopped him, saying, "Let's take Yi Qing and Pei Jianming with us too!"
It's the middle of the night, and she can't suffer alone.
Pei Jianming and Su Yiqing were left completely bewildered as they were hung on the sword hilt.
Hua Deng pulled Su Yiqing up and made her stand beside him, leaving Pei Jianming alone, bewildered in the wind.
Shen Zhou flew on his sword at great speed, and in less than a quarter of an hour, the four of them arrived near the Heavenly-level magic treasure.
“The only way to get here is up here,” Shen Zhou said at the top of the steps. “I can’t break the spells set up by the Nascent Soul stage cultivators in my current state.”
"Then let's walk up there."
Hua Deng stared at the seemingly endless staircase, a strong sense of déjà vu washing over him. Could this thing have been built by the Yaoqing Sect?
Hua Deng mentally grumbled for a moment, then suddenly heard Su Yiqing scream: "Holy crap! Who's this handsome guy?!"
Turning his head, he realized that Shen Zhou's original disguise technique had failed because magic was forbidden on the steps.
"So what you said, Dengdeng, was true." Su Yi's pupils dilated in shock. She would never say her best friend was love-struck again!
Hua Deng silently took out a mask and put it on Chen Zhou: "Just pretend you didn't see it."
At this moment, Pei Jianming was huddled in a dark corner, frantically tapping the system: "System, is he more handsome than me? Is he more handsome than me?"
System: "Sorry, your system has crashed."
Pei Jianming: "!!!"
Hua Deng paid no attention to the commotion, and Shen Zhou might have noticed, but he was reluctant to even glance at him. He lifted his foot to walk upstairs, but after taking only two steps, his sleeve was tugged.
"You're just leaving like this?" Hua Deng said with dissatisfaction. Perhaps because she had eaten too much spicy food, her voice was slightly soft, as if she were being coquettish.
Shen Zhou calmly retorted, "Otherwise what?"
“Otherwise, you can carry me on your back.” Hua Deng took a step closer and looked up at him.
Shen Zhou certainly didn't want to carry anyone on his back, but when Hua Deng looked at him, he would occasionally bite his lower lip in a habitual way, making his already beautiful red lip even deeper and softer.
He didn't want to look anymore, so he simply turned around, bent down, and squatted down in front of her.
"Come up."
After waiting for a while, nothing happened.
He turned around, and the streetlights were still there. He pretended to be conflicted and said, "But I remember someone who absolutely refused to carry me before. Sigh, I don't want to force anyone. Since you're unwilling, then I'll..."
Halfway through his sentence, Shen Zhou nodded and stood up: "Then forget it."
"Stop calculating!" Hua Deng exclaimed anxiously, jumping onto his back.
She lunged forward with considerable force, and everyone thought Shen Zhou would at least stumble. But he remained firmly in place, supporting her legs and lifting her up slightly.
Shen Zhou began to walk uphill with ease, and Hua Deng, who was perched on his back, could actually feel his warmth.
She tried to put her arms around Chen Zhou's neck, and he didn't say anything, nor did he throw her off. So she became bolder and quietly touched the top of his head; it felt surprisingly nice.
As she tried to do it again, the person in front of her suddenly spoke up: "You could fall to your death from this height. Are you sure you want to do this?"
Hua Deng withdrew his hand and obediently lay down.
She couldn't see Shen Zhou's expression. Bored, she swung her legs, the swings getting bigger and bigger until she almost fell off. He pinched her as a warning.
He didn't pinch hard this time, but it tickled. Hua Deng couldn't help but laugh out loud. Afraid that he would get angry, she quickly said, "Okay, I'll stay put."
Shen Zhou snorted, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Hua Deng leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Can't you really stay? I won't treat you badly."
"I have things to do," Shen Zhou replied after a pause.
"What's up?"
"leave."
He rarely spoke nonsense, which puzzled Hua Deng even more: "I know you're leaving, but where will you go after you leave?"
"I don't know," Shen Zhou said. "It must be a very far place."
Hua Deng should have asked him a few more questions, but she suddenly lost interest. After saying "oh," she fell silent, and the hand that was around Chen Zhou's neck gradually lowered.
After a while, Shen Zhou said, "Do you see the attic up there?"
Without even looking up, Hua Deng replied sullenly, "I didn't see it."
There were still hundreds of steps ahead, which Shen Zhou hadn't seen yet. He said, "The Heavenly-grade magic treasure is up there. Go get it, and we'll leave the secret realm."
"Are you in a hurry to leave?" Hua Deng said slowly. "I want to stay a couple more days."
“You can stay,” Shen Zhou said. “Let’s spend this full moon night in the secret realm.”
Hua Deng paused for a moment, then suddenly looked up to look for the moon.
The moon rose to its zenith, leaving only a slight sliver of light, almost reaching fullness.
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