Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 310 - 47: Truly a Gentleman
Regarding Shen Qingming’s fussing, Wang Jiu once again showed indifference.
"What’s so strange about seeing them here? Li Wanqing only said earlier that she wanted to have tea with Shen Ying, but didn’t specify where. So them having tea here is perfectly reasonable."
"How is it reasonable?! This is a book club for Three Lives Stone fans, and they’re not fans of Three Lives Stone!"
Wang Jiu curiously asked, "So what? Does not being a fan mean they can’t attend the gathering for tea? Then what about you, who didn’t want to travel but still signed up for a cheap tour group, eating so much that the guide was rolling on the ground—what was that?"
"Why do you remember all these trivial things so clearly?!"
"From an intelligence index perspective..."
"No talking!" Shen Qingming was about to lose it, "You seriously just spend all day getting on my nerves!"
"Getting on your nerves?" Wang Jiu was completely at a loss, so he patiently advised, "If you mean constipation, I suggest you eat more foods that strongly stimulate the stomach, like chili, milk, and croton."
"Not that kind of blockage!"
"Isn’t it? Well, if it’s a urinary stone, you can shatter it with True Essence and expel it, just drink plenty of water during the process..."
"I’m sorry, I was wrong. Please stop talking. I believe it makes perfect sense for Sister Wanqing and Shen Ying to attend the book club."
——
After successfully persuading Shen Qingming, Wang Jiu then led his mount forward to greet them.
Upon seeing Wang Jiu and his servant, Li Wanqing was somewhat surprised, but quickly put on a cheerful smile and waved enthusiastically, "Hi, you guys came too?!"
Next to her, Shen Ying suddenly blushed a bit and hid behind Li Wanqing.
Wang Jiu straightforwardly asked, "Are you fans of Three Lives Stone?"
Li Wanqing smiled and pointed at Shen Ying behind her, "Not me, she is."
Shen Ying, a bit embarrassed, pinched Li Wanqing’s waist, then candidly admitted, "Yes, I’ve always been a huge fan of Mr. Three Lives Stone. I’ve read every one of his books carefully."
Next to her, Shen Qingming found it incredible.
"You actually read those romance novels... It feels like you’re out of character..."
Shen Ying retorted, "How am I out of character? Didn’t I tell you before, people from Shen City, especially the Shen family, often look rough on the outside but are sensitive inside. I’m a Shen family member, I’m sensitive inside too!"
"... It’s my first time seeing someone openly say they’re sensitive inside."
"It just means I look rough on the outside."
"You even have reason and self-consistency!? I’m impressed," Shen Qingming conceded, "So, are you really here for the book club?"
Li Wanqing said, "Yes, Shen Ying told me there are many pretty girls at this high-end book club, and it turns out to be true."
"..." Shen Qingming blinked, unsure of what to say.
Wang Jiu said, "It’s like when you joined the cheap tour group..."
"No more mentioning that!" Shen Qingming blushed, changing the subject, "Did you see Li Chaolu just now?"
Li Wanqing was surprised, "Chaolu is here too? I didn’t notice. This venue is quite large, and since there are quite a few people attending the gathering, to prevent noise, it’s divided into several areas. We’re just in one of them now, but there will be an area exchange later, maybe we’ll see her then."
As soon as she said this, wavy light like water shimmered between some green trees, and a dozen figures appeared, talking and laughing.
"The area just merged," Li Wanqing explained, "Once the discussion topic here is over, we can go to the next area. Do you want to take a look? Maybe Chaolu is over there."
Now that they were here, Shen Qingming wasn’t in a hurry anymore. After looking around, she became a bit interested in the book club: "What’s this book club really about?"
Shen Ying, a local native and avid book fan, immediately volunteered to explain.
"This book club is currently the most prestigious in Shen City, primarily admitting cultivators or the most powerful people in the Mortal World. However, its content is quite simple—it’s a platform for enthusiasts to exchange interests and enhance friendships. Here, status is actually not that important—after all, those who can enter the venue can’t be too lacking."
While speaking, Shen Ying proudly raised a limited edition signed book: "In this area, the main focus is on discussing Mr. Three Lives Stone’s recent short masterpieces. For example, the book in my hand, ’Stone Spring’, is an excellent short story collection. Then, in the area that just started merging and changing, the discussion focuses on Mr. Three Lives Stone’s early works. Although the technical skills are not as proficient as in the later stages, the intense passion embodied in the early writings surpasses the warm and reserved tone of the current works, such as the book ’Stealing Dreams and Fragrance’ as an example..."
Shen Qingming felt a headache coming on and quickly interrupted: "Alright, thank you for your introduction, I understand, I have something to find Chaolu, let’s talk later."
Was there really anything to do? But Shen Qingming felt that if she listened any longer, she would literally explode.
What exactly is it with these young girls, getting so obsessed over mere romance novels... To be honest, I’m also half a Shen Family member, having inherited the pure bloodline. Will I also be outwardly rough and inwardly delicate, and then get obsessed with romance novels in the future!?
"Oh, don’t worry, there’s no need to worry about that at all." Wang Jiu’s voice appeared timely in her mind, "Generally speaking, an inwardly delicate nature requires..."
"I know! It requires intelligence! You’ve said that a long time ago!" Shen Qingming roared internally in frustration, "I’m just low on intelligence! I once knew it was crap but wanted to eat it anyway! So what! If you’ve got the guts, kill me!"
Wang Jiu blinked and had to clarify: "I meant that generally speaking, an inwardly delicate nature has unique requirements of a person’s childhood family environment and upbringing atmosphere. The Cyan Cloud Li Family excels at nurturing cultivators with inner strength and resilience, and you happen to be a model example thereof."
Shen Qingming froze like a stone for a good ten seconds before asking: "Really?"
"Yes, being able to calmly acknowledge that there was indeed an element of luck in your initial intelligence test results shows that you have a strong inner resolve."
"That’s not a compliment, is it?!"
In the midst of the commotion, Shen Qingming took the lead toward the scene merging area, although she no longer had any interest in gossiping about Li Chaolu. Knowing this is a genuine book club, the fact that Li Chaolu sneaked here is probably because she secretly reads Three Lives Stone’s romance novels, right? These kinds of romance novels are already shockingly impactful on girls, and with Li Chaolu’s personality always carrying love and romance on her sleeve, it would be strange if she didn’t read romance novels.
However, just as she crossed into the merging area, she heard a familiar voice.
"Miss, I really am a fervent fan of Mr. Three Lives Stone. I have read ’Overlap’ and ’Gao Chao’ countless times. I’m deeply moved by the genuine and passionate romance story of the protagonists. I genuinely want to exchange reading insights with you, nothing else!"
"Get lost, get away! Waiter, waiter! There’s a pervert sneaking in here, aren’t you going to do anything?!"
Such conversations would be at least somewhat familiar to members of the Cyan Cloud Li Family.
Shen Qingming sighed, feeling her brain’s ability to process surprises was probably overworked to the point of failure. At this moment, she didn’t even feel surprised, just numbness.
"Li Xinyu... you’re here too?"
Seeing Shen Qingming and Wang Jiu, Li Xinyu was taken by surprise, leaving the girl he was pursuing and coming over to greet them: "Mr. Wang Jiu, Qingming, you’re here too? Hehe, this place really is a treasure trove, young and beautiful female cultivators are everywhere, it’s dazzling."
"You were happy about this before, because of this?"
Li Xinyu chuckled: "I heard from a friend back at Cyan Cloud that the young female readers at these Three Lives Stone book clubs are often simple and cheerful and easily trust fellow enthusiasts. So just show some literary commonality, and it’s likely to progress further to spiritual and physical bonding. He’s an old hand in the flower field, already having scored over twenty pure young female readers with a heavily annotated novel at various book clubs."
Shen Qingming felt nauseated at that moment.
"Xinyu, do you intend to..."
"How could I!?" Li Xinyu righteously claimed, "I’m, after all, educated by the Cyan Cloud Li Family, how could I commit such shameless acts? My goal is to alert these inexperienced girls, telling them there are actually perverts hidden among them! If they’re touched by my enthusiasm and sincerity thereafter and voluntarily propose spiritual and physical bonding, I won’t object."
"...Then I wish you luck."
Li Xinyu was upbeat: "Thank you for the blessing, Little Sister Qingming. Before I came, I crammed several novels of Three Lives Stone, portraying a fervent fan should be a piece of cake now... Ah, that girl over there has such a large chest, she must be an easy target for perverts. I must quickly go and warn her!"
Moments later.
"No, you’ve really got it wrong, I’m not a pervert, I’m here to remind her about perverts! Really, I’m a fervent fan of Three Lives Stone, I’ve read ’Overlap’ and ’Gao Chao’ over and over, especially memorizing the section where the protagonists taste forbidden fruit. If you don’t believe me, test me! In ’Overlap’, it’s written like this, he placed his..."
Before the words were finished, Li Xinyu was held by the arms by several strong puppet automatons and dragged out.
After saying goodbye to Li Xinyu, following another scene blending, Wang Jiu and Shen Qingming finally found Li Chaolu in a forest shrouded in twilight.
The girl was sitting beside the roots of an ancient towering tree, happily chatting with a maid-like woman.
