Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 311 - 48: I Treated You Like a Sister, But You Betrayed Me!?
Evening of January 27, 2018
After a whole night of meaningless hustle and bustle, Wang Jiu finally met Li Chaolu, whom Shen Qingming couldn’t stop thinking about.
From a distance, Li Chaolu seemed to be in quite an excited mood, leaning against enormous roots as tall as a person, gesturing wildly while talking non-stop to a woman beside her.
With the keen perception of the Celestial Divine Sword, Wang Jiu caught their conversation from afar.
"It’s true! When I first saw that scene, I couldn’t help but cry. The heroine was willing to give up everything—her parents, the academy support team, the gentle yet slightly scheming senior brother, her mentor who was a year younger, her two fiancés, two ex-boyfriends, childhood sweetheart, and distant cousin—all choosing to follow true love in the last moment. Such courage and resilience are really touching."
The woman next to her smiled lightly, "Really? I thought you Cyan Cloud people would be more against Mr. Three Lives Stone’s works."
"Haha, are you talking about the portrayal of the Li Family in the books? I don’t mind. After all, Li is a common surname, not just exclusive to us. There are plenty of people with the Li surname, like Shen Zicheng’s wife in the Outer City Patrol Team of Shen City is also surnamed Li. I don’t have that strong of an attachment."
The woman beside Li Chaolu laughed, "If only all people of the Li Family were as broad-minded as you are."
"We’re all very broad-minded. Mr. Three Lives Stone’s works are quite popular in the Li Family Mansion. The book I started with was borrowed from my second uncle."
The woman was a bit surprised, "Really?"
Li Chaolu said, "It’s true, I’m not lying. We really don’t take such things to heart too much. No matter how others criticize, the Li Family is still one of the Seven Great Noble Families of Xiangzhou, and their status has never wavered. Even if there are occasional lows, they quickly recover. The reputation of the Li Family in Xiangzhou is excellent; not even a few novels can topple people’s perception of us."
Li Chaolu smiled, "As people often say, an honest man walks with a carefree heart, while a petty person laments all day long. Back then, an evil cult committed all sorts of evils and wouldn’t allow others to talk about it. They threatened those who tried to expose the truth, yet in the end, popular resentment grew, and they were wiped out, weren’t they?"
"Indeed..."
Before the woman could finish speaking, Li Chaolu enthusiastically started discussing novels again.
"Actually, in Mr. Three Lives Stone’s books, the image of the Li Family has always been changing. Early on, they often played pure villains—arrogant and unreasonable, making one feel an unquenchable anger at a glance, wanting nothing more than to eliminate them. But later on, the image of the Li Family greatly changed. For example, in the new work ’Proud Young Master,’ they initially appear as good people and trick the heroine into trusting them, only revealing their utterly evil true faces midway through the story."
Listening nearby, Shen Qingming was exasperated. Is this considered a transformation of character image?
Yet, the maid nearby brightened up, "You can actually see the difference?"
Li Chaolu said, "Actually, there’s already a hint in ’Celestial Star Crescent,’ where Li Yanwu drugs the heroine to defile her purity, but deliberately controls the dosage for fear of stupefying her. This was unimaginable in previous works."
"Exactly!" the maid said excitedly, "Starting from that book, the image of the Li Family depicted by Mr. Three Lives Stone became more three-dimensional and full."
"What’s three-dimensional and full about someone who drugs a heroine to defile her purity?!" Shen Qingming was on the verge of exploding, "Is this supposed to be a transformation of character image? Were the previous people of the Li Family all reincarnations of the Great Demon God Emperor?!"
Wang Jiu corrected, "The Great Demon God Emperor has no concept of gender, hence does not experience arousal and cannot drug a heroine to defile her purity."
"That’s not the point, okay!"
Wang Jiu continued, "Of course, considering humans have always had a somewhat vague definition of defiling purity, whether the Great Demon God Emperor can defile human purity is indeed a matter worth discussing. So, in your view, where is the boundary of defiling purity?"
"I don’t know and I don’t care!"
Wang Jiu said curiously, "In my understanding, most human women do care about purity. I’m surprised someone of your small stature has such liberal views."
"I..." Shen Qingming was so exasperated that her tonsils might explode. She glared at Wang Jiu, then said in a hoarse voice, "You tell me."
Wang Jiu said, "To many people, if a woman’s body cavity is entered by a foreign object, it is equivalent to defiling her purity."
Shen Qingming said impatiently, "Yeah, so what?"
Wang Jiu asked, "So what about when swimming?"
"Huh?" Shen Qingming was stunned for a moment, "The swimming water? How can that count!?"
"Liquids entering don’t count as defiling purity?" Wang Jiu said, "No wonder back in Qing Province, pet slimes sold so well."
"...I, I don’t really want to know what slimes are."
"They’re a type of liquid lifeform, possessing basic intelligence. With the correct training, they can become very obedient and understanding pets, helping young girls experience the beauty of adolescence without losing their purity."
"I said I don’t want to know!" Shen Qingming’s face turned red, "And you’re confusing concepts—how can a liquid and a liquid lifeform be the same?!"
Wang Jiu said again, "So because it’s a lifeform, it’s not okay?"
Shen Qingming said, "Of course, if other life forms enter, entering there certainly wouldn’t count as innocence."
"Then if microorganisms in the water enter the body cavity while swimming, does the woman lose innocence?"
"Microorganisms?!" Shen Qingming was truly impressed by Wang Jiu’s meticulous academic spirit, "How can microorganisms count?!"
"Then what size of life form wouldn’t count?"
Shen Qingming wasn’t interested in discussing such matters, casually gesturing the size of a teddy dog: "This size won’t do, right?"
Wang Jiu nodded: "Actually, when a woman gives birth..."
"Entering and exiting are different!"
"If a birth position is incorrect during delivery, it might need to be retracted..."
"Ahhh!" Shen Qingming let out a heart-wrenching scream through the Mind Passage, startling Wang Jiu greatly.
"Yes, women use high-decibel screams to relieve pain during childbirth; it seems you’ve mastered it well."
"No, I don’t want to discuss this topic with you anymore! I’m going to find Li Chaolu!"
Shen Qingming obviously had no desire for academic exploration, blushing as she left Wang Jiu behind, striding toward the towering ancient tree.
Getting closer, Li Chaolu also spotted Shen Qingming.
The girl’s expression froze instantly, then she stood up woodenly, drew her sword, the Hundred Flowers Sword Qi radiating as the Ephemeral Blossom Flash!
"Wah!" Shen Qingming was nearly pierced right through by the direct slash, frantically knocking Li Chaolu’s Hundred Flowers Sword aside, and asked in a panic, "What do you intend to do!?"
Li Chaolu’s face was also bright red: "Impossible, impossible, you, how could you and Mr. Wang Jiu appear here? Illusions, they must all be illusions! You won’t scare me!"
Wang Jiu also came closer at this moment, commenting, "The timing of the Ephemeral Blossom Flash is pretty good, but pay attention to suppressing the Fire Element True Essence with your left hand when striking, to achieve control and freedom."
Upon hearing this, Li Chaolu immediately put down her sword, looking enthralled: "Even if it’s an illusion, I’ll accept it. Mr. Wang Jiu, please continue, oh no, I’m having trouble grasping the nuances of my Ephemeral Blossom Flash, I’d like to ask for your personal guidance..."
"Hey, don’t get lovestruck in public, okay!?" Shen Qingming unceremoniously inserted herself between them, then said, "It’s nothing, I’m just curious why you said you were going to buy wine but ended up here. If you’re fine, we’ll leave."
Li Chaolu certainly wished Shen Qingming would leave quickly, ideally to Feiyan Mountain to give birth to local children. But she was reluctant to part with Wang Jiu, weighed her options, and forced a smile, "Since you’re here, take a look around. It’s the kind of high-end book club you won’t find in Cyan Cloud City."
Wang Jiu nodded in agreement: "Indeed, Li Jinglun’s book club has at most a hundred or so people, among them dozens of officials. He says writing for many years, organizing a high-quality women’s book club is very difficult..."
Li Chaolu and Shen Qingming quickly interrupted: "Don’t air family grievances..."
At this time, the maid chatting jovially with Li Chaolu also came over, and upon seeing the few people, her face broke into a gentle smile: "Is this the champion of the Cyan Cloud Grand Competition?"
Shen Qingming felt a bit embarrassed upon hearing this title: "Just luck, may I ask who you are?"
The maid waved her hand: "A mere nobody, just a loyal reader."
Li Chaolu also explained: "In this book club, identities generally don’t matter."
Of course, those without sufficient status weren’t eligible to come to this book club to mingle.
"Sorry, I have something to do, I’ll be off." The maid waved farewell to the few people with a smile, Li Chaolu reluctantly said goodbye. Then she turned around, earnestly advising Wang Jiu and Shen Qingming, "Sorry for deceiving you earlier, I just didn’t want you to know I’m a fervent fan of Mr. Three Lives Stone’s books."
Wang Jiu asked curiously, "Why?"
Li Chaolu cleared her throat and said, "Ever since I met Mr. Wang Jiu, I’ve come to realize the vital importance of Immortal Cultivation. With my qualifications, if I want to achieve results worthy of Mr. Wang Jiu, I must devote my entire life to the pursuit of Immortal Cultivation. However... perhaps because I’m in the prime of my youth, my thoughts are restless, and I can’t help but want to read stories about love and romance."
Shen Qingming snorted coldly but felt the reason was barely acceptable.
Indeed, aside from geniuses like Li Wanqing who never quite followed the conventional path from the start, most cultivators couldn’t dedicate too much time to hobbies — even the oddities like Li Kongcheng and Li Jing were actually very serious about their cultivation.
Yet, just as Wang Jiu and Shen Qingming were about to accept this explanation.
The maid-like woman who had walked away returned, her face showing some delight.
"Chaolu, your fanfiction ’Wang Wine and Zhao Lu’ has received a lot of praise. Everyone wants to invite you to discuss your creative experience in crafting such a brilliant romance."
