Chapter 52: A Wife Delivered to the Doorstep
Chapter 52: A Wife Delivered to the Doorstep
The Zhenqi that suddenly fused together because of matching frequencies circulated much faster than before. The speed of Zhenqi refinement was also astonishing.
Just as the speed of Zhenqi circulation broke through the limits of both of them, Lin Mu felt a loud explosion in his head. The image of the small grove instantly disappeared before his eyes.
But the scene that appeared next made Lin Mu completely stunned. Amidst serene green mountains and clear waters, he and Ji Qinglan were sitting face to face, completely naked, with their palms pressed together as they circulated their powers.
After Lin Mu realized all of this, Ji Qinglan suddenly opened her eyes too. Her perpetually icy expression changed dramatically. She let out a sharp cry, abruptly pulled back her hands, and covered her vital parts.
At that moment, darkness fell before both their eyes again simultaneously. They both left that strange place and returned to reality in an instant.
Because of the shocking scene moments before, Ji Qinglan in reality was also flustered. The frequency of her Zhenqi became extremely unstable. Although Lin Mu tried his best to control it, he still couldn’t maintain the state.
A slight tremor appeared in the fused Zhenqi, and soon the trembling became faster and faster. In just over ten seconds, another shockwave erupted from their palms, and they were forcibly separated.
“What was that situation just now?”
Lin Mu stared blankly at his hands, frowned slightly, and thought carefully.
Ji Qinglan didn’t know what happened either, but the sudden exposure to each other made her face instantly turn as red as a ripe peach.
“Could it be that because our Zhenqi unintentionally merged, we actually got a premature experience of the Divine Sense of the Innate Realm?”
After thinking it over, Lin Mu could only come up with this possible result.
Among the three major Realms of the Fusion Stage, after the initial Spirit Gathering Realm comes the Innate Realm. But the bottleneck between them is very hard to break through, because once you enter the Innate Realm, you develop Divine Sense.
With Divine Sense, the naked eye becomes less important for cultivators. That’s because Divine Sense can perceive everything, both internal and external, far surpassing what the naked eye can see.
They hadn’t expected that by accident they got a premature glimpse of the power of Divine Sense from the Innate Realm. Even though they didn’t know when they would actually cultivate Divine Sense, being able to experience it now was undoubtedly an excellent breakthrough.
“Divine Sense?” Ji Qinglan also lightly furrowed her delicate brows. “Are you saying that scene just now happened because we unintentionally experienced the Divine Sense of the Innate Realm?”
“Correct. Other than Divine Sense, I can’t think of anything else that could suddenly make us completely naked. Only Divine Sense, which penetrates the true nature of things, could accomplish that.”
Lin Mu nodded affirmatively. Although that’s what he told Ji Qinglan, he had already confirmed in his heart that it was indeed the Divine Sense of the Innate Realm. After all, he had previously reached this Realm himself, so how could he not understand?
After hearing Lin Mu’s words, Ji Qinglan fell silent for a moment, lost in thought. Meanwhile, Lin Mu, having just seen the girl’s body, also felt somewhat confused and didn’t know where to begin.
For a while, an awkward silence fell between them. They stood quietly, neither speaking.
A gentle breeze blew by, rustling the leaves and branches in the grove. Ji Qinglan’s expression firmed, and she suddenly spoke.
“That day, in the cafeteria, I saw you eating with three girls. What is your relationship with them?”
“We are all friends,” Lin Mu said curiously, not understanding why Ji Qinglan was asking this.
“Just ordinary friends? Is anyone particularly close?”
“Particularly close? All three of us are very close.”
“Ah? They are all your girlfriends?” Ji Qinglan immediately shot Lin Mu a surprised glance.
“No, they are just that kind of very close friends,” Lin Mu said, confused by Ji Qinglan’s questions.
“How close?”
“Well, let me think.” Lin Mu rubbed his chin. A phrase a classmate once said flashed through his mind, and his face lit up with joy. “Beyond friendship, but not love.”
“Just a physical relationship?” Ji Qinglan narrowed her eyes, a dangerous glint flashing within them.
“No, no, we don’t have that kind of relationship,” Lin Mu said, a chill running down his spine as he quickly waved his hands.
“Hmph! You better not have that kind of relationship! Otherwise, I won’t let you off easily!” Ji Qinglan snorted coldly.
“Ah?” Lin Mu was stunned. What was she talking about now?
“My grandfather said, if you give your body to someone, you must marry them. If you can’t marry him, then just kill him, so he doesn’t tarnish your purity.”
Staring intently at Lin Mu, Ji Qinglan spoke softly.
“Well, your grandfather has a point. A girl really should be like that,” Lin Mu agreed with a nod. But then he suddenly realized something, and his expression changed. “Hey, wait a minute, you didn’t give your body to me. You’re not talking about me, are you?”
“You saw my pure body just now! You have to take responsibility for me!”
“Oh my god, that was just an illusion! It wasn’t real, just an early sensing of the Divine Sense Realm! My eyes didn’t actually see anything!”
Lin Mu immediately cried injustice. This was even more unfair than the story of Dou E!
“Hmph! Do you think I don’t know what Divine Sense is? Things seen through Divine Sense are even more real than what the naked eye sees. Our family had an Innate Realm Expert among our ancestors in the past. I’ve read all those records.”
Ji Qinglan wore an expression that said ‘don’t even think about tricking me’.
Lin Mu suddenly felt like fainting. This girl wasn’t so easy to fool after all.
In all honesty, Ji Qinglan was definitely the beautiful type, with a kind of elegant, classical beauty. She fit Lin Mu’s aesthetic preferences even more than Song Yuru and the others.
But right now, Lin Mu already had three women around him. He was barely coping with a pile of troublesome matters. He really didn’t want another person by his side.
Seeing the look of utter despair on Lin Mu’s face, Ji Qinglan became furious. “This really makes me angry! Could it be that I’m not good enough for you? Why do you look like you’d rather die?!”
From the first time he met Ji Qinglan until now, Lin Mu had never seen her like this. Before, she always had the aura of an pure, sacred, and unapproachable goddess.
“Oh? So you can get angry too?”
Lin Mu found it quite novel that this icy woman could also have fluctuations in her mood.
“Jerk! Of course I can get angry!”
Ji Qinglan placed her hands on her slender waist. “I became like this only because I cultivated the Frostglaze True Qi. But I’m still a person!”
“Cultivating Frostglaze True Qi can change a person’s personality?”
Lin Mu suddenly felt curious. Generally, Cultivation Techniques with such traits were extremely rare even in the Cultivation World.
But each one was a earth-shattering masterpiece. Cultivation Techniques that could subtly change a person’s state of mind during Cultivation… even he hadn’t seen many before. He hadn’t expected to find one here on Earth.
“It’s true. When I was little, I was a very active girl. My family all said I was like a boy, not quiet or gentle at all. But after I started cultivating the Frostglaze True Qi, my personality became quieter and quieter.”
“When I reached the higher levels of Cultivation, there was always a faint, elusive chill around me. Others could feel it if they got close to me. It kept going on like this. I could barely make any friends, and my heart grew colder and colder.”
Ji Qinglan said gloomily. How could this be her fault? It was all caused by this family’s Frostglaze True Qi. She was just practicing it as taught; what else could she do?
“That’s okay, you have friends now, right?” Lin Mu chuckled. “I can be your friend!”
“No!”
“Why? You don’t want to be friends with me?”
“You have to marry me. How can we be friends?”
“Oh my god!” Lin Mu almost choked on his breath.
“Marriage is a very serious matter. What if after marrying you, you find this or that about me unbearable? What then?”
“No problem! Grandpa said, marry a chicken and follow the chicken, marry a dog and follow the dog, marry a beggar and roam the streets!” Ji Qinglan’s attitude was exceptionally firm.
Lin Mu’s shoulders immediately slumped. He was completely defeated. What kind of things was this grandfather teaching his granddaughter? This was the modern society now, yet he still clung to those old, rigid rules.
“But we should spend some time together first. Let’s see if we’re really suitable for each other. That way we can avoid big problems later.”
Lin Mu racked his brains and came up with a reason.
“Of course, it’s not like we’re getting married right now. Even at the fastest, we have to wait until after we graduate. Before that, let’s just spend time together.”
Ji Qinglan didn’t hesitate about this and agreed immediately.
Feeling relieved inside, Lin Mu thought to himself that he had temporarily escaped a disaster. With the pressure off, his mischievous ideas resurfaced.
“Hehe, since we’re getting married eventually, how about giving me a kiss now?”
Ever since Lin Mu tasted the feeling of kissing, he had always remembered that wonderful sensation.
“No!” Ji Qinglan refused decisively. “At most, I’ll let you hold my hand. Everything else must wait until after marriage.”
Lin Mu was instantly dumbfounded.
Seeing Lin Mu looking like a dumb goose, Ji Qinglan suddenly felt like laughing inside, but she maintained a serious expression on her face.
“Depending on your future behavior, if you behave well, I might reward you early.”
After saying that, Ji Qinglan’s figure flashed. A white shadow darted rapidly back and forth through the grove, and in the blink of an eye, she had vanished without a trace.
Lin Mu chuckled, rubbed his chin, and leisurely walked out of the grove all by himself.
Once you have too many lice, you don’t feel the itch; once you have too many debts, you stop worrying.
With so many troublesome matters, he would just deal with them one by one. Sit steady on the fishing platform, let the winds and waves rise.
Lin Mu hummed a little tune and wandered all the way back to Huacheng Mingyuan.
Not long after he got home, the sound of the girls’ laughter and chatter filled the living room. Lin Mu came out of his room, looked at the three girls returning laden with shopping, and smiled slightly. “Finished shopping?”
“Yes, we bought some clothes. And we brought you some late-night snacks!” Song Yuru giggled and pointed to a bag on the coffee table.
“Awesome! Thanks!”
Tonight’s encounters had been rather bizarre. Without realizing it, Lin Mu had gotten a bit hungry. He quickly sat down on the sofa and started eating.