After Breaking Off the Engagement, I Started Pursuing My Master
Chapter 186 - Rainy Day

Chapter 186: Rainy Day

The sky was hazy, and the rain pattered against the banana leaves. The summer downpours always came so suddenly.

When Jiang Huai woke up, the sound of rain was loud in his ears. Bai Li was still sleeping soundly in the bed. He carefully lowered her leg and arm, which were draped over him, and sat up.

He hadn’t drunk too much last night, had been very sober, and remembered clearly what he had said and done with Bai Li.

He looked down at the girl in his arms. She opened her eyes for a moment due to Jiang Huai’s movement but then slowly closed them again, content to go back to sleep.

Jiang Huai got up to make breakfast.

He opened the door to the room and had just stepped out when he suddenly noticed Chu Xianning sitting in the pavilion in the courtyard.

Through the veil of rain, their gazes met from afar.

The one who wanted to avoid eye contact was Jiang Huai. Looking at Chu Xianning’s eyes, he suddenly felt an indescribable sense of guilt. Chu Xianning had seen him coming out of Bai Li’s room, so she must have guessed something. Moreover, Bai Li had been staying in the courtyard these days, and the two of them had been quite intimate. It’s hard to keep a secret forever, and Chu Xianning was bound to find out eventually.

Would Chu Xianning mind?

If he explained, would Chu Xianning listen?

No, there was nothing to explain in the first place.

If he didn’t speak up, would Chu Xianning ask?

Jiang Huai was struck by a strange thought. Through the rain, he looked at Chu Xianning’s cheeks and asked softly.

“Why is Master up so early today?”

“I just happened to wake up early,” Chu Xianning’s voice was not cold, just indifferent.

She had woken up to the sound of thunder. It had been raining these days, and the damp weather had aggravated her old injury, causing a vague soreness in her calf. But staying in her room felt somewhat suffocating, so she had come to the pavilion to get some air and watch the rain hitting the banana leaves.

“I see. How about some fried sugar cakes for breakfast?”

Jiang Huai planned to make a snack called fried sugar cakes—soft and chewy, with a hint of sweetness, a crispy golden crust, and a soft glutinous rice flour interior. The fragrance of rice and the light sweetness permeated together, soon filling the courtyard with the delicious scent from the kitchen.

Bai Li liked to sleep in, so Jiang Huai didn’t disturb her. He brought some freshly fried sugar cakes to the pavilion and sat down opposite Chu Xianning.

Chu Xianning carefully picked up a piece with her chopsticks, blew on it to cool it down before taking a bite. She had a cat-like tongue and couldn’t handle hot food. After blowing on it for a while, she finally took a gentle bite.

Her eyes inadvertently swept over Jiang Huai, who immediately avoided her gaze out of guilt.

Chu Xianning didn’t ask why he had come out of Bai Li’s room, and Jiang Huai didn’t know if he needed to say anything. If Chu Xianning didn’t want to listen or didn’t care, then he would seem foolish.

The sound of rain on the eaves rustled, and many green leaves were knocked off the branches by the heavy rain. Chu Xianning’s gaze drifted to the lotus pond in the distance. The recent storm had caused many lotus flowers to wither, leaving only a few scattered blooms.

Last night, when she heard the rain, she had thought about protecting the lotus flowers with her spiritual energy, but then she felt that perhaps it was better to let nature take its course.

The weather was always unpredictable, with clear skies and rain both uncertain.

Even if she could protect them once, twice, or more, what then?

The lotus flowers would eventually wilt. She couldn’t protect them for a lifetime. Perhaps from the beginning, she should have let them grow in the pond, regardless of wind and rain, as it was their own fate.

Following Chu Xianning’s gaze, Jiang Huai also saw the scattered lotus flowers in the pond. He asked softly.

“The rain damaged many lotus flowers a few days ago. Should I transplant some more later?”

“As you like,” Chu Xianning replied indifferently.

Many things in the courtyard were managed by Jiang Huai. He had planted many flowers, pruned the branches, and even made the tables and chairs in the pavilion by hand.

In the past, when Chu Xianning sat here alone, there was only a single chair. She often sat under the eaves alone, gazing at the sky for a long time.

When Luo Yueguan first met her, she always said she was cold by nature. She had wanted to explain to Luo Yueguan that it wasn’t true, but explanations were too exhausting, and in the end, she couldn’t be bothered to say it out loud.

She felt she just liked the quiet. After so many years alone, it was because they were too lively. Occasionally, she liked the liveliness, but too much of it inevitably made her irritable.

Compared to that, she preferred to sit quietly alone, looking up at the sky, emptying her mind as if even her own existence was forgotten.

Jiang Huai nodded gently. After a while, he said softly,

“Bai Li is a good friend I met in the secret realm at the foot of the mountain. She’s the one I mentioned to Master before, the one who borrowed the sword. We’ve been through life and death together many times in the secret realm, and she has saved my life.”

Chu Xianning turned her face slightly, not understanding what he was trying to say.

“In a little over ten days, she will follow her mother to the Western Region. That’s why I thought of bringing her to stay in the courtyard for a while. If Master finds it noisy, I hope you can be understanding,” Jiang Huai’s voice was very gentle, but Chu Xianning felt somehow choked by his words and didn’t know what to say.

Do you really see me as such a petty person?

Chu Xianning was silent for several seconds. Seeing her speechless, Jiang Huai felt something was wrong but couldn’t figure out what he had said incorrectly. He just wanted to introduce his relationship with Bai Li to Chu Xianning. The rest was secondary. He knew Chu Xianning wasn’t so petty.

“Guangxue Mountain is not only my home but also yours. You don’t need to ask my opinion to bring a friend to stay. I won’t be angry. It’s your right.”

“After all, Master is the head of the household. I just thought I should speak to Master properly... With the continuous rain these days, I was worried that the noise would upset Master...”

“My bad mood is due to my own physical reasons, not related to her. She can’t be considered noisy, so you don’t need to worry,” Chu Xianning said indifferently.

“Where is Master feeling uncomfortable now?”

“It’s none of your concern,” Chu Xianning’s tone became slightly more urgent, but she regretted her words as soon as she said them.

Her fingers under the table unconsciously clutched the fabric of her dress, her eyes flustered, not daring to meet Jiang Huai’s gaze.

“I’m just concerned... Master is so fierce,” Jiang Huai’s voice was slightly aggrieved.

Chu Xianning didn’t know what to say for a moment. Lately, she had been feeling inexplicably irritable. Perhaps she had a vague idea of the reason, perhaps not just because of the old injury but also because of something else. She tried hard not to think about it, but the more she tried not to, the more those strange thoughts surged.

“Concern is useless. It’s better not to care. Just take care of yourself.”

Chu Xianning’s tone was slightly guilty, and she didn’t dare look into Jiang Huai’s eyes as she spoke.

“What’s useless about it? You mentioned before that the acupoints could still be opened. If you’re feeling uncomfortable, I can massage you. It might relieve some of the pain. I’m not saying this to take advantage of Master, just...”

“Enough,” Chu Xianning interrupted Jiang Huai, finally turning her head to meet his gaze.

“I know you meant well,” she murmured softly, looking down.

“Where is Master feeling uncomfortable now?” Jiang Huai asked softly.

Chu Xianning hesitated for a moment, then reached out, grabbed the hem of her skirt by her waist, and lifted it up a bit, all the way to her knee. She slowly raised her calf but hesitated, leaving it hanging in mid-air. After a second or two, she finally lifted it completely and said softly.

“My calf is very sore.”

“Let me see.”

Jiang Huai got up, moved his chair next to Chu Xianning, and sat down. The pleasant scent of flowers hit his nose as he looked at Chu Xianning’s raised calf, porcelain-white and smooth. He bent slightly, his fingertips gently grasping her ankle, guiding her calf to rest on his leg.

Chu Xianning was now sitting sideways, still holding her skirt. The action was somewhat embarrassingly indescribable. Jiang Huai sat beside her, looking down seriously, touching her slightly pink knee, and asked softly,

“Does it hurt here?”

“No, a little lower.”

Jiang Huai gently squeezed her calf muscle again,

“Here?”

“Mhm,” Chu Xianning bit her lip.

Her skin was slightly cool, while Jiang Huai’s fingertips were burning hot, so hot that it felt like an electric shock to her skin. Her body’s instinctive reaction was to pull her calf back, but her mind struggled to suppress this instinct... She was willing to believe that Jiang Huai wasn’t trying to take advantage of her, and she believed that Jiang Huai truly meant well.

Jiang Huai was the child she had watched grow up. Even if he had ambiguous intentions towards other women, he was usually well-behaved in front of her when he needed to be.

“Is it a stabbing pain? A swelling pain? Or a sore pain?”

“A sore pain.”

“It might be that the poison from the old injury has spread to the bone marrow. The poison is inherently cold, which is why Master feels uncomfortable on rainy days. It has been difficult to relieve in the past, but fortunately, Master took the Dragon Blood Elixir recently, and some of the blocked acupoints have opened, allowing spiritual energy to flow more smoothly.”

As Jiang Huai’s fingertips gently squeezed Chu Xianning’s calf, she was particularly tall and slender, with long legs. She had a delicate figure, not overly bony, which made her calves especially attractive, like a beautifully crafted work of art.

Jiang Huai’s fingertips massaged her leg seriously, and Chu Xianning felt his touch was incredibly hot. She bit her lip and couldn’t help but mutter softly.

“It’s so hot.”

“I recently received the inheritance of the Overlord Art at the Daoji Ancestral Land. Overlord Art is a miraculous body refining technique that doesn’t require spiritual energy but can refine what’s called the Overlord’s Qi within the body. Although the name sounds strange, it’s now spreading through my fingertips. This Qi is yang in nature and can alleviate some of the Cold Qi in Master’s body.”

As Jiang Huai spoke, his hand slowly slid down and gently grasped Chu Xianning’s delicate foot. His gaze was filled with the sight of Master’s snow-white feet, each toe as tempting as a crystal grape.

His mind had been clear, but suddenly he remembered the day when Chu Xianning had stuffed her foot into his mouth, even using her toes to grab his tongue, forbidding him to speak further... Jiang Huai’s head suddenly became inexplicably excited.

He immediately slapped himself on the head.