Chapter 26: Wooing Senior Sister Ziyuan

Chapter 26: Wooing Senior Sister Ziyuan

"He is not afraid of me."

"Why can't the Cursed Poison Body affect him?"

Senior Sister Ziyuan gazed at the lean back ahead of her, then lowered her head to stare at the large hand holding hers.

Unlike the coldness she only felt when clenching her own fingers together, Qin Xuan's palm was very warm; through her sleeves, his warm body temperature helped improve her suppressed mood significantly.

This was the first time she had such intimate contact with anyone.

It was also the first time she had heard an invitation to be friends from someone else's mouth.

In the past, she had also fantasized about being like a normal person, getting along and interacting with others.

Facts proved that it was an impossible thing, even though her father was the Chief Saint Physician of the Ziyang Empire, holding a high position and power, with countless people wanting to curry favor with him.

Yet whenever they met her, peers and even elders would avoid her at all costs.

Fearing they would be harmed by the Cursed Poison Body.

In her eyes, Qin Xuan became special.

Qin Xuan turned his head at the sound and asked, "Besides meat buns, is there anything else you want to eat?"

"No." Senior Sister Ziyuan gently shook her head, then immediately nodded, pointing with her finger at the vendor selling candied hawthorns not far away, "I want to eat that."

When she was young, she often saw little girls of her age holding a skewer of candied hawthorns.

Her unpleasant childhood experiences made her dislike speaking, and even less likely to proactively make requests.

Once, she conceived a bold idea: to sneak out of the mansion and go to the market to buy a skewer of candied hawthorns.

That day, in the Imperial Capital, an expert suffered from Qi Deviation and fell into a murderous state; by the time she arrived at the market, that expert had already slaughtered nearly ten thousand people.

When her father found her, he scolded her severely for the first time ever.

From then on, she would never again follow her own heart to do things.

Over these years, she had never thought about eating candied hawthorns again.

Senior Sister Ziyuan knew in her heart that the Cursed Poison Body made her different from ordinary girls and very distinct from normal people.

Today, perhaps it was Qin Xuan's initiative, being unaffected by the Cursed Poison Body, that made her harbor a tentative attitude, wanting to give it a try.

Qin Xuan agreed readily, "Candied hawthorns, right? Alright, whatever else you want to eat, just say it, my treat!"

He held Senior Sister Ziyuan's hand and walked toward the candied hawthorn vendor.

When the vendor saw the two arrive, he fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowed a dozen times until his forehead broke skin, and cried out with a trembling voice,

"Immortal, please spare me! I have an eighty-year-old mother above and a three-year-old child below; my whole family relies on me selling these candied skewers to survive. It's not that I want to offend the Immortal, it's really just that the Immortal's lingering aura is something we Mortals cannot withstand. I beg you, please go to another candied skewer vendor."

Senior Sister Ziyuan tugged at Qin Xuan's palm and turned her head to look elsewhere.

She saw that along the entire long street, three or four other vendors selling candied hawthorns were all carrying their large sticks and running away.

"Forget it, I don't want to eat anymore." Senior Sister Ziyuan shook her head in disappointment.

She was already used to it, used to this kind of treatment of being feared and shunned by others.

These vendors just wanted to survive; what did they do wrong?

At the moment Senior Sister Ziyuan's heart went cold, Qin Xuan gripped her palm tightly and said unhappily to the vendor, "No, I say, what is wrong with you? Do you just believe whatever others say? If she were really as you all described, why hasn't any misfortune befallen you until now?"

The kneeling vendor said with a trembling voice, "Perhaps it hasn't been long enough?"

Qin Xuan rolled his eyes, "Then just take out a skewer of candied hawthorns, I'll pay and we'll leave, won't that be fine?"

The vendor complied while shivering, took three coins from Qin Xuan, kowtowed in thanks, and sent the two away.

"Try it."

Qin Xuan handed the candied hawthorns to Senior Sister Ziyuan.

Senior Sister Ziyuan stared at Qin Xuan for a good while before taking the candied hawthorns from his hand, placing it inside her robe, and taking a small bite of one of the hawthorns, "So sweet!"

"It's sour."

"Sweet and sour, the taste is so strange."

Qin Xuan replied, "It's just hawthorn coated with a layer of sugar; children love this taste. You wouldn't happen to have never eaten candied hawthorns since you were young, would you?"

Senior Sister Ziyuan was silent for a while, then gave a hum of affirmation.

"What about roadside stir-fry?"

"I have eaten it; it should be stew, right?" Senior Sister Ziyuan said seriously, acting as if it were a real matter.

Stewed Seven-Star Blood Orchid, stewed Eight-Treasure Flood Dragon, stewed Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.

Her daily meals were all these clear-stewed potent medicines.

She also knew these potent medicines were expensive and did not blurt it out.

"Hawthorns stimulate the appetite; I'm also not quite full." Qin Xuan pulled Senior Sister Ziyuan and walked toward a roadside stir-fry stall, "I'll take you to stir-fry a few specialty dishes to try."

In front of the stall, Qin Xuan stumbled.

He turned his head and looked around; seeing no one noticed, he returned to his original spot, crouched down, picked up a piece of silver bullion mostly buried in the dirt, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Guest, please come inside to eat."

The vendor stir-frying dishes saw Qin Xuan, wore a polite smile, and welcomed him inside.

He had just seen it; Qin Xuan picked up an ingot of silver.

And he was still holding the hand of the tightly wrapped Senior Sister Ziyuan.

That Senior Sister Ziyuan definitely couldn't be that jinx from the Yaochi Sacred Land.

Otherwise, how could Qin Xuan pick up silver? Stepping in dog poop would be more likely.

"Two distinguished guests!"

The vendor shouted, and a woman with scorched-black skin walked over carrying a pot of tea, placed it on the table, and said, "Guest, our dishes here are all fresh; you can go to the front and take a look yourself."

Qin Xuan let go of Senior Sister Ziyuan's palm and stood up, saying, "I'll go take a look."

Before he had even taken half a step, he felt his empty palm filled again by a cool little hand.

Looking back, he saw Senior Sister Ziyuan had also stood up and said, "I want to go take a look with you."

She had just seen it; that silver was buried by Qin Xuan using a small technique.

It was just to let others catch a glimpse so he could clear her relationship with the Cursed Poison Body.

Perhaps Qin Xuan had also noticed her abnormality and was trying his best to consider her feelings.

She really liked this feeling of not being watched, and was even more grateful for Qin Xuan's little scheme, which made the shopkeeper's eyes full of smiles, without the slightest bit of disgust or fear.

This atmosphere of blending into the lives of ordinary people was something she had experienced for the first time in her life.

Even if it were just a dream, she didn't want to wake up so soon.

Qin Xuan took Senior Sister Ziyuan with him, ordered a few stir-fried dishes, and sat back down.

Not long after, a few plates of steaming hot stir-fried dishes were served.

Qin Xuan proactively picked food for Senior Sister Ziyuan's bowl, looked at her as she was still eating the candied hawthorns in small bites, and laughingly scolded, "Eat it later, it won't run away from you. If you eat too much of that sweet stuff, the other dishes will taste bland."

"Mm."

Senior Sister Ziyuan placed the candied hawthorns aside; two hawthorns were left, and she couldn't bear to throw them away.

She tasted the stir-fried dish Qin Xuan picked for her in small bites. The moment the sauce touched her taste buds, all sorts of strange and curious flavors exploded in her mouth, making her eyes light up, "What dish is this?"

"Quick-fried Liver Tips."

"Quick-fried—Liver Tips?"

"It's just marinated pork liver, added with some seasonings and special condiments, then stir-fried on high heat."

Senior Sister Ziyuan tasted it bite by bite and said seriously, "The internal organs of livestock mostly contain useless Impurities. For cultivators, it only increases filth within the body, and over time, it will affect the purity of the physical body."

Qin Xuan snatched a piece of liver tip from Senior Sister Ziyuan's chopsticks, "If you want to keep your body pure, then give it to me to eat; I don't care."

Taking advantage of Qin Xuan picking up food, Senior Sister Ziyuan also snatched a piece without showing weakness, retorting, "Eating it occasionally won't have an effect."

Moreover, the taste of this stir-fry was indeed unique.

Although it was unlike her daily meals, which had the medicinal effect of increasing blood energy and Yuan power, it could truly satisfy her appetite in a real sense.

The two fought and snatched, and a few plates of stir-fried dishes were eaten completely clean.

"I'm full."

Qin Xuan leaned back, one hand rubbing his bloated stomach, the other hand holding a toothpick and picking his teeth.

Senior Sister Ziyuan sat beside him, holding the candied hawthorns in her hand, still savoring it with relish.

Her other hand was proactively tugging at Qin Xuan's clothing.

"Full now, let's go home." Qin Xuan glanced at Senior Sister Ziyuan.

Hearing this, it was as if the candied hawthorns in her hand were no longer sweet. Senior Sister Ziyuan asked with disappointment in her heart, "It's only noon, where are you going back to?"

"Going back to take a nap. You gave me some extra money, I treated you to a meal, so we're even."

Originally reluctant to part, upon hearing Qin Xuan's words, Senior Sister Ziyuan immediately took out a piece of Top-Grade Yuan Stone from her Storage Ring and handed it to Qin Xuan, "Here for you."

Qin Xuan sighed inwardly; it really had a miraculous effect. He laughingly scolded, "Alright, so in your eyes, I'm the type of person who covets Yuan Stones, huh?"

Senior Sister Ziyuan took out ten more Top-Grade Yuan Stones, "These are all for you."