Though he was a Gu Person, he possessed cultivation, and his clothes were merely for covering his body. He wasn’t wearing much to begin with, so they came off in just a few quick motions.
That hand was straightforward and nimble, unhesitatingly undoing his garments. Just as he was about to be stripped completely bare, the youth finally resolved some of the toxins.
“Get away! Don’t touch me!” He forced his eyes open and shouted sternly.
His chilling purple pupils met a pair of clear black-and-white eyes. When the mortal girl saw his unique eye color, she froze on the spot.
He was a disfigured man, and those purple pupils were the result of spirit poison. Over time, they had become an omen of ill fortune.
The youth instinctively turned his face away, only to realize he couldn’t hide. His body hadn’t fully recovered yet. Most of his clothes were already off, leaving his exposed skin far from pristine—it was marred by scars accumulated over many years.
At this moment, whether it was his appearance or his body, both could only be described as ugly.
【Favorability -1】
The surroundings fell silent for several breaths. Unexpectedly, the mortal girl wasn’t frightened by his abnormality at all. Instead, she leaned in closer, her eyes sparkling as she stared at his eyes.
“Your eyes are so special. They’re really beautiful.” She revealed an interested expression and praised him bluntly.
The youth was momentarily stunned. By the time he regained his senses, the mortal girl had deftly stripped him completely naked.
Her gaze swept up and down his body. Finally, she gave a light cough, her eyes landing on his face with a perfectly normal expression. “I’ve prepared a medicinal bath for you.”
“The fish in the stream suddenly all floated belly-up, which scared me half to death. I figured something must be wrong, so I followed the stream upstream. That’s when I found you lying in the water. Your injuries looked serious, so I brought you back…”
The youth watched her coldly, clearly not buying her story.
Helplessly, his body was too weak, so he could only let her do as she pleased.
His eerie purple pupils should have terrified any mortal, but she paid no mind to his frightening gaze at all. She huffed and puffed as she hoisted him up, then placed him into the bath bucket.
Warm water filled the bucket, with some spirit herbs floating on the surface. It really was a medicinal bath.
Steam rose in wisps, and for the moment, neither of them spoke. She’d stripped him naked and put him in the water, then stayed by his side without leaving.
He lowered his gaze to examine the ingredients in the water. They were indeed medicines capable of healing wounds.
His purple pupils shifted slightly. He silently glanced at himself. The herbs had dyed the water a murky brown, submerging his body and obscuring it from view. It barely served to cover him.
【Favorability +1】
“You seem unable to move? Don’t worry, I’m keeping watch. I won’t let you drown.” The mortal girl suddenly spoke up.
His pupils flickered faintly as he looked toward the face peering over the edge of the bucket.
She had a pair of moist black eyes, lively and bright. Her eyelashes fluttered as she glanced into the water, then lifted her gaze with utmost seriousness, as if she hadn’t peeked anywhere she shouldn’t have. Her expression was one of pure innocence.
Once the soak was done, the mortal girl dragged him out of the bucket, wiped down his body, and dressed him.
The youth closed his eyes. With no strength to resist, it was better not to look.
“Why’d you close your eyes?” the mortal girl suddenly asked. She seemed particularly fascinated by his eyes.
A slight tug came at his scalp. The youth reluctantly opened his eyes, only to see her holding a comb. She was treating him like a wooden doll in need of grooming, combing his hair.
His crow-black locks were extremely long, untended for many years. They cascaded down like a waterfall or fine silk. Anyone who saw only his long hair and back would surely mistake him for a beauty.
After a good long while, she finished combing. She gave his bewitching purple eyes another look before laying him back down on the bed.
Then she turned and left the room, off to busy herself with who-knows-what.
A moment later, the toxins were fully neutralized, and the youth recovered his strength.
His injuries weren’t completely healed, but the people from the valley might track him down here any second. He had to leave.
As he pondered this, the youth moved with utmost stealth, making not a single sound. His footsteps were utterly silent as he crept toward the window and peered through the gap to check her position.
The mortal girl was in the courtyard, digging a small pit. She then buried something inside it.
His purple pupils flickered. She was burying his old clothes.
A bit of dust kicked up. With no spells at her disposal, she relied solely on her hands. Her originally clean face ended up smeared with dirt, but she merely wiped it casually, smudging it further.
In just a few motions, she buried the old clothes—smartly disposing of the evidence. Once finished, she stood up and turned to other chores. With quick eyes and hands, she gathered eggs from a grass nest. She glanced at another hen incubating its eggs in a nearby nest, taking care not to disturb it. Instead, she scattered some feed for the chickens before throwing herself energetically into her chicken-rearing tasks.
Just an utterly ordinary mortal girl.
【Favorability +8】
The youth watched her fixedly for a while. Until the girl seemed to sense his gaze and suddenly turned her head toward him.
He’d been spotted.
But that wasn’t the important part—he’d missed his chance to slip away.
The youth pursed his lips.
The mortal girl asked, “Can you move now?”
The youth’s expression wasn’t particularly readable. In fact, ever since she’d spotted him, his face had remained aloof and cold.
“Mm.” He gave a low response, lowering his head to tug at his collar in a motion that partially obscured his face.
His voice was hoarse and far from pleasant.
The mortal girl glanced at the eggs cradled in her arms. “Wait here. I’ll boil some eggs for you to eat.”
She dashed off to light the stove and boil water. The youth watched her with cold detachment.
The poultry she raised were all ordinary beasts, devoid of any spirituality. The eggs she’d collected were just plain chicken eggs.
Who would want such things?
Yet the youth stood in the doorway without taking a single step to leave.
In the midst of her bustling, the girl twisted her head around. “What’s your name?”
A name…
Gu People had no names.
His purple pupils swept over the small courtyard. In one corner, the poultry were making a racket—some chicks seemed to be breaking shell.
After a moment, he came up with a name for himself.
“…Ci Yuan.” He rarely spoke, and his enunciation carried an unusual cadence.
“Ci Yuan?” The girl repeated it once. “Ci Yuan.”
“Mm.” Ci Yuan acknowledged.
She had exchanged names with him.
【Favorability +5】
The boiled egg was soon placed in Ci Yuan’s hand. He held it but didn’t eat.
The mortal girl cracked one open for herself, peeled off the shell, and took a bite. “Your injuries looked pretty bad. I’ve got some herbs saved up here that can help with a medicinal bath to heal you up.”
His body temperature ran lower than a normal person’s. The cooked egg was still hot, scalding his palm.
Hearing her words, the youth’s gaze grew even deeper and more brooding. “What do you want?”
Mortals usually sought longevity elixirs to extend their lives, or gold and silver treasures. Once his injuries healed, he’d certainly be capable of obtaining such things for her. But if her greed knew no bounds…
【Favorability -1】
The mortal girl swallowed her bite without a second thought. “You must know spells, right? Using spells for housework has to be super convenient. Could you handle the chores for me? Laundry, cooking, whatever—I’ll leave it all to you. Besides the medicinal baths, I can give you one egg a day to nourish your body.”
She spoke with utter conviction, earnestly outlining how to put a cultivator to use. Somehow, she brimmed with energy and confidence, as if she were dead certain he’d agree.
Who would want that?
Ci Yuan’s purple pupils shifted faintly. He lowered his gaze, mimicking her motions to crack the eggshell in one go. His pale fingers leisurely peeled it away.
He parted his nearly bloodless lips. Without voicing any refusal, he bit into the food that held no meaning for a cultivator. This spiritless thing couldn’t nourish his body in the slightest.
【Favorability +1】
Her small flock of chickens and ducks laid two or three eggs a day.
Every day, she busied herself tending to that little flock, the small plot of land she’d reclaimed, and the mysterious male cultivator she’d picked up. She’d only asked his name and nothing more.
She didn’t eat much each day. Ci Yuan rarely interacted with outsiders and knew little about mortals, so he wasn’t sure if her portions were normal.
But once she finished eating, any fatigue vanished in an instant. She regained her energy and dashed off to handle her chores.
Oh, and right—with this mysterious male cultivator around, both the poultry and the fields were thriving better than before.
Spells made it all so convenient. Laundry and cooking were handed off to him.
She was lucky to dare eat food prepared by a Gu Person—not afraid of being poisoned to death someday.
【Favorability…】
Every few days, she headed out to gather herbs. Sometimes she returned empty-handed, other times with rare spirit grasses. That was how she slowly built up her stock.
All the accumulated herbs went into his medicinal baths. But she could be excessive at times, insisting on stripping him naked under the pretense of checking his wounds before letting him soak.
She truly wasn’t afraid of his purple pupils, nor the scars on his body, nor his poisonous blood, nor his corpse-like skin tone and body temperature.
She was even curious about it all, leaning in close for a better look while wearing that innocent expression—like she was approaching everything with the utmost seriousness.
…What a hypocrite.
【Favorability…】
Days passed slowly. His injuries improved far beyond the youth’s expectations.
Those wastes from the Medical Poison Valley acted like they were all dead. They hadn’t tracked him down here even after all this time.
If they ever did come, this little courtyard would never know peace again. And that utterly ordinary mortal girl wouldn’t meet a good end either.
Whenever she went out gathering herbs, he stayed behind to watch the house, waiting for her return.
Occasionally, he toyed with a knife, wondering when the people from the valley would show up—and when he should finally leave.
Perhaps once his injuries fully healed, it would be time to go.
On another day, she returned with some good finds. Excitedly setting down her basket, she didn’t rush to process them. Instead, she first took stock of her haul.
“You really picked these?” Ci Yuan leaned against the table, his gaze lowered as he examined them. His pale fingers idly fiddled with the spirit herbs in the basket.
“These herbs could fetch quite a few spirit stones if sold. That’d be more than enough for a mortal to set up a proper household—instead of feeding chickens and farming out here in the deep woods…”
Her favorite daily ritual was tallying up her accumulated goods. Even the mundane, spiritless items seemed like treasures to her.
Unclear if she’d even heard him, the girl lifted a basket proudly. “I’ve saved up forty-three eggs now! And the field’s yielding veggies every few days.”
The way she nodded slightly was full of pride, as if farming were some grand accomplishment.
The youth’s purple pupils fixed on her for a long moment before he finally turned his gaze away.
“No ambition.” He muttered lowly, turning his back on her and ignoring her completely.
This time, the girl heard him clearly. She quickly put away the eggs and said seriously, “No egg for you tomorrow.”
The youth let out a light huff. “Who wants one?”
【Favorability +1】
She added the gathered herbs to the bath bucket. She’d just confiscated his egg moments ago, but her anger came and went quickly. Now she was back to trying to strip off his clothes.
The youth said sternly, “Let go. I can do it myself.”
The veins on the back of his hand bulged with effort, standing out sharply. They tugged back and forth for a moment, but in the end, she still managed to remove his garments.
If he’d truly wanted to resist, the mortal girl wouldn’t have stood a chance. But he didn’t want to hurt her, so he’d deliberately held back his strength.