I CULTIVATED BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE DEMON LORD

———

~ Please support this site by disabling your ad-blocker ❤️ ~
______

CHAPTER 17: Jealousy

Please do not read on pirate sites. Read only on https://royaltywrites.com.ng/ Please read this content from the original site.

Chu Li nearly convinced herself Little Lian was joking.

If he was, it was a genuinely dangerous joke to make.

Dandan, having been raised by Qi Ying's own hands since she was a chick, meant something to Qi Ying far beyond just a spirit pet. She was practically family.

What Little Lian had just said was the equivalent of asking a dog owner, right to their face, what dog meat tasted like.

...How had he managed to say something like that out loud, in front of everyone, in such a light, offhand tone?

Chu Li began to worry that maybe she'd been too heavy-handed with the wax dripping on his chest the night before, that she'd somehow rattled something loose in him. Alarmed, she reached out and pressed a hand to his forehead. "Didn't you sleep well? Is it the spirit pill keeping you up?"

"Sister," Little Lian cut her off flatly, a cold smile settling on his face, visible only to her. "I'm fine."

"Nonsense, you're clearly burning up!" Under the baffled stares of Qi Ying and Xu Huai, Chu Li kept the lie going with a perfectly straight face. "Go back and rest. I'll go find you a healer right away..."

Having committed to the act, she figured she might as well see it through properly.

She pulled him toward the inner chamber, glancing back apologetically at Qi Ying with a strained smile along the way, and the moment Little Lian stepped through the doorway behind her, she quickly shut the door and released his hand.

After a few deep breaths, she managed to ask him, her voice carefully even, "That question you asked at the table just now, did you actually mean it?"

"Didn't you already know, Sister?" Little Lian's voice came out so flat it was nearly unreadable. "Everything I say to you has always come from the heart."

Hearing him openly admit he'd asked that question on purpose, Chu Li felt the situation had grown far more complicated than she'd realized. She rubbed at her temple. "How could you ask something like that, about a crane's... meat, right in front of Qi Ying?"

"Is it really not allowed to just ask?" Little Lian looked up at her. "Asking doesn't cost the crane a single piece of meat, does it?"

"How am I supposed to explain a random comment like that to Qi Ying?" Chu Li's head was already throbbing. "Was it that you don't understand social boundaries, or was it a moment of confusion? You're seventeen, not seven. Could you not have thought about how it would make me feel, before saying something like that?"

"How I made you feel? Yesterday you rode the crane because of your sprained ankle, Sister. What was your excuse today, some thrill-seeking need for novelty?" Little Lian's gaze drifted aside, his tone stubborn. "And did you ever stop to think about how I felt, worrying, being afraid you might get hurt?"

The words nearly caught in Chu Li's throat. "You don't trust me to take care of myself?"

"Of course I trust you, Sister." Little Lian looked away, his voice sinking lower. "I just don't trust that stupid crane."

Only then did it click for Chu Li. He hadn't been curious about crane meat at all. He'd simply been jealous of Dandan!

"Are you actually competing with a crane right now?" Chu Li said, torn between laughing and disbelief, turning away from him. "It's just a crane!"

"It's still someone else's crane." Little Lian muttered coldly behind her back. "...Someone else's male crane, at that."

"Is that really what this is about, that Dandan's someone else's male crane?" Chu Li could feel herself losing the battle not to laugh. "If something's bothering you, why not just tell me before making a scene at the breakfast table?"

"Did you ask my opinion before inviting Qi Ying and Xu Huai over for breakfast, Sister, letting outsiders intrude on our quiet time together?"

The boy's voice suddenly rang out crisp and clear right behind her. At some point, he'd stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, exactly the way he had on the crane's back the day before.

Except this time, without the crane's rolling gait to justify it, he still clung to her just as tightly, refusing to let go no matter what she said.

His unrelenting grip left Chu Li feeling almost short of breath. It took her a long moment before she could manage a level tone. "Have I spoiled you too much? When did you become like this?"

"I've always been like this. Are you only just realizing that now, Sister?"

The boy pressed the side of his face against her back, turning his head slightly, rubbing first one cheek and then the other slowly against her, his sharp nose tracing along the edge of her shoulder blade like some kind of exquisitely precise instrument of torture, sending sensations both painful and numbing through her body.

Steeling herself, Chu Li summoned a small burst of spiritual force in her fingertips, finally prying his hands loose, and turned to walk away.

Little Lian caught the hem of her sleeve instead. "Are you going to abandon me now, Sister, after all this?"

"I told you, I'll protect you." Chu Li pulled her sleeve free from his grip. "But with you acting like this, I don't feel comfortable taking you out with me right now."

His hand remained frozen in the exact shape it had held her sleeve, as though it had never let go at all. "Are you confining me to quarters, Sister?"

Chu Li didn't deny it. "You'll stay here and rest for the next few days. And I'll find a proper healer to have a look at you, once I have the chance."

"If you want to confine me, Sister, I'll accept that." Little Lian suddenly lifted his head, his height advantage letting his gaze settle directly on Chu Li's eyes. "But I don't want a healer. I'll only allow you to take care of me."

A subtle, oppressive pressure settled over her, and Chu Li found her hands curling into fists without meaning to.

She resolved firmly and cast the confinement spell, though before leaving, she couldn't help glancing back once more.

The boy sat quietly against the bamboo cot, arms wrapped around his knees, his hands loosely clasped together, his back slightly curved, his gaze distant and unfocused, fixed on something she couldn't guess.

Chu Li sighed and slowly pulled the door shut behind her.

To Chu Li's relief, Qi Ying didn't press her further about what had happened at the breakfast table, and once she learned Little Lian wasn't feeling well, she even offered Chu Li some comfort.

"He's only seventeen, and doesn't yet know much about the world. It's only natural he wouldn't be as tactful as an adult." Qi Ying confided quietly, "Honestly, Ah Huai wasn't nearly as composed as he is now when he was seventeen either. It's only been about three years since then, but he's matured quite a bit."

"Ah Ying," Xu Huai said, a faint note of embarrassment in his voice. "That's ancient history. Let's not bring it up."

Qi Ying reached over and patted his chest affectionately. "I'm only saying it to put Xiao Li's mind at ease."

Caught off guard by yet another dose of relationship sweetness, Chu Li found herself envying the easy, comfortable dynamic between Qi Ying and Xu Huai. Thinking back over the small details of her own relationship with Little Lian, she suddenly felt a bit lost. "Sometimes I wonder if I actually understand him as well as I thought I did. Is there something I'm doing wrong, that things keep turning out this way?"

"You're far from the only one who's struggled with this." Qi Ying noticed her low spirits. "I've actually done some reading on this in the sect's library before. Our predecessors in the Bliss Sect anticipated these exact problems long ago, and wrote it all down in books. Why don't I take you to the library, and open your eyes a little?"

Chu Li had been looking for an excuse to get some fresh air anyway, and readily agreed to Qi Ying's suggestion.

Qi Ying sent Xu Huai back home to tend to their courtyard, then took Chu Li's hand, planning to fly together with Dandan to the library.

The moment Chu Li heard "fly," her legs went weak on reflex, and she grabbed Qi Ying's sleeve, stopping in her tracks. "I'm... afraid of heights."

"Dandan flies incredibly smoothly, nothing like the swaying you feel while she's walking." Qi Ying tilted her head back toward the sky, spreading her arms and spinning once in place. "And the weather's so clear today, wouldn't it be wonderful to look down at the view from up on her back?"

Chu Li waved both hands frantically. "Ah Ying, please, have mercy. My stomach's nowhere near as steady as your nerves. If I get nervous and end up bringing up this morning's congee, that would be mortifying."

"Fair point." Qi Ying pouted, then took both of Chu Li's hands and swung them back and forth playfully. "Well, we could still ride Dandan on foot to the library, at least!"

Chu Li didn't refuse this time.

She sat behind Qi Ying, and the two of them rode Dandan together toward the library.

Qi Ying was clearly experienced with riding cranes, and even as Dandan swayed dramatically going down the steps, she showed not the slightest hint of nerves.

Chu Li, riding behind her, had no choice but to press herself close against Qi Ying, clinging to her waist like a sloth just to keep her own balance.

It suddenly occurred to Chu Li that Little Lian had sat exactly like this behind her the day before. He'd already been reluctant about riding a crane to begin with, and unable to see her face on top of that, he must have felt just as nervous as she did right now.

The thought brought a flood of small details rushing back, the warmth of his palms, the feel of his arms wrapped around her waist, the faintly uneven rhythm of his breathing...

Chu Li shook her head quickly.

She decided she needed to set Little Lian aside in her mind for the moment, at least until she'd sorted out her own feelings enough to face him with a clear head.

The outer gates of the Bliss Sect's library stood nearly deserted, with only a single disciple half-heartedly sweeping the ground, not even sparing a glance for Dandan wandering nearby.

Inside, the library was completely empty. As Chu Li walked, she could hear her own footsteps echoing back at her.

Rather than peaceful, she found the silence faintly unsettling.

Bookshelves lined the space in dense rows, the labels meant to sort them by category thick with dust, making it a genuine chore to find anything.

Chu Li idly picked up an old book with a faded cover page, and whether by bad luck or otherwise, the very first thing her eyes landed on, right in the middle of the first page, was the phrase "Boundless Heaven and Earth Yin-Yang Bliss Powder," printed in large characters.

She quietly closed the book.

Meanwhile, Qi Ying moved briskly between the shelves with practiced ease, and within the time it took to finish a single cup of tea, returned with a tall stack of books, setting them down on the table beside Chu Li with a solid thump.

"Every answer you're looking for is somewhere in here." Qi Ying brushed the dust off her hands and handed Chu Li the book on top. "Start with this one."

"Forty-Nine Techniques to Tame Him?" Chu Li read the title aloud, hesitant. "What... exactly is this about?"

"It teaches you how to tame a disobedient partner, obviously." Qi Ying described it the way one might describe a dog-training manual. "Here, look at these too."

Chu Li flipped open the second and third books in turn, carefully reading each title page.

The first read: Eighty-One Techniques to Drive Him Wild for You.

The second read: From Dual Cultivation to Ascension: My One Thousand and One Nights With Him.

Chu Li had no idea what to make of any of this. Why did each title sound more suspicious than the last?

She couldn't hold back any longer. "Ah Ying, are you sure these books can actually help resolve things between me and Little Lian?"

"Don't let the titles scare you off. What matters is the content inside." Qi Ying said, perfectly serious. "You have no idea how little today's disciples actually enjoy reading. Our predecessors had no choice but to dress the titles up like this."

Bracing herself, Chu Li opened all three books, only to find something entirely unexpected inside.

Forty-Nine Techniques to Tame Him turned out to be nothing more than a cookbook, compiling forty-nine popular spirit dishes favored by cultivators.

Eighty-One Techniques to Drive Him Wild for You was, in fact, a beauty guide, showcasing eighty-one distinct makeup looks, each with its own particular charm.

From Dual Cultivation to Ascension: My One Thousand and One Nights With Him took the form of a personal journal, recording one Bliss Sect elder's reflections, spanning two years of cultivating alongside her partner, on the clever use of aromatherapy to improve one's mood.

Chu Li set aside the cookbook and wiped a cold bead of sweat from her forehead.

It seemed the Bliss Sect's collection wasn't quite as scandalous as its titles suggested after all.

Just then, Qi Ying handed her a fourth book, One Hundred Positions You Need to Know About Dual Cultivation, introducing it with total sincerity. "This one's definitely useful. It's said to have been written personally by a former sect master. I highly recommend it!"

Chu Li fully expected this to be another rigorous, thoroughly researched reference guide as well.

But the moment she flipped open a random page, the illustration that flashed before her eyes made her slam the book shut immediately.

"What's wrong?" Qi Ying raised an eyebrow at her. "Is this one no good either?"

Chu Li couldn't detect the slightest sign of anything unusual on Qi Ying's face.

She began to suspect she was simply spooking herself over nothing, and forced herself to sound composed, saying, "Let me take another look," before carefully starting from the very first page.

The opening section seemed perfectly ordinary at first, recounting an example of an argument between the former sect master and her partner, followed by a level-headed breakdown of what had caused the conflict.

But the solution the book offered for resolving it was nothing more than a single, remarkably detailed illustration of an intimate scene, without a single word of explanation attached.

Assuming this was simply an attention-grabbing opener, Chu Li frowned and kept reading anyway.

The former sect master went on to list a whole series of different conflicts throughout the book.

Sometimes, it was a disagreement over how much time to spend cultivating.

Sometimes, it was her complaining that her partner had grown too clingy, encroaching on her personal space.

Even something as trivial as whether the blindfold used to cover the partner's eyes should be red or purple apparently had the potential to spark conflict, which struck Chu Li as almost absurd.

But no matter what the specific problem happened to be, the solution offered in the book was, without fail, another intimate illustration, the position depicted simply different each time.

Chu Li closed the book and took a deep, steadying breath.

So this legendary former sect master of the Bliss Sect had apparently resolved every single conflict with her partner exclusively through an endlessly varied bedroom repertoire?

【Author's Note】

【Bonus scene】

Ji Wuyan: Why can't you take a page from your former sect master's book? What a wise, understanding elder she must have been.

Chu Li: Go sleep with your snake tonight :)

Ji Wuyan: ......

—

Read only on https://royaltywrites.com.ng/