Chaotic World Book

Actually, practicing the horse stance wasn't too bad; when immersed in the cultivation technique, one could genuinely forget everything happening around.

Sleeping was the real test.

It didn't matter when one didn't know or wasn't sure, but now that he knew she was a girl lying beside him, which man could remain undistracted as before!

What's worse, everyone had bathed today, and Luo Qi had even changed clothes after entering the city, faintly exuding a fragrance lingering close at hand.

Zhao Changhe, who usually slept on his back, found it extremely rare today to turn and curl up on his side. He lay there for a long while with his eyes wide open, utterly unable to sleep.

On the contrary, Luo Qi lay quietly on her back, her eyes slightly closed, appearing to be calmly cultivating.

How could she be cultivating? Inside, she was cursing.

Damn, cultivation of Inner Breath needs concentration and calm, but how could she concentrate or calm her mind recently?

Not going mad from the internal fire was already an achievement...

Sometimes, Luo Qi would think, if she had secretly killed Zhao Changhe earlier, wouldn't many troubles have ceased to exist... She had reasons to kill him after all.

But earlier on, she dared not; she still needed the "merits" Zhao Changhe brought along, otherwise she might not even have been able to stay here. She hesitated to kill him and now it turned into this... Since he started saving food for her, it had really become difficult to make a move.

Change to a different hut in the cottage? Knowing that it wasn't possible. The privilege of a separate hut was reserved for higher-ups and she wasn't there yet.

Two people in a room, being paired with another woman? Wishful thinking. Being paired to live with another man… she would definitely kill him.

All things considered, it had ended up like this. Impossible to leave, impossible to avoid.

Ironically, she felt less tension today than yesterday. After all, they had slept together before, gotten used to it, and he indeed wouldn't engage in inappropriate contact; he could be trusted.

Guess that's just how it would be.

Suddenly, Luo Qi felt a sense of panic in her heart. Who would have thought that one day she would accept sharing a bed with a man so calmly?

Habit is indeed a scary force.

Unconsciously, the faint sound of Zhao Changhe's snoring finally began, signaling Luo Qi to relax and slowly drift into sleep.

...........

The next morning, before the kitchen worker traditionally delivered buns door by door, Luo Qi was startled awake.

Her first realization was that something was wrong, her hard pillow had turned comfy.

She hazily opened her eyes and her heart immediately sank.

What pillow?

She was resting in the nook of Zhao Changhe's shoulder, one hand wrapped around his waist, nearly throwing her leg over.

Carefully, Luo Qi shrank back.

She had wondered if he might unconsciously hug her in his sleep, but it turned out to be her own unconscious embrace.

Luo Qi was nearly in tears; she shouldn't have drunk that lousy wine!

Luckily, Zhao Changhe, who usually woke as easily as she did, seemed to still be deep in sleep. Relieved, she calmly settled the messy quilt and quietly waited for the kitchen worker to knock on their door.

And indeed, as soon as there was a knock, Zhao Changhe woke up as if wound up, stretched, turned to Luo Qi, and smiled, "Morning."

Everything seemed normal.

Luo Qi's heart that had been stuck in her throat finally relaxed, and with a smile she patted Zhao Changhe's shoulder, "Go get the food."

This time Zhao Changhe hesitated a bit before reluctantly getting out of bed, then awkwardly went to fetch the buns.

Luo Qi expressionless, got it.

This guy must have been awake earlier, pretending not to know… Otherwise, it would be awkward concerning what was sticking up under his blanket.

"Ptui," Luo Qi spat softly, her cheeks uncontrollably flushing red.

Was it really necessary to react like this?

He was obviously very lustful!

"But he's pretty good at dealing with people, at least it's not awkward now."

"This is called... I'm pretending, he knows I'm pretending, I know he knows I'm pretending, he knows I know he knows I'm pretending, and then we all tacitly continue to pretend."

"What's this even..."

Zhao Changhe brought over some cornbread, not sure what expression to wear, so he just tossed it over expressionlessly, "I'm off to train. Be careful hunting beasts as well, it's not without risks. Once I get more familiar with Teacher Sun, I'll see if I can get you transferred too..."

Luo Qi smiled slightly, "Got it, you go ahead."

Zhao Changhe ran off somewhat embarrassingly, seeing his awkward posture, Luo Qi angrily tore the cornbread into pieces, as if pinching Zhao Changhe's soft flesh around his waist.

"So flirty, yet pretending to be straight!"

Zhao Changhe felt wronged, a vigorous young man—nothing had even happened, and yet one naturally vibrates a vibe from Bai Chen. What does that have to do with being flirty?

Besides, after having a shower, the elder was fragrant, and when she leaned in, the feel of her arms was soft… Zhao Changhe, forever single, couldn't withstand it!

"Zhao Changhe!" Teacher Sun's annoyed voice came through.

"Ah..." Zhao Changhe felt as if he was caught by a professor in a classroom, awkwardly saying, "Teacher..."

"Just yesterday I praised you for your diligence, and today you're daydreaming? Explain the key point of the slanting strike we just went over."

Strike? I didn't hit on her, she hit on me… uh, wait...

Zhao Changhe: "..."

So, it turns out women do affect the speed of cultivation, right? Look at how messed up my horse stance was last night, and my mind this morning.

Really.

"Please teach it to me again, Teacher. I'm self-penalty today, I'll practice it three thousand times!"

Zhao Changhe was determined, trying to use full-hearted training to dilute the thoughts about men and women, but as it turned out, it actually wasn't necessary.

Habit really is a terrifying force.

He never imagined that after that day, his interactions with Luo Qi would become even more casual.

Now that he had a bigger reputation in "Newbie Village," every day he'd get an extra bowl of rice for dinner to take back, and nobody dared object, so he brought back food for Luo Qi every day. Sometimes, Luo Qi hunted wild animals, secretly ran to the city to exchange it for money, and bought wine for Zhao Changhe to drink.

It wasn't that wine was more important than meat, but they discovered that hot wine genuinely assisted the Blood Evil Skill, with quite a good effect.

They ate together, casually sharing their own experiences, and after finishing, one would practice the External Skill Technique at the door and the other would practice Inner Breath on the bed. After practice, they'd sleep together, not having much else to say.

Nothing much to talk about.

Zhao Changhe occasionally casually put his arm around Luo Qi's shoulder, and Luo Qi didn't shy away anymore, sometimes even proactively clinging to his shoulder, swaggering through the village as if to show they were good brothers. Everyone else thought this was perfectly normal; nobody thought otherwise.

And such physical contact, both of them had no more reactions.

Zhao Changhe didn't need to keep his body tense, and Luo Qi wouldn't get shocked anymore.

Even if they woke up and found one's hand on the other, both would yawn, remove it, and act as if nothing happened.

For the two of them, preoccupied with their own secrets and goals, not focusing on romantic entanglements, getting used to this was just that simple.

Their biggest understanding was just to separate when it came to bathing, that was all.

"Clang!" The saber light flashed, accurately striking the iron stick flying in front, knocking it to the ground.

Beside him, Teacher Sun bent down to pick up the iron stick, on which the reserved scratch precisely overlapped with a new mark, down to the millimeter.

After day and night practice, Zhao Changhe had moved from a fixed target to a moving target, accurately striking the desired spot on objects passing at a not too fast speed.

Where the eye goes, the saber follows.

Twenty days had almost passed since the night Luo Qi's gender was confirmed.

The basics of the saber technique were mastered, taking over twenty days, reaching a month since his arrival.

When he crossed over, it was the end of October, light snow.

Now it's November, frost, winter solstice.