Chapter 245: Old Xu’s Transformation

Night, at the hour of the Pig.

Central Heaven, west of the city, Estate.

Old Man sat cross-legged on a cushion, holding a short knife that did not look very sharp, carefully carving a wooden sword less than two feet long.

A pile of wood shavings lay before him.

Through the open window, a nimble figure floated in like a spirit, landing silently behind him.

Old Man seemed completely unaware, continuing his work. After a long while, he held up the wooden sword to check it against the candlelight. While continuing to carve, he spoke without warning: ‘How did the matter go?’

‘Reporting to Teacher, Ah Ji has already gone on outings with the Heir Apparent several times.’

‘Hmm.’

Old Man responded, noncommittally.

A Chen thought for a moment and added: ‘This morning, an incident occurred at the Patrol Inspection Office concerning the Young Master.’

‘Oh?’

Old Man’s hand carving the sword paused. ‘What happened?’

‘It concerns a case of a missing noblewoman from a few days ago. That woman had a grudge against Zhao Yan. This morning, Chen Hong summoned Zhao Yan for questioning. The Young Master heard the news and rushed over. Headmaster Xu Jiuxi of the State Religion testified that she had been with the Young Master all night.’

A Chen reported the matter in detail to Old Man. After listening, the latter asked first: ‘What about that damn Headmaster Xu, Xu what’s-her-name?’

‘Xu Jiuxi.’

‘Did you cast the Thread-Tying Curse on the Young Master and that Xu Jiuxi?’

‘No.’

‘Oh?’

Old Man was quite surprised. He put down the wooden sword and carving knife, asking curiously: ‘Is she not afraid of punishment by the State Religion?’

A Chen could not answer this question and remained silent.

Old Man thought for a moment, smiled dismissively, and said: ‘As for Ah Ji, don’t rush to make the Heir Apparent and Chen Hong turn against each other. Let’s first see what the Young Master and Xu Jiuxi are up to.’

‘The Headmaster’s name is Xu Jiuxi, not Xu Xijiu.’

At the end of the hour of the Pig, Law Academy.

Shu Yao breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Xu Jiuxi return safely.

‘Headmaster, are you alright?’

‘Ha, what could happen to me?’

Xu Jiuxi sat down in her chair arrogantly and said: ‘Go, get me a pot of strong wine and a bucket of hot water for bathing.’

‘Yes.’

It was mid-summer, and asking for strong wine and hot water was a bit strange, but Shu Yao still followed her instructions.

When she returned to Qingjiao Pavilion, she quickly retrieved the spirit bead Xu Jiuxi had spat out and presented it with both hands.

Xu Jiuxi reached out to take it. Their palms touched for a moment, and Shu Yao couldn’t help but tremble. Headmaster Xu’s palm was exceptionally cold, as if she had touched a piece of thousand-year black ice.

‘Headmaster, you…’

Shu Yao gasped. Xu Jiuxi calmly swallowed the spirit bead and said nonchalantly: ‘It’s nothing, I was forced to take the Cold Marrow Gu.’

‘Ah!’

Shu Yao’s face turned pale instantly. The Cold Marrow Gu was a secret technique used by the State Religion to punish its members; even those within the State Religion turned pale at the mention of it.

It was said to flare up every twenty-four hours. When it flared up, it felt like ten thousand ice needles piercing the bone marrow simultaneously, with cold air spreading from the internal organs to the limbs and bones.

Although not fatal, it caused the victim immense pain.

Seeing Shu Yao terrified, Xu Jiuxi instead pulled her usual lazy smile at the corner of her mouth: ‘I broke my virginity without permission; it’s no wonder he’s angry. It’s not bad, at least he didn’t call for me to be killed. There has to be some accountability.’

Xu Jiuxi spoke as if it were a trivial matter, but Shu Yao’s eyes reddened. She dared not blame the Holy Ancestor, only choking up: ‘Headmaster, why suffer like this?’

‘What do you know?’

Xu Jiuxi scolded coldly. She glanced at the teary-eyed Shu Yao, her tone softening, sounding self-deprecating yet smug: ‘This Seat is not some girl in a brothel. I dual Cultivate with whoever I want. If I fancy someone, even if they are a beggar or a cripple, I am willing. If I don’t, even if they are an Emperor or a Dragon, they can get lost. Heh, I just do what makes me happy.’

Shu Yao wiped her tears, knowing that her words meant nothing to the Headmaster, so she gave up on trying to persuade her and instead brought up another matter: ‘Headmaster, Gray Rat came earlier and is waiting outside the hall now.’

‘Oh? Let him in.’

Xu Jiuxi’s lazy expression vanished. By the time Shu Yao led Gray Rat into the hall, she was sitting upright, her dark purple robes making her face look cold as snow.

‘Reporting to the Headmaster, I have something to report.’

‘What is it?’

‘This morning, the Duke of Chu County summoned me to inquire about Wangchuan Ferry.’

‘Wangchuan Ferry?’

Xu Jiuxi didn’t seem to recall what that was for a moment. Gray Rat whispered a reminder: ‘The Wangchuan Ferry that collects women for the Prince of Linping.’

‘Oh.’

Xu Jiuxi suddenly realized, but then she frowned: ‘He’s going head-to-head with Chen Hong!’

After saying this, she stood up and walked out.

Shu Yao was stunned and hurriedly said: ‘Headmaster? The wine and hot water are already prepared.’

Xu Jiuxi waved her hand with her back to Shu Yao: ‘I’ll be back shortly.’

At the second quarter of the hour of the Rat.

Patrol Inspection Office duty room.

‘Slap.’

Ding Suian slapped a mosquito that was sucking blood on his thigh and flicked it away.

The wooden bed in the duty room was hard and rickety, creaking whenever he turned over.

It was far worse than the oversized canopy bed at home.

But who asked him to be so dedicated to public service?

He placed his hands behind his head, looking at the ceiling, thinking silently. Gray Rat still hadn’t replied.

Given his efficiency, this shouldn’t be the case. There was only one possibility for why he hadn’t reported back, which was that he had been intercepted by Xu Jiuxi.

The relationship between Ding Suian and Xu Jiuxi… how should one put it? To say it was purely physical, without a shred of emotion, would be impossible.

After all, some things grow as you do them.

But to say how deep the feelings were was also hard to tell. Their positions were naturally opposed, and their goals were worlds apart.

Mutual caution, testing each other, and debating depth in bed was a more appropriate description.

They had become a Great Wu version of ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’.

‘Thump.’

In the dead of night, the dull sound of a heavy object falling outside the duty room was exceptionally clear.

Ding Suian was alert and quickly threw on his clothes and sat up.

Could it be some thief who didn’t know any better stealing from the Patrol Inspection Office?

He pushed open the duty room door and saw a dark purple figure struggling to stand up in the light of the office’s lantern in the corner flower bed.

Hey, isn’t that the Headmaster?

Her hair was disheveled, stained with grass, and her noble purple robes were covered in mud. She was holding her lower back, wincing in pain as she finally managed to stand steady against the wall.

‘Pfft.’

As a public servant of Great Wu, he usually wouldn’t laugh, unless he couldn’t help it.

‘Laugh at what!’

Xu Jiuxi was slightly annoyed and raised her hand: ‘Help me up!’

Embarrassing, right?

A dignified Headmaster of the State Religion, falling flat on her face while climbing a wall. Can’t she fly? This agility was worse than the Princess Consort.

Ding Suian went up happily. As soon as he touched Xu Jiuxi’s hand, he noticed something was wrong.

He knew that Xu Jiuxi, who could be used as a human air conditioner in the sweltering summer, usually had a lower body temperature than normal people, but now, it was far too cold.

‘Old Xu, why are you so cold?’

Ding Suian asked in astonishment. Xu Jiuxi leaned on Ding Suian with one hand and held her waist with the other, stumbling out of the flower bed, and said: ‘Haven’t you heard of an Ice Beauty?’

‘Pfft.’

Is an Ice Beauty this cold?

The State Religion had many strange things. Ding Suian assumed she had cultivated some evil Spell again, so he didn’t think much of it and helped her into the duty room.

He latched the door, turned around, and looked, only to be surprised again. He leaned over to lift her skirt.

‘What are you doing!’

‘Old Xu, are you having your period?’

‘This Seat is a Dragon! Dragons don’t have periods!’

‘You are clearly a snake.’

‘Snakes don’t have periods either!’

‘Then why is your face so white, deathly pale?’

‘I’m naturally pale, jade bones and ice skin, understand?’

‘You’re really narcissistic.’

Xu Jiuxi slapped Ding Suian’s hand away and said seriously: ‘I have serious business!’

‘Oh? What serious business?’

Ding Suian temporarily gave up on the academic question of a female snake’s physiological structure and sat down on a nearby chair.

‘Are you investigating Wangchuan Ferry?’

‘Yes.’

Xu Jiuxi was direct, and Ding Suian didn’t hide it either.

At the same time, he thought, as expected. Gray Rat wasn’t his loyal subordinate, so he had told Xu Jiuxi after all.

‘Ding Suian, it’s fine if you don’t want to help me! Why do you keep undermining me, wanting to see me fail?’

Ding Suian looked at Xu Jiuxi’s frosty face and paused before saying: ‘Old Xu, I won’t criticize the dirty business of human trafficking at Wangchuan Ferry in the name of morality. But today, Chen Hong tried to frame me at the government office using the Yu Clan matter. Can’t you see that?’

‘Did I not help you with the government office matter?’

‘It’s not about whether you helped or not. Since he has made a move, there’s no reason for me not to fight back!’

‘I just don’t understand. Everyone in this world has no choice, why are you the only one who can’t stand a grievance?’

‘I can naturally stand grievances, but it depends on the reason and the person.’

‘Then you…’

‘Then you can’t suffer a grievance for me?’ She didn’t say it aloud, because Old Xu felt that this was too melodramatic and lacked confidence.

She could hold back the words, but the emotions stirred could not be suppressed so quickly.

Her full chest heaved rapidly, seemingly looking a cup larger visually.

But Ding Suian’s attention was not on her chest, but on her face. ‘Face like frost’—the phrase was now literal.

He watched as frost gathered on Xu Jiuxi’s eyebrows, then spread to the entire brow.

Then, her beautiful, peerless face lost all blood color, covered in a layer of frost.

‘Old Xu, what’s wrong with you!’

Ding Suian was shocked and hurriedly stood up.

Xu Jiuxi seemed to want to hold on, but after only a few seconds, she had already lost control of her body. Fine red scales began to appear on her neck and forearms, wherever her skin was exposed.

She began to shake violently, her teeth chattering, and even her breath turned into ice mist.

Ding Suian rushed forward as if to hold her swaying body, but Xu Jiuxi retreated with difficulty, saying only: ‘Get out, don’t look! I’m transforming, it’s ugly!’