Chapter 5: Midnight Thief

Song Qingshu was suddenly overwhelmed with despair. Monk Wuming was almost a godlike presence in the martial world of the novels; if even he said there was no saving him, then he truly was beyond saving.

Seeing that Song Qingshu was on the verge of collapse, the monk silently intoned a line of Buddhist prayer and said slowly, "Martial arts are only external things. Why must you cling to them so stubbornly, young hero? In today's world, martial skill only creates more slaughter. Even when an act of chivalry saves one or two lives, how can that compare with Buddhism's salvation of all beings? Why not devote yourself to Buddhist study from now on..."

The monk's voice seemed to have a calming effect. Song Qingshu gradually forced himself to settle down, but when he heard the man urging him to take refuge in Buddhism, he was unimpressed. He quickly refused. "I appreciate your kindness, Master, but I still have far too many doubts to sort out one by one. I really cannot just renounce the world and become a monk like this."

"Very well. I can see that your worldly ties are not yet severed, young hero, so I won't force the matter."

The monk shook his head and suddenly extended a finger, striking several major acupoints across Song Qingshu's body. Song Qingshu only felt several warm currents wrap around him from head to toe. By then, the monk had already turned and drifted away, his voice carrying back from a distance: "This old monk has used true qi to protect your meridians so they won't wither for the time being. In all likelihood, only the Four Great Divine Healers of the world may have a way to treat your injuries..."

"The Four Great Divine Healers?"

Hearing Song Qingshu's question, Zhou Zhiruo knitted her delicate brows and thought carefully for a moment. "Among today's famed healers, there are only Hu Qingniu of Butterfly Valley, the murderous physician Ping Yizhi of Kaifeng, Physician Xue of Songzhou City, and, right, the legendary Poison Hand Medicine King."

Seeing the look of longing on her husband's face, Zhou Zhiruo could not bear it either and tried to comfort him. "Qingshu, Zhang Wuji has inherited Hu Qingniu's complete legacy and can even be said to have surpassed him. If even he has no way, the other divine doctors are only on roughly the same level as Hu Qingniu, so I doubt they could do much either..."

Song Qingshu thought she wanted to stay here and wait for Zhang Wuji, unwilling to leave with him. Frustrated, he blurted out, "Don't mention that man!" The instant the words were out, he regretted them.

Zhou Zhiruo had not expected such a strong reaction either. But she knew very well that because of her, Song Qingshu had always despised Zhang Wuji. Thinking of how deeply he had cared for her all this time, her heart softened, and she said gently, "Qingshu, losing your martial arts isn't that big a deal. Let's go back to Emei together. We don't need to care about the feuds and grievances of the martial world anymore. Then, whether you can use martial arts or not, what difference will it make? What do you say?"

Song Qingshu had never seen Zhou Zhiruo so tender and pleading before. Looking at her radiant, alluring face, he was instantly entranced.

When she saw him staring at her in a daze, even though the two of them were officially husband and wife, Zhou Zhiruo still felt a little shy and shot him an annoyed look. "Have you not looked enough after all this time?"

"I could never look enough, not even in a lifetime," Song Qingshu answered instinctively. Then he suddenly grew suspicious of her sudden change in attitude and asked uncertainly, "Are you really willing to go back to Emei with me?"

"You are my husband. If I don't go back to Emei with you, who else would I go back with?" Zhou Zhiruo said softly, though a trace of loneliness was hard to hide in the depths of her eyes. That night Zhang Wuji had taken the initiative to hold her. Although Zhou Zhiruo had refused, she still felt a flicker of secret delight, knowing that Zhang Wuji's feelings for her had always run deep.

Unfortunately, so many days had passed since then and Zhang Wuji still had not given any explanation. She knew that he was probably still thinking more about that princess. Feeling disappointed, and thinking that Zhang Wuji was not even one-tenth as good to her as Song Qingshu, she suddenly grew a little cold-hearted. On top of that, Song Qingshu had ruined himself for her this time and become a cripple. All she wanted was to return to Emei as soon as possible and spend the rest of her life with him.

Overjoyed, Song Qingshu could not help pulling Zhou Zhiruo into his arms. He thought that no matter how chaotic the world was or how peerless the martial arts were, with such a peerless beauty by his side, his life would not have been in vain.

Caught off guard, Zhou Zhiruo stiffened in his embrace, but then she remembered that he was, after all, her husband, and her body slowly relaxed.

With that fragrant, supple body in his arms and her exquisite curves against him, Song Qingshu quickly started to react. He lowered his head and kissed her on the face.

Zhou Zhiruo instinctively tried to dodge, but then she suddenly remembered everything he had done for her, and for a moment she grew dazed.

Song Qingshu was no longer the fool who only knew how to fight for pride. While Zhou Zhiruo hesitated, he had already successfully pressed his lips to her cherry-red mouth.

Zhou Zhiruo's eyes flew wide open. Taking advantage of her surprise, Song Qingshu pried open her teeth. His breath was as fragrant as orchids, their lips and teeth lingering with sweetness. In that instant, Song Qingshu felt as though his whole body had gone soft. After the initial shock, Zhou Zhiruo seemed to accept her fate and closed her eyes, but inside she was in complete disarray.

Before, even a brief embrace with Zhang Wuji had made Zhou Zhiruo's heart race wildly. Now kissing Song Qingshu, she felt nothing in particular; she only let him take the lead passively, with nothing in her mind except a maiden's instinctive shyness and endless uncertainty.

Song Qingshu did not know what was going through her mind. Right now he only felt overjoyed. One arm wrapped around her slender waist, while the other instinctively slipped into the front of her clothes, reaching for the softness on her chest.

"Smack!" A chill swept over her chest. Zhou Zhiruo snapped back to her senses, and in one reflexive motion she slapped him, twisted away, and broke free from Song Qingshu's arms. Looking at him, she was faintly angry.

Song Qingshu inwardly cursed himself. He had unconsciously used some of the modern teasing caresses he knew, but he had forgotten that she was still an untouched young lady of this era; of course she could not tolerate that level of boldness. Still, being slapped by a woman, even not hard, left him feeling embarrassed, and his expression turned somewhat ugly.

Seeing the faint red mark on his face and remembering that he was, after all, her husband, Zhou Zhiruo felt a little guilty and could only explain, "This is the quiet, sacred grounds of Shaolin, and it's broad daylight. What you just did is far too humiliating."

Hearing that, Song Qingshu was instead delighted. "Could it be that in another place, if I found a night to treat you like this, you'd go along with it?" Of course he did not dare say that out loud. He could only say, "My injuries are pretty much healed now. When are we going back to Emei?"

Right now he only wanted to leave here as quickly as possible. Once he was away from Zhang Wuji, with enough patience and sweet talk, plus this openly legitimate husband-and-wife status, getting her for real would only be a matter of time, wouldn't it?

"It's already late. We'll rest for tonight and set out first thing tomorrow morning." After saying that, Zhou Zhiruo touched her slightly hot face and hurried out.

Song Qingshu stayed in the room, thinking about the wonderful feeling from just now. Sitting on the bed, he grinned foolishly to himself, thinking that Heaven had truly been good to him. Not only had it let him be reborn, it had also gifted him such an incomparably beautiful fairy. Compared with that, what did it matter if he could never practice martial arts again?

Once night fell, Zhou Zhiruo returned to the room. After all, in the eyes of outsiders they were husband and wife, so they had to sleep in the same room.

After helping Song Qingshu lie down, Zhou Zhiruo went to the other bed opposite and lay down.

Lying on his side and staring at Zhou Zhiruo's graceful curves across from him, Song Qingshu couldn't stop drooling. Such an unmatched beauty was right in front of him, yet he could only look and not taste; that was far too regrettable.

As sleep gradually washed over him, just as Song Qingshu was closing his eyes, a masked figure flashed in through the window and quickly tapped several of his major acupoints.