Chapter 377 - 276: Wary of a Gentleman Too?

Chapter 377: Chapter 276: Wary of a Gentleman Too?

"No problem!"

Tang Wen readily agreed. "I’ll give you a year’s supply—no, wait. I have two distilleries. I’ll just sign them over to you. I’ll even provide for you, if you want!"

"You have to give it to me today. Tomorrow, it’ll be fifty-five jars!"

Seeing him agree so readily, the Queen suddenly felt like she’d gotten a bad deal.

Tang Wen: "...I’ll give it to you in a bit."

The Queen nodded in satisfaction. "So, what did you come here for?"

"To watch you wash—ahem, I mean, to see what’s wrong with your body."

A moment of silence.

The sound of water splashing, SPLISH-SPLASH, as if she were repeatedly scooping it up with her hands.

"Speak up. If you don’t, the wine is off the table."

"You dare!" The Queen looked at the worry on Tang Wen’s face and said dryly, "How did you know? Was it just because my hand trembled that one time?"

"One time? After you got on the roof, your hand trembled a total of nine times!"

Xia Qingge sighed silently. "You can open your eyes now."

Tang Wen opened them, then immediately squeezed them shut again.

The great beauty hadn’t put on a single extra piece of clothing.

"I’m not trying to swindle you out of your wine. Look at my hands!"

This time, Tang Wen opened his eyes. He tilted his head up slightly to look at her raised, lotus-root-white arms, trying his best to keep his gaze from drifting downward. Even so, that pair of inverted jade bowls, made all the more prominent by her posture, kept stealing his attention.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to focus on her hands.

More than ten seconds passed.

Her left hand suddenly trembled.

It was an uncontrolled movement, the shaking quite pronounced.

Tang Wen glanced down and saw the aftershocks ripple through the jade bowls.

For the first time, his mind wasn’t filled with lecherous or romantic thoughts.

He frowned. "You can’t control it?"

"It’s pain. When I breathe, my heart suddenly hurts like it’s being stabbed with a needle."

Tang Wen turned away to face the wall. "When did it start?"

"After I became a Peak Martial Artist."

"Huh? It’s been that long? Why didn’t you say anything?"

Xia Qingge said calmly, "Back then, Flame Camp was in a transitional period. As the successor, I was their hope, their genius. Something like this, which wasn’t fatal, couldn’t be revealed."

After taking a few sips of wine, she added, "Besides, the pain was very mild back then. I saw all sorts of physicians, but none of them could find the problem."

"So you’ve just been enduring it all this time?" Tang Wen sighed, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. He saw her waterfall of black hair spread across the stone platform.

"Tsk, what’s with that tone, kid? You make it sound like I’m about to die."

"Does it hurt at night?" Tang Wen ignored her remark and pressed on.

Xia Qingge suddenly frowned, her hand trembling again. "I’ve been sleeping in this bathroom for the past few days."

Tang Wen’s heart sank. "So it hurts at night, too?"

"It used to be fine at night. But ever since that day I fought one against five, I seem to have broken through the limits of the Sixth Grade. After that, it got worse. I used to be able to manage it with Meditation. Now, I even have to meditate in a pool mixed with painkillers."

As she spoke, her jade-like hand slapped the surface of the water.

"It sounds like the stronger you get, the more frequent and intense the pain becomes?" Tang Wen found this incredibly strange.

’The stronger you are, the healthier your body should be.’

’Why is it the opposite for her?’

He had never heard of such a thing.

"You summed it up pretty well, kid." Xia Qingge swirled the gourd and drained it. "More wine!"

She seemed to have forgotten she was still in the bath.

With a SPLASH, she stood up and handed the gourd to Tang Wen.

A sudden chill on her skin made her realize her mistake, and she quickly sat back down in the water.

The pair of white orbs swayed, making one’s head spin.

Tang Wen took the gourd, his eyes accidentally sweeping over her. Blood rushed to his head, and he felt an urge to get a nosebleed.

’Unfortunately, this really isn’t the right time to be taking advantage of the situation.’

’Otherwise, I’d definitely sneak a few more glances.’

’It would be worth it, even if I got beaten up.’

Turning to face the wall, Tang Wen had intended to pull out a few jars of Bamboo Leaf Green liquor, but after a moment’s thought, he took out a glass bottle of "Shao Daozi" instead.

He’d bought this stuff from the Commerce Association. It didn’t have much flavor.

Its main selling point was its high alcohol content.

Usually, only traveling merchants on the road in winter drank it. It wasn’t just for people; during the harshest winters, they’d even give a bottle to their Exotic Beasts.

It was said that after drinking it, an Exotic Beast pulling a cart could travel ten percent faster than usual.

"Try this," Tang Wen said, passing it back over his shoulder.

"A new wine?" A wet hand took it. She uncorked it and took a swig.

The potent smell of alcohol rushed straight to her head.

"Oof! Good stuff! It’s got a kick!"

Tang Wen paused, not telling her that this was meant for low-to-mid-level Exotic Beasts.

"What kind of wine is this? The bottle is transparent, made of glass. It must be expensive, right?" Xia Qingge’s tone was filled with excitement.

Nowadays, not many things could make her this happy.

This made Tang Wen even more hesitant to tell her the truth. He coughed.

"This liquor is strong, not something most people can handle. As long as you like it, that’s what matters. I’ll leave it all for you."

As he spoke, he pulled a wooden crate from his mystical stone. This crate still had twenty-nine bottles in it.

He had originally intended to use this stuff to start fires in the wild, or to give to the Sand Wolf King and Silver Wolf King when he saw them again.

He never expected that the brilliant and captivating great beauty of the camp would fall in love with it at first sip.

"Whoa! So many? They must be expensive, right?"

"Not expensive. I have plenty of money. I’ll hurry up and take care of things at the camp, and then you’ll come with me. I’ll take you to Ganshan City to see a doctor."

GULP, GULP, GULP. She downed a third of the fiery liquor, which was around 120 to 140 proof, in one go.

Xia Qingge licked her lips, her eyes shining, and said nonchalantly, "As long as you take care of that Huang Family and the camp has a Sixth Grade expert to hold the fort, I’ll do whatever you say."

Her voice carried a sense of relief.

As if she was about to lay down a burden she had carried for years.

’Thinking about it, that’s exactly what it is.’

’If not for her unparalleled talent, which allowed her to quickly break through to the Sixth Grade and shoulder the threats from Black Mountain and the Silver Wolves, Flame Camp would have ceased to exist long ago.’

’My journey as a transmigrator would have been far more miserable than I could imagine. The probability of starting in a no-win scenario would have been much higher!’

Seeing her constantly having to suppress her pain, Tang Wen’s heart ached. "Don’t worry. I’ll definitely get it done."

"That’s good! I’ve never been to Ganshan City before! As long as you keep the wine coming, I’ll do whatever you say."

After speaking, she even patted her chest. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Hearing the movement, Tang Wen, who was still facing the wall, couldn’t help but peek out of the corner of his eye again.

The jade rabbits bounced; a magnificent view from a perilous peak.

"Aren’t you afraid I’ll sell you off?"

"Heh, you kid. You came in and stood there like an idiot for ages, your eyes practically glued to my body. Would you have the heart to?"

Tang Wen’s face flushed crimson. "I’m not, I didn’t, don’t talk nonsense."

Xia Qingge let out a cold laugh.

He started muttering a string of hard-to-understand excuses like "a gentleman is not deceitful in private" and "ignorance is no sin."

The room was inexplicably filled with a cheerful atmosphere. Xia Qingge laughed even more happily, her body shaking like a flower branch in the wind.

He couldn’t resist sneaking another peek, only to be met with a pair of teasing, half-smiling eyes. He’d been caught red-handed.

’So cunning!’

’When did she silently turn her body to face me?’

’She’s guarding against me!’

’No way, she’s even wary of a gentleman like me?’

Tang Wen’s handsome face flushed beet red. He hurriedly pulled out jar after jar of wine from his mystical stone to distract the Queen.

Sure enough, seeing the wine piled up in the corner, Xia Qingge’s rosy face immediately broke into a smile.

Tang Wen didn’t dare to stay any longer. He tossed out a parting shot, "Mixing beer and liquor packs an even bigger punch," and then hastily fled.

Xia Qingge watched his retreating, fleeing figure and laughed even more delightedly.

The Stone Gate closed again. After a long moment, her smile faded. She reached up and pressed the point between her eyebrows, her expression turning to one of pain.

’It seems I’ve really had another breakthrough. Now even my head has started to hurt.’

She gave a bitter laugh and pulled a towel from under the water, covering her face with it.

Then she shifted her position, placing her head under the water faucet.

The faucet turned, and ice-cold well water flowed out, soaking the towel.

Without deliberately holding her breath, she soon found herself unable to breathe.

The arches of her feet tensed, pulling her snow-white calves taut and straight.

The intense feeling of suffocation suppressed the pain.

An unknown amount of time passed before the faucet was turned off. She finally found a moment of relief and, with her head pillowed on the towel, fell into a deep sleep.

Tang Wen returned to his quarters, nudged the just-fallen-asleep Hu Qi awake, and carefully described Xia Qingge’s symptoms.

The large white cat yawned, its eyes narrowed to slits. "Heart pain? Sounds like some kind of illness. I don’t know about these things. You could ask the Saintess, or go back to Ganshan City and have a few doctors take a look."

Tang Wen was unsatisfied. "But she’s at the Peak of Sixth Grade. What kind of illness can’t she heal from on her own?"

"So what if she’s at the Peak of Sixth Grade? There are even Fifth-Grade White Tigers that have died from illness."

After saying this, the large white cat could barely keep its eyes open.

’Even a Fifth-Grade White Tiger can die from an illness?’

His mind full of questions, Tang Wen went back to his room and took out the Unity Mirror.

’When in doubt, find the Saintess!’

He left a message, put the Unity Mirror away, and fell into a deep sleep.

In his dreams, he ate countless large white buns.