Chapter 202: Petal’s Investment

Chapter 202: Chapter 202: Petal’s Investment

Zhang Yun asked the restaurant for a bag of ice and returned to the guest room bathroom.

He turned off the faucet and reached down to the bottom of the bathtub to close the drain valve. As his hand submerged, he accidentally touched Qi Luo’s foot, and he couldn’t help but admire it.

From the sole of her foot to her calf, it was incredibly aesthetic. However, her beauty was different from Ouyang Mingruo’s; she had an added sense of power radiating from her muscle lines.

After comparing it with the memory of Mingruo’s legs, Zhang Yun continued to look further up toward her thighs.

Oh my! The bathrobe, pushed open by the water, drew his gaze past her legs and even deeper.

He reminded himself, "See no evil!"

As Zhang Yun muttered to himself, he suddenly heard a voice. "Does it look good?"

"It does..." Zhang Yun replied instinctively, then looked up in shock.

Qi Luo opened her eyes and looked at him, grumbling, "Pervert..."

"You’re okay?" Seeing the beads of sweat still forming on her face, Zhang Yun poured the entire bag of ice into the tub.

The ice cascaded directly onto her legs, making Qi Luo’s body twitch.

She closed her eyes. "I feel much better. My injuries don’t hurt as much, and the poisoned area has regained feeling. It’s just still very hot."

"Idiot! Why don’t you dunk your head in? You also need to drink some water, or you won’t be able to handle the heat. Are you grossed out by your own bathwater?"

Qi Luo, who had been stubbornly pushing through the pain, was speechless. She had dipped her face into the water, but she definitely hadn’t drunk any of it.

As Zhang Yun spoke, he shoved her head straight into the water. The freshly ice-chilled bathwater instantly washed a wave of refreshing coolness over her.

"You’re so picky... I’ll go get you some water."

Zhang Yun had bought a lot of water yesterday and hadn’t finished it. He had brought the bottles over earlier when he pretended to fetch the medicine.

Qi Luo let out a heavy breath. "I want more."

Zhang Yun shook his head. "I’ve never heard such a request!" He grabbed Qi Luo’s head and dunked her back into the water.

After a moment, he pulled her head out and asked, "Do you still want more?"

Qi Luo spat out the bathwater, panting heavily. She cursed in annoyance, "You pervert! Dunking me into the water twice without any warning!"

She looked down, highly suspecting that this guy was deliberately making her bend over so he could peek down the open collar of her bathrobe.

Zhang Yun looked at her in disbelief. "You really don’t appreciate a good deed! I was cooling you down earlier, and just now you literally asked for more. And now you’re blaming me?"

Qi Luo grabbed an ice cube and threw it at his face. "Boss! When I said I wanted more, I meant more of your medicine, not more head dunking!"

"You should have been clearer. Your communication skills are terrible."

Zhang Yun was a bit speechless. "I need to make this clear to you. My Divine Medicine is incredibly precious; money can’t buy it. I need to save it to increase my own Power. If it weren’t to save your life, with our current relationship, there’s no way I would have let you consume it."

Qi Luo froze for a moment.

She had originally thought Zhang Yun was bragging, but she later realized just how potent the stuff was. Even though it caused an agonizing, burning heat, it also felt incredibly invigorating. Not only did her injuries and the poisoned areas feel significantly better, but she even felt her overall physical constitution noticeably improving.

As for the agonizing heat, being submerged in the flowing cold water actually made it bearable. She could handle it. It was like training hard in the gym—an experience of both pain and pleasure. She had wanted to pop another pill, but she didn’t expect Zhang Yun to reject her so bluntly.

"What will it take for you to give me another one? I have some savings. But don’t ask for an astronomical price. We don’t get many jobs in this line of work, and the expenses we have to pay out are quite high." Qi Luo’s momentum weakened.

Zhang Yun could understand her plight. For an assassin like her, a few hundred thousand per hit was probably considered a high price. The Celestial Destiny Organization she belonged to likely acted as a comprehensive alliance, protector, and agent, so naturally, they would take a hefty commission. She also had to pay the Cleaner Fish. Travel, Weapons, training, and other expenses were all paid out of her own pocket. With only a few jobs a year, it was impossible for her to save much money.

Zhang Yun sat on the edge of the bathtub. "If I told you that just during the time I went down to eat breakfast, I received an order worth over forty million and secured a revenue of one hundred million, you would definitely think I’m bragging."

"Damn..."

Qi Luo had just been wondering how much he would ask for, but upon hearing this, she completely despaired. Forty million, one hundred million... Even if he had exaggerated a hundred times over, that was still over a million in income. He definitely wouldn’t care for her little bit of hard-earned blood money.

"Other than money... my body is the only thing you might be interested in. But you were just drained dry last night, so you’re probably just putting on airs with your post-coital clarity. Never mind, pretend I didn’t say anything... Thank you for saving my life!"

Qi Luo felt helpless. She wasn’t willing to offer her body to improve her strength, especially since she might be rejected and mocked even if she offered it. She decided it was better to stick to hard training.

"No, you still have value." Zhang Yun looked at her, pondering.

Qi Luo’s value, of course, was her identity as an assassin!

On one hand, her connections and channels could provide access to underground information. On the other hand, she could do things in the dark. For example, this job involving the Donghuang Sect—Zhang Yun would have much rather let her handle it. If he hadn’t thought she was captured, he wouldn’t have gone there himself.

Keeping Xu Jin and the other disciples around was useful for handling tasks in the light, such as protecting his family. But keeping Qi Luo around was like hiding a sharp blade in the dark.

"My profession? I lost to you before, and I admit that. But I didn’t complete my task well last night, so it doesn’t count. I still owe you."

Zhang Yun shook his head. "You promised to accept your loss, but you also threw a lot of difficult problems at me, eventually forcing me to make concessions. To put it bluntly, you yielded on the surface but remained unconvinced in your heart! Sparing your life obviously left you feeling stifled, but now that I’ve saved your life, are you willing to truly repay me from the bottom of your heart?"

Qi Luo frowned. "I am still your subordinate. I will execute any task you assign me. I also know that someone wants to deal with you, and I will take the initiative to help. I say this sincerely!"

"Alright! Just for that word ’sincerely,’ I will reward you with another Elixir to let you improve your strength! As for whether I’ll give you more in the future, that will depend on your performance."

Zhang Yun made a direct decision. By using both carrots and sticks, offering the benefits the person cared about most was the easiest way to secure their loyalty.

"Okay!" Qi Luo nodded solemnly.

Zhang Yun went outside and plucked another Mysterious Petal from the Peach Blossom Spring Space, dissolving it into a bottle of mineral water.

"You dissolved the Elixir into water again? Can’t you just let me eat it directly? This water has already been opened... I can’t help but suspect you’ve added some weird stuff to it." Qi Luo took the mineral water, muttering with a hint of disgust.

Zhang Yun smacked her on the head. "Do you think I’m actually a pervert? If I wanted to feed you weird stuff, wouldn’t it feel better to just put it straight into your mouth?"

"Pfft!" Qi Luo spat playfully, then downed the entire bottle of mineral water in one breath.

"You better be prepared. The previous effects haven’t completely faded yet, so adding another dose on top of that might make you feel like you’re being boiled in a hot pot!"

Zhang Yun opened another bottle of mineral water and placed it next to her. "I was too overworked last night. I’m going to catch up on some sleep."

Qi Luo was left speechless.