Don't be afraid, fairy, I'm blind

Chapter 466: That’s all. It’s not like I haven’t hugged you before.

You Su's sword tip suddenly hovered in mid-air. He lowered his eyes to stare at the trajectory of the sword's trembling edge, and a hint of enlightenment flashed across his eyes:
"Master's Wife, the sword technique says 'Yin and Yang embrace each other, like a vine entwining a tree', but I don't think that's right."

He Shutong saw him drawing his sword and wielding it, and the fairy asked with concern:
"What's wrong?"

"It's not wrong, it's just... not good enough."

You Su nodded slightly, took a step forward, and got very close to the woman, their chests almost touching.

Although He Shutong felt a little surprised and shy, she did not avoid him. She knew that the boy must have a purpose for doing so.

"Master's Wife, the first move of the Mandarin Duck Sword after the combined practice is called 'Neck Crossing Under the Moon', so all the previous sword movements are actually brewing for the final neck sword, is that correct?"

He Shutong, the sword master, nodded quickly in affirmation.

"But according to my understanding, before the swords are locked, the vine and the tree should each give way three inches."

The young man's words were shocking. He actually raised objections to a sword technique that had been passed down for thousands of years. Such courage really surprised He Shutong.

But what concerned the woman more than being stunned was that the boy was so close to her that she could even smell each other's hot breath, but he just missed by one step.

She had long been accustomed to hugging You Su, and had no aversion to a simple hug with him, even if...she knew that he was the real one. So even if You Su hugged her now, she would not push him away, but would just ask him what was wrong.

But he had to stop here. This tiny distance was so close, but it had an inexplicable magic that made her feel uneasy, expectant, and other complicated emotions, as if a feather was tugging at her heartstrings. She even had the urge to hug him in her arms several times...

"Why do you feel this way?" He Shutong still couldn't bring herself to do it. She still couldn't understand why the boy would get so close to her when he was just talking about swordsmanship, as if he was deliberately trying to seduce her...

"Like a vine entwined around a tree, although it is beautiful, the vine loses its strength to climb, and the tree loses space to spread out." You Su was unaware, and just pretended to be out of focus as he looked at the beautiful face in front of him, "If we always cling to each other, our sharpness will be worn away in the entanglement. This is the new understanding I have realized, just like Master's sword intent is like water, and my sword intent is like fire. If we blend them together, the fire will be extinguished by the water, and the water will be evaporated by the fire."

He Shutong looked at the flickering light in his eyes, and his confused mind was also attracted by the sword theory mentioned by the young man:

"So what you mean is that this strike should be staggered a little bit first?"

"Yes, three inches apart is to give each other a breathing space."

As soon as she finished speaking, the young man's hug followed, and his broad body gently pressed against He Shutong's protruding body. As expected, she instinctively did not avoid You Su's hug.

However, He Shutong was still shocked, and felt that all the empty thoughts just now disappeared in an instant, and then she felt a sense of joy that she had achieved what she wanted.

"Master's wife, what do you think is so special about this hug?" The young man whispered in her blushing ear. He tightened his hands greedily, but soon loosened them again, like a child who dared not taste too much frosting, and retreated to a suitable distance.

He Shutong's feeling of loss due to the separation lasted only a moment, because she soon realized that the boy was using this hug to confirm the sword logic in his previous words.

You Su was just asking, but he didn't expect the reserved Master's Wife to speak frankly about her feelings during the hug, so he asked and answered himself:

"Normally, when I hug Master's Wife, I feel happy and warm. But with that hug just now, I felt satisfied. I felt happier than usual, and my mood became beautiful. Does Master's Wife feel the same as me?"

He said it bluntly, but also sincerely to the point that He Shutong felt shy. After all, she was a cold and aloof fairy on the surface, so He Shutong didn't dare to admit it, but he wouldn't deny it with his heart either, so he had to change the subject:

"How did you figure this out?"

You Su scratched his head and smiled: "Because I couldn't find Master's Wife this time, I thought she had left me. But after seeing Master's Wife again, I was even happier than before. I was thinking, if people who are close to each other are separated occasionally, it can actually promote their affection for each other."

Without giving He Shutong a chance to answer, You Su continued:

"The same applies to the sword theory. Although the Mandarin Duck Sword is a sword for Taoist couples, I don't think Taoist couples should always be like vines entwined around trees. Separating before the swords cross, and then joining together, may produce a stronger force. The same is true for the fusion of sword intent. I shouldn't be obsessed with letting the two sword intents merge at the beginning. Maybe it will make them merge better in the end."

He Shutong still blushed slightly when she heard the first sentence, secretly sighing that she was no different. She nodded repeatedly when she heard the second sentence, as if she agreed. Although this was ultimately a young man's guess, and even a guess based on emotion, she would not underestimate it, because the Mandarin Duck Sword was originally a sword technique born out of love.

Thinking of this, she was even more certain that the boy had not deceived her. His explanation of sword principles was well-reasoned and he was really thinking about sword principles when he was distracted just now. He was definitely not indulging in the excitement of crossing the line as she thought.

This made her feel even more ashamed. The boy attributed all the good things to her, and even the separation became a reason for him to understand the sword principle, as if she was the best person in the world in his eyes. But she knew that she was not as good as he thought, so she made up her mind that no matter how shy she was, she would help the boy understand the method of merging sword and intention.

"Try again." The fairy suddenly put her fingers together and wiped across the wooden sword, and frost patterns snaked from the hilt to the tip of the sword. "Before we meet, you and I will separate for two steps, and then use the momentum of the Quze acupoint to meet again."

In a flash, He Shutong had already figured out how to exert force when he drew his sword.

Fortunately, You Su was also extremely talented, and he understood what He Shutong meant without him having to explain it in detail.

He Shutong felt warm in his heart for this kind of tacit understanding, and even felt a little fortunate. He felt that it was fortunate that he was the one who practiced with You Su and was able to help him.

When the two swords collided, the accumulated snow fell off the branches.

The snow-colored sword light swept across the old tree in the courtyard, and the fallen red petals fell into You Su's raised hair. He Shutong's wide sleeves fluttered like a white crane flapping its wings, and when the frost-colored sword tassel swept across the back of the boy's hand, it actually brought a warm tingling sensation in the cold wind.

"The anger left Tianquan."

Her cold voice slid into his ear, and You Su could clearly feel the amazing arc of his master's wife's body rolling over his back as she turned around.

His Adam's apple rolled, and he could clearly sense that Master's Wife was more unreserved than the last time they practiced together. Last time, he was distracted by this ambiguous experience and almost disappointed Master's Wife. Fortunately, he suddenly realized something and escaped danger.

This time the experience was much more intimate, and it was really hard not to pay attention to the three kinds of enjoyment. You Su felt that even if his junior sister came to practice with him, she couldn't be so intimate.

But because of this, the boy felt even more guilty. Master's wife had given so much to him, if he was still obsessed with fantasies, then he would be truly betraying Master's wife's kindness.

You Su made up his mind, suddenly came to his senses, and raised the sword.

The black hair and the black hair were entangled in the sword energy. The clear lotus fragrance in He Shutong's hair mixed with the warmth of her skin, weaving into an invisible net.

He suddenly felt a warm touch on his lower back - it turned out to be his master's wife correcting his sword stroke and using her knee to press against his waist to exert force.

She noticed his brief distraction, but she didn't seem to think much about it and immediately asked You Su to keep up with her.

You Su was so moved that he almost lost his sword, but He Shutong placed her soft hand on the back of his sword-holding hand. When their palms touched, the lines on the hilt of the sword rubbed against each other's fingerprints. The way her fingertips moved to guide the sword was like plucking the strings of a musical instrument in the boy's heart.

Soon, they were about to reach the closing position of 'embracing each other under the moon'.

The two of them immediately separated using each other's strength. Although they were practicing swordsmanship, You Su felt truly lost because of this brief separation, so he was even more eager to join forces with his sword in the next moment.

Little did he know that the fairy who seemed to be guiding the young man was feeling just as much loss and expectation as You Su.

Amid the sound of the frosty blade breaking through the air, You Su suddenly felt a touch of moisture brushing against his neck. It turned out that the master's wife's red lips just brushed against his beating blood vessels in coordination with the swooping sword style of "Neck-to-neck under the moon".

The white mist wrapped in the fragrance of lotus penetrated into his collar, causing a slight shudder to run up his spine. The jade hairpin in He Shutong's hair had come loose at some point, and her long black hair brushed across his tense forearms like ink.

“Right now!”

They both thought at the same time.

The two swords hummed suddenly, and it was said that they were "embracing each other under the moon", but in fact, there were not only people embracing each other, but also swords.

The two wooden swords drew intersecting arcs of light in mid-air - not entangled, but like two cranes embracing each other, echoing each other at the most appropriate distance.

Wherever the sword pointed, the powerful energy extended far away, stirring up a patch of snow on the back mountain.

This move of swordsmanship has been passed down for thousands of years. Neither of them used any mysterious energy, but simply swung the sword. At this moment, because the two injected real emotions, it burst out with amazing power. The morning light was bright, snow and hail were flying, and the crossed swords of the two cast lingering shadows on the snow.

You Su felt the warm fragrance coming from his temples, and felt that he had truly touched her softness hidden under her cold appearance. To him, she was never the unattainable sword fairy, but a fellow practitioner who was in tune with his mind, a Taoist partner who was willing to let go of all defenses and dance with him in the sword heart...

It was not until He Shutong's neck turned pink that she gently broke free. The young man suddenly woke up and realized that he had unconsciously hugged his master's wife for a long time.

"Yes, according to your suggestion, the elegance of this 'Neck Embracing Under the Moon' is even better than what is described in the book. The founder of the Double-Eyed Sword probably never expected that there would be such a brilliant successor."

He Shutong smiled elegantly, without the shyness she had just shown when they embraced each other. Instead, her eyes were filled with relief and appreciation. She suddenly reached out and brushed the snow off You Su's shoulders.

You Su also wanted to do the same for her, but he didn't dare to. The loss in his heart at this moment seemed to be more intense than before:
"If I hadn't had my master's wife to help me comprehend, I wouldn't have been able to do it alone..."

He Shutong looked at his slightly drooping eyelashes, and his heart suddenly ached for a moment.

He should have been surprised that his idea came true, but why did he seem a little disappointed?

Just now, the two swords joined together, and they seemed to be a perfect match. But after the drill, he had to keep his distance and call me Master's Wife...

Is he... sad because of this sense of disparity?

"The essence of the Mandarin Duck Sword is that it is a two-person sword. You certainly can't do it alone." He Shutong retracted her jade hand and smiled gently, shaking off the snow on the sword. "But you are still far from being able to do it now. This time you can try to join the flow of Xuanqi. We will proceed step by step until the end, when I will cooperate with you using the Lotus Sword Intention. If you can still succeed then, then we can say that we have truly accomplished it."

The fairy held a sword and saw him off, inviting him to continue practicing.

You Su was slightly distracted, and a great surprise surged in his heart. He thought that he would stop practicing sword today, but he didn't expect that his master's wife was still not satisfied.

He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, wondering where in the world could he find such a gentle woman who would understand his every loss and tolerate his every greed?

……

After two days of sword practice, the night was as dark as ink, and the icy edges on the eaves reflected the starlight.

You Su lay on his back on the couch, his fingertips with calluses still on them unconsciously stroking the brocade quilt, his eyes following the flickering light of the candle on the plain gauze screen.

When He Shutong pushed the door open with the jade medicine bowl in hand, she saw the young man hurriedly tightening his half-open collar. The frosty skirt swept across the threshold, and she pretended not to see the uncovered abdominal muscles.

"Master's wife..." You Su's Adam's apple rolled, the scent of medicine mixed with the clear lotus fragrance in her hair made his ears hot, "Actually, I'm fine..."

"Nothing is better than something."

The moment the jade fingers dipped in the green ointment were applied to the waist and abdomen, both of them trembled.

The ice-like ointment melted when it came into contact with heat and seeped into the meridians along the skin's texture, but He Shutong felt as if his palms were being roasted on lava.

She felt that she was also insane, and the man in the dream had no idea that he was overworked. But seeing how hard the young man had been practicing swordsmanship in the past two days, she couldn't help but want to do something for him, so she came here tonight with this bottle of ointment to nourish the muscles and bones.

You Su looked at her drooping eyelashes casting a butterfly-like shadow under her eyes, and suddenly reached out to grab the frosty sleeves: "Master's wife, do you think that in the past two days... have I made any progress?"

"You have always been gifted, but you just lacked flexibility. Now that you can control your sword intent freely, you have certainly made progress." He Shutong withdrew his sleeves unnoticeably.

You Su pursed his lips and asked carefully, "My disciple has made great progress in his training. Will Master-wife give him a reward?"

The window screen was suddenly lifted by the night wind, and in the flickering candlelight, she saw the expectation that could not be hidden on the young man's handsome face.

In the past, I had forced all the rewards I gave him. But tonight, it seemed like... this was the first time he had taken the initiative to ask me for a reward, right?

The fairy instinctively felt that the reward the boy wanted would not be simple. But those exhortations turned three times between her lips and teeth, and finally turned into a sigh: "Since you work so hard, what reward do you want?"

You Su sat up suddenly, causing the medicine bowl to ripple. His throat tightened, and his eyes swept across the woman's beautiful face before quickly avoiding it:

"Disciple...disciple has been working too hard recently, and I feel that the Yang energy has accumulated and turned into poison..."

"you……"

"I didn't mean to hide it!" You Su hurriedly pulled the quilt over, sweat oozing from his forehead, "I felt my Qi surging after the joint training yesterday. I wanted to regulate my breathing... but I just couldn't calm down..."

He Shutong waved his sleeves and wanted to leave, but his waist was so soft that he couldn't leave the stool. The cold female swordsman felt extremely ashamed at this moment. She should have known that it would turn out like this, so why did she still come here in the name of carrying ointment...

Isn’t this... covering one’s ears and stealing the bell?

She clearly knew that the boy's feelings for her were not pure, but she still wanted to reward him for his hard work in sword practice with such an intimate act as applying medicine personally, as if... she was deliberately catering to the boy's presumptuous heart.

It's just that in the outside world, they still had the relationship of master and disciple, and now in the dream they had already crossed the line. How could she bear to refuse the boy's first request for reward?

The frosty shawl brushed across the boy's tense back, and clear energy condensed from He Shutong's fingertips.

You Su groaned, and the breath from his throat burned He Shutong's fingertips so much that they trembled.

From Xuanji to Shenque, You Su felt flames rising from every vital point.

He Shutong turned away, and the candlelight cast a warm edge on this enchanting face:
"Be still and focus your mind."

But when the Yin Energy that she had quietly injected was swallowed up by the Yang Fire for the fifth time, she finally noticed something unusual.

"Master's wife..." You Su suddenly held her hand as she tried to withdraw it, his palm burning like an iron, "Is this... useless?"

He Shutong hummed softly and said shyly: "Your Yang Qi is getting more and more stubborn, even I find it difficult to guide it."

"I was just too nervous..."

The young man murmured to himself, but when the fairy looked at him, she saw that what was beating in his eyes at this moment was clearly a more intense desire.

"How do you want to relieve it?" He Shutong regretted the moment he said it. How could he ask him himself?

"Master's wife treated me very well, so I was even more afraid that she would leave. Sometimes I felt heartbroken when I thought of that scene. I was very scared, so... I wanted to hug Master's wife..."

Before she finished her words, the fairy's fair face had already turned red, like cinnabar splashed on the snow.

He Shutong knew that the boy's ambition was gradually growing. If she continued to indulge him, what would happen in the future?

But the boy's confession that he was afraid she would leave came from the bottom of his heart, and she felt so soft-hearted when she heard it that she couldn't say a word of refusal.

Anyway...it was just a dream...

The body in her arms had grown, its lines like a sword sheath carved by a master craftsman, but its posture overlapped with that of the blind child who curled up when he was sick. She finally sighed and spread her arms, her frosty sleeves covering the boy like crane wings.

The boy buried his hot cheeks in her arms, and realized that her waist was even slimmer than he had imagined. You Su only wished that this beautiful dream would last forever, but he also hoped that it would come true soon. His happy voice was as muffled as if squeezed out from the clouds:

"Master's Wife, you are so kind..."

(End of this chapter)