Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

Qin Ji had never found thirty strokes of the ruler so difficult to endure.

Later on, he didn't even dare to look at the hand that Jiang Jibai was using to punish himself. He just lowered his eyes, listened to the sound of the ruler hitting his palm each time, and struggled to utter numbers.

When it was time for the thirtieth strike, he didn't dare to waste a single second. He quickly got up and snatched the ruler from Jiang Jibai's hand, afraid that if he was even a step too late, Jiang Jibai would say that the first strike didn't count.

Jiang Jibai let the boy take the ruler away and hid his left hand under his sleeve.

Does hiding it mean it never happened?

Qin Ji was furious. He forcefully pushed Jiang Jibai into a chair, took out a handkerchief, pressed a snowball outside, and wrapped it in the handkerchief.

He turned and went back into the house, moving the stool closer to Jiang Jibai, and said in a harsh voice, "Hand!"

The young disciple's eyes were slightly red, and he could hardly hide the sadness in them. Jiang Jibai did not want to make him feel even more guilty, so he just smiled gently at him and reached out his right hand to take the handkerchief containing the snowball from Qin Ji's hand. "I can do it myself."

Qin Ji avoided Jiang Jibai's movements, raised his voice, and repeated unequivocally, "Hand!"

Jiang Jibai was taken aback by his junior disciple's shout.

Clearly, his act of taking the punishment for someone else had thoroughly angered the junior disciple.

I must say, being yelled at by my disciple was a first for me, an experience I'd never had before.

He helplessly reached out his hand, trying to comfort her, "Feibai, I'm not as fragile as you think, and you don't need to blame yourself so much..."

Before he could finish speaking, a towel wrapped with snowballs was stuffed into his battered left hand and applied as an ice pack, suppressing the burning heat.

Qin Ji remained silent, not responding to any comments. For a moment, the only sound between the master and his disciple was the bubbling of water boiling in the kettle on the stove.

Jiang Jibai turned his head to look at his silent junior disciple and sighed. "It's just a few slaps on the hand. You've been punished in no way I can't take it myself. Don't take it too seriously. I've always been strict with my disciples. You've been punished in front of me time and time again. If I held a grudge about it and felt guilty every time I punished you, how could I continue to be a teacher?"

Qin Ji suddenly stood up, kicked the stool aside, lifted his robe, and silently knelt beside Jiang Jibai's legs, snatched the handkerchief, and applied it to Jiang's hands.

Jiang Jibai wouldn't let him blame himself, so he deliberately acted even more guilty in front of him.

Jiang Jibai felt a pang of pain in his heart at the sight of his youngest disciple's intense reaction. He reached out to lift the boy up, asking, "What are you doing?"

As a teacher, he failed to discipline his students and couldn't bear to hurt their good intentions, so he took the blame for them and assumed some responsibility. This may make the students feel guilty, but how could he feel so guilty?

It's just some hand scraping; it hurts, but it won't cause any serious injury.

Qin Ji refused to move, looking directly into Jiang Jibai's eyes and demanding, "Can you really stop blaming yourself just by saying you won't?"

A hint of pain surfaced in the boy's calm, deep eyes, piercing Jiang Jibai's heart like a sharp awl.

Qin Ji's voice was low and hoarse, "I really want to listen to your words, and I really want to heed your words of comfort, but teacher..."

You have no idea how much I care about you, how much I cherish this teacher-student relationship, and you also have no idea... I'm just a liar.

Everything of this was a lie.

How can my heart, already overflowing with guilt and self-blame, bear even the slightest bit more weight?

Qin Ji lowered his eyes: "I can't control myself, I'm really sad."

The young disciple lowered his eyes, his voice even choked with sobs, as he spoke of his sorrow.

Jiang Jibai stared at his face for a long time.

His importance in his junior disciple's heart was perhaps even greater than he realized.

Jiang Jibai cupped the boy's chin with his right hand. "Feibai, look at me."

Qin Ji remained unmoved.

"Feibai." Jiang Jibai called out the name that did not belong to Qin Ji again.

Qin Ji's eyelids trembled slightly as he looked up at him.

Jiang Jibai saw shimmering tears and an overwhelming sense of guilt in the boy's eyes.

These tears, unlike those freely shed amidst past wailing, flow with a deeper sense of pain.

Jiang Jibai's lips moved slightly. After a long while, he reached out and touched the boy's head. "I'm sorry, I will never punish you like this again. It doesn't actually hurt as much as you think. I'm not that sensitive to pain, really."

fraud!

The moisture in his eyes seemed to meet the cold air and suddenly fall as rain. Qin Ji lowered his eyes and said in a muffled voice, "That's true. Otherwise, why do you always punish people so severely? Maybe it's because you're not sensitive to pain, so you don't know how to be gentle."

Jiang Jibai stroked the boy's head, wiped away his tears with his sleeve, and replied with a smile, "Mm."

"Get up." Jiang Jibai patted his youngest disciple on the shoulder.

Qin Ji pursed his lips and didn't move.

"Aren't you going to put some medicine on me?" Jiang Jibai handed him back the towel that had been used for the cold compress. "Although you weren't the one responsible for killing him, you can be responsible for burying him."

"Does my teacher have the honor of also enjoying the blessings of my disciple?"

Qin Ji scrambled to his feet, plopped down on a stool, and waved his right hand in front of Jiang Jibai. "What about me? What about me? You were in charge of killing them, why weren't you responsible for burying them?"

Jiang Jibai seemed to remember something and hesitated, "I would like to bury it, but I've only been lecturing here for two days..."

Qin Ji glanced at him.

Jiang Jibai shrugged and told the truth, "I didn't bring any medicine."

Qin Ji grumbled a few times in dissatisfaction, then pulled a box of ointment from his pocket. "In crucial moments, you still have to rely on me!"

Seeing that his youngest disciple had finally regained his usual vivacity, Jiang Jibai chuckled and teased him, "Why do you still carry medicine with you?"

Qin Ji glared at him angrily, "Do you really have no self-awareness at all? Poison Master!"

Upon suddenly hearing such a disrespectful form of address, Jiang Jibai looked at his junior disciple indifferently and asked, "What did you say?"

Qin Ji felt a pang of guilt when he accidentally let the words slip out. He straightened his back and pressed on, "That's true. You punish me every few days. You're so fierce and ruthless. Do you think I can rely on my righteousness and iron will to keep some medicine on hand?"

Now that you mention it, it's actually quite pitiful.

Jiang Jibai touched his nose, coughed lightly, and asked in return, "Can't you make fewer mistakes?"

Qin Ji, displeased, shoved the ointment he was holding into Jiang Jibai's arms. "Apply the medicine!"

Jiang Jibai, having never enjoyed the blessings of being a disciple, found himself missing the days when Bian Hongzhen was around.

Brother Bian is taking up his post, so he won't benefit from this...

Jiang Jibai simply dipped his left hand in the medicine and applied it to Qin Ji's right hand, making good use of the medicine and not wasting any of it.

Qin Ji winced in pain, glancing at Jiang Jibai's hand, which was even more badly injured than his own. "Don't you feel pain?"

Jiang Jibai's eyebrows remained unchanged. "It's alright."

Qin Ji glanced at him suspiciously several times.

Was the poison master trying to coax him, or was he really serious?

Could it be that this is the reason why he has such bad luck?

Jiang Jibai suddenly asked, "Why did you come to see me today with medicine in your pocket?"

Qin Ji: "..."

I remembered.

Damn Yang Xiuyun!

Finally, I got him... oh no, I got him playing it out loud!

...

Goal achieved! Double updates tomorrow!