"Are you saying you can heal my back pain with this massage of yours?" the young man asked, skepticism lacing his voice.
Su Yin nodded calmly in response.
"Don't listen to her!" a disciple interjected. "She's just trying to take advantage of you!"
"Yeah! Who knows what she'll do once you follow her!" another chimed in.
"Do you even know who she is?" a third demanded.
The young man turned to the group of disciples, frowning. "And who are you?"
"We are—"
Before they could introduce themselves, Su Yin cut in. "I can heal you, but only if you follow my conditions."
"Conditions?" The young man raised a brow. "You're in no position to demand conditions. You've been standing here for hours without a single customer! If I walk away now, who knows when—or if—you'll get another."
Silence hung in the air for a moment.
"Then," Su Yin said, her voice steady, "for having the courage to approach me, I'll give you a warning. Your back pain—don't underestimate it. Seek a doctor soon, or you risk becoming a cripple."
"A cripple?!" The young man's eyes widened in panic. "W-What do you mean by that?!"
Su Yin's words weren't meant to alarm him, but they had clearly struck a nerve.
"If you think your back pain comes from bad posture during cultivation, you're gravely mistaken," she added.
"Then what's causing it?" he pressed, his voice trembling.
Su Yin fell silent, her gaze steady but unrevealing. Sweat beaded on the young man's forehead as the silence stretched on.
"Fine… I'll do it. I'll accept your conditions," he relented after a few more tense seconds.
Su Yin nodded. "Condition one: the session lasts exactly ten minutes, no more, no less. Condition two: you must share your experience with ten others afterward.
Condition three: you may only return one month after your last session. If you reject any of these conditions, leave now.
If you fail to uphold the second or third condition after the massage, don't bother coming back."
"That's… it?" The young man had expected harsher terms. Such simple conditions—who wouldn't agree?
"Pfft… one month? It'd be a miracle if she gets another customer after this!" a disciple mocked.
"Do you accept?" Su Yin asked.
"I accept," the young man replied.
"Good. Follow me." Su Yin rolled up her sign, slung it over her shoulder, and led the young man toward her living quarters.
"He's actually going with her…" a disciple muttered.
"Should we stop him?" another asked.
"Let him go. He'll only have himself to blame for trusting someone like Su Yin," another said dismissively.
The disciples watched as Su Yin and the young man vanished into the distance. Intrigued by what might happen, none of the dozens present tried to intervene.
"This is… your living quarters? We're doing it here?" the young man asked, glancing around nervously.
"Would you prefer outside?" Su Yin replied with a faint smile.
The young man's imagination ran wild, his cheeks flushing as he took in the surroundings.
Su Yin didn't wait for a response and stepped into the house.
"Ah! Wait up…" he called, hurrying after her.
Inside the quiet house, Su Yin led him straight to her room. The young man followed cautiously.
"I swear, if you try anything funny, you'll pay with your life…" he warned, his voice shaky.
"You're too young for my taste, little boy," Su Yin said lightly.
"Little boy? You're barely older than me!" he retorted.
Su Yin shrugged. "Lie on the bed, face down."
The young man hesitated, staring at her with suspicion.
"You can keep your clothes on," she added.
Relieved, he sighed and settled onto the bed, his back facing up.
Su Yin cracked her knuckles and stretched briefly. "Your ten minutes start now. Try not to pass out."
"What do you mean by—"
"Ah—!"
The young man let out an involuntary moan of pleasure, startling himself as Su Yin's hands worked on his back. Her touch sent a tingling delight through his own senses.
"What… what did you do—Ahhh~!" he gasped.
"Stop squirming like a worm; you're making this harder," Su Yin said, her tone calm but firm.
"Ahhh!"
The sensation on his back overwhelmed him, drowning out all other senses. It felt as though he had been transported to another realm—heaven itself.
The young man couldn't comprehend the feeling; it was beyond human hands, as if a god were working his muscles.
Time flew by, but to him, it felt like an eternity. Then, abruptly, the pleasure stopped, jarring him like the end of the world.
"Eh? Huh? Why'd you stop?" He turned to Su Yin, his flushed face wearing a sensual expression, silently pleading for more.
"Your ten minutes are up," Su Yin said evenly.
"B-But…"
"The pain in your back should be gone now. Cut your cultivation time in half for the next month to make it permanent."
"Please… ten—no, just five more minutes! I'll pay anything!" he begged.
Su Yin shook her head. "I said the first three customers are free. Come back next month… after you've shared your experience with ten people."
The young man bit his lip in frustration but nodded reluctantly.
"I look forward to your next visit… uh…" Su Yin paused.
"Zhou Xu," he said. "My name is Zhou Xu."
"I'm Su Yin," she replied, smiling as she watched him stumble out the door, his legs unsteady as if he'd spent the night drinking.