Wei Qing didn't let a hint show on his face. He turned naturally, smiling as he said, "Nothing serious. Miss Ruan Mei stopped by to drop off some pastries—also to go over the follow-up analysis from the last Qiongguan Array trial."
He stepped aside and gestured toward the courtyard. "You just got back from a mission? Come in and sit?"
For some reason, Wei Qing couldn't shake the feeling that Jingliu was… off today. Not overtly hostile—just that subtle, hair-raising pressure like a blade held behind his back.
Jingliu's gaze lingered on his face for a beat, then slid past him to the stone table: two cups not yet cleared away, and that refined box of lotus pastries.
Only then did she walk in, unhurried.
"Mm." She answered lightly and sat in the spot Wei Qing had occupied earlier. Her eyes settled on the pastries. "A member of the Genius Society… is surprisingly polite."
Her tone was flat—nothing in it at all. And yet Wei Qing felt, inexplicably, like the temperature dropped a few degrees.
"Yeah," he said, playing along. "She said it was an apology for the last trial's 'accident.'"
He pulled the untouched fizzy drink Ruan Mei had ignored and nudged it toward Jingliu. "Want to try it? Might not be your thing."
Jingliu didn't touch the cup. Her eyes stayed on the lotus cakes.
"She came specifically to apologize?"
"Uh… sort of. But mostly it was business." Wei Qing sensed the air turning strange and tried to steer it back to safer ground. "You've heard, right? The Qiongguan Array blew up during the last run. They went through the data remnants and came to brief me."
"What did they find?" Jingliu asked, red eyes fixed on him.
Seeing no way around it, Wei Qing simply reused the exact same "explanation" he'd just fed Ruan Mei—word for word, without missing a beat.
Jingliu listened quietly, her cool expression barely changing.
But when he reached the part about asking Nouswho the most beautiful woman in the universe was, her long lashes trembled—so slightly it was almost invisible.
And when he finished with Nous' "answer" being Yaoshi, plus how he'd righteously refuted it to defend Idrila's "honor"…
The courtyard fell into a short, brittle silence.
Jingliu finally lifted the fizzy drink Wei Qing had pushed over and took a small sip. The bubbles stung; she frowned faintly and set it down.
"You…" Her voice was still calm. "Do you like the Aeon of Beauty?"
She asked it like she was waiting on a crucial verdict.
In her memory, Wei Qing had never displayed any particular devotion to Idrila. He didn't mingle with the Knights of Beauty, either.
And although no one had ever truly seen Idrila's face… as the Aeon of Beauty, Idrila was not exactly a standard anyone could compete with.
Wei Qing blinked at the question, then let out a short laugh.
"Where is this coming from? I just thought Nous' answer was ridiculous."
"Besides," he added dryly, "I'm Xianzhou. If I seriously agreed that Yaoshi is 'the most beautiful,' the Ten-Lords Commission would have me in for tea before the next breath."
Whether Jingliu accepted that explanation or merely decided to let it pass, her gaze finally slipped off his face—returning to the pastry box.
"How did Miss Ruan Mei's pastries taste?" she asked, switching topics—though it still didn't sound like idle chatter.
Wei Qing picked up one lotus cake and took a bite. "Honestly? She's got real skill. These lotus cakes are more authentic than what you get at the sweet shops. Want one?"
Jingliu's eyes dropped to the pastry, and she went quiet for a few seconds before gently shaking her head.
"No. I don't like sweets."
Wei Qing seized the opening. "How was your mission? Phantylia's mess—mostly cleaned up?"
"Some remnants still need to be purged," Jingliu replied, as concise as ever. "But nothing worth concern."
Then, as she watched him sitting a little stiffly—like someone expecting a trap to spring—an almost imperceptible hint of amusement flickered in her eyes.
She remembered Dan Feng's earlier advice:
Show concern at the right time.
Wei Qing let out a silent breath of relief. He was about to say something else—
When Jingliu stood.
She walked up to him.
She was slightly shorter, needing to tilt her chin just a little to meet his eyes. But her gaze—cold, steady—held a kind of focus that didn't allow retreat.
"Wei Qing."
"…Yeah?" His brain stumbled over the sudden formality in her tone.
"Today is your day off. Do you have plans?"
"Not really… no." Wei Qing answered on instinct, mind racing. What new idea is the Sword Champion cooking up now? Please don't tell me it's another 'Abundance dungeon run.'
Jingliu nodded, seemingly satisfied.
A pause—like she was carefully selecting words.
Then her voice, still cool, slowed slightly.
"Last time you washed my feet… your technique was unusual. It did… ease my fatigue."
She hesitated—so briefly it could've been imagined.
"…I liked it."
Wei Qing: "..."
Here it came. Again.
Was this topic ever going to die?
Wei Qing felt like the incident had nailed him permanently to a pillar of shame. The label foot-fetish pervert—he would never wash it off in this lifetime.
"Haha…" He forced a dry laugh, attempting to bury it under polite nonsense. "That was just… what I should've done."
Jingliu, however, didn't seem to notice his agony.
Or perhaps she noticed and simply didn't care.
"So," she continued evenly, "as a return gift, I want to do something for you as well."
Wei Qing's internal alarms blared. A sense of impending disaster surged up his spine.
He still vividly remembered that Voidranger heart.
And that mushroom mochi.
Those "gifts" had left scars.
Then Jingliu delivered her line, calm and utterly sincere:
"Courtesy demands reciprocity. Since you're off today… I'll wash your feet too."
Wei Qing opened his mouth—and for a moment, no sound came out.
He'd just heard what?
Jingliu. Wanted to wash his feet.
Was this real? Or had he eaten too much of that truth-serum pastry and started hallucinating from food poisoning?
His brain felt like it had just been rammed by a star skiff—buzzing, blank, and painfully loud.
"That's not necessary!" he blurted, waving his hands so fast he nearly smacked himself. Cold sweat was already forming. "Last time you were drunk! That was a special case! Seriously—no need to 'return the favor'!"
Jingliu looked at him in silence.
A faint confusion passed through her eyes, as if she genuinely didn't understand why he was reacting as though she'd proposed an execution.
To her, it was simple: a fair exchange, based on something she'd experienced as effective and comfortable.
"You… don't want to?" Jingliu tilted her head slightly. Her tone stayed even, but underneath it—if one listened carefully—there was the barest trace of disappointment.
"I thought it was effective," she said. "It relieves fatigue."
Wei Qing stared at the earnest confusion on her face.
And the refusal lodged in his throat.
Because he suddenly realized—
To Jingliu, this might not be flirtation at all.
It might just be… sincerity. A straightforward, literal attempt at "repayment," offered with the same seriousness she brought to everything else.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 80)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 80)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter50)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter50)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter50)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 10
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 10
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