Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

"I'm here to do something important!"

"Dual cultivation is a matter of life and death for you. Is there anything more important than your survival right now?"

Chapter 18 Aunt Gu, that's my true heart!

The night was as deep as a still pool, quiet, profound, and cool.

Chu Mingkong's cultivation level plummeted, and coupled with the chilling aura of the Extreme Abyss Injury, he began to shiver in the summer night, constantly drinking hot tea as if it were a way to ward off the cold.

Originally, Chu Mingkong was sitting at the coffee table discussing visiting the Taoist temple, but Zuo Qiuchi then drove him into her bed.

"Get under the covers! Aren't you ashamed? It's freezing cold in the summer!"

Although the words were harsh, Zuo Qiuchi was already thinking to himself that he should find a small heater for him to carry with him.

"Sigh!" Chu Mingkong took off his clothes and lay down in the warm bed his master had prepared. He remembered what happened that night. "Master, I have a question for you. Do married old women also retain their primordial yin?"

Why is this kid thinking about such things...? Zuo Qiuchi looked at him strangely and answered for the time being: "That depends on whether this old woman is a cultivator. If she is a cultivator and comes from a reputable sect, then it is very possible, no, it is most likely!"

Chu Mingkong was astonished by this unheard-of news. He sat up in bed in surprise, but then his expression turned cold, and he shrank back into the covers: "What's the secret? I don't know anything about this."

"Many cultivation techniques require a virgin yin body, so female cultivators will try to preserve their virgin yin. Those major sects naturally have no shortage of such cultivation techniques, and there are even some secret methods to deceive their husbands into 'breaking their virginity and having sex,' and the whole deception process is perfected up to childbirth."

Therefore, if you encounter female elders or senior female masters in those major sects, seven or eight out of ten of them are still virgins, even if some of them are already married or even have children. This secret is kept from male cultivators, and to maintain secrecy, female cultivators who practice such secret techniques will swear an oath not to reveal it, especially not to male cultivators.

Chu Mingkong stared in disbelief. This was truly the first time he had ever heard of such a thing; the secrecy was simply too good.

He wasn't curious about how his master knew. A Sword Immortal could break the vows he had made before, and Zuo Qiuchi didn't have a formal sect. She was a rogue cultivator who had joined the sect halfway through her cultivation journey. She challenged various sects and pondered things on her own, and somehow she reached the pinnacle of the Great Sword Path. She was a unique and extraordinary person in the cultivation world.

"Isn't this going too far? Those men have been deceived too badly."

Zuo Qiuchi didn't take it seriously: "What's so tragic about this? Each sect has different secret techniques and different ways of concealing things. The child may not be the female cultivator's, but it will definitely be the male cultivator's. Besides, for the vast majority of people who intend to cultivate, cultivation is inherently cruel."

Breaking one's primordial yin is tantamount to cutting off most of one's future possibilities. Whatever ancient divine skills one might acquire in the future, one can only watch helplessly. Conversely, there are very few cultivation techniques that explicitly require male cultivators to retain their primordial yang.

No wonder the leaders of those particularly powerful sects are all female cultivators. If the sect leader were a male cultivator, the secret that has been harming the feelings of so many men might not be kept.

Oh, I misspoke. There really is a sect leader who is a male cultivator within the major sects—the Hundred Flames Sword Tomb! The sect is almost entirely composed of male cultivators, with only a few female disciples who are merely nominal members, making it even worse off than the Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering departments.

So, does that mean the doctor Baili whom Fengying arrested tonight really did retain his primordial yin?

After chatting briefly about the secrets of the cultivation world, Zuo Qiuchi got tired of sitting. She stretched out her beautiful, smooth white foot and kicked Chu Mingkong, pushing him a little further in so she could make room to lie back in bed. She almost shivered with embarrassment herself.

The chilling aura emanating from this kid even made the blankets feel cold.

"What happened to you? That woman was so rough, she tore your wound off!"

"I can't blame my sister. I was a bit too reckless. She just wanted to see my state of mind when I wielded the sword. I wanted to surprise her, so I forcibly used more of my power. Afterwards, she gave me a few pills, but I didn't take them. Those pills were really precious."

Although he was in the capital and had little access to valuable resources from the outside world, Zuo Qiuchi couldn't understand how he could be so stingy with the elixir that was essential for his survival.

She could touch her disciple's storage ring as she pleased. She found the bottles of pills that Xiao Yunhan had given him, and without even looking at what was inside, Zuo Qiuchi poured them directly into his mouth.

"Xiao Yunhan rarely comes out of seclusion, why is she leaving in such a hurry?"

"If she were to meet me openly, I'd probably face even more targeting. Her sect likely has spies from the royal family. She came looking for me before even letting her sect know she'd come out of seclusion. If I go back now, I'll probably have to pretend I just came out of seclusion... Why does this pill taste like hawthorn slices?"

"I've tried fish soup flavored food before, and it made me feel nauseous."

The woman pressed her palm against Chu Mingkong's heart, channeling her inner energy to suppress the chill. Zuo Qiuchi's five elements are primarily metal and fire, both of which are her innate five elements of spiritual energy. Fire is the most suitable element to dispel the chill for him; no other doctor could have been as effective as Zuo Qiuchi.

The candlestick's oil burned out, and the room was enveloped in night. Zuo Qiuchi finally finished her work, stretched, and her curves, faintly visible in the moonlight, were alluring and captivating.

"I'm tired. If you're still cold, I'll carry you here. If you're not cold, go back to your room to sleep. The bed is a bit small, and it'll be too cramped with you."

This statement sounds like "If you don't hug me, get out of my room," but Chu Mingkong knows that Zuo Qiuchi is not a scheming person, and she probably just really thinks the bed is too cramped.

He asked to confirm, "If I were to get out of the room now and leave Master a spacious bed to rest in, would you be moved by my filial piety and kindness?"

You're bothering me while I'm sleeping, and I should thank you? The beautiful master, who had just closed her eyes, couldn't help but sit up again, touch his forehead, and pull open his clothes to check if the injury had spread to his brain.

"Could it be that his brain has also been damaged by the yin energy?"

It seems that even if I leave the room now, I won't receive any filial piety... Chu Mingkong had already made up his mind. He hugged his master's soft body tightly, and her body became hot as the fire spiritual energy surged.

"My disciple is very cold. I'm afraid Master will have to suffer tonight."

"You're so full of tricks!"

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The next day.

Chu Mingkong and Zuo Qiuchi's plan to go to the Taoist temple to seek enlightenment was quickly abandoned.

After some inquiries, it turned out that the Taoist temples in the capital were closed to visitors for some reason, and would not reopen until the Lantern Festival—the plan to seek immortality and ask questions was canceled, and everyone went about their own business.

Seeing that there was no hope with the Fairy Maiden, Zuo Qiuchi naturally went to keep an eye on the Female Bodhisattva. Chu Mingkong did not go to join in the fun, but continued his great work of concealing his talents.

He specially wore a fur coat that could only be seen in the dead of winter, carried a hand warmer, and strolled around the bustling streets of the capital twice in the early morning, showing his "weak" state.

After finishing, he returned home to change into his new clothes and went to a restaurant to hear if anyone was talking about how "weak" he was. Fortunately, there were still plenty of gossipy people, and many were saying that he was "wearing a fur coat in the sweltering heat of July and August, either because he was physically weak or because he was having too much sex with women every night and his kidneys were weak." Although his reputation wasn't very good, he felt relieved.

However, he also heard some unexpected but also expected news.

"Do you know the two gentlemen of the Cui family?"

"Which two? The one whose Five Elements are lacking metal?"

This refers to Cui Lian. The elders of the Cui family originally hoped that Cui Lian would have a talent for sword cultivation when he was born. Unfortunately, they had someone measure that he lacked the element of metal in his five elements, so they added the element of metal to his name as a wish of the elders, but it was actually useless.

And here, as soon as Cui Lian is mentioned, everyone else knows who he is. They are all a bunch of troublemakers; even if the neighbors haven't seen them, they must have heard of them.

"Yes, last night they were listening to music and playing with the young master, which attracted a cultivator wielding a heavy sword. He slapped them out of the room with one blow, and they fell to the street disheveled. The young master was still in the form of Little Chrysanthemum in Sunflower. All their absurd deeds were exposed. It was very embarrassing."

"Indeed, last night was truly terrifying. I was appreciating the beauty of sound and Dao in the Chunjiang Courtyard across the street when I was startled. That sword cultivator even jumped down and slapped those two from the Cui family a few times."

"Sound... Dao, there's something there!" Chu Mingkong chuckled.

"But the most miserable ones are the two daughters-in-law of the Cui family. Their husbands have done such a thing, and they have lost face too. Although the Cui family in the capital is a prestigious family, I always feel that the daughters-in-law of this family are not as happy as those fairy maidens from those sects."

Listening to their audacious chatter, Chu Mingkong felt that it made a lot of sense.

Aunt Gu's husband's family has committed such a disgraceful act that she can't even go out in public. Her two beautiful sisters-in-law are in even worse shape; their husbands' affairs have been exposed in the capital. Where can they put their faces?

Now the Cui family must have paid the officials to say that the two people from the Cui family last night were just socializing, watching the opera normally and not doing anything else, but will the people believe it?

The female elders are sad and heartbroken, isn't this the time for him to show his filial piety and comfort his aunts and sisters-in-law?

After leaving a few taels of silver to pay the bill, Chu Mingkong rushed to the Cui residence without stopping.

The atmosphere in the mansion was indeed heavy. Old Master Cui was nowhere to be seen, having no interest in dealing with the misfits in the clan. The women and maids dared not breathe loudly or look around, for fear of offending any master at such a time.

Chu Mingkong went to Aunt Gu's room and comforted her, "Aunt Gu, don't take it to heart. It's their fault for making a mistake. Why should you suffer? Those two brothers deserve it for talking badly about you behind your back."

Aunt Gu was terrified when she heard him say that. What would happen if someone heard this? She quickly got up and went to close the door.

However, she hesitated when closing the door. As a widow, it was not proper for her to be alone with Mingkong in the house in broad daylight. But then she thought that she was his elder and that thinking too much would make her feel guilty.

She closed the door anyway: "Don't talk nonsense. What if people misunderstand and think you went to get revenge?"

"How am I supposed to get revenge? It's so hard to even use my internal energy. I can't expect them to treat me well just because I know they're talking badly about Aunt Gu, can I? By the way, did you like the gift I gave Aunt Gu yesterday? If you don't understand anything, I can give you some pointers. It's the same if Xiao Zuo comes over and gives you pointers."

Gu Jun Gui recalled the alluring sheer dress from the room, her almond-shaped eyes widening as she scolded:

"You even said that those kinds of clothes are something you can just give to your elders! I have no idea what's going on in your head!"

Chu Mingkong was puzzled. Why was Aunt Gu acting this way? It didn't make sense. My filial piety had been expressed, which meant she was satisfied.

Could it be that she felt uneasy keeping it because it was too valuable?

He looked earnestly at Aunt Gu, holding her soft hand: "But that is truly a token of my affection for you, Aunt Gu. Perhaps it's not quite appropriate as a gift, but I feel it's the most suitable for you, tailor-made for you!"

Chapter Nineteen: Has Aunt Gu's filial piety also gone awry?!

What a little rascal! Giving away those clothes unintentionally would be embarrassing enough, but you actually did it seriously!

Aunt Gu's eyebrows furrowed, her face unadorned, but the thought of the shameful thin gauze dress made her blush, adding a touch of delicate beauty to this charming widow's face. She said with feigned annoyance:

"Keep talking! If you say another word, I'll get angry. I'm your elder, how can I accept something like this? What will outsiders think of us if they find out?"

Hey—Chu Mingkong didn't understand what he was talking about. Did I have to care about what outsiders thought when I gave them gifts? What's wrong with giving elders some valuable pills or cultivation techniques?

"What's there to be afraid of? Can't we give gifts to our elders? It may be a little special in terms of value, but that's precisely why we should give it to you, Aunt Gu. How many people in the capital care about me as much as you do? If I don't give it to you, am I supposed to give it to someone like Miss Zhang?"

The beautiful woman was so angry she didn't know what to say. She felt it was absurd of the boy not to scold him, but she couldn't bear to. So she could only patiently persuade him:

“Oh dear! You should give it to a young woman, someone whose social standing, character, and appearance are a good match for you, who cares about you, and who is worthy of walking down the street with you.”

"Aunt Gu, are you talking about yourself? There aren't many women in the capital who are of good character and care about me. You can count them on two fingers. Young, from a good family, of good character, and beautiful, that's definitely Aunt Gu!"

"Are you trying to drive me crazy, kid...?"

Despite her anger, Aunt Gu sighed inwardly. During Chu Mingkong's time in the capital, he was indeed surrounded by enemies. Even if no one took advantage of his misfortune, there were quite a few who were stirring up trouble and watching the show. She never expected that another woman would care about him.

"Tell me, which girl is the other finger? Don't you dare end up like Cui Lian, finding a young husband to play with!"

How did this connect to my playing with young male concubines? If I really went to a brothel, I'd play with the most beautiful courtesan. He said speechlessly:

“That finger is Xiao Zuo! Sometimes when my Abyss Injury flares up and my meridians are freezing cold, she helps me circulate my internal energy to dispel the cold. She stayed with me for a long time.”

Aunt Gu suddenly realized that she had really been confused by him. Who else could it be but the young lady Xiao Zuo who had come to eat with her that day? But she didn't expect that this young lady Xiao Zuo would value Ming Kong so much. Despite the pressure of possibly being hated by the emperor, she still wanted to stay with Ming Kong. She was indeed a good girl!

She paid closer attention to Chu Mingkong's eyes and tone when he mentioned Miss Zuo. The deep trust in him suggested something was amiss!

Another day I should give this sheer dress that Mingkong gave me to Miss Zuo, and say that Mingkong was too embarrassed to give it to me himself, so he asked me to give it to her! I should try to bring them together.

"So, how far have things progressed in your relationship? How do you get along normally?"

Aunt Gu transforms into a gossipy aunt who cares deeply for her younger relatives.

Chu Mingkong pondered for a moment and then said accurately, "Their relationship is like that of a master and disciple."

Aunt Gu rolled her eyes with a charmingly seductive expression, gave his arm a light slap, and scolded him:

"Is that how you describe it? The relationship between a teacher and student is like the affection between parents and children. How can you describe the feelings between young people like you? I really don't know where you get those few poems from. You don't even know common sense!"

"I heard it on the street. It's not like I'm that good. But don't tell anyone about Xiao Zuo. She's been hiding in my mansion. If others find out, they'll start investigating her background... Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Aunt Gu, how's your study of that beginner's manual going?"

The cultivation technique obtained from the blind box was quite basic, equivalent to preschool education in the cultivation world, laying the foundation for later cultivation. However, cultivation is essentially about capturing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and the difficulty of getting started is extremely high. Even preschool education needs someone to guide you through the process and teach you.