Chapter 193: Serving with a Foot Bath! Senior Sister, your overactive imagination filter is invincible!

“Ma… Master? This servant?”

Gu Lan stared at the woman kneeling on one knee before him, holding a wooden basin, and felt a certain string in his brain snap completely.

He instinctively shrank back, his back pressing tightly against the cold rock wall, looking at Jiang Wanqing as if he were looking at a monster that had undergone Possession.

“Senior Sister! Can you stop messing around?!”

“This is the sword Formation ruins. The isolating Formation outside can block even the Divine Sense of an old monster at the Soul Transformation Stage. That Female Demon Lord can't see us at all!”

“Hurry up and get up! You're acting like this… I'm scared!”

Gu Lan was truly panicking.

If they were on the demon god ship, and Jiang Wanqing was compromising to wash his feet just to put on a show for Ye Hongzhuang, he could still understand.

But now, in the middle of nowhere without a soul in sight, her suddenly calling him 'Master' was more terrifying than a horror movie!

However,

Jiang Wanqing did not stand up.

She maintained that extremely standard kneeling posture of a maidservant, looking up. Her cold and stunning face showed not a hint of humiliation, but was instead filled with an indescribable stubbornness.

“I know there are no outsiders here.”

Jiang Wanqing's voice was soft, yet exceptionally clear.

“But… we have to put on a complete show. Since I have already become your foot-washing maid in front of all the Cultivators in the world, I must adapt to this identity.”

“Furthermore…”

A thin mist suddenly welled up in her watery eyes, and the gaze she directed at Gu Lan was filled with an unconcealable heartache.

“To keep me safe in the devil's cave, you had to wear a mask every day and endure all kinds of torture and demands from that Female Demon Lord…”

“I can't help you much, and I don't even have the qualification to fight by your side.”

“Now, I only want to do some small things within my power for you.”

“Junior Brother, just let me wash them. Otherwise, I will feel terrible.”

Gu Lan: “…”

Looking at Jiang Wanqing's solemn and tragic expression that seemed to say, 'If you don't let me wash your feet, you don't love me' and 'If you don't let me wash your feet, you are depriving me of a chance to atone,' he went completely numb.

Big sister!

What on earth have you been imagining?!

What do you mean by 'all kinds of torture and demands'?

Although the process was indeed a bit 'torturous,' that kind of 'demanding' is absolutely not what you are imagining!

“No, Senior Sister, I really didn't suffer any grievances…”

Gu Lan still wanted to try to salvage his villain persona.

But Jiang Wanqing didn't give him any chance to argue.

She directly reached out with her slender, jade-white hands—which were usually only used to hold a sword—and grabbed Gu Lan's ankle.

“Don't move.”

Jiang Wanqing's tone suddenly became somewhat domineering, even carrying a trace of unquestionable Senior Sister authority.

Gu Lan's entire body froze, and he actually didn't dare to move.

He saw Jiang Wanqing lower her head slightly, her black hair sliding off her shoulders and draping over the edge of the wooden basin.

With gentle yet very unfamiliar movements, she unlaced Gu Lan's brocade boots, slipped off his white socks, and carefully placed his feet into the warm basin of water.

“Hiss—”

Gu Lan inhaled a sharp breath of cold air.

The water temperature was just right, but what was even more lethal was Jiang Wanqing's hands.

Because she practiced swordplay all year round, her fingertips had a very thin layer of calluses, but her palms were exceptionally soft and cool.

As those cool little hands gently rubbed the tops of his feet and pressed his Acupoints in the warm water, the sensation of ice and fire intertwined almost made Gu Lan, with his hot-blooded Pure Yang Body, lose his composure on the spot.

This was too exciting!

This was the number one Fairy of the Righteous Path! The ice mountain goddess that countless Prodigies dreamed of!

At this moment, she wore only a thin white inner robe with her sleeves rolled up high. Her collar was slightly open due to her lowered head, revealing a breathtaking expanse of snowy skin.

The steam rose, flushing her cheeks pink. Her usually cold eyes were now filled with focus and earnestness, as if what she held in her hands was not a pair of feet, but a rare treasure.

*Gulp.*

A clear sound of swallowing echoed in the cave.

This was not made by Gu Lan.

But by Hongxiu, who was standing not far away.

Hongxiu leaned against a stone pillar. The night-luminescent pearl she had been playing with in her hand was now squeezed until cracks appeared.

In her seductive fox-like eyes, a raging fire of jealousy burned, almost about to materialize and spray out.

“What a trick, truly a great trick.”

Hongxiu gritted her teeth and sneered sarcastically.

“How come I didn't see it before? Our pure and noble Eldest Senior Sister actually has such a shameless side?”

“This trick of retreating to advance, playing pitiful, and acting weak is used even more smoothly than the vixen of the Hehuan Sect!”

As Hongxiu spoke, she walked over, swaying her water-snake-like waist, and stood beside Gu Lan without any politeness.

She looked down from above at Jiang Wanqing, who was focusing on washing his feet, her eyes full of provocation.

“Oh my, Eldest Senior Sister, your technique is wrong.”

“When serving a man by washing his feet, what's the use of just rubbing the top of his feet? You have to press the Yongquan Acupoint on the sole of his foot to help relax his muscles and stimulate blood circulation.”

“Why don't I, a professional, teach you instead?”

Facing Hongxiu's cold sarcasm, Jiang Wanqing didn't even raise her head.

She didn't even pause her movements for half a second, only replying calmly:

“No need. Junior Brother's feet are only allowed to be washed by me in the future.”

“I am his foot-washing maid, this is my duty. Others cannot interfere.”

Once these words were spoken, their lethality was immense.

It forcefully turned the humiliating term 'foot-washing maid' into a domineering sense of 'exclusive privilege of the official wife'!

Hongxiu was almost angered to the point of spitting blood.

Fine!

You, Jiang Wanqing! You usually pretend to be a chaste and martyr-like woman, but now, just to fight over a man, you can actually say such things?!

“You—!”

Hongxiu laughed out of extreme anger and sat down directly on Gu Lan's other side.

She reached out and naturally hugged Gu Lan's arm, pressing her proud fullness tightly against him, and deliberately acting spoiled in a cloyingly sweet voice:

“Junior Brother~ Look at her!”

“What's so great about her only knowing how to wash feet? Senior Sister knows how to do a full-body massage, you know.”

“Last night in the water, did Senior Sister massage you comfortably?”

“How about tonight, Senior Sister helps you relax completely with no blind spots?”

Gu Lan was sandwiched in the middle. On his left was the soft, fragrant, and wildly instigating seductive Senior Sister, and at his feet was the ice mountain Fairy who was fully focused and defending her 'foot-washing right' to the death.

This double-whammy ice and fire Shura Field was simply more terrifying than the Lightning Tribulation in the Wanmo Cave!

“Th… That, Senior Sisters, please calm down first…”

Gu Lan was sweating profusely from anxiety, trying to pull his feet out of the water basin.

“I've already washed them! They are really extremely clean! Even a layer of dead skin is almost rubbed off!”

*Splash!*

Instead of letting go, Jiang Wanqing increased her strength, firmly pressing down on his ankle.

She finally raised her head, her gaze passing over Gu Lan to look coldly at Hongxiu.

“Full-body massage?”

A cold, temperatureless smile curled up at the corner of Jiang Wanqing's mouth.

“Junior Sister Hongxiu, if we are talking about Dual Cultivation charm arts, I am indeed inferior to you.”

“But don't forget, the Cultivation Technique Junior Brother is currently Cultivating is an extremely masculine and robust Pure Yang technique. If the evil yin energy from your Hehuan Sect gets too close, it will only ruin his Foundation.”

“I have just received the feedback of the Origin of the taie sword, and the Sword Qi in my body is vast and pure.”

“If we are truly talking about 'complete relaxation,' my spiritual energy is the most suitable for him.”

Hearing this, Hongxiu immediately bristled.

“Jiang Wanqing! Stop using Cultivation Techniques as an excuse!”

“What's wrong with the Hehuan Sect? My old lady's Cultivation Technique is also decent Dual Cultivation! I don't know how many times more comfortable it is than your dry Sword Qi!”

“You're just jealous that my figure is better than yours! And that I know how to pamper people better than you!”

Seeing that the two were about to fight in the cave.

Lanyu, who was sitting at the cave entrance on guard duty, finally opened her eyes, unable to tolerate it any longer.

“So noisy.”

Holding her long sword, Lanyu turned her head expressionlessly and swept a cold glance over the three of them.

“If you have so much energy, why don't you go outside and kill all the resentful spirits in those broken swords.”

“If you attract the monsters from the depths of the Sword Tomb, we will all die.”

Although Lanyu usually spoke little, at critical moments, her words still carried a lot of weight.

Especially the keep-away Killing Intent radiating from her body instantly lowered the temperature in the cave.

Hongxiu glared resentfully at Jiang Wanqing, let go of Gu Lan's arm, and turned her head away to sulk.

Jiang Wanqing also withdrew her gaze.

She silently took out a pure white silk handkerchief from her sleeve, wiped the water off Gu Lan's feet, and then, without saying a word, picked up the wooden basin, walked to the corner of the cave, and poured the water out.

Throughout the whole process, she didn't say a single extra word, but her submissive yet extremely stubborn back made Gu Lan feel increasingly uneasy.

“Senior Sister…”

Gu Lan sighed, took out a clean outer robe from his storage ring, walked up behind Jiang Wanqing, and draped it over her thin shoulders.

“It's cold at night. You've just reconstructed your Foundation, so don't catch a cold.”

Jiang Wanqing's body trembled slightly.

She turned around and pulled the outer robe tighter around herself. The clothing still retained that unique, crisp scent from Gu Lan's body.

“Thank you for your concern, Master.” She lowered her eyes, her tone returning to that perfect maidservant manner.

“Still calling me Master?!”

Gu Lan rubbed his temples with a headache.

“There really are only the four of us here! Can you not get too deep into character?”

Jiang Wanqing raised her head, looking at Gu Lan's helpless expression. A trace of a sly smile suddenly flashed in her eyes, disappearing in an instant.

Of course she knew there were no outsiders here.

She deliberately said 'this servant' and 'Master' with every breath, and even lowered her status to wash his feet.

Apart from feeling heartache over Gu Lan's sacrifice,

an even more important reason was that she discovered—

Gu Lan had absolutely no resistance to her 'submissive' appearance!

As long as she acted pitiful, and the more humble she behaved, the more heartached and gentle Gu Lan's gaze toward her would be. Even the always arrogant Hongxiu had absolutely no way to deal with her.

Since the ice mountain Fairy persona couldn't retain a man's heart,

then she would just change her persona!

This was the 'tactical flexibility' of the number one Genius of the Righteous Path!

“Junior Brother.”

Jiang Wanqing suddenly changed her way of address, her voice becoming extremely soft, even carrying a trace of acting spoiled.

“When I was carrying the water just now… I seemed to have accidentally sprained my wrist.”

She stretched out her white wrist and held it in front of Gu Lan.

“It hurts a bit, could you… help me take a look?”

Gu Lan was stunned and quickly pulled her wrist over to inspect it carefully.

“How could you be so careless? Let me see if the bone is hurt…”

Seeing this scene not far away, Hongxiu was so angry she almost ground her silver teeth to pieces.

“This green tea bitch! This is absolutely a thousand-year-old green tea spirit!”

“These methods are simply more demonic than the demonic sects!”

Luluo, who had been hiding in the corner munching on snacks, was also dumbfounded by this scene.

She swallowed the pastry in her mouth, blinked her big eyes, and quietly leaned closer to Lanyu.

“Senior Sister Lanyu, what is wrong with Eldest Senior Sister? In the past, even if her finger was broken, she wouldn't even knit her brows. How could she sprain her hand just by carrying a basin of water?”

Lanyu kept her eyes closed, not even glancing in that direction.

She only spat out four words coldly:

“All is fair in war.”

…

The night grew deeper.

The sound of the wind outside the sword Formation cave became increasingly desolate.

After some tossing and turning, everyone finally found their own spots in the cave to rest.

Gu Lan sat cross-legged on a flat, large stone in the very center, closing his eyes to concentrate, and began to run the Heavenly Demon Creation Art.

On the arena today, although he had seemingly effortlessly insta-killed Jian Wuchen and even forcibly unleashed the devilish might of the Purple Extreme Golden Core, in reality, this kind of cross-faction spiritual energy conversion put an immense load on his Meridians.

He had to adjust his state as quickly as possible.

Because he knew very well in his heart that within this Ten Thousand Sword Tomb, the real crisis was not those participating Disciples outside, nor those irrational resentful sword spirits.

Instead, it was the thing hidden deep within this wasteland, which even Ye Hongzhuang was extremely wary of, and did not hesitate to have him, the Sword-Wielding Envoy, personally come to 'steal'.

“Buzz—”

As the Cultivation Technique operated, a faint purple-gold halo rose around Gu Lan's body.

The soul-devouring sword at his waist, as if sensing the surging Devilish Qi inside its master's body, also began to emit an extremely weak tremor.

“Big boss… Big boss…”

In his mind, the cheap voice of the Soul-Devouring Sword Spirit rang out once more.

“Stop practicing, wake up quickly.”

“A big deal has come to our door!”

Gu Lan knit his brows slightly and replied coldly in his Divine Sense:

“What big deal? If you dare to trick me into looking for some Female Demon Lord's undergarments again, I will throw you into a latrine pit to suppress you for ten thousand years.”

“I am wronged! This time it is absolutely a decent good thing!”

The sword spirit was so anxious that it bounced around in the scabbard.

“I felt an extremely pure sword Dao Origin! It's ten thousand times stronger than the Sword Qi on that pretentious kid (Jian Wuchen) from today!”

“This power… is rapidly approaching us!”

“And, it's coming for you!”

Gu Lan suddenly opened his eyes.

Deep in his pupils, a sharp gleam of intertwined green flame and red lotus flashed.

Almost at the same time,

Lanyu, who had been on guard duty all this time, also rose abruptly, the long sword in her hand unsheathing in an instant.

“Enemy attack!”

Lanyu's shout exploded within the cave.

Before her voice could fade,

“Boom—!!!”

Above their heads, the cave ceiling formed by the intersection of dozens of giant broken swords suddenly emitted a deafening explosion.

A dazzling silver light, too bright to look at directly, tore right through the defensive Formation at the top of the cave.

Like a heavenly punishment, it cleaved straight down toward Gu Lan's position!