Chapter 225 - No matter what, there's still me.

“Let me think of a way.” Jiu Zun pressed his hand on her thigh to prevent her from moving recklessly.

Ning Xuemo forced herself to take a deep breath and calmed the panic in her heart. She sat up properly. “Okay! I won’t move around!”

Jiu Zun once again glanced at her with appreciation in his gaze.

If it was a normal girl encountering such a situation, they would have long screamed themselves hoarse. That she was able to calm down so quickly proved that she had a remarkable character!

She appeared very playful and lively, but when she needed to be calm, she could be calmer than anyone else!

Smart, wise, lively, calm, cunning, ruthless… These traits seemed somewhat contradictory, but possessed by her, they all seemed to be perfectly combined.

Jiu Zun took out a snow white pouch with flowers embroidered on it from his sleeve and took out a few things.

There was a little jasper gourd, silver knives, silver scissors and some amulets...

Once all of these things had been arranged properly, his hands once again pressed on her thighs before casting her another glance. “It’ll be a bit painful. Bear with it.” His hands were soft yet contained a strength as stable as a mountain, which could calm people’s hearts.

The acute pain coming from her legs caused sweat to break out on Ning Xuemo’s forehead. However, she forced out a smile. “Just do your thing, I can handle it!”

Jiu Zun nodded, but after some thinking, he tossed something to her. “Bite this.”

Ning Xuemo examined it before realizing that it was the highest quality jadeite ornament with a carving of a Luan and a Phoenix[1] perching on a branch. The craftsmanship was exquisite. Regardless of whether it was the birds or the branch and leaves under its claws, they were incredibly lifelike.

‘This Jiu Zun just casually tossed out a treasure!’

If such a large high quality jadeite was brought to the modern era, the price it could fetch could easily reach around a million.

Yet, he just casually took it out for her to bite on. Obviously, he was afraid that she would bite off her own tongue from the pain.

Ning Xuemo once again cast a glance at the jade ornament; her heart was suddenly moved.

‘This dark green Luan and Phoenix perched on a branch, could it stand for Ye Qingluan[2]?’

She pretended that she hadn’t noticed as she pushed it back. “It’s fine. I can handle it. This piece of jade is too valuable. It’ll be ruined if I bite…”

Jiu Zun looked at her strangely. “Is your tongue more important or is this jade more important? Bite!”

‘Alright, since you let me bite it don’t blame me if I ruin it.’

Ning Xuemo put the jade in her mouth. She barely had the time to bite on it when abruptly pain was felt through her thighs!

It was as if two hammers were smashing her legs! Following that, a burst of scorching pain attacked both her calves and her feet, making her feel as if her skin was forcibly ripped off!

Those thin like cow hairs roots had finally been shocked out of Ning Xuemo’s legs, as they were sent off into the air.

Jiu Zun moved as fast as lightning. With a flick of his sleeve, a cluster of fire surrounded those thin roots, and in the blink of an eye, everything was completely burnt to ash without a single one managing to escape.

Ning Xuemo didn’t cry out, but the jade piece in her mouth had been bitten into two halves, which both fell to the ground.

The floor was made of stone, so when the two halves landed on the ground, they broke into four pieces.

Ning Xuemo’s heart jumped as she looked at him. “I didn’t do it on purpose…”

Jiu Zun looked at the jade pieces on the ground before once again gazing into her limpid eyes. “Don’t worry.”

Then, he looked at her tiny teeth. “Your teeth are very hard. Are you sure you haven’t cracked any?”

‘It seems like he really doesn’t care about that jade ornament?’

Ning Xuemo let out a little sigh of relief before shaking her head. “My teeth are fine.”

There was still a scorching pain coming from her legs, which prompted her to look down. After doing so, her pretty face blackened and she was on the verge of crying. “My legs aren’t fine…”

Those root were not longer drilling in her legs anymore, but...

[1] The luan (鸾) is a type of mythological bird that is similar to a phoenix. In fact, its the male counterpart of the phoenix (凤). It's often depicted in a different color with identical appearance, cold hues like blues and green are often used. At time, it will be orange with cold color hues mixed in. Here's a picture. In Chinese, a husband and wife are referred as Luan and Phoenix (鸾凤).

[2] The luan (鸾) in Ye Qingluan's name, the founder of Bright Reverence School, used the same character as the mythological bird luan (鸾). While the Ye means leaf and the Qing means green. If it wasn’t obvious from the green jade that had a Luan and leaves carving on it. What more with the addition of a Phoenix, there’s a pair of husband and wife carve on the jade... You can inferred a lot from just a piece of jade and be awed at all the play of words in Chinese. It's a language that is vague and profound and most of all, a language where puns run rampant.