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Lin'an Inn, Heaven-Class Superior Room.
Outside the window, the night view of West Lake shimmered with myriad lights, but inside, the doors and windows were tightly shut, with only a few flickering red candles lit.
The dim yellow candlelight spilled onto the carved bed, making the already ambiguous atmosphere even more viscous.
It was hot inside the room.
To force out the poison, Gu Liufeng had specifically asked the inn's waiter to bring two charcoal braziers, raising the room temperature to a slightly sweaty degree.
Jing Ni, holding the ancient qin that was never far from her, stood by the bed.
She was still wearing the fiery red dance dress from her performance at Zuì Yuè Tower, but the veil on her face had already been removed.
Even in this slightly confined environment, her cold and aloof demeanor remained like a high-mountain flower blooming on a cliff edge, inspiring distant admiration.
"Put the qin down."
Gu Liufeng was meticulously arranging rows of silver needles of varying lengths on the table, speaking without turning his head:
"Later, if it gets painful, I'm afraid you'll crush this qin."
Jing Ni hesitated for a moment, then obediently placed the qin on a distant side table.
Without a weapon in hand, she felt a trace of unprecedented unease.
"That… divine physician."
Jing Ni's voice was somewhat strained. She looked at the cold, gleaming silver needles in Gu Liufeng's hand and asked:
"How is this poison to be cured?"
"The Soul Devouring Gu poison has entered the bone marrow; ordinary decoctions are ineffective."
Gu Liufeng turned around, holding a long needle in his hand, his gaze calmly fixed on her:
"It requires using golden needles to pierce acupuncture points, opening all the pores, then drawing upon my Pure Yang Inner Energy to force the toxins out of your body, bit by bit."
Speaking of this, Gu Liufeng paused, his gaze sweeping over her layered, complex dance dress, and his tone became slightly peculiar:
"So… these clothes, they're in the way."
"Take them off."
These simple three words, in the silent room, were like a clap of thunder.
Jing Ni's head snapped up, a flash of shame and shock in her cold eyes.
"All… all off?"
"Keeping a close-fitting dudou is fine, but the back and the main acupuncture points on the chest must be exposed."
Gu Liufeng spoke in the official tone of a doctor, even urging her slightly:
"Hurry up. The Hour of Zi is approaching, and the Soul Devouring Gu is about to act up. Then you will suffer even more intense, heart-wrenching, bone-gnawing pain."
Jing Ni bit her lower lip, and her previously pale cheeks instantly bloomed with a captivating blush.
She was an assassin.
In Luowang's training, the body was merely a tool for killing.
But she had never exposed this body to any man, let alone in such… nearly naked proximity.
"I am a doctor." Seeing her hesitation, Gu Liufeng added, "In a doctor's eyes, there are no men or women, only patients."
"…Alright."
Jing Ni took a deep breath, as if making a momentous decision.
She turned around, her back to Gu Liufeng.
Rustle, rustle.
The sound of untying a sash was exceptionally sharp in the quiet room.
The fiery red dress slowly slid down her rounded shoulders.
First, the long, elegant jade neck, then the beautifully contoured butterfly bones, and then… large expanses of back, delicate as mutton-fat jade, glistening under the candlelight.
Red and white.
The visual impact was extreme.
On that snow-white back, there were no countless scars as Gu Liufeng had imagined. Instead, it was smooth as a mirror, the entire back beautiful like an exquisitely carved piece of art.
Gu Liufeng's breathing hitched slightly.
When this almost perfect delicate body truly presented itself before him, his masculine instinct still made him feel a rush of heat.
That slender yet powerful waist, those lines of her back gently rising and falling with her breath…
How could this be an assassin? This was clearly a soul-snatching妖精 (yaojing).
"Is it alright now?"
Jing Ni's voice came, with a noticeable tremor. Her hands tightly guarded the red dudou on her chest, not daring to look back, her entire body tense like a fully drawn bow.
"Lie down. Face down."
Gu Liufeng forcefully suppressed the romantic thoughts in his heart and walked forward.
The moment his fingers touched Jing Ni's back, he clearly felt the delicate body beneath his hand tremble violently, and her previously fair skin instantly flushed pink.
"Don't move."
Gu Liufeng's voice was deep and hoarse, carrying an undeniable sense of control.
He pressed his palm to her back, and the searing zhenqi of his Nine Yang Divine Skill instantly permeated her body.
"Mmph—!"
Jing Ni buried her face in the pillow, letting out a suppressed moan.
Hot.
Too hot.
That surge of heat not only dispelled the cold poison within her but also seemed to ignite a certain flame in her body. The tingling, scorching sensation spread along her spine, leaving her powerless, at the mercy of the man.
"Bear with it, the first needle is coming."
Whoosh!
The silver needle descended.
Although Gu Liufeng was applying the needles, his gaze uncontrollably wandered over her perfect curves.
Sweat began to seep from Jing Ni's forehead, flowing down her neck, tracing the alluring curve of her spine. The red dudou straps, dampened by sweat, appeared even more vivid and enticing.
She was in pain, and she was enduring.
This beauty, a fusion of vulnerability and strength, was more fatal than any active seduction.
Gu Liufeng was also a normal man, a vigorous Grandmaster. Faced with such a situation, to claim his heart was as still as water would be lying to ghosts.
"Heart as clear as ice, unmoved by falling heavens…"
He silently recited the incantation twice, but his movements grew slower and slower. Each time their skin met during the detoxification process, it felt more like… caressing.
"Young Master…"
Jing Ni suddenly turned her head. Her hazy eyes looked at Gu Liufeng, sweat beading on her face, a few strands of hair clinging to her cheeks, breathtakingly beautiful:
"How much… longer?"
Her voice was soft as water, completely devoid of the assassin's cold harshness.
Gu Liufeng watched her, looking as if she were ready to be plucked, and his Adam's apple bobbed heavily.
"Soon."
"However, if the lady cries out more enticingly, perhaps… this poison can be removed faster."
Jing Ni fiercely bit her lip, then buried her head back into the pillow in shame and anger, leaving only her two crimson earlobes visible to Gu Liufeng.