Chapter 35: A Swapped Life?
“Are you even polite?” The young man’s pride was hurt yet again, and he couldn’t help but want to cover his chest with his hands.
This was a terrible experience.
In Xu Ziqing’s life, too many people had stared at his Adam’s apple and chest.
Finally, their gazes seemed to speak: “Huh— a guy?”
It was just that people with different preferences would make the “huh” sound with a different tone.
Xu Ziqing detested this feeling!
Even though he was clearly a man, many people still thought he was a woman disguised as a man.
These were common tropes in storybooks, yet people still enjoyed them immensely and endlessly.
Overwhelmed by shame and the tension of being under everyone’s gaze, the young man’s face turned beet red.
As a touch of crimson adorned his delicate features, he became somewhat… enticingly beautiful?
On the forum for “The Borrowed Sword,” some silly players had photoshopped him into women’s clothing.
Once the pictures were leaked, the comments below were mostly:
“Not entirely unacceptable.”
“Weibo.”
“Human nature.”
The young man, wearing a disciple’s robe, clenched his fists tightly.
But as his gaze swept across the crowd, he couldn’t help but pause slightly when he met Chu Huaixu’s eyes.
Because Chu Huaixu’s gaze seemed different from the scrutinizing and playful looks of everyone else.
It was a strangely confident and approving look!
Yes, approving!
Xu Ziqing didn’t know why, but the sensitive young man felt less upset.
He even thought: Since I’m going to be a disciple anyway, where I serve doesn’t matter. Maybe following him is better?
Xu Ziqing didn’t particularly like Liu Tianfeng’s family or the steward.
He didn’t have much objection to Chu Huaixu.
As he was lost in thought, he heard the young man speak again.
However, this time, he didn’t point at the disciple anymore, perhaps feeling that it was inappropriate. His tone was calm yet incredibly firm: “Yes, I want this kid!”
Hearing this, Xu Ziqing’s favorability towards Chu Huaixu actually began to rise.
Conversely, Liu Tianfeng and the others started to have ulterior motives.
Liu Chengqi, like a starved ghoul, couldn’t help but glance at Han Shuangjiang, then was greatly startled.
‘No way, with such an exceptional beauty beside you, you actually… alas!’
It couldn’t be helped, Chu Huaixu’s mind had changed too quickly. He hadn’t wanted a disciple at first, but now he seemed determined to have one.
Liu Chenggong, who had a bit of a mischievous streak, was already struggling to suppress his laughter.
Fortunately, Liu Tianfeng was older and experienced. He had encountered all sorts of bizarre things. After a slight startle, he continued to fawn over Chu Huaixu, saying:
“Since that’s the case, then this disciple is for you, nephew!”
Among literati, even gifting concubines to each other was considered a romantic affair.
Liu Tianfeng felt that by extension, he and Chu Huaixu were now quite refined.
“This could be considered… catering to his preferences, right?” He felt pleased with himself, thinking this move was a sure bet.
Steward Liu’s persona remained consistent: shrewd but unable to truly predict everything.
“Steward Cao, bring the contract of sale.” The steward was highly efficient.
He also looked toward Xu Ziqing, emanating his pressure as a cultivator of the third realm, and sternly warned, “From now on, you will follow nephew Chu and do your work well. Otherwise, as an outer sect steward who oversees outer sect affairs, I will not show leniency!”
For someone his age, he was really good at flattery, seizing every opportunity.
After receiving the contract of sale from the steward, Chu Huaixu’s face immediately broke into a smile, a comfortable, joyful smile.
He paid no mind to how others might misunderstand this smile with their own overactive imaginations.
‘What else could I do? I now hold Xu Ziqing’s contract of sale. Does this mean I’ve become the master of the protagonist of the ‘The Borrowed Sword’ world?’
“Right, I really am his master, aren’t I?” Chu Huaixu thought.
This transmigration enthusiast’s heart ignited with boundless ambition.
“Two world protagonists in the Eastern Continent, one is now my little helper, and the other is my disciple. Both are under my command!”
“Dominating the Eastern Continent is just around the corner!”
“Hehehehehe!”
Seeing that Chu Huaixu was even happier after obtaining the disciple than when he received the generous gifts, Liu Tianfeng immediately stepped forward to chat with him for a few more sentences to strengthen their relationship.
He was old and couldn’t keep up with the younger generation. He didn’t care about their peculiar tastes; he just wanted to know if he could use Chu Huaixu to climb the ladder to Elder Six’s high position.
They exchanged pleasantries and chatted happily.
After a while, the Liu family members finally took their leave.
Outside the bamboo house, only Chu Huaixu and the two world protagonists remained.
Han Shuangjiang stood to the side, secretly observing them, with a hint of bias in her eyes, assuming a romantic connection.
Actually, the brothel she was previously in also offered such services.
“What are you looking at?” Chu Huaixu raised his eyes and glared at her.
‘I just have a slight aversion to women due to my profession, but I’m not gay.’
The cold-faced girl immediately looked away, feeling that her gaze had been a bit inappropriate. After all, this was a private matter and deserved respect.
Only Xu Ziqing was a bit at a loss.
He had just met this man and woman and knew nothing about them.
Moreover, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do next.
At the Liu residence, the steward would assign any dirty work.
“Should I ask them where the outhouse is?” the clean-faced disciple thought, already becoming skilled, diligent, and proactive.
Clearly, Chu Huaixu had been a sensible child since he was young.
He didn’t assign any dirty work to Xu Ziqing, the world protagonist. Instead, he simply instructed him to move the gifts into the house and sort them into simple categories.
He had taken a quick glance earlier. Liu Tianfeng’s gifts were quite practical, mostly related to daily necessities.
But there seemed to be two bottles of Spirit Pills?
“Yes.” Xu Ziqing bowed to accept the order but was immediately unsure how to address him.
Logically, he should be called Sir, Young Master, or Master.
After assigning tasks to the clean-faced young man, Chu Huaixu turned his attention to the cold-faced girl with the playful gaze.
“Stop peeking! You should be thoroughly practicing the ‘Roaming Dragons of the Eight Desolations’!” he said exasperatedly.
Han Shuangjiang had excellent comprehension and already knew the technique, but she hadn’t mastered it yet.
“Oh.” The ice-cold beauty responded with an “oh,” her expression unchanged. However, seeing his slightly exasperated demeanor, she couldn’t help but feel a little pleased, as if she had successfully played a prank.
At this moment, Chu Huaixu, who appeared to be idle, actually had important matters to attend to.
Through the bamboo door, he glanced at Xu Ziqing, who was squatting inside organizing the gifts, and directly sent an Information Probe his way.
“Life’s encounters are truly bizarre. Li Chunsong brought him up the mountain, yet he inexplicably became a disciple.” He couldn’t help but sigh.
At this moment, Chu Huaixu thought he would only receive a small amount of information.
After all, his current overall strength was low, so the permission for Information Probe was also low.
It was like how earlier today, when he sent a probe towards Han Shuangjiang’s derrière, the only information he received was that her third acupoint had opened.
Chu Huaixu knew that Han Shuangjiang was a Spiritual Embryo: Profound Yin Physique.
However, Information Probe would not yield this result.
This was equivalent to telling him that with his current strength, he was not qualified to probe the information of a top-tier Spiritual Embryo.
To be precise, when he threw probes around the market for fun as a Meridian-Opening Stage cultivator, he couldn’t see the attributes of any Daoist Sect disciple’s Spiritual Embryo.
As a result, he had an “unexpected gain” with Xu Ziqing.
“A False Spiritual Embryo?”
“How can he be a False Spiritual Embryo?”
This was one of the world protagonists!
Since the levels of the four world protagonists had always been much higher than players after the open beta of “Sword Borrowing Art,” players couldn’t have had the permission to probe them.
Therefore, Chu Huaixu had not known before that Xu Ziqing was a False Spiritual Embryo.
“What? Han Shuangjiang follows the genius path, and Xu Ziqing follows the trash-tier path?”
“These world protagonists in ‘Sword Borrowing Art’ truly have all the elements.”
But as Chu Huaixu thought about it, he suddenly realized: “Come to think of it, among the four world protagonists, Xu Ziqing has always been the lowest in cultivation, often lagging behind by a major realm, and sometimes even by two major realms!”
Yet even so, no player had ever underestimated him or thought he was the weakest.
Chu Huaixu continued to watch the retreating figure of the clean-faced young man busy at work.
The reason was very simple: the game was called “The Borrowed Sword.”
“Why did that sword choose him specifically?” He was somewhat perplexed.
—That sword left behind by the Dao Ancestor.
