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46.27% Learning To Live As A Cultivator / Chapter 149: Chapter One Hundred And Forty Nine - She finally gets the message?

Chapter 149: Chapter One Hundred And Forty Nine - She finally gets the message?

"Aren't they marvellous!" Maimai had always despaired that her best friend had to suffer so due to the ugliness of his glasses; the heavy, cheap frames that held lenses so thick that his eyes could not be seen through them. However, she also understood that Leon's background was extremely modest compared to her own and thus even these things must have caused his family much hardship to purchase, a pair such as what she had purchased him were far beyond his reach. But she knew that as humble as Leon was, he still had some pride, he would have never had let her buy a decent pair for him, so she had remained quiet. As scary as the accident had been for her, seeing him lying there hurt and unconscious, she had still taken advantage of the fact that his old glasses were now beyond repair, could not be used nor fixed. "These are the latest design, with an enchantment to adjust to and amend numerous sight deficiencies!"

Leon removed them from his face, without thought. He had noticed that they were lighter to wear than the old pair, but of course, Maimai had put them upon his nose, so he hadn't been aware just how different they were. Looking at them through fuzzy vision, he still could not, but he began to worry about the cost of them.

"Put them back on," Maimai chided him, as if realising his thoughts. "They make your eyes look amazing, don't you think, Jin Li?" She added the last words on slyly.

"Amazing..." Jin Li said, absently, then as Leon's pale cheeks turned a rosy shade of pink, he found himself refuting his words to cover his own embarrassment; "Well, that is to say, they couldn't exactly look any worse."

"Jin Li! Your n-nose!" Fortunately, Maimai experienced such mishaps often and could quickly whip out a handkerchief and offered it to him.

Leon chuckled and earned himself a cold stare, but it didn't last very long, nor was it brimming with ill intent.

Feeling as if she was out of some loop, a sensation that certainly did not sit well with her, Merylin looked slightly pleadingly towards her sister, hoping for some enlightenment. She was confused.

This boy lying upon the bed, that her beau looked kindly towards, seemed somewhat familiar and yet not at the same time. She was certain she had never seen a boy with such large eyes as his before and they seemed so much darker against the pale white jade of his youthful face. But what was with that strange hair... and it was then she recalled; Jin Li's servant! Ah, so no wonder he was being so kind. Jin Li respected those who required respect, allowed those he deemed worthy to stay by his side and this servant, while Merylin did not consider him much, admittedly had some skill.

"Jin Li," she said, gently and felt warm when he glanced her way, however briefly. She glanced at the plain handkerchief, now stained with blood, in his hand. It was a common token without feelings, Maimai had many, having suffered with random nosebleeds for a couple of years. She felt pity that she had not been quick to offer one of her excellently embroidered ones. If he took her favour then surely that meant... "Is your alchemist well? Being here in the Healer's Hall, I hope it is not serious."

It was then Jin Li's brain-hole closed and he suddenly recalled the location in which their unexpected meeting was taking place. He sat down upon the bed as he glanced over his small alchemist. His arm was laying carefully at his side and was wrapped with hardened bandages, there was a scabbed cut of a couple of inches marring the pale skin near his ear and several smaller scratches were on his forehead. The remnants of an angry bruise could be seen below his eye, though it was mostly yellowed and healed, likely thanks to the consumption of pills.

Jin Li's fingers tentatively reached out to touch the wounds, his brows formed a pained frown. "What happened?"

"It w-was an accident?" Technically, in Leon's mind it had been. Those students hadn't meant to hurt him, just cause him difficulties. They were paying the price, so Leon felt no need to elaborate. He just wanted to get better, he was still in a fair bit of discomfort after all. He also didn't want to blacken Maimai's name when she was still feeling guilty.

Jin Li was not convinced, however. His eyes narrowed and his tone had a hint of warning. He did not like to be lied to. "You don't sound so certain of that."

Leon's eyes glanced away, not able to maintain eye contact. "Well... um... never mind. I'm f-fine, so..."

"You don't look fine," Jin Li sneered and his gaze slid down Leon's body. "Your arm looks broken, in fact."

"M-my c-cauldron is in a w-worse state," Leon chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

Knowing his small alchemist as well as he did, Jin Li could not help but ask; "Experiment?"

Merylin gasped, her small hand covering her mouth. What did Jin Li mean? However, this slip of tongue could be turned to her advantage, she felt. "So dangerous! We are just students! Even I, who has the fortune of studying in the inner school, would not be so brazen! Tampering with a recipe could have dire consequences!" Her pretty face held a look of worry rather than the contempt she had for the boy. Jin Li really ought to cut ties with such a foolish person.

With a flurry of curls, Maimai shook her head and took to her feet, before chiding Merylin; "Sister, enough. Leon's circumstances were not caused due to fault of his own." She curled her arm about her sister's before bowing slightly in an apologetic way towards both Jin Li and Leon. "Rest well, Leon. We'll be leaving first."

"Maimai!" Merylin protested as she was dragged towards the door.

"Stop making a fool of yourself, sister," Maimai hissed in the girl's ear, before glancing back over her shoulder. Merylin could not help but follow suit.

Jin Li's attention was not on the leaving girls, but completely upon the boy lying upon the bed. His fingers were tracing the wounds that he had thus far found with an unsurpassed gentleness, though his eyes remained intense and his expression inpatient. Leon was completely captured by his gaze and the girls clearly did not remain in his mind either. Merylin's heart ached, but she could not identify why and blurted out quietly;

"What does this mean?"

"Can't you tell, Merylin?" Maimai replied with hints of joy. "There's no place for you here. Now come along. You are not the only person who needs to learn a lesson." And with that, she continued to force Merylin out of the Healer's Hall.


Chapter 150: Chapter One Hundred And Fifty - He wants names

The whisper of the touches over his wounds caused both hints of pain and shivers of something entirely different. His heart was beating so loudly in his chest it was as if giant drums had been erected by his ears and hit soundly. The breath within his lungs seemed trapped, but this didn't cause him to panic. Instead, his nose felt stuffy and his eyes damp and reflecting the swelling emotions within him. This was Jin Li caressing him with such care and attention. The same Jin Li who liked to bully him with words and dominate him with actions. The same Jin Li who demanded his obedience and stole his meals. The same Jin Li who had threatened him on more than one occasion, yet whose oddly thoughtful actions made him fall for him regardless of the bad points.

The girls had gone and the bone regrowth pill had been delivered and duly taken. A simple rice porridge with salted vegetables had also been provided and eaten and now just the two of them were alone in the room within the Healer's Hall. Jin Li's own emotions were mixed and he couldn't quite identify them all, but there was definitely the stirrings of anger and the hated feeling of helplessness, which simply angered him more. He did not reveal this though, but it was quietly simmering below the surface.

"Does it hurt?" He asked as he noticed Leon wince. Those new glasses were also a cause for those unrecognised emotions, for while the depths within those eyes could no longer be hidden from him, they also were not hidden from anyone else. It left a bitter and sour tang within his stomach that he did not care for.

Bone regrowth pills were never taken lightly. They were not the miracle pills their name suggested, simply regrowing the bone that had been fractured or broken until it was good as new, but it was a sensation that could only be described as a sufferance of internal 'pins and needles' that seemed without end.

Leon did not lie; "It's unc-comfortable."

One of the long, slender fingers slid down the side of his face and beneath his jaw and rested firmly there, while Jin Li's thumb completed the pinch. "You now going to explain to this Lord what actually occurred." His voice was not kind when he spoke, but as firm as his hold on Leon's chin.

Leon sighed; this was the usual Jin Li he knew. "S-some students were unhappy w-with m-me and sought m-mischief. Only, their p-p-prank went w-wrong. There w-was an explosion." He noticed the lines of Jin Li's face harden and felt sparks flicker along his skin where they touched. It did not hurt, but it did cause him to gasp aloud. "J-Jin Li!"

The martial artist loosened his grip and moved his hand away before taking a deep breath to control his storming cultivation. "I. Want. Names."

"The T-Teachers are d-d-dealing with the c-culprits," Leon quickly stuttered as he grasped Jin Li's arm with his good hand.

Jin Li leaned forward until he was close enough to share breath with the boy beneath him. "Names." He demanded, quietly.

"I d-d-don't kn-know," Leon confessed, blushing and turning his head to one side. "They c-c-come from M-Maimai's father's sect and are en-n-rolled in the outer school, b-b-but I d-don't kn-know them. Seeking r-revenge, it's t-too t-t-troublesome."

"Tch," Jin Li tutted, crossing his arms stubbornly about his chest. If his small alchemist thought that he feared the connection these small fry alchemists had with some sect, he was too naive. Also the sects he knew of would place their reputation above troublemakers, there was a chance that those who had hurt Leon would not be able to hide behind the sect's name. Besides, these brats brought retribution upon themselves and Jin Li would be happy to provide it.

"Jin Li," Leon said softly and reached out once more. Jin Li savoured the warmth of his small hand and once more marvelled over the expressive eyes no longer hidden behind a thickness of cheap glass.

"Rest," he advised Leon. "This Lord will see you to our dwelling once the Healer's allow it."

Leon smiled, the curve of his lips matching the curve of his eyes and causing Jin Li's heart to dance. "En."

A few days later, seven students were sent home from the Ascending Mountain Institute in disgrace and bitterness. The Teachers had accepted none of their excuses and advised them that there was no point reapplying to the schools in the future. They found this difficult to accept and as they stopped off in Julip Town, they drank and complained amongst themselves as well as exaggerated truths in order to make themselves look and feel better, before decided on the web on which they would weave their excuses once they returned to the sect. Feeling smug, they left the bar to head for an inn, but were attacked, each beaten until their skin was covered in various painful bruises and each were also left with a broken arm and a single bone regrowth pill for their continued sufferance.


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