Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 17: Habit

In all honesty, holding the horse stance was alright. It was easy for Zhao Changhe to tune out the things happening around him when he was immersed in his training.

The real test would be when he went to sleep, though.

He could just ignore the entire matter of Luo Qi’s gender before. But now, he knew that she was clearly a woman. What kind of man wouldn’t have those kinds of thoughts if he was to sleep with a woman in the same bed!?

To make things even worse, both of them had taken a shower today. Luo Qi had even changed into a fresh set of clothes in the city. There was a faint fragrance emanating from her lingering closely around Zhao Changhe’s nose.

Zhao Changhe, who had always slept on his back, lay curled on his side tonight, facing outward. His eyes were still wide open after an hour and he could not sleep.

On the other hand, Luo Qi slept peacefully on her back. Her eyes were lightly closed and she looked to be cultivating peacefully in her sleep.

But how could she actually be cultivating? Like Zhao Changhe, she was also cursing in her heart.

How fucking problematic. Focus and a tranquil mind were crucial for cultivating internal arts. But how am I supposed to focus and calm my mind with what just happened?

It’ll be a miracle if I don’t experience qi deviation...

Occasionally, Luo Qi wondered if all of her current problems would still have arisen had she secretly killed Zhao Changhe at the start... She had a reason to kill him to begin with, anyway.

However, she did not dare to. She still needed to ride on Zhao Changhe’s coattails, otherwise it was not certain if she would be able to stay here. To think that sparing him would result in this kind of pinch... From the moment Zhao Changhe had left some food for her, it had become difficult for Luo Qi to actually carry out the deed even if she wanted to.

What if I requested to swap rooms? Luo Qi knew that such a request would be denied. To stay in a one-person room, one needed to occupy a middle to high rank in the cult. She did not meet this requirement yet. As for a two-person room, it was no problem if she was paired with another woman. However, if Luo Qi had to share a room with another man, which was far more likely...she would one hundred percent kill him.

After all that thinking, she came to one conclusion. She could not leave, and neither could she hide away.

The funny thing was that Luo Qi did not feel as tense as she was yesterday. She had already slept with Zhao Changhe once and got used to it. He would not randomly hug or touch her and he could be trusted.

I’ll let things go on like this, I guess.

Panic suddenly arose in Luo Qi’s heart. She would have never thought that a day would come that she would be this calm sharing a bed with another man.

Habituation was a terrifying force.

Suddenly, Zhao Changhe began faintly snoring. It was as if Luo Qi’s heart received a signal that let it relax, and before she knew it, she fell asleep.

*

The following morning, before the sounds of the cook delivering cornbread to all the buildings could be heard, Luo Qi awoke.

Her first reaction was that something was amiss. Her hard pillow had become more comfortable.

Confused, she opened her eyes and her heart skipped a beat.

How could whatever she was lying on be a pillow?

She was lying on Zhao Changhe’s shoulder and even had an arm extended hugging his waist. Her leg was almost wrapped around him as well.

Luo Qi carefully pulled herself back.

She was worried about whether Zhao Changhe would unconsciously hug her in his sleep. In reality, however, it was Zhao Changhe who had slept like a log, while the one to hug the other in their sleep was herself.

Luo Qi was about to cry. I shouldn’t have drank that damn wine!

Fortunately, Zhao Changhe, who was not as easily woken as her, was still sleeping soundly.

Luo Qi heaved a sigh of relief. She pretended to be calm as she wrapped up her blanket and waited quietly for the cook to knock on the door.

As expected, when that happened, Zhao Changhe got up like a spring. He stretched then smiled at Luo Qi. “Good morning.”

Everything was normal.

Luo Qi, whose heart was stuck in her throat, calmed down and smiled as she pat Zhao Changhe on the shoulder. “Go and take the food.”

At this moment, Zhao Changhe hesitated for a moment, unwilling to get out of bed, then stretched forward to receive the cornbread.

Luo Qi had a blank expression. She could see right through him.

He must have been awake earlier. He’s pretending not to know... Otherwise, that thing protruding from under the blanket would have been unsightly.

“Pfft.” Luo Qi spat. A rosy red appeared on her cheeks.

He got excited over something like this?!

He’s clearly a lecher!

But he’s good at conducting himself in front of others. In any case, he isn’t making things awkward right now.

Basically... I’m pretending to be a guy. He knows I’m pretending. I know he knows that I’m pretending. He knows that I know that he knows that I’m pretending. And the both of us just tacitly agree to continue pretending.

Just what is this...

Zhao Changhe brought the cornbread over without knowing what sort of expression he was supposed to have. He thus put on a blank face as he threw the cornbread to Luo Qi. “I’m going to train. Be careful when you go hunting. It’s not like it’s danger-free. Just wait til I’m better acquainted with Instructor Sun. I’ll see if he can change your post...”

Luo Qi grinned. “I know. You can go and do your thing.”

Zhao Changhe looked a bit sorry as he ran off. Looking at how awkward he was, Luo Qi furiously broke up the cornbread into little pieces, as if she was nipping off the soft flesh from Zhao Changhe’s waist.

“He’s so lecherous, but he still wants to pretend to be a thick-headed man!”

Zhao Changhe was wrongly accused. For young and vigorous youths like him, random morning wood was something absolutely natural. It had nothing to do with being a lecher.

What’s more, this “senior martial brother” of his had bathed beforehand. When she leaned over, Zhao Changhe could feel her soft touch... As someone who had never been in a relationship before, how could he resist?

“Zhao Changhe!” Instructor Sun screamed in irritation.

“Ah...” It was like Zhao Changhe got caught sleeping in a classroom. He said awkwardly, “Instructor...”

“I praised you yesterday for your hard work, and you dare to be absent-minded today? Tell me what are the important points of the Rising Diagonal Slash I taught just now.”

Rise? I didn’t do anything to her. She was the one that made my little brother rise... Eh, wait...

Zhao Changhe: “...”

Was this to say that women could influence a man’s cultivation? Yesterday night, Zhao Changhe’s horse stance had been a mess. This morning, his thoughts were similarly in disarray.

How troublesome.

“Please teach me once more, instructor. I will punish myself by practicing the move three thousand times!”

Zhao Changhe was ruthless. He wanted to try drowning out his thoughts about women by wholeheartedly devoting himself to training. However, in reality, he did not need to do something so rash.

Habituation was truly a terrifying force.

He never thought that after today, his interactions with Luo Qi would become even more casual.

Zhao Changhe had made quite the reputation for himself in this “starting village.” For dinner, he would bring back an extra bowl of food and no one dared to complain, so he was able to bring back something for Luo Qi to eat everyday. Meanwhile, Luo Qi would sometimes surreptitiously make her way to the city to buy some wine for Zhao Changhe after hunting.

It was not that wine was more important than meat, but both of them had realized that warm wine could assist Zhao Changhe in cultivating in the Vicious Blood Art. The effects were fairly good.

The two of them ate together and shared what they saw for the day. After dinner, Zhao Changhe would head outside to train with his saber while Luo Qi sat on the bed and worked on her internal arts. After training, they would maybe exchange a few words before sleeping together.

There was nothing notable to mention.

Zhao Changhe would accidentally touch Luo Qi on some occasions, but Luo Qi no longer dodged away. There were times where she would be the one to grab his shoulder and they would strut around the mountain stronghold, giving everyone the impression that they were good brothers. Everyone that saw them felt it to be quite normal. No one had any wrong ideas about them.

This level of physical touch could no longer elicit any reaction from the two.

Zhao Changhe no longer needed to bend over to hide his “little brother,” and Luo Qi no longer felt like electricity was flowing through her.

Even in the mornings, if either one of them woke up to the other with their hands around them, they would just yawn and put the other’s hand away as if nothing happened.

Both Luo Qi and Zhao Changhe already had a lot on their plate. They no longer concerned themselves with matters concerning the other sex. Once they got used to each other, everything became simple.

The biggest show of their tacit understanding was when they would separate when taking baths. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Clang!

Light reflected off Zhao Changhe’s saber as it accurately struck the iron staff in front of him, knocking it away.

Instructor Sun, who was standing at the side, bent over to pick up the staff. There was an additional cut where a mark had been made on the staff before. They lined up almost perfectly.

After many days and nights of continuous training, Zhao Changhe had progressed from using stationary targets to moving ones. As long as his target was not moving too fast, he could accurately strike it where he wished to.

His eyes would land on the target, and his blade would reach it.

It had been twenty days since Zhao Changhe had discovered Luo Qi was a woman.

In other words, it had taken him more than twenty days to finish learning all the fundamentals of the saber. It had been about a month since he transmigrated to this world.

He was transported to this world at the end of the tenth month, Slight Snow.

Now it was the eleventh month. It was frigid. The Winter Solstice had arrived.