Chapter 21

Gu Yang said in a calm tone, "Don't you understand yet? In this world, nothing is taken for granted. If you want something, you have to pay the price."

Upon hearing his words, Su Qingzhi's body trembled, and her face turned ashen.

She bit her lip tightly, and after a while, she straightened her body, wiped the tears from her face, and said with a cold laugh, "So, you and the likes of Guoshanfeng are all the same kind of scum..."

"Ha ha!"

Gu Yang let out a light laugh, "You may have some beauty, but this self-righteous attitude, thinking the whole world owes you, is truly disgusting. I have no interest in you."

Su Qingzhi never expected him to say such words. Her head buzzed, her gaze became vacant, and she almost lost her balance, dazed and disoriented.

Zhi Xing, standing beside her, quickly held her up. Seeing the two argue so fiercely, she was both anxious and afraid, almost on the verge of tears.

On one side was her young mistress.

On the other side was her savior, the kind Brother Gu.

She really didn't know what to do.

After finishing his words, Gu Yang closed his eyes.

Zhang Xiaohai, in the corner, was still focused on practicing, completely unaware of the conflict.

Suddenly, a crackling sound from the fire broke the silence of the dilapidated temple.

Seeing that Gu Yang was no longer speaking, the young servant finally breathed a sigh of relief. She helped her young mistress sit down, and seeing her bury her face in her knees, silent and motionless, she was very worried.

...

The night passed quietly in such silence.

As the sky began to turn a pale white, Zhang Xiaohai woke up. Just as he was about to sit up and practice, he saw Su Qingzhi suddenly stand up and walk towards Gu Yang.

"What does she want to do?"

He was very curious.

When Zhang Xiaohai first clearly saw the true appearance of this Miss Su, he was stunned. He never imagined that there could be such a beautiful woman, almost like a fairy descended from heaven.

His limited imagination could only describe her as a fairy.

He regarded this fairy-like woman as his future master's wife and treated her with utmost respect. However, throughout the journey, she never even glanced at him.

This was not surprising, as she had been in a cold war with Gu Yang, treating him coldly.

As Zhang Xiaohai was thinking, he saw Su Qingzhi walk up to Gu Yang and suddenly kneel down.

No way!

He thought he was seeing things and rubbed his eyes. Seeing that she was indeed kneeling, he was stunned.

From their interactions, Zhang Xiaohai had noticed that this fairy-like young mistress must come from a prominent family, with a haughty and superior attitude that he had seen many times.

Now, this proud and noble young lady was kneeling before Gu Yang.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Zhang Xiaohai wouldn't have believed it.

Then, Gu Yang's voice rang out, "What are you doing?"

"I want to practice martial arts!"

Su Qingzhi's voice was soft, but her tone was unusually firm, "I know you can help me. As long as I can become a martial artist, I will... agree to any conditions."

So, it's for learning martial arts!

Zhang Xiaohai suddenly understood. This, he could comprehend.

Kneeling to a master was not shameful. However, it took her so many days to make up her mind, which seemed too hesitant.

Wasting so much time.

He heard Gu Yang say, "Have you thought it through?"

"I have thought it through!"

"Good. I can help you, but the condition is that you must serve as my servant."

Servant?

Zhang Xiaohai was taken aback by Gu Yang's condition.

He thought Gu Yang would ask her to offer herself to him. But he never expected it to be serving as a servant.

Does Master not even want to give her a title?

Zhang Xiaohai couldn't help but draw a cold breath.

...

Su Qingzhi suddenly lifted her head and exclaimed, "What?"

"You heard me right, I want you to serve as my servant," Gu Yang repeated, "You will serve me the way Zhi Xing serves you. Can you do that?"

Su Qingzhi stared at the man in front of her, feeling humiliated, wronged, angry, and heartbroken... all these emotions filled her chest.

She had already gone this far, lowering her standards again and again, and he still wanted to humiliate her.

Why are you treating me like this?

Her teeth were grinding, and she wanted to pounce on him and take him down with her.

"In the future, when I sit, you will stand. When I eat, you will serve me. When I am hot, you will fan me. When I am cold, you will help me dress..."

Gu Yang's voice continued.

"In exchange, I will help you resolve the hidden issues in your body and teach you martial techniques without any reservation..."

"Rest assured, I won't touch you during this time. I've already said, I have no interest in you."

"Think about it, and give me your answer when you've made up your mind."

"No need to think about it."

In a daze, Su Qingzhi heard her own voice, devoid of any emotion, "I agree."

...

Gu Yang was stunned to see Su Qingzhi actually agree without hesitation.

To be honest, he had set such a condition to deliberately make things difficult for her. He was waiting for Zhi Xing to plead for her, and then he would smoothly change the condition.

Something like paying a few tens of thousands of taels as tuition, which could be written as an IOU if she couldn't pay now.

This was called asking for the sky and settling for the earth.

But he never expected her to actually agree, without even trying to negotiate.

This left Gu Yang at a loss.

For a moment, he didn't know how to react.

...

Zhang Xiaohai, standing nearby, was extremely impressed by Su Qingzhi's agreement.

No wonder Master is so amazing. With a few moves, he tamed this fairy-like young lady, making her willing to serve as a servant.

But he couldn't understand why Su Qingzhi, who was so cold and distant yesterday, had changed so much overnight.

What magic did Master use on her?

"If I could learn this skill from Master, that would be great."

Zhang Xiaohai felt a sense of anticipation.

...

After a moment, Gu Yang finally spoke, not wanting to keep the situation僵持 (stalemate) any longer, "You can stand up now."

Su Qingzhi stood up as instructed, keeping her head low.

Gu Yang, seeing her submissive demeanor, knew that his words last night must have had a significant impact on her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have changed so much overnight.

He felt a twinge of regret, thinking his words last night might have been too harsh.

He said, "I need to wash up."

Su Qingzhi turned and walked out. A moment later, she returned with a basin of water, wrung out a towel, and handed it to him.

Seeing her expressionless face, Gu Yang said, "You look so unwilling, that's not how a servant should act."

Su Qingzhi gripped the towel tightly, lowered her head even more, and her voice was choked with emotion, "I... am sorry."

Not even a reaction?

Gu Yang felt a headache. Did he really have to treat her as a servant?