The next morning, Mu Xueshi still woke very early. His mind was a haze as everything from the night before replayed in his head, dreamlike and unreal.
*Am I really together with the Third Prince now? Not as friends, but as lovers?*
*Did the Third Prince and I really cross that forbidden line last night?*
*Yes. The pain in my body is still this strong…*
Mu Xueshi did not regret it. He only felt that everything had happened so abruptly that he could not absorb it all at once. Yesterday he and the Third Prince had still been close friends, and today, without warning, they had stepped into an entirely different relationship. What puzzled Mu Xueshi most was that being with a man did not feel strange to him at all. He had accepted it almost naturally.
Perhaps what the heart felt was what mattered most. Mu Xueshi placed a hand over his chest, listened to its steady pounding, and slowly closed his eyes.
When Mu Xueshi opened his eyes again, the Third Prince’s face had appeared very close to his own. He blinked and was just about to greet him when his expression froze.
“Take that away!” Mu Xueshi shouted at the little bottle in the Third Prince’s hand, instantly becoming agitated.
The Third Prince lifted the bottle between elegant fingers and held it in front of him. “It is medicine.”
Mu Xueshi knitted his brows into a single line and gritted his teeth. “Don’t give me that. Do you think I’m an idiot?”
The Third Prince drew the bottle back into his palm, not knowing whether to laugh or sigh. Mu Xueshi was genuinely frightened. He lay on his stomach with one small arm stretched outward, as though warding off a sudden attack from the prince.
In the end, Mu Xueshi still could not win. The Third Prince sealed his acupoints, leaving him completely unable to move, and Mu Xueshi could only watch helplessly as the prince lifted the blanket and removed his trousers.
The Third Prince moved with extreme care, but Mu Xueshi still gave two token cries of pain to express his dissatisfaction.
“I want to learn acupoint techniques. Master, teach me how to seal and release acupoints,” Mu Xueshi repeatedly begged Su Ruhan during training.
Su Ruhan remained stern and unmoved no matter how much Mu Xueshi pleaded, continuing to make him practice the simplest fundamentals.
To strengthen Mu Xueshi’s body, Su Ruhan made him carry water from the rear mountain every morning before teaching him basic moves. Mu Xueshi did surprisingly well. Each morning he brought back two full buckets of spring water, emptied them into a large vat, then returned to the mountain for more. All the water he carried was used by the Third Prince alone, which only made Mu Xueshi work harder. After only a few days, he could already feel the muscles on his body becoming firmer and found the change extremely satisfying.
“Master, I’ll carry a few extra buckets today and bring your water too. Please, teach me how to seal acupoints.”
Before Su Ruhan could even agree, Mu Xueshi hoisted the carrying pole and ran toward the rear mountain. Not long afterward he returned drenched in sweat and poured the water into another vat.
Mu Xueshi ran hunched over with his legs spread in a peculiar gait. It reduced the pain between his legs, though several servants he passed could not help laughing quietly when they saw him.
Mu Xueshi ignored them completely. He was determined to learn acupoint techniques. Otherwise, being bullied by the Third Prince every time was simply not his style. If he learned them, perhaps the next time they fooled around in bed he could seize an opportunity to get the upper hand. Remembering the absorbed expression on the Third Prince’s face the night before, Mu Xueshi could not help snickering to himself, his cheeks round and red as apples.
At last he finished filling the vat. Sweat had soaked his whole body. Wiping his forehead with his sleeve, Mu Xueshi said excitedly to Su Ruhan, “Master, hurry up and teach me how to seal acupoints.”
At some point a sword had appeared in Su Ruhan’s hand. He shoved another into Mu Xueshi’s arms and raised his own as though preparing to teach swordplay.
Mu Xueshi clenched his fist, bit his lip, and demanded angrily, “Master, why won’t you teach me acupoint techniques? I already carried the water for you!”
Su Ruhan showed no expression. Almost as though deliberately opposing him, he thrust his sword toward Mu Xueshi and demanded that he block, reviewing the defensive technique from the previous day.
Mu Xueshi made no attempt to defend himself. He stood there furiously with his chin lifted high, his already large eyes widened like bronze bells. At the last instant, Su Ruhan abruptly stopped the blade only an inch from Mu Xueshi’s left shoulder.
“Why didn’t you dodge?” Su Ruhan asked darkly.
Mu Xueshi answered just as fearlessly, “Believe it or not, I’ll carry all that water back out and leave you with none!”
Su Ruhan gave a cold laugh. “Please do.”
Only then did Mu Xueshi realize how stupid the threat was. Even if he carried the water away, Su Ruhan would still have other water to use. All that hauling back and forth would punish no one but Mu Xueshi himself.
Mu Xueshi gave a bitter laugh, sat blankly on a small stone stool nearby, and muttered, “My heart… ice-cold…”
After that, Mu Xueshi practiced whatever Su Ruhan told him to with great seriousness, but none of the excitement or determination from the previous days remained on his face. He moved almost like a puppet, mechanically obeying each instruction. The lively, foolish expression from moments ago disappeared, replaced by numbness and sorrow.
At last, near the end of training, Su Ruhan relented and taught Mu Xueshi the simplest method of sealing acupoints. Su Ruhan first transmitted a small amount of internal energy to him, then taught him how to circulate and release it through precise strikes to the chest, arms, neck, and other areas, coordinating intention, qi, blood, and force in an instant to hit the correct acupoint.
Su Ruhan also taught Mu Xueshi how to release sealed acupoints. After that, Mu Xueshi had no interest in learning anything else. His mind was already occupied with finding someone to test the technique on. The thought that he could make someone move when he wanted and stop when he wanted filled him with excitement.
“Acupoint techniques cannot be mastered in a single day. You need repeated practice to locate the points accurately. Striking at random can injure the other person, and sometimes even harm you…”
“I know, I know…” Mu Xueshi waved impatiently and looked around in every direction, searching for a target.