What bad intentions could my Daoist partner possibly have?

Chapter 17 Her face, flushed red with panic, was like the gentlest cloud at sunset.
Li Qingan looked at her curiously: "What kind of help?"

Shen Jianwei blinked her eyes: "Mingyue Tower... you'll know once you come with me. How about I give you 100,000 spirit crystals a day?"

Li Qingan raised an eyebrow: "Cleaning?"

"No way!" Shen Jianwei glared at him angrily. "I would never treat my friends like that!"

Li Qingan smiled and nodded: "Since Miss has put it that way, then let's go take a look."

He was genuinely curious about what kind of job this foodie young lady was willing to pay such a high price for.

"Humph~"

Shen Jianwei gave a soft hum, then quickly glanced at Li Qingan before somewhat embarrassedly smoothing the strands of hair at her temples.

Friend... indeed, it's a better term than "fellow villager".

And he didn't even notice... Well, how could someone as clueless about emotions as him possibly notice?

After a night, Li Qing'an returned to Mingyue Tower. This time, led by Shen Jianwei, he went directly to a large room on the top floor.

A mountain of empty shadow stones and a table made of a large communication compass in front of the window came into Li Qing'an's view.

He knew that the Void Shadow Stone was a rare treasure with a similar monitoring function, but it was also quite useless. The low-grade and mid-grade Void Shadow Stones circulating in the market could not detect the traces of cultivators, so they were often used to store some spells, documents and history.

The high-grade Void Shadow Stones are extremely rare and are controlled by powerful forces. Not to mention ordinary people, even some well-established forces have no way to buy them.

He also knew that the communication compass, with the upgrades made by some weapon refiners and array masters, no longer only had simple communication functions.

For example, real-time face-to-face chat, map search, local news, and sect disciples can directly search for spells in the library based on their permissions...

But what can these two things do together?
Li Qing'an originally had a communication compass, but he lost it on Luohuang Mountain and never got a new one... nor did he want to.

Because in Yanzhou, many functions of the communication compass are restricted by the Luoxia Sect; for example, accepting a mission requires a special trip to the city lord's mansion...

Therefore, Li Qingan has no plans to purchase any new items for the time being.

"Speaking of which, what do you need so many Void Stones for?" Li Qingan asked curiously.

"To earn pocket money." Shen Jianwei sighed softly, "My mother gives me a limited monthly allowance, which isn't even enough for me to eat..."

Doesn't she know how much you eat?

"I know, but they said it's for my own good, to prevent me from being kidnapped."

"..." Li Qingan was speechless for a moment: "Isn't it better to stay at home?"

"My dream is to eat all the delicious food in the world!" Shen Jianwei scoffed. "My mother doesn't completely confine me to the house."

"So, which station is Yanzhou?"

"First stop." Shen Jianwei stuck out her tongue: "My mother used to worry about me coming out alone... unlike you boys, who can venture out on your own when you grow up, and your parents support you..."

How often do you go home?

'I've even forgotten exactly where my house is.'

Despite his thoughts, Li Qing'an still said, "I'm not going home. My mother passed away not long after I was born, and as for my father... I've never even heard of him."

As Li Qing'an spoke, a hint of doubt flashed through her mind. Her memories of her past life, which had been gradually returning after experiencing the mystery of her birth, were still fresh in her mind. Who had told her that her mother had died young...?

Do I have any brothers or sisters?
"I'm sorry..." Shen Jianwei looked at Li Qingan apologetically. Seeing that Li Qingan didn't seem to mind, she changed the subject: "But you and I are pretty much the same, I don't have a father either, it's true..."

Okay, let's not talk about that now.

Li Qingan looked at Shen Jianwei suspiciously. What was it really?
However, he didn't ask any further questions. Instead, he saw Shen Jianwei sitting at the table, turning on the communication compass and saying, "I earn quite a bit of pocket money every day."

Li Qingan walked to her side, looking at her as he listened to her say, "Many cultivators want to record their good performances, so I use the Void Image Stone to preserve them."

"Preserve?" Li Qingan asked curiously, "Isn't the Void Shadow Stone supposed to be unable to detect the traces of cultivators?"

Shen Jianwei looked up at him mysteriously and said, "I have a way to synthesize high-grade Void Shadow Stones~"

Upon hearing this, Li Qing'an raised an eyebrow and walked towards the mountain of Void Shadow Stones. He took one out and examined it closely for a while, then asked in surprise, "Made using low-grade and mid-grade stones combined with certain rare and precious materials and formations? How did you do that? Aren't you afraid someone will arrest you and study this?"

"Catch me? Humph!"

Hearing the confidence in her tone, Li Qingan couldn't help but tease her, "You're contradicting yourself. You just said that your mother wouldn't dare give you too many spirit crystals for your safety."

"So now she, she... well, anyway, you can rest assured."

Shen Jianwei waved her hand: "Come help me first. Anyway, it's just about recording the good aspects of my performance into the Void Stone."

Now Li Qingan understood completely; this girl was an editor.

"Come and watch me do it. Once it's all done, that whole pile is yours." Shen Jianwei pointed to a stack of 'request forms' in the corner.

"so much?"

“Yes, those are all requirements for male cultivators, usually the maids’ tasks.” Shen Jianwei snorted: “I’m very professional, because they also have to track these people’s personalities in order to do their best.”

She paused, then added, "I can't possibly go and track it down myself, can I? You know what I mean."

"Indeed, what boss goes to the front lines?"

"So it's perfect that you're here. You men definitely understand men better than women, so you can help me out." "Okay." Li Qing'an nodded: "100,000 spirit crystals a day?"

"Hmm... that's fifty orders. I'll give you more if it exceeds that." Shen Jianwei glanced at Li Qingan: "Come here first, I'll teach you."

As Li Qing'an walked, he asked, "How much does a hollow stone like that cost?"

Two hundred thousand spirit crystals.

"You lost out, didn't you?"

"It can only be preserved for one year, which is the drawback of this kind of Void Stone."

"Oh, I see... There are so many rich people."

"Hey, isn't there a saying that being handsome is a lifelong thing?"

"Makes sense."

Li Qingan stood beside Shen Jianwei, bending down to look at the lit screen.

"Of course! Even I, a girl, am like this..."

Shen Jianwei turned her head and spoke, then suddenly paused, her bright eyes widening slightly. So close…

Yes, his eyelashes are indeed very long.

"Does everyone think so?" Li Qingan turned to look at Shen Jianwei, straightening his body slightly.

"Ahem... um."

Shen Jianwei quickly straightened her posture, her back straightening slightly, and her earlobes turning slightly red as she explained to Li Qingan.

Li Qingan quickly understood the process and went to another table to practice.

Shen Jianwei quickly got the hang of it, after all, several orders were about to expire.

But as I was doing it, I realized that I couldn't concentrate today... Even eating pastries didn't help me get into the zone.

Oh, come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever spent so much time alone with someone of the opposite sex.

We went to the morning market together, settled accounts together, had dinner together, collected debts together, and now we're even sharing a room together...

Hmm, how come I didn't notice this yesterday?

He seemed to have looked at me with a smiling gaze yesterday too, but isn't that something he only does with Lingyin...?

Shen Jianwei lightly bit her lower lip and couldn't help but steal several glances at Li Qing'an. Suddenly, she noticed that Li Qing'an, who was busy at the moment, only had a touch of naivety that should be present in his eighteen-year-old eyes.

Moreover... he is indeed handsome, no wonder Lingyin took a liking to him at first sight, I was surprised for a whole day at the time.

She's the person my best friend likes, how could I be sneaking peeks at her like that!
Shen Jianwei quickly straightened his head, but then he thought again, Lingyin had been keeping him hanging on...

And Li Qingan really does like Lingyin...

Does he like girls who are aloof and reserved?

"Sister Shen, Sister Shen, Sister Shen..."

"Huh? Oh, oh." Coming to her senses, Shen Jianwei looked at the large hand waving in front of her and quickly asked, "W-what's wrong?"

"Can you check if this will work for me?"

"Hmm...okay, that's fine."

“However…” Li Qingan glanced at Shen Jianwei: “You’ve made a mistake in this step, haven’t you?”

Shen Jianwei quickly looked up and blushed upon seeing the sight. She hurriedly explained, "I was so busy eating that I didn't notice."

She paused, looked up at Li Qing'an, and said as if she remembered something, "Oh right, didn't I say I'd teach you how to pursue Lingyin? I happen to have a good idea now."

"Ok?"

"Like this, you show her a side of yourself she's never seen before. She'll definitely find it novel and intriguing, and then she'll feel your other charms. Maybe she'll agree."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingan raised an eyebrow: "You think I'm charming like this?"

"yes?!"

Shen Jianwei's cheeks flushed instantly as she belatedly realized what she had said. She frantically waved her hands and tried to back away, pulling the chair out with a sharp sound.

She stood up, her hands clasped tightly around the hem of her skirt.

"I, I, my meaning is..."

Ah, how come this dull guy is so smart now? And he even said it outright. How embarrassing! How am I going to explain this?

Her face, flushed red in her panic, resembled the gentlest cloud at sunset.

Li Qingan stared at him, his gaze softening involuntarily.

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(End of this chapter)