“Ah Yu,” The woman panted. She seemed to have run here as fast as possible. “Are you all right?”

Liu Haoyu stared at her. There were no words in his head. To be honest, he looked like a stupid pufferfish from the outside, opening and closing his mouth with his eyes bulging in their sockets.

This only made the divine goddess lady more worried. She pressed a hand against Liu Haoyu’s forehead, which didn’t help with his temperature at all, and looked desperately at Yinuo.

“Yinuo, has she been like this all day? Can she speak? Has the attack really affected her so much?”

Before Yinuo could answer, Liu Haoyu finally got ahold of himself. Dammit, he was really weak, wasn’t he? Not manly at all! What was the use of acting all cool for years and years if one beautiful lady touching his face made him turn into a pile of mush?

What’s more, he was in a woman’s body right now! Should he—be feeling this way in the first place? Was that gay?! Liu Haoyu was most definitely not gay! He was the straightest, manliest, coolest guy in Yangzhou! He had better try and not feel like this, just in case, then! Even if he was definitely a brave and masculine man inside!

After all of these thoughts bolted through his mind, Liu Haoyu sat up straight and blurted with his lovely melodic feminine voice, “I’m all right! I’m all right. I was just in a daze for a second.”

The goddess lady looked immensely relieved. Her shoulders relaxed and she flashed a divinely beautiful, heartstopping smile at Liu Haoyu, destroying whatever hope of crushing down these not very manly feelings he had left.

“This Li-jie was so worried! I heard about the attack just an hour ago, and I flew straight here from Youya Li Peak! I brought you this, Liu-mei.”

Liu Haoyu quickly compiled information away in his mind: this divine goddess lady of unspeakable beauty was called “Li-jie” by Liu Haoyi, and Li-jie called Liu Haoyi “Liu-mei”. They must be close, but they were from different sects because she’d come from a different peak and wasn’t calling him “shimei”.

Meanwhile, this Liu-jie was totally oblivious to Liu Haoyu’s high-speed analysis of her and pulled out a thin paper bag. Immediately, a refreshing yet salty, delicious fragrance filled the room. Liu Haoyu’s mouth watered. He knew that smell.

“...Peanuts?”

“Yes! I can see you’re excited. You must be hungry! Don’t worry, I checked with Youya peak’s physician first, you can surely eat these even in poor health. Ah—my apologies!” Li-jie laughed apologetically, covering her mouth in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to phrase it like that. You can eat these, no matter your condition—just not too many.”

Liu Haoyu couldn’t help but smile. What else could he do in the face of such radiant beauty, kindness, and warmth? He took the peanuts. They smelled…heavenly! So heavenly that his eyes began to water in a very not-manly way. Quickly, he stuffed a handful of them into his mouth, ignoring the burning heat they radiated (damn, they were so fresh! Just how fast had this Li-jie flown here to keep these peanuts fresh?!). Delicious savory and sweet flavors exploded and crackled across his tongue.

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“How is it?” Li-jie asked happily.

Liu Haoyu swallowed with some difficulty, suffering from a burning tongue and throat, but nearly crying from the deliciousness of those peanuts. “...Really good. Thank you, Li-jie.”

“Oh, it’s no problem, ahaha! You’re so cute, Liu-mei~!” Li-jie giggled. Then, with no warning, her hands shot out and she squeezed Liu Haoyu’s cheeks affectionately. “You’re cute when cultivating, and cute when you’re recovering! Liu-mei is always cute.”

”...”

If Liu Haoyu opened his mouth, he was afraid three liters of blood would spill out.

What was this?!

Had he transmigrated into some kind of lesbian xianxia novel? Why was this goddess of a woman treating him this way, like he was the apple of her eye?! He really wasn’t sure whether it would be better to shrink away or enjoy this treatment at this point.

Face red as a tomato, Liu Haoyu coughed. “Ah…thank you, Li-jie. Li-jie…is also…um…very beautiful…”

Liu Haoyu almost choked on his own spit. He opened his mouth, and that was what came out?! Are you kidding?! That was worse than blood! Thankfully, Li-jie didn’t seem too affected. She looked surprised for a second, then her eyes sparkled and she laughed.

“Liu-mei is too kind.”

After that, they talked for a while. It was all small talk, and mostly consisted of Liu Haoyu bullshitting his way through information using as few words as possible. She asked with concern about the attack. “I don’t remember what happened.” She asked how his cultivation was going. “It’s going good.” She asked how his father and younger brother were. “They’re both good.” She asked how his master was. “They’re doing well.” Etc, etc, etc. Liu Haoyu speedily took notes in his head on everything Li-jie said, and collected this:

1. Her name was Li Meilei. What a fitting name for such a beautiful and kind figure!

2. She was from a peak about two hours away, known as Youya Li Peak, and she was the youngest daughter of the grand master there.

3. She and Liu Haoyi went way back.

The last one made things hard, because Li Meilei kept referencing things from the past, and all Liu Haoyu could do was nod and smile awkwardly.

“That reminds me of how you fell off your sword, and I caught your the first time you tried! Do you remember?”

“...Yes, of course Liu-mei does. How could I, um, forget?”

“Oh, and do you remember the day that we went to the Ice Crystal Lake to retrieve our spiritual swords? What an adventure that was! I almost didn’t survive the ancient water dragon’s appearance, but you saved me—remember that?”

“...Of course I do, Li-jie! Ha, ha, ha…”

Somehow, even though Liu Haoyu had to spend a gigantic vat of energy just on pretending he knew who he was, the conversation was light and fun, and by the end of it he was smiling and feeling much calmer than before. It seemed Li Meilei had that sort of effect. Her smile, her presence, her voice, and her words were all comforting to him. Was that his own sense of comfort, or something leftover from Liu Haoyi’s memories?

“Well, I’m afraid it’s time for me to leave,” Li Meilei announced at last. “I am so glad that Liu-mei is conscious and doing well enough to endure my rambling. I promise to visit soon and bring you more peanuts! And if you’re well enough, let’s go to the New Years Festival next month together, like we planned!”

After she was gone, Liu Haoyu sank back into the bed, both exhausted and comforted. It was nice to have met a kind, sensible person after this crazy transmigration experience, even if she was so divinely beautiful that it made him nervous to be around her.

Yinuo returned a little later, all smiles.

“My lady! How are you?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Your father is here to see you!”