"Ten thousand?" His voice was calm, but his eyes flickered. "The greatest difficulty mission barely rewards a hundred. And you want ten thousand for a single flower?"
He looked at the elder, arguing. "In the mortal world, this barely scrapes the rank of proper medicine."
The elder's expression did not change, and he replied flatly, "The patriarch set the price. If you disagree, you may seek him out yourself."
Raph fell silent at that.
His fingers tightened around the jade slip.
Then he sighed.
"Thirty-four," he muttered. "Two full years in this place… and only thirty-four Sect points. What a pitiful life..."
His gaze drifted across the wide hall. Disciples moved in and out with their robes fluttering. Many young faces passed his eyes. Some proud. Some hopeful. Some desperate.
"I could simply take a partner," he thought calmly. "But every single one of them…"
His eyes slowed. "Are children."
Though this body was nineteen years old, the soul inside it had walked through life for centuries. Even knowing that cultivators could remain youthful for thousands of years did nothing to erase the wrongness coiling in his chest at the thought.
The elder tapped the counter impatiently.
"So," he said. "Do you want it or not?"
"I do," Raph replied.
The elder frowned slightly, clearly not expecting an outer sect disciple having ten thousand sect points.
"But not today." Raph raised his gaze and added. "In ten days, I will return with enough Sect points."
The elder stared. "You?"
Raph smiled softly and turned away.
The old man scowled at his retreating back, veins rising faintly along his wrinkled temple.
*
Not long after leaving the treasury, Raph found a wide piece of cloth and a stick of charcoal.
The sun had already begun descending when he arrived at the sect's training center. This was where voices never truly faded. Disciples came here to fight. To train. To prove themselves. To tear apart and rebuild their limits.
Raph now walked to the center of the open grounds and spread the cloth.
Then he wrote.
Large, simple letters.
Bold enough for even the furthest eyes to read.
"Heavenly Massage. Experience heaven itself. First three customers free."
He stood beside it.
Still.
Silent.
The first laughter broke almost instantly.
"That idiot again."
"Heavenly massage?"
"Does he think he's a physician now?"
"I bet he just wants to touch girls."
"Shameless."
"Desperate."
Voices stacked over one another. Some sharp. Some mocking. Some amused. None serious.
Raph did not react.
He stood with his eyes closed and folded his hands behind his back. The laughter washed past him as if he were a stone planted in flowing water.
"This takes me back," he thought quietly. "Standing on street corners with the same ridiculous sign… waiting for fools to laugh first… and crawl back later."
Time passed.
Steps moved around him.
No one stopped.
Hours slid by.
Then some of the disciples finally stepped close, curiosity mixing with boredom.
"Oy," one called. "What devil trick is this supposed to be?"
"We know you just want to feel up some girls."
"How low can you sink?"
Raph did not open his eyes.
"Hey!" another voice snapped. "Are you deaf?"
A fist drew back.
Just before it could move, Raph opened his eyes.
"Stand aside," he said calmly. "I have a customer."
The laughter behind him faltered.
The disciples turned.
A young woman stood a few steps behind them, arms crossed over her chest. Her posture was firm. Her eyes are cautious. Yet beneath that caution flickered something else… doubt mixed with pain.
"What kind of massage?" she asked, her tone sharp.
The laughter died for a moment.
Meanwhile, Raph's gaze moved to her. "The kind that makes back pain disappear."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"How..."
She stopped. "How do you know?"
Raph did not answer.
He only glanced back at his sign and smiled.
"You're saying you can cure my back pain… with a massage?"
The young woman's voice carried doubt, yet her eyes never left Raph's face. He looked at her calmly and nodded once, as if the matter were already settled.
Before she could speak again, noise broke in from all sides.
"Don't listen to him!"
"He's just trying to take advantage of you!"
"Do you even know who this idiot is?"
She turned slowly to the crowd of disciples, her brows knitting together. "Then tell me," she said flatly. "Who are you?"
"We are..."
Their voices were cut off.
"I can heal you," Raph said, "but only under my conditions."
She turned back to him at once. "Conditions?" Her lips curved faintly. "You stood here half a day without a single customer. If I leave now, do you really think another will come anytime soon?"
The laughter around them resurfaced.
For a brief moment, Raph said nothing. Then he inclined his head slightly and said. "Then, for having enough courage to stand in front of me, I will give you a warning instead of a massage."
Her smile faltered.
"The pain in your back is not from poor posture," he continued, "If you ignore it, your cultivation will slowly destroy your spine. When that happens, walking will become difficult. Standing will feel like punishment."
Color drained from her face. "A cripple…?" she whispered.
Sweat gathered at her temples.
"Then… then what caused it?"
Silence answered her.
A heartbeat passed...
And then second.
But Raph didn't answer her at all.
Her breathing grew uneven.
"I'll do it," she said suddenly. "I'll accept your conditions."
Raph nodded. "One. The session lasts ten minutes. Not a second more."
She swallowed.
"Two. Afterward, you must tell ten people what you felt."
Her fingers tightened.
"Three. You may only return within one month of today. If you break any of these, do not come looking for me again."
The disciples burst into laughter.
"Ten minutes?"
"One month?"
"He'll be lucky if anyone even remembers him by tomorrow."
She hesitated only a breath.
"I accept."
"Then follow me."
Raph rolled up his sign, slung it across his back, and walked away without looking back. After a brief pause, she followed.
No one stopped her.
They simply watched.
*
"This… is your place?"
She stood at the door, eyes darting to the quiet courtyard around them. "We're doing it here?"
"Would you rather do it outside?" Raph asked lightly.
Her face warmed.
He stepped inside.
After a moment of stiff hesitation, she followed.
The house was quiet. Too quiet to the point that she could feel her heartbeat.
"I swear," she said nervously, "if you touch me inappropriately, I'll kill you."
"You're not my type," Raph replied without pause. "Too young."
"You look about my age!"
"Lie on the bed with your back facing up." Raph didn't care enough to have a pointless conversation.
She stared at him hard, searching his eyes for mockery or hunger. After a long breath, she slowly lay down.
"You can keep your clothes on," he added.
Relief washed over her shoulders at that sentence. She was indeed worried about getting taken advantage of.
Raph stretched his arms once, slowly. His fingers cracked softly as he then said. "Your ten minutes begin now. Try not to faint."
"What do you—"
Her breath shattered before she could finish the words.
A shock rippled through her back at once.
It wasn't pain.
It was something unexplainable and something deeper.
Heat surged along her spine like liquid fire. Her body arched without permission, a sharp moan escaped her lips before she could stop it.
"Don't move so much," Raph said calmly. "It disrupts the alignment."
"I—I can't control it—!"
Every touch sent waves through her nerves. Her thoughts blurred. Her sense of time melted. The ceiling spun slowly above her as if the world itself had turned liquid.
It did not feel like hands.
She didn't even know how much time had passed, but eventually silence returned like the sudden fall of a curtain.
She turned her head slowly, breath unsteady, her face flushed and unsteady. "Why… why did you stop?" She asked.
"Your time is up." Raph replied plainly, staring at her.
"But—"
"The pain should be gone," he said flatly. "Reduce your training by half for one month. If you don't, it will return."
She slid off the bed unsteadily. "Can't you massage for just five more minutes… I'll pay whatever you want…"
However, Raph plainly rejected her. "I don't accept money from my free customers."
She bit her lip hard at that.
"Next month," he said. "And don't forget your second condition."
She nodded slowly.
"My name is Li Xue," she said before leaving.
"Qin Yu..."
She stepped outside.
Her legs shook with each step, as if she were walking through a dream she had not yet woken from.