NOVEL NEXT Volume 1 Chapter 21: Senior Brother, Opening a Massage Shop
In this world, massage therapy wasn’t exactly a novel concept. Techniques like scraping, cupping, and massage had been popular among ordinary people for centuries, but they were limited to mortals. After all, these practices often involved a certain level of discomfort to be effective, and since cultivators’ cultivation levels varied, so did their pain thresholds. In normal circumstances, when a lower-level cultivator performed massage therapy on a higher-level cultivator, it was somewhat like scratching an itch—nice, but not particularly effective.
However, Ye Anping was different.
In the past, he often helped Pei Lengxue with scraping and massage to relax her muscles and facilitate better cultivation. Over the years, he had developed an effective set of massage techniques tailored specifically for cultivators. Moreover, he didn’t share the same prideful attitude that many other cultivators had, so he didn’t mind doing things that others might consider beneath their status.
The senior sister from Profound Star Sect who had reviewed his shop application expressed interest in experiencing his massage therapy. Ye Anping led her to the adjacent resting room. She was still puzzling over what exactly “massage therapy” entailed when suddenly, Ye Anping knelt before her, took hold of her right foot, and began removing her shoe and sock.
Caught off guard, she widened her eyes and immediately attempted to kick Ye Anping with her foot. However, Ye Anping reacted quickly and evaded her kick.
“What are you doing?!” She glared at him, her hand even reaching for the hilt of her spiritual sword at her back. “Why are you trying to take off my shoe?! How dare you, a mere disciple, attempt such blatant harassment?”
Her words left Ye Anping somewhat embarrassed. Everyone had a different understanding of the term “harassment.”
Some female cultivators believed that revealing their bare feet would ruin their marriage prospects, while others remained unfazed even if someone saw them bathing.
The Profound Star Sect senior sister before him clearly belonged to the former category.
After a brief reflection, Ye Anping decided to take out his identity token as a disciple of Hundred Lotus Sect and handed it over to her as collateral.
“Sister, I never intended to harass you. This is my identity token. If you still believe that I’m harassing you in the future, you can publicly expose this token. Would that be acceptable?”
“Identity token?” The Profound Star Sect senior sister took the token and examined it closely. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she asked, “You’re the Young Master of Hundred Lotus Sect?”
“Yes, I am the Young Master of Hundred Lotus Sect.”
“To have the Young Master of Hundred Lotus Sect come to Profound Star Sect and open a shop of this nature, do you not feel ashamed?”
Ye Anping let out a soft sigh and responded, “Senior, let me ask you a question. Who holds a higher status, a teacher who imparts knowledge or a farmer who cultivates the land?”
“Undoubtedly, the teacher holds a higher status.”
“Indeed, being a teacher is respectable, but without the farmers cultivating the land, the teachers would go hungry.” Ye Anping smiled and continued, “In this world, there are countless roles, each indispensable. Where does the concept of shame even fit in? I’m merely doing what I want to do.”
“While that makes sense, but…” The Profound Star Sect senior sister scrutinized Ye Anping’s face, hesitating for a moment. “Is your massage therapy really different from what’s offered in brothels?”
“Of course, Senior Sister. You’ll know once you try it. If it doesn’t have the desired effect, I’ll leave immediately. If you find this inappropriate, I can wear gloves and blindfold myself while performing the therapy for you.”
Hearing Ye Anping’s explanation, she once again examined his face. Finding him quite handsome, she nodded in agreement.
“Well… alright, but let me make this clear in advance. If you dare to behave inappropriately, I will immediately beat you.”
“Understood.”
Ye Anping agreed, and then he took a black cloth from his storage pouch to cover his eyes. Wearing gloves, he crouched down and fumbled for a moment before gently cradling the senior sister’s jade-like foot. He pressed his thumbs on the sole of her foot.
“Senior Sister, did you consume a lot of greasy and spicy food recently? Your liver and spleen seem to have a significant excess of internal heat.”
“How did you know?”
“Your Tiger Heart Acupoint has a slightly strong heat accumulation. It might be a bit painful in a moment, please bear with it.”
Upon hearing this, the senior sister from Profound Star Sect raised an eyebrow in surprise. She couldn’t help but sigh inwardly that this young man seemed to possess some real skills. Just a light touch, and he could discern such details.
However, in the next moment, as Ye Anping concentrated his spiritual energy at his fingertips and touched the acupoint on the sole of her foot, something unexpected happened.
Instantly, she felt a surge of electric current traveling upward from the spot where Ye Anping’s fingers touched. Unable to hold back, she let out a delicate whimper.
“Hn~~”
She quickly covered her mouth, but then immediately, a warm and gentle flow of spiritual energy spread throughout her body, like fine jade permeating her being.
“Ooh~ Mmm~~”
“Senior sister, is the pressure alright?”
“Mmm… still… ahn~~”
“Senior sister, please relax your body a bit. Otherwise, I won’t know how much pressure to apply.”
“Mmm… mmm…”
Ye Anping continued the simple acupressure on her foot for about fifteen minutes. However, neither the Profound Star Sect senior sister nor himself realized that quite a few Profound Star Sect disciples who were on duty today had passed by their room. They could hear the suspicious sounds coming from inside.
Outside the door, three young men and four young women were huddled together, their faces flushed, secretly eavesdropping on the noises coming from the room.
–“Do you want me to be gentler?”
–“No… no need. Hmm~ Use a bit more pressure~ Be rough~ Like before~~ It feels so good~~”
–“Alright then~~”
The sounds from inside the room became even more peculiar.
The three young men and four young women outside couldn’t help but whisper to each other.
“Senior sister Bai is so audacious! She’s actually… actually cultivating with her partner right here.”
“Wait, who is senior sister Bai’s partner? How come I didn’t know she had a partner?”
“I just saw a not very tall young man entering the room with her. He looks quite handsome and clear-eyed. I don’t know which sect he’s from, but he’s definitely not from the Profound Star Sect.”
At this point, it seemed like they were done inside the room.
“It-It’s over?”
“Yes, Isn’t senior sister still on duty?”
—”Well… let’s leave it at that for now…”
Upon hearing this, the individuals at the door exchanged glances hastily: Time to go! Senior sister Bai is coming out! They immediately scattered, pretending to be innocent bystanders.
After a while, the door opened, and senior sister Bai, her face flushed, led Ye Anping out. They returned to the table where they had filled out the shop application.
“Senior, how was the treatment? After adjusting your spiritual energy, do you feel much more relaxed?”
“Mhm…” Senior sister Bai bit her lip, closed her eyes to try manipulating her spiritual energy, and was pleasantly surprised, “I do feel much more relaxed, and now I’m quite clear-headed and refreshed.”
“Hehe, so how about the application for my shop, senior?”
“Mhm, but I need to go back and ask the elders about this.” Senior sister Bai nodded, took out her own seal from her storage pouch, and stamped a red seal on the application. However, she still reminded Ye Anping, “In any case, you can open the shop first. The elders should personally visit your shop later. Whether it gets approved or not will ultimately depend on what the elders decide. I don’t think many people have heard of this kind of therapy.”
“Understood.” Ye Anping accepted the shop application order, bowed his head in gratitude, and said, “Thank you, senior. I’ll take my leave then.”
Seeing him ready to go, senior sister Bai hesitated for a moment, then spoke up to detain him.
“By the way, Young Master Ye. My name is Bai Yuelin, a disciple of Profound Star Sect’s Sky Cloud Peak. If you have any questions, you can come directly to me. Just mention that you’re looking for Bai Yuelin of Sky Cloud Peak. I’m the only one with the surname Bai in Sky Cloud Peak.”
“Mhm, thank you, senior.”