By the lake, drawn together by yin and yang, they had acted on instinct. It was all a blur, like a dream. Lin Tang couldn't quite recall what it had truly felt like. But now was different. He was completely awake! This… was far too thrilling.
Lin Tang was so embarrassed he didn't know where to begin, but he couldn't just stand by and watch her die, could he?
"Shen Youling, oh Shen Youling, you can't bla for this. I have no other choice!"
He rubbed his hands together, then reached out and slowly undid her first button, then the second…
Outside the door, Lee Encai and Wei Zichu checked carefully but found no cracks or holes. Disappointed, they had no choice but to press their ears against the door and listen intently.
"Why is it so quiet?"
"Can he even do it or not?"
The two girls exchanged a glance, both blushing.
"What are you still doing here?"
"What's it to you? Wait, who even are you?"
"You don't need to know who I am. Got a problem?"
"Hey, you little brat…"
Suddenly, the door opened. Lin Tang stood there with a grim look on his face, a cold voice squeezing through his clenched teeth. "What are you two arguing about out here?"
"Uh—"
"Brother Lin, you couldn't be finished already, could you?" Wei Zichu and Lee Encai both wore odd expressions.
Lin Tang was furious. "Nonsense! I haven't even started yet! It's your fault for breaking my concentration. Scram! Both of you, get lost. If you keep making a racket out here, I'll deal with both of you at once!"
"Tch—"
Neither of them believed him, but they slunk away all the sa.
Once the room was finally quiet, Lin Tang returned and locked the door. He looked at Shen Youling, her clothes half-undone, and found the sight utterly intoxicating.
Her silly, giggling expression was a stark contrast to her usual frosty deanor. This innocent, almost doting look… The change was imnse!
Lin Tang swallowed hard in spite of himself and pulled her into his embrace once more.
So fragrant…
So soft…
…
In a secluded, dimly lit alley in Jiangbei, unfrequented by any passersby, Hou Baoshu coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood before collapsing to the ground. Mo Zhongyuan, who was with him, tumbled and fell flat on his face.
As Mo Zhongyuan turned over, about to cry out in pain, his entire body stiffened. He saw Hou Baoshu holding a broken sword to his neck.
"Eldest Senior Brother, let's talk about this! Please, don't kill …" Mo Zhongyuan pleaded, his voice trembling.
Hou Baoshu panted, speaking in broken gasps. "I brought you along so you would hand over all the treasured Healing dicine of your Mo family. I never expected my injuries to be this severe… I'm about to die, and it's all your fault. Give one reason not to kill you…"
"I…" Mo Zhongyuan was at a loss for words.
Seeing his skin had already been cut, he hastily swore an oath. He vowed he would spare no expense to get revenge on Lin Tang, to grind his bones to dust and scatter his ashes, to leave his corpse to rot in the wilderness.
"I'll kill everyone associated with him! Eldest Senior Brother, you know the Master doesn't care for details. He probably won't go after the people connected to Lin Tang. If you kill , there will be no one left to do it…" Mo Zhongyuan said cautiously.
"Heh—" Hou Baoshu twisted his lips into a smirk and sighed at the sky. "I just wish I could have seen the view from beyond the realm of a Master…"
His voice was filled with sorrow and resentnt.
SCHLICK!
Blood sprayed violently.
"Ah!" Mo Zhongyuan shrieked pathetically, thinking he'd been killed.
But why wasn't there any pain?
He blinked and looked again, only to realize Hou Baoshu had thrust the sword through his own chest.
Scalding blood coated the entire broken sword.
HUM!
The blade trembled, glowing with a crimson luster that was as beautiful as it was sinister.
"Eldest Senior Brother, what are you doing…?"
"So this is it," Hou Baoshu murmured as if struck by an epiphany. "A sword blank consecrated with the swordsmith's own blood yields the most perfect creation!"
He pulled the broken sword out, gazing at the blood-red patterns with a mix of obsession and reverence. He smiled and pressed the broken sword into Mo Zhongyuan's hands.
"Give this to the Master. I hope he… won't find this gift unworthy…"
As his words trailed off, his head slumped forward.
He was dead.
"Eldest Senior Brother…" Mo Zhongyuan stared at him, stunned, unsure how to describe the feeling in his heart.
"I'm sorry. This is my fault. I swear I'll deliver this sword to the Master!"
"Lin! Tang! I will offer your head to avenge my Eldest Senior Brother!"
His eyes reddened as tears stread down his face.
「The next morning.」
On a perilous, steep summit stood the Sword Casting Manor.
Mo Zhongyuan, his head wrapped in a white cloth, limped forward while cradling the broken sword. He approached a long-haired man dressed in white robes and knelt with a thud.
"Master, Eldest Senior Brother entrusted this to for you before he died!"
The long-haired man exuded an aura of vast experience, yet his face was nearly unlined; it was impossible to guess his age from his appearance alone. He opened his eyes, took the broken sword, and gently stroked the blood patterns on the blade.
"A fine sword!" Yan Renjie exclaid in admiration.
He seed to have paid no attention to Mo Zhongyuan's rambling account of Hou Baoshu's death.
After a long while, he finally shifted his emotionless gaze from the broken sword to Mo Zhongyuan's face. Mo Zhongyuan felt as if a thousand steel needles were piercing his cheeks, and he couldn't help but tremble.
The Master's gaze… It's terrifying!
Just as he was about to kowtow and admit his fault, Yan Renjie looked at Hou Baoshu's body in the coffin.
"To hear the Way in the morning and die in the evening is a worthy death. Baoshu, to have forged such a fine sword, your life was not lived in vain," he said with deep satisfaction, then rose and walked toward the back of the mountain. He instructed his servants to open the smithy, light the fire, and start the furnace.
"Master, aren't you going to avenge Eldest Senior Brother?" Mo Zhongyuan asked, taken aback.
Yan Renjie replied calmly, "I must first repair this broken sword. It matters little if that man lives a few more days."
"Yes…"
Mo Zhongyuan was secretly overjoyed. Lin Tang, oh Lin Tang, just you wait. Once the Master finishes this sword, we'll see how you die!
…
As for Yan Renjie, who could show up at any mont, Lin Tang wasn't concerned in the slightest. He was fast asleep.
Naturally, Shen Youling was sleeping beside him.
Hou Baoshu's aphrodisiac really was top-notch. It took all my strength to finally purge its effects. It's a good thing I'm a cultivator with profound power; otherwise, I'd never have been able to handle it. That whole process… it's truly beyond description.
Even now, he was grinning in his sleep.
If I have one regret, it's that this Dual Cultivation didn't increase my power at all. It would've been amazing if it did. Then I wouldn't need to gather dicinal herbs anymore; I could just fool around with my wife all day. Wouldn't that be great? It seems my power only increases under specific circumstances. As for what those are, I'll have to run a few more experints to figure it out.
With a soft moan, Shen Youling slowly awoke. She stared blankly for a few seconds before mories of the previous day ca flooding back…
"Ah—!"
She shot upright and glanced down at herself. The sight struck her like a bolt of lightning, and her face went deathly pale. She thought she had been utterly defiled. Unable to bear the blow, she was about to slam her head against the wall to kill herself when Lin Tang's strong arms wrapped tightly around her.
"Let go! Let die!"
"Whoa, whoa, hold on! Look, it's ! Your husband!"
"Let die… Huh?"
Shen Youling's expression went blank. She slowly turned her head and saw Lin Tang's infuriatingly smug grin.
"Luckily, I got here in ti to save you yesterday," he began to explain, already angling for praise. "I saw the drug was taking effect. If I hadn't done anything, you would have died, so I had no choice but to help you out. We're an old married couple, so there's no need to thank —"
He was cut short as Shen Youling suddenly tackled him and began biting him frantically.
"Hey! Why are you biting ?! HISS! Are you a dog or sothing?!" Lin Tang cursed, about to kick her off.
"Waaaaah…" Shen Youling collapsed on top of him, sobbing hysterically, her tears soaking his chest.
Lin Tang silently lowered his foot and began patting her smooth back. "There, there. It's all over now."
Perhaps her skin felt too good, because his patting subconsciously turned into caressing. His breathing quickened.
"So… how about another round?"
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