“Shen Mo, oh Shen Mo,” she shook her head lightly, as if truly lamenting a regret, “Your fate of a calamity-bringer is already set in stone. All the suffering you’ve endured seems to be inflicted by others, but isn’t it actually caused by your own fate, harming both yourself and others?”
“So, my method just now, though seemingly unseemly, is actually the best way to resolve this calamity and avoid an even greater disaster.”
Shen Mo was trembling with rage at her sophistry and blame-shifting, his chest heaving violently, and a rasping sound came from his throat.
‘Is being born with a special constitution and decent looks a sin?’
‘Is that a reason to be bullied, plundered, and framed?’
Yun He watched his angry and helpless expression, the mockery in her eyes deepening.
A ruffled kitten was the cutest.
She leisurely straightened her slightly disheveled robes.
“Alright, you know what you need to know. Now, I’ll send you back to Jiaoyue Peak. Go and welcome your ‘good’ wife.”
She teased, “Remember, when you see her disheveled and leaning into that man’s arms, don’t make that devastated face. You need to smile, be gentle, be considerate…”
…
The mountain path wound through dense pine forests on both sides.
Twilight seeped through the trees, dyeing the entire road a dark indigo.
Above the clouds, Su Wan’er flew her sword extremely fast, as if fleeing.
Her heart pounded like a drum in her chest.
Every beat called out that name.
She hadn’t been this nervous in a long time. Her mind clumsily rehearsed what to say and what expression to make when they met, so as to express her longing without being too abrupt and scaring him.
At the same time, she spread her Divine Sense widely.
In this cultivation world, vigilance was ingrained in her bones.
Just as she was about to fly over a valley where Phantom Epiphyllum grew, her Divine Sense touched a strange aura.
The aura was neither an evil spirit nor a Demonic Beast, but instead… exuded a refined yet sticky seductiveness, completely out of place with the cold, wild spiritual energy of the surroundings.
Su Wan’er frowned slightly and looked in that direction.
Below, by a hidden mountain stream, a man in a crimson brocade robe lay collapsed on the ground, seemingly injured and breathing weakly.
The man’s profile was extremely handsome, even with a hint of feminine beauty.
Su Wan’er was not without caution, but she was an upright person.
Seeing someone injured near the border of her sect’s territory, she hesitated briefly before pressing down her sword light and landing not far from the man.
Hearing the sound, the man in crimson struggled to raise his head, revealing a face that would make many women hold their breath.
His eyes were glistening with water, looking at Su Wan’er with just the right amount of gratitude.
“Immortal Maiden… save me…” His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper.
He tried to prop himself up but collapsed weakly, causing his already loose robes to slip further, revealing large patches of jade-like chest.
“I… I am a Loose Cultivator passing through this area. I encountered a Demonic Beast earlier. Though I escaped by luck, I was poisoned by its miasma. My Spiritual Power is stagnant, and my limbs are weak… I presume to trouble the Immortal Maiden. Could you… spare some fresh water or show me a clear path?”
As he spoke, his breath became more disturbed. A very faint, almost imperceptible sweet fragrance quietly spread through the air with his rapid breaths.
Su Wan’er instinctively felt the fragrance was unusual, but the injuries seemed real, and his cultivation was only at Foundation Establishment, not a threat to her.
“What poison did you encounter?”
She stepped forward two paces. Out of caution, she didn’t get too close. She simply extended her hand, intending to send a thread of Spiritual Power to probe from a distance.
She didn’t want to meddle, but seeing his pitiful state in the middle of returning to her peak, she couldn’t bear to ignore him.
‘Mo’er is kind-hearted. If he knew about this, he would surely agree that I should help.’
Just as her Spiritual Power was about to leave her fingertips, the man seemed to relax from her approach.
His body relaxed slightly, and his movements shifted naturally.
With the swing of his sleeve, a strange fragrance—ten times weaker and a hundred times purer than the scent from the sachet earlier, and almost completely blended with the valley’s grass, flowers, and night dew—suddenly surged.
This fragrance was called Drunken Spring Wind, a secret formula of the Joyous Union Sect.
Even Nascent Soul cultivators struggled to defend against it, especially targeting those with relaxed minds.
Colorless and odorless, it merged with Spiritual Power, penetrated the Meridians directly, and stirred desires.
It didn’t attack the Divine Sense or stimulate lust. Instead, like a drop of ink falling into clear water, it silently spread out.
Su Wan’er’s body paused almost imperceptibly.
She didn’t feel any discomfort or dizziness. Her spirit platform remained clear, and her Dao Heart was as stable as ever.
But… an extremely subtle, indescribable warmth quietly grew from her lower Dantian.
At the same time, fragments from her wedding night seven years ago involuntarily played back in her mind.
The flickering red candles, his lowered, slightly trembling eyelashes.
The pale neck under the crimson robe, the cool temperature of his fingertips when they clasped.
These details, originally sealed in the depths of memory and nearly forgotten, now surged out with unusual vividness.
A ridiculous, direct, and passionate thought belonging to a Matriarch for her Husband uncontrollably entered her mind.
This was vastly different from her usual cold and restrained state of mind, causing a faint irritation, yet oddly… she didn’t resist.
An illusion appeared before her eyes.
She saw the man sitting on moonlight spilling over huge white petals, wearing a light purple gauze robe as thin as smoke.
The robe was slightly open, revealing a small piece of fair but well-defined chest.
His ink-black hair was unbound, loose and scattered, with a few strands stirred by the night breeze.
His posture was languid, fingers pinching a Phantom Epiphyllum petal, his gaze like a hook, lightly scratching over her heart.
Su Wan’er shook her head, regaining some clarity, and said sternly, “This is Yunyin Mountain territory, not a place for you to indulge. Leave immediately.”
If it were Qin Shuying, she would have already slashed him with her sword.
But her temperament was softer. She didn’t want to take a life based only on suspicion.
Hearing this, the man was not afraid but instead chuckled lowly.
His laughter was like a feather scraping the eardrum.
He slowly stood up, the gauze robe sliding with his movement, outlining a slender yet flexible waist.
He took two steps forward, not too close.
“Immortal Maiden, you are so ruthless,” his eyes reddened at the corners, seemingly aggrieved. “I was merely passing by and lingered to admire these blooming Phantom Epiphyllum. Where is the indulgence? As for the Immortal Maiden…”
His eyes were full of rippling light, focusing intently on Su Wan’er.
“The Immortal Maiden’s demeanor is peerless and your cultivation profound, but… there seems to be a depression between your brows, and your breath is somewhat unsettled. Could it be… a long period of solitude, an Imbalance of Yin and Yang, and a Heart Flame difficult to bear?”
These words were already blatant flirtation.
An ordinary female cultivator would either be embarrassed or tempted, always experiencing some disturbance.
But she only coldly spat out two words.
“How impertinent.”
Her aura suddenly chilled, and fine ice crystals condensed in the air.
“Forgive me, Immortal Maiden… I was presumptuous. It’s just… a person like you, why suppress yourself? The Great Dao is difficult, but it also requires balancing Yin and Yang, following one’s heart… This unworthy one is willing to relieve your worries, even if only for a night’s pleasure, a fleeting romance, it would be my greatest fortune in three lifetimes…”
As he spoke, the fragrance grew stronger.
Formless and immaterial, yet it wove around her in strands.