Chapter 73: Playing Dirty

I don’t know how long it had been—perhaps only a short incense stick’s time, yet it felt as long as an entire century.

Qin Shuying slowly straightened up, methodically tidying her slightly disheveled clothes and hair.

A faint flush of arousal still lingered on her stunningly beautiful face.

On the floor, Shen Mo’s hair bun had long since come undone, and a few strands of black hair clung to his sweat-dampened cheeks.

His usually cool and composed face was now flushed red as if about to bleed.

His eyes were dazed and broken, tears of physiological reaction at the corners, his lips swollen from biting, his robe wide open, revealing large patches of skin covered in red marks from being squeezed.

This sight was a hundred times more… than any erotic painting.

A sense of transgression burned like a fire, making his whole body hot.

He wanted to escape, yet under the extreme stimulation, he felt a shameful numbness.

“You said… the Shadow Recording Stone…” he said, his voice very soft.

“What’s the hurry?”

Qin Shuying’s fingers clenched, and the black stone cracked into eight pieces.

It then turned into a small handful of grayish-white powder, completely devoid of any spirituality, falling from between her fingers.

Shen Mo’s stiff eyes moved extremely slowly.

‘She… really destroyed it?’

‘It seems she still cares about her reputation…’

‘Although the process was unbearable and the price heavy, at least one deadly threat was removed.’

‘Maybe… maybe she isn’t completely unreasonable?’

‘After this, she really will…’

But this self-deceiving relief only lingered in his heart for another breath.

Qin Shuying clapped her hands to shake off the dust, then leisurely reached into her wide sleeve.

In his suddenly constricted pupils, there was another—brand new, intact, also shimmering with dark light—black stone.

She smiled brilliantly at Shen Mo, a smile so beautiful it was breathtaking.

“That old one, I destroyed it. I kept my promise to you, haven’t I?”

Qin Shuying appreciated his stupefied expression.

She leaned down, using the cold edge of the new Shadow Recording Stone to gently lift his sweaty chin, forcing his unfocused gaze to meet her face.

“As for this one… it’s new. What it records is the… very, very pleasant memories of just now… between us.”

Seeing his cursing eyes, she felt extremely pleased.

“This one, you want to trade it back? Fine. But…” she deliberately paused, “you’ll have to trade it for ‘next time.'”

“Next time, you come obediently and actively to Heavenly Sword Peak to find me,” she said like a venomous snake: “Then, we’ll create some… new memories. At that time, this stone might be returned to you. Of course,” she curled her red lips and added, “there might also be a newer stone that you’ll need to use ‘the time after next’ to exchange… who knows?”

Shen Mo despaired. This was nothing but an inescapable, cyclical trap! A shackle forged from his own shameful images, from which he could never break free!

“You…” Shen Mo’s voice was hoarse and broken, filled with deep despair, “What exactly… do I have to do for you to let me go…”

“Let you go?”

She repeated these three words, as if hearing the most ridiculous question in the world.

Her fingertip slowly moved down, landing on his pale, bloodless lips, gently rubbing.

“Shen Mo, listen.”

Her voice was very calm, without threat, without madness, only the certainty of stating a fact:

“I can’t let you go.”

“Never, ever.”

She leaned down, looking into his empty eyes. In that gray despair, her cold and obsessive face was clearly reflected.

“You have no idea… how tempting you are.”

She said these words extremely calmly.

“From the moment I first saw you… from the moment you exhausted your spiritual power treating the Cloud-Soaring Crane and collapsed in my arms… from the moment your body was filled with my scent but you still thought of escaping…”

“These occasional pitiable stubbornness and tears you reveal… even the absent-minded yet forced bearing when your heart is occupied by someone else…” her voice carried a morbid intoxication, “All of it fascinates me, makes me want to… completely possess you.”

“So, don’t say such silly things anymore.”

“Rest well. Next time, come to Heavenly Sword Peak to find me on your own.”

She cast a spell to dismiss the soundproof barrier, pushed the door, stepped out, and disappeared.

Shen Mo leaned against the doorframe, slowly sliding to sit on the floor, burying his face deep into his cold knees.

Just then, footsteps outside the door had already reached the hall entrance.

“Husband?” Su Wan’er’s voice carried a hint of impatience and suspicion; her spiritual pressure had already locked onto the hall door. “I’m coming in.”

He frantically gathered his disheveled robe, not bothering to wipe off the traces on his body, grabbing the robe to cover his lower half, and desperately wiping away the moisture at the corner of his mouth and the flush on his face with his sleeve.

He forcibly suppressed all emotions on his face, squeezed out the most docile and calm smile, and looked towards the sound.

Su Wan’er pushed the door and entered.

“Matriarch.” Shen Mo bowed his head in greeting.

“In the room… why is there a scent of Heavenly Sword Peak’s snow pine?”

“Perhaps… perhaps the wind was strong just now and blew open the window lattice. As for the snow pine scent… maybe Chunlan came by earlier and accidentally picked up the smell…”

“Is that so?” Su Wan’er half-believed, walking towards Shen Mo.

She reached out, her cool fingertips touching his burning cheek.

“Husband, why is your face so red?”

Shen Mo’s mind went blank. Just as he was about to fabricate an excuse, Su Wan’er suddenly leaned down, pressing her whole body on top of him, her nose almost touching his.

“And…” she took a deep breath, her eyes becoming deep and unfathomable, “your heartbeat is so fast.”

“N-no, it’s nothing… I was just distracted thinking about the Spirit Kite Egg. Wan’er, did your talk with Peak Master Qin… go well?”

“Mm, Shuying… she seemed especially easy to talk to today.” Su Wan’er said with a smile.

“Although her nature is still that cold, I could feel she genuinely wants to reconcile with me. She even talked a lot about interesting childhood stories…”

“At that time, we were both still young. She was two months younger than me but half a head taller. The villagers said we were twin sisters. She got upset when she heard that and said she didn’t want to be my little sister.” Su Wan’er’s lips curled slightly.

Shen Mo stood there, listening to her say these words, the stone in his heart growing heavier and heavier.

“What happened next?” he heard himself ask.

Su Wan’er’s smile faded a bit. “Later, we both joined Cloud Hidden Mountain one after another. At the sect tournament, when forming the Golden Core, I was taken as a disciple by the Heavenly Pivot Elder.”

Shen Mo didn’t say anything.

“She thought I had snatched away her opportunity.”

Su Wan’er’s voice was very light. “Actually, it wasn’t that. The Heavenly Pivot Elder chose me because my cultivation method was a better fit. Her sword path was sharper. But she wouldn’t listen—she was convinced I used some trick.”

“Later, I became the Bright Moon Peak Lord, and she became the Heavenly Sword Peak Master.” Su Wan’er continued. “We never spoke to each other again.”

Shen Mo coughed lightly.