Late at night, all was silent.
Jiang Huai lay on his back on the bed, his gaze empty as he stared at the ceiling beams.
No lamps were lit in the room, but moonlight poured through the window, coating everything in a silvery-gray, cold glow.
He was looking inward at the Small World within his body.
There, five Yin Yuan floated between heaven and earth, like five moons of different colors.
The red one blazed like fire, the black one was as profound as an abyss, but the azure and yellow ones were dull and lusterless, like bright pearls covered in dust.
The Small World was thus unbalanced.
The earth was parched and cracked, with ravines crisscrossing like patterns on a tortoise shell; plants had withered, the once lush mountain forests now only bare branches stabbing towards the gray, murky sky.
The Five Elements could not cycle, the spiritual Qi between heaven and earth was stagnant and unmoving, a desolate scene like the end of the world.
Jiang Huai let out a long sigh in his heart.
Right now, being able to cultivate normally was just this one step away.
But how should he broach the subject with the Azure Dragon Clan and the Yellow Dragon Clan? What standing did he have to demand their Yin Yuan?
He opened his eyes, his gaze shifting to the cold, clear moon outside the window.
Suddenly, he remembered Qin Xuange’s unusual behavior today.
She really was so much like Qin Qingyue.
That look in her eyes, that tone of voice, that aura in her every movement… they were so similar it made his heart ache.
And wasn’t he cultivating desperately like this precisely so that one day he could go to the Immortal Realm to find her?
He wondered how she was doing in the Immortal Realm now? Was she safe and well? Would she think of him?
As he thought, a powerful desire suddenly surged in Jiang Huai’s heart.
He wanted to go find Qin Xuange.
He wanted to see more of Qin Qingyue’s shadow in her.
He wanted to use that similar face, those similar eyes, to comfort the longing he had suppressed for far too long.
The moment this thought surged up, he forcefully suppressed it.
“No.”
He muttered to himself:
“How can I go find her?”
He sat up cross-legged, closed his eyes, and tried to banish those distracting thoughts from his mind:
“It’s not terrible for a person to have desires; what’s terrible is indulging them.”
Just as he was about to enter meditation to cultivate…
The door was suddenly pushed open.
Jiang Huai’s eyes snapped open.
In the moonlight, a tall, slender figure wrapped in an outer robe swaggered right in.
Qin Xuange.
She casually closed the door behind her, her movements fluid and natural, carrying an air of utter nonchalance.
Then, she strode towards the bed, her steps graceful, her actions as natural as if she were in her own home, each step landing on the ripples of moonlight.
Jiang Huai sat up, his gaze fixed on her.
The Qin Xuange before him was only wrapped in a black outer robe.
The robe seemed to cover her figure completely, leaving not a bit of skin exposed, but as she moved, the black robe rippled in a regular rhythm, wave after wave.
It seemed like concealment, but Jiang Huai could see how those waves moved beneath the robe.
The outline of peaks, the curve of a waist, the rise and fall of hips and thighs…
His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“You… how did you come in?” he spoke, his voice sounding a few degrees more pleased than he had anticipated.
He hadn’t gone looking for Qin Qingyue, yet Qin Qingyue had come to find him herself.
Qin Qingyue didn’t answer immediately.
She walked to the table and, without any hesitation, picked up the teapot and drank directly from the spout.
Her throat moved, making a gulping sound, a few strands of tea slipping from the corner of her mouth and disappearing into her collar.
Finished, she raised a hand to wipe her mouth and grinned at him:
“Came to talk with you.”
She elegantly swished her black Dragon Tail, which drew a lazy arc in the air, and then sat down beside the bed.
Her pert backside unceremoniously pressed against Jiang Huai’s arm, the full sensation transmitted through the fabric, warm and soft. She tilted her head to look at him:
“Scoot over a bit. Talk with me.”
Jiang Huai opened his mouth, not knowing what she wanted to ask at this moment, and could only silently make room.
The two of them sat side by side on the bed, moonlight spilling down, casting their shadows on the wall, overlapping.
Within the Spirit Platform, Qin Xuange spoke quietly:
‘Senior Qin… really isn’t going to do anything?’
She watched helplessly as Qin Qingyue, using her body, lay on this bed, almost touching Jiang Huai, that posture, that distance, like a married couple.
This pair before her eyes were genuine Dao Companions, they must have been intimate before, would they really not do anything with her body?
And if they really did, what then? Complex emotions stirred in Qin Xuange’s heart—a sliver of anticipation, and a sliver of irritation.
What was she, exactly? A “sheath” between the two of them?
Qin Xuange remembered the scene from earlier when Qin Qingyue had trimmed her… down there, and finally recalled the evaluation the elders of the Black Dragon Clan had for Qin Qingyue:
Full of lies, cunning and crafty, not to be trusted lightly.
Qin Qingyue sent a Soul Transmission into the Spirit Platform, her tone sincere:
“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything. Really.”
The moment the transmission ended, she wrapped her arms around Jiang Huai’s arm.
The action was as natural as if she’d done it a thousand times.
Plump peaks pressed tightly against Jiang Huai’s arm, the soft sensation instantly spreading, carrying body heat, carrying a heartbeat, carrying something long-lost and familiar…
Qin Xuange’s pretty face instantly flushed crimson, helpless within the Spirit Platform.
She thought Qin Qingyue didn’t know, but even if the other really did something with her body, even if they were intimate, she couldn’t do anything about it.
Qin Qingyue’s Divine Sense was too powerful, relying on the power of her bloodline, she could do many things, and it was difficult for Qin Xuange to wrest back control.
“Tell me,” Qin Qingyue spoke, a slight tremor in her voice, “how did you get so seriously injured some time ago?”
She paused, a flash of heartache in her eyes, an emotion so real it couldn’t be faked.
She raised her hand, gently stroking Jiang Huai’s face, her fingertips carrying a cool temperature:
“How were you hurt?”
Jiang Huai quickly dodged to the side.
The movement was almost instinctive—she wasn’t Qin Qingyue, he couldn’t…
But before he could move half an inch away, Qin Qingyue very domineeringly twisted him back.
The force was irresistible, carrying a dominance that was all too familiar to him, belonging to Qin Qingyue.
“Just treat me as Qin Qingyue.” She looked directly into his eyes, moonlight reflected in her pupils, clear to the bottom. “I can see you’re quite willing in your heart, aren’t you?”
She paused, her voice softening a little:
“It’s a matter of mutual consent. I don’t blame you.”
“Just treat me as Qin Qingyue.”
She flicked her hair, the movement lazy and captivating.
Qin Xuange, in the Spirit Platform, dared to resent but not speak.
Jiang Huai stared into those eyes, identical to Qin Qingyue’s. That face, that posture, that aura… everything was so similar it made him dizzy.
He relented.
His body involuntarily moved closer to hers, close enough to feel each other’s breath.
“It was like this…”
He began to recount.
He told her everything clearly: how he rescued Chi Hong, how he ended up in that withered state.
As he spoke, he gradually began to truly see the person before him as Qin Qingyue.
“I was almost dead then, full of regrets.” He murmured as if recalling that near-death moment. “My thoughts kept jumping through the past, I thought it was my life flashing before my eyes.”
He paused, his voice lowering:
“I thought my life was too short, I hadn’t even had time to go find you, how could I die?”
He turned his head to look at her, moonlight shining in his eyes, bright and clear:
“It was such a regret. I thought if I knew I had died, you would definitely be sad.”
“Thinking of you being sad made me not want to die.”
Qin Qingyue listened quietly until he finished. Qin Xuange remained silent.
She looked at the face before her with complex emotions, at those eyes filled with longing and regret.
Her fingertip quietly touched the corner of her eye, then she sniffled slightly, an extremely light movement, but one she couldn’t quite hide.
In her heart, a sense of powerlessness rose.
The powerlessness of wanting to help the lover before her solve all troubles, yet having no way to start.
This was an emotion she hadn’t felt in a very, very long time.
She gently stroked Jiang Huai’s face, the movement tender as if touching the world’s most precious treasure.
Then, she leaned her face closer.
Her breath was like orchid, their breathing intertwined.
She kissed his lips.
In the Spirit Platform, Qin Xuange saw this scene and instantly flushed red.
‘Senior Qin!’ She quickly reached out a hand, as if that could stop something. ‘This is my body!’
Jiang Huai’s eyes widened, abruptly pulled from his earlier sorrow, and began to struggle!
After all, she wasn’t Qin Qingyue, how could…
But the moment the other’s tongue tip probed in, he froze.
The sensation was unfamiliar—Qin Xuange’s lips, Qin Xuange’s tongue.
But the technique, the pressure, the way it moved and explored was familiar.
So familiar. Only Qin Qingyue would do it like this. Only she would.
Qin Qingyue narrowed her eyes, her slender fingers gripping Jiang Huai’s face tightly, not allowing him to escape.
She kissed him deeply, her tongue being very mischievous, carrying the longing and desire of a separation far too long.
But she wasn’t completely immersed in passion.
She was waiting.
Pressing against Qin Xuange’s bottom line, testing her attitude.
It was just a kiss. If she got angry, then she would quickly apologize and use Gongfa and guidance to tie her down.
If she wasn’t angry…
Then she could be even more unrestrained.
Using her body to do other things.
More importantly, she wanted to know if Qin Xuange had the ability to wrest control of the body from her grasp.
Second by second, time passed.
Nothing happened.
Qin Qingyue contentedly savored the long-awaited delicacy, feeling Jiang Huai’s process from struggling to gradually giving up resistance.
Watching him being “forced” by her filled her heart with infinite satisfaction.
She liked forcing Jiang Huai, liked watching him being forced by her yet unable to resist.
Qin Xuange could only close her eyes and be forced to enjoy it.
She felt Qin Qingyue using her tongue, employing those unusual, extraordinary techniques she had never experienced before.
The sensation was strange and marvelous, making her whole body go soft, her heart drumming like thunder.
Seeing her silence, Qin Qingyue’s hands began to get restless.
That hand moved stealthily under the bedsheet, probing, wanting to explore further territories.
‘Senior Qin…’
In the Spirit Platform, Qin Xuange’s faint complaint sounded.
There was no anger in that voice, only a complex mix of helplessness, shame, annoyance, and not knowing what to do.
Qin Qingyue quickly withdrew her hand.
Her face was full of apology as she said:
“Sorry, I got carried away just then.”
She paused, her tone sincere:
“You know, hearing that my man suffered such a serious injury, I couldn’t help but…”
Qin Xuange nodded, indicating she understood—a helpless understanding.
The kiss had already happened, what could she do? Her sense of touch was shared with Qin Qingyue; she had felt everything that just happened clearly too.
She could only curl her tongue inside her mouth, trying to calm the turbulent emotions from moments ago.
She said nothing more.
She felt both like laughing and crying.
She had never imagined her first kiss would be given away in this manner.