Su Bai’s gaze was dazed; it took all her strength to tear her eyes away from the babbling stream and the lively, darting spirit carp to look at the person approaching, her eyes filled with a tangled mix of resentment and stubbornness.
“Get lost!”
“Stop putting on this fake act!”
“If not for you, I wouldn’t have ended up in this pathetic state!”
Right now, Su Bai was utterly disgusted with this rebellious, treacherous, unfilial fiend of hers!
A backstab alone wasn’t much—geniuses in this world were as countless as the carp crossing the river; losing to another could only mean her skills weren’t enough. But a true man can be killed, not humiliated. Not only did the other refuse to give her a swift end, they also turned her body into this pathetic image of a “delicate little wife.”
“Master, you’re mistaken.”
Zhou Xuan shook his head, sipping his wine as if lost in thought. “I never used aphrodisiac pills, binding charms, or soul confusion arts on you. I merely let the desires you’ve buried deep within your heart come to the surface, just a little.”
“Greed for power, lust, indulgence—aren’t these all your desires, Master?”
“Heh! I really raised a good little beast—one who turns truth and falsehood upside down and plays word games. I should have beaten you to death back then!!”
Throwing out these harsh words, Su Bai scooted her bottom away, but the heat spreading from deep within her body surged like wildfire beneath every inch of her skin.
The man’s intense masculine aura beside her seemed to have some kind of magic thread, wrapping her in its invisible embrace, teasing her already fragile nerves again and again.
With every breath she took, that aura surged toward her like a raging tide, threatening to drown her completely. The last thread of reason in her mind wavered on the brink of being swallowed by a wave of desire.
Zhou Xuan gently swirled his wine cup, sounding almost regretful: “Excavate your desires, ignite them, be burned to death by them, or be reborn from the flames—no matter which, you must face your desires head-on.”
“Master, stop running away. Deep in your heart, you know I’m not lying. Someone as lustful and power-hungry as you, your desires are like floodwaters accumulating behind a dam. If you only suppress them and never release them, the dam will burst and disaster will follow.”
“Oh, and by the way, I just caught a whiff of your emotions again—resentment, longing, disgust, and a tiny sliver of anticipation hidden deep down.”
“Master, you were just trying to provoke me, weren’t you? You want me to be the villain, the one who forces you, the excuse—so you can openly and honorably enjoy pleasure and taste your desires without losing face.”
“Get lost! Never!!”
It felt like her heart had been stabbed; Su Bai’s face flushed red, her eyes blazing with anger and panic.
However, Zhou Xuan suddenly reached out and pulled her into his arms. Instantly, Su Bai felt a tingling numbness spread from the point of contact throughout her whole body, making her limbs go soft.
The man’s warm, breathy voice whispered in her ear: “As your ‘dutiful disciple,’ I can’t stand to see my Master suffer, so I guess I’ll have to be the villain after all.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he gave her a gentle push, sending Su Bai falling backward.
“Rebellious disciple!” “Unfilial beast!” “Fiend!” she cursed fiercely, but there was little strength behind the words. In that instant, a strange sense of relief flashed through her heart, as if the heavy shackles that had bound her for so long loosened just a little in this chaotic moment.
“Can I join too?” At this moment, Su Xiao the little boy ran out from the shadows, staring at the two of them with sparkling, watery eyes filled with curiosity and longing.
Together?
Su Bai’s delicate features changed slightly.
Zhou Xuan suddenly smiled, reaching out to squeeze her shapely rear, making the empress in his arms let out a soft moan: “That’s up to our mouthy-but-upstanding Master and Mother to decide.”
Hearing this, Su Xiao ran gleefully to Su Bai, his little legs moving lightning fast. He threw his arms around her neck and sniffed with his tiny nose, looking adorable and clever.
“Nervous, flustered, incredulous, and even a tiny, almost undetectable spark of curiosity and desire to try it—see, Mother, you’re just pretending to be tough.”
After analyzing Su Bai’s emotions, Su Xiao grinned, revealing two deep dimples, full of joy.
“You two…” Su Bai looked at the two “fiends”—one big, one small—though she knew they were the same person, her own disciple’s audacity still left her rattled.
The two “fiends,” one on either side, trapped the empress in her verdant imperial robes between them. Su Bai’s cheeks turned crimson, embarrassment and anger warring inside her. She wanted to protest but couldn’t find the words, so in the end, she just moved her lips and muttered softly, “Can’t we go back inside?”
“No! Right here.” By the ink bamboo fish pond, the two “fiends” spoke in unison.
It was just as the poem said:
Moonlight pours over the sleeping palace, ink bamboo reflected in the pond.
The empress’s pretty face flushes, the three shadows enchant endlessly.
Master and disciples, the three of them, turn taboo into passion.
Under the moon, how many people? Love and wind blend as one.
“Soul returns to the Human Emperor Banner, flesh to the Earth Emperor Cauldron, Heaven Emperor offered to the Nine Nether.” In the hazy moonlight, in the courtyard, the blood clone was analyzing information she’d overheard from the idle chatter of the [Divine Emperor’s Soldiers].
At this moment, she’d already fled to the East Sea with the children, quietly recuperating.
“Human Emperor Banner, Earth Emperor Cauldron, Heaven Emperor Divine Mirror… and the next era won’t belong to cultivators. What on earth is that fiend up to?”
With her brows furrowed, as a blood clone in the direct line of succession, she was fine with political struggle or educating disciples, inheriting from her mother and father. But when it came to analyzing intelligence and deducing clues, she was completely at a loss.
“That damned fiend burned all the records—no evidence left. It’s impossible to uncover what happened in those missing two hundred years with just a single Golden Core inheritance.”
The blood clone paced restlessly in the courtyard, her shadow lengthening and shortening under the moonlight. “No intelligence, no resources, and every day I’m chased by those [Divine Emperor’s Soldiers].”
“Sigh, I kind of envy my main body. She only needs to be stuffed full like a glistening lard bun every day, while I have so much to worry about.”
“I wonder what my main body is doing now? Has she been pinned down by that fiend again?”
“Not that it really matters—after all, this is just a simulated body. If I die, when the next simulation starts, I’ll still be the spirited Sect Master of Qingyang!”
“I just hope that fiend doesn’t PUA me mentally too. If my body changes into a daughter, I can still find a way to turn back. But if my mind changes too…”
The blood clone shivered violently, refusing to let her thoughts go further. She looked toward a patch of flowers in the courtyard lit by moonlight, but her mind began to drift uncontrollably.
If she really turned female in spirit and admitted in her heart that she was a girl—would she still be herself? Would Su Bai still be Su Bai?
How would she live in the real world then?
Meanwhile, on the other side, that “dutiful disciple” who had rebelled against his Master looked down at the empress in his arms, who’d passed out in exhaustion with a blissful look on her face, and his thoughts wandered as well.
Excavate your desires, ignite your desires, be burned to death by them, or be reborn from their flames—no matter what, you must face your desires head-on.
Master. Mother.
When will you finally face the raging fire of desire burning within your heart?
Everything I do is for your own good—just as you once did for me.