Chapter 303: Chapter 303

Right now it was just Qi Bi and Li Xun left facing each other. Li Xun couldn’t think of anything to say, so he didn’t bother trying. He just started cleaning up the mess. While he was busy, a low murmur came from right beside his ear.

“Junior Brother Xun, I really appreciate you.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, thank you for bringing Ying Ning up the mountain.”

Qi Bi smiled, her eyes and brows full of quiet contentment. “Honestly, I just wanted a well-behaved daughter like Yingning. I wanted to cultivate alongside her. Whether she ever attains the Dao or ascends someday does not really matter. As long as our family can live a quiet life on the mountain, that is enough.”

For some reason, Li Xun found it hard to handle Qi Bi looking like that. Maybe she had not noticed it herself, but when she said the word “family,” her eyes were warm and gentle. They did not drift off toward some absent person far away. They landed right on him.

Li Xun wasn’t about to get ahead of himself or stir up unnecessary trouble. He cleared his throat and gave a small laugh. “This time Senior Sister, you’ve got the wrong person to thank. If it weren’t for Senior Brother Wen and Junior Brother Ling Ji risking their lives to protect her, this kid probably wouldn’t have made it to today.”

When she heard the words “Senior Brother Wen,” Qi Bi’s brows tightened for a moment. Then she gave a tiny shake of her head. The smile stayed on her face, but it looked a little forced now.

“Your Senior Brother Wen Hai has his heart on sect affairs, and he refuses to neglect his own cultivation. He lives a very hard life, so he does not have the energy for things like this. Maybe he can save thousands of girls, but he would never spare a thought for one Ying Ning… Give it a little time and ask him who she is, and he probably will not even remember her name.”

Maybe it was supposed to be a joke, but seeing Qi Bi’s unconscious cold smile, Li Xun could not bring himself to laugh. Worse still, Qi Bi quickly turned the spearpoint at him. “Speaking of which, you as her master better not copy your Senior Brother Wen Hai and treat her like that. If you dare shortchange her, I swear I won’t let you off easy!”

Li Xun forced a chuckle. “Of course.”

Heaven help him, because right when he felt like he was about to run out of defenses, a sword’s cry echoed overhead. Ling Ji was flying back on his sword. The noise was so loud that even from a distance Qi Bi shot him a glare.

Ling Ji quickly sheathed his sword and hopped down from midair. He cleared his throat. “Found a cave. Not bad conditions. Shan Zhi is over there watching it. We should move Ying Ning over.”

Li Xun caught it right away. The kid’s mood was ten times worse than before. He had probably lost control and used that brief moment alone to spell everything out to Shan Zhi.

And of course the outcome was terrible.

On the surface he kept the smile plastered on his face, but inside Li Xun was crystal clear. The tumor he’d been suppressing for decades had finally been lanced open.

The cave they found was actually pretty good. Li Xun figured it had to be some abandoned cultivator’s old cave residence. Inside it was fresh and clean. No bird shit, no animal droppings, and the air flowed through nicely. Must’ve had some clever design built into it back in the day.

But none of that mattered now.

Li Xun casually threw up a barrier to lock in the cave’s temperature, then took the sleeping Ying Ning from Qi Bi’s arms. He gently laid her down on the soft bed of grass they’d already spread out on the ground.

Once he finished all that, he and Qi Bi exchanged a smile. Before either of them could say anything, footsteps sounded at the entrance. Shan Zhi, who’d been waiting outside the whole time, stepped in and spoke quietly.

“Senior Sister Qi, could you step outside for a moment?”

In the dim light, Shan Zhi’s face was hard to make out, but his voice sounded calm. Even so, Li Xun had never heard him speak in quite this kind of calm before.

Qi Bi did not notice anything strange. She smiled and asked, “What is it? Something wrong?”

Shan Zhi just gave a “mm.” Qi Bi had no reason to refuse. She smiled again, gave Li Xun a look that clearly said “keep an eye on Ying Ning,” then stood up and left the cave with Shan Zhi.

The two of them paused just outside the entrance for a moment, then mounted their swords and flew off, covering a long stretch until they were completely out of range of Li Xun’s divine sense.

Li Xun frowned, thinking it over, then stood and walked outside. Just in time to see Ling Ji mount his sword and take off, chasing after the other two.

After a brief moment of consideration, Li Xun decided not to get involved. He’d already sensed that Yin Wanderer had manifested inside the cave and was busy doing something.

So he went back in. As he walked, his eye caught something off to the side. The flying fox that had recently become Ying Ning’s pet was lying there, covering its head with its short little front paws like a frightened child, shaking all over and completely limp.

Yin Wanderer who’d appeared in the cave had hidden her aura so deeply it was almost undetectable. But up close like this, that unique grandmaster-level pressure she gave off still hit like ten thousand mountains crashing down. Especially for a the little Flying Fox whose a very sensitive creature. For such a timid little thing to not just drop dead from fright on the spot was already impressive.

And yet this same Yin Wanderer, who carried such terrifying aura, was right now kneeling gracefully on the ground. His fingers was sliding from within her sleeves as she gently stroked the sleeping girl’s pretty face. The very next moment, under Li Xun’s stunned stare, the girl’s cheeks flushed red.

Li Xun was certain that Ying Ning was still deep in sleep. He had no idea what technique Yin Wanderer was using to make the girl’s body react so intensely. What was she trying to do?

Yin Wanderer glanced back with a slight smile and gave Li Xun a nod, her hand never stopping as it glided down from the girl’s cheek to her neck, then her shoulder, and finally slipped beneath her clothing. Every movement was smooth like silk, yet the effect was nothing short of shocking.

Every bit of the Ying Ning exposed skin had flushed a deep crimson, glossy and moist, almost like it was glowing from within. Her breathing had turned quick and uneven, those delicate brows knitting together slightly… as though something troubled her in her dreams. Still, she didn’t wake up.

Li Xun, of course, had no idea what the girl was dreaming about. All he could see was her body starting to squirm, twisting as she struggled on the edge between waking and sleep. In the end, though, she sank deeper into the dream.

Her face grew even rosier, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out across her forehead. A moment later, a soft moan, thin and reedy like a flute, slipped from the corner of her lips and lingered in the dimness.

Feeling awkward, Li Xun watched as Yin Wanderer withdrew his hand from inside the girl’s bodice… only to let it slide downward again. Before Li Xun could even react to stop her, the hand slipped into another more private place.

Li Xun’s eyes flew wide open. He saw Yin Wanderer’s finger dip in and pull back at once. When it emerged again, the tip was clearly slick and glistening.

In that instant, Li Xun’s body betrayed him with a sudden reaction.

Yin Wanderer glanced back once more. Seeing the weird look on Li Xun’s face, she raised an eyebrow and smiled. Casually, she brushed that finger, still damp with lingering moisture, across her lips. A hazy, shimmering veil seemed to cloud her eyes. Li Xun sucked in a sharp breath, but even so, he could not quell the fire surging violently in his chest.

Damn, she really is a…

Li Xun finally lost his patience. He strode forward, seized the arm she still hadn’t pulled back and hauled her down to the floor and came down on top of her. Yin Wanderer only laughed in response. Their bodies tangled together. Nearby, Ying Ning was still curled up, lost in her dream, unaware of anything around her.

Li Xun grabbed hard at soft body beneath him, digging in with both hands. He was fighting back the urge already boiling in him. “What the hell are you doing?!” His voice came out rough.

Yin Wanderer didn’t answer. Instead, she lifted her finger and brushed them lightly across his face. The lingering fragrance still clinging to the tip sank into his nostrils.

The moment he remembered where that scent came from, Li Xun let out a muffled grunt. He could feel himself getting even harder down there. Right then, Yin Wanderer whispered, “You still don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what? That the girl is sensitive?”

Li Xun’s hand idly played over her breasts, his voice turning careless. “With you making a move, forget this girl. Even a full-fledged cultivator at the True Person level wouldn’t stand a chance here.”

“Aw, thanks for the compliment! But just so you know, my ‘Soul-Shaking Dream Weave’ technique isn’t some cheap aphrodisiac trick. Aren’t you going to ask what kind of dream the girl’s actually having right now?”

Li Xun’s hand froze. He looked up at Yin Wanderer’s smiling face, narrowed his eyes, and asked, “What kind of dream?”

“The very same thing you once did to Wanru, back then. That’s the dream she’s having now. Interesting, isn’t it?”

Back then…

With that single sentence sent Li Xun plunging into memories he could barely contain. He drifted for a long moment before snapping back to himself. “What are you getting at?”

“Nothing special. I’m just comparing Wanru to her. And if you want the picture to be clearer, you wouldn’t mind if I brought up a couple more examples, would you?”

Now Li Xun was genuinely intrigued. He rolled onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow and putting a little distance between them. He smiled. “Go on.”

Yin Wanderer smiled and tidied his disheveled hair before continuing. “Since you’re planning to take her as your disciple, and this is happening right here on Lianxia Mountain, that obviously means she’ll have to cultivate the various methods of the Mingxin Sword Sect. Right now she hasn’t officially entered the gate yet, but still… she’s already cultivated ten years in a proper orthodox qi-refining technique. Forget about raw power for a second; at the very least she should have some basic calm and stillness in her. But look at her right now. Does she look even remotely calm or still to you?”

There was no need to look. The girl was still squirming restlessly, and the low hums and moans in her throat kept coming and going. In the empty cave, they rang out with uncomfortable clarity. Even Li Xun felt a pang of secondhand “misery” just hearing her.

Yin Wanderer took one look at his face and knew exactly what was running through his head. With a soft chuckle, her warm body moved in on its own, pressing close and rubbing against him. Just as the heat flared in his lower belly again, she leaned to his ear and murmured intimately, “Just think about it… if your Martial Aunt Ming Ji ran into a situation like this, what do you think she would do?”

Li Xun’s body went rigid. What Yin Wanderer was talking about was something he’d personally lived through. And the memory was burned in so deep it still stung. Almost without thinking, images surged through his mind, one after another. So vivid they felt real, impossible to tell what was memory and what was not.

For a second, Li Xun nearly lost himself in those dazzling visions. His body responded honestly. But just before he was completely swept away, the clear ring of a sword sounded out of nowhere, crashing through his thoughts.

Ming Ji’s cool, piercing gaze flashed before his eyes, like a bucket of cold water thrown over his head. He snapped awake.

His gaze flicked across Yin Wanderer’s face. Cold as ice, not a shred of lust left in it. “What do you mean?”