In the bamboo forest, snowflakes fell into the hot spring pool, turning into misty vapor.
Jiang Huai’s eyes were hazy with alcohol.
This was not how he had envisioned their meeting. He had thought of visiting the Guanxue Sect as a guest. Instead, on this hazy, quiet snowy night, he found himself soaking in the hot spring pool in the bamboo forest with Xu Qing. Both of them were quite drunk. Xu Qing’s nightgown was thin and transparent, and his hand was holding her tender, white little feet below her ankles. She bit her lips, her eyes hazy, yet she neither dodged nor flinched.
The hot spring pool was originally surrounded by lush green bamboo, but there was a peach tree by the edge of the pool. Peach blossoms drifted down, their pink petals making Xu Qing’s cheeks appear even rosier. Now, her small feet were being held and gently played with in his hand. Her body’s instinct urged her to pull her leg away, but she bit her lips tightly, suppressing the urge. The cost was that her legs pressed together ever tighter, her slender, snow-white calves tensing up.
Yet, her delicate jade feet remained as soft and tender as ever, seemingly boneless. Currently, the arch of her foot was slightly curled, her slightly inward-turned toes being separated by Jiang Huai one by one, only to quickly close again, much like the leaves of a sensitive plant. The heat from the hot spring caused the girl’s skin to flush with increasing pinkness, and the air was filled with the scent of flowers.
Specks of light snow landed on his shoulders, bringing a hint of coolness that seemed to slightly restore Jiang Huai’s rationality for a moment, only for it to be completely consumed by desire again.
He always seemed to be like this.
The love he fantasized about was incredibly noble, but most of the time, he succumbed to the desires in his heart. Perhaps it was because love itself was so ethereal. To this day, he had never understood what truly constituted a reason to fall in love with someone.
“That’s enough,” Xu Qing’s small voice reached Jiang Huai’s ears.
Jiang Huai stopped playing with the girl’s white and tender little feet and looked at her slightly narrowed eyes. Her voice was a little hurried, and her snow-white, smooth shoulders trembled slightly. Jiang Huai looked into her eyes and released her foot.
Xu Qing’s toes lightly tapped his chest, as if in playful complaint or coquetry. She lightly kicked him a few times on the chest. Her soft, porcelain-smooth, tender little feet returned to the water. She lowered her head slightly and said in a small voice, “That’s too much.”
“Too much?”
“It’s just… just letting you touch for a little while, how can you keep bullying me…” Xu Qing sank into the hot spring pool, leaving only her head above the water. Her eyes stared at Jiang Huai with a wistful gaze. Jiang Huai was momentarily speechless and scratched his head. “Is this considered bullying?”
“How is it not?” Xu Qing’s lips pursed slightly. “You, your kneading technique is too strange.”
“Strange how?”
“You don’t know?” A hint of grievance appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes. Her body felt a little sticky at this moment, and this stickiness made her particularly uneasy. Jiang Huai remained puzzled. “Does it feel uncomfortable somewhere?”
Xu Qing was suddenly filled with an inexpressible shyness and annoyance. She felt that this guy was feigning ignorance. Where was the discomfort? It was precisely *because* it felt so comfortable that continuing to knead was bullying. Did he really need to see her body go soft, collapse into the bath, and her body become like a flowing spring before he would be satisfied?
“I’m not talking to you anymore.” Xu Qing turned her face away, her eyes drifting back to the peach tree beside them.
Jiang Huai had no choice but to remain silent. Snowflakes continued to fall, and a faint rustling of wind could be heard in the bamboo forest. The wind blew through the bamboo leaves, scattering the accumulated snow. Xu Qing’s inner unease quietly resurfaced. Did she seem too unreasonable right now? It seemed like she had lured Jiang Huai to soak in the hot springs with her, and she had been the one to playfully step on him twice in the water. How come it felt like she was the one throwing a tantrum now?
Lately, her mother had often spoken to her about the principles of love, but she had disliked most of those principles. Pei Ning had told her that the moment you lose control in a relationship, your joys and sorrows will be dictated by the other person from then on. She vaguely felt that her mother was right, but those principles seemed to be thrown to the back of her mind the moment she stood before him.
It was as if every time she was by his side, she turned into a soft, doughy cat. But deep in the night, she couldn’t help but think repeatedly, if only she had been a little more proactive then, a little more determined, a little cuter, would the outcome have been different?
Xu Qing’s mind became a jumbled mess.
Actually, it wasn’t that she didn’t want him to continue touching her, but rather she was uneasy. She was uneasy thinking about how embarrassing it would be if she lost her composure in front of him later.
“Am I…”
“Miss Xu Qing…”
“You say it first.”
“You say it first.”
They spoke almost in unison. Then Xu Qing looked into his eyes and mumbled, “You say it first…”
“I didn’t handle it properly. I’m sorry,” Jiang Huai’s voice was very soft.
His serious apology made Xu Qing’s head spin even more. The girl’s head swayed slightly, and she mumbled, “No, I’m not blaming you.”
“But you seemed unhappy.”
“No… it’s not that… ah…” Xu Qing cupped her face. Although she was usually articulate, she now became incoherent. Jiang Huai looked at her like this and couldn’t help but chuckle. He blinked at her gently. “Say it slowly. I’m listening carefully.”
“There are some things, I, I don’t know how to say them.”
“Then think about it first. I’m not going anywhere,” Jiang Huai reached out and caught a falling snowflake, watching it melt in his palm. Xu Qing turned her face away, thought for a long time in her heart, and then mumbled, “I wasn’t angry just now…”
“Mmm.”
“It’s just, it’s just that I’ve been thinking about one thing.”
“Hmm? Tell me.”
“I, I invited you to soak in the hot springs with me, won’t you think I’m…” Xu Qing trailed off, unable to articulate it. She tried to meet Jiang Huai’s eyes, and for some reason, she felt that Jiang Huai could guess what she was thinking.
“This is my honor,” Jiang Huai replied with a mixture of amusement and helplessness.
“Oh.”
The slight knot of frustration in Xu Qing’s heart disappeared. She sat back on the steps, her white and tender feet in the water slightly lifting, and gently stepped onto Jiang Huai’s leg. The gesture wasn’t seductive, but playful, like a bored little girl playing a prank.
“You… you can’t touch me anymore.”
“Then what was happening just now?”
“It felt too good, my body felt very strange,” Xu Qing replied softly. Jiang Huai didn’t say anything further and leaned back obediently in the hot spring pool, looking at the misty vapor. Xu Qing’s white and tender feet playfully brushed against him, sometimes on his chest, sometimes on his thighs, sometimes on his lower abdomen. When she accidentally brushed against a place she shouldn’t have, even through the bathrobe, she recoiled as if electrocuted, like a cat whose paw had been burned.
Jiang Huai blinked innocently, watching Xu Qing cup her face. After a long while, he heard her softly ask, “Are you uncomfortable?”
Jiang Huai shook his head.
Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief. But looking at Jiang Huai’s innocent eyes, she suddenly felt that perhaps Jiang Huai might be lying. However, her question was just a question, and she hadn’t provided a solution.
“Alright, I’ve soaked enough,” Jiang Huai in the water stretched, then stood up from the hot spring pool. ” I’ll go change my clothes in the bamboo forest over there. I’ll be back soon.”
Xu Qing nodded gently and watched Jiang Huai’s figure disappear into the depths of the bamboo forest. She slowly got out of the bath, shook off the water stains, and then returned to her room to change into a new nightgown.
………………………………
Jiang Huai changed into a brand-new set of clothes and rubbed his face.
Did he succeed in conquering the desires in his heart this time? When they were in the hot spring earlier, Xu Qing’s clothes clung to her body, her porcelain white body seemingly transparent. Perhaps Xu Qing herself hadn’t realized how seductive and excessive her attire was. He didn’t know how to remind her, but his mind had been hazily clouded. The demon within him, Xiao Huai, was devising all sorts of schemes, thinking about how to trick the already drunk Xu Qing into doing bad things with him. However, he had been locked in an internal battle with the demon Xiao Huai for a long time and hadn’t said anything.
Win! Jiang Huai! Win!
The bamboo forest was silent. He looked at the bamboo dusted with snow, gently shaking the branches. Large clumps of snow fell down. He patted them onto his face, and the ice-cold snow helped to clear his head quite a bit.
Jiang Huai had always known very clearly that he was by no means a gentleman.
A long, long time ago, all he wanted was to be with Chu Xianning for a lifetime, to be Dao Companions forever. But gradually, more and more people appeared around him. It was as if everything happened unconsciously and silently, or perhaps it was all natural and happened organically. In the final analysis, it was the small greed in his heart at play. He had initially feigned restraint over his desires, but with Wanwan’s appearance, he seemed to have become increasingly greedy.
Jiang Huai scooped up another handful of snow and patted his face. He also checked the system’s missions. As expected, the system notifications that had sounded in his ear earlier were bizarre.
[The Saintess Xu Qing of the Guanxue Sect already secretly harbored feelings for you. Even after you rejected her, her love did not diminish. Women are contradictory and complex beings. She invited you to the bathhouse. She feared you would go too far, but subconsciously, she feared you would do nothing even more. Her prior withdrawal was merely her worry that you would see her as a slut. Therefore, she dared not let you continue to knead her. You have a hundred ways to make her let go of this thought and obediently lie in your arms for you to knead and kiss.]
[Capture Xu Qing into your arms and have her obediently kissed and caressed until she is weak and her body is dripping with fluid.]
[Mission Reward: High-level Experience Scroll * 2.]
Jiang Huai sighed softly and put away the mission panel. He walked into the courtyard and waited for a while. Xu Qing, now wearing a nightgown, emerged from her room. Her nightgown was not particularly modest, with a slightly high cut at the hem. Jiang Huai distinctly remembered seeing this style of nightgown at Ziyun Pavilion. However, the split on the right side of the hem was nothing like hers. As she moved, almost her entire snow-white leg was exposed, her smooth, porcelain-white thigh skin still showing a hint of delicate pink.
Jiang Huai feigned a yawn and asked softly, “Where is my room, Miss Xu Qing?”
“It’s right next to my room.”
“Mmm, then I’ll go to sleep. Miss Xu Qing, I didn’t sleep much during the day, so I’m a bit sleepy.”
Xu Qing seemed to have something else she wanted to say, but Jiang Huai spoke first. Xu Qing could only nod gently and watched him walk back to his room. As he opened the door, Jiang Huai thought of something, looked back at Xu Qing, and said softly, “Miss Xu Qing, you should go to sleep early too. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Jiang Huai gently closed the door. Xu Qing stood in the courtyard, watching the snowflakes fall one by one. Snow landed on her eyelashes. She bit her lip, an indescribable sense of loss churning in her heart, like gnawing insects, swarming up.
She had clearly invited him to soak in the hot springs together, she had deliberately worn a thin bathrobe, and her current nightgown was also deliberately cut. Yet, in front of him, she couldn’t help but pretend to be reserved. She wrestled with herself repeatedly, and her chest felt increasingly tight, unable to breathe.
Perhaps it was because she had drunk too much alcohol, or perhaps it wasn’t enough.
Under the quiet night sky, Xu Qing stood in the snow-covered courtyard for a while, until she suddenly raised her head, as if she had made a decision. She took out the wine from her storage ring and drank the entire pot in gulps. Then, with her snow-white, slender legs, she reached out and gently knocked on the door.
“Jiang Huai, are you asleep?”
Jiang Huai, behind the door, dared only pretend to be dead, not responding at all.
But this time, perhaps emboldened by the near-overflowing sense of loss, Xu Qing reached out again and knocked on the door. However, she still didn’t dare to knock too hard. She knocked three times, the door opened, and Jiang Huai, guarding the door, looked at her warily. “What is it?”
“Is it very cold inside the room?” Xu Qing’s voice was full of drunkenness, even slurring her words.
“A bit, but I brought an extra quilt. It’s very warm wrapped in it,” Jiang Huai looked at her flushed face and drunken eyes. Just as he was about to ask if she had secretly drunk more wine by herself, Xu Qing tilted her head up. Her bright eyes no longer dodged as they used to.
“My body is very warm.”
Jiang Huai thought to himself, this is bad.
But Xu Qing took another step forward, her soft, fragrant body almost crashing into his embrace. She extended her slender arms and hugged Jiang Huai tightly, resting her cheek on his shoulder. After a while, she found the strength to stand on tiptoes, her delicate pink lips approaching his ear, her voice, carrying her breath, falling into his ear.
“Do you want to… sleep with me?”
