The courtyard was filled with falling flowers.
It was late spring, and summer was just two days away.
Luo Yueguan was wearing a light purple dress, which was thin and airy. Her soft, snow-white shoulders were completely exposed, and even her chest revealed a hint of snow-white. The long legs beneath the hem of her skirt were slender and lustrous, glowing with a warm jade-like luster under the warm light of the Firefly Stones.
She held chopsticks in her hand, gently tasting a piece of Jiang Huai’s hand-shredded chicken.
Her master, Chu Xianning, had a light palate and always preferred the original flavor of the ingredients. Jiang Huai would find all sorts of rare ingredients for her and process them perfectly using the simplest cooking methods. Having frequented Guanxue Mountain to dine for so many years, Jiang Huai clearly remembered that Luo Yueguan favored spicy and stimulating flavors.
Jiang Huai himself was not a picky eater. Since he was a guest, he specially prepared a dish of Boiled Beef and spicy hand-shredded chicken for Luo Yueguan. It was clear that it suited Luo Yueguan’s taste. The usually reserved and elegant Sect Master Luo moved her chopsticks quickly, yet her eating posture remained as graceful as ever.
“Who taught you your cooking skills?”
“I became skilled through years of self-study,” Jiang Huai replied truthfully.
Cooking was merely a matter of experience. Besides the many magical seasonings he had exchanged from the System Mall, Jiang Huai had also exchanged for advanced Cooking Skills mastery, which cost him quite a few points. All this was a necessary preparation to please his master.
After feeding Luo Yueguan and Luo Qingyu, Luo Qingyu obediently cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks and went to the kitchen. Luo Yueguan, meanwhile, leaned lazily on the lounge chair, her slender jade hand gently rubbing her lower abdomen.
The dress on her lower abdomen was also slightly thin. In the light of the Firefly Stones, one could vaguely glimpse her slender waistline.
Jiang Huai recalled that in any formal occasion, Luo Yueguan’s demeanor was completely different from her current state. In formal settings, Luo Yueguan was authoritative and cold, showing none of the current lazy demeanor of a woman.
“Your master is very lucky,” Luo Yueguan suddenly blurted out, her voice tinged with a bit of sourness.
“I am the lucky one,” Jiang Huai replied unhurriedly. “If it weren’t for Master taking me back to Tian Xuan Sect, I might still be a displaced child from a mountain village. That year, the world was in turmoil, and I might not have even survived.”
Luo Yueguan could not refute Jiang Huai, so she could only sigh softly.
“How did you know I could dance?” Luo Yueguan changed the subject and asked.
“From some books recording the history of the Eastern Region, I once heard that the Ice Soul Fairy Luo Yueguan’s dance was graceful and elegant, unsurpassed in the Eastern Region,” Jiang Huai replied truthfully.
“I don’t like dancing,” Luo Yueguan said coldly.
Jiang Huai was startled and looked towards her cheeks. Luo Yueguan’s voice was cold, “In the Eastern Region, there was once a Sword Immortal of Yunshui who had already perished. She was obsessed with dance and music her entire life. She once held a competition to see whose dance skills could stir her heart. The one who succeeded would be rewarded with a Nirvana Pill.”
“My talent in acupoints was naturally inferior to theirs. The Nirvana Pill could impact acupoints, so I cultivated day and night. On the day of the competition, do you know? Chu Xianning, who had always disliked indulging in art, also participated.”
“And then?”
“The Sword Immortal of Yunshui gave that Nirvana Pill to her and praised her as being as cold and pure as a celestial Snow Lotus.” Luo Yueguan’s voice gradually became colder.
Jiang Huai was speechless for a moment.
“I met your master then. I accidentally saved her life in a secret realm, so she owed me a favor. Later, she gave me that Nirvana Pill.”
“But if she hadn’t participated in that competition held by the Sword Immortal of Yunshui, that Nirvana Pill… should have been mine.”
Jiang Huai suddenly felt a chill around him. He inadvertently looked back and realized that a hint of frost had reappeared on Luo Yueguan’s eyebrows. He gently reminded her, “Sect Master Luo?”
Luo Yueguan stared blankly for a moment, closed her eyes, and the coldness gradually melted away.
“I think Master truly treats you like a close confidante,” Jiang Huai said softly after a moment of hesitation.
After all, over the years, Jiang Huai had only seen his master Chu Xianning have one friend, Luo Qingyu. Chu Xianning was always cold-tempered and never smiled. Being her friend was by no means an easy task.
“There are some things you don’t need to say,” Luo Yueguan said, looking at him indifferently.
Luo Qingyu quickly returned from the kitchen after washing the bowls and chopsticks. She obediently walked up to Luo Yueguan. Luo Yueguan reached out and gently stroked her head. Luo Qingyu said softly, “Mother, let’s learn to dance.”
“Alright, Mother will teach you.”
Luo Yueguan’s previous coldness and distress vanished in an instant, replaced by tenderness in her eyes.
***
Jiang Huai sat at the zither, gazing at Luo Yueguan as she emerged from the room, momentarily mesmerized.
If the Luo Yueguan in the purple dress earlier exuded a hint of indolent charm, then the Luo Yueguan now, clad in this ink-black dance skirt, seemed to have instantly transformed into a complete enchantress.
She already had captivating, foxy eyes. This dance skirt was a two-piece design. The upper part, a bandeau, hugged her chest while revealing some snow-white, soft skin. The lower part, a hip-hugging skirt, barely concealed her snow-white buttocks, and her snow-white waist was slender and lustrous, so delicate it seemed impossible to grasp. Jiang Huai found himself somewhat dazzled, unsure whether to avert his gaze.
While Chu Xianning’s aura was one of absolute coldness, Luo Yueguan before him possessed innate seductive charm.
Even though Jiang Huai tried his best to conceal it, Luo Yueguan noticed the astonishment in his eyes. For some reason, she felt a strange sense of joy in her heart. She had always thought the boy looked at her with such detached indifference.
As expected, all men in the world were ultimately the same.
Jiang Huai reached out and gently plucked the zither strings.
He knew a little about playing the zither, a skill acquired from a mission reward for showing filial piety to Chu Xianning. He played a somewhat melancholic tune. The notes flowed from the strings like water. Luo Yueguan stared blankly for a moment, her snow-white toes lightly rising, her flowing skirt swaying gracefully.
Luo Yueguan’s body was excessively flexible.
Earlier, Jiang Huai had peeked through a crack in the wall to watch Chu Xianning dance in the courtyard. Chu Xianning’s dance was cold and distant, evoking no desire, only a sense of peace and tranquility, like drinking a cup of jasmine tea. Luo Yueguan’s dance, however, was alluring and graceful, stirring the heartstrings like sweet spring tea.
Jiang Huai watched with growing absorption until the song ended. He slowly came back to his senses, still feeling a sense of reluctance, wanting to watch more. He suddenly felt like taking out a pot of wine to have a drink, as if he had instantly understood the pleasure of King Zhou.
“You played two notes wrong,” Luo Yueguan said, standing before him, her foxy eyes seeming to hold a hint of mockery.
“I haven’t played for a long time, so I’m rusty,” Jiang Huai replied awkwardly. Luo Yueguan went to Luo Qingyu’s side and said softly, “Did you see how Mother danced just now?”
Luo Qingyu nodded obediently.
“Come, Mother will teach you this song slowly.”
So, Jiang Huai timely began to play the zither again, watching the two women sway with their skirts in the courtyard. The moonlight flowed like silver. Although he hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, he felt dizzy, as if he were drunk.
Indeed, lust is a sharp knife that cuts the bone.
An hour later, Luo Qingyu’s cheeks were glistening with a little sweat, and Luo Yueguan also seemed a bit tired. She gently rubbed Luo Qingyu’s head and picked her up, “Alright, let’s go bathe. We’ll learn again tomorrow.”
“Mm-hmm,” Luo Qingyu nodded obediently. Jiang Huai put away the ancient zither and watched as the two women walked towards the bathhouse. He then stood up, walked back to Luo Yueguan’s room, closed the door, and lay on the bed, gazing at the serene night sky outside the window.
He tossed and turned for a long time, unable to sleep. His mind was filled with Luo Yueguan’s fair, white legs, her slender waist, and Luo Qingyu’s flowing skirt and watery eyes. It was simply too much.
He hugged Luo Yueguan’s quilt tighter, but then caught a faint fragrance, identical to the scent on Luo Yueguan’s body. Strange thoughts began to fill his mind again. What would Luo Yueguan do when she lay on this bed? In her late-night loneliness, would she open that small metal box and take out that Spirit Jade to soothe her lonely, cold heart?
“Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!”
Jiang Huai reached out and hit his head, trying desperately to stop thinking about these things. He tossed and turned on the bed again, but suddenly heard the sound of a door opening. Jiang Huai froze. Luo Yueguan stood calmly at the doorway, her body clad in a bathrobe that enveloped her slender form.
Jiang Huai’s heart skipped a beat.
Wait, what was she doing here?
Luo Yueguan didn’t say anything, but walked into the room and opened the closet, taking out a nightgown. She didn’t even look back at Jiang Huai, but simply said, “I’m getting a nightgown. You’re not asleep yet?”
“I usually sleep quite late,” Jiang Huai replied guiltily.
“Get some good rest,” Luo Yueguan said, as she placed the dance skirt she had just taken off onto the table from her Storage Ring. Then she picked up the nightgown and left, even gently closing the door for Jiang Huai.
Jiang Huai sat up a little, his gaze falling on the clothes Luo Yueguan had just placed on the table.
Not only the dance skirt, but also Luo Yueguan’s just-removed underwear, made of black lace. It was soft and exquisitely designed, likely a high-end item from Ziyun Pavilion. Just as a strange thought arose in Jiang Huai’s mind, he reached out and punched himself hard in the face, making him wince in pain.
***
Outside the room.
Standing by the door, looking into the room through the crack, Luo Yueguan suddenly let out a chuckle. She immediately covered her mouth with her hand, preventing the sound from reaching Jiang Huai.
“In the end, he’s just a little boy with a lustful heart but no courage.”
Seeing the child that Chu Xianning had raised from a young age behave in such a manner before her, Luo Yueguan felt an indescribable joy in her heart, causing the corners of her delicate pink lips to unknowingly curl upwards.
She had said she would agree to any condition he asked for, but he had refused it himself.
He was not allowed to go back on his word.
