Ji Qingxuan’s struggle was a coy resistance.
Indeed, it was a coy resistance, or else Jiang Huai wouldn’t have so easily, seemingly forcefully, succeeded, and not just once. Ji Qingxuan was now lying on the bed, her delicate pink lips slightly parted as she panted in small breaths.
Jiang Huai ultimately didn’t take the painting back. Ji Qingxuan was too weak to feign indifference any longer. Jiang Huai simply held her in his arms, gently rubbing her belly. After a while, Ji Qingxuan suddenly grabbed his arm and bit him fiercely.
“Despicable and shameless!”
“Huh?” Jiang Huai lowered his head. “You found that out today?”
“Are you still not leaving?” Ji Qingxuan gazed indifferently toward the door.
“I’ll leave after I lull you to sleep,” Jiang Huai replied softly.
“I don’t want to sleep. Paint me another one.”
“What do you want painted this time?”
“Paint me the way I am now.”
Ji Qingxuan sat up slightly. Jiang Huai obediently got up, took out the easel, and looked at Ji Qingxuan, who was completely naked, her skin flushed pink, and still covered in a few beads of sweat. He picked up his brush and earnestly began to paint.
After finishing, he couldn’t resist leaning closer and, amidst Ji Qingxuan’s feigned resistance, he bullied her once more.
He hadn’t used his Dragon Emperor Bloodline at all, so Ji Qingxuan could have struggled as much as she wanted. However, her struggles were all for show, which Jiang Huai didn’t expose. Ji Qingxuan collected the painting along with hers, then extended her hands towards him.
This meant she wanted hugs and hand-holding.
Jiang Huai picked her up and took her to the bathhouse. He cleaned her body thoroughly before carrying her back to the bed, tucking her in, and saying softly, “Rest well?”
“Massage.”
“Alright, alright.”
Jiang Huai had no choice but to meticulously massage her body again. Ji Qingxuan gradually grew sleepy. When Jiang Huai stopped, she closed her eyes and said, “You can go now.”
Her eyelashes trembled slightly. She suddenly felt a warm touch on her cheek. “Then you rest well. Goodbye.”
Ji Qingxuan didn’t open her eyes. Listening to the receding footsteps, she suddenly asked softly, “Next time we meet, will you call me Grand Princess, or Ji Qingxuan?”
“Didn’t I already ask you this question? It depends on what you expect me to call you.”
“I don’t want to make the decision,” Ji Qingxuan replied indifferently. “You’re the one who needs to make the decision. If you call me Grand Princess, I’m the Grand Princess of the Central Province. If you call me Ji Qingxuan, I’m Ji Qingxuan.”
“Does this mean you’re backing down and admitting defeat?”
“Not at all,” Ji Qingxuan turned her face away. “You’re just a tool, don’t flatter yourself.”
“Understood, Grand Princess.” Jiang Huai shrugged innocently and his footsteps faded away.
“Your paintings are really beautiful, especially the last two,” Ji Qingxuan’s cold voice rang out again.
This was outright blackmail.
Jiang Huai’s footsteps didn’t stop. Their conversation then turned into transmitting messages. Jiang Huai rode his sword leisurely, and they bickered back and forth for a while until Ji Qingxuan stopped talking to him and went to sleep under her quilt. Only then did Jiang Huai speed up his sword ride and leave the Imperial City of the Central Province.
***
On the way to Qingxuan Sect.
Jiang Huai separated a wisp of his soul to control the sword, then took out the Sky Crystal Snow Soul Flower. He tore off its petals, piece by piece, and put them into his mouth, chewing slowly and carefully refining them. After he had eaten all the petals, his spiritual meridians began to change. When he raised his hand, a cold vortex of ice condensed in his palm. When he activated his spiritual energy, his eyes turned a deep blue, similar to Luo Yueguan and Luo Qingyu.
The Ice Soul Profound Body was cultivated. Now, only the Flower Spirit Physique, which would integrate everything, remained.
He was now at the third level of Body Integration, so the spiritual energy consumed by riding the sword was not much. The Imperial City of the Central Province was not far from Qingxuan Sect, and he expected to arrive by late at night. Because of a slight delay of a few days compared to his initial plan, Jiang Huai first used a spiritual pigeon incantation to transmit a message to Chu Xianning of Tian Xuan Sect, informing her that he had safely left the Ancestral Secret Realm and was now going to Qingxuan Sect to accompany Qingyu, and would return in about three to four days.
The journey was boring, so Jiang Huai started counting the women he was currently involved with on his fingers.
Damn it.
Why did his fingers seem insufficient?
***
The moon rose, and the night was bright.
Jiang Huai arrived at Qingxuan Sect late at night. He expertly navigated to the courtyard gate of Luo Yueguan and gently knocked on the door. He explored the inside with his spiritual sense but only detected Luo Yueguan’s presence, not Luo Qingyu’s.
A moment later, the door opened.
In the moonlight, Luo Yueguan, wearing a black nightgown, looked at his face and tilted her head.
It had been a while since they last saw each other, and Jiang Huai hadn’t informed Luo Yueguan beforehand that he was coming because he wanted to surprise her. Now, their eyes met.
Even though it was late autumn, Luo Yueguan’s nightgown was still thin. She always dressed lightly in the courtyard, often admiring herself in the mirror. Now, the moonlight fell on her delicate, prominent collarbones. Even though the nightgown was loose, the fabric on her chest was stretched taut by her full, round breasts, appearing almost see-through. What was even more striking was the slender waist below her full chest, like a willow sapling that had shed its branches, yet the buttocks below her waist had an excessively perky curve.
The hem of the nightgown was very short, barely covering her perky, full buttocks. Below the hem, her long, snow-white thighs were pressed together, straight and slender, with perfectly shaped muscles.
“Why are you here?” Luo Yueguan’s expression seemed a little cold.
Jiang Huai, who was always good at reading people, was momentarily confused by the coldness in her eyes. He scratched his head and said softly, “A few days ago, I went to explore a secret realm in the Southern Region. On my way back, I thought I’d stop by to see you and Qingyu.”
“Qingyu is in seclusion, breaking through to the second level of Void Refinement.”
“Oh…” Jiang Huai nodded gently. Luo Yueguan continued to stare at him but didn’t invite him in. They remained looking at each other for a while. Jiang Huai seemed to vaguely sense a hint of grievance in the corner of Luo Yueguan’s eyes.
“You’re not asleep this late?” Jiang Huai asked, still confused.
“I was just about to sleep when I sensed you arriving.”
“Oh…”
Luo Yueguan remained standing at the door, showing no intention of inviting him in for a sit. So Jiang Huai stood at the doorway, staring at Luo Yueguan. Their eyes met, and Luo Yueguan didn’t speak, her deep blue eyes fixated on him without blinking.
Could it be that she was angry because they hadn’t seen each other for too long?
Jiang Huai thought to himself. He took a step forward and mumbled, “Hug?”
“No hug.” Luo Yueguan took a step back and tilted her head. “You’ve come at the wrong time. Qingyu is in seclusion.”
“Then will you take me in?” Jiang Huai looked at her pleadingly.
“Aren’t you in a hurry to go back to your Master? Hmm?”
“I told my Master I’d stay at Qingxuan Sect for a few days before returning.”
“What are you doing staying at Qingxuan Sect?”
“Um, keeping you company?”
“Oh? So I need company,” Luo Yueguan’s voice had a hint of sarcasm. Now Jiang Huai knew why her eyes were cold.
She was clearly angry because they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.
Luo Yueguan wasn’t the type of clingy kitten who would pounce for a hug upon seeing someone after a long time. If neglected for too long, she would get angry.
“Because I missed you.”
“You have so many women accompanying you, and yet you miss an old woman like me,” Luo Yueguan said indifferently, still standing at the door, twirling her jet-black hair with her fingertips.
“Of course, I think of you every day.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I drool while thinking about you.”
“Then now that you’ve seen me, you shouldn’t be thinking of me anymore, right? Go back to your Master.”
Jiang Huai suddenly looked at Luo Yueguan mournfully. “Do you have to be this heartless?”
“I am this heartless. Continue to be sweet and romantic with your Master under the moonlight. Anyway, I’m an insignificant old woman.”
“I have some super good news to tell you.”
“Then tell me,” Luo Yueguan’s voice was still nonchalant.
“I found a Sky Crystal Snow Soul Flower and have successfully cultivated the Ice Soul Profound Body. I no longer need to rely on dual cultivation with you to repair my spiritual sea.” Jiang Huai’s eyes were filled with joy, but after saying this, Luo Yueguan’s pupils trembled. After a moment, the hint of playfulness at the corner of her lips froze and slowly turned into self-mockery. “So what? You’ve come to tell me that we can cut ties and no longer have any ambiguous involvement?”
“How could you think that?” Jiang Huai looked at her, confused. “I meant… now that I don’t need you to heal me through dual cultivation, with fewer restrictions, we can do whatever we want.”
“Then what do you want to do?” Luo Yueguan tilted her chin up, her eyes growing colder.
“I…”
“You want to dual cultivate with me?” Luo Yueguan said lightly. “Since you no longer need me for dual cultivation healing, why have you come to see me?”
“I… I want to see you.”
“Want to see me? Why do you want to see me?”
“I don’t need so many reasons to want to see you, wanting is just wanting…”
“The answer is incorrect.” Luo Yueguan extended her hand and slammed the door shut.
Jiang Huai widened his eyes, staring at the locked door in front of him and the receding footsteps. He was stunned for a good while, only now seriously considering Luo Yueguan’s thoughts. What would Luo Yueguan be thinking right now? Why was she suddenly so cold… Was it because they hadn’t seen each other for a long time, so their feelings had faded? No, no, definitely not.
It was because they hadn’t seen each other for a long time that she felt insecure, worried that his feelings for her were slowly fading with time, worried that he only desired her body and didn’t truly love her broken, cold heart.
But what she did was not to please Jiang Huai; instead, she became increasingly distant, using this to test if his affection had truly weakened, if he would really turn and leave.
Jiang Huai stood foolishly at the door, pondering the correct answer for a long time. The moonlight poured down. After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, he knocked on the door again. After a while, the door opened. Luo Yueguan, dressed in a black dress, stood quietly inside. Moonlight cascaded onto her hair as she tilted her face up, her cheeks instantly bathing in the moonlight.
“Because I love you, I want to come and see you,” Jiang Huai looked into her eyes and answered softly.
Luo Yueguan’s pupils trembled slightly. After a moment, she revealed a hint of coldness. “What do you love about me? My body? Then do as you please. Since you’ve done so much for me, if you want it, I’ll accompany you tonight.”
Jiang Huai shook his head. “It’s precisely because I don’t just love your body that I went to find that Sky Crystal Snow Soul Flower. Once I also possess the Ice Soul Profound Body, can I prove to you that I’m not just lusting after your body anymore?”
“Then what do you love about me? Do you love my childish selfishness, my foolish temper, or do you love my cold and hot nature, my unpredictable moods?”
“I like all of these,” Jiang Huai said, as if he hadn’t seen the coolness in her eyes. “Things that appear annoying on others seem particularly cute when they’re on you.”
Luo Yueguan’s body trembled slightly. She turned her face away, but the coldness on her cheeks had already disappeared, replaced by a hint of pink on her fair skin. However, her voice still tried to maintain its coldness. “It’s still not enough.”
“I like you so much, Luo Yueguan.”
“Anyone can say sweet talk.”
“I want to marry you.”
“I am Luo Qingyu’s mother,” Luo Yueguan’s voice trembled slightly.
“So what? I want to marry you, and no one can stop me.”
“I didn’t say I agreed to marry you,” Luo Yueguan’s fingertips had already gently grasped the hem of her skirt. Maintaining her cold demeanor now took immense effort. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, her cheeks feeling slightly numb from the burning heat, and she even dared not look into Jiang Huai’s eyes. But Jiang Huai seized the opportunity, leaned closer, and pulled her into his embrace. He whispered into her ear.
“Then I’ll pester you every day until you agree to marry me.”
“Do you think I’ve lived for six hundred years and can be easily tricked by your few words?”
But as soon as Luo Yueguan finished speaking, Jiang Huai leaned in and kissed her earlobe. That was precisely her most sensitive spot. Her body instantly tingled as if electrocuted. Held gently in Jiang Huai’s arms, she could no longer maintain her cold demeanor.
