Day two, noon.
Ning Yuzhu and Jiang Zhi were drinking tea in the courtyard. Fang Moye’s room door showed no sign of opening, and Ning Yuzhu hadn’t called Jiang Huai for breakfast that morning. The two chatted by the tea table. Ning Yuzhu suddenly thought of something and asked, “I have something I’d like to ask Junior Sister for advice.”
“Please speak.” Jiang Zhi blinked innocently.
“After dual cultivation, what does it truly feel like in your heart?” Ning Yuzhu asked curiously.
Jiang Zhi thought seriously, “It’s hard to explain, but there’s always a strange thought that since it’s come to this, I might as well just rely on him for life. That’s how I felt, but perhaps everyone is different.”
Jiang Zhi had thought she would remain proud forever, even when dual cultivating with Jiang Huai in the lower realm. However, as time gradually passed, she suddenly realized that many things had already become a habit in her heart. These habits subtly changed her thoughts, making her gradually soft around him, no longer as proud as before.
Since one could be loved just by being soft, why remain proud?
Ning Yuzhu nodded gently. Then it was Jiang Zhi’s turn to ask questions, though hers were somewhat playful, “Elder Sister, how many times do you think they dual cultivated last night?”
“Two or three times?”
Jiang Zhi shook her head, “I’d guess more than ten times.”
“Why do you guess that?” This time, Ning Yuzhu was confused.
“Because that guy is a beast…” Speaking of this, Jiang Zhi’s eyes held a bit more resentment. “He does know how to cherish people, but only if you beg for mercy. Otherwise, his cultivation method and his Dragon Clan bloodline make him excessively beastly.”
Then Jiang Zhi added playfully, “I don’t think Senior Disciple Sister is someone who would beg for mercy and yield to him.”
***
The midday sun streamed through the window.
Jiang Huai slowly opened his eyes.
At this moment, they were merely covered with haphazardly thrown bedding. Fang Moye still bore some marks on her body. The red marks on her buttocks had long since faded, but she was still curled up beside Jiang Huai, not yet awake.
Jiang Huai felt a wave of dizziness. Damn it, how many times had he dual cultivated with Fang Moye last night?
Strictly speaking, this dual cultivation only counted as twice because their spiritual qi had only circulated through two cycles. But in another sense, Jiang Huai couldn’t remember how many times they had done it last night. Fang Moye was an exceptionally proud woman. Even with tears in her eyes and her body trembling uncontrollably, she would coldly say with a choked sob, “Is that all for tonight?”
The more she said that, the angrier Jiang Huai became, and the more he wanted to bully her. The more he wanted to bully her, the less she would beg for mercy. Thus, they tossed and turned like this all night. Whether Jiang Huai was on top or the Ancestral Master was on top, they switched. When one bud was over-exploited, he would exploit the other. They didn’t stop even when she needed her lower abdomen rubbed to continue.
Now, Jiang Huai himself felt a bit of lingering fear. Should he have yielded earlier and begged Fang Moye for mercy? Wouldn’t last night have been so absurd?
He lay there, gazing at Fang Moye’s sleeping face. It took him a while to come back to his senses. Sunlight fell on her cheeks, and gradually, she also slowly opened her eyes. Her cold, aloof eyes met Jiang Huai’s.
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
“Is that all for tonight?” Fang Moye’s voice was slightly hoarse, yet still proud to the bone, showing no sign of wanting to surrender.
Jiang Huai’s teeth began to itch again. But the moment he moved, Fang Moye’s body began to tremble uncontrollably from fear. Instantly, Jiang Huai stopped. He simply pulled her into his embrace, his voice finally softening, “It can only be this way for now. I’ll serve Ancestral Master wholeheartedly next time.”
Fang Moye’s body stopped trembling, but she showed a rare hint of triumph. She took a breath, closed her eyes, and buried her face in his chest.
“Were you satisfied with my service last night, Ancestral Master?”
“Barely,” Fang Moye said faintly.
Jiang Huai sat up a bit, lifted Fang Moye into his arms, and had her lean against him as he gently rubbed her snow-white, soft lower abdomen. Fang Moye only let out a muffled groan and said nothing. After a while, Jiang Huai got her a dress to wear. After she was dressed, he carried her to the bathhouse. At the bathhouse, Fang Moye didn’t want to move at all, letting his fingertips caress her skin and wash away all the filth.
After bathing her, Jiang Huai carried her to the side and began to bathe himself. After changing into new clothes, he walked out of the bathhouse with her. Jiang Huai kept his arm gently around her waist, not because he wanted to take advantage of her, but because he knew Fang Moye’s legs were probably weak and unsteady at the moment.
The two of them came to the bamboo chairs and sat down. Fang Moye squinted her eyes and basked in the sun again, like a lazy cat, completely without any desire to move.
Jiang Huai turned his head to look at Fang Moye.
He hadn’t felt it before, but now he felt that Fang Moye had a kind of lazy, wifely aura. Her snow-white and tender lotus feet beneath her nightgown were warm and slender. But now, he only had thoughts of appreciation. All desires from last night had been released upon her. He felt like he could remain in a state of asceticism for a while.
It was too wild.
Ning Yuzhu came to Jiang Huai’s side. Before he could speak, she gathered her skirt and sat on his lap. Jiang Huai naturally embraced her slender waist and softly asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I want a hug.”
“Senior Sister is being intentionally spoiled again.”
“I want a hug,” Ning Yuzhu answered indignantly, though her eyes quietly glanced at Fang Moye. Upon seeing a flicker of instinctual jealousy in Fang Moye’s eyes, a hint of surprise arose in her heart.
So, after dual cultivation, the thoughts in one’s heart truly do change subtly.
“How many times did you cultivate with Senior Sister last night?”
“I don’t remember.” Jiang Huai shook his head.
“Approximately?”
“I really don’t remember.”
Jiang Huai only remembered that Fang Moye had fainted several times, whether for real or pretending. The last time, he had fallen asleep directly on Fang Moye’s chest.
Ning Yuzhu extended her hand. Jiang Huai’s fingertips intertwined with hers. Her spiritual qi merged into his body, and she sensed that his divine body and spiritual qi were already overflowing. She began to help him build the foundation of his divine soul. In a short while, he broke through to the divine soul realm and, with the spiritual qi within his body, continuously broke through three minor realms, entering the third level of the divine soul.
“It’s not bad,” Ning Yuzhu said faintly. “At this rate, if you dual cultivate with Senior Sister like this for another sixty to seventy nights, you should be able to obtain all the spiritual qi that Senior Sister has stored for you.”
“Oh…” Jiang Huai nodded.
Fang Moye, lying to the side, instinctively felt her heart race. The arduous effort of last night had almost exhausted all her pride. She couldn’t imagine if she could still endure so fiercely in the future. Perhaps… yielding was also an option?
She no longer cared to think about the future, wishing only to let things take their course, and closed her eyes.
To her surprise, after this dual cultivation, the shame, guilt, and regret she had expected were very faint, almost imperceptible. Instead, there was only a vague sense of satisfaction and a bit of small fatigue.
Of course, she was tired; at several moments last night, she had doubted if she was going crazy.
The sunlight felt warm on her body. In a short while, she fell into a deep sleep again.
***
The courtyard seemed to gradually return to peace.
During the day, Ning Yuzhu would prepare breakfast and gently call everyone to wake up. Then, Jiang Huai would practice sword with her. At noon, Jiang Huai and Ning Yuzhu would cook lunch together. After lunch, it was rest time. Jiang Huai would sometimes go for a walk, or go fishing, admire flowers, listen to the rain, or make a cup of tea and sit quietly for an afternoon, or a few people would gather to play mahjong.
At night, he would naturally accompany Jiang Zhi. After discussion with Fang Moye, Jiang Huai decided to dual cultivate once every three days. Perhaps because the first dual cultivation was particularly intense, the subsequent ones were no longer as awkward and hesitant. Instead, they were exceptionally gentle and harmonious. Fang Moye seemed to have shed the shackles that had bound her before. Even when she was on top of Jiang Huai, twisting her waist, her eyes were gentle and languid, genuinely enjoying the process and indulging in her physical desires.
With her like this, Jiang Huai naturally stopped bullying her. At most, he would pat her buttocks when behind her. Fang Moye, not only wasn’t angry, but would occasionally gently sway her hips to cooperate with him, her eyes lazy and gentle.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye.
The wifely aura about her seemed to grow stronger. On two afternoons, when Jiang Huai took a nap, he naturally rested his head on her lap. Fang Moye quietly read a book, not bothered at all by him using her snow-white and tender legs as a pillow. Instead, Jiang Zhi occasionally felt a pang of jealousy. When alone with Jiang Huai at night, she would gently bite his chest and ask if he preferred being with Fang Moye.
“Of course, I prefer being with Elder Sister.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s the absolute truth.”
“Then next time, the three of us will do it together, and you’ll say that in front of her.”
“You might as well kill me.” Jiang Huai’s face instantly became full of resentment. He hugged Jiang Zhi and kissed her for a long time, finally calming Jiang Zhi’s slight jealousy. She obediently fell asleep in his arms.
White Dew Mountain seemed to have entered its rainy season. Many nights, there were cool silk rain threads descending. Jiang Huai often slept peacefully to the sound of the rain. Sometimes he was with Jiang Zhi, and sometimes with Fang Moye. Of course, he would never agree to Jiang Zhi’s request; that would be the death of him, he couldn’t agree.
Listening to the sound of the rain, Jiang Huai’s eyes occasionally revealed a hint of slight melancholy.
In fact, he shouldn’t have anything to be melancholy about. It was enough to live in the present, without worry, and enjoy everything. But on a certain rainy night, listening to the patter of rain, as he held Fang Moye, who was sleeping beside him, in his arms, he couldn’t help but look up into her eyes and softly ask, “When dual cultivation is no longer necessary, can Ancestral Master still sleep like this in my arms with me?”
“Of course not,” Fang Moye’s tone instantly seemed to retract all her bewilderment and became cold. Even her eyes looked towards the rain curtain outside the window, unwilling to meet his gaze.
She herself couldn’t say whether she was unwilling or afraid.
“Oh.”
Her answer was as Jiang Huai expected, yet he couldn’t help but feel a moment of loss. Even though he knew he shouldn’t feel this way, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. He suddenly felt that everything was tasteless, so he let go and turned away, closing his eyes with his back to her.
The sound of rain outside the window gradually grew louder.
The sound of the rain became increasingly noisy and chaotic. In a daze, Jiang Huai seemed to hear the mocking laughter of the gentlemanly Little Huai in his heart.
Even if you can get a woman’s body, what of it? You can’t get her heart.
Why do I need her heart? Isn’t getting her body and seeing her charming and soft appearance enough?
Do you really think so?
Of course. I am the most despicable, shameless, rogue, and hypocritical gentleman in the world. So-called wanting her heart just means I want to sleep with her more than so many times, and I want to sleep with her for a lifetime. Why pretend?
Is that so?
Isn’t it?
Compared to the desires that trap you, I think you need love more.
Bullshit! That’s just greed! Why sugarcoat greed so nobly?
Greed is also love, and love is everything, you said.
The chaotic thoughts made Jiang Huai unable to sleep. He suddenly flipped over and got up, looking out at the rain curtain. He haphazardly threw on some clothes. Fang Moye, still in the warmth of the bed behind him, her voice trembling slightly, asked, “Where are you going?”
“I want to go out and listen to the rain. Ancestral Master, please sleep well. Goodnight.”
Fang Moye watched his retreating figure gradually disappear. She almost spoke several times, but in the end, she was choked with emotion, lowered her eyelashes, clutched the quilt, wrapped herself entirely within it, and closed her eyes.
