The man’s arms were wrapped around her so tightly that Lou Yue could barely breathe.
He bent over with his face buried against her shoulder, his breathing deep and ragged from the frantic journey there. His entire body was taut with tension, so much so that she could even feel the faint tremors running through him.
Lou Yue gently patted his rigid back and said with a smile, “I’m fine. I made it through the tribulation successfully.”
The man remained silent for a long while before answering with the faintest sound. His voice was terribly hoarse.
After a moment, Lou Yue spoke again, her tone helpless. “I’m talking to both of you—could one of you let go first?”
Liufeng Xin had her legs in a death grip, while her upper body was firmly pinned in another man’s embrace. What was this, wringing out a rag?
After she said that, neither of them moved, as though both were waiting for the other to release her first.
Liufeng Xin, down below, was actually frozen in place. There was nothing strange about seeing someone hug another person, but she could feel the emotions pouring out of Xiao Rangchen.
It was the lingering fear of nearly losing someone, along with the desperate obsession of wanting to hold on and never let go again.
This was a completely different side of the man from the cold and murderous Long Aotian she had known before. Liufeng Xin was so stunned that she simply forgot to let go.
Lou Yue pushed at Xiao Rangchen, trying to get him to release her first.
Instead of loosening his hold, he tightened it, burying his face even deeper.
Helpless, Lou Yue was just about to turn around and ask Liufeng Xin to let go when he suddenly released her.
His eyes lowered as he took a step back.
Lou Yue thought nothing of it. She merely lowered her head and flicked a finger against Liufeng Xin’s forehead as the latter stared up at her in a daze. “Are you going to let go yet?”
Liufeng Xin came back to her senses, and the thought that had been interrupted earlier immediately picked up where it had left off.
Normally, she should have continued crying and demanded compensation. But with Long Aotian standing nearby, his aura dark and heavy, she found herself unable to cry. All she could do was huff angrily.
“First, tell me how you’re going to make it up to me. Don’t think you can fob me off with something random. Otherwise, I won’t let you off tonight!”
Lou Yue remembered that whenever Liufeng Xin said those words in the past, she would make such a fuss that Lou Yue could neither cultivate nor sleep for the entire night. With a sigh, she surrendered.
“Let’s not make a fuss tonight. Whatever you want as compensation, I’ll agree to it. Happy now?”
Liufeng Xin immediately perked up. “I want the same service as last time! Full body!”
Lou Yue rejected her without a second thought. “…No.”
“You just said you’d agree to anything.”
“Pick something else.”
“I want this.”
Lou Yue shot her a sideways glance. “Weren’t you the one who said it was uncomfortable?”
“But afterward, it felt so good I could die.”
Lou Yue: “…”
Who described a massage like that?
At that moment, the man who had been standing silently beside them suddenly turned and walked away.
Lou Yue noticed and tilted her head. “Where are you going?”
The man’s back seemed slightly stiff. At her words, his footsteps paused.
“I’m going to clean up the aftermath. I didn’t finish dealing with everything earlier.” His tone was stiff.
Before Lou Yue could say anything else, he strode away.
She watched his retreating figure, inexplicably feeling that something was odd.
“Say yes, say yes! Your massages are amazing, sister.” Liufeng Xin clung to her leg and wheedled, her upturned face still streaked with dried tears.
“All right, all right, fine. Now let go.”
Only then did Liufeng Xin release her leg, thoroughly satisfied.
Qiao Qiniang came over, her face full of smiles. “This is my first time being so close to a mighty cultivator in the Deity Transformation stage.”
Then she exclaimed in amazement, “Miss Yue must be the youngest Deity Transformation cultivator in the cultivation world by now, right?”
“Of course! She’s unbelievably awesome!” Liufeng Xin answered without hesitation.
Lou Yue was amused into laughter.
Liufeng Xin’s eyes rolled, and she excitedly suggested, “Hey, this is such a huge occasion—we absolutely have to celebrate!”
She looked at Lou Yue with open anticipation.
Lou Yue thought for a moment. “Big Brother Wei and the others will be coming out later. We can invite them over then.”
Qiao Qiniang assumed she meant after the inheritance within the ruins had concluded. Little did she know that Lou Yue’s “later” really did mean only “a little later.”
By the time a group of people were seated around a campfire, chatting about what they had experienced over the past few days, Qiao Qiniang was still somewhat dazed.
Big Brother Wei and the others had never been able to see through Lou Yue’s cultivation in the first place. Now that she had restrained her aura, they were even less capable of noticing that she had reached the Deity Transformation stage.
As soon as they were teleported out of the ruins, they received a message from Qiao Qiniang and assumed this was merely an ordinary gathering.
When they saw Lou Yue’s true appearance, all of them were secretly struck by her beauty, but they tactfully refrained from asking questions. They already knew that “Mu Xin” and “Mu Yue” were not her real names.
The campfire crackled softly, casting a warm glow over the savage, pitch-black night.
“I wonder who ended up with that final inheritance.” Big Brother Wei took a gulp of wine and sighed.
Fat Second picked up the conversation. “Cangya Xun, obviously. When everyone was kicked out, I saw members of the Cangya clan still waiting outside the entrance. They must have been waiting for their young master, who was still receiving the inheritance.”
“Children from aristocratic clans really are blessed by heaven.” Skinny Three’s tone was tinged with sourness as he tipped his head back and drained a large mouthful of wine.
Qiao Qiniang seemed to think of something and suddenly looked toward Lou Yue.
Lou Yue noticed her gaze, blinked lightly, and smiled mischievously.
Qiao Qiniang’s heart skipped a beat, and she nearly lost her seat.
At first, she had assumed that Lou Yue simply possessed a high cultivation level and had broken through to Deity Transformation after obtaining an opportunity within the ruins. But now, thinking back to Lou Yue’s effortless composure as she moved through the ruins, as well as that ancient leafless tree whose spiritual energy was so abundant and pure it was almost astonishing, a frightening yet perfectly plausible conclusion began to take shape in her mind.
“Hey, Qiniang, why do I feel like your stomach has gotten smaller? Is it just the wine messing with my eyes?” Fat Second, who was sitting beside Qiao Qiniang, suddenly rubbed his eyes as he stared at her belly.
Everyone else’s gaze fell on her stomach as well.
Qiao Qiniang’s heart began to race. She quickly covered her belly and instinctively tried to brush it off. “You’ve had too much to drink. Stop staring at my stomach and keep talking.”
Big Brother Wei noticed nothing amiss. He rose to his feet and raised the wine jug in his hand, offering Lou Yue a toast from afar.
“Qiniang told us that Miss Yue has looked after her a great deal. Thank you! I’ll drink first!”
Lou Yue looked at the wine jug Liufeng Xin had earlier forced into her hands. After a moment’s hesitation, she still took a polite sip.
The next instant—
“Cough, cough cough!”
The searing alcohol rushed straight down her throat, and she choked violently.
Liufeng Xin on her left and Xiao Rangchen on her right, who had been drinking in brooding silence, both reached out at the same time and patted her back.
Lou Yue’s eyes watered from the heat. She had never expected Yellow Springs wine to be this potent. It burned even more fiercely than the baijiu she had tasted before.
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t drink? Why did you actually swallow it?” Liufeng Xin teased with a laugh.
Big Brother Wei burst out laughing. “Haha, my fault, my fault. I forgot to warn you.”
Lou Yue waved her hand, indicating that she was fine and telling them to continue.
But in truth, she knew she was anything but fine.
That mouthful of wine burned all the way down from her throat. The alcohol soon left her limbs limp, her mind foggy and heavy, and her vision gradually blurred.
Before long, the laughter and conversation around her sounded as though a veil had been draped over the world, making everything indistinct.
After Xiao Rangchen exchanged drinks with Big Brother Wei, he lowered his eyes and continued drinking in silence.
The campfire flickered, its warm light falling across the clean lines of his neck.
Each time he tilted his head back to swallow, a distinct curve rose at his throat. As it moved, it held an inexplicable allure.
Suddenly, a hot finger pressed against the Adam’s apple of his raised throat without warning.
Xiao Rangchen’s movements came to an abrupt halt.
That finger followed the line of his throat, slowly gliding over his neck. Its owner even leaned closer, as though trying to get a clearer look.
He immediately raised a hand and caught Lou Yue’s mischievous fingers, pressing down firmly with his fingertips.
Lou Yue’s brows drew together slightly.
When Xiao Rangchen saw the flush spreading across her face and the unfocused light in her eyes, he knew she was drunk.
The bearing of the two of them was enough to draw attention wherever they went. At the moment, everyone was seated in a circle, so their little exchange immediately caught every eye.
The laughter and conversation gradually fell silent.
Xiao Rangchen did not want anyone else to see Lou Yue in this state. He rose at once.
“I’m taking her to sober up.”
He said it coldly, then pulled the dazed Lou Yue away, leaving behind a circle of people wearing knowing, suggestive smiles.
They had not gone far when Lou Yue refused to take another step. But her wrist was held fast, and no matter how she tried, she could not pull free.
“Xiao Rangchen.” She frowned and called his name in displeasure. Her voice was softened by the alcohol, carrying a hint of petulance.
Xiao Rangchen did not answer. His jaw tightened as he bent down, slipped an arm beneath her knees, and swept her up into his arms.
With a light tap of his toes against the ground, he shot forward, carrying her swiftly away from the crowd and disappearing into the night.
Only after they had gone far enough, arriving at a quiet, deserted hillside, did he set Lou Yue down on a smooth, flat rock.
Moonlight spilled across her flushed cheeks. Her lips, still touched by strong liquor, looked even fuller and more vividly alluring, enough to steal one’s breath away.
Xiao Rangchen glanced at her once, then forced himself to look away.
But in the next moment, two burning hands cupped his face and turned it back toward her.
“Xiao Rangchen, you keep swaying around. My head is so dizzy…”
His gaze fell upon her hazy, glistening almond-shaped eyes. He answered in a low voice, “You’re drunk.”
Lou Yue seemed not to hear him. She leaned forward, then hopped down from the rock and stumbled toward him, nearly pressing her entire body against his.
The scent of alcohol mingled with the sweet, warm fragrance of flowers clinging to her skin, drifting into his nose in wisps.
Xiao Rangchen’s throat bobbed.
Once again, Lou Yue’s gaze was helplessly drawn to his neck.
The line of it was smooth and sharp, its defined muscles illuminated by the moonlight. Every inch of it radiated a fatal kind of sensuality.
The hand resting against his cheek slowly slid downward and came to rest on his shoulder. Tilting her head, she kissed without hesitation the place that had been tempting her ever since before.
Xiao Rangchen’s eyes snapped shut, and the air around him tightened at once.
“…Lou Yue,” he called hoarsely.
Lou Yue was completely lost in her own world. Her lips rested lightly against his bobbing throat, moving gently with each swallow.
He placed a hand against her waist and called her name again in a low voice.
“Lou Yue…”
His voice had grown even deeper, a faint tremor threaded through it.
Lou Yue still did not stop.
When a soft, damp touch skimmed across his throat, every shred of Xiao Rangchen’s restraint shattered in an instant.
He seized her face with one hand, lowered his head, and kissed her hard.
Lou Yue had no time to draw back her tongue before another tongue tangled with it.
The rich taste of wine and the crisp, clean scent of frost and snow that she loved invaded her senses together.
One of his hands slid to the back of her head and held her firmly in place. His other pressed against her back, deepening and tightening the kiss.
The fear that had gripped him while she underwent her tribulation, the suffocating frustration of having no choice but to leave her behind, the restless agitation that had churned inside him when he heard her discussing intimate matters with another woman…
In this moment, all of it erupted, transforming into an urgent impulse to crush the person in his arms into his very bones and devour her whole.
Lou Yue instinctively hooked her arms around his neck, responding to him as their lips and tongues tangled. Her muddled mind was instantly lost in the kiss.
Xiao Rangchen kissed her with abandon, greedily claiming every breath that belonged to her.
Only when Lou Yue could no longer remain standing and began to struggle faintly for air did he draw back a little.
Giving her room to breathe, he lifted her onto the rock, leaned in after her, and once again pulled her into the depths of desire.
The heat between them continued to rise. Even the bitter, frigid night wind of the wilderness could not cool them down.
Xiao Rangchen’s lips slowly left hers and wandered over her jaw.
Lou Yue tilted her head back slightly, her eyes half-closed and shimmering with moisture as she instinctively surrendered to the pleasure he brought her.
His kisses traveled along the line of her jaw and down to her slender neck.
An involuntary sound escaped Lou Yue.
Xiao Rangchen immediately pulled her closer, his kisses against her neck growing heavier and more insistent.
Lou Yue’s breathing quickened. Her fingers caught in the black hair hanging beside his face and tugged lightly, unable to bear the sensation.
Xiao Rangchen could barely restrain the surging heat in his blood. He stopped abruptly, burying his face against her neck as he breathed hard and fought to regain control.
But his hot, ragged breaths brushed against the sensitive hollow of her neck, provoking her just as surely.
A soft, breathy moan nearly destroyed all the restraint he had managed to recover.
He suddenly lifted his head and covered her red lips in a fierce kiss, swallowing every sound she made.
Only after a long, long while did that feverish, possessive kiss finally slow.
Xiao Rangchen rested his forehead against hers, then placed a series of light, tender kisses against the corner of her lips, the corners of her eyes, and the tip of her nose.
Lou Yue’s long lashes trembled as she softly leaned toward him.
Xiao Rangchen let her settle securely into his arms and held her as he leaned back against the rock.
He lowered his head, his fingertip moving slowly and gently over Lou Yue’s cheek.
Moonlight bathed them both, shutting out all the noise of the world.
In the silent wilderness, it seemed that only the two of them remained.
