Chapter 250: If heaven and earth were ruthless, nothing would be born.
Behind Pei Lianxue’s new residence at Xiri Peak, there laid a spacious open-air bath, adorned with a decorative rockery and flanked by two crane sculptures spouting hot water into the pool.
Four cultivators dressed in gold and white robes entered through the crescent-shaped gate at the bath’s entrance, crossed the screen, and approached the edge of the pool.
With her blond hair cascading behind her, Yun Xi reached the pool’s edge, paused, and displayed a hint of resentment on her face. Suddenly, she turned towards the two female disciples of the Sword Sect who had accompanied her and Pei Lianxue.
Due to the incident at Qiong Peak, both Xiri Peak and Yishui Peak had imposed curfews. Elders had arranged core formation stage disciples to ensure the safety of Yun Xi and her companions.
However, Yun Xi was not accustomed to being watched while bathing. Even during ordinary bathing, she would dismiss even her maids.
After observing the two for a while and seeing their failure to grasp her expression, Yun Xi sighed softly, raised her hand, and pointed towards the bath’s entrance. “Get out!”
The two exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat helpless. After a moment of hesitation, one of them stepped forward, respectfully addressing her, “Miss, the elders assigned us the task of staying by your side to ensure your safety. While we understand your reluctance during the day, we request to accompany you after nightfall. In case something similar to the recent incident occurs again, we need to be present to fulfil our duties…”
“Enough!” Yun Xi interrupted, raising her hand. “Everyone already knows that the elders have stationed core formation stage cultivators to guard me. It’s highly unlikely that anyone would dare intrude here to harm me. Rest assured, nothing unexpected will happen.”
“But…” The disciple started.
“Furthermore!” Yun Xi grasped Pei Lianxue’s shoulder, pulling her in front, and explained, “Isn’t Sister Pei here? Last time, it was my two sisters who were abducted, not me. Even if your concerns are valid, Sister Pei can protect me.”
Despite their lingering hesitation, the two eventually relented. “What if…” One of them began.
“Enough of that!” Yun Xi waved them off. “You’re not dismissed. Stay outside the courtyard. If anything happens, you can rush in immediately.”
Relieved after the two left, Yun Xi walked to the pool’s edge, untied her belt with one hand, and dipped her toes into the water to test its temperature.
Satisfied with the warmth, she untied her robe, took a few steps back, then dashed forward and gracefully leapt into the pool.
Splish-splash—
Her entry into the water was flawless, barely causing a ripple due to the lack of resistance on her chest. Yun Xi swam to the centre of the pool, touched the bottom with her toes, and resurfaced.
“Ah…” Her golden locks, now wet, clung to her face, softening her usual fiery demeanour. Shaking her head to free her hair, Yun Xi pushed aside the strands clinging to her cheeks and forehead. She turned to see Pei Lianxue still standing on the shore and waved, urging her to join. “Sister Pei, don’t just stand there! Come on in. It’s very relaxing!”
“Ah… Okay.”
Pei Lianxue responded with a hint of nervousness, walking to the pool’s edge and slowly reaching out to grab her belt.
Sui Suo——
With a soft sound, the golden-white fairy clothes slipped off her shoulders, revealing her snow-white body, which gleamed under the moonlight like a white jade doll.
It was Pei Lianxue’s first time bathing with Yun Xi and her first time in such an open-air bath. She felt a bit anxious and also thought it was a bit extravagant. Back when she was in the Hundred Lotus Sect and Xuanxing Sect, she would only wipe her body with a cloth unless she sweated a lot. While other cultivators used magic stones to produce water, she would still fetch water and boil it over a fire like a regular person. This pool alone had at least a hundred magic stones, and one bath would cost two to three hundred spirit stones. It seemed wasteful to her.
Pei Lianxue tested the water temperature with her toes, sat down at the edge of the pool, and then tied her thick brown-black hair behind her.
Just as she was about to enter the water, she noticed Yun Xi staring at her intently. She asked, slightly puzzled, “What’s the matter?”
“Hmm…” Yun Xi furrowed her brows, pondered for a moment with her chin in her hand, and then walked over slowly. “Although I understand, Sister Pei, you really are quite young.”
“Young!” Pei Lianxue asked.
“Yes,” Yun Xi said, sitting down beside Pei Lianxue with her back against the edge of the pool, her shoulders submerged in the water. She smiled and said, “Just a little girl who hasn’t even grown all her hair. Isn’t that what a little girl is?”
“Um!” Pei Lianxue was still somewhat puzzled. She looked down and then glanced at Yun Xi. When she saw the lush grass underwater, she understood what Yun Xi meant.
She slipped into the pool, furrowing her brows, and asked, “Does the length of one’s hair determine maturity?”
“Of course!” Yun Xi joked with a smug look on her face. “Only little girls have flawless skin.”
“…”
Pei Lianxue twisted her eyebrows, seeming to believe her words, looked down again, and asked,
“But I’ve already reached the age of maturity, so why haven’t they grown up yet?”
Yun Xi was just joking, and she was quite envious of Pei Lianxue’s complexion. But when she saw Pei Lianxue’s brows furrowed tightly, she quickly explained,
“Ah… Sister Pei, I was just kidding. Don’t take it seriously, okay?”
“Um!”
“This… it depends on one’s constitution. Everyone is different, and it has nothing to do with maturity. I only said that because I was envious of you.”
“Envious!”
“Yes, Sister Pei, you’re so fair and clean, even younger-looking than Jiujiu.”
“…”
Pei Lianxue vaguely remembered that Yun Jiujiu was in her sixties. She didn’t know if it was a compliment or not, but she didn’t say anything. She nodded and followed Yun Xi’s example, squatting down and leaning her back against the edge of the bath, then closed her eyes to relax.
Yun Xi stole a glance at Pei Lianxue’s face, inexplicably recalling the scene when Pei Lianxue saved her from the mouth of a level four monster.
At that time, Pei Lianxue acted without hesitation, instantly turning the level four monster into pieces. And a few days ago, facing the intruders who had sneaked into Xiri Peak, Pei Lianxue was still resolute. No matter how they begged for mercy, she would not respond. She would just behead them with a sword and then stab her body a few times to finish the job.
Yun Xi had always thought that Pei Lianxue was quite cold.
However, the words just now…
Yun Xi paused and asked softly,
“Sister Pei, do you not even know where babies come from?”
Pei Lianxue looked at Yun Xi with a puzzled expression,
“Where do babies come from?”
“It’s… how were you born?”
“…born by my mother.”
“Then how did your mother give birth?”
“How did she…?” Pei Lianxue twisted her eyebrows in thought, then asked, “Just by sleeping with my father in the same bed, and then my mother became pregnant with me.”
Yun Xi looked at Pei Lianxue’s innocent expression, blinked, and said, “Do you know anything more specific?”
“Something more specific…” Pei Lianxue twisted her eyebrows and started thinking, then pressed her neck and asked, “Like what?”
Yun Xi sighed softly, shook his head, and said,
“Sister, let me explain…”
Just as Yun Xi was about to continue, Pei Lianxue suddenly felt something was wrong. She frowned slightly and quickly turned her head to look at the night sky.
In the night sky, a full moon hung high, as big as a white jade plate, but in the centre of the silver-white plate, there was a black spot that kept getting bigger.
Pei Lianxue squinted her eyes, trying to see what it was.
“Um!”
But Yun Xi beside her was completely unaware,
“If this woman wants to have a child…”
Just as Yun Xi was saying this, Pei Lianxue felt something was wrong and immediately released her spiritual power, forming a shield in front of her. At the same time, she reminded me,
“Sister Yun, protect yourself!”
With a blink, Yun Xi tilted her head in confusion,
“…Huh!”
And at the next moment—
Boom—
A figure, like a meteorite, crashed heavily into the bathtub. The water, originally no more than seven feet deep, was filled with waves of several heights. The waves crashed against Pei Lianxue’s spiritual shield, making a thudding sound.
Pei Lianxue frowned slightly, quickly pulled out a hand, summoned a storage bag from the shore into her hand, and took out her spiritual sword from it, waving it vertically.
Whoosh—
The ice-blue aura enveloped the blade of the sword, splitting the water into a deep trench and dispersing the mist in the pool, revealing the figure hidden within.
When she saw the person’s eyes, Pei Lianxue couldn’t help but widen her eyes and whispered,
“Senior… Brother?”
“…”
Ye Anping was wearing a mask, but his nose and eyebrows were swollen, and his brows were furrowed, indicating extreme discomfort. There was also a frightening bloodstain on his shoulder.
—”Miss Third, what happened?”
The two core formation cultivators who were waiting outside the bathhouse door rushed in upon hearing the commotion. Upon seeing Ye Anping standing in the middle of the pool, they immediately summoned their spiritual swords and mobilized their spiritual energy to attack him.
Ye Anping glanced at the two core formation cultivators attacking him, then stepped in front of Pei Lianxue, wrapping his left arm around her neck and pulling out a dagger, placing it in front of Pei Lianxue’s neck.
Seeing this, the two cultivators quickly halted their steps. One of them raised his sword and pointed it at Ye Anping, advising,
“You little thief! You—”
Before they could finish their words, Ye Anping narrowed his eyes and suddenly flicked his sleeve.
Several flints emitting spiritual light flew out of his sleeves and scattered into the surrounding baths.
Boom—
The moment the blazing fire spirit energy touched the water, the water in the pool rapidly expanded and evaporated. The steaming water mist swallowed up hundreds of feet in the surrounding area in the blink of an eye.
His vision was obscured by water mist, and the burst of fire spirit energy blocked his consciousness. Ye Anping knew that this could only hold back the two disciples at the core formation stage for three breaths, so he quickly retracted the dagger. He picked up the junior sister and ran away in the opposite direction of the two people.
Just when they crossed the courtyard wall, a spiritual light suddenly appeared behind them, and the white mist that originally covered their field of vision shrank instantly. At the same time, a sword energy also chased Ye Anping.
Pei Lianxue noticed it in advance and quickly threw the spiritual sword in her hand to help her senior brother, who was running away with him, block the sword’s energy. At the same time, she asked,
“Senior brother!”
“Explain in a moment…”
Ye Anping interrupted softly and then threw several fire talismans behind him.
Boom boom—
In the mist surrounding the bath, several rays of fire exploded, directly dispersing the mist, and at the same time, it stopped the two core-formation disciples who were trying to catch up with them.
The two of them had no choice but to temporarily stop and mobilize their spiritual power to block these talismans. When the talismans were completely burned out, the figures of Pei Lianxue and Ye Anping had completely disappeared into the background. The mountains and forests have disappeared.
“Chase!!”
One of them frowned slightly and was about to catch up but was suddenly pulled by the shoulder by another person.
“Wait, leave it to Senior Brother and the others. We stay with Miss Third.”
After hearing this, the man hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and clicked his tongue,
“Tsk…”
“The mission given to us by the elders is to ensure the safety of the third lady. It would not be good if we tried to lure the tiger away from the mountain. The movement is so loud the senior brother and Senior sister should have heard the movement. The little thief is in the middle stage of the foundation building, and there is no way he can escape.
“Um…”
The other man nodded and immediately turned back to check on Yun Xi’s condition.
However, when they walked back to the pool, they noticed that Yun Xi was now floating face down on the bubbling water.
It was likely that the water was already boiling due to the flint and fire talisman thrown into it by the man just now. The two of them were momentarily stunned, then took a sharp intake of cold air and hurried to pull Yun Xi out of the boiling water. “Third Miss!!” Turning Yun Xi over, they observed her red face, now scalded by the boiling water, and they all held their breath. One person swallowed nervously, cautiously checking Yun Xi’s breathing and using their spiritual awareness to examine her condition. Upon confirming that she had merely fainted, they let out a sigh of relief. “Phew—she’s okay, just fainted.”
… …
Whizzing–
With his steps crushing the fallen leaves, Ye Anping clenched his teeth and sprinted through the forest with his junior sister cradled in his arms. It was likely that the core formation disciples patrolling around Xiri Peak had already been alerted by him. He couldn’t wield his sword or summon even a shred of spiritual energy, or else the core formation cultivators around Xiri Peak would instantly pinpoint his location and surround him. Undoubtedly, this was his last resort, but it was also an act of desperation. On his journey from Jianjiu Peak to Xiri Peak, he had been intercepted by a core formation disciple from the Sword Sect. However, he had no time to explain himself to the disciple and had to force his way through. This was how he had sustained the wound on his shoulder.
Sensing that he had reached the depths of the pine forest, Ye Anping quickly retrieved the jade pendant he had obtained from Si Xuanji. This jade pendant, originally a high-level spiritual treasure, could conceal his cultivation and aura, easily deceiving the core formation cultivators. Holding the pendant in his hand, he approached a pine tree and gently set down his junior sister.
After Pei Lianxue landed, she immediately leaned forward, shyly covering her chest with her hands. When her senior brother carried her out, she hadn’t yet dressed, but she didn’t blame him. Seeing his urgency, she refrained from saying anything and quickly wanted to ask him for some clothes or a blanket to cover herself. “Senior brother, do you have…” Pei Lianxue had barely spoken five words when Ye Anping lifted her cheek with his right hand, drawing closer and capturing her lips with his own. Pei Lianxue’s eyes widened slightly. Because of Ye Anping’s action, she took several steps back but still couldn’t regain her balance, falling directly onto the muddy ground covered in fallen leaves.
Thump-
However, as she felt the hot spiritual energy in Ye Anping’s mouth, Pei Lianxue understood what was happening. She calmed down and immediately released the spiritual energy from her dantian.
The sound of the breeze rustling through the leaves was heard in her ears, and Pei Lianxue felt it, too. This time, her senior brother’s condition seemed more serious than ever before. She quickly raised her hand and placed it on his back, gently stroking him. A gentle breeze swept through the forest, and the birdsong filled the air.
The full moon in the sky seemed to want to peek, casting its light through the swaying tree leaves onto the two of them. Streams of hot spiritual energy, like boiling water, flowed out from the place where their lips met along the meridians, while streams of cold energy, like mountain springs, flowed into their bodies from the same place.
Ye Anping’s restless heartbeat gradually calmed down, and the heaviness in his head also eased. With his hands propped against his junior sister’s ears, their tightly joined lips slowly parted. However, what caught his eyes was the trembling eyes filled with tears of his junior sister. A tear rolled down her cheek, dripping onto the soil below.
Pei Lianxue’s lips were slightly parted, as if she were longing for breath, breathing rapidly, but seeing her senior brother’s complexion improve, she smiled through tears, her voice slightly hoarse with worry as she asked, “Brother, are you feeling better?”
“… ” This sentence, to Ye Anping, felt like a sharp sword piercing through his chest and back. He couldn’t help but furrow his brow uneasily, only then noticing that his junior sister was now lying naked on the muddy ground strewn with sharp leaves. He quickly helped her sit up, letting her lean against his chest, and then took off his coat, draping it over her shoulders. “Does it feel uncomfortable?” He asked.
Pei Lianxue placed her hands on his chest, her legs closing involuntarily, her insteps arching slightly, and she unconsciously gripped the ground lightly. She didn’t speak but nodded slightly, causing the long hair between Ye Anping’s collarbones to stir against his skin. Seeing her nod, Ye Anping quickly made a sword gesture with his hand and gently touched the back of her neck, closing his eyes and sending his consciousness into her meridians to explore. However, this time, he was a little uncertain because he was now in the middle stage of the foundation building, and his meridian capacity was nearly ten times that of the initial stage.
In other words, the amount of yang energy that his junior sister could dissolve this time was ten times as much as before. Ye Anping tried to stay calm as he carefully explored Pei Lianxue’s meridians and Dantian, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.
“This is…” He murmured as he slowly withdrew his consciousness, turning to look at his junior sister’s slightly arched feet and her blurred eyes. Waves of hot air brushed against his ear.
“Brother, it’s uncomfortable…” Pei Lianxue’s cheek was buried in Ye Anping’s chest as she closed her eyes slowly and nodded slightly. “Hmm,” Ye Anping responded softly, his hands pressing against her back as he hugged her tightly.
“Are you feeling better now?” Pei Lianxue, with her cheek still buried in Ye Anping’s chest, nodded slightly and said, “Yes, it seems to be getting better… It’s not uncomfortable when you hold me. Can you hold me tighter?”
“…”
Ye Anping nodded slightly, his nose lightly touching the neck of his junior sister, where water droplets glistened and a subtle fragrance wafted in the air. Pei Lianxue always had a scent reminiscent of gardenias, but now, it seemed stronger than usual.
As he smelled the fragrance, he felt a warmth in his heart again, but unlike the previous outburst of Yang energy, it was more like a gentle flow, soothing his body. Ye Anping closed his eyes, calming his breath, and hugged Pei Lianxue tightly as if hesitating or pondering. After a while, as if making a firm decision, he opened his eyes and said,
“Junior sister, senior brother will teach you something in a moment, but senior brother needs to ask you a question. You have to think about it before answering.”
“Um,” Pei Lianxue murmured, like the whisper of an orchid.
Ye Anping paused, then asked, “Lianxue, are you willing to marry me?”
The change in address caused Pei Lianxue’s blurred eyes to widen slightly, and tears welled up in her eyes, lingering at the corners of her eyes.
“I’m willing,” She said.
“Um…” Ye Anping seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then looked up at the moon partially obscured by leaves. He raised his left hand and slowly unbuckled his belt, taking off his shirt and laying it on the ground.
“Senior brother!” Pei Lianxue didn’t understand why he was undressing, but looking at his body, the discomfort seemed to ease.
Ye Anping gently laid her down on his shirt, then hugged her waist and whispered in her ear, “Senior brother wants to teach you something. Can you close your eyes and feel it?”
“Um,” Pei Lianxue replied.
The rustling of the winter wind swept through the forest, lifting fallen leaves and brushing against their naked bodies, but they didn’t feel the cold. Tingling sensations flowed through their meridians, and Pei Lianxue’s lips moved in rhythm with the sounds of nature.
As they merged, Ye Anping stopped pondering and closed his eyes, leaning in to meet the lips of one of the most important people in his life, his junior sister…
…
