#41: The Kiss

The same conversation happened a second time, and Bian Lingyu still couldn’t calm himself.

But this time, unlike in the barren mountains where his mind had gone completely blank, he waited for Shi Luoyi to finish her sentence. Was it for her father, Shi Huan, or for Buye Mountain this time?

After all, he was already like this now, and Zhu Yan would soon manifest. His frail body was nothing but skin and bones, with little time left. Whatever he could give her, he had already given her ten years ago. He couldn’t think of what else Shi Luoyi needed him to do for her.

He waited for a long while, but Shi Luoyi didn’t continue.

Bian Lingyu had no choice but to turn his head to look at her. They were now sharing the same quilt, so close that even their breaths mingled.

When Shi Luoyi had asked her question earlier, she wasn’t as nervous. But now, the moonlight illuminated half the room, making both their expressions clearly visible. Her heart began to race.

She had already pulled her arm back, trying to distance herself from Bian Lingyu slightly. Now, under his emotionless gaze inspecting her face, she almost wanted to retreat into her own bed and pretend she hadn’t said anything.

But Bian Lingyu couldn’t act as if she had said nothing: “Be my true Dao partner. Then what? What do you need me to do for you?”

She looked confused: “I don’t need you to do anything.”

Seeing that she didn’t seem to be lying and truly had no follow-up, after a long pause, Bian Lingyu realized that Shi Luoyi was serious. He silently stared at her, unable to believe she would make such an absurd proposal.

If Bian Lingyu could live much longer, he would definitely refuse. A divine being’s dignity wouldn’t allow someone to pity him and offer him something out of sympathy.

But three years in the mortal world, powerless and confined to the small courtyard on Mingyou Mountain, he had nothing left to lose. Even without Wei Changyuan, he didn’t have the time to earn her love anymore. He felt a bitter irony inside. Yes, he had willingly endured her humiliation before—how could this matter now?

Hui Xiang worried that if Shi Luoyi understood love, she might sacrifice everything for someone she loved, just as Shi Huan had done for saving Wan Qian. But Bian Lingyu knew Shi Luoyi wouldn’t. In her naive life, the only one who stirred her feelings was Wei Changyuan. Bian Lingyu never worried about how deeply Shi Luoyi would grieve after his death.

This was fine by him. He had a dream, and he would accompany her through this most difficult stretch of her path. After his death, he would lock the divine pearl inside her. Even if she eventually succumbed to evil forces, her soul wouldn’t be scattered.

In a fleeting moment, Bian Lingyu had made his decision. But he decided to give Shi Luoyi one last chance to reconsider: “Are you sure about becoming my Dao partner?”

Shi Luoyi had come this far and couldn’t back out now. She nodded. Worried that Bian Lingyu might not see it clearly, she voiced her agreement: “Mm!”

Bian Lingyu calmly looked at her: “Do you know what true Dao partners usually do?”

Of course, Shi Luoyi knew, but she didn’t expect Bian Lingyu to ask outright. Her ears burned slightly, but she remained composed and answered: “I know.”

This time, Bian Lingyu didn’t ask any more questions. He leaned over directly.

Originally, Shi Luoyi had been sleeping on the inner side of the bed, but to get closer to Bian Lingyu, she had moved to the center of the mattress.

With both of them already in the same quilt, it was convenient for Bian Lingyu to move closer.

Out of instinct as a cultivator, Shi Luoyi reflexively blocked him. Her hands moved faster than her thoughts, pressing against his chest to stop him from advancing further.

Bian Lingyu lowered his eyes to look at her, calm and quiet, as if he had expected her to change her mind.

Realizing her reaction, Shi Luoyi quickly moved her hand away. She hadn’t changed her mind—once she made a decision, she rarely regretted it. She was just a bit flustered. She hadn’t expected things to progress so quickly; tonight, she had only intended to ask.

Seeing her remove her hand, Bian Lingyu didn’t say anything. His cold hand covered her delicate wrist—the very hand she had used to push him away. From above, he gazed down at her, still patiently waiting for her to reconsider.

The moonlight shimmered like fireflies. Beneath him, Shi Luoyi’s breathing grew erratic. This time, she managed to keep herself from moving around too much.

After a brief moment of eye contact, Bian Lingyu’s other hand gently brushed aside the stray strands of hair on her cheek. After finishing, he didn’t immediately withdraw his hand. His thumb rested on her cheek, beneath her eyelid, quietly observing her.

That gaze made Shi Luoyi understand that something was bound to happen next.

“Is it alright?”

This was the second time Bian Lingyu had asked her this. This time, Shi Luoyi couldn’t refuse. Since she had decided to become his true Dao partner, certain things were inevitable. It was her idea in the first place—she had no reason to reject him.

She nodded haphazardly, closing her eyes as if throwing caution to the wind.

Closing her eyes didn’t ease her tension; instead, it heightened every sensation.

Moments later, a faint coolness pressed against her lips.

At first, it was just a light touch, like a dragonfly skimming the surface of water. But Bian Lingyu didn’t pull away. The hand holding her wrist seemed to warm up, gradually increasing its pressure, pulling her wrist deeper into the silk quilt along with him.

He lingered for a long while, as if realizing something, then gently parted her lips with his. At the instant they touched, her body trembled slightly.

This unfamiliar sensation made her cheeks flush rapidly. She tried her best to endure, waiting for the kiss to end.

But she didn’t expect this to be just the beginning. Shi Luoyi no longer had the presence of mind to marvel at thoughts like, “So he really loves me” or “He actually agreed so easily.”

Her mind was now filled with thoughts like: Hasn’t he kissed enough yet? Shouldn’t he let go? Is it not over yet?

Her face turned crimson. She had never imagined a kiss could be so lingering. Her hand was softly pushed aside, intertwining with his fingers, sinking deeper into the soft quilt.

Shi Luoyi sensed a strange transformation spreading between them. Her legs trembled, and this was entirely different from the first time she had been intimate with him.

She felt the man’s possessiveness and the playful intent behind the way he guided their lips. If she weren’t certain this was Bian Lingyu, she would have thought he had been possessed.

Finally, Shi Luoyi couldn’t take it anymore. She never imagined someone could be so… so… She used her other hand to push against his chest, breaking free from his embrace, and opened her eyes to ask, “C-can we stop now?”

The person on top of her opened his dazed eyes. His gaze was clouded with desire, his gray-ink eyes growing darker, but his voice remained as calm as ever: “Mm.”

The delicate wrist of the young girl was still in his palm. Bian Lingyu saw her part her cherry-red lips, cautiously catching her breath, her face flushed red. Earlier, she had mustered the courage to look at him, but now her trembling gaze was fixed on the gauze canopy, lost in confusion.

Even Bian Lingyu hadn’t expected himself to react this way.

The moon disappeared, and the sky began to brighten.

Bian Lingyu hadn’t planned to do anything to her right now. At first, he was simply waiting for Shi Luoyi to show fear or change her mind. But until the end, there was no trace of regret in her eyes. If she could remain so composed, his emotions only deepened further.

Remembering that Shi Luoyi hadn’t slept for two nights, Bian Lingyu pulled her quilt over and wrapped her in it: “Sleep.”

He got off the bed himself, sitting at the table with his back to her, calming his breathing.

The tea had already gone cold, but he couldn’t taste it. All he could sense was the lingering fragrance of the young girl.

Wrapped in the quilt, Shi Luoyi lay there for a long while, her eyes vacant, her limbs weak. Finally, she timidly revealed her flushed face.

She blinked her misty eyes, and all she could see was the gauze canopy that the fox had prepared for them. She didn’t dare to look at Bian Lingyu, thinking that even if they became true Dao partners, it wouldn’t be much different—nothing out of the ordinary.

After all, they had already done more intimate things.

Only now did she realize how wrong she had been—terribly wrong. The sensation left her body trembling.

She didn’t dare ask Bian Lingyu to come back to bed, as neither of them would be able to sleep anyway.

For the first time, Shi Luoyi thought that in the future, it might be better to discuss important matters during the day. She hadn’t slept last night, and it seemed she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight either.

Not long after, dawn broke.

Shi Luoyi dressed herself. That kiss had been too overwhelming, and she couldn’t face Bian Lingyu calmly just yet. She skipped breakfast with him and went to practice her blade techniques in the back mountains but didn’t forget to have someone prepare medicine for Bian Lingyu.

After practicing her blade for a while, she finally felt refreshed and returned to read through the booklets.

Bian Lingyu was no longer in the room.

“Where did Bian Lingyu go?”

Hui Xiang, who was overseeing the replacement of the folding screens as instructed, replied: “He went to the woods at the back mountain.”

Shi Luoyi shook her head, feeling an inexplicable sense of relief. “Did he take his medicine?”

“Yes, he drank it before leaving. Ding Bai is with him as well.”

Reassured, Shi Luoyi continued reading the booklet Fu Qiu had sent over yesterday. Her mind was calmer than the day before, and she was finally able to focus.

She discovered that a newly transformed bear demon halfway up the mountain had been bullying other spirits and monsters. Relying on Fu Qiu’s inability to cultivate further and thus being uncontrollable, the bear had been running rampant in Buye Mountain for the past two years. Shi Luoyi marked a cross next to the bear demon’s name.

Her method of handling this situation followed her father Shi Huan’s approach. After lunch, she planned to go and slay it.

Meanwhile, Bian Lingyu was making bamboo figures in another forest at the back mountain.

He was acutely aware that he didn’t have much time left. If Zhu Yan was indeed the one causing chaos in the Southern Yue Kingdom, he needed to finish refining the Tianji Pill for Shi Luoyi before his death to remove her inner demons.

Ding Bai was nearby amusing himself with crickets when he casually remarked: “Master looks much better today.”

This remark reminded Bian Lingyu of his loss of control the previous night. Although the divine pearl was still inside Shi Luoyi, he was ultimately its master. Bian Qingxuan had once suggested drawing blood from Shi Luoyi, which he refused. Yet, he hadn’t expected that it could happen like this…

He didn’t respond to Ding Bai and continued crafting the bamboo figures—the only living creations gods could make. This was his remaining innate ability after giving the divine pearl to Shi Luoyi.

Bian Lingyu was grateful that Shi Huan had been so capable, amassing a substantial fortune over thousands of years. Though the spiritual materials required for the Tianji Pill were demanding, six of the eight necessary herbs could be found within Buye Mountain. Only two remained elusive.

Bian Lingyu had already dispatched several batches of bamboo figures to explore secret realms, many of which had perished inside. But he hadn’t given up. He kept sending waves of bamboo figures into various secret realms, confident that eventually, he would find what he needed.

A bamboo figure emerged from underground and flew onto his lap to deliver a report.

Once imbued with spirit bodies, these figures could become invisible, undetectable by someone like Ding Bai.

“Master, Qingxuan has escaped the formation.”

All the other bamboo figures had been slain by Bian Qingxuan, except for this one that managed to escape.

“I see.” Bian Lingyu wasn’t surprised. Trapping Bian Qingxuan for this long was already at the limits of his capabilities.

He just didn’t know if Bian Qingxuan would give up or not.

He vaguely understood why Bian Qingxuan was so obsessed with him and the divine pearl. After returning to the divine realm, Bian Lingyu had learned some information about Bian Qingxuan’s past.

His uncle was promiscuous by nature, fathering countless illegitimate children, including a young female slave from the Chifeng Clan.

The Chifeng Clan had only one Holy Maiden, whose sole child was Qingxuan. The Chifeng Clan had betrayed the gods during the ancient war between gods and demons. As punishment, they had served as slaves for millions of years.

Qingxuan’s only hope to escape the oracle and elevate her clan’s status was to marry a true god.

Bian Lingyu lowered his eyes. When he first met this cousin, she was already a striking woman dressed in red. However, members of the Chifeng Clan could choose their gender again after reaching adulthood.

In the divine realm, individuals came of age at a thousand years old, and Qingxuan had recently reached adulthood.

He hadn’t known Qingxuan before, but he knew that most of his uncle’s children were sons. Bian Lingyu didn’t understand much about Qingxuan’s past. A bastard from a minor branch of the divine family wasn’t worth his attention back then.

But now, things were different. If Qingxuan had truly lived as a man for a thousand years, only transforming into a woman upon adulthood for the sake of her clan, she wouldn’t easily let Shi Luoyi go, even if it meant death.

If his journey to Southern Yue was destined to be his end, Bian Lingyu had to find a way to severely wound Qingxuan before his death and force her back to the divine realm.

He needed to buy enough time for Shi Luoyi to grow stronger. Even if one day he was no longer around, the young sword cultivator could survive amidst the wolves and wait for the day her father awoke.

Shi Luoyi shared lunch with Bian Lingyu. Sitting together, it was impossible not to recall the events of the previous night.

Shi Luoyi tried to forget the sensations from last night and discussed with Bian Lingyu: “Didn’t you previously want to return to Southern Yue with me? The beginning of next month is my mother’s memorial day. Would you accompany me back then?”

Bian Lingyu paused. She didn’t know what it signified for him, but he calmly nodded: “Alright.”

Shi Luoyi was worried that Bian Lingyu might feel bored in Buye Mountain. Now that he was her Dao partner, she was trying her best to adapt to this new identity of his.

Since Bian Lingyu was also considered the master of Buye Mountain, this place was his home too. After some thought, she said: “After lunch, I’m going to the mountainside to deal with a presumptuous bear demon. Do you want to watch?”

It didn’t seem strange to her to invite her mortal husband to watch her fight a demon.

When Bian Lingyu was with her, there was almost no shadow in his heart.

Whether it was Zhu Yan, death, the suffering of recent years, or loneliness—all seemed to dissipate in her sparkling eyes.

She was the same. Even though a demonic influence had entered her body, she didn’t allow it to cloud her mind. Day after day, she worked hard on her cultivation and diligently managed every aspect of Buye Mountain.

He gently curved his lips upward: “Mm, I’ll watch you defeat him.”