Rustle.
The rustle of book pages being turned echoed softly in the living room—a living room that was currently quite crowded, with Lyra sprawled on her back across a couch, her purple hair streaked with pink cascading carelessly around her as she read a book held above her, the occasional sound of turning pages punctuating the quiet.
Tiiinnngg.
A soft harp note followed, drawing attention to its source—a beautiful and gentle-looking Kiara, seated gracefully on a loveseat with a small harp resting in her lap. Her dainty fingers moved slowly, occasionally plucking at the strings to produce a slow, delicate lody.
The notes drifted lazily through the room, weaving past Lyra’s quiet reading, floating softly through the air… before settling near a distant couch that was currently occupied.
On this adjacent couch, Mikael was lying on his back in a relaxed position, his eyes half-lidded, giving the impression that he was halfway between sleep and wakefulness.
Resting atop him was Alia, comfortably sprawled over his body, her head nestled just beneath his collarbone as she quietly listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. One arm was draped loosely across his torso, her fingers tracing small, instinctive circles, while her silky black hair was spread across him like a dark ‘curtain’.
All in all, it seed to be a scene of quiet relaxation—the daily life of a group of people who trusted one another and were simply, leisurely passing ti together after an exhausting but exhilarating session of sex.
Snuggle.
Alia shifted slightly, snuggling deeper into Mikael’s embrace, prompting him to lazily move an arm and begin gently caressing her long, silky black hair.
“Mmm…”
A small, content moan escaped Alia’s lips as she closed her eyes and allowed her beloved to play with her hair.
In this way, amidst the quiet sound of their respective breathing, Lyra turning pages, and Kiara’s soft and gentle lody, ti quietly passed and it seed nothing would change until, after an unknown span of ti, Mikael’s slow and lazy voice resounded,
“Says girls… what do you say that we… do so kind of activities or sothing?”
“What do you an, darling~?” Instantly, Kiara stopped playing her harp, raising her head to look at her darling~, her obsessed dark blue eyes fixed on his form.
Feeling the intense gaze locked on him, Mikael lazily inwardly sighed, ‘Not this morning… please, I am too tired to deal with this shit. Yesterday they really drained dry, if I didn’t have my second physical transformation caused by my progress in the Ninefold Physique thod, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to endure a “battle” of one against three considering we are in the sa cultivation realm…’
As he had this thought, Mikael felt a wave of exhaustion and laziness hit him, but having raised an idea, he needed to finish it, so after a second or two where he gathered his thoughts, he spoke, “I don’t really have a precise idea, but I thought why not do sothing together instead of lying around like tired potatoes on couches, but at the sa ti… I don’t really mind resting on a couch like that, now that I think about it…”
The last part of his ssage was said in a far lower tone of voice, low enough that even with the girls’ superhuman hearing, only Alia—who was just beside him—heard him, and as if how she snuggled closer to him was an indicator, it was clear that she was of the sa opinion as him…
‘Sadly’ Lyra, in a relatively uncharacteristic display of liveliness, suddenly rose to her feet while closing her book with a snap, “Good idea!” She took a mini pause, sending her book into her Storage Ring before continuing, “I think I saw so kind of ‘cultivation card ga’ sowhere in the Cultivator Manor recently. If you’re up for it, we could play a round?”
At that mont, Mikael truly understood the aning of shooting yourself in the foot, but seeing Lyra’s enthusiasm and knowing he was the one who had proposed it, he could only contain his ‘tears’ and let out a, “Yeah.”
Kiara seed intrigued, while Alia’s closed eyes opened, and she threw him a reproachful glance to which he could only shrug his shoulders with an expression that said, “I am innocent!”
Seeing their ‘acceptance’, Lyra was about to leave the living room to go search for this ‘cultivation card ga’ when Mikael suddenly had an idea and spoke, “Lyra.”
The purple-haired beauty stopped in her tracks, turning to look at him with an inquisitive expression.
“Why don’t we invite Senior Sister Lian’er to co play this card ga with us? I think it would be a nice idea, especially considering how she beca your friend over the past few months, no?”
Instantly, Lyra’s visage lit up, it was clear she found his idea brilliant. “Good idea! I’ll go look for her!” she exclaid, and without waiting for an answer, she ‘teleported’ out of the room, vanishing at insane speed toward the teleportation formation leading to Sword Heart Peak, which was integrated into the Cultivation Manor.
Mikael let out a tired sigh. “I don’t know what she has this morning but… she’s far too lively.”
Alia’s head remained on his chest, but the small, almost imperceptible lazy nod made it clear to any observant eye that she shared her beloved’s opinion.
As for Kiara… she continued to play her harp while observing her darling with a sowhat disturbing smile.
All in all, it could be said to be a normal morning—yeah, a totally normal morning.
Step step step.
An unknown span of ti later, two pairs of approaching footsteps echoed, accompanied by the conversing voices of both Lyra and Lian’er.
It didn’t take long for the two beauties to cross the living room threshold, their graceful forms clad in the black and silver Taoist robes that signaled their status as Core Disciples of the Wandering Sword Sect, giving them a distinctly ‘ethereal’ air.
Hua Lianyu took in the scene before a mischievous, playful smile blood across her visage as she waved cheerfully, “Hello~ my adorable Junior Brother and Junior Sisters, your favorite big sister has arrived!”
“Hmm.”
The answer she received was a nod from Kiara, while Alia and Mikael remained in their current positions, offering only a soft humming sound as a ‘welco’.
“What is it, are you tired?” Without waiting for an answer, she crossed the distance separating her from the couch where Mikael and Alia were sprawled out, then leaned forward, her silky brown hair falling around her visage like a curtain as her hazel eyes—full of playful charm—gazed down at them.
“You really do seem tired…” she rubbed her chin thoughtfully before suddenly ‘understanding’, “I see! It’s because Mikael just ca back from a long ti outside the Sect and was tired, and then his fatigue rubbed off on Junior Sister Alia, am I right?” she proudly exclaid while raising her chin, clearly believing she had ‘solved the case’.
A lazy, half-open erald eye witnessed the scene, and despite himself, Mikael couldn’t help but show a faint, amused smile. “Amazing! You found out. You really are the smartest Senior Sister!”
“Hehe, I know… thank you, Junior Brother,” bead Hua Lianyu.
Mikael inwardly shook his head in amusent, ‘Lian’er and her obsession with being a “big sister” is really sothing—it’s like if she doesn’t talk about it at least once per sentence, she’ll die or sothing…’
Rustle.
With a faint rustle and a theatrical groan of effort, Mikael shifted into a sitting position, and Alia followed suit with the sa slow, languid grace, until her head ca to rest against his shoulder, her tired eyes quietly settling on Lian’er, who stood a few steps away, still watching them.
Lian’er’s lips parted, clearly about to speak once again, but Lyra—who had been silently observing her Senior Sister giving herself in spectacle—chose that mont to intervene, “Lian’er, can we focus on the original reason you’re here instead of getting sidetracked?”
“The reason?” Lian’er tilted her head before raising a finger to her lips, “Ohhh! The card ga!”
Fump.
Lyra, who had been standing at the entrance while quietly watching her Senior Sister with mild amusent, moved to sit on one of the couches before retrieving sothing from her Storage Ring. “Lian’er.”
The beauty’s head turned toward her as Lyra gently tapped the space beside her, “Co sit, I think you’re overwhelming Alia and Mikael with your… liveliness.”
Lian’er pouted at her words but didn’t retort, instead obediently taking a seat just beside Lyra.
Once Hua Lianyu was seated, everyone’s attention naturally shifted to the small box in Lyra’s hand—a compact container of deep black with subtle hints of gold, bearing the image of a bleeding heart and the title: Heart Demon Hunt.
Clink.
“This is the ‘Cultivation Card Ga’ I was talking about… but what exactly is it? I can’t say I really know—I admit I’m a bit curious.” As Lyra spoke, she opened the box, revealing its contents: a deck of cards marked with the sa bleeding heart emblem, along with what appeared to be a set of rule instructions.
She took a brief mont to read through them before speaking again, “Okay, I understand—the rules are really simple. It’s a kind of truth and dare, so to say!”
In Mikael and Kiara’s eyes, a light of understanding appeared, while Alia blinked slowly in confusion, a confusion clearly shared by Lian’er as she tilted her head in curiosity.
Seeing this, Lyra asked incredulously, “Alia, Lian’er, you don’t know what a Truth or Dare is, do you?”
“No.”
“No.”
Lyra was surprised—after all, from what she had heard, Truth or Dare was supposed to be a really popular ga among young adults, so normally everyone should have known about it, right? The socially inept Lyra, whose knowledge about these kinds of things ca either from the internet or from books, found herself confused… but after a mont, she ‘understood’.
‘Maybe it wasn’t this ga that was popular but actually another? But I rember reading sothing on the Internet saying that Truth or Dare gas were really popular with young adults… but maybe I saw wrong and it was actually another ga?’
“Eh, Lyra?” the inquisitive voice of Lian’er reached her ears, pulling her out of her confused musing.
Lyra’s mouth opened to speak, but at that mont, her attention was caught by Lian’er’s Taoist robes—and instantly, she understood, this ti for real, ‘I see! It’s because it’s a different world with a different culture that this ga doesn’t exist here…’
‘As for Alia, maybe she just doesn’t know. From what was said on the Internet, it was sothing that happened at “parties,” and not the kind frequented by nobles—so with her status, maybe she never attended those kinds of things!’
Cough.
Lyra coughed once to mask her sha at having been ‘so stupid,’ then spoke, “Sorry about that, I was lost in my thoughts…” She paused, cheeks flushing slightly, before continuing, For more chapters visit novel{f}ire
“Nevermind, even if you don’t know what a Truth or Dare is, you’ll be able to understand easily as I explain the rules. This Heart Demon Hunt is a card ga ant to be played with 2 to 8 participants—if the number is lower or higher, it’s not realistically playable.”
“The people that would play…” she gestured toward herself and the four others, “which in our case would be 5, need to sit in a circle with this deck of cards here.” She raised the deck bearing the emblem of a bleeding heart.
“Placed directly at the center, what will happen afterward is that each player will draw a card and then read it aloud—these cards fall into three categories, with the first being Trial of the Heart, which is essentially a ‘Truth’, sothing like: say a truth about food, or who is the person you love the most.”
Hearing the part about truth, Kiara’s eyes lit up with glee as her thoughts instantly swirled, ‘With this I can ask questions to my darling~ and learn more about him! What is this ga? It is paradise!? Of course I already know basic things about Mikael—like the precise ti fra during which he allows himself to sleep after sex, which is usually 7 hours, 12 minutes, and 14 seconds on average.’
‘Or how his lips slightly twitch before he wakes up, or the subtle difference in his sigh when he’s tired versus when he is annoyed… basic knowledge, but learning more about darling is NEVER a bad idea!’ It was on these thoughts that Kiara, with shining dark blue eyes, listened to what Lyra was saying with rapt attention.
“The second type is Path of Madness, which is a Dare like: do sothing embarrassing, or jump in place, or sothing of the sort. The third is the Karmic Backslash, which, when you draw it, makes you receive a ‘backslash’ that can range from ‘failing a heavenly tribulation’ to ‘developing a heart demon’—but what it essentially ans is that when you get a Karmic Backslash, you skip a round.”
“Up to here, was I clear?” inquired Lyra.
💬Got Thoughts? I read every comnt, and your words genuinely shape Mikael’s path.
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A/N:
This chapter was different from other as it can be said to be a 100% slice of life one where nothing much happen from the plot pov but from a slice of life pov a lot of things happen with Mikael and the girls Lian’er interaction once again after a long separation in a rather wholeso scene.
We also saw them interact around the Heart Demon Hunt which is a card ga which I admit is sowhat weird and out of the blue for a cultivation world but I thought why not?
After all form a logical point of view, these kind of card/board gas never happen in cultivation novel but they should exist, probably, so I introduced them in my novel for this slice of life scene I don’t know how it ca back?
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