“So he knows you got hurt? Nah, co on... if he bought info from the Yanxing Sect, he’d know way more. … Hey, wait, you’re saying sothing happened in the Southeast Forest Sea?”
“What is it now?” Shui Die Lan shot back, eyebrows lifting in a way that made the question feel more like a dare. “You’ve been chewing on it for days, haven’t you? Go on, then, let’s hear what’s been rattling around in that head of yours.”
That ca out of nowhere. Li Xun froze. And whatever he ant to say tangled and died on his tongue. After a long, useless pause, he managed a thin, bitter smile. “If you see so bloody clearly,’ he said, ‘doesn’t that an you’ve been turning it over in your own mind as well?”
He hesitated for a mont, then went on. “It may not be long before your battle with Luo Moshi in the Southeast Forest Sea spreads everywhere. There's no hiding it. And that part is fine. But back then you told Moshi laid his trap for the Hundred-Illusion Butterfly, not for Shui Die Lan. So when you walked into that ambush… what identity were you using?”
“Does it matter?”
It was obvious she was just playing dumb. And conveniently loosening up the sudden awkwardness. Li Xun saw right through it, so he simply rolled his eyes.
“Nonsense! Moshi still had so reservations about dealing with ... because of Mist-Hidden Pavilion. Before, it didn’t matter much. But now, with the whole Yan Shuiyue situation, the value of this place has suddenly shot up. It’s the perfect mont for him to cash in. If he were to notice sothing off right now… heh, you think Moshi’s thods are that easy to deal with?”
Shui Die Lan watched him with a smile. Once she was sure he’d finished, she raised her eyebrows and said, “And then?”
“What do you an, ‘and then’?”
“Seriously? In a situation like this, shouldn't soone be at least a little suspicious? Not just about this specific incident, but about the things before... and whatever cos next?”
Li Xun didn’t even have the strength left for a bitter smile.
Her reply sounded honest, but it was actually sly and shaless. In his current fra of mind, his head wasn't in the ga to handle sothing like this.
If the two of them faced off now, Li Xun would probably die a bloody, miserable death. Yet… for so reason, he couldn’t feel an ounce of nervousness.
He was just about to raise his hands and surrender when Shui Die Lan suddenly closed in, pulling them so close there was almost no space left between them.
The sudden move made Li Xun instinctively lean back a little. But the mont his forehead tipped away, her hands ca up and stopped him.
It was an indescribably intimate move.
Shui Die Lan lifted her face in sothing close to a challenge and t his eyes.
“You’re not the type to fuss about the past. So let’s talk about the future instead. Let guess what’s on your mind. Are you scared? Of course you are. You know so many of my secrets, but the ‘Heart Knot’ only lasts a hundred years. For people like us, that’s a bit short.”
Li Xun let out a dry laugh. “What are you talking abou- mm!”
Shui Die Lan’s soft lips had already brushed against the corner of his. Then she bit. And a faintly tallic taste spread where their mouths t.
Li Xun’s heart skip violently. Blood boiled up to his throat, and deep inside, the hidden gu let out a high-pitched, gleeful cry.
Their lips parted.
Shui Die Lan flicked her tongue across the last traces of blood at his lips. Her smile was dangerously, almost wickedly seductive.
“A hundred years is too short. By watering it with heart-blood, even I can't guess how long it will extend for! Maybe two hundred, maybe three hundred years, but it might suddenly lose its effect any day... Are you scared?”
Li Xun drew a deep breath, greedily sucking in every trace of blood lingering in the air. It felt like his entire bloodstream was about to boil.
And right then, he suddenly realized how passive his position was. He lifted his hands, wanting to cup Shui Die Lan’s face.
But halfway up, he suddenly noticed his left hand was still balled into a tight fist. In a mont like this, it looked ridiculous. And the familiar ache flared sharply, painfully real. He could even feel the jade Bixiu twisting and rolling beneath his skin.
Shui Die Lan’s eyes flicked over the fist, then slanted back at him. The curve of her smile seed to deepen.
For so reason, Li Xun felt a pang of guilt. The smile on his face went stiff. “Looks like… I worried for nothin--” He suddenly groan and folded over like a shrimp.
Shui Die Lan’s knee had co without a shred of rcy. The hard bone drove forward with force, almost tearing through his lower abdon.
Even if his had turned into flowing qi, this hit would’ve still hurt like hell. The sudden, crushing pressure in his gut nearly burst his heart. He gagged, his face turning a deep, angry purple.
Shui Die Lan gave a soft snort and loosened her hands from around his neck, stepping back. But the instant she moved, her shoulder tightened. Li Xun’s hands had latched on.
That was all he managed to do.
Li Xun clearly hadn’t recovered from that knee. He panted in ragged gasps, leaning forward, nearly dumping his full weight onto her.
He pressed his chin against the demoness’s slender shoulder. And every ragged breath he drew rattled straight into the her ear.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Shui Die Lan jabbed him again, though this ti with less force.
Li Xun chuckled. The cold air he breathed in was mixed, unavoidably, with the subtle scent coming from the demoness. Combined with the warmth at the back of her neck, it hit him like a spell, leaving his throat hoarse without him aning it.
Then he leaned close to her little ear and said, “Relax. If that day ever cos, I’ll definitely be one step ahead of you… so stop thinking about it, alright?”
So blunt… but that was exactly what made it fun.
Shui Die Lan wanted to laugh, but all she managed was a quiet "Mm." She looked up and off into the endless sky, toward the brilliant glow of dawn.
Clouds stretched for miles like woven silk, and from within them the first sun was rising... like a phoenix spreading its wings. But why was she seeing sothing like that?
And the man holding her so closely right now... if his heart was truly in tune with hers, who would he be thinking of at this mont?
She still didn’t ask. After they pulled apart, she took a while to calm herself, then went to Li Xun to ask for the Soul-Seeking Ice Beetle.
“I did what you told , froze it stiff, and put it inside,” Li Xun said as he pulled a jade bottle from his robes. He gave her a light smile. “But if you’re worried it’ll track us down, you could just kill it. Why keep it alive? It might end up giving our trail away and causing trouble.”
“I like it. Is that a problem?”
Shui Die Lan really didn’t bother with logic at all. One line was enough to shut Li Xun right up.
But before he could even manage a bitter smile, she tapped his chest with a playful grin. “Relax. I’m doing this for your own good. I know perfectly well this little thing is a ‘child beetle,’ and the ‘mother beetle’ is definitely on that so-called junior brother of mine. Hmph. As if I wouldn’t know. He just wants to use this thing as bait and wait for to swallow it whole.”
You’re already swallowing it now…
Li Xun, of course, wouldn’t say it out loud. He believed that with Shui Die Lan’s abilities, she could jump straight into a trap and still climb out without a scratch.
Shui Die Lan traced a few talismans over the jade bottle, seemingly cutting off the link between the mother and child beetle. Then she happily tucked the bottle away. She looked so pleased that it was hard to guess why.
Li Xun tried to figure it out, but got nowhere. He decided not to dwell on it. Morning light was already bright across the sky, and it was about ti to get moving. He called out to her and took off, rising into the air. Shui Die Lan followed behind him, humming so tune he didn’t recognize.
She really was in a good mood.
Li Xun couldn’t help feeling a bit puzzled by her strange shift in mood. But soon, as the north wind blew in from the south, his thoughts were pulled toward the direction it ca from, growing hazy and uncertain....
“Hey, hey, hey!”
The final shout blasted straight into his eardrums, jolting him so hard he nearly lost control of his true breath and fell straight out of the sky.
Li Xun spun around in anger and t Shui Die Lan’s amused gaze.
“Tsk. Spacing out? What were you thinking about?”
“I was thinking… ha, of course I was thinking about what’s happening up north. I was wondering, with sothing that big happening at the Mingxin Sword Sect, and being the flashy disciple who’s always in the spotlight, not to ntion close with Immortal Master Ming Ji... yet I’m nowhere to be seen right now. What do you think they’ll make of that?”
Li Xun wasn’t telling the whole truth, of course, but even so, reaching this far had Shui Die Lan. genuinely surprised.
At this point, she could only follow the thread he’d laid out. “That’s true. But looking at the state you’re in, if you showed up now, who knows. Those two sects might turn on you together and wipe you out.”
Li Xun humd lazily, clearly he’d already figured that much out.
Shui Die Lan giggled. “Honestly, that might be for the best. Why not use this chance to let ‘Spirit Bamboo’ disappear? Stuff like that happens all the ti in this world. Who knows, they might even shed a few tears for you over there. The Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect side is easier to handle.. Isn’t the Underworld Fla Yama pretty fond of you? He’s definitely easier to deal with than Qingming.”
It was the second ti she’d floated this idea, but Li Xun reacted no differently. He shook his head with a small smile. “It’s not that simple.”
After that, no matter how she tried to provoke him, Li Xun stayed silent. With nothing else to do, Shui Die Lan sulked, and the air between them went stiff again.
But as night began to fall and she caught sight of the lush green colors around the Southeast Forest Sea from a distance, she broke the mood herself.
“Woohoo! Finally ho!”
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