A few days ago.
Lian Yue was at her residence in the Heishi Anfang when she received an unexpected visitor.
It was only when Gong Lixing appeared at the door and stared at her with wide eyes that Lian Yue realized she hadn’t avoided him because she hid so well, but because he hadn’t really tried to find her in the first place.
Gong Lixing’s cultivation was too powerful for Lian Yue to look him in the eye, so she retreated several steps, hiding inside the house.
“Ma–Master, how did you find me?” Lian Yue asked gloomily.
Gong Lixing, half exasperated and half amused, replied, “The Cloudsea Immortal Pavilion is such a vast territory, yet only this patch of Heiyun is beyond my perception. I guessed you were hiding here right away.”
“Lian Yue, oh Lian Yue, isn’t this a case of being too clever for your own good? If you really wanted to hide, you should have left some fake traces of Qi in several places to confuse pursuers.”
“That way, if someone did find you, you’d get advance warning. Or you could have left false clues leading people outside the Cloudsea Immortal Pavilion, so you could flee the other way and never be caught.”
Fire.
“Master, why are you so experienced in this kind of thing…”
The two of them fell silent at the same time.
Gong Lixing cleared his throat and said sternly, “Let’s skip the idle talk. I have an important task for you…”
He told Lian Yue in advance about Gu Ze and Li Xunmiao soon entering the Weijin Mountain secret realm, and entrusted her with secretly helping the two of them to seize the Shenhuo.
Upon hearing that it was related to Gu Ze, Lian Yue grew even more flustered, and she even shut the door, talking to Gong Lixing through it.
“Why do you want me to do this…”
“Because you are one of the few Jin Dan who actually care about the lives of Qi-refining disciples.”
“In fact, I didn’t plan on finding you. It’s just that I followed a very obvious Sealed Fate Thread on Gu Ze all the way here, and it led right to you. And you’re just right for this task—almost like fate itself arranged it.”
Lian Yue almost fainted, her face burning with embarrassment.
She tried to deny it with little confidence: “How…how could I possibly be connected to a disciple with a Sealed Fate Thread…”
The two were not of the same generation. In the free and easy world of cultivation outside, it might not matter, but in a great sect like the Cloudsea Immortal Pavilion, such a relationship would be seen as a forbidden master-disciple romance.
It was taboo—looked down upon if word got out.
“Look at how nervous you are. I’m not some old stick-in-the-mud, and I’m not here to lecture you about the rules. You’re not from the same peak, not truly master and disciple—there’s no need to overthink it.”
“No, it doesn’t matter to me if you’re master and disciple or like siblings. The real question is, are you willing to help Gu Ze?”
“This time, with the Jin Dan Shenhuo emerging, Wang Xiao will never let such an opportunity pass, but behind this chance, disaster lurks. Whether Nascent Soul or Jin Dan, whoever intervenes will be caught in this web of karma.”
Hearing this, Lian Yue grew even more hesitant.
She murmured, “In ancient times, cultivators encircled Weijin Mountain, stealing the fortune of heaven and earth for themselves.”
“Now, karma has accumulated and brought forth disaster—the dormant volcano is about to erupt. We’re helpless, so why should a mere Qi-refining disciple have to bear such a calamity?”
“Not so. Every plan has failed, yet he alone can break the impasse. Even Li Xunmiao, who carries the Mandate of Heaven, is not the key—only by inserting Gu Ze’s fate into the equation can we obtain a flawless outcome.”
Gong Lixing made a calculation with his fingers, and a phantom image of a Rongpan appeared in his hand, finally settling on the result he hoped for.
Lian Yue was still hesitating. Gong Lixing stroked his beard and said lightly, “The two of them will go through life and death together in the secret realm. Surely their bond will be unbreakable after such trials. By then, there might not be room for anyone else…”
“I’ll go, I’ll go, isn’t that enough?!”
Lian Yue gritted her teeth and agreed. In the end, she still came.
She couldn’t set her mind at ease about Gu Ze, fearing his destiny might perish in that tiny secret realm.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and after the tribulation, the two of them could enjoy some peace together.
***
Above the Cloudsea, a patch of Heiyun appeared before Gu Ze and Lian Yue.
Even though both of them tacitly slowed their steps, for cultivators, the journey was still far too short.
Lian Yue tugged Gu Ze’s sleeve, her gaze averted as she asked in a small voice, “Do you want to come in and sit with me for a while?”
Come in and sit? Then let’s go in and sit.
Gu Ze pretended to be upright and asked without blushing or skipping a beat, “Is it really just to sit?”
Lian Yue, of course, saw right through him.
Just now, the two of them had been interrupted when about to kiss. Now, back at the Anfang, no one would disturb them—they could kiss till the world faded away.
Lian Yue raised her hand to Gu Ze’s ear, standing on tiptoe, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Not just sitting—I want to do bad things with you behind your junior sister’s back.”
Gu Ze’s ears tingled, her breath echoing in his mind.
Before he knew it, they were already inside Lian Yue’s boudoir.
She had been away for a while, so the place seemed especially quiet, but it would soon be ignited by their shared passion.
Lian Yue straightened her body, sitting on the table. This height was just right—their eyes level, so the difference in height wouldn’t be too obvious.
Otherwise, she was more than half a head shorter than Gu Ze, and kissing would require standing on tiptoe or quietly floating up.
“This place is a bit shabby, but I really couldn’t wait. My mind’s full of you, little lecher—I had no time to decorate. If not, I’d have taken you to the Fengzhu Jade Pavilion on Rouman Peak to spend the night together.”
She stuck out her tongue, then tapped her moist lips with a fingertip, signaling for Gu Ze to take the initiative.
The young man ran a hand through his short, dry hair, leaned down, and almost pressed his weight onto Lian Yue.
She gently removed her hairpin, letting her long hair flow like a waterfall across the table—carefree and unrestrained.
Their lips were about to meet when Lian Yue suddenly raised a hand to stop Gu Ze.
“Wait, wait~” She reached into Gu Ze’s storage pouch with a slender hand and pulled out the Chilong Rope.
She fiddled with it for a moment, then frowned slightly.
“Huh? I can’t see anything special about this. Is it really a Nascent Soul treasure Gong Lixing gave you?”
“Ahem, what Nascent Soul treasure? The Chilong Rope is just a magic tool I got by chance—it can only bind opponents whose cultivation isn’t higher than mine,” Gu Ze explained.
“Oh? You tied me up with the Chilong Rope before, and even with my Jin Dan strength I couldn’t break free. How can it be just a Qi-refining treasure?”
Lian Yue bumped Gu Ze’s forehead lightly with her own, pouting that he would keep secrets from her.
But if this really involved secrets Gu Ze didn’t want to share, Lian Yue had no intention of prying.
She deliberately suppressed her cultivation, all the way down to the eighth level of Qi-refining.
Gu Ze immediately understood. He wrapped the Chilong Rope twice around Lian Yue’s wrists, tying them together with a neat butterfly knot.
Lian Yue hooked her foot over his knee, struggling a bit, then her eyes flashed with a pitiful light: “I really can’t break free now, so I guess I’m at Gu Ze’s mercy~”
Gu Ze gripped her tied wrists in one hand, pressing them above her head, and lifted her chin with the other. No matter how Lian Yue tried to dodge, there was nowhere to run.
Open.
Not that Lian Yue actually intended to dodge.
A gentle kiss fell, and before a single breath could pass, Lian Yue’s eyes rolled back and she fainted.
Gu Ze wasn’t in a hurry. He gently laid her limp, delicate body on the table.
Perhaps because the Chilong Rope sealed her cultivation, it took Lian Yue a little longer to wake.
When she came to, meeting Gu Ze’s burning gaze, Lian Yue licked her lips, beckoning to him without any restraint: “Again.”
This time, they didn’t stop at a taste. Lian Yue was brimming with energy, and only when their lips and teeth were full of each other’s breath did she finally push him away, panting.
“All right, that’s enough for today—it’s getting dark. I won’t let you stay overnight.” She raised her hands, signaling for Gu Ze to untie the red rope from her wrists.
Instead, Gu Ze pulled her into his arms in one motion, slinging Lian Yue over his shoulder.
“Hey, hey! Gu Ze, what are you doing?” Lian Yue struggled a couple of times. “No, not today! I’m not ready yet…”
Her whole face turned scarlet as Gu Ze tossed her directly onto the soft bed in her boudoir.
The cold air was swept away by the heat; Lian Yue curled into a ball, eyes rimmed with tears, biting her lip as she looked at Gu Ze with a pitiful gaze.
She really couldn’t resist anymore—there was no way to escape from the Chilong Rope. If only she hadn’t gotten carried away…
But Gu Ze withdrew the Chilong Rope, and Lian Yue instantly recovered her cultivation.
“Rest well. There’s a long road ahead.”
Lian Yue breathed a sigh of relief, sat up, and tidied her loosened cloud-robe.
“A long road ahead… That makes me look forward to it a little. My Etheric Qi is best at imitating—next time, should I turn into Qingquan and give you a kiss, make you happy?”
Gu Ze froze, the corner of his mouth twitching, unsure how to respond.
If it were that Xiannü… Gu Ze really wouldn’t dare touch her. Or rather, he had no intention of touching her at all.
That was Li Xunmiao’s master! If things ever got ambiguous, what would happen to Li Xunmiao? Gu Ze didn’t want to drag her into such a mess.
Besides, Qingquan was about to reach Nascent Soul—how could she be interested in a nobody like him, who hadn’t even built his foundation?
Surely…impossible.
Hearing Lian Yue’s teasing, Gu Ze joked back, “Qingquan? If I want to kiss her, I’d kiss her in person.”
Lian Yue covered her mouth, casting him an approving look. “Courageous—truly, the fearlessness of youth.”
“Well then, I hope you win her favor, but…I’m not great at fighting, so when the time comes, you’ll have to stand up for me. Don’t let your Dao Companions bully this Xiannü.”
Dao Companion? Xiannü? So…Xiannü isn’t his Dao Companion yet?
A huge question suddenly rose in Gu Ze’s heart. What exactly was his relationship with Lian Yue?
He couldn’t just let Lian Yue be his secret, nameless friend with no status, could he?
Next time they met, Gu Ze planned to ask Lian Yue to become his Dao Companion.
Lian Yue looked reluctant to part, and at last knelt on the bed and gently kissed Gu Ze on the corner of his lips before letting him go.
When the young man’s presence had completely faded, she collapsed backward onto the bed as if all her strength had left her.
Her starry eyes trembled.
“As I thought, I want more than just his body. Next time we meet, I’ll ask him to be my Dao Companion. He’ll be the first, and the only…”
“Who knows if that little rascal will agree… Hmph~ If he doesn’t, I’ll force him! If you kiss me, you have to take responsibility. Phew—better change into fresh panties first.”