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“As the saying goes, even heroes struggle to resist the charms of a beauty. In my opinion, little Yanzhi has also fallen this time~”
In the grand hall of Lingguang Palace, Elder Tianyin, seated above, watched as Xie Hengyu and A Shang departed.
Beside her, Qingyu Zhenren didn’t even lift an eyelid at her words, leaving the hall with the same lifeless expression as always.
Seeing his demeanor, Elder Tianyin couldn’t help but sneer, “That lifeless face of his is such a bad omen. Little Yanzhi is truly cursed to have him as a master!”
“You should talk less,” the Fifth Elder reminded her. “After all, Yanzhi is now Qingyu’s disciple.”
“Hmph.” Elder Tianyin snorted but said no more. The fact that Xie Hengyu hadn’t become her disciple still irked her every time she thought about it.
“But why would there suddenly be demonic energy in the sect? Could it be that the Sect Leader’s spiritual power is fluctuating again, causing damage to one of the sect’s barriers?”
As soon as Elder Tianyin finished speaking, a cool, composed female voice rang out, “Father is currently in seclusion for cultivation. It’s likely he’s encountered some difficult problem again.”
As the voice faded, a woman dressed in a silver-white plain dress appeared in the grand hall.
The woman had jet-black hair and snow-white skin, with a smooth, full forehead. Beneath her willow-like eyebrows were a pair of cold, beautiful eyes. A beauty mark between her brows served as the finishing touch, enhancing her icy, stunning appearance, making her look like a peerless beauty.
The newcomer was none other than Shen Yueqing, the daughter of the Immortal Sect’s Sect Leader.
Such a heaven-favored woman should have been radiant and dazzling, but unfortunately, her legs had once suffered severe injuries, confining her to a wheelchair and casting a shadow over this bright pearl.
Seeing the newcomer, Elder Tianyin smiled at her, “So it’s Yueqing, my dear.”
Shen Yueqing said, “I heard that A Shang, who had gone missing, was brought back by the disciples, so I wanted to come and see. But it seems I arrived too late and missed it.”
“No matter,” the Fifth Elder said with an ingratiating smile. “I recorded everything that just happened with a Memory Pearl. If you’d like to see it, Yueqing, you can take it.”
“Mm,” Shen Yueqing nodded. The maid behind her understood and stepped forward to take the Memory Pearl from the Fifth Elder. Then, the mistress and servant left the grand hall.
Watching the woman leave without so much as a word of thanks, Elder Tianyin couldn’t help but mutter under her breath, “Such a rude girl. No wonder she lost her man to a half-demon.”
“…” The Fifth Elder sighed, “Ancestor, please say less.”
*
Not long after, Xie Hengyu brought A Shang to his residence, Yujie Peak.
As the sole disciple of Qingyu Zhenren, it was no surprise that Xie Hengyu had an entire mountain peak as his residence.
In her previous life, after their marital home was burned to the ground, A Shang, as Xie Hengyu’s Dao companion, had moved to Yujie Peak to live with him.
However, he preferred solitude and disliked sharing a bed, so A Shang had always slept in a side chamber.
Now, their marital home, the Jade Extreme Hall, had not yet been burned down, so A Shang didn’t understand why he had brought her here.
After leading her to the entrance, Xie Hengyu disappeared, and two puppets appeared to guide her.
Looking at the familiar puppets, they had no names. In her past life, she had felt sorry for them and named them A Chun and A Xia.
When Xie Hengyu found out she had named the puppets, he hadn’t said anything, so she had continued calling them A Chun and A Xia.
A Shang had lived on Yujie Peak for a long time in her past life. When she noticed the puppets leading her toward what seemed to be Xie Hengyu’s bedchamber, she couldn’t help but ask, “Are you sure you’re leading me the right way?”
Hearing her voice, they stopped. The two puppets tilted their jade-carved heads slightly, then continued forward, proving that the path was correct.
A Shang didn’t know why Xie Hengyu had left her alone here. Seeing her hesitate, the puppets stopped and turned to urge her on. A Shang pursed her lips and had no choice but to follow.
Xie Hengyu’s bedchamber was just as she remembered from her past life—clean, tidy, and spotless. Every item was placed exactly where it should be, meticulous to a fault. But it was precisely this perfection that made it feel lifeless.
A Shang’s gaze fell on the immaculate desk in the distance. On the desk were brushes, ink, paper, and a few books, nothing more.
In her past life, this desk had been filled with little trinkets, most of which A Shang had made herself. She had even often tied pretty hairstyles on A Chun and A Xia’s heads.
Her intention had been to add a touch of warmth and liveliness to Xie Hengyu’s bedchamber, but he didn’t like it. He had even told her not to waste her time on such trivial things.
Back then, she had been naive, thinking that even though he spoke disdainfully, he would eventually grow fond of the cute little trinkets. So, she stubbornly left them there, refusing to take them away.
Through the endless haze of memories, A Shang could still see the sunflowers on the desk that would bloom under sunlight, the snow lotus beads that emitted a soft glow at night, and the little bamboo figurine that often tumbled off the desk…
These things seemed to mock her for having been so presumptuous back then.
But thankfully…
Now, none of those items were on the desk, nor would they ever appear there again.
As A Shang was lost in thought, the two puppets suddenly pushed her further inside.
Behind Xie Hengyu’s bedchamber was a cold pool. When A Shang was pushed to the edge, she noticed a set of clean clothes placed on the shore, seemingly prepared for her.
Seeing that she hadn’t yet removed her clothes to enter the pool, the puppets began to undress her.
Although in her past life, these two puppets had often assisted her with bathing and changing clothes, things were different now. Moreover, this was Xie Hengyu’s territory.
“I won’t undress. Where is your master? Go find him,” A Shang said, clutching her belt tightly.
Hearing her words, the two puppets paused for a moment, but the next second, they resumed tugging at her belt with considerable force.
A Shang hadn’t expected the puppets, which had been so obedient in her past life, to be so strong now.
“Let go! Both of you, let go!”
When Xie Hengyu entered, this was the scene that greeted him.
The young woman was pinned to the ground by his two puppets, her robes half-open. With each hand gripping the hair of a puppet, she shouted angrily, “If you don’t let go, I’ll have Xie Hengyu dismantle you both! Believe me, I’ll turn you into jade ornaments!”
As soon as A Shang finished speaking, the two puppets retracted their hands and stood up.
A Shang thought her threat had worked, but when she looked up, she saw Xie Hengyu walking in.
“Are these two broken?” A Shang complained to Xie Hengyu, pulling up the half-removed robe.
Xie Hengyu looked at her calmly, his tone indifferent. “They’re not broken.”
“If they’re not broken, then why…” A Shang’s face flushed with a mix of embarrassment and anger. Although she knew the puppets had no gender—in her past life, she had even treated them as girls, dressing them in pretty clothes and tying their hair in beautiful styles—being forcibly stripped by them today felt strange and unsettling.
At this moment, she realized that if the puppets weren’t broken, then their actions of undressing her must have been on Xie Hengyu’s orders.
A Shang looked up at him. The man’s expression was calm and unreadable, and she couldn’t tell whether he had done this intentionally or not.
Xie Hengyu noticed the hint of resentment in A Shang’s eyes as she looked at him. He handed her a pill he had just refined and said, “Take this.”
A Shang looked at the pill Xie Hengyu handed her and asked, “What is this?”
“Contraceptive pills,” Xie Hengyu replied. “I made them myself.”