Chapter 136: The Choice (Part 8)

The disciple’s robe was dried, and the room’s sword energy was retracted.
“I told you not to come over. Why didn’t you listen?”
Xu Qianyu moved, but his ankle was gripped, still bound by shackles. The coolness from Shen Suwei’s fingertip spread, slowly creeping into his heart.

At first, Xu Qianyu was flustered, but then he looked at him fearlessly, his face clearly saying, “What are you going to do about it?”

Xu Qianyu took a breath, forcefully kicking the water’s surface. “Why can’t I go into the water?”
Shen Suwei said, “Do you know why the senior brother calls me to soak in the tranquility pool?” He glanced over, his gaze sharp. “Apart from healing, the water is used to suppress the desires in my heart.”

Xu Qianyu’s eyes widened, staring at his crimson lips. Shen Suwei always spoke slowly, in a calm and serious tone. She was shocked that he could speak such blunt things in such a composed manner.

“Why did you come down?” Shen Suwei asked. “Do you have some desire for me?”
“…?” The mist on the water swirled, his face calm as he looked up at her, as if waiting for her response. This silence, though, felt like a test, as if he were slowly closing in on her.

Xu Qianyu felt her throat tighten with the silence, her anxiety growing, and heat rising to her face, feeling as though she were sitting on pins and needles.

The silence stretched on, and Xu Qianyu felt a sense of disappointment. She quickly said, “Are you planning to take a partner?”

Shen Suwei’s expression shifted. He hadn’t expected her to bring it up and nervously asked, “And if I am?”

Xu Qianyu replied, “I saw a marriage certificate in the Sword Tomb.”

Once she said the first sentence, she felt somewhat relieved and began recounting the events in the demon realm. Shen Suwei listened patiently.

“And then…” She awkwardly shifted the conversation. “Then, I responded to you. Did you see it?”
A bolt of lightning flashed across Shen Suwei’s mind.

Of course, he remembered that Xu Qianyu’s response was, “I want to be with you forever.”

However, he hadn’t expected that this response would be about taking a partner.

Suddenly, he surged out of the water, half-leaning on Xu Qianyu.

Her black gemstone-like pupils reflected his shadow, and her clothes quickly became wet.
“You want to take me as a partner because you want to be with me forever?”
Xu Qianyu looked at him and bit her lip. “Just like we are now.”

Shen Suwei replied, “Not like this.”

He said it, then kissed her lips.

Xu Qianyu’s arms grew sore from supporting herself, and she collapsed onto the ground. Shen Suwei immediately followed, kissing her jaw and neck, while his hands gently tugged at her clothes, biting her collarbone.

The sudden coldness startled Xu Qianyu for a moment. As he moved lower, the dangerous feeling intensified, as though she were sinking into quicksand.

Fear, or perhaps embarrassment, made her instinctively cover her chest. Shen Suwei gently gripped her wrist, but she refused to move her hand.

He stopped, not forcing her. Shen Suwei lowered his lashes, both of them trembling.

However, Xu Qianyu noticed a change in his gaze. That deep black look, like a wild beast eyeing its prey. He had figured it out—he knew that this was where he could break her. He couldn’t help but imagine the aftermath of doing so. But he still held back. Though disappointed, he was eager for what might come.

She didn’t feel repelled.

In fact, she felt strangely fresh because she had never seen Shen Suwei look so hungry for something.

What he craved was her. And she held the reins; when she said stop, he would stop.

It was indeed a mix of fear and excitement.

“Do you understand?” she heard Shen Suwei whisper above her as she closed her eyes. “Do you still want to be ‘forever’ with me?”

Xu Qianyu didn’t remember what she replied. Her mind was a mess, and it seemed she called out to him several times. Shen Suwei closed his eyes and suddenly pulled her into the water.

He propped her waist with the back of his hand but pressed against the pool wall, causing her pain. Below the water, her clothes spread out like gardenias, and suddenly Xu Qianyu thought of an unattractive illustration in a book.

But when Shen Suwei did it, it still had a certain elegance. His aura, like snow on pine trees, was cold but unyielding, and his expressionless face exuded a quiet, commanding presence, resembling his former self.

In their past lives, Shen Suwei was cold, his emotions never showing on his face. She respected him, and it was that respect that created a sense of distance.

Xu Qianyu thought of the marriage certificate from the demon realm and, in a flash, asked, “Senior Brother, do you remember our past life?”
Shen Suwei suddenly looked at her in surprise, his expression both confused and entranced.

Xu Qianyu’s gaze shifted, focusing on him steadily, her expression innocent and unchanged, as if time had turned back to the past life. He didn’t ask her further how she remembered such things from their previous lives. There was no need for more words; in this moment, separated by time, they recognized each other.

But between them, it was impossible to be this close.

The shadows of the lights cast over their faces, making everything dim and blurry, like a dream, as if it were a bizarre, senseless wild dream.

Xu Qianyu couldn’t help but wonder: Had her senior brother ever imagined something like this in his dreams?

The answer was no.

He wouldn’t dare. And of course, she wouldn’t dare either.

She was caught between the pool wall and him. Shen Suwei held her tightly. Xu Qianyu felt something brush against her skirt, and for the first time, she felt the closeness of her and her senior brother’s breaths, as if they were about to melt into each other’s embrace.

The hem of her dress rippled with the water, but Xu Qianyu felt little, her eyes fixed on his changing expression. His dark eyes gradually deepened like the night, beads of sweat rolling down from his temples.

She wasn’t sure how long it had been, but it seemed like she had fallen into a trance. Suddenly, an image flashed through her mind: behind the screen, her senior brother’s sword energy lifted the four straps of her narrow moon belt and tied them… then a strange feeling swept over her spine.

Xu Qianyu lost her balance, sank into the water, and choked on it. She was immediately pulled up.

She pressed against Shen Suwei’s chest, trembling silently. Unable to bear it any longer, he pressed her against the pool wall again.

The moment they touched, Xu Qianyu frowned and crossed her legs. “My legs hurt.”

Shen Suwei picked her up and carried her out.

It wasn’t until later that Xu Qianyu realized that the hardness she felt was part of her senior brother. And it seemed he was just as uncomfortable with that part. Whenever she tried to touch it, he would grip her hand tightly and not let her see.

In the deepest part of the library, there were no books, only tall empty bookshelves; the corners between the wooden racks were narrow. Xu Qianyu sat on the floor in her wet clothes, hugging herself in the cold. Shen Suwei shook off his outer garment, dried it, and wrapped it around her.

Xu Qianyu breathed in the warm, fragrant scent of the garment.

She poked her head out from under it and saw Shen Suwei staring at her. “Do you like it? I’ll let you wear it.”

Xu Qianyu blushed, her lips moving as if to explain, but he quickly covered her eyes with his hand.

Shen Suwei didn’t want her to see his expression of release.

Xu Qianyu leaned against the rack, hearing only the faint sound of breathing, entwined in the air. Something fell onto her skirt. Shen Suwei wouldn’t let her touch anything, removing her clothes and replacing them with new ones.

The two of them struggled for a while before someone knocked on the door.

Xu Qianyu froze when she heard the sound of Hua Qingyu’s voice, panic filling her mind. “Did she find out?”

Shen Suwei remained calm, helping her fasten her clothes and handing her a mustard seed-sized golden pearl. “Don’t worry. Wait for me here. The pearl has clothes inside; add them on if you feel cold.”

With that, he walked out. Within a few steps, the clothes by the pool and the utensils returned to their original positions, and the spiritual pool closed, sinking back into the ground.

*
Xu Qianyu waited anxiously for a while, then relaxed when she saw that Shen Suwei had successfully sent Hua Qingyu away. The pain in her body returned.

When changing clothes, she noticed that her legs were scraped. It was probably because her senior brother usually took care to be gentle, and when he wasn’t, it made things worse.

So, when Shen Suwei returned, she said with a serious face, “You hurt me.”

“Where?”

Xu Qianyu lifted her skirt to show him.

He had some golden toad water left in the mustard seed pearl, so he placed her leg on his knee to apply the medicine. Before he could even apply pressure, she cried out in pain, her leg kicking out, and he quickly grabbed it tightly.

Shen Suwei understood. Xu Qianyu had such a temperament, and few dared to cooperate with her. If she didn’t get the benefit she wanted, she would become irritated and angry.

Shen Suwei lowered his eyes, enduring the pain silently, applying the medicine, and at the same time, brought out his “lock” from the spiritual pool, rolling it over her consciousness like a soothing presence.

Xu Qianyu didn’t expect that just a strand of divine sense could calm her so quickly. After a moment, she spoke, “I still want more.”

“It’s gone.” Shen Suwei pursed his lips, putting shoes on her. He had promised that she would be freed after three years. He was not the kind of person to act hypocritically, and even when his will was weak, it wasn’t easy for him to break his word.

But Xu Qianyu refused to wear them. Then, the lock suddenly expanded like water waves, enveloping her consciousness. In her disoriented state, he forced her to put on her stockings and shoes.

The clothes were dry and neat, at least more comfortable, though the rack and the floor were hard, and she could only manage to sleep in a half-sitting position.
But before the night was even half over, this comfort was disrupted.

…
She didn’t know how much time had passed, but when she woke up again, Xu Qianyu was in her own bed in Zhaoyue Palace, awakened by the sunlight streaming through the curtain. She sat up and saw a string of fine ropes hanging a page of paper on the bed curtain. Each day, she would record the day’s lessons on it.

Xu Qianyu looked closely at the paper, and to her shock, there was a large blank space. She remembered going to the library yesterday, but the library had no distinction between day and night, so she was unsure if it was actually one day or several days that had passed.

To those outside, it seemed like she had disappeared for a long time, which was why Hua Qingyu came to look for her.

But Shen Suwei had blocked Hua Qingyu and really kept her hidden for three or four days.
Compared to his usual temperament, this was quite outrageous.

Shen Suwei sat by her bed. Xu Qianyu raised her eyes to look at him. Whenever she was uncertain, she would look at him.

Their eyes met, and she felt a bit absurd. Shen Suwei waited until she was awake before speaking, “Are you feeling unwell?”

Xu Qianyu paused for a moment, then shook her head. “Was that dual cultivation?”

Shen Suwei hesitated for a moment, his dark eyes gazing at her. “No. One cannot dual cultivate with someone before their souls are united.”

Then… 
He had simply been indulging in his own madness.

When Xu Qianyu asked this question, it made him recall the disgraceful and despicable things he had done. How could he explain it? As long as Xu Qianyu was by his side, he couldn’t control himself; he just wanted to drag her from the light into the abyss.