Glancing at Mu Daoying after he fell asleep, Liu Qiao’e’s first reaction was to slap him a few more times to wake him up.
How dared he?!
But as soon as her hand touched his cheek, Liu Qiao’e hesitated again.
Mu Daoying seemed utterly exhausted. His face was pale, his breathing shallow, and the densely fringed lashes cast faint shadows on his thin eyelids. He appeared even more docile than when awake.
His lips were thin yet slightly plump, and the tip of his upturned nose had a childlike innocence.
Unknowingly, Liu Qiao’e became entranced as she gazed at him.
At this moment, he was completely defenseless, as if within reach.
Liu Qiao’e hesitated and watched for a while.
In his sleep, Mu Daoying’s brows gradually furrowed, and his cheeks flushed with an unnatural tide of red.
Liu Qiao’e reached out to check, and his scorching hot breath sprayed onto the back of her hand. It felt as if she had been scorched by fire, and she hastily withdrew it.
At that moment, Mu Daoying let out an extremely faint moan of pain.
She nearly thought he was waking up and jumped in fright, retreating several steps as she stared at him with wide eyes full of shock and uncertainty.
After a while, seeing no sign of Mu Daoying waking, Liu Qiao’e finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Her heart still pounding with lingering fear, Liu Qiao’e stared at Mu Daoying as anger surged within her. She slapped him hard across the face, again and again.
“Wake up!”
Mu Daoying remained oblivious, and only then did Liu Qiao’e realize that he had passed out from illness.
The renowned Jade Sword True Heart had fainted after kneeling for just a few days. Liu Qiao’e felt disdain in her heart. Yet she forgot that her own cultivation had reached the seven realms first turn, while Mu Daoying was merely at the fourth realm. For him to endure so many lashes under her hand was already a sign of extraordinary talent. An ordinary person who suffered what he had would likely have had their soul return to the dao mountains.
Liu Qiao’e’s expression flickered between dark and light. She had not wanted to bother with him at first—his death would probably suit her wishes.
But she did not want him to die so easily either.
At the very least, he needed to be tormented under her hand a few hundred more times to vent the hatred in her heart!
She took out a bottle of pills from her sleeve, poured one out, and stuffed it into his mouth.
The young man’s lips were thin and soft; her fingertip felt as if it had touched a wriggling worm, numbing half her arm.
Mu Daoying was drenched in cold sweat, which rolled down along his temples, soaking the gauze collar at his neck and clinging tightly to a section of his neck as white as jade.
Liu Qiao’e shook her damp, hot fingertips in disgust and pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve, roughly wiping his face and head.
The more she wiped, the angrier she became.
He refused to serve her, so how had it turned into her serving him?
Unable to contain her resentment, she flung the handkerchief onto his face.
–
Mu Daoying’s consciousness floated as if sinking in a lake. He was not entirely unconscious and could vaguely sense the movements around him. He even felt Liu Qiao’e taking advantage of his unconsciousness to slap him several more times.
But his eyelids were too heavy to open.
Several times, he even sensed Liu Qiao’e’s cold, murderous intent. Powerless to stop it, he only felt exhaustion.
The successive upheavals of the past few days had left Mu Daoying mentally and physically drained, to the point that the thought arose: ‘Perhaps it would not be bad to sink into deep sleep like this and never wake.’
However, that thought flashed by in an instant.
His master’s case remained unresolved; he could not.
Mu Daoying rallied his spirits, and his gradually clearing consciousness struggled to break free from the prison of his body.
Just then, he suddenly caught a faint scent of gardenia flowers.
It did not smell like incense but more like the fragrance of a young lady’s hair oil.
Then, he felt someone roughly rubbing his face and head.
Following the guidance of that gardenia scent, Mu Daoying finally struggled awake.
As soon as he opened his eyes, Mu Daoying froze.
It was because a lady’s handkerchief was currently draped over his face.
He had always been extremely proper and had never had intimate contact with a woman, no matter how Liu Qiao’e threatened or lured him—he refused to yield.
Who would have thought that now a woman’s personal handkerchief covered his face, and the shameless gardenia fragrance rushed into his nose.
Mu Daoying stiffened for a second, his heart in turmoil. He dared not move and, for some inexplicable reason, chose the dumbest method: he hurriedly closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
“You’re awake, so why pretend to sleep?” Liu Qiao’e sneered.
The young man stiffened silently for a moment. With no choice but to face reality, he braced himself.
Mu Daoying pursed his lips, resignedly lifted the cloth with his hand, and met Liu Qiao’e’s gaze. “Thank you, Old Mother, for saving my life.”
Liu Qiao’e: “How do you plan to repay this Old Mother for saving your life?”
Mu Daoying seemed oblivious to the implication in her words and replied earnestly and respectfully, “As long as it does not harm heaven or reason, if Old Mother has any command, this junior will do his utmost.”
“Do you think I care for your repayment?” Liu Qiao’e mocked. “Have you never heard that one repays a life-saving grace with their body?”
Mu Daoying was utterly exhausted. He truly did not understand why Liu Qiao’e was so fixated on him.
“This one is of humble appearance and dares not presume upon Old Mother’s favor.”
The more he refused, the more resentment built in Liu Qiao’e’s heart.
Liu Qiao’e smiled coldly. “Countless men wish to become my paramour but cannot. What, are you so noble?”
“Or does Immortal Mu have such high standards that you look down on a fiend like me?”
“What kind of woman do you like?”
Mu Daoying pressed his lips together and did not answer. With his dao heart perfected, how could he ever have dwelled on such things?
Liu Qiao’e guessed, “Bai Mengli?”
Mu Daoying’s lips tightened, his expression turning unpleasant.
Liu Qiao’e observed his face and deliberately provoked him. “Or Shen Chengyin? I’ve heard that Fairy Shen is often seen entering and leaving with you, your relationship quite close.”
Liu Qiao’e had heard of Shen Chengyin, and not just in passing—she paid close attention.
She was deeply concerned with everyone and everything around Mu Daoying.
Especially women.
Upon hearing his good friend’s name, Mu Daoying’s expression finally turned extremely ugly. “Old Mother, mind your words. Do not tarnish the reputation of other innocent women.”
“The mere mention of Shen Chengyin changes your expression.” Liu Qiao’e smiled coldly as she lifted his chin. “Could it be that you secretly admire her?”
Mu Daoying grew disgusted as her words became more outrageous. He turned his face away, preferring not to see or hear.
Liu Qiao’e held his chin, looking left and right, and smiled coldly.
Even in anger, the beauty was naturally alluring, every frown and smile brimming with charm. The faint trace of displeasure at the corners of her eyes and brows only made one itch even more unbearably.
The higher and more unattainable, the more one wanted to climb it, pluck it down, and trample it into the mud.
The more Mu Daoying showed his disgust for her, the more her urge to torment blazed fiercely.
She smiled coldly and suddenly leaned down to plant a kiss on his lips.
Mu Daoying jolted in shock and struggled to push her away with his arms.
Not only did Liu Qiao’e not let go, she even wrapped her arms around his waist and bit down hard in a fit of venting rage.
Mu Daoying flipped his palms to counterattack, and the two hastily exchanged over a dozen moves.
Liu Qiao’e’s cultivation far surpassed his, and the reason they traded that many moves was solely because she was toying with him.
Being molested by someone of superior cultivation left Mu Daoying utterly frustrated as he was defeated under her palm.
Knowing escape was impossible, Mu Daoying simply pursed his lips tightly, like the most chaste maiden.
How could Liu Qiao’e not know his intent? In resentment, she bit down on his lip.
This bite held no desire, only rage to vent. It tore his lip open, blood flowing.
From the pain, he unconsciously parted his lips slightly.
Seeing his disgusted expression, Liu Qiao’e felt she could not back down. In anger and humiliation, with a mind to disgust him further, she simply probed her tongue into his mouth.
The slippery little tongue darted in. Mu Daoying’s mind boomed, his vision spinning in shock.
When Liu Qiao’e probed her tongue in, she hesitated instead.
She did not crave desire, for the first half of her life had been filled with the bitterness of amorous affairs.
For a long time, such matters had meant only pain and humiliation to her.
On those sleepless nights, she often stood naked in the room, coldly and silently bathing in the moonlight from the window, gazing at the bruises covering her body. The moonlight seemed to turn into shards of blades, slicing her until she bled.
She had once thought of dying, but she could not. Once entered into the Joyous Union Palace, there was no turning back.
It was her only path to strength; only by living could she take revenge on everyone who had left scars on her body.
Long, long ago, her body had ceased to belong to her.
Many innocent young boys and girls, for various reasons, joined the Joyous Union Sect. At first, they thought everything too simple. Some could not accept the filth and darkness here—some left the palace voluntarily, others abandoned themselves, fell into depravity, or even took their own lives in agony.
Liu Qiao’e had emerged, reaching her current position. She had matured greatly, her state of mind more rounded and thorough, no longer tormenting herself.
She no longer even needed dual cultivation to consolidate her cultivation.
As for the male favorites kept in Approaching Fragrance Hall, she did not visit often but did not particularly despise them either—just occasionally teased them for amusement.
When she leaned in to kiss Mu Daoying, initially intent on humiliating him, Liu Qiao’e suddenly froze in place.
She did not know how to proceed.
Stripped of the meanings of gaining strength or seeking amusement, with a trace of genuine feeling, she felt like an awkward, inexperienced child.
Flustered and uncertain, she did not know how to move forward.
Mu Daoying’s lips were thin and soft, his tongue tip like a piece of chilled jade. Her nose pressed against his clear, slightly warm breath, her heartbeat pounding faster and louder with each thump.
She suspected Mu Daoying could hear her heart, and she shrank back uncomfortably, afraid he would detect her bluff through it.
But Mu Daoying did something Liu Qiao’e never expected.
He kissed her back, his thin lips enclosing her tongue tip.
Boom—like brilliant fireworks exploding in her mind, the world spun.
Liu Qiao’e instinctively wanted to pull away, but Mu Daoying supported her back with his hand, refusing to let her go.
His hand was slender yet broad and strong. She could not understand why he was suddenly so proactive and domineering. One whiff of his cool masculine scent, and her bones turned to jelly.
Amid the confusion of desire, a sharp pain shot through her tongue tip!
Her cry of pain was swallowed by him. Mu Daoying gripped her tongue tip, steeled his heart, and bit down hard with his teeth.
A sweet, metallic taste spread in his mouth.
Liu Qiao’e struggled to escape, and Mu Daoying took the chance to shove her away, finally freeing himself.
The next second, heat flared on the side of his face as he received another heavy slap.
Enraged, Liu Qiao’e grabbed his hair and unleashed a storm of over a dozen slaps on his face.
Mu Daoying said nothing, closing his eyes and enduring. Liu Qiao’e released him.
Like a trapped beast, he retreated several steps, leaned against the wall to sit, raised his sleeve to wipe the blood from his lip corner, and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam.