Daytime.
Zhuque Prefecture was situated on high ground, and the climate was sweltering. The local residents were members of the Bird Tribe who loved to dress up, so most of the people walking to and fro were dressed lightly; many women wore only thin silk tube tops.
Song Yin did as the locals did, wearing only a tube top on her upper body. It was made of a lustrous white silk fabric with broad gold-rimmed cloud patterns, making her skin look as white as jade and her shoulders appear rounded and rosy. The curves of her body shimmered like white jade before disappearing into the fabric.
On her arms, she wore golden armlets and a light silk scarf, which looked ethereal and agile as she moved.
Below, she wore a stone-blue linen skirt that was breathable, paired with a golden waist chain that swayed and jingled with every step.
Her expression was sour. After walking a few steps, she accurately pushed her palm against the face of the man leaning toward her: “Ugh, He Lan Tan, you’re so annoying! Why do you keep kissing me?”
The top she wore today was cool and airy, leaving both of her white shoulders exposed.
Every so often, He Lan Tan would lower his head to kiss her exposed shoulder. After a few more steps, he would pull her by the waist and kiss her shoulder again.
He was truly irritating. Last night, when she had invited him, he had acted like a perfect gentleman and said he wouldn’t kiss her. Today, he was making up for it with interest!
“You’re so annoying!” Song Yin persisted in pushing him away, her palm pressing against his face.
“Did I expose my shoulders just for you to kiss them?”
“It’s sweltering, don’t stick to me!”
But the man beside her was relentless. His hands remained firmly around her waist, and while she was off guard, he quickly took a small bite of her shoulder.
The mark on her shoulder vanished in a flash, but the sweet fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose.
He Lan Tan did not forget to comfort himself. He would return to the Medicine Sect in five days to refine the Heaven-grade Clarity Pill.
This current tenderness was his final moment of soft-heartedness and mercy toward her.
In the future, once he took the Clarity Pill, he would never be so bewildered and infatuated by her again.
He Lan Tan held her waist, his fingers occasionally hooking into her slender waist chain, making the golden bells jingle.
He rested his chin on Song Yin’s shoulder and whispered into her ear with a smile: “Is there anything else you want to buy? I’ll buy it all for you.”
The Bird Tribe truly surpassed other races when it came to the love of beauty.
Song Yin bought things all along the way without even blinking. Anything she took a fancy to, she bought using He Lan Tan’s money—be it the most expensive, the best, the most fashionable, or simply what she liked.
She was soon completely transformed, looking radiant and magnificent.
Her forehead was adorned with a red phoenix floral ornament, her hair held by a gold-thread ruby clip. She wore a “Qingluan Crossing the Clouds” gold tassel step-shake, a “Bifang Fire Feather” hairpin, an orange koi-pattern hair tie, and “Phoenix Bird Holding a Pearl” earrings.
Her head was covered in jewels, making her look dazzlingly beautiful.
Even the gold-thread silk fan she held idly in her hand had a fan pendant made of green jade and white pearls hanging from the handle.
“Does it look good?” Song Yin picked up another golden feather hairpin and stuck it into her jet-black hair, checking her reflection in an octagonal mirror with a blue bird tail-feather handle.
“It looks good.” Seeing her dressed entirely in things he had bought, He Lan Tan felt a secret sense of satisfaction.
Song Yin proudly lifted her chin and put her hands on her hips: “It’s mainly because I’m beautiful.”
“Yes.”
He Lan Tan answered honestly.
Regardless, this was the last time he would be infatuated with her before refining the medicine. If he was going to indulge himself, he might as well go all out.
Since it was the little charm demon who was bewitching him, it was only natural for him to be head over heels. There was no harm in letting himself show it—after all, it was for the last time.
After shopping for a long while, even the shopkeepers became familiar with Song Yin.
The shopkeeper who sold her the blue bird tail-feather handle mirror even offered a free engraving service, carving her name in fine lines on the back. He didn’t forget to give Song Yin a meaningful look, his eyes full of encouragement: Little girl, this man is quite good. He’s much more generous than that poor sword cultivator you brought before.
They moved on to the southeast market, where there were many mortals and many ingenious mortal items.
He Lan Tan said: “You still haven’t given me your transmission code.”
Song Yin held a candied hawthorn stick and pouted: “Fine, I’ll give it to you. It’s not a big deal.”
As she bit into a rosy hawthorn berry, she reached for her pouch. Suddenly, her expression changed, and she patted the pouch several times in a search: “My Transmission Jade Slip is gone!”
He Lan Tan remained silent, pursing his lips. She had rejected him so many times; couldn’t she at least find a new excuse for her refusal?
Song Yin searched herself from top to bottom. Seeing his skeptical expression, she became anxious and slapped him: “I’m really not lying to you, it’s really lost!”
Song Yin dragged him along as she began to retrace their steps, looking for the jade slip.
It wasn’t easy to find; they had visited far too many places that day.
The good news was that some wealthy merchants had “Recording Pearls” set up at their stalls. Song Yin was lucky; by the time they checked the third merchant’s Recording Pearl, they had identified the moment the jade slip was lost.
She had been waiting for a shopkeeper to wrap a jade bracelet gift box while He Lan Tan was buying pastries in the shop next door. Jiang Zuilan had just sent a message, and after replying, Song Yin had casually set the jade slip on the counter to reach for the gift box.
Just then, the sound of ceremonial cannons came from outside the window, and Song Yin looked up along with everyone else while holding the gift box. In that split second, the jade slip was stolen from the table.
The thief was a child about the same height as the counter. He seemed to have been following Song Yin and He Lan Tan for a long time, and at that moment, he cleverly hid in a visual blind spot, his eyes fixed on the Transmission Jade Slip. Using the commotion of the crowd as cover, the child grabbed the item and ran.
Song Yin said nothing. It was too embarrassing for an array cultivator to have her things stolen by a mortal child.
With the specific image and path identified, finding the person became quick and easy.
When Song Yin found the child, he was still squatting boldly by the side of the street, holding the Transmission Jade Slip with both hands. His gaze was fixed on it as if stuck by honey, and he was intently studying it.
A cultivator’s treasure naturally wouldn’t be activated by a mortal. The jade slip remained silent and still, looking like nothing more than a smooth, glowing stone.
No matter how the child poked at it, it didn’t emit any light. The child was trying hard, but he didn’t seem to dare use too much force, as if he were afraid of breaking it.
“That’s my thing.” Song Yin reached out quickly, snatched it back, and glared at him in anger.
Seeing that the child was young, she didn’t make a scene. Before the passersby could notice and cause a commotion, she grabbed the child’s arm and pulled him to a secluded spot by the roadside.
She crooked her finger and scraped the child’s nose: “If you don’t learn to be good when you’re young, you won’t have any friends to play with in the future. Humph.”
She didn’t want to waste time on this and checked her things to see if anything else was missing.
He Lan Tan asked the child: “Why did you steal this? You’re a mortal; you can’t use it.”
The child remained silent and wooden, his eyes still fixed on the jade slip in Song Yin’s hand.
Just then, a woman carrying a large basin of washed green vegetables walked over, calling for the child to hurry home and help at the noodle shop.
The woman saw them standing together. Song Yin and He Lan Tan clearly looked noble and were obviously cultivators.
The woman was enthusiastic: “My child just loves talking to cultivators.”
Song Yin glanced at her, debating whether or not to complain to the parent.
However, the woman didn’t leave; she seemed to really want to speak a few words with the cultivators as well.
She acted as if they were old acquaintances: “My husband, he’s a cultivator too.”
Song Yin felt suspicious. How could a cultivator be poor? And why would he allow his wife and child to live such a hard life that they had to steal a Transmission Jade Slip?
The woman added: “He’s a sword cultivator.”
…Well, that explained it.
Song Yin coughed lightly, deciding not to expose the child’s actions in front of her. Once the woman left, Song Yin asked the child again: “How could you steal something? No matter how poor you are, you shouldn’t steal.”
The child muttered: “Because I wanted to talk to my cultivator Daddy. I haven’t seen Daddy in three years, and I miss him so much.”
Song Yin: “…”
The child had suddenly claimed the moral high ground. She felt a bit awkward, but she still put her hands on her hips and criticized him harshly: “Stealing is against the law!”
She lectured him for a few more minutes. The child wiped his tears with his worn-out sleeve, crying bitterly with a red nose, and promised never to do it again.
After seeing that the child realized his mistake, He Lan Tan handed him a stack of transmission talismans: “Take these. Next time your father comes back, you’ll be able to contact him.”
The child held the stack of talismans and, after thanking them repeatedly, ran off happily.
Song Yin deliberately made an “O” shape with her mouth and covered her eyes as if blinded by a brilliant light, saying exaggeratedly: “Wow, wow, wow, wow! You’re actually helping him. You’re glowing with the light of humanity!”
He Lan Tan: “…Is that necessary?”
He said: “Do I really look that fierce in your eyes? This is just a very ordinary, everyday act.”
“I’m praising you!” Song Yin hugged his arm with both hands. “Even if it’s just doing one good deed a day and you think it’s ordinary, you still deserve to be praised.”
She shook his arm back and forth: “I’ve always been clear about rewards and punishments. The child deserved punishment, and you deserve a reward.”
The two of them had visited almost every shop in Zhuque Prefecture. Song Yin finally filled her rabbit-shaped storage bag to the brim and returned to the inn.
In the inn corridor, they happened to run into He Lan Tan’s subordinate, who was holding a dog and asking if they should feed it a Longevity Pill.
This was the very puppy Song Yin had given him. Under He Lan Tan’s treatment, the injury on its leg had long since healed. Its fur was glossy and smooth, and it had even grown quite plump.
He Lan Tan had temporarily entrusted the puppy to his subordinate, planning to take it back to the Medicine Sect after resolving the matters in Zhuque Prefecture. This was, after all, the first puppy Song Yin had ever given him.
“Of course,” He Lan Tan said. This puppy needed to live a long life. Perhaps he could even use it as a conversation starter to talk with Song Yin more often.
“You like puppies that much?” Song Yin pushed open the door, holding his arm as they went inside.
Once the subordinate left and the door was closed, Song Yin immediately pressed He Lan Tan against the back of the door and kissed him: “Even though I don’t have a puppy, when we’re free in the future, I can show you our sect’s pet.”
He Lan Tan responded with shallow, pecking kisses. In the gaps between kisses, he asked: “Is it a cat?”
He knew the Qunxian Sect had a large, fat cat.
Song Yin cupped his face and laughed: “No, what cat? The pet is the Fourth.”
The Cat Demon First Senior Brother was certainly not a pet, but the clumsy Fourth could be teased at will—he was the real pet.
He Lan Tan’s eyes crinkled with a smile. It seemed she also teased her junior brothers and acted like a little tyrant within the sect.
Song Yin wrapped her arms around his neck. As she wrapped her legs around his waist, He Lan Tan held her waist with one hand and supported her hips with the other, lifting her up to make it easier for her to kiss and bite him.
The two of them kissed passionately by the door for quite a while, making the door rattle incessantly.
Once they stopped to catch their breath, He Lan Tan carried her to the bedside.
His room was mostly decorated in blue, with light blue bedsheets and covers. Song Yin liked this shade of blue; it reminded her of a peaceful ocean, the morning sky, and his eyes.
Song Yin believed in enjoying the moment. She assumed that once they were on the bed, they should do the things people do on beds.
Indents and wrinkles appeared on the sheets. Song Yin’s knees pressed against the mattress as she sat astride his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and fervently seeking a kiss.
He Lan Tan held her waist, kissing her again and again.
After several rounds of kissing, the air grew warm and their faces flushed. Song Yin noticed that he was only being tender but wasn’t going any further. She tilted her head in confusion, her voice slightly breathless: “Is it just kissing? No dual cultivation?”
“Mm,” He Lan Tan closed his eyes and kissed her. “Just kissing.”
As they continued kissing, Song Yin’s heart grew more restless. She couldn’t help herself and reached her hand inside He Lan Tan’s clothes.
She wanted more and more, like a cat smelling fish. The food was right in front of her, yet she couldn’t eat it—it was truly an agonizing itch.
Song Yin simply pushed him down. She did it cleanly and decisively, her hands pressing against his shoulders. He Lan Tan was pinned down on the blue bed. His crescent moon earring dangled as he let out a short laugh.
Song Yin bared her teeth at him: “You won’t give it to me, yet you’re still laughing.”
He Lan Tan gripped her wrists and turned his head to lightly kiss the back of her white hand. “I’m not refusing you.”
He moved up from the back of her hand, kissing her knuckles, the space between her thumb and forefinger, and then taking a gentle bite of the soft flesh of her wrist.
Song Yin’s charm demon nature had already been stirred. Her lips were slightly parted and as red as a flower; she couldn’t withstand even the slightest bit of seduction.
She immediately buried her head in his neck to act spoiled, her breath fanning over He Lan Tan’s collarbone. Her canine teeth lightly nipped at the soft flesh over the bone as she grumbled: “You’re taking too long.”
He Lan Tan pinched her waist. Song Yin’s fine, soft hair brushed against him as she continued to act spoiled: “I want to eat.”
He Lan Tan’s waistband had already been loosened by her while they were kissing. Song Yin’s knees moved apart, pressing against both sides of his narrow waist to prevent him from escaping.
From this angle, as he lay flat on his back, the contours of his nose and jawline were so clear. In the light and shadow, they looked like the turning point of a mountain range in a painting—born to be climbed by her, born to be conquered.
Song Yin lowered her head again to bite his chin, alternating between kissing and biting, ready to get down to business.
Suddenly, the Transmission Jade Slip rang urgently.