Chapter Seventy-Three: A Senior Is Truly a Senior...

“……”

Zhu Sisi saw his sudden surge of excitement and was momentarily dazed. She glanced at her own body and limbs, her mind stalling as though it had crashed…

A strange suspicion crept into her heart: “Could it be that I’m not actually a monster?”

Just as she was lost in thought for that fleeting instant, the figure of that scoundrel Xu vanished abruptly from before her eyes. The next moment, she felt a sharp pain in her wrist, and another figure materialized in front of her!

When she came to her senses, she was shocked to discover that Xu, at some point, had appeared right in front of her—and what’s more, he had her wrist firmly in his grasp!

And now, aside from the gleam of fascination following his curiosity, not a trace of the earlier distraction remained on Xu’s face!

This man… something is amiss!

Zhu Sisi’s pupils contracted as she realized the severity of the situation. She tried to break free, but it was as if a mountain bore down upon her, shaking her soul to its core!

Those two hands gripping her wrist were like iron poured into bronze—unyielding and cold. With a slight squeeze, a wave of weakness coursed through her body, and even the spiritual power she had just summoned scattered by more than half!

Xu Boqing, seeing Zhu Sisi still in shock, turned her around and pinned her against the wall with a laugh. “Madam, I’m a rough man. If you keep struggling, I might get nervous and accidentally crush these lovely arms of yours.”

“You…”

Zhu Sisi finally came to herself. Realizing she was pressed against the wall in an ambiguous posture with this wretched man, her expression darkened.

Whatever thought crossed her mind, she cast a glance around, then sneered, “Are you threatening me?”

“Threatening is too strong a word. I’m just afraid you’ll eat me up, so I have no choice but to do this,” Xu Boqing replied, half in jest, “By the way, when I came to Hongyang City, I ran into an old priest skilled in thunder magic. I think he’s still here in the city. I wonder if madam is acquainted…?”

“Thunder magic? An old priest?”

At his words, Zhu Sisi’s breath hitched…

In the world of cultivation, when it comes to thunder magic, it’s impossible not to mention the Celestial Master Sect—a chasm none can cross. Their thunder magic is peerless!

There are true immortals residing in the Celestial Master Sect, and their disciples are nothing but antiques with deep-seated prejudice against demons and monsters. Their very doctrine is “Cleanse the world of demons,” so one can imagine their bias.

Whenever their disciples encounter spirits or monsters on their travels, they never bother to distinguish good from evil…

At most, they utter “Beast in fur and armor,” and the thunder they unleash never shows mercy…

“Who exactly are you?!”

“I already told you, didn’t I?” Xu Boqing smiled nonchalantly. “My surname is Xu. Xu Genshuo.”

He had been watching the spider demon’s face carefully, and when he mentioned “thunder magic,” he caught the flicker of terror. He realized that his casual fabrication about thunder magic and the old priest had truly struck a nerve.

“That old priest seemed to harbor quite the grudge against demon cultivators.”

Xu Boqing leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “Madam, you wouldn’t want the commotion between us to draw that old priest here, would you?”

“Celestial Master Sect…”

Zhu Sisi’s eyes narrowed as if she’d thought of something. Then she sneered, “So you saw through my nature from the start?”

“Mhm.” Xu Boqing did not deny it. He nodded with a smile. “I saw it as soon as I entered.”

“And you still dared… to grab my wrist and threaten me?!”

Her voice deepened, and from behind her shot out three pairs of razor-sharp spider legs, stabbing straight at the man before her—clearly intent to kill!

Xu Boqing seemed not to see the spider legs at all. He smiled, “I know madam’s legs are long, and plentiful, but my hands… I have plenty of those, too.”

The tips of those spider legs glimmered with a faint, ghostly light, clearly laced with venom. With a piercing whistle, they were about to pierce his skin—only to halt, unable to advance an inch…

Somehow, Xu Boqing’s sides and shoulders had sprouted six arms—six hands!

At this moment, he resembled the eight-armed demon gods of myth. Each hand seized a joint of a spider leg. As his words faded, all six hands pressed forward at once, pinning those legs to the wall!

His vision and cultivation had long since surpassed the innate realm, and the Bone-Tempering Canon he practiced had already exceeded its founder, Cui Feng!

On top of Cui Feng’s teachings and his own insights, he’d even fused in several other body-tempering arts.

To have six arms was nothing to him now; if he wished, he could grow several more at will!

“You…”

Even with Zhu Sisi’s vast experience, this turn of events unsettled her. Her lips parted to summon the magic weapon she nurtured within her to defend herself—

But to her shock, another hand emerged from Xu Boqing’s shoulder, pressing right against her chin!

The next moment, she felt a sudden warmth on her lips, and only then realized that the scoundrel had somehow drawn so close.

“Mmm… mmph…?”

Her eyes widened as she tried to struggle, but his grip was inescapable, leaving her breathless and completely unable to resist…

A thought seemed to cross her mind, and her gaze grew intense as she responded with heat, the venom between her lips and teeth slowly secreting…

But a long time passed, and even after they parted, the outcome she’d expected never transpired. Instead, a faint crystal sheen lingered at the corner of her lips…

“Delicious~”

Xu Boqing pinched her chin. Seeing her still dazed, he planted another kiss on her lips, then whispered into her ear, “I forgot to mention—madam’s poison is useless on me…”

“You!!!”

Zhu Sisi stared at him in utter disbelief, wanting to speak but unable to find the words.

“Madam, you promised me earlier…”

Xu Boqing’s gaze grew hazy as he shifted his battlefield from her lips to her cheeks, ear, pale neck, and collarbone, muttering with obsession, “If you want to regret it now, it’s too late…”

“I’m a monster! You’re a human! Our paths are forever divided!”

“Don’t worry, madam. I’m not much of a normal human, either. And… don’t hide those spider legs. I want the spider.”

………………

Meanwhile…

After a sleepless night, the red-nosed old man—who had left so as not to disturb the ‘senior’s’ pleasure—was in a restaurant in Hongyang City, replenishing his strength. In one hand was a wine cup, in the other, a roast chicken.

He noticed the frequent glances from those around him and, frowning, tossed the chicken aside. He rubbed his face curiously, but finding nothing amiss, quickly called for a mirror.

He stared blankly at the red-nosed old man in the reflection, completely oblivious to the lipstick mark still on his neck…

“I’ve been ruined by wine and women, left so haggard…”

He looked at the wine cup in his hand, recalling how once, in his youth, he’d been a prodigy of the Celestial Master Sect, but now, seeing his own decline, his heart filled with sorrow. With a sudden resolve, he smashed the cup to the floor and swore fiercely, “From this day forth, I’ll quit drinking!”

He immediately returned to gnawing on the roast chicken…

Partway through, he paused, recalling the mysterious senior he’d met earlier at Siqing Court.

He’d wandered the mortal world for years, and apart from himself, had never met another elder with such tastes.

That senior looked young, and during their encounter, aside from a single glance, he’d barely spoken a word—almost everything had been the old man’s own conjecture.

Was that senior truly of the Immortal Path?

His own magic eyes couldn’t see through him. Was it possible that ‘senior’ was just an ordinary person who hadn’t even set foot on the path of immortality?

If he’d guessed wrong, if that ‘senior’ was just an ordinary man, then everything he’d done would amount to indulging a demoness in her wickedness.

The old man set down the chicken, his brow tightly furrowed. Though he’d been expelled from the Celestial Master Sect, his ambition flared intermittently, and he could hardly sit idly by while a demoness ran amok!

“Waiter, the bill!”

He tossed a piece of silver and strode out without another word…

Soon, he found a deserted alley, concealed himself with a spell, and returned to Siqing Court. Following the trail of demonic energy, he leapt to the second floor to test his suspicions…

But before he could even investigate, the pounding of the walls and the faint, sultry sounds from within stopped him in his tracks. A seasoned man of the world, he instantly understood what those noises meant…

When he faintly heard the line, “Don’t hide those spider legs. I want the spider,” he blinked in confusion, suddenly feeling like a clown in an opera…

With mixed feelings of awe and embarrassment, he quietly left.

‘A senior is indeed a senior. The heights he stands at are far beyond what a man of my paltry hundred years of experience could ever reach…’