Chapter Seventy-Four: My Yang Energy is Abundant...
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Afternoon in Hongyang City…
Every agent of the Wind Enforcement Division from the Western Bureau clutched a portrait of their master, mobilized fully to search for him.
When the sun slanted westward, its dying rays blood-red, Jiang Jin stood with hands clasped behind his back in a secret outpost, surrounded by several division heads as they discussed something. Before them lay a portrait of their master.
Behind them…
A crowd of agents knelt trembling on the ground.
Once the last agent, face twisted in misery, entered and knelt, Jiang Jin turned with a grim expression and asked, “So you’re telling me, you’ve searched the whole of Hongyang City and still can’t find the master?”
“Reporting, Division Head…” The small leader responsible for the city’s agents replied, trembling, “My men and I truly searched everywhere, but… haven’t seen a trace of the master.”
“Not seen?” Jiang Jin snorted coldly, rebuking, “Didn’t you say you saw the master eating breakfast on the street this morning?”
“Indeed, I saw the master arrive in Hongyang this morning and saw him eating breakfast by the street, but… who among us would dare follow him?”
The small leader paused, face pinched in distress. “The master’s martial arts are unparalleled—even if I had a hundred times the courage, I wouldn’t dare tail him.”
“Useless! A bunch of useless fools!” Jiang Jin pointed at them, berating harshly…
He couldn’t help but feel stifled—so many agents, yet none could find the master.
Beside him, Kong Qing tried to console him. “Old Jiang, don’t be angry. The master’s skills are so high—if he wanted to leave, even if they tried to follow, they wouldn’t be able to.”
“That’s not what bothers me…” Jiang Jin frowned, sighing. “The master has just taken office, came to Hongyang himself, ordered us to bring back heads from Autumn Wind Fortress to report. The master was here today, but now he’s vanished. Doesn’t that strike you as strange?”
“Strange?” Not only Kong Qing, but the other division heads furrowed their brows, asking, “Is there a problem?”
“There’s definitely a problem—a big one!” Jiang Jin slapped his thigh, no longer keeping it to himself. “In my view, maybe the master thinks the Western Bureau is new and wants to test our capabilities!”
The division heads exchanged glances, clearly considering the possibility.
Just out of the gate, before any real business is done, they’re already at risk of leaving the master with a poor impression of their efficiency?
How could they ever compete for the next master’s position?
Kong Qing grabbed the small leader by the collar and hauled him up, glaring. “You really searched every inch of Hongyang and couldn’t find the master?”
“Reporting… Division Head…”
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The small leader, face woeful, replied, “My men and I have truly searched every possible place in Hongyang City. We just can’t find him…”
Just then, an agent below suddenly brightened, as if struck by inspiration. “Division Head, I just remembered—there’s one place we haven’t searched!”
The division heads of the Western Bureau paused, then hurriedly asked, “Where?”
“The Spring Pavilion…”
“Spring Pavilion, my foot!” Jiang Jin’s temples throbbed with fury upon hearing the words, cutting the agent off before he could finish. He kicked him to the ground, then pointed at his nose and cursed, “The master is the Grand Steward of the Palace of Tranquility—use your pig brain for a minute! Would the master go to the Spring Pavilion? Huh? Why don’t you dig up your family’s ancestral graves instead?”
“Reporting… I wouldn’t dare…”
…
Agents of every rank from the Western Bureau scoured Hongyang for the master.
After a dozen division heads deliberated, they concluded that if this was the master’s test, it was likely impossible to pass. Since the test couldn’t be passed, they decided to show their loyalty instead, joining the search and engaging in a battle of wits with thin air…
Meanwhile, the master they so desperately sought was lounging on the bed in a private chamber at Siqing Lane, idly playing with the spider spirit’s beautiful leg.
Beside him, Zhu Sisi lay like a newly-wedded bride robbed of her innocence, her expression dazed, her gaze empty as she stared at the bed’s canopy, paying no mind to her long, shapely leg draped across the scoundrel’s body…
She couldn’t fathom how things had escalated to this point, nor understand how she had lost herself so inexplicably…
After a long while, she seemed to regain her senses, her tone so cold it betrayed not a hint of emotion. “Did you plan this from the start?”
“Not at all…” Xu Boqing, equally dazed, stared at the canopy overhead, not even turning his head. “I originally just wanted an excuse to leave, but you wouldn’t let me go.”
“You…”
A flush of blue and white swept across Zhu Sisi’s face, her lips quivering as she struggled for words.
“Truly…” Xu Boqing sighed, his tone sincere. “Later, I simply wanted to exchange information with you. But then you showed your true form, and I feared you’d devour me, so I thought I’d act first and devour you instead…”
“You… you…”
Zhu Sisi sat upright like a wronged wife, clutching the quilt before her with gritted teeth, her gaze ablaze with shame and fury…
She knew her magical powers were useless against this scoundrel, and at such close range, her artifacts were ineffective; she was no match for him.
Like a snake seized by the seven-inch mark—
Completely at his mercy!
Xu Boqing glanced at her, understanding what fueled her anger. He reached out, attempting to embrace her, saying, “What’s done is done—your hatred can do nothing now.”
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“Hatred?” Zhu Sisi’s face twisted in disgust. She slapped away his hand, biting out, “I wish I could eat your flesh, sleep in your skin!”
Xu Boqing fell silent…
Earlier, in their moment of passion, he had secretly attempted the Star-Absorbing Demon Art, hoping to drain this spider spirit, but either his mortal body or his mundane martial skill was insufficient—the attempt failed.
Now, seeing her mortified fury, her grievance, her undisguised hatred, he felt an unexpected pang of guilt…
Strange, really.
As for chastity, even the Empress Dowager, the Noble Consort, and the Empress herself—who had enjoyed every earthly privilege—were far less concerned. Yet a demon spirit held it so dear…
He sat silent for a while, then rose to dress, speaking to himself, “If you hate me so much, then… I’ll leave.”
“Go!” Zhu Sisi’s eyes were reddening, pointing at the door, her voice quivering with anger. “Don’t let me see you again. If we meet next time, I’ll kill you!”
Xu Boqing’s movements stalled at her words. He glanced at the night outside the window, then stripped off his clothes and lay back down on the bed.
“You…” Zhu Sisi instinctively clutched the quilt tighter, like a frightened bride, demanding, “Weren’t you leaving? Why did you come back?”
“I’m afraid of the dark…”
“????”
“Really…” Xu Boqing said, “It’s pitch black outside. What if there are monsters? Me, with no strength to even truss a chicken—if I ran into a monster, wouldn’t I lose my life for nothing?”
He paused, then shamelessly added, “All things considered, it’s safest with you…”
“Shameless!” Zhu Sisi scolded, both embarrassed and furious. In all her centuries of cultivation, she had never met someone so brazen…
“I’m shameless?” Xu Boqing blinked, gazing at the demoness tightly wrapped in the quilt. He edged closer with a mischievous smile. “A moment of spring night is worth a thousand gold. Since you call me shameless, if I don’t see it through, wouldn’t that squander your favor?”
With that, he burrowed under the quilt, heedless of Zhu Sisi’s beating and scratching…
When he had subdued her, he whispered softly, “My yang energy is abundant—take as much as you wish. I’ll leave at dawn…”
“You… mm…”