Volume 2, Chapter 131 – No Regrets Even If It Pierces Her Heart and Gouges Her Bone

Lu Zhuxin had indeed fallen asleep.

In a completely relaxed state, her breathing and heartbeat wouldn’t lie.

Qu Qingtang let out a scoff.

The two fingers pressing on Lu Zhuxin’s neck slid slowly downward along the graceful arc of her collarbone.

“Of course I know I can’t kill her.”

“But why would I want to kill her?”

“She’s so adorable.”

“I truly want to love her to death.”

Qu Qingtang gently poked at those small white bunnies.

Lu Zhuxin slept deeply.

Her breathing was steady, and perhaps dreaming of something pleasant, her face wore a tranquil smile.

“I just find it somewhat strange.” Qu Qingtang’s finger slid down gently. “Is there a problem with her physical condition?”

‘Strange about what?’

Qu Qingtang pressed her lips together.

Her fingertip stopped and pressed lightly.

“The first time, is it always this fast?”

‘…So you’re just checking her body?’

‘According to the System’s collected data, for different worldviews and different races, time standards also vary.’

‘Generally speaking, the higher the martial world setting, the longer the time.’

‘If the host wants to know what’s normal, why not try it yourself?’

The corner of Qu Qingtang’s mouth twitched. She lowered her head to look at Lu Zhuxin.

The rose at midnight, its petals were closed.

Her fingertip rested upon the petals.

Perhaps they had just been moistened by dew, as her fingertip could feel a faint dampness.

If she just used a bit more force…

Qu Qingtang felt resistance.

“Mm…” The sweetly sleeping little fox seemed to sense something unusual.

She turned over, raised her small foot, and kicked away Qu Qingtang’s restless hand.

“Zhuxin, are you awake?” Qu Qingtang’s voice was gentle, as if nothing had just happened.

“Mm… where’s the blanket?” the little fox said sleepily.

“You just kicked it off,” Qu Qingtang said.

“Oh…” The little fox was half asleep. She reached for the blanket beside her and pulled it over herself.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” she asked groggily.

“I’ll sleep in a bit, baby,” Qu Qingtang said.

Eighth Realm powerhouses didn’t actually need sleep.

“Mm…” Lu Zhuxin made an unclear sound, then fell deeply asleep again.

Only leaving a fluffy big tail drooping outside the blanket.

She looked truly exhausted.

From beginning to end, throughout the entire process, she seemed not to have noticed Qu Qingtang’s unusual movements.

Qu Qingtang gazed at her peaceful sleeping face and curved her lips.

“Already sleeping so drowsily, yet still this vigilant?”

“Do you care that much about your first time?”

Qu Qingtang lowered her eyes. She pondered for a while.

“Is there really a problem with her physical condition?”

‘What did you discover?’

“The time was too short, and she’s very tired. That exhaustion isn’t fake.”

‘You’re saying she’s too weak, is that it?’

“An Eighth Realm fox demon’s stamina shouldn’t be this poor.”

Otherwise, how could she withstand the passion of an Eighth Realm sword cultivator?

‘The System cannot detect the target’s specific physical condition.’

‘That’s not within permissions.’

“Fine.” Qu Qingtang thought for a moment. “Perhaps she hasn’t adapted to this body yet.”

Qu Qingtang truly hadn’t detected anything unusual about Lu Zhuxin, except that her stamina was very poor.

“What a pity about today…”

She hadn’t experienced anything at all.

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Qu Qingtang lifted the blanket and lay down beside Lu Zhuxin.

She had no sleepiness.

Without cultivating, the long night would only become more boring.

She turned slightly on her side, pressing against Lu Zhuxin.

After hesitating briefly, she reached out and picked up the little fox’s fluffy big tail.

Fluffy, warm, very smooth to the touch.

Qu Qingtang raised her foot slightly and clamped the fox demon’s fluffy big tail between her legs.

“Mm… don’t…” The little fox demon in her sleep let out a soft murmur.

Qu Qingtang pressed against her from behind, reaching out to embrace her.

“Baby, sleep well.” She whispered in Lu Zhuxin’s ear.

“Good girl.”

The little fox didn’t wake up.

Qu Qingtang’s movements gradually became bolder.

“Hah…”

She bit her lower lip, tongue moistening her lips.

“Indeed somewhat…”

“Comfortable…”

…

“It’s already been two hours, and Master still hasn’t returned.”

Song Shiyuan sat alone in the courtyard. She raised her head to look at the bright moon in the sky.

For some reason, sorrow suddenly welled up from her heart.

Under the moonlight, her lonely shadow stretched very long.

Song Shiyuan clutched her chest tightly. From just now, she had felt unbearable heartache.

The familiar scent had completely triggered her memories.

It also made her feel as if she had returned to that time.

The pain of losing her beloved struck her again and again.

So painful…

Her heart hurt so much…

Why did it hurt so much…

Song Shiyuan roughly understood why the sect elders repeatedly warned disciples to stay away from fox demons.

So the addiction to fox demons would hurt this much.

“Master… probably won’t return tonight.”

A fox beauty’s invitation under the moonlight, the implications were self-evident.

Master had already achieved her goal, while Song Shiyuan herself could only face the moon’s reflection alone under the moonlight, leaving only a heart full of sorrow.

“Wuu…”

Song Shiyuan collapsed on the courtyard corridor, sobbing.

“Miss Song, are you crying?”

Song Shiyuan’s heart jumped. She raised her head to look at the person who had come.

It was Huang Xifeng.

“Sect Master Huang…”

Song Shiyuan wiped her tears and quickly stood up. “I’m sorry, Sect Master Huang, I didn’t see you.”

Huang Xifeng raised her hand to stop her.

“Right now we’re both maidservants of the Fox Palace, so there’s no need to be bound by these formalities.”

“Late at night, why are you crying alone so sadly?”

Song Shiyuan choked up. “Sect Master Huang… I’m fine, I just remembered some past events.”

Huang Xifeng looked at that dejected face and sighed inwardly.

This master-disciple pair, one was more worrying than the other.

“I’ve already heard the details of your situation from Shangshang,” Huang Xifeng said.

“I…” Song Shiyuan lowered her head. “Sect Master Liu has always felt I’m an aberration, that I’ve violated the principles of Sword Sect disciples.”

“Does Sect Master Huang… also think so?”

Emotional issues?

Huang Xifeng wasn’t very good at handling these.

“May I sit here?” Huang Xifeng asked.

“…Of course,” Song Shiyuan said.

Huang Xifeng sat down beside Song Shiyuan.

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She took out a wine gourd from her storage space and handed it to Song Shiyuan.

“Can you drink?”

Song Shiyuan was surprised.

She hadn’t expected that someone as proper-looking as Huang Xifeng would drink alcohol.

Song Shiyuan thought people who liked drinking should all be like Jiang Hongliang.

Song Shiyuan hesitated, then took the wine gourd from Huang Xifeng’s hand.

She opened it and took a sip.

“Cough cough… so spicy!”

Song Shiyuan covered her chest, coughing continuously.

She coughed for quite a while before gradually calming down.

Huang Xifeng also took out a jade gourd. She smiled as she looked at Song Shiyuan. “First time drinking?”

“Yes…” Song Shiyuan nodded.

“I’m not very good at comforting people.” Huang Xifeng took a sip from her jade gourd. “My partner should be better at this sort of thing than me.”

Song Shiyuan was surprised.

Was Sect Master Huang actively bringing up Huang Shangshang’s mysterious father?

The fact that Lingxu Sword Sect’s Sect Master Huang Xifeng had a daughter wasn’t a secret within the Sword Sects.

However, very few people knew about Sect Master Huang’s mysterious partner.

What circulated externally were just a few fragments.

They only knew he was a wandering cultivator who held a nominal elder position at Lingxu Sword Sect, then died young in battle, leaving only his daughter Huang Shangshang.

Now, Sect Master Huang was actively bringing up that mysterious figure with Song Shiyuan, which surprised her.

“I don’t really understand what’s troubling you.” Huang Xifeng looked at the moonlight and said.

“But I can tell you my story from the past.”

“When I first met her, I wasn’t yet the Sect Master.”

Huang Xifeng calmly recounted her past story to Song Shiyuan.

Admittedly, Huang Xifeng’s storytelling ability wasn’t very good.

However, Song Shiyuan could roughly understand the gist of the story.

Huang Xifeng came from a prestigious family, a cultivation clan.

She was betrothed, yet fell in love with a wandering cultivator of unknown origins, which enraged her family.

Later, her family bound her and tried to force her into marriage.

On the wedding day, that wandering cultivator snuck into the ceremony and secretly spirited Huang Xifeng away.

When Huang Xifeng next appeared in her family’s view, her cultivation had greatly advanced and she had achieved brilliant military merits on the battlefield.

Even her family didn’t dare openly force Huang Xifeng anymore.

Later on, with her extremely fast cultivation speed and the military achievements and reputation accumulated through battlefield slaughter, Huang Xifeng successfully became a high-ranking member of Lingxu Sword Sect.

Step by step, she ascended to the position of Sect Master.

And all of this was inseparable from that wandering cultivator’s help.

She strategized for Huang Xifeng, she set goals for her, and ultimately she assisted Huang Xifeng in taking iron-fisted control of Lingxu Sword Sect with ruthless methods, becoming the Sect Master.

Until… that wandering cultivator died on the battlefield.

Not long after, Huang Shangshang was born.

After listening, Song Shiyuan’s heart remained unsettled for a long time.

She had no idea that Huang Shangshang’s parents had such a past.

Huang Xifeng took a sip of wine facing the moon, exhaling an alcoholic breath.

This appearance of hers was completely inconsistent with her usual gentle temperament.

“In fact, during that time, when everyone around me opposed it, I felt lost too.”

Huang Xifeng sighed. “I hesitated too.”

“Being with her, I didn’t know if it was right or wrong.”

“Her origins were unknown, her purpose unclear.”

“I didn’t even know if she truly loved me.”

“But people are always easily driven by momentary impulse to do things they themselves would consider irrational.”

Huang Xifeng drank her wine and admired the moon, as if returning to the past.

Returning to those days similarly enveloped in the fragrance of wine.

“That night…”

“When I had already accepted my fate, thinking my life would just be like this, preparing to follow my original life path like other clan daughters, ordinarily getting married and having children, living an ordinary life…”

“She appeared before me once again.” A light smile curved at Huang Xifeng’s lips, her eyes full of tenderness.

“She lifted my bridal veil and smiled at me.”

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“She smiled and asked me: ‘Little crybaby, did you secretly cry under the covers again behind my back?'”

Huang Xifeng shook her wine gourd.

“I think… from that moment, I was destined to walk this road of no return.”

“Just because of that damned ‘tenderness.'”

Huang Xifeng smiled self-mockingly, then said to Song Shiyuan, “I’m sorry, Miss Song. I intended to comfort you, but somehow it turned into me talking to myself.”

“No, Sect Master Huang.” Song Shiyuan shook her head. “Thank you for sharing these past events with me.”

These past events, perhaps not even many people within Lingxu Sword Sect knew about.

“Your current situation is very similar to mine back then,” Huang Xifeng said.

“Not knowing what’s right, not knowing if the choice you made is correct.”

“Not knowing if you’ve truly become the ‘aberration’ others speak of.”

“Yes…” Song Shiyuan nodded slightly.

“But based on my own experience, those things actually aren’t important,” Huang Xifeng said.

“What’s important is, after making your choice, will you regret it?”

“Even if that choice causes you immense pain.”

“…” Song Shiyuan pressed her lips together. “Sect Master Huang… have you suffered because of your choice?”

“Heh…” Huang Xifeng laughed lightly, emboldened by alcohol. “Abandoning my family, turning against my closest relatives, old friends becoming strangers.”

“Aside from one person, the entire world became my enemy.”

“Do you think that counts as suffering?”

“…” Song Shiyuan lowered her eyes. “Then, Sect Master Huang, have you ever regretted it?”

Huang Xifeng raised her wine gourd and drank deeply.

“Never,” she said.

“Whether pain or happiness, both are parts of this damned life.”

“So, Miss Song.” Huang Xifeng looked at Song Shiyuan again. “If you were given a chance to choose again.”

“Would you still walk this ‘road of no return’ that brings you torment and pain?”

“…” Song Shiyuan’s eyes were dazed.

If she were given a chance to choose again.

That night, she wouldn’t hesitate anymore, nor would she choose to run away.

If there were a chance to start over, she felt she would still fall in love with that little fox demon without hesitation.

Even if doing so would make her intolerable to the world.

“Hehe…” Song Shiyuan laughed aloud. She laughed heartily.

She mimicked Huang Xifeng and drank deeply.

The spicy wine made her throat hurt.

She coughed repeatedly.

“If you can’t handle it, don’t drink like that,” Huang Xifeng said.

Song Shiyuan smiled bitterly and shook her head. “I’ve already figured it out.”

“Thank you, Sect Master Huang.”

“Figured out what?” Huang Xifeng asked.

Song Shiyuan didn’t answer, but instead raised the wine gourd in her hand.

“To this despicable life.”

To herself, who even knowing the path ahead was a road of no return full of thorns, pain and suffering, would still firmly take that step.

Even if this path was intolerable to the world.

Through mountains of blades and seas of fire, no regrets.

Huang Xifeng also smiled and raised her cup. “It seems my comforting skills have improved. If she knew, she’d probably praise me too.”

The two drank together, both seemingly able to see their own reflections in the other.

“Is this why you were crying tonight?” Huang Xifeng asked.

“Not entirely…” Song Shiyuan pondered for a moment. “Besides, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Mm?” Huang Xifeng looked at her in confusion.

“I think she might still be alive,” Song Shiyuan said.

Without concrete reason, she just vaguely felt this way.

The matter of the pheromones hadn’t been verified yet.

But Song Shiyuan was certain she couldn’t have smelled wrong.

Huang Xifeng looked at Song Shiyuan’s gradually recovering spirits.

She suddenly felt she might have overlooked something very important.

Oh… this girl seemed to like the Fox Monarch.

Oh… had she ruined the Fox Monarch’s plans?

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No wait, she only came to drink today. She hadn’t done anything.

Huang Xifeng tapped her wine gourd lightly with her finger.

“Drinking leads to trouble…” she murmured.

Once matters at the Fox Palace were finished, she would return.

After returning, she probably wouldn’t have opportunities to drink anymore.

“Miss Song, promise me something?”

“What?”

“If, I mean if. If you truly find your person again, could you please not tell her that I spoke with you tonight?”

“Ah, why?” Song Shiyuan looked at Huang Xifeng in confusion.

“…Don’t ask so many questions.”

A gentle breeze blew.

A talisman in Huang Xifeng’s hand suddenly emitted a faint glow.

She picked up the talisman seal, and her expression suddenly changed slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Song Shiyuan noticed Huang Xifeng’s abnormality.

Moreover, Song Shiyuan also noticed that the talisman used Fox Palace-exclusive paper.

“It’s an emergency summons from Fox Palace Steward Hu Xian’er.” A trace of solemnity crossed Huang Xifeng’s face.

However, she quickly changed back to her usual gentle smile.

“Sigh, these fox demons really know how to trouble people late at night.”

Huang Xifeng put away her wine gourd and stood up.

“Miss Song, I can only accompany you for this short while.”

“Mm.” Song Shiyuan nodded at Huang Xifeng. “Thank you, Sect Master Huang.”

Huang Xifeng smiled. “You’re a good child.”

“If your master weren’t Qu Qingtang, I might have wanted to take you as a disciple.”

“Sect Master Huang, you flatter me,” Song Shiyuan replied politely.

…

“Where is this?” Lu Zhuxin looked at the unfamiliar environment before her.

Ahead was a snowy plain, with pure white snow as far as the eye could see.

She was sitting in a small tent with a fire burning in the center. In the pot, meat soup made gurgling sounds as it boiled.

Very fragrant and beautiful.

“Is this also a dream?”

Lu Zhuxin raised her hand to touch her neck.

There still seemed to be some residual warmth there.

Lu Zhuxin still had her previous memories. After cuddling with Qu Qingtang, she had felt very drowsy and tired, so she wrapped herself in the blanket and fell asleep.

So she was indeed dreaming right now.

“Where am I dreaming of?”

Lu Zhuxin wasn’t particularly surprised, because the previous few times when the heat period precursor approached, she would also fall into deep sleep like this.

Hu Mei’er had said that every fox demon’s heat period precursor was different.

Lu Zhuxin’s drowsiness precursor wasn’t without precedent.

However, this symptom typically only appeared in low-cultivation single-tailed fox demons.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

“Thank goodness, I finally contacted you.”

Hu Xian’er’s voice suddenly came.

Lu Zhuxin turned around to see Hu Xian’er in white robes.

She looked at Lu Zhuxin with a tense expression.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

“That Qu Qingtang set up restrictions outside the sleeping quarters.”

“We can’t get in, and voice transmission doesn’t work either.”

“We could only contact you through dreams.”

Lu Zhuxin blinked. “This is my dream?”

“No.” Hu Xian’er shook her head.

She looked at the snowy scenery outside, a trace of nostalgia flashing across her face.

“Your Majesty is an Eighth Realm cultivator with a very strong divine soul. We have no way to enter Your Majesty’s dream.”

“This is my dream.”

“Silverbell Snow Mountain was once my home.”