Chapter 36: Beauty Under the Moon

Begging for votes every day makes Xiaomo feel like his dignity has completely gone out the window. I must trouble you, my fellow readers, to help pick it up! Please be gentle and don’t break it. If it shatters, it’s gone forever!!

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Although he had not yet reached the stage in his Cultivation to develop Divine Sense, Yangx Kai could still clearly feel the drop of Yang Liquid inside his Dantian. With a mere thought, the Yang Liquid moved at his command.

Yang Liquid could be used in combat, but Yangx Kai had not tested it yet. He would have to find an opportunity in actual combat to temper it and see exactly how it transformed. This kind of experience was not something the Wordless Black Book could teach him.

Despite enduring days of hardship, condensing a single drop of Yang Liquid left Yangx Kai utterly satisfied. Riding a wave of excitement, he redoubled his efforts and continued his Cultivation by the Trapped Dragon Ravine for most of the night.

When he paused in the latter half of the night, he decided to stop.

Cultivating while burning the candle at both ends these past few days had made him much stronger, but it had also placed a heavy burden on his body. The path of Cultivation required striking a perfect balance between work and rest; only through proper moderation could he avoid leaving any hidden perils behind in his body. Standing up and dusting off his seat, Yangx Kai returned to his small wooden cabin with a brisk step.

The cabin door was left slightly ajar, which puzzled him; he distinctly remembered closing it before he left.

Stepping forward, he gently pushed the door open and peeked inside. The sight that greeted his eyes stopped him dead in his tracks. It looked like a Rubbing taken straight from a master’s painting—as surreal as a Rumeng illusion, entirely devoid of reality. Inside his own small wooden cabin, on his one and only little bed, someone was actually sleeping. A woman.

The Yuehua were pouring down through several holes in the roof, shining directly onto the woman lying on the wooden bed. By the moonlight, Yangx Kai saw that her hands were clasped together, resting gently on her flat stomach. Bathed in the Yuehuas’ radiance, the skin of her neck appeared as crystal clear as ice and snow. Her jet-black hair fanned out smoothly, cascading over her delicate shoulders.

Because she was lying down, her features were difficult to make out, and her face was covered by a veil as thin as a cicada’s wing. However, her smooth forehead was adorned with a faint blue gemstone. This single piece of jewelry was not particularly valuable, yet it perfectly accentuated her aloofness and Saint-like purity.

The hazy Yuehua were giving her an added aura of ethereal beauty.

She looked like a banished fairy from the Moon Palace, flawless from head to toe, radiating a Saint-like nobility from every inch of her being. She lay there so peacefully, as if she would never wake up. For some inexplicable reason, a pang of sorrow tugged at Yangx Kai’s heart.

He had never considered himself a sentimental person, but today, this picturesque scene touched him deeply. Even if decades were to pass, he feared he would never be able to forget this sight.

Compelled by some mysterious urge, Yangx Kai tiptoed over, suppressing his breathing and heartbeat for fear of disturbing her. Stopping about ten feet away from the bed, he examined her carefully and realized his hunch had been correct. This woman was actually the senior sister he had nearly collided with at the Contribution Hall the other day. He had vaguely suspected as much the moment he saw her veil.

It was just that back then, she hadn’t possessed this unapproachable, inviolable, Saint-like aura; she had merely been timid, shy, and innocently cute. Glancing up at the holes in the roof, Yangx Kai chuckled softly. These unpatched holes had actually done a good deed today.

This soft chuckle inadvertently startled Xia Ningshang. When Yangx Kai lowered his head again, he was surprised to find this senior sister staring back at him with wide eyes.

Her large, bright eyes initially held a mixture of confusion and alarm, but that quickly dissolved into deep embarrassment. In the blink of an eye, Xia Ningshang’s dainty earlobes turned completely red. Despite the Yuehua being present in the night, Yangx Kai couldn’t see everything with absolute clarity, which spared Xia Ningshang a fraction of the awkwardness.

The two simply stared at each other—one in the bed, one standing beside it.

Yangx Kai was full of questions, but Xia Ningshang wished she could just slap herself unconscious. Her Fangxin twisted in knots. She never imagined she could be so careless and muddleheaded as to actually fall asleep here.

"AHEM..." Yangx Kai coughed lightly, trying his best to look friendly. He asked, "How should I address you, Senior Sister?"

Perhaps due to his fluctuating emotions, Yangx Kai’s Yingg sounded rather airy. In the middle of the night, with a man and woman alone together in a room, the question carried an entirely wrong tone. It sounded more like he was asking: "And what might your name be, little lady?"

It reeked of a shameless lecher.

Xia Ningshang’s face flushed blood-red, yet she still sat up reservedly. Brushing back a lock of her hair, she whispered, "My surname is Xia..."

She was too embarrassed to give her full name; today had simply been far too humiliating.

"So it’s Senior Sister Xia. Is there something you need from me, Senior Sister Xia?"

He knew that if there wasn’t a reason, a heavenly beauty like her would never grace his rundown little cabin with her presence.

Prompted by his question, Xia Ningshang finally remembered her purpose. She hurriedly pulled a bundle from beside her. Having steadied her emotions, she explained, "This afternoon, a hunter from the foot of Black Wind Mountain came looking for you. However, you still hadn’t returned by the time the lamps were lit. Seeing that he was anxious to head back, I went over and asked him what the matter was. The hunter said he wanted to thank you for saving his life. He asked me to pass this bundle on to you and said he would come to thank you in person when he has the time."

Hearing this, Yangx Kai immediately knew who the man was. The hunter, Zhang Shan! When he was returning from gathering herbs in Black Wind Mountain last time, he had saved the man and his son.

Yangx Kai reached out to take the bundle and nodded. "So that’s what happened."

Xia Ningshang lifted her gaze to sneak a few glances at him and added, "Since he entrusted me with the task, I waited here for you to return. I didn’t expect that while waiting, I would..."

She couldn’t bring herself to admit she had fallen asleep. It made her feel like a terrible failure who couldn’t handle a simple favor. To make matters worse, she had actually fallen asleep in someone else’s bed.

Yangx Kai completely understood what had happened today. He let out a hearty laugh. "Thank you for the trouble, Senior Sister. Your junior brother will definitely come back earlier next time."

Xia Ningshang didn’t know if it was her imagination or if he was doing it on purpose, but his words sounded incredibly wrong—like a husband making a promise to his wife before heading out.

Biting her lip lightly, Xia Ningshang said with a hint of displeasure, "Whether you come back early or not has nothing to do with me. The bundle has been delivered. I’m leaving."

With a twist of her waist and a stomp of her foot, she vanished from sight, leaving behind only a fragrant breeze that lingered in the room and at the tip of his nose.

This Senior Sister Xia really was quite shy.

Recalling the scene just now, Yangx Kai felt a sense of warmth. Recovering his wits, he opened the bundle left by Zhang Shan and found two sets of Qing long robes inside. These robes were stitched together needle by needle. The stitching was dense and the craftsmanship was delicate. Yangx Kai guessed they were made by Zhang Kai’s wife.

Zhang Shan was very thoughtful! During his last battle with the Flower-Backed Spider, his clothes had been slashed to tatters by that Demon Beast. It was precisely for this reason that the hunter had brought him two sets of clothes today.

Yangx Kai smiled faintly, put the items away, and then lay down on the bed.

That night, Yangx Kai slept very soundly.