Chapter 557: Please, Young Lady, Show Some Restraint

Night. Cloud Village.

Moonlight lay like water over the quiet courtyard.

The woman sitting alone in the courtyard raised her head, gazing up at the sky full of stars, lost in thought.

It had now been exactly twenty days since she had begun making her rounds with Xiao Mo, tending to patients together.

She recalled how, the day before, she had deliberately let a snake bite her, so that Xiao Mo would come and bandage the wound, giving her an opportunity to seduce him further yet even after she had spoken so plainly at the time.

That fool Xiao Mo had still played dumb.

Thinking of this, Tushan Jingci could not help pushing out her lips, a knot of frustration rising in her chest.

Tushan Jingci understood clearly that though Xiao Mo was a monk, in the end he was still, at his core, a man.

And she had always had complete confidence in her own appearance and figure.

Beyond that, she was of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan, and the faint, subtle fragrance that drifted from her was an almost fatal draw for any man.

In Tushan Jingci's view, as long as Xiao Mo was drawn to women at all, he was bound to fall under her spell but what she had never expected was that this monk Xiao Mo's Buddhist resolve would prove so unshakably firm.

She could clearly sense that he genuinely did like her, and yet he always managed to hold himself back.

"This will not do. I need to think of a plan."

Tushan Jingci drew her gaze back from the night sky, biting lightly at her own fingernail with her glistening teeth.

She understood in her heart that things could not go on this way much longer.

If she let matters drag on like this indefinitely, there was no telling how long it would take before Xiao Mo finally broke his precepts.

Though Tushan Jingci felt she had plenty of time to spare.

She did not want to wait any longer.

Setting aside the risk of delay leading to unforeseen complications, if this fellow Xiao Mo kept cultivating in the Buddhist tradition and grew more and more detached from worldly ties, she would not know where to turn and by the time his cultivation level grew even higher, taking Xiao Mo away by force would become nearly impossible.

Tushan Jingci felt it was time for a more decisive approach and just as Tushan Jingci was quietly making up her mind, a mottled snake was coiled in the corner of the courtyard, occasionally raising its head to glance timidly at the woman sitting lost in thought on the stone bench.

It was clear the snake wanted to approach Tushan Jingci but did not dare, afraid of disturbing her.

"Do not stand around over there. Come here." Tushan Jingci spoke slowly, her voice not loud, yet it carried gently through the quiet courtyard.

"Master." At the command, the snake quickly slithered out from the corner and transformed into a young woman, kneeling on one knee before Tushan Jingci.

"What is it?" Tushan Jingci asked.

"It is just... it is just that this servant bit master today, but bit down a little too hard. I ask master's punishment." The young woman said, her tone uneasy.

"It is fine. That bite was nothing to me, and besides, I asked you to bite me."

Tushan Jingci said calmly, her eyes glancing lightly at her, then asking with a casual air.

"Oh, and if I am not mistaken, your clear flower snake clan's venom should have the effect of destroying a person's reason, should it not?"

"Yes, master."

The flower snake girl gave a nod, answering respectfully.

"Though my clan's venom is not lethal, it does carry other effects."

"Any cultivator below the Golden Core realm who is bitten by my clan will have their consciousness clouded for four hours, even acting unconsciously on the commands given to them."

"And with master's cultivation level, you could even shape the target's memories while they are unconscious."

"Would it harm the soul? Even the slightest amount?" Tushan Jingci pressed.

"It would not, master." The flower snake quickly assured her, her tone certain.

"Very good." Tushan Jingci gave a satisfied nod. "Extract a small vial of your venom for me."

"Yes, master." Though the flower snake had no idea what her master wanted the venom for, as an attendant she could only follow the order.

Before long, the flower snake had left behind a small vial of venom, carefully handing it to Tushan Jingci.

"That will do. You may go. Remember, the matters of these two days..." Tushan Jingci gave the flower snake girl a look, and an overwhelming pressure like a mountain descended on her at once.

"This servant understands. Even in death, this servant will not breathe a single word!" the flower snake girl said.

"Good that you understand. Off you go." Tushan Jingci waved a hand.

"Yes, master."

The young woman transformed back into a small snake and slipped quietly out of the courtyard.

Beneath the moonlight.

Tushan Jingci's pale, delicate hand gently held up the glass vial containing the pale green venom, her lovely cherry lips curving slightly, a smile rippling in her eyes. "Foolish monk, this time, let us see how you keep playing dumb, how you escape."

The following morning, Tushan Jingci arrived at Four Void Temple as early as always, standing quietly at the temple gate, waiting for Xiao Mo to come out.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two of them set off down the mountain together to attend to the villagers and townspeople nearby.

Tushan Jingci continued assisting Xiao Mo, handing him medicine, grinding herbs, recording prescriptions.

The two of them worked together with growing ease, sometimes needing no more than a glance from Xiao Mo before Tushan Jingci understood exactly what he needed.

For some of the simpler minor ailments, Xiao Mo would step back and let Tushan Jingci diagnose and treat the patients herself, giving her more chances to practice.

Though Tushan Jingci always played the part of an inexperienced beginner, occasionally fumbling about, in truth she performed everything precisely, never once making an actual mistake.

Xiao Mo understood clearly that Jingci was working hard to disguise herself as a novice just learning the medical arts.

Without quite noticing, another full day slipped by.

Xiao Mo walked Tushan Jingci back to her small courtyard as he always did.

Just as Xiao Mo turned to leave, heading back toward Four Void Temple, the woman's voice sounded behind him.

"Monk."

Tushan Jingci reached out and gently caught hold of the hem of Xiao Mo's robe.

"Is there something else, Miss Jingci?" Xiao Mo stopped and turned around, asking gently.

"Actually, it is nothing terribly important."

Tushan Jingci lowered her head slightly, her fingers gripping Xiao Mo's hem without letting go, a note of girlish shyness in her manner.

"It is only that you have been looking after me so much these past days, and it truly weighs on my conscience. So I was thinking, tonight I would like to make a few vegetarian dishes for you myself, as a small token of thanks."

"Many thanks for the young lady's kind thought." Xiao Mo gave a faint smile and gently declined. "But that was simply this humble monk's duty. The young lady need not concern herself with it."

"That will not do. I insist on it!"

Tushan Jingci's tone was stubborn. She lifted her chin and looked earnestly at Xiao Mo.

"In short, monk, you must stay tonight and eat dinner with me, or I absolutely will not let you leave."

The moment the words fell, Tushan Jingci quickly ran to the courtyard gate and latched it firmly shut, pressing her slender waist and rounded figure against the doorframe, striking a pose that made clear she would not let Xiao Mo leave under any circumstances.

"Very well." Xiao Mo let out a quiet sigh, a note of resignation in his tone. "Since the young lady has spoken so plainly, this humble monk has no choice but to accept graciously. Tonight's dinner will be a trouble for the young lady, then."

"No trouble at all." Seeing Xiao Mo finally relent, Tushan Jingci's eyes curved into two lovely crescents, and she said happily, "Then, monk, please sit for now. I will go and prepare the food right away."

With that, Tushan Jingci hurried into the kitchen.

Xiao Mo sat alone in the courtyard, waiting quietly.

Before long, the fragrance of cooking food drifted out from the kitchen.

In under half an hour, Tushan Jingci emerged carrying four dishes of vegetarian food and a bowl of tofu soup one after another, carefully setting them on the table.

She filled a bowl of rice for Xiao Mo, her movements gentle and natural, like a devoted wife, and set it properly before him.

Xiao Mo looked down at the several colorful, fragrant dishes on the table, yet the chopsticks in his hand hesitated, not settling for some time.

"What is the matter, monk? Why are you not eating?" Tushan Jingci blinked at Xiao Mo, the corner of her mouth curving slightly, her tone carrying a note of playful charm. "Do not tell me you are worried I might have poisoned the food."

"That is hardly the case." Xiao Mo gave a light smile and shook his head. "After all, I have never done anything to wrong the young lady."

"Then hurry and eat. The food is getting cold." Tushan Jingci picked up a few pieces of vegetable and placed them into Xiao Mo's bowl.

Xiao Mo picked up his chopsticks and began eating slowly.

Watching him swallow the food she had made with her own hands, the corner of Tushan Jingci's mouth curved upward slightly.

"Monk, you keep eating. I feel a bit itchy, so I am going to take a bath first. You must finish all of this before you leave."

With that, without waiting for Xiao Mo's response, Tushan Jingci hurried into the bathing room.

Xiao Mo sat alone in the courtyard, quietly eating his dinner.

About half an incense stick's time later, when Xiao Mo had nearly finished eating, his brow furrowed slightly.

He felt his vision growing hazy, his mind clouding over.

"As expected... there was indeed something wrong with this meal." Xiao Mo sighed quietly to himself. He had already suspected this dinner might be something of a trap.

Xiao Mo tried to channel his energy to force the poison out of his body but at that very moment, the bathing room door creaked open, and Tushan Jingci stepped out gracefully.

At that moment, the woman wore only a thin gauze dress, sheer as cicada wings, clinging tightly to her pale, delicate skin.

Her pale pink breast wrap was pushed up high by her chest, the peonies embroidered on it seeming to come alive, their petals full and lifelike.

Beneath the gauze dress, Tushan Jingci's snow-white, slender legs looked like finely carved jade, the lines flowing smoothly from knee to ankle, without a trace of excess, like the most perfect work of art in the world.

As the woman took step after step closer, the split hem of her skirt occasionally revealed those long, shapely legs, catching a soft glow in the twilight, warm and lustrous as the finest white jade.

"Miss Jingci, what are you doing?"

Xiao Mo's voice carried a note of hoarseness. He tried to hold his mind steady, but his consciousness felt like a crack in a dam, widening bit by bit, harder and harder to hold back.

"Something interesting, of course."

Tushan Jingci walked gracefully to Xiao Mo's side, her slender hand brushing lightly across her skirt, and her full, curved figure settled onto Xiao Mo's lap.

Tushan Jingci had not even employed the slightest hint of her bewitching arts, yet the faint, elegant fragrance drifting from her already crept into Xiao Mo's nose, thread by thread, as though trying to draw his very soul from his body.

She pressed against him like something soft and warm, boneless, her moist lips brushing close to his ear, her breath fragrant, her voice low and gentle as the night wind stirring flower petals. "Do not worry, monk. What we are about to do... will be very pleasurable. You will certainly... enjoy it very much."

"Young lady, please, show some restraint!" Xiao Mo closed his eyes, silently reciting the sutras in his mind.

"Restraint? And if I say no?" With those words, Tushan Jingci breathed out a warm, fragrant breath gently toward Xiao Mo.

The instant that breath lingered at the tip of Xiao Mo's nose, his consciousness sank as though into a bottomless sea, the light and sound before him fading gradually away, until he was completely submerged in darkness, hearing nothing, seeing nothing.

In the very last instant before his awareness broke apart entirely, Xiao Mo knew that today... he likely would not be able to escape.

The next moment, Xiao Mo's consciousness dissolved completely.

He sat there stiffly on the stone bench, like a puppet whose soul had been drawn out, his eyes vacant, without any response then Tushan Jingci reached out a slender jade hand and pressed it lightly to the space between Xiao Mo's brows, fully unleashing the desire that had been suppressed deep within his heart all along.

Xiao Mo's breathing suddenly grew ragged, his chest heaving.

He pulled Tushan Jingci tightly into his arms, his rough hands tugging clumsily and urgently at the thin gauze covering her.

The gauze fell silently to the ground, and a faint anxiety rose quietly in Tushan Jingci's heart but far more than that was anticipation.

From tonight on, she would give herself entirely to Xiao Mo.

After that, he would never be able to escape her again and once everything was done, while Xiao Mo remained unconscious, she could quietly, without a trace, shape his memories of the event.

When he woke, he would believe he had broken his precepts out of uncontrollable passion, rather than having been drugged but just at this critical moment.

Something suddenly seized Tushan Jingci's heart.

In less than half a breath, her slender hand shot out and pressed against Xiao Mo's forehead then she quickly climbed off his lap, and from her storage ring pulled out and dressed herself in another plain-colored long gown.

"Who is there!"

Tushan Jingci's eyes narrowed sharply, cold as blades.

Behind her, seven snow-white long tails swayed silently in the moonlight.

Having her plans interrupted left Tushan Jingci deeply displeased, even carrying a note of anger and as her cold words fell, the courtyard gate slowly opened.

A woman in a Daoist robe walked in, step by step.

Tushan Jingci fixed her gaze on the newcomer, and the instant she saw the woman's face clearly, her heart sank abruptly in her chest.

"Who... are you!"

Tushan Jingci's willow-shaped brows drew together tightly, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on the woman before her, her voice cold as frost.

This woman looked exactly… identical to herself.