Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 14

Wang Xi recalled the first time she saw Shen Lezhi. The baby was so weak that she was almost breathless. The Sect Leader said she was in this state when he found her. Wang Xi reached out to check her pulse: her body surprisingly lacked a heart.

How could a baby without a heart survive?

Wang Xi used to think that Shen Lezhi was just incredibly lucky, but now it seemed that the situation was not so simple.

Where Shen Lezhi’s blood had spilled, the spiritual plants emitted a strange fragrance. Even though Wang Xi had lived for so long, she still did not know what exactly was happening with Shen Lezhi’s current condition.

However, she ultimately could not let Shen Lezhi die yet. As far as she knew, Shen Lezhi was a chess piece of the people behind the scenes. This chess piece had taken her life in the previous life, and in this life, she was carefully maintaining her disguise to use this piece to draw the snake out of its hole.

Wang Xi picked up Shen Lezhi. Shen Lezhi’s frail body was likely much lighter than that of her peers.

Due to years of taking medicine, Shen Lezhi always carried a faint, bitter medicinal scent, but at this moment, Wang Xi surprisingly detected another aroma.

Fresh, sweet.

Like a perfectly ripe peach, the moment Wang Xi leaned closer, the refreshing sweetness instantly permeated her entire senses.

She subconsciously took a deep breath. The sweetness seemed to rush into her throat and surge into her brain.

Wang Xi lowered her head uncontrollably, the increasingly intense freshness soaking into her nostrils. Her lips pressed against Shen Lezhi’s injured neck until her tongue unconsciously licked and kissed the wound, until her throat was completely invaded by that sweet fragrance.

And at this moment, Shen Lezhi opened her eyes.

Fragile, hazy.

Yet she clearly saw Wang Xi.

“Master?” Shen Lezhi was extremely weak, the syllables she managed were short and faint.

But her gaze was fixed on Wang Xi’s face. Her mind wasn’t entirely clear, yet she distinctly perceived Wang Xi’s actions at this moment.

The other party’s lips were soft, pressed against her wound, but due to the cultivation method Wang Xi practiced, her whole body carried a chill; even her lips were icy.

The coldness made Shen Lezhi involuntarily tremble.

She saw Wang Xi’s eyelids lowered, framed against the light, nested within the shadows of the trees. Her eyes, like colored glass, showed pain, anger, and infatuation.

Shen Lezhi couldn’t help but tremble intensely.

This transcendent being, like a banished immortal, could actually be moved to such deep affection for her beloved.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t for her, not for Shen Lezhi.

Shen Lezhi understood the reason for such a sentiment rising in her heart: she was somewhat envious.

Wang Xi would never know that this was the second time Shen Lezhi had faced death so starkly. The last time, she was alone, surrounded only by dark coldness.

But this time, she was holding the Weeping Soul Strand, and she was embraced in Wang Xi’s arms.

She was being carefully kissed by Wang Xi. She felt the incredibly intimate closeness of their skin.

Shen Lezhi had dated a girlfriend back when she was in school, but the other person didn’t truly love her.

However, she wasn’t particularly fond of the other person either. She was just naive, wanting to know the taste of love. When someone presented the opportunity, she simply accepted.

But that attempt ultimately led to her subsequent timidity regarding the matter.

Shen Lezhi longed for the kind of love described in books—a lifelong partnership, intense and romantic.

She had never possessed it, so she felt envious of the genuine emotion Wang Xi revealed at this moment.

She also felt a pang of sadness in her heart, knowing the final outcome between the original female protagonist and Wang Xi.

Even though Wang Xi’s expression was cold at the moment, Shen Lezhi only took it as her customary demeanor.

After all, the other party was tightly embracing her, lowering her head, and tenderly kissing the wound of her beloved.

After all, time and again, when Shen Lezhi was in danger and pain, Wang Xi always managed to arrive, always held her, and always saved her.

The cold fragrance on Wang Xi’s body was completely different from the dark chill Shen Lezhi faced when alone. Wang Xi was pure, the scent of frost and snow falling on a winter plum branch, infused with a clear, cold floral fragrance.

She liked this scent, so she closed her eyes, allowing herself to shrink into Wang Xi’s embrace, compromising by resting her head on the other party’s shoulder and burying her face into her neck.

Even if this love wasn’t meant for her, let her feel it for a moment.

Wang Xi suddenly snapped back to her senses.

Realizing that Shen Lezhi’s blood still lingered on her lips, her body immediately chilled.

A thin layer of ice formed on everything around her. Even the wind instantly carried a bone-piercing coldness.

Wang Xi gripped Shen Lezhi’s body tightly. Shen Lezhi had fallen unconscious again; she wouldn’t know what Wang Xi did now.

But Wang Xi was even more baffled by her own behavior.

It was as if she had been subjected to some kind of bewitchment, drawn by that abnormal sweetness.

Ordinary illusions were ineffective on her. Could it be that some kind of illusion specifically targeting her had been placed on Shen Lezhi?

But Wang Xi had already meticulously examined every part of Shen Lezhi’s body, every meridian, every inch of flesh and blood. She had repeatedly checked even the deepest realm of her spiritual consciousness and found no abnormality.

Wang Xi lowered her eyes, her cold gaze resting on Shen Lezhi’s face.

She would find out sooner or later.

Wang Xi was not in a hurry.

In this life, she would uncover everything.

She raised a hand and touched Shen Lezhi’s cheek, her fingertip resting near the corner of the latter’s eye.

She applied a little pressure, leaving a faint mark there.

By that time, she wanted to see Shen Lezhi’s pained and desperate expression.

She wanted her good disciple to also taste what it was like to be deceived.

…

Shen Lezhi felt a bit unlucky. She hadn’t been in this world for long, yet why was she constantly getting injured and fainting? Was this the legendary “female protagonist physique”?

Even if there were no troubles in life, did trouble have to be created for her?

She was very badly injured this time and spent half a month confined to bed. The spiritual plants in the field were looked after by Senior Sister Qi.

As for the Weeping Soul Strand, the remaining half of its stalk had regained its crisp green color, but it hadn’t grown an inch further.

Shen Lezhi watered it every day, even though the Weeping Soul Strand had told her that Spiritual Spring Water was useless for it.

Shen Lezhi also asked Senior Sister Qi about the Weeping Soul Strand’s condition and indirectly inquired about the special spiritual energy Shen Lezhi emitted during their first encounter, as the Weeping Soul Strand had described.

But all her efforts yielded nothing.

Due to the severity of this injury, coupled with Shen Lezhi’s long-term physical deficiency, the medical cultivators on Medicinal Herb Peak took the situation extremely seriously.

They all knew that Wang Xi deeply cherished her little disciple. When she was brought in, her whole body felt as if she had just emerged from an ice cellar, freezing anyone who got close.

The incident was so big that the Peak Master of Medicinal Herb Peak even came out and personally took charge of Shen Lezhi’s treatment.

After half a month of fuss, Shen Lezhi finally recovered, and only then did Medicinal Herb Peak allow her to leave.

Shen Lezhi returned to her small house with the Weeping Soul Strand, placed it on the windowsill, and gently stroked the Weeping Soul Strand’s incomplete stalk with soft eyes.

“Little Crybaby, get well soon,” Shen Lezhi silently prayed.

At least the Weeping Soul Strand hadn’t withered. There would surely be a day when it sprouted again.

Afterward, Shen Lezhi changed her clothes to go and pay her respects to Wang Xi.

Wang Xi hadn’t visited her in half a month. Shen Lezhi now had a slight understanding of the concept of time for cultivators. Every minute and second cherished by mortals was just a few moments of entering and exiting meditative regulation for cultivators.

So, Shen Lezhi was not surprised that Wang Xi had been absent for half a month.

However, since she had recovered, it was necessary to inform her.

Upon reaching Wang Xi’s cave residence, just like last time, she felt a chill before even entering. However, this time, Shen Lezhi had developed some ability to resist the cold. Although she wasn’t completely immune, it at least didn’t make her tremble uncontrollably.

Shen Lezhi followed her memory and walked inside. She saw the same simple interior as last time: the prominent prayer mat and the person sitting upright on it.

With Wang Xi’s spiritual awareness, she already knew of Shen Lezhi’s arrival. She slowly opened her eyes, raising her gaze slightly to look at Shen Lezhi.

Shen Lezhi had been watching her, observing her eyelashes gently part as she opened her eyes, and then that clear, profound gaze projected straight onto her.

Shen Lezhi suddenly recalled the scene of Wang Xi licking her wound. She looked into the clear, cold light in the other party’s eyes, the chilly lips, and the tight embrace.

Shen Lezhi unconsciously raised a hand and touched the already healed wound on her neck, her fingertip lightly touching it.

She felt that distinct coolness again, and her fingertip felt as if it had been pricked.

She trembled slightly, exerting extreme control. Only her eyelashes fluttered faintly like wings.

And Wang Xi also noticed Shen Lezhi’s unusual movement at this moment, seeing Shen Lezhi’s finger repeatedly tracing the spot she had kissed.