Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 46

Perhaps because the fusion of their spiritual consciousnesses was already too familiar, Shen Lezhi found herself irresistibly drawn to Wang Xi after only a moment of spiritual power intrusion, clinging to her almost instinctively.

Although it was involuntary, she hadn’t completely lost herself.

Shen Lezhi could previously claim that Wang Xi was forcing her, but now, in her own dream, she felt she was the one who made Wang Xi appear.

Whether it was the Wang Xi covered in demonic runes, with blood-red eyes and a crazed demeanor from before, or the current Wang Xi with cold, clear features, similarly sinking into desire—

They were all her dreamscape, all her imagination.

The other person was her fear, her nightmare, and the object of her longing.

Even though Shen Lezhi vehemently denied it in her daily life, she couldn’t change the fact that Wang Xi’s shadow filled her dreams night after night.

She couldn’t lie to herself; this dream was the proof.

The person before her had already leaned in and embraced Shen Lezhi, which was the maximum extent of their interaction each time.

It was like a cautious restraint hidden beneath a reckless indulgence. Even though she completely disregarded Shen Lezhi’s resistance, the spiritual power that penetrated Shen Lezhi’s spiritual platform was just as wildly entangled every single time.

Shen Lezhi rarely cried in front of Wang Xi, except when she was completely out of control. Now, in the dream, she finally let go a little.

Perhaps because her tears and resistance were useless in reality, she felt she should at least be able to control something in her dream.

She no longer stubbornly suppressed her pain. She opened her mouth and bit the side of Wang Xi’s neck, which was close to her face from the tight embrace, and she cried loudly and heartbreakingly while biting.

“Why do you treat me this way? I always thought you were the most wonderful person in this world, but why won’t you let me go even in my dream?”

“No, I dreamt of you. It’s my base self that still dreams of you.”

Her tears, her grievances, the posture she would never show to anyone—only in her dream could she vent them.

Shen Lezhi didn’t see Wang Xi’s sudden halt. The arms holding her tightly trembled uncontrollably.

She continued to cry, as if to shed all the tears she had never let out before.

“You are a nightmare I can’t escape.”

As these words left her mouth, everything in the room grew cold. Wang Xi tightly pursed her lips, her heart aching and spasming as if it were being torn apart.

She hadn’t felt this kind of pain in a long time, like the fire of the Flame Demon burning her skin once more, incinerating her soul.

Shen Lezhi called her a “nightmare.”

Wang Xi’s eyelids fluttered shut, acknowledging Shen Lezhi’s words.

Her current state, neither celestial nor demonic, was indeed like a “nightmare.”

Wang Xi suppressed all her emotions, and as usual, linked with the spiritual power in Shen Lezhi’s body, intertwining with Shen Lezhi in the spiritual platform.

She heard Shen Lezhi emit a soft, weak groan of distress, and Wang Xi felt her own body go limp with weakness.

But this sound somehow stimulated Shen Lezhi. She gritted her teeth and suddenly sat up, her eyes still red with unshed tears, and fiercely pushed Wang Xi away.

They could continue dual cultivation without embracing. Sometimes, when Shen Lezhi was too resistant, Wang Xi would release her, at least not touching her with her hands.

But the intrusion of spiritual power would not stop; Wang Xi never halted the healing process of dual cultivation.

But this time was different.

Shen Lezhi pushed her away, not to reject her touch, but to flip over and straddle her, pressing her down.

Wang Xi’s spiritual power had never left Shen Lezhi’s meridians. Their connection in the spiritual platform remained extremely close.

Amidst the full-body tremors, Shen Lezhi bit Wang Xi’s back neck fiercely, yelling viciously at the latter while biting, “I want you to cry too! I want you to shed tears too, just like me!”

“Don’t you like this? Haven’t you been intruding on me like this all the time? Why am I the only one suffering and sad?!”

Shen Lezhi finally stopped crying. Her blood-red eyes were full of violent emotions directed at Wang Xi.

She actually hated herself for becoming like a true madwoman.

But the person who caused her so much pain was right in front of her, and in reality, she couldn’t retaliate anymore.

In her own dream, she didn’t have to suppress anything. All this crazy revenge was just a dream.

“Cry!” Shen Lezhi arched her body, tearing at Wang Xi’s back neck. She bit so hard that she nearly drew blood from Wang Xi, as fiercely as if she wished to kill her.

But her body was violently shaking. She was involuntary, she couldn’t control herself. Wang Xi’s entanglement in the spiritual consciousness grew more intense and frantic. She was even unwilling to resist the other party.

She trembled, from her spiritual platform to her meridians; every part of her body was undergoing extreme excitement.

She breathed deeply. Wang Xi’s eyes, beneath her, were also tinged with a dazzling red, as if she were about to cry.

Shen Lezhi lowered her head and caught the scent of clean snow from Wang Xi’s hair.

The fragrance filled her sense of smell, making her feel as if even her breath was tainted with that scent.

She pressed down on Wang Xi’s shoulder, watching Wang Xi tremble, the flush at the corner of her eyes lingering in front of her.

Shen Lezhi stared blankly, unable to tell if Wang Xi was crying or not.

She only felt that everything before her was so dreamlike. Perhaps because it was a dream, she felt everything so clearly, yet also vaguely unreal.

Of course it wasn’t real. How could Wang Xi cry?

That person, as quiet as a cool breeze, or as tyrannical and cold-hearted, would never cry.

But the person before her, pressed beneath Shen Lezhi, showed no resistance, her eyes tinged with a beautiful red.

As their spiritual consciousnesses intertwined deeper and deeper in the spiritual platform, Shen Lezhi’s rationality gradually faded.

She was already irrational today. She believed she controlled her own dream, and everything in the dream was what she desired.

So, Wang Xi would lie beneath her, allowing her to bite; her eyes would be stained red, on the verge of tears.

So, the other party no longer cast any binding spells, allowing Shen Lezhi to bend down, press against her back, and let her face fall into her neck-nest.

Shen Lezhi’s breathing was clearly shaky, hot, and ambiguous.

She involuntarily let out a soft groan, which clearly reached Wang Xi’s ear.

The warm, moist breath she exhaled also touched Wang Xi’s snowy right ear. Wang Xi suddenly felt so, so ticklish.

It was more unbearable than when Shen Lezhi fiercely bit her back neck just moments ago.

She couldn’t bear it and wanted to dodge, but Shen Lezhi stayed there, unwilling to leave, and not allowing her to dodge.

Shen Lezhi pressed closer. Her nose had already touched Wang Xi’s earlobe. In such intimacy, even such a simple touch would push them both into deeper desire, making their entire bodies and minds tremble.

Wang Xi was completely stiff for a moment. Only the soft moan, desperately trapped in her throat, preserved a shred of her dignity.

But Shen Lezhi didn’t stop there. With a gasp and trembling breath, she kissed the back of Wang Xi’s ear.

In the dream, she could drop the confrontation with Wang Xi. She understood her own desire; her heart was occupied by that ice and snow.

If faced with the real Wang Xi, she couldn’t convince herself to want the person who had harmed her, even if the other party was unaware. She couldn’t forget the hatred and pain that Wang Xi had violently inflicted.

The suffering she should not have endured had no outlet.

So she intensely hated Wang Xi for hurting her, yet she was hopelessly in love with her.

Shen Lezhi didn’t understand why people could be so contradictory, but at least in her dream, she could indulge her heart.

She lightly kissed the back of Wang Xi’s ear. That spot was also covered with a thin layer of frost. The temperature of the ice and snow was permeated by her lips, and the other party’s pure, cold breath was also filled with a sweet, enchanting taste.

So sweet.

Shen Lezhi licked and kissed tremblingly.

So, the ice on Wang Xi’s body could be this sweet.

She could no longer suppress her restraint. She pressed close to Wang Xi, actively meeting the spiritual power that was intruding, her spiritual consciousness actively and frantically intertwining with it.

Even though both of them were fully dressed at this moment, and not even a strand of Shen Lezhi’s hair was messy.

It was as if they were about to completely merge into one entity.

She could feel Wang Xi’s extreme excitement because she felt the same. Their senses were interconnected. In her spiritual platform, the storm-like, frantic entanglement of their spiritual consciousnesses made her so excited that she almost stopped breathing.

Her vision spun. She almost didn’t know where she was.

Only the pure, cold scent with a hint of sweetness in her nostrils, only the red flush at the corner of the other person’s eyes before her.

Was Wang Xi crying or not?

Shen Lezhi wondered vaguely amidst the undulations. Did she cry out?

Were her tears, like her person, cold like ice?

Or were they as hot and scorching as she was?

This spiritual consciousness fusion lasted for a long time. Only when Shen Lezhi finally whispered tiredly, “It’s time to wake up,” did Wang Xi finally relent.

She should have stopped long ago. Wang Xi guided the excess spiritual power out of Shen Lezhi’s body. After each dual cultivation session, the damaged meridians would be repaired slightly, though the recovery was extremely slow, hard to notice without a careful internal examination.

Moreover, during many dual cultivation sessions, Wang Xi had discovered an extremely small wood-type spiritual root in her body.

Wang Xi had seen the wood-type spiritual energy generated in Shen Lezhi’s body when she was near death before, and it turned out there was a hidden wood-type spiritual root in her meridians.

Wang Xi also found that this spiritual root was restricted, but Wang Xi no longer wanted to pursue Shen Lezhi’s secrets. She just looked at the face of the girl who was so exhausted she fell into a deep sleep, and a pang of bitterness rose in her heart.

She had never expected Shen Lezhi to kiss her like that.

She had thought the other party no longer loved her, after all, Shen Lezhi had endured all her torture and harm.

Shen Lezhi said she hated her, hated her enough to tear at her skin, hated her enough to want to see her bleed.

But Shen Lezhi also said she couldn’t help but miss her, couldn’t help but kiss her.

Wang Xi didn’t know how to respond.

When she let Shen Lezhi leave, she had prepared for the possibility that the other party would never return. Or rather, Wang Xi hoped that Shen Lezhi would never come back.

She was ultimately headed for revenge. This revenge no longer concerned Shen Lezhi. The dangers and conspiracies of the Jadefrost Sect were no longer related to Shen Lezhi.

Wang Xi was already full of demonic energy and could never return to her former self. She didn’t want to drag the innocent Shen Lezhi into this struggle again.

The other party should go with Yunsha to Canfeng City, go anywhere, and live the life she deserved.

Wang Xi lowered her eyes and silently watched Shen Lezhi for a long time. Finally, she cast a cleaning spell on both of them, lifted the restriction on the Weeping Soul Tassel on Shen Lezhi’s head, and then floated back into the small white sword, leaving no trace.

The next day, when Shen Lezhi woke up drowsily, she still felt that yesterday’s dream was too real, so she called out to the Weeping Soul Tassel again, and this time she received a response.

The Weeping Soul Tassel had no special memory of the previous night. When Shen Lezhi asked about it, it only said it was also dormant.

Shen Lezhi stopped questioning and got ready, then followed Senior Sister Yunsha and Hua Man to Lady Chi Yu’s residence for the banquet.

Lady Chi Yu greeted their arrival with enthusiasm, but there were simply too many guests, and she was called away shortly after.

So, another person came to host them.

This person was tall and elegant, not a great beauty like Lady Chi Yu, but possessed a noble aura and a refined, generous demeanor.

She wore a cyan-orchid dress, adorned with real gold and precious pearls on her head, and a cyan-white jade pendant on her waist, giving her a completely dignified temperament.

“I am Xiang Xumei. Thank you for attending my youngest daughter’s hundredth-day celebration,” the woman bowed slightly, thanking Shen Lezhi and the others.

As soon as she spoke, Shen Lezhi immediately knew her identity.

So, she was Lady Chi Yu’s Dao Companion.

“I apologize for the offense yesterday. It was my younger sister’s fault, and I apologize to the three of you on her behalf,” Xiang Xumei offered an apology and produced three artifacts as compensation. “These three bracelets are all storage artifacts. I hope the three of you will accept my apology.”

Although Shen Lezhi and the others no longer held grudges over yesterday’s incident and didn’t intend to accept the compensation, Xiang Xumei was very insistent. In the end, the three accepted the three bracelets.

Shen Lezhi put the bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet was woven from seven red jade beads. The beads were crystal clear and made a crisp, pleasant sound when they clinked together.

The red jade beads themselves were the storage artifacts of the bracelet. Each bead had a space as large as a spatial ring, making it an excellent top-grade artifact.

It was worthy of Shenwu Square; even the compensation items were so astonishing. The Jadefrost Sect, the top of the Four Great Sects, probably wouldn’t be this extravagant.

Xiang Xumei took them to tour Shenwu Square. Senior Sister Yunsha even ran into an acquaintance, the Flower-Nurturing Girl Yanyan (晏晏) from Fengdu Village.

Although Yanyan was just a flower-nurturing girl, Canfeng City and Fengdu Village rarely interacted with the outside world, remaining in a semi-closed state. Therefore, only a few people who traveled outside were known to the world, and the Flower-Nurturing Girl was one of them.

The title “Flower-Nurturing Girl” was not unique to Yanyan; every woman in this role had this name, like a title known throughout the cultivation world, equating the title with Canfeng City.

“Second Miss!” The Flower-Nurturing Girl Yanyan spotted them first and cried out in surprise when she saw Senior Sister Yunsha.

“Second Miss, it really is you!” Yanyan quickly walked up to Senior Sister Yunsha.

Only then did Shen Lezhi and Hua Man learn that Senior Sister Yunsha was actually the younger sister of the City Lord of Canfeng City.

Shen Lezhi recalled that Senior Sister Yunsha had never mentioned her background. She wasn’t sure if the original book mentioned it. Since her focus was on Wang Xi, she didn’t like people who were close to the protagonist, so she rarely thought about Senior Sister Yunsha’s existence.

Canfeng City was a reclusive aristocratic family, an ancient city located in the Qing’an Maple Forest, a small island surrounded by water on all four sides, full of maple trees, hence the name.

However, although Canfeng City rarely contacted the outside world, it wasn’t completely closed off.

Therefore, when Senior Sister Yunsha came into contact with talismans in her childhood, she already knew of Feng Nianzhen.

Senior Sister Yunsha had already gained insights into talismans at a young age. Although she hadn’t learned much, she strongly agreed with Feng Nianzhen’s philosophy that talisman work and formations complemented each other.

She greatly admired Feng Nianzhen at the time. When she was thirteen, she followed the Flower-Nurturing Girl of that time to the Sect Competition of the Four Great Sects to watch and finally saw Feng Nianzhen herself.

From that moment, Senior Sister Yunsha was determined to become Feng Nianzhen’s disciple and learn talisman work.

But for the Second Miss of Canfeng City, the City Lord’s younger sister, to go to another sect to apprentice was simply unreasonable.

Senior Sister Yunsha was young at the time and didn’t care about any of that. After arguing with the City Lord, she ran away and went to the Jadefrost Sect alone, asking Feng Nianzhen to take her as a disciple. She hadn’t returned home for a hundred years since.

Feng Nianzhen was reluctant to take disciples at that time. Firstly, an uninvited junior at the Qi Refining stage, not even a disciple of the Jadefrost Sect, running up and demanding to be taken as a disciple—it was good that she didn’t just cripple the person.

Secondly, Feng Nianzhen simply didn’t want to deal with affairs. Managing the Talisman Peak was already enough; having to painstakingly mentor a disciple was too much trouble for her.

The process of taking a disciple dragged on for a whole year until Senior Sister Yunsha, with her Qi Refining cultivation, stepped into the Illusion Formation in front of her immortal cave. Only then did Feng Nianzhen finally pay some attention to the junior.

The formation in front of her cave was divided into three layers. The first two could be somewhat deciphered by Golden Core Formation Cultivators, but the final layer required a cultivation level above Nascent Soul to break.

Senior Sister Yunsha stayed in the first layer for three months before finally cracking it. This wasn’t too difficult for other Golden Core Formation Cultivators, but Senior Sister Yunsha was only at the Mid-Qi Refining stage.

Feng Nianzhen watched with interest as Senior Sister Yunsha navigated the formation, constantly facing peril. After watching for a long time, when Senior Sister Yunsha reached the third layer, Feng Nianzhen deliberately exposed the formation core to help her break out, and finally had the idea of taking her as a disciple.

“Yanyan, why are you here?” Senior Sister Yunsha was also very surprised to see her old acquaintance.

“The Grey-robed Elder said that the Master of Shenwu Square was once kind to her, so she sent me to congratulate the Square Master on her behalf,” Yanyan replied.

“Second Miss, are you still unwilling to return to Canfeng City? The City Lord actually misses you very much,” Yanyan advised with some helplessness.

In fact, Yanyan had met Senior Sister Yunsha several times over the past hundred years. After all, as Feng Nianzhen’s disciple and a prominent figure among the younger generation, Yanyan had long heard of her.

However, back then, when the City Lord learned that Senior Sister Yunsha wanted to apprentice with Feng Nianzhen of the Jadefrost Sect, she was so angry that she revoked her Canfeng City token and forbade her from ever returning to Canfeng City.

Senior Sister Yunsha’s reluctance to go home for a hundred years was also due to the heartbreak caused by her sister’s words back then.

The anger had long subsided, but the hurtful words were etched into her heart, leaving scars that could not be removed.

“I will return this time,” But after a hundred years, it was time to go home.

Besides, for the sake of Shen Lezhi’s condition, Senior Sister Yunsha had to go back.

Yanyan was instantly overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately said, “Then it’s perfect! I’ll go with Second Miss to Fengdu Village to pick up the entry token for the city.”

Senior Sister Yunsha naturally agreed.

The matter was thus settled. The two agreed to set off in three days.

Senior Sister Yunsha originally wanted to spend a few more days sightseeing with Hua Man and Shen Lezhi, as it wasn’t yet time for the Grey-robed Elder to appear.

But Yanyan feared she would change her mind and insisted on setting off quickly, so Senior Sister Yunsha could only reluctantly comply.

That night, Shen Lezhi dreamed of Wang Xi again.

She was originally meditating in her cave. She entered a state of concentration and surprisingly fell asleep.

In the dream, Wang Xi’s figure slowly walked toward her, with the same cold, distant eyes as yesterday, and the residual marks of Shen Lezhi’s bites on her neck.

She stopped in front of Shen Lezhi, looking down at her. This time, she didn’t immediately intrude upon Shen Lezhi.

Instead, she stood in front of Shen Lezhi, examining her for a long moment.

Shen Lezhi looked at the marks on Wang Xi’s neck, somewhat unable to face the reality that she still liked Wang Xi in this wretched state.

The rings of marks on Wang Xi’s neck were like the scattered, broken branches of trees in a snowfield.

The crisscrossing scars looked so enticingly provocative on Wang Xi’s snowy white neck.

Shen Lezhi instantly lightened her breathing. Although Wang Xi hadn’t intruded yet, her mind was already heating up.

She frantically lowered her head and looked away, catching sight of the bracelet on her hand. Her gaze paused for a moment. She suddenly raised her hand, took Wang Xi’s wrist, and put the string of bracelets she had just received today onto Wang Xi’s wrist.

The red gems made Wang Xi’s wrist skin appear even snowier. Shen Lezhi held the other party’s slender wrist. The red beads intended to trigger a clear clinking sound, and Wang Xi’s spiritual power followed the sound and intruded.

The other party easily entered Shen Lezhi’s spiritual platform because, in the dream, Shen Lezhi would not put up much resistance.

Shen Lezhi followed her own heart, so when Wang Xi embraced her, she only hesitated slightly, then tightly hugged Wang Xi back.

Her response made Wang Xi tremble. The arms that were tightly embracing Shen Lezhi grew even stronger.

So tight that it felt as if she wanted to press Shen Lezhi into her own flesh and blood, so tight that Shen Lezhi felt suffocated.

Shen Lezhi uncomfortably lifted her head, seemingly wanting to breathe in this posture.

If this were before, she would have struggled desperately and pushed Wang Xi away, but everything in the dream now was what she desired.

She didn’t need to worry about whether Wang Xi would truly hurt her because the hands that tightly held her were extremely restrained, daring not to touch Shen Lezhi more than necessary.

It was as if she was deeply overwhelmed by emotion, yet afraid of hurting Shen Lezhi by holding her too tightly.

This was a behavior that only appeared from Wang Xi in the dream. In reality, that person never cared about her resistance.

So Shen Lezhi allowed Wang Xi to hold her in her arms at this moment, allowing the latter’s breath to fall on her ear.

When Wang Xi’s spiritual power intruded as usual, Shen Lezhi vaguely thought that the other party’s lips had been resting on her ear the entire time today, with one shallow, warm, and moist breath after another disturbing her.

What was Wang Xi thinking? Was she also thinking of kissing that spot, just like she had yesterday?

Once this thought emerged, it became unstoppable. Shen Lezhi’s heartbeat suddenly intensified. She suddenly desired a more intimate contact with Wang Xi.

She lowered her head, her lips approaching the other party’s neck. This time, she did not bite violently. She merely pressed closer, merely pressed her lips against it.

The icy cold touch made Shen Lezhi linger there.

She parted her lips, and her hot breath hit Wang Xi’s skin. Her hands also involuntarily tightened, and then she felt it—Wang Xi suddenly trembled even more violently than she did.

An uncontrollable, soft groan escaped the other party. That sound was a suppressed emotion, hidden deep in her throat and body, yet suddenly released without control.

It was Wang Xi trembling, releasing herself, unable to hold back anymore.

But there was only that one sound. After that, even as Wang Xi’s breathing grew heavier, she refused to let out such a sound again.

Shen Lezhi felt disappointed and deliberately refused to let the other party maintain control.

Even though she herself was already in chaos due to Wang Xi’s spiritual power intrusion, with waves of heat almost submerging her.

How could Wang Xi still maintain her composure?

She deliberately wanted this person to be in chaos too, to let out a moan, to be flushed and unable to control herself.

Shen Lezhi acted on her thoughts. In the dream, she was even more reckless. She opened her mouth and sucked on Wang Xi’s earlobe, lightly grinding her teeth on it.

She successfully sensed Wang Xi’s stiffness, but this was far from enough.

She raised her body, half-sitting on Wang Xi, leaning all her weight on her. Then, she tilted her head, bringing the side of her face closer to Wang Xi.

Because Wang Xi’s lips were paused right at her ear, Shen Lezhi’s movements nearly brushed past Wang Xi’s lips several times.

Wang Xi initially didn’t know she was doing it on purpose, constantly suppressing herself, caught between intense longing and restrained evasion.

She was afraid of actually touching Shen Lezhi, yet afraid of moving away from this proximity.

Until Shen Lezhi suddenly spoke softly, her voice extremely faint, whispering in her ear: “Master, why are you still unwilling to kiss me?”

At that moment, all of Wang Xi’s breathing stopped. The string called “reason” in her mind finally snapped completely.

She trembled ceaselessly. All her spiritual power instantly seemed to be granted permission for release, wildly and frantically assaulting Shen Lezhi.

She closed her trembling eyelids, and her lips fell on Shen Lezhi’s ear, moving closer and closer…