IVYSCP - Chapter 71
Chapter 71
"A scattered soul can be gathered again?" Ling Qingyue said, surprised.
Pei Yin said, "The ancient texts say so, but I don't know if it's true or false."
Ling Qingyue nudged Pei Xi. "Is it true?"
Pei Xi gave her an odd look. "I've never read books."
Ling Qingyue: "..."
"Let's search first. The one who led us here must have a motive."
"Alright."
The two of them plus one yao beast needed only the time it takes to burn a stick of incense to search every inch of the Torch Dragon's abdominal cavity.
"The Torch Dragon's Heart Crystal is indeed gone," Pei Yin said softly. "It seems this is what the one behind this wanted to tell us."
Apart from that, there was no other reason.
Ling Qingyue nodded.
Pei Xi's snot was nearly frozen solid. She pressed herself against Ling Qingyue and spoke through shivers. "Then, then let's leave this place."
Seeing both of them nod in agreement, Pei Xi grabbed them and ran outside.
In one breath they reached the outer edges of Crouching Dragon Valley. Only then did Pei Xi stop, gulping down great breaths of the warm air outside.
The frost and snow on their bodies melted. Pei Yin raised a hand and cast a technique to dry all three of them.
"Return to Piaomiao Sect first."
Pei Yin took a somewhat smaller skyship from her Qiankun Pouch. The formations on it were intricate, and its layout was simpler and more understated.
The skyship had two inner rooms. Pei Xi voluntarily went to the side chamber, shifted to a smaller yao form, yawned, and fell asleep. To resist the Torch Dragon's frigid qi, she had expended a great deal of yao energy and needed a good rest.
Ling Qingyue and Pei Yin went to the main chamber.
The moment Ling Qingyue entered, she caught a familiar cold fragrance, very much like the scent on Pei Yin's body. This skyship was likely one she used often.
Within the main chamber, a separate area had been partitioned as a study, furnished with a desk, chairs, and bookshelves holding quite a number of ancient texts.
Pei Yin walked directly to the bookshelf and raised a hand to search through it. Ling Qingyue followed out of curiosity, studying her desk.
"Scripture of Quietude. You read this too?" Ling Qingyue picked it up and flipped through a couple of pages, muttering, "Oh, right. You cultivate the Supreme Detachment Path now, so of course you need some quiet."
Setting the book down, Ling Qingyue then picked up the calligraphy brush beside it. The handle was exquisitely carved jade, and the bristles were made from the rarest and most precious hairs of a snow mountain silver wolf.
The entire brush was cool to the touch and richly imbued with spiritual energy. Ling Qingyue spun it once in her hand, her eyes curving into a smile as she spoke to the person in front of the bookshelf. "This brush of yours is quite nice. It's mine now."
Pei Yin didn't look back. She gave a soft "Mm."
"The inkstone too, I want it."
"Alright."
"The paperweight is also good."
"It's yours."
Seeing that she answered every single remark, Ling Qingyue crept silently behind her. "Then this one..."
Pei Yin only felt a prod at her lower back, and then she was embraced.
"This one?" Ling Qingyue stood on tiptoe and sniffed at the back of her neck.
So fragrant.
Pei Yin pulled out a book and turned in her arms to face her. Her eyes held a smile. "Yours."
Ling Qingyue couldn't stop the corners of her lips from lifting. Afraid she looked too smug, she shifted her gaze to the book in Pei Yin's hand and asked, "What's this?"
"Ancient Yao Records, an old text. It has a section on the Torch Dragon."
Pei Yin pulled over the nearby chair and sat down, then smoothly gathered Ling Qingyue onto her lap, wrapping her arms around her as she opened the ancient text in her hands.
Ling Qingyue's face heated for a moment, but considering their current relationship, she pushed that bit of shyness down and sat with a clear conscience. When she didn't feel quite comfortable, she even leaned back a little.
Turning to the Torch Dragon chapter, Ling Qingyue saw the painted image of the Torch Dragon. Its entire body was crimson and imposing, difficult to associate with the corpse and bones in Crouching Dragon Valley.
Off to the side was a small line of text. The handwriting was flowing yet somewhat messy. Due to its age, the ink had faded in places, but what was written could still be made out with effort.
Ling Qingyue followed the characters with her fingertip and read them out softly. "The Torch Dragon can command the four seasons, the sun, and the moon. It drinks not, eats not. Upon death, to preserve its skeletal remains intact, it condenses a Heart Crystal that repels all yao beasts. Postscript: For those whose souls have scattered, the Torch Dragon's Heart Crystal may gather them."
"It's true," Ling Qingyue tilted her head to look at Pei Yin and voiced her suspicion. "Could it be that the one behind all this wants to tell me I was resurrected using this Torch Dragon's Heart Crystal?"
As soon as she said it, she shook her head and muttered to herself, "That doesn't make sense. If she resurrected me so I could help her with her plans, why go out of her way to tell me how I was resurrected? Does she want me to feel grateful to her or something?"
Pei Yin pondered, then said, "Indeed, there's no need. Perhaps she led us here to tell us that the one behind Cui Heng took the Torch Dragon's Heart Crystal and intends to use it to gather a soul."
Cui Heng...
The moment Ling Qingyue thought of her, she couldn't help thinking of another person.
In the next moment, Ling Qingyue's breathing became somewhat unsteady, and she pressed her lips together unconsciously.
Pei Yin noticed. She raised a hand to gently part Ling Qingyue's lips, her fingertip lightly brushing against them. "What are you thinking about?"
Ling Qingyue turned slightly to embrace her, pressing her face against the woman's neck and murmuring quietly, "I once went to Crouching Dragon Valley with my senior sister. I followed her secretly. When she found out, she was very angry and told me to go back. I clung to her shamelessly until she had no choice but to let me stay. At the time, my cultivation was too low to resist the frigid qi, so I could only wait outside. Senior sister went in."
"When was this? What was she doing there?"
"Probably when I was around ten or so. Senior sister said there were evil spirits in the valley and she was going to eliminate them."
"Pei Yin." Ling Qingyue held the person even tighter and said in a muffled voice, "It won't be my senior sister, right."
The one behind Cui Heng was the one who had plotted against Liu Qingtang, the one who had humiliated the corpses of hundreds of cultivators after causing their deaths. Her senior sister... wouldn't be that kind of person.
Pei Yin stroked her back. "Mm. When the time comes, we'll drag the one behind this out into the open, and then we'll know who it is."
"Mm." Ling Qingyue's voice carried a slight nasal tone.
After holding each other for a while, Ling Qingyue's hand unconsciously began to play with the hair hanging in front of Pei Yin's chest. It was cool, smooth, and felt wonderful.
A long moment later, she spoke again. "I actually do kind of want to thank the person who resurrected me. She sent someone as wonderful as you to my side."
After saying it, the tips of Ling Qingyue's ears grew warm. Lying against Pei Yin, she heard the woman's soft, pleased laugh.
"I want to thank her too."
Pei Yin raised her hand and touched Ling Qingyue's face. Her fingertips brushed over the warm skin, still able to feel the vivid breath of this living person.
Ling Qingyue lifted her head. Their gazes met. Pei Yin's eyes were too ardent, too focused, and Ling Qingyue soon blinked and lowered her eyes.
"Qingyue." Pei Yin called her name with affection.
Ling Qingyue's ears tingled at the sound. A numbness spread from her head to her toes, until finally it pulled tight in her lower abdomen, a slight ache and swelling.
Such a strange physical reaction. Ling Qingyue felt equal parts shyness and frustration in her heart and silently cursed this body for being so useless.
Pei Yin watched her head droop lower and lower, as if she wanted to hide herself away entirely.
"Qingyue."
She called her like that again.
Gritting her teeth, Ling Qingyue lifted her head, flustered and fierce. "What?!"
Pei Yin blinked. When her gaze fell on those ears flushed red enough to drip blood, a faint smile pressed at the corners of her lips.
Realizing she might have been a little harsh, Ling Qingyue reined in her expression, softened her voice, and asked again, "What is it?"
Pei Yin tightened her hold around Ling Qingyue's waist and drew her closer. The breath of the two mingled instantly.
The tips of their noses brushed. Ling Qingyue's breath caught, and her heart pounded loudly.
"May I kiss you?"
Ling Qingyue's face grew even hotter. She didn't understand why she had to ask this question. They had already kissed before, and now she was acting all polite.
She did not answer. Ling Qingyue raised her hands, cupped Pei Yin's face, and kissed her. A sigh of satisfaction bloomed in her heart.
Unable to bear such a light kiss for even a moment, Ling Qingyue eagerly captured that coolness, bit down in retaliation, and then tenderly sucked and licked. Once she had tasted the flavor of those lips to her fill, Ling Qingyue probed with the tip of her tongue and easily met with the same fragrant softness.
Pei Yin leaned against the back of the chair, her hands wrapped around her, lifting her head to yield to everything.
Halfway through, Ling Qingyue opened her eyes slightly. Seeing the woman's eyes closed in intoxicated enjoyment, her breathing once again fell into chaos.
Only their panting and the ambiguous sound of moisture remained in the room.
Slowly, Ling Qingyue's hand traced from the woman's cheek to her heated ears. After kneading them for a while, she followed the path downward to the slender, supple neck.
This spot was very fragrant. Surely it would be very good to kiss too.
Thinking this, Ling Qingyue parted their joined lips, kissed her chin, and then trailed kisses all the way to her neck.
It was indeed very good to kiss.
Kissing alone wasn't enough. Ling Qingyue extended the tip of her tongue and began licking and nibbling.
Pei Yin gasped and tilted her head back. Her palm cradled the back of Ling Qingyue's head as she felt the dense, tingling itch and the faint, nearly negligible ache on her neck.
The collar of her clothes was nudged loose a little. The damp, soft kisses slowly fell upon the front of her collarbone. Pei Yin blinked, and the clarity in her eyes gradually returned.
Right after, a strange sensation came from her chest. The two, still locked in their embrace, stiffened at the same time. Even their chaotic panting came to an abrupt halt.
A faint blush colored Pei Yin's cheeks. She raised a hand to cover her own eyes, her throat bobbing twice as she swallowed.
Ling Qingyue pulled back a little and looked at the star-like red marks dotting the neck and collarbone before her. One of her hands still rested on...
Just now, it seemed she had kneaded it without thinking. The residual force of that soft, springy sensation still lingered on her fingertips.
It felt as if her head was about to burst into flames. Ling Qingyue took her hand away and reached over with trembling fingers to straighten the woman's disheveled front lapels. But no matter how she adjusted them, they still looked messy, unable to cover those vivid red kiss marks.
The scattered marks stung Ling Qingyue's eyes. She glanced at them and quickly looked away, only to steal another glance despite herself.
They were... they were actually quite beautiful.
Ling Qingyue licked her lips, a sense of lingering desire in her heart.
Compared to spiritual communion, she preferred this kind of intimacy.
The moment she finished that thought and lifted her eyes, she realized that at some point Pei Yin had lowered her hand and was quietly looking at her.
Their eyes met, and Ling Qingyue burned with heat once more.
"I..."
"You..."
Both their voices were hoarse in exactly the same way, carrying an indescribable tenderness.
Just then, the skyship passed through Piaomiao Sect's barrier and was forcibly stopped by someone.
Pei Yin's expression shifted slightly. "My master has arrived."
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