I woke up very early. Actually, I technically didn't get any sleep, and I was busy at Shuntian Prefecture's office the day before, so that's two nights I haven't had any sleep.
After Miss Peerless Beauty, or rather, Shiyi left, I went back to my room firs to separate the two maidens, I mean, the Princess and Su Xiao, who were in each other's embrace and muttering nonsense.
The Princess and Su Xiao are considered young man (woman?) and woman. Su Xiao is just sixteen this year, while the Princess is twenty if I'm correct. Though I'm the sole witness, it'll affect our two maidens' reputation if news of them lying in bed together spreads.
The issue was that they were locked in each other's embrace. Their pure-white, soft hands were locked together, and both wore sweet smiles, which resembled a scene of two beautiful sisters sleeping together. The scene was akin to blooming flowers. It was a naturally beautiful scene that's hard to describe.
'I don't think anybody will spread bad rumours about them even if they saw them in this state, would they…?'
'I can't let Su Xiao see the Princess in my room, though, so I do have to separate them.'
'Although Su Xiao was intoxicated with Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pill, he maintained proper manners while sleeping. Perhaps it was due to his tender age and being a simple kid that he didn't have any lustful feelings. When I pulled him away from the Princess, he just laughed, "Nyahaha" as if he was drunk. There was no sign of him being aroused due to a drug.'
When I touched the Princess' arm with firm muscles, however, she slightly frowned. She maintained her serious demeanour. She anxiously said, "D-Don't strip me. I-I can't…"
'Who's trying to strip you?! I was just separating you from Su Xiao! Strictly speaking, Su Xiao may resemble a female, but he's an authentic pretty boy. The only person's innocence that's at risk here is yours, alone!'
The effects of the drug had yet to wear off. The Princess' cheeks were still red, and her eyes were shut tight. It was as though she was having hot flushes throughout her entire body. With a nasal voice, she said, "Can you give me a hug? I'm a bit cold…"
In a normal tone, I responded, "Your Highness, you are drunk. Your subject shall help you pull your blanket up."
I courteously covered her with the blanket after I finished speaking. Then I picked Su Xiao up and politely took three steps back before turning to leave.
'Of course I had to do that!'
'Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pill is an aphrodisiac. Its effects aren't overwhelming. It just arouses the user. People have even used it as a truth potion to get people to reveal the truth on certain things, so it has been used as a tool in interrogations. Owing to its effects, very few people can avoid not revealing their true thoughts. '
'It's easier to interrogate the user when they're under the influence of the drug, but once the effects wear off, the user won't have forgotten anything. They'll remember exactly what happened that night; hence, I had to make sure I didn't offend the Princess in any way. Otherwise, I'll be skinned tomorrow…'
Once I was done with things here, I snuck into the wild forest that Tang Ye usually trains in. It's said that he uses the wild beasts in here to practice new moves.
Due to the amorous scene and Five Plucks Heart Enchantment Pill, I now feel as though I have some excess energy. I went into the forest intending to find some wild beasts to practice some techniques on as I planned yesterday. However, after half an hour of searching while expecting to encounter some lions, tigers, bears or something, I didn't see anything even after reaching the ends of the forest.
'Tangy Ye usually said that he fought with tigers and wolves in here. He said that he'd run into one once every second day. He wasn't lying, was he?'
'Speaking of which, I never encountered a wild beast again on Mount Daluo after turning ten.'
'But I heard my junior martial brothers run into countless various strange beasts. They said that when they trained, they often ran into an old black bear three persons' tall, tigers with raised eyes and a white forehead, a huge eagle that could catch a wolf with one claw, but I never saw them.'
My shifu disregarded them, "Big deal. I've never seen a wild beast when I entered the mountains. Your Shiniang said she fought three hundred rounds with a black bear and managed to behead it after much arduous efforts, but I don't even know if that's true."
Apparently, Grandmaster was in the same boat. The three of us never encountered wild beasts in the forest. Second Shiniang said that was due to the three of us having a mountain purifying qi, and hence, all wild beasts would be driven away when we enter the mountain.
It took me ages to find a tiger that wasn't small by a creek. It looked around with an imposing look and emitted the aura of an overlord.
"Bro, want to play?"
I waved at the tiger, only for it to then look at me, and then cry out as though it was struck by lightning before finally fleeing…
'Oi! You can't do that! Help me train! I won't kill you! What are running as if your tail is on fire for?!'
It may have been a fast runner, but I could've caught up if I wanted to.
It's already had its soul frightened out of its body, though. If I caught up to it, it'll probably die from fright without me even hitting it… I'm not skinning it to sell its fur. I think I should give up on training on wild beasts to protect the animals.
I shot a glance at a small creek by the side. I might as well jump into the creek in the cold. Creeks in the mountain can freeze your bones in winter, but I think it'll be perfect. It'll help reduce the heat from the aphrodisiac.
I dipped my entire body into the water and thought back on the scene of my reunion with Shiyi back there.
I never expected to meet her in that fashion after not seeing her for several months.
I was slightly surprised at the start by her disguise, but after careful deliberation, I realised that there were clues.
To explain it, I need to start by telling you about her alias in the pugilistic world, Demoness.
Shiyi likes to roam the pugilistic world. In terms of seniority, the majority of people in the pugilistic world are three to four levels below as juniors. Although she's only younger than me by three years, she felt that everybody in the pugilistic world was her junior. Consequently, she loved to stick her nose into things.
'Demoness' is a title she earned in her early years, as she was the same as me when I was young. Her martial prowess and her wits weren't proportionate. Her martial prowess far exceeded someone of her age, but her temperament was fairly poor. She particularly loved pulling pranks. Leveraging the fact that she was highly skilled and had a strong backing, she did her fair share of things that shook the world.
For example, she burnt the patriarch of Wudang, Patriarch Shenfa's beard, stole the Divine Moon Sect's ancient books, challenged the seventy six members of Lushan Sword Sanctuary, who are the leaders of the Seven Champion White Princes, and defeated all of them, and she pulled off many other similar feats. That's the reason that she's called 'Demoness'.
To be honest, there's one more reason, but… it's somewhat hard for me to say, as her temperament had yet to settle. She's a bold and unrestrained character to begin with; therefore, she seduced men without any reserve. She'd wink to the guy on the left, send a blow kiss to the fellow on the right and would sometimes even throw herself into a guy's embrace.
That's how news of Demoness became all the rage. Moreover, they said that she was already eighty, but managed to maintain eternal youth by draining men of their Yang energy through bedroom cultivation. The rumour led to lots and lots of gentlemen in the pugilistic world hating her and loving her. They hated her for her unrestrained temperament and shamelessness in practicing that secret bedroom cultivation art. But nonetheless, they wanted nothing more than to get in her pants and cultivate with her! Unfortunately, they didn't get the chance to cultivate with her, so instead, they resorted to slandering her.
'But! All those men she hit on were me!'
When I was active in the pugilistic world, I used lots of fake identities. Shiyi saw though my disguises every time; then she'd find her way to me. As a consequence, lots of people were under the impression that Shiyi changed her partner. Daoists would sigh, "She's changed her cultivation partner again."
'Who would practice bedroom cultivation with their martial aunt?! Whoever just had a dirty thought, go face the wall and reflect on yourself!!!'
Glossary
*Yang energy - It's believed that men excrete their Yang energy when they orgasm during intercourse
**Bedroom cultivation - It means intercourse.
***Lushan Sword Sanctuary - I originally translated it as Lushan Jianguan, but I'll change the end the Jianguan part to Sword Sanctuary, because with more context now provided, I deem it necessary to reflect that. I'll make time to change this in earlier chapters. Previously, it was unclear that could take the meaning of sanctuary, because it's a very diverse character, context not accounted for.