The moment he stepped inside his room, he saw his beloved—her black hair tinged with purple streaks—looking at him with annoyance. It was clear from her expression that she was angry because it had taken him so long to come back home and she missed him dearly because of it.
And yet, the moment she saw the cold and callous look on his face, the bloodstains on his robes, and the soft golden flames that surrounded his fingertips, all of her feelings of annoyance vanished.
She disappeared from under the covers of the bed, rustling the sheets in the process, as she instantly appeared in front of him. She stared at his face with a look of concern, looking as though she were about to cry as her motherly instincts rose to the surface.
"What happened? Whose blood is that on your clothes? Are you injured? Who did this to you? Are you oka—?"
THUMP
Without saying a word, he extended both of his hands toward her, taking her into his embrace and burying his face in her neck. He took in her scent as he forced his raging emotions to calm down.
Li Mei froze for a bit before instantly reciprocating and wrapping her arms around him, rubbing his back softly and whispering in his ears.
"It's fine, I'm here. You're okay... you're safe with me. Let me take care of everything."
Huang Shi simply nodded his head as Li Mei moved slightly back, looking at his weary face before cupping his cheeks with her hands.
"Let's go take a bath first, okay? We need to remove your clothes and remove the bloody stench off your body."
After a few minutes, he and Li Mei were now both naked, taking a bath in the hot spring of his abode. Li Mei carefully scrubbed the dirt off his body, her fingers softly caressing his skin, making sure that each and every part of him was cleansed of every bit of blood and filth that had touched him.
Throughout this process, Huang Shi didn't say a word; he just had a numb expression on his face as he let his beloved take care of him, slowly lifting the heavy weight that had inadvertently settled on his shoulders ever since he arrived in this world.
Before long, Li Mei had finished her task of bathing him, and the both of them were now back in their room. She helped him wear his clothes silently, the warmth of her touch bringing comfort to his heart as she looked at him like he was the most precious thing in the world.
Finally, he and Li Mei were now lying back down on the bed, his head on her lap as she softly played with his hair. Her fingers rubbed the back of his scalp like a massage as he kept his eyes closed throughout the entire process.
Despite the quiet between them, there was no sense of awkwardness at all; instead, all he felt was peace and comfort.
All of the bloodlust and hatred he felt against his enemies were slowly being drowned out by Li Mei's loving care, buried deep inside his heart once more as his expression finally turned peaceful and relaxed.
Before long, he opened his eyes and was now staring at his lover's immaculate face.
Li Mei was currently wearing a purple nightgown that left basically nothing to the imagination; her beautiful breasts were spilling out of her clothes, while her perky pink peaks were left exposed, free for his eyes to wander over as much as he wanted.
Her pretty pink lips were curved upward in a loving smile as her fingers now moved across his face, her touch leaving him breathless. Her eyes, which sometimes shone with a purple hue, seemed like shining gemstones as she kept her lips sealed, seemingly waiting for him to speak.
Finally, after his heart had been fully healed by the loving actions of his lover, he slowly opened his mouth and started to speak.
"Someone made another attempt on my life tonight. They were weak, and I got rid of them easily enough, but..."
"I doubt these people will be the last of them. I expect that the stronger I get and the more of my talents I show, the more people will start to get jealous. They will try to either take me into their fold, forcing me to become their subordinate, or, when they realize they can't do that..."
"They'll probably come to take my life... to remove a threat to their rule."
Li Mei didn't look away from him when he spoke. Her fingers were still softly caressing his face, and yet, despite her trying her best to hide it from him, he still felt the slight trembling of her body and the gradual hardening of her eyes.
"Just two months ago, I was a cripple. I had no cultivation base to speak of and was a useless waste."
"Now, exactly two months later, I've already reached the 4th level of the Nascent Profound Realm. My battle prowess is at the 9th level of the Nascent Profound Realm, and if I truly wanted to, I could break into the True Profound Realm without any issue and have the same status as a Grand Elder of the sect..."
"Not only that, but when I awakened from my coma due to my assassination, I awakened a Heavenly Physique—and not just any Heavenly Physique... one of the most powerful Heavenly Physiques in this universe!"
Li Mei's eyes squinted in shock, her heart shaking like waves in the ocean, and yet she still chose to remain quiet, her eyes transfixed on his as she let him continue to speak.
"First it was the Disciplinary Hall, now it's the Iron Cloud Sect... both of these factions have tried to end my life, and I worry that you and Grandfather will be implicated—that they will target you too. If anything ever happened to the both of you... I doubt my heart could take it."