The main hall of the Tang Estate was a sanctuary of warmth, bathed in the soft, amber glow of rune lanterns fueled by low-grade spirit stones. It stood as a silent, comfortable buffer against the cold uncertainty of the world outside, smelling faintly of old wood and calming incense.
Shen Yu sat in the chair to the right of the main seat.
He lifted the porcelain cup, taking a slow, deliberate sip of the Spirit Tea. The liquid was fragrant and cooling, a welcome balm that settled the lingering, predatory heat in his blood. He lowered the cup, the sharp clink against the saucer sounding unusually loud in the quiet hall.
In the main seat sat Mei Yilan, his aunt and the current pillar of the household.
She was a vision of mature, ripened beauty, a woman in her late thirties who had bloomed rather than faded. She wore a simple yet elegant white dress that clung to a figure every bit as voluptuous as Meng Yan's, though softened by a gentle, maternal grace. Her hair was a cascade of pitch-black ink flowing down her back, framing skin as pale and luminous as moonlight.
Beside him sat Mei Lixue, the spitting image of her mother yet brimming with a distinct, youthful fire.
At Nineteen, she was a budding flower to her mother's full bloom. She was dressed in a tight, light blue martial training outfit that sculpted her form, emphasizing the long, athletic lines of her legs and her slender, willow-like waist. Her matching black hair was pulled high into a spirited ponytail, exposing the elegant, vulnerable curve of her neck.
Both possessed striking, deep oceanic blue eyes.
Mei Yilan placed her cup down. Her movements were fluid, graceful, yet heavy with deliberation. The soft clink of porcelain against wood sounded like a gavel striking a judge's block.
She didn't shout. She didn't scold. She simply looked at him, her sapphire eyes dissecting his expression with a terrifying mixture of maternal relief and sharp, predatory intelligence.
Without breaking eye contact, she raised a slender hand.
A subtle hum of Qi vibrated through the air as she flicked her wrist, activating a sound-blocking array that sealed the room from the outside world. The ambient noise of the estate vanished instantly, leaving only the crackle of the rune lanterns.
"So," Yilan began, her voice gentle, yet laced with a spine of cold steel. "The Mist Forest."
She leaned forward slightly, the light catching the sharp intelligence in her sapphire eyes.
"Shen Yu, I raised you. I know you. You are cautious by nature. You do not simply 'get lost' on a path you have walked a hundred times."
Her gaze bored into him, dissecting his earlier excuse.
"We are safe here. No one is listening. Tell me the truth."
Shen Yu looked at her, appreciating her sharpness. This was the woman who had smuggled him out of a massacre, evaded pursuit by tens of cultivators of the same realm, and established a thriving business in a foreign kingdom. She was not a fool. If he tried a clumsy lie, she would catch it.
So, he decided to give her the truth, or at least, a version of it so close to reality that she wouldn't be able to find the seams.
'When you hide a lie inside nine truths, it becomes impenetrable,' he thought.
"You are right, Aunt Mei," he admitted, his voice dropping to a serious, scholarly tone. "I didn't get lost. I went looking."
He gestured to Lixue. "You both know I have spent the last three years buried in the library. While others were training their bodies, I was reading every medical text, every obscure geography scroll, and every legend I could find."
"We know," Lixue whispered, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. "You were looking for a way to fix your meridians."
"Yes," Shen Yu nodded. "I read about the Astral Mending Herb. I know that Aunt has been trying to find one, and I am eternally grateful. But... we both know it is rare in this region. Relying on it was a gamble I couldn't afford to take forever."
Mei Yilan looked down, a flash of guilt crossing her beautiful, pale features. "I tried, Tang Wei. I truly tried. The Jin Clan..."
"I know you did," Shen Yu interrupted soothingly. "But because the herb was out of reach, I cross-referenced old maps with local folklore. I found a pattern pointing to a forgotten ruin deep in the Mist Forest."
He leaned forward, his golden eyes burning with feigned intensity.
"I went there to verify it. I found a hidden formation masked by the overgrowth. It dropped me into a small, underground temple."
The two women gasped softly. Finding a hidden ruin was the dream of every cultivator, a shortcut to power.
"Was it... remains of an Ancient Sect?" Mei Yilan asked, her business instincts kicking in. "Did you find pills? Weapons?"
"No," Shen Yu lied effortlessly. "It was the abode of a rogue cultivator. An eccentric master who specialized in... the harmony of the human body."
He paused for effect.
"I found an Immortal Inheritance."
Mei Yilan stood up abruptly, her hand flying to cover her mouth. Her chest heaved, the movement drawing Shen Yu's gaze for a split second before he refocused.
"An Immortal Inheritance?!" Her voice trembled. She wasn't thinking of wealth; she was thinking of him. "Shen Yu! This is... does it have a cure? Did the Inheritance speak of the Broken Meridian physique?"
Shen Yu looked at her. He took in the mature curve of her waist, the fullness of her hips, and the desperate, motherly concern in her deep blue eyes.
'Oh, it has a cure,' he thought, his inner voice dripping with a dark, predatory hunger. 'But the cure requires me to break you both.'
"It does," Shen Yu said gravely. "The Inheritance contained a technique specifically designed to reconstruct shattered meridians without the need for high-tier pills."
"What is it?" Lixue asked eagerly, shaking his arm. "What do we need to do? Acupuncture? Spirit medicinal baths? Tell me, and I will prepare the herbs immediately!"
Shen Yu turned to look at his fiancée. She was young, tight, and bursting with life. Her blue eyes were innocent, completely unaware that she was begging to be devoured.
"It is not that simple, Lixue," Shen Yu said slowly. "The technique is based on the principle of Yin and Yang harmonization."
He looked back at Mei Yilan, speaking to her intellect.
"Aunt Mei, you understand the theory. My body is broken; my meridians are shattered. I am a vessel that leaks Yang energy. To patch the leaks and reforge the channels, I cannot do it alone. I need an external source of pure, compatible Yin Qi to act as the mortar to bind my foundation together."
Mei Yilan's eyes widened as the medical theory clicked into place. "You mean..."
"The ancient master called it the Art of the Joyous Union," Shen Yu invented.
He looked directly into Lixue's eyes, his gaze intense and unyielding.
"To heal my body... I must engage in Dual Cultivation."
The silence in the hall was absolute. The crackle of the spirit lamps seemed deafening.
"D-Dual..." Lixue stammered.
Her brain short-circuited. She looked at Shen Yu, her childhood sweetheart, the boy she had protected and loved, and the realization hit her like a hammer.
He needed to... with her? To save his life?
A bright, violent blush exploded across her face, turning her pale skin the color of a ripe cherry. It spread from her cheeks down to her neck, disappearing under the collar of her martial outfit.
"Oh," she squeaked, her voice an octave higher than usual.
Shen Yu didn't look at his Aunt yet. He kept his focus entirely on Lixue, isolating her.
"The technique requires a partner of absolute trust," Shen Yu said, his voice lowering to a husky whisper. "Someone whose Qi is compatible with mine. Someone who is willing to open their soul and body to me completely. If there is any resistance during the process, the backlash could kill me."
He reached out and cupped Lixue's burning face.
"Lixue... you are my fiancée. We were to be married when I turned twenty. But my body cannot wait one more year."
"I... I..." Lixue trembled under his touch. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought it would burst. She wasn't refusing; she was just overwhelmed. "I am willing! Of course, I am willing! If it saves you... I would do anything! But... right now?"
"As soon as you are ready," Shen Yu said, his thumb stroking her cheek.
Lixue took a deep breath, her eyes fierce despite the blush. "I am ready. I want to see you get better!"
Shen Yu smiled at her, warm and reassuring. "Then we will begin tonight."
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Author Note:
If you like where the plot is heading, feel free to hit me with those Power Stones. It helps get the novel higher on the charts and helps me out a lot. Thanks for sticking around!