91: Does It Feel Good?
The skin beneath Feng Qi’s palm had grown scorching hot at some point, and he swallowed unconsciously.
How could he possibly not see what was wrong with Ji Chaoyun?
His little dragon was shy. Even during spiritual cultivation, he would hold back without making a sound, and Feng Qi always had to tease and coax him every which way before he would finally speak.
But there was no disguising that look of desire.
He wanted him.
The realization made Feng Qi’s heart beat faster.
From his ascension until now, first he had returned to the Divine Realm, then there had been the Heavenly Ranking Tournament, followed by the discovery of Ji Chaoyun’s pregnancy. Altogether, they had gone more than two months without spiritual cultivation.
Of course he wanted it too.
Before, he had refrained because he did not want such things affecting Ji Chaoyun’s condition during the tournament. Now, Ji Chaoyun was carrying a child and already suffering enough. How could Feng Qi dare touch him carelessly?
He still had no desire to become a beas...
“Ch-Chaoyun! Where are you putting your hand? Let go!” Caught off guard, Feng Qi nearly lost his composure when Ji Chaoyun’s hand reached straight toward him, the scorching touch making him jolt.
Ji Chaoyun’s consciousness was already somewhat muddled. His hands clutched Feng Qi’s clothes, and at those words, he innocently raised his head. His eyes were misty with moisture. “It’s uncomfortable.”
One look from him nearly made Feng Qi lose the last shred of his restraint.
He drew a deep breath and struggled to remain calm as he slowly pried Ji Chaoyun’s fingers away. “No. What if we hurt the baby?”
Ji Chaoyun silently looked at him. Then he withdrew his hand, slowly shuffled farther toward the inside of the bed, wrapped himself in the quilt, and stopped moving.
“...”
Looking at that back, which practically radiated grievance from head to toe, Feng Qi felt that he was truly no longer human. The guilt made him want to pluck out his own feathers on the spot in apology.
Ji Chaoyun himself did not understand what was wrong with him. Lately, he had increasingly wanted to be close to Feng Qi. At first, he had only craved his embraces and kisses, but today, even being held no longer seemed enough. He wanted Feng Qi to touch him. He wanted to be even closer to him.
He really wanted... to spiritually cultivate.
With the desire in his heart left unsatisfied, Ji Chaoyun felt more aggrieved the longer he thought about it, and his eyes gradually misted over.
Suddenly, a pair of hands reached toward him. The familiar touch made his breath catch.
Ji Chaoyun bit down hard on his lip, nearly letting a soft moan escape.
At the same time, Feng Qi’s presence enveloped him from behind.
“Don’t be angry. It’s my fault.” Feng Qi lowered his voice, gentle and patient. “How about this? Let me help you.”
Feng Qi slowly kissed along his reddened earlobe, his unhurried movements drawing out the sensation into a lingering, tormenting tease.
Ji Chaoyun clenched his teeth, his shoulders trembling lightly.
Feng Qi loved seeing him like this. Leaning close to his ear, he deliberately teased, “You like it that much? Have you been wanting this for a long time?”
“Does it feel good? How do you want me to do it... like this?”
“Why aren’t you answering me? If you don’t tell me, how am I supposed to know what you like?”
Ji Chaoyun finally reached the end of his patience. He turned his head and kissed Feng Qi on the lips, cutting off everything else the man wanted to say.
...
...
After soothing his little dragon, Feng Qi soaked in the hot spring behind the house for a full shichen, then recited the Heart-Clearing Scripture he had long since memorized three times over before finally returning, his heart pure and all worldly desires extinguished.
Ji Chaoyun, meanwhile, looked thoroughly refreshed as he lay on the bed flipping through the register of everyone who had entered and left the academy.
“Find anything?” Feng Qi asked.
Ji Chaoyun shook his head. “I just find a few things strange.”
Feng Qi sat beside the bed and began massaging Ji Chaoyun’s shoulders and neck. “Tell me.”
Ji Chaoyun said, “The wager between Wei Shaoyang and me was only made in a moment of anger. Why did they just happen to use it as the reason for his withdrawal from the academy? Could it truly be such a coincidence?”
“And on the day you and I went to the Alchemy Hall, Immortal Xihua merely happened to be free and was the one who examined me. Did she truly discover the child on the spot and immediately decide to interfere?”
“There is one more thing I still cannot understand.” Ji Chaoyun paused, then continued, “What exactly was their purpose in concealing the child in my belly?”
As Ji Chaoyun spoke, something suddenly occurred to him. He raised his head and saw the same uncertainty in Feng Qi’s eyes.
A heavy, suffocating atmosphere seemed to spread through the room.
They stared at each other for a long while before Feng Qi slowly exhaled. “It seems we still have to investigate this ourselves.”
☁
Two days later, Feng Qi personally led an elite squad in secret to Yunlucheng.
Ji Chaoyun did not accompany them.
In the courtyard on Wenqu Peak, Ji Chaoyun reclined on the bamboo couch beside the pond, idly feeding the fish.
Several koi splashed around beside him as they fought for food, sending droplets of water into the air.
Shuofeng brought over a covered pot of soup and placed it on the small table beside the bamboo couch. He filled a bowl. “Young Master, please have some.”
“Thank you.” Ji Chaoyun accepted the bowl, only to be greeted by a rich medicinal fragrance. “What is this now?”
Shuofeng replied, “A spiritual medicine Divine One personally prepared before leaving. It can replenish your spiritual power.”
Ji Chaoyun scooped up a spoonful, blew it cool, and drank. The medicinal fragrance was strong, yet the taste itself was surprisingly sweet. With just one mouthful, he could already sense the profound spiritual power contained within it.
It was far superior to the rare spiritual ingredients and immortal herbs Feng Qi had previously found for him in the Immortal Realm.
Ji Chaoyun asked, “Is this medicine from the Divine Realm?”
Shuofeng hesitated before answering haltingly, “You... could say that.”
“What do you mean, ‘could say that’?”
Shuofeng looked troubled. After a long while, he finally said quietly, “Divine One ordered this subordinate not to tell you.”
“...” Ji Chaoyun frowned. “I only asked where this medicine came from. What is there that cannot be said?”
Shuofeng fell silent.
After knowing him these past few days, Ji Chaoyun understood perfectly well how unquestioningly Shuofeng obeyed Feng Qi. If Feng Qi had truly ordered him not to speak, then even beating him to death would not pry the answer from his mouth.
Ji Chaoyun gave up asking and leisurely finished the medicinal soup.
Then he suddenly asked, “How long has Divine Lord been gone?”
“Nearly two shichen.”
“That long...” Ji Chaoyun thoughtfully stirred the spoon as his gaze drifted into the distance.
Wenqu Peak was exceptionally peaceful as evening approached. Brilliant red clouds stretched across the distant sky, casting golden light over the dense bamboo forest.
Suddenly, the wind chime hanging outside the courtyard gently trembled.
The chime was connected to the barrier surrounding Wenqu Peak. Every disciple peak in Hongmeng Academy had one. If a disciple without an entry token wished to visit another disciple’s peak, they had to send a voice transmission through a spell from the teleportation array, ringing the chime so the person inside could open the barrier and allow them through.
Feng Qi disliked being disturbed, and no one dared disturb him anyway, so the wind chime outside his courtyard had originally been little more than decoration.
Only recently, with so many people coming to visit Ji Chaoyun, had it gradually begun serving its intended purpose.
Ji Chaoyun set down the bowl, sat upright, and straightened his clothes. He raised a hand and flicked out a ray of spiritual light, which flew into the wind chime.
At that exact moment, someone knocked on the courtyard gate.
A slender figure pushed the gate open and entered.
Ji Chaoyun’s gaze darkened.
It was Bai Qiuyue.
Ji Chaoyun and Bai Qiuyue looked at each other from across the stone bridge over the pond. Bai Qiuyue glanced around and seemingly asked in passing, “Feng Qi has left?”
Shuofeng instinctively stepped half a pace forward, but Ji Chaoyun stopped him.
“That’s right. He has already left.” Ji Chaoyun said, “Feng Qi’s departure was a secret operation. Within the academy, only Immortal Venerable Tianshu knew. I wonder how Senior Brother Bai learned of it?”
Bai Qiuyue replied, “If Feng Qi has ways to monitor everyone entering and leaving the academy, why can’t I?”
Ji Chaoyun silently sighed, his palm instinctively resting against his lower abdomen. “I still don’t understand. Why did Immortal Xihua conceal the child’s presence?”
Bai Qiuyue smiled faintly. “Perhaps she wanted something to happen to you during the Heavenly Ranking Tournament.”
Ji Chaoyun said, “I swept through the Heavenly Ranking Tournament without difficulty. How could she be certain something would happen to me that way? Besides, if she truly wanted something to happen to me, wouldn’t it have been simpler to tamper with my medicine?”
“No, little dragon.” Bai Qiuyue shook his head. “You’re wrong.”
Bai Qiuyue stepped onto the stone bridge and walked toward Ji Chaoyun. He said leisurely, “Drugging you so that something happened quietly when no one was watching would hardly be as interesting as having it happen during the Heavenly Ranking Tournament, in full view of everyone.”
Ji Chaoyun instinctively retreated half a step and said quietly, “So I remembered something. If I hadn’t fainted at the martial field that day, I would have entered the secret realm next and completed the final match.”
“That’s right.” Bai Qiuyue’s handsome, gentle eyes regarded him calmly, but his smile had become strangely unfamiliar. “If you hadn’t fainted that day, Feng Qi probably could only have watched helplessly as you... died together with the child.”
A flash of silver streaked across the courtyard.
Shuofeng held a spear in his hand, its point aimed directly at Bai Qiuyue’s throat.
Bai Qiuyue tilted his head backward. Several strands of hair were severed by the razor-sharp spearhead.
“Shh. Don’t be so nervous. Tell those outside the gate not to rush in either.” Bai Qiuyue wore a smile, his bearing still refined and elegant. “I know Feng Qi must have left plenty of ambushes here. By now, this entire Wenqu Peak is probably crawling with his divine soldiers.”
Ji Chaoyun stood behind Shuofeng. “You’re right. Everything here today was indeed a trap set for you. It’s just that... we didn’t expect it really would be you.”
The smile in Bai Qiuyue’s eyes deepened. “In truth, aside from me, you didn’t have many possibilities to choose from.”
“Someone of considerable status, well-informed, and even capable of influencing the lifeblood of the Immortal Realm at any moment. There are no more than three such people in the entire Immortal Realm. This one may be unworthy, but I happen to be one of them.”
A sudden unease rose in Ji Chaoyun’s heart. “What else have you done?”
Instead of answering, Bai Qiuyue asked, “Haven’t you wondered why the Immortal Realm Alliance was supposed to be formed, yet several months have passed without any result?”
“...The Immortal Realm Alliance three hundred years ago did not go smoothly. In fact, many clans developed grudges against one another because of it. After the war ended, the hundred families of the Immortal Realm each went their own way and stopped exchanging information. Therefore, forming an alliance this time has been exceptionally difficult.”
“Fortunately, with my persuasion, quite a few immortal clans have already agreed.”
Ji Chaoyun realized something. “They’re now...”
“Naturally, they have already gone to Qingqiu to attend the alliance’s first gathering.” Bai Qiuyue smiled. “Little dragon, I’m about to return to Qingqiu as well. Why don’t you come with me?”
Ji Chaoyun narrowed his eyes. “You think you can still escape?”
Bai Qiuyue shook his head. “Wrong again, little dragon. I’m not escaping. I’m taking you with me.”
“Feng Xiao three hundred years ago, Feng Qi three hundred years later. That Divine Lord always ruins my plans. There’s nothing else I can do. I can only take away the person he loves most and use your blood to consecrate the war banner with which my Demon Clan will formally declare war upon the Immortal Realm.”
Ji Chaoyun gazed steadily at him and said calmly, “When demons hide within another person’s body, their demonic aura cannot be detected unless they use it. But by the same token, your cultivation is greatly restricted. What makes you think you can take me away?”
“Because your Divine Lord was too clever for his own good.” Bai Qiuyue said, “He knew that if he did not leave, I would never take the bait and willingly walk into this trap. So he had no choice but to truly leave Hongmeng Academy with his troops.”
“My people have been following him all along. I deliberately delayed appearing until he had gone far enough. At this point, even if he turns around and rushes back immediately, he won’t make it in time.”
“And there’s one more thing...”
Bai Qiuyue raised his head. His eyes shifted into the vertical pupils unique to the Fox Clan, an eerie green glow rising within them.
“I was never possessed by anyone.”
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