Night.
Su Qi leaned against Jiang Zuo and couldn’t help but say, "Your body feels strange."
Jiang Zuo was curious. "Strange? Does it?"
He didn’t think there was anything wrong with his own body.
"I think your body is the strange one," Jiang Zuo added.
Su Qi sat up, unconvinced. "Su Qi is a peerless beauty with skin as smooth as jade—the most perfect figure in Mr. Jiang Zuo’s eyes. What part of that is strange?
You, on the other hand, feel like you’re injured."
Jiang Zuo: "..., do you have no shame?"
Su Qi leaned in close to Jiang Zuo. "Do you want a wife? Hmm, no, that’s not right. Do you want to get a good night’s sleep?"
Jiang Zuo: "..., whatever you say."
Su Qi leaned against Jiang Zuo, playing with his hand. "While you were home, did you go show off your Magic to any young ladies?"
Jiang Zuo said, "That’s childish. And it’s not like any of them are the young lady Su Qi."
A long time ago, Jiang Zuo would show off in front of Su Qi, but he wasn’t so foolish after they grew up.
He still did, on occasion, though.
But after he started Cultivation in his last life, he no longer had that kind of impulse.
Let alone go around showing off.
In his past life, there wasn’t a single person worth showing off to.
’In my last life, the most beautiful person I ever met was Jiu Xi. The one who stayed by my side the longest was also Jiu Xi. If there was ever anything worth showing off, it would have been about killing Jiu Xi.’
’Unfortunately, I was never able to kill her.’
And now, the Jiu Xi of this life was leaning in his arms.
’Unlike the feeling of disgust from my past life, this time, I actually want to hold Su Qi. But ’skin as smooth as jade’...’
Jiang Zuo felt her skin a couple of times.
’Alright, I guess it’s close enough.’
Su Qi turned to look at Jiang Zuo and said, "What are you doing, feeling my bones?"
Jiang Zuo: "..."
Su Qi asked curiously, "Is it because we’ve been married for a while? Do the places you like to touch change?
Are you tired of it?
That can’t be it. I’ve never heard of such a thing.
Or have you changed?"
Jiang Zuo: "..."
Helpless, Jiang Zuo had no choice but to say, "Can you please think about something normal for a change?"
Su Qi grabbed Jiang Zuo’s hand and pressed close to him. "Say you miss me, that you love me."
"I’ve already said it several times."
"No, you haven’t! You haven’t said it even once today," Su Qi retorted.
Then, Su Qi added, "And don’t wait until something changes to tell me. You have to keep emphasizing that you’ll never change."
Jiang Zuo rested his forehead against Su Qi’s. "Nothing will change. We still have a long, long life ahead of us."
Su Qi said, "But you still haven’t said you love me. I’m warning you, we’re not wearing any clothes."
Jiang Zuo: "..."
————
"It’s so dark, and you’re still coming out? Aren’t you going to sleep?" Jiang Zuo said with surprise as they walked on a mountain path.
Su Qi held Jiang Zuo’s hand. "My senior sisters aren’t back yet, so I thought I’d come out and take a look. Otherwise, who knows if they’ll try to spy on us? It’s not like we’re at our own home."
Jiang Zuo felt rather helpless. It was true that Jingyue and the others weren’t back, but this was someone else’s territory after all. Jiang Zuo had his senses fully extended; he would know if anyone was spying on them.
Of course, his main concern wasn’t preventing people from spying, but worrying about potential danger.
Not long after, Su Qi led Jiang Zuo to a pavilion on the mountainside.
Jiang Zuo hadn’t seen a single person along the way. Su Qi frowned. "Something feels wrong. When I came up earlier, I could still see people on the path occasionally."
"It’s dark now. They’ve probably gone off to do their Cultivation," Jiang Zuo comforted her. "After all, you’re different from them. You don’t practice Cultivation at all."
Although it sounded like a perfunctory excuse, Su Qi couldn’t find anything wrong with it.
’This isn’t a normal human city, after all. Who would stay up all night just to wander around? Everyone needs to focus on their Cultivation.’
Just then, Jiang Zuo received a voice transmission from Jian Shisan: "Young Friend, we have a big problem. That Secret Realm has opened, but it has sucked in a lot of people. My Realm is too high, so I’m being repelled by it.
I don’t dare to force it open recklessly. Are you free, Young Friend?"
Jian Shisan was asking for Jiang Zuo’s help. Under normal circumstances, Jiang Zuo wouldn’t bother with other people’s problems.
Su Qi was right beside him; he didn’t have time.
But this time was different.
It seemed he couldn’t just say the two words, "no time."
Just as Jiang Zuo was trying to think of an excuse, a massive explosion suddenly erupted in the distance.
BOOM!!
The huge explosion startled Su Qi.
She visually estimated the distance, then immediately took out her phone to call Jingyue.
Over the next few minutes, Su Qi called everyone she could think of, but none of the calls went through.
Su Qi started to panic a little. At that moment, Jiang Zuo spoke up, "It’s not a big deal. Sister Jingyue isn’t some ordinary person. You don’t need to worry too much."
’Jingyue is a strange one. She doesn’t look like someone who would die young.’
Su Qi nodded, then looked toward the explosion, and back at Jiang Zuo.
Jiang Zuo said, "Go on. I’ll contact Senior Jian later and have him take me back. There won’t be any problem."
At this, Su Qi held out her little finger. "Pinky promise."
With a sigh of resignation, Jiang Zuo also extended his pinky and hooked it with Su Qi’s.
"Don’t take any risks, and don’t be reckless. I promise I’ll come back safe and sound, too," Su Qi said seriously.
Jiang Zuo nodded. "I’ll be waiting for you to come back."
Then Su Qi moved close to Jiang Zuo, stood on her tiptoes, and lightly bit his lip. "Wait nicely for Senior Jian, okay? I’m heading over."
Jiang Zuo patted Su Qi’s head and nodded. "Go."
After that, Su Qi quickly departed.
Only when Su Qi had vanished from sight did Jiang Zuo say with a sense of helplessness, "It’s only been a short while. Can’t we just have one single peaceful day?"
Jian Shisan appeared beside Jiang Zuo. "This started in the afternoon. Quite a few people have already been forced inside. You were right, Young Friend. The cursed aura there is very strong.
The Sword Cultivation Lineage didn’t notice it at first, but once it started sucking people in, the cursed aura began to erupt."
Jiang Zuo asked, "How is the Sword Cultivation Lineage handling it?"
Jian Shisan replied, "Because the Curse Power seemed relatively weak, and overcoming Curse Power is a form of training for the Sword Dao, many disciples of the Sword Cultivators have already entered.
For now, however, only those at Tier Two can enter voluntarily.
As for those who were sucked in, there was no Tier restriction."
Jiang Zuo was quite surprised. "So, does that mean Su Qi can’t get in?"
Jiang Zuo wasn’t concerned about the Sword Cultivation Lineage’s heroic rush to their deaths.
’How could they get their whole lineage evicted if they weren’t so foolhardy?’
’After this wave, forget the Sword Cultivation Lineage—even the Celestial Permanence Seven Veins will have their Vitality severely damaged.’
Jian Shisan shook his head. "Not exactly. Did you see that big explosion just now? That was the Sword Cultivation Lineage trying to raise the entry restriction. Now it’s hard to say if the limit is Tier Four or Tier Three."
Jiang Zuo: "..., they really are in a hurry to get themselves killed. That thing is about to awaken. Once it does, forget about those people—not even you could protect this place."
Jian Shisan frowned. "Do you have a way, Young Friend?"
Jiang Zuo shook his head. "It’s hard to say. I’ll have to see what state it’s in. Bringing Su Qi and the others out safely shouldn’t be a big problem, as long as they don’t do anything reckless."
"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Young Friend. I’ll wait outside to provide support."
Jian Shisan wasn’t a stickler for pointless principles. If he couldn’t save the Sword Cultivation Lineage, he wouldn’t force the issue.
Naturally, the Saintess and her group were more important. Still, he would inform the people of the Sword Cultivation Lineage—at least give them a warning.
Whether they listened or not was none of his business.