She watched me stare straight at her and could not help feeling a little shy. Lowering her delicate head, Yun'er, standing nearby, saw that her mistress had finally met the man she had longed for day and night and immediately moved aside. She did not want to be blamed by her mistress after returning home. Yet she still stood not far away, watching intently. She wanted to see what her mistress would be like with the man she loved.
I smiled as I watched her shy appearance. Her slender neck was flushed pink, making me like her even more. I had spent ten lonely years in the secret chamber. It would have been impossible to say I had not missed her, but for the pursuit of cultivation and the future development of my ambitions, I had suppressed my longing for her. I knew there were definitely Golden Core Stage cultivators in this world, and quite a few of them at that. If I did not reach the Nascent Soul Realm and gain strength sufficient to overwhelm them, then trying to establish the Star Peak Family within a few decades through commercial expansion alone would be nothing more than a fool dreaming in broad daylight.
"How can you be like this? You stare at someone the moment we meet." Yuwen Rou truly could not bear my gaze any longer and immediately protested. Yet in her fluster, the way she spoke to me unconsciously sounded like lovers teasing and flirting. Only after she finished did she realize how intimate her words had been, and she lowered her head even further. Her jade-white fingers kept tugging at the hem of her clothes, utterly restless.
"What did I do? How did I treat you? I merely looked at you. I have not seen you in so long—I have to make up for all the time I missed." Only after saying it did I realize my words had bypassed my brain entirely, making me sound like some wandering rogue of the martial world. Even my profound spiritual cultivation could not block my yearning for her. It seemed I had been poisoned too deeply—there was no cure.
But I was willing. I was willing to be poisoned by her. Looking at her flushed cheeks, I felt wave after wave of intoxication. For her, what could I not do?
"You—you..." Yuwen Rou had received the education of a proper lady since childhood. How could she withstand such teasing from me? She was ashamed and angry, yet there was still a faint joy in her heart.
Perhaps because of cultivation, I had regained the heart of a child. Cultivation was about comprehending the Heavenly Dao; without a child's pure heart, one could never travel far down the road of cultivation. That was how I was now. Everything simply came out naturally. Since I loved her, what was there to be embarrassed about? I did not feel the slightest embarrassment. Of course, my long-suppressed longing for her was also an important reason.
Tomato: Let me tell you all—if you like someone, you have to act quickly. You have to pursue girls, whether they are ordinary or exceptionally beautiful. If you do not pursue them, there is definitely no hope. But if you do, the chances are quite good! The guy in my dorm is not even as handsome as me, yet wow, his girlfriend is beyond words! My roommate has only one strength: he is good at expressing himself. Comrades who like girls, hurry up and make your move! If you are late, it will be gone! I am just bad at expressing myself, so I remain alone to this day. Hehe, I am only twenty this year! Enough of that—back to the story~~~
"Fine, fine, I was wrong. I apologize to you, is that not enough? I hope Miss will not hold a petty person's faults against her, that her prime minister's belly can hold a boat, and that she will forgive me this once and give me a chance!"
Yuwen Rou saw that although I said this, there was not the slightest hint in my tone of actually asking for forgiveness. I was still speaking so unseriously. Yet why did she feel too embarrassed to blame me?
"Come, sit here with me." I grabbed her hand and walked toward the stone bench by the river.
The two of us sat together and fell silent for a moment. Neither of us had anything to say, and the atmosphere became awkward and uncomfortable.
Only then did Rou seem to notice that I had been holding her hand all along. She immediately pulled it back, lowered her head, and looked at the river before her without making a sound.
"Why did you take so long to appear in the capital?" Rou's soft, faint voice sounded.
I looked at her. She was still watching the river, but I could feel that all her attention was on me.
"Me? It was nothing. I merely had to practice a very powerful martial art and never had time to come out. We had not seen each other for ten years—how did you recognize me at a glance?" The instant I saw Rou, I felt that she was Rou. Yun'er's presence only made me more certain of my judgment. I believed Rou had also relied on the feeling in her heart. I believed it, and I hoped my guess was true.
"Young Master Zhang..."
"From now on, do not call me Young Master Zhang. Call me Xingfeng, or Feng." I looked at her, fixedly looked at her. I did not want to look at anything else. With her, I already had enough.
Rou's body visibly trembled. The blush on her face had not faded and seemed to be growing even deeper. But she still agreed.
"Feng, perhaps this is fate. The first time I saw you, I felt you were that child from back then. My heart told me so. On the way here, I felt your call, and when I arrived here, it became even stronger. I knew Heaven had brought me here. I believe in fate, and I believe in Heaven, so I had the sedan chair stop here. Then I saw you." Rou had seemed a little embarrassed when she began, but before long, she became emotional. By the end, her eyes were fixed directly on me.
"I will never let you leave me again." She looked at me and spoke resolutely. Yuwen Rou had endured enough days without Zhang Xingfeng. Ten years—ten years without a single word, ten years spent in such longing. She never wanted to live that way again. She wanted to be with her Feng, no matter what happened.
My heart suddenly trembled. What had given Rou, this delicate woman raised with the finest education of an Aristocratic Clan, such courage? Perhaps this was true love. Then shame suddenly rose in me. Even Rou, a weak woman, dared to pursue love so boldly. Could I—a cultivator who had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, an invincible expert who cultivated the Golden Buddha Venerable, a dignified man—not dare?
Excitement surged through me. The longing and deep affection for Rou that I had suppressed for so long immediately poured out from the depths of my heart, as though they would drown me. I could not stop them—but why should I stop them?
I pulled Rou into my arms and held her tightly, leaving not the slightest gap between us. I wanted so badly to melt her into my body, never to be separated from me again. The two of us quietly savored this sweetness and happiness, holding each other in silence...
It seemed like an instant, yet also like only the blink of an eye, when Yun'er came to our side.
"Miss, it is time to go back. It is already very late. If we do not return soon, Master will be angry."
Rou lay in my arms, looking at me, completely unaware that tears had already fallen while we embraced. Her eyes seemed even brighter as she gazed at me. She did not say a single word, only looked at me, wanting to etch my appearance deep into her heart. She could not bear our separation, even for a moment.
I suddenly lowered my head and kissed her moist lips, lightly and gently. Then I raised my head, helped her up, and looked at her.
That unknown fragrance lingered between my lips and teeth, leaving me with endless aftertaste.
"Rou, I love you, so I will definitely marry you. Wait for me. Very soon, very soon." I spoke firmly, making her a promise—or perhaps it was an awareness of responsibility. For her, I would spare nothing.
Rou looked at me, joy in her brows along with a trace of shyness. Amid Yun'er's laughter, she entered the sedan chair. In the instant she turned back before entering, her smile sent a tremor through my whole body.
I watched her leave in a daze until the sedan chair disappeared from my sight. I lowered my head and smiled. The fragrance between my lips and teeth was still so vivid.
"Boy, leave Miss Yuwen. You are not qualified to be with her." A deeply resonant, aged voice sounded beside my ear.
"Who?" I looked toward the dark corner of the wall not far away.
Before you continue