Myriad Medicine Pavilion Night Meeting

The night was as dark as ink, blanketing Qingshan Town.

In the backyard of Myriad Medicine Pavilion, everything was peaceful, with only the chirping of summer insects and the faint sound of the night watchman's clapper from afar.

A dark figure, like a civet cat, silently scaled the courtyard wall and landed on the soft grass.

The dark figure was Mo Lin. A relaxed and expectant smile played on his lips, his gaze precisely locking onto a finely crafted room in the backyard where the lights were still on.

That was Xiao Yi Xian's residence.

"I wonder how this girl has been these past few days?" Mo Lin chuckled inwardly. Recalling her embarrassed yet reluctant expression when they parted, his footsteps quickened slightly.

He circled around to the back of the room, which faced a small lake. Moonlight shimmered on the water's surface.

Mo Lin carefully stepped along the edge of the damp soil, avoiding making any noise, and then slowly moved towards the window that had been left open for ventilation.

His palm felt along the smooth window frame, and his body, as if weightless, nimbly leaned in and slipped through, his movements as skilled as if he had done it countless times.

His feet landed silently on the carpeted floor. Mo Lin surveyed the quiet and elegantly decorated boudoir.

A faint fragrance of medicinal herbs permeated the air, mixed with the unique scent of a young girl's room, refreshing the mind and spirit. The room's furnishings were simple, yet they revealed the owner's meticulousness and taste.

His gaze swept across the room, finally settling behind the hanging pink gauze curtain.

The curtain was hazy, and a graceful silhouette could be vaguely seen sitting within.

A mischievous smile touched Mo Lin's lips. He tiptoed forward a few steps and gently lifted the curtain.

His gaze fell upon a small white jade table. Xiao Yi Xian, dressed in a simple white robe, was sitting there, her head slightly bowed, intently grinding medicinal powder.

She held a slender crystal pestle, gently grinding in a jade mortar. Occasionally, she would dip her little finger into a bit of the powder and bring it to her upturned nose, sniffing gently, her delicate brows furrowed as if discerning the medicinal properties.

The dim yellow lamplight illuminated her profile, outlining a soft and serious contour. Her long eyelashes drooped, making her appear exceptionally serene and lovely.

Mo Lin remained silent, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe, smiling as he admired the scene of the beauty preparing medicine.

Perhaps due to her intense focus, Xiao Yi Xian did not immediately notice someone had entered.

She mixed several different medicinal powders together and was about to pick up a bit with a crystal rod to smell it again when her movements suddenly paused. As if sensing something, she abruptly looked up!

When her gaze fell upon the familiar mischievous smile of the young man leaning by the door, the alertness and coldness that flashed in her eyes quickly dissipated. They were replaced by an undisguised surprise and a hint of playful annoyance.

She quickly glanced at the tightly closed bedroom door, then beckoned Mo Lin with a soft voice, lowering her tone: "You! How are you always appearing and disappearing like this? Come in quickly, don't let anyone see you!"

Mo Lin walked over with a grin and unceremoniously sat down on a soft cushion opposite Xiao Yi Xian. He leaned closer and whispered, "I missed you, that's why I came to see if my Xiao Yi Xian girl has been bullied."

His gaze was intense, filled with undisguised admiration.

Xiao Yi Xian's pretty face flushed under his gaze. She gave him a playful glare and put down the crystal pestle, chiding, "Stop with the sweet talk! Who do you belong to? Who in Qingshan Town dares to bully me? It's you, disappearing without a word for so many days, where did you go gallivanting?"

Her tone carried concern and a hint of subtle complaint.

"Just took care of some important matters," Mo Lin replied vaguely. His gaze then fell on the medicinal powder she was grinding, and he changed the subject: "What new formula is this? It smells quite unique."

Seeing that Mo Lin was unwilling to elaborate, Xiao Yi Xian didn't press further. She simply hummed softly and explained, "It's a formula to calm the nerves and aid sleep. Some elderly people in town have been having trouble sleeping lately."

She paused, her beautiful eyes darting, and looked at Mo Lin with a hint of slyness, "On the other hand, you... you seem to have a strange scent on you?"

As a physician who constantly dealt with medicinal herbs and had a keen sense of smell, she seemed to have detected something.

Mo Lin's heart tightened slightly, but his expression remained unchanged. He chuckled, "Really? Maybe it's from spending too much time in the mountains, picking up some plant scents."

"No," Xiao Yi Xian leaned closer, her small nose twitching slightly. Her brows furrowed, and her eyes held a trace of inquiry and suspicion. "It's not a plant scent... it's a very faint, but... very special fragrance. It's like some kind of high-class floral scent, with a hint of coolness... Hmm, and a very faint... Cloud Incense?"

The more she spoke, the brighter her eyes became, and the more scrutinizingly she looked at Mo Lin. "Be honest, have you been flirting with some young lady from a wealthy family?"

Mo Lin hadn't expected Xiao Yi Xian's nose to be so sharp, able to detect the extremely subtle scent on Yun Yun, which was mixed with the unique incense of the Misty Cloud Sect.

A fleeting look of awkwardness crossed his face, but then he rubbed his nose. Instead of denying it, he brazenly admitted, "Ah, you found out? You really are my Xiao Yi Xian, your nose is so sharp!"

He grinned, deliberately lowering his voice, and said mysteriously, "That's right, when I went into the mountains this time, I did meet a... hmm, a peerlessly beautiful woman of extraordinary status. I helped her with a small favor, and we spent a few days together."

Xiao Yi Xian was stunned at first, then the smile on her pretty face instantly froze. Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint "killing intent" began to emanate. However, her voice remained gentle: "Oh? A peerlessly beautiful woman? And you spent a few days together? What kind of favor did you do? Tell me about it?"

Mo Lin, as if oblivious to the dangerous aura, continued to "court disaster" by describing, "Yes, her demeanor, her beauty, her figure... tsk tsk, especially her cultivation, it was simply unfathomable! I helped her fight a very powerful Mo Beast, and we... uh, went through hardship together, you could say."

He deliberately omitted most of the details, but the lingering savor in his tone couldn't be hidden.

"Hmph! Unfathomable? Went through hardship together?" Xiao Yi Xian's pretty face turned completely cold. She abruptly stood up and reached out to grab Mo Lin's ear, saying indignantly, "You scoundrel, Mo Lin! I haven't watched you for just a few days, and you dare to flirt around outside! And 'went through hardship together'? I think you mean 'spent a pleasant night together'!"

Mo Lin burst into laughter, agilely dodging Xiao Yi Xian's "demon claws" to the side. Instead, he seized her slender wrist and gently pulled.

Caught off guard, Xiao Yi Xian cried out, lost her footing, and was pulled towards him!

"Ah!"

The two tumbled together, falling onto the nearby bed covered with soft quilts.

Mo Lin was on top, Xiao Yi Xian below, forming an extremely intimate pose.

"You... let go of me!" Xiao Yi Xian was both embarrassed and flustered, her pretty face flushed red as she struggled to push him away.

Mo Lin, however, pressed his advantage, bracing his arms on either side of her body, trapping her within a small space. He looked down at the delicate body trembling slightly from shame and anger, a mischievous smile on his face: "What? Jealous?"

"Who... who's jealous of you! Shameless!" Xiao Yi Xian turned her face away, her heart pounding like a drum.

Their bodies were pressed closely together, and she could clearly feel the warmth radiating from him and that... that faint, lingering scent of another woman! This made her feel even more stifled.

Just then, Xiao Yi Xian suddenly stopped struggling. She took a deep sniff, her brows tightly furrowed, and her sharp gaze fixed on Mo Lin's face, which was inches away. Her voice was filled with absolute certainty and a hint of wronged anger: "No! This scent... it's not just something you picked up! This fragrance... it's clearly from prolonged close contact, or even... even more intimate contact! Mo Lin! What... what exactly did you do to her?!"

Mo Lin was taken aback by Xiao Yi Xian's sudden questioning, surprised that her sense of smell was so acute that she could even discern the degree of mingling of their auras? There was no hiding it now.

The mischievous smile on his face froze for a moment. Then, amidst the Ice Emperor's mocking laughter of "Hahahaha, serves you right! You asked for it!" and the Snow Emperor's helpless sigh in his sea of consciousness, Mo Lin steeled himself and decided to "confess" completely.

Instead of looking guilty, he put on an expression of "it's only natural" and looked into Xiao Yi Xian's eyes, saying frankly:

"Alright, since you've found out, I won't hide it from you anymore. That's right, the young lady Yun... Miss Yun and I did have some... um, rather intimate contact.

The situation was special, and I had no choice, but... it was consensual." He paused, watching Xiao Yi Xian's eyes widen and her expression of disbelief, then continued "shamelessly": "But don't worry, your position in my heart is unique! I am a person who values loyalty and righteousness above all else, and I would never treat one better than the other!"

"You... you... shameless! Vulgar! Bastard!" Xiao Yi Xian trembled with anger at his "frank" and almost shameless words. Her eyes turned red, and she raised her delicate fists to pound his chest, "Who asked you to be consensual with others! Who asked you not to play favorites! What do you take me for?!"

Mo Lin let her hit him, watching her with a smile.

After a bout of playful fighting, Xiao Yi Xian seemed to tire herself out. She stopped, panting, and buried her face in the blanket, saying in a muffled voice, "I knew it... I knew someone like you could never be content... I should have realized it when you said those things back then..."

Mo Lin sighed softly, reaching out to stroke her hair, and whispered, "Xiao Yi Xian, I remember telling you about my path. This path... perhaps it's destined not to have just one person. But my feelings for you are genuine. You are the first woman I've ever acknowledged, and that will never change."

Xiao Yi Xian's body trembled slightly, and she didn't look up. The room fell into a brief silence.

After a long while, she slowly raised her head. Her beautiful eyes held a complex expression – annoyance, grievance, but more than anything, a sense of resigned helplessness and a hint of the relief she had long anticipated.

She looked into Mo Lin's clear and honest eyes, recalling his earth-shattering declaration about "Dou Gods" and "harem" back then, and then thinking about his unfathomable strength and methods... She suddenly realized that perhaps... she wasn't as unable to accept it as she had imagined?

Perhaps, from the moment she chose to follow him, she had subconsciously prepared herself psychologically? This guy simply couldn't be measured by common sense.

She glared fiercely at Mo Lin and pinched his arm hard, chiding, "Big bad guy! Pervert! I've really boarded your pirate ship!"

Although her tone was still angry, the resolute edge had faded, replaced by a hint of coquettishness.

Mo Lin secretly rejoiced, knowing that this hurdle had been passed. He chuckled, lowered his head, and gently kissed her smooth forehead, softly saying, "Once you're on my ship, don't even think about getting off."

Xiao Yi Xian's pretty face flushed. She pushed him away symbolically but didn't struggle anymore.

She leaned her face against his chest, inhaling the complex scent mixed with herbs, masculine musk, and... that faint, annoying foreign fragrance. Her heart was a jumble of emotions, but in the end, it turned into a soft sigh.

"Hmph, I'll let it slide this time... If you dare come back smelling of another woman next time, I... I'll use the most potent poison to make you sleep for three days and three nights!"

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you..." Mo Lin replied with a smile, tightening his arms and holding the soft, warm body in his embrace even tighter.

Outside the window, the moonlight was beautiful. Inside the room, sensuality and a touch of petty jealousy intertwined, eventually melting into the young man's mischievous whispers and the girl's coquettish complaints.

In his sea of consciousness, the Ice Emperor's complaint sounded timely: "Tsk, this little girl, she gave in so quickly? Pathetic! If it were this Emperor, I'd freeze this philandering scoundrel into an ice sculpture!"

The Snow Emperor's cool voice carried a hint of contemplation: "This woman is outwardly gentle but inwardly strong, her mind is clear. To be able to overcome her emotional barriers so quickly and accept extraordinary matters, her disposition is indeed extraordinary."

Hearing this, the smile on Mo Lin's lips deepened. His path to building a harem seemed to be off to a smooth start?