Skull Mountain, White Bone Cave.
Shi Ji's Daoist sanctuary, Skull Mountain, could truly be called a treasure mountain. Green pines, white cranes, purple mist, golden radiance, and abundant spiritual energy made it an immortal paradise.
The name was simply unfortunate. Skeletons and white bones—however you looked at it, it had the unmistakable air of a villain.
Yet she truly was not one of them. In the fish-and-dragon-mixed ranks of the Jie Sect, Shi Ji was one of the few pure-hearted cultivators. Kind by nature, she never fought. Aside from the razor-sharp Tai'a Sword, the only magical treasure she used against others was meant to capture people and store things—in short, her entire approach boiled down to one word: capture.
Such a sensible and kind Empress had been bullied to death by the master-and-disciple pair of Taiyi and Nezha simply because she lacked power and influential backing.
"Your Highness, you've really had it rough!"
Lu Bei sighed deeply. The bigger fist was the ultimate truth—Taiyi and Nezha understood that all too well.
Shi Ji lay in Lu Bei's arms, the silk quilt covering her slender waist while revealing her fragrant shoulders and beautiful back. She had yet to emerge from the afterglow. At his words, she gave a soft hum and slowly opened her lovely eyes, their rippling light instantly captivating.
She glanced at her disheveled black hair, then recalled the wildness of what had happened earlier and said irritably, "His Majesty is right. Shi Ji really did suffer."
Though that was true, she harbored no resentment. For one thing, she had lost the wager; for another, he had saved her life. One night of pleasure with this foolish ruler could count as repaying the debt.
In Shi Ji's eyes, although the Human King had embarked on the path of immortality,