No War in Xiangyang, Lin Xuan Roams the Martial World (Extra Chapter, First Volume Complete)

Her usually radiant, lovely face was flushed an unnatural red. Her dark hair fell in disarray over her shoulders, lending her an untamed beauty.

Shame, anger, shock, confusion—and even a secret flutter she hardly dared examine—roiled in her chest, leaving her heart and lungs aching.

"Heroine Luo, that was you last night, wasn't it?"

A clear voice suddenly came from outside the door, accompanied by the soft scrape of wood. Then Lin Xuan appeared in the doorway.

Luo Bing's heart gave a start, and she jerked her head up. A flicker of panic crossed her watery eyes.

She denied it almost instinctively. "What about last night? I don't know."

Her voice was sharp, her words jumbled, and her guilt was plain for all to hear. Even she could hear the flaw in her own denial.

Lin Xuan didn't call her out. He simply walked into the room at an unhurried pace.

His gaze brushed over her tousled hair and disheveled clothes, and a smile touched his lips.

He went over to the table, picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup of cold tea, and took a leisurely sip.

Luo Bing felt her cheeks burn as if his gaze had scorched her. Her lovely face was so red it looked ready to bleed.

Anger and shame surged through her. She stopped trying to hide them and sprang to her feet. Her curvaceous figure trembled slightly with fury.

She demanded sharply, "How—how dare you! How could you and Sect Leader Huang do something like this? How could you face Great Hero Guo?"

"In broad daylight—no, under the bright moonlight—you committed such a bestial act! Have you no shame at all?"

Lin Xuan set down his teacup and turned to her. His expression remained calm, not a ripple of emotion showing, as if her words had nothing to do with him.

He replied leisurely, "Heroine Luo, you've misunderstood. My master and I aren't what you think."

"Misunderstood?!" Luo Bing laughed in anger, her chest rising and falling sharply. Her full breasts heaved with each breath.

"I saw it with my own eyes. How could it be a misunderstanding?! You're clearly violating your teacher's trust and sullying her honor!"

"You've thrown all decency to the wind. You're worse than an animal!"

Lin Xuan sighed softly and walked up to her, stopping barely two feet away.

His refined scent drifted into Luo Bing's nose, making her heart tremble again.

His deep gaze fixed on her. His voice softened, but there was an unmistakable seriousness to it.

"There's something you don't know, Heroine Luo. My master and I aren't what you think."

"She's been afflicted with a strange poison for a long time. She's seemed fine all these years, but in truth her internal injuries are severe, her heart meridian is knotted, and her vitality has been greatly depleted."

Luo Bing froze. Her watery eyes were filled with disbelief.

"Sect Leader Huang was poisoned? How is that possible? I've never heard of it!"

"It was the work of an old acquaintance of my master's. No one else knows, and she's kept it hidden all this time."

"I happened to notice something was wrong with her. Only after examining her with my medical knowledge and internal energy did I discover a sinister yin force inside her, wrapped around her heart meridian. It had built up over time and was already beyond remedy."

"Ordinary medicine and martial arts can't get rid of it. They can only suppress it," Lin Xuan explained calmly.

"Then what does that have to do with you and...what happened last night?"

Luo Bing still had her doubts, but Lin Xuan's account sounded so plausible that she couldn't help wavering.

"I know a mysterious technique," Lin Xuan continued, unhurried.

"It was created to harmonize yin and yang and replenish what has been lost. It's an ancient art."

"It can use my yang energy to nourish the sinister yin force inside my master and gradually dispel it."

"But the technique is extremely unusual. As it circulates, yin and yang meet, stirring the true energy in both our bodies and producing a kind of 'heart-fire' that's difficult to suppress."

"Once this heart-fire begins to grow, it must be released in time. Otherwise, it turns against the body. At best, it throws one's internal energy into disarray; at worst, it burns the heart meridian to ashes."

Luo Bing frowned as she listened. She'd heard a little about heart-fire, but its consequences sounded truly horrifying.

She pressed him, "Then how do you release this 'heart-fire'?"

Lin Xuan's gaze settled on her face, and his tone took on a meaningful edge.

"It can't be released through ordinary breathing exercises."

"It requires intimate contact, a meeting of yin and yang, to channel and dispel it."

"Yesterday in the pavilion, I was releasing my master's heart-fire to keep her power from suffering damage and her life from being endangered."

Luo Bing's face turned deathly pale, then flushed a deep red.

She'd already guessed some of it, but hearing Lin Xuan say it so "frankly" still hit her like a shock.

"Absurd! How could there be a technique or treatment like that, unheard of anywhere under heaven?"

"You're twisting words to excuse your own behavior!"

Luo Bing stood her ground, her voice firm and her eyes full of distrust. She couldn't accept this explanation. It was too unbelievable, and it went against everything she understood about morality.

Lin Xuan looked at her, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. He didn't argue further, but stepped toward her.

He moved so quickly that Luo Bing had no time to react. He reached out and drew her in, gently yet firmly pulling her graceful figure into his arms.

His embrace was warm and solid, his unfamiliar masculine scent surrounding her at once and making her heart pound.

"What are you doing?!" Luo Bing cried out.

She tried to struggle on instinct, but her resistance seemed utterly powerless against him, like a butterfly caught in a trap.

Lin Xuan said nothing. His large hand rested lightly against her back.

A powerful, unfamiliar force, carrying a piercing chill, surged into her meridians!

Luo Bing's body jolted. The energy rampaged through her, like ice splinters and burning flames all at once.

First came the pain, then a tingling numbness, and finally a wave of heat rushed from the base of her spine to her head.

Her blood seemed to boil. It felt as if countless tiny electric currents were coursing through every limb and bone, leaving her unbearably tingly and itchy.

It wasn't simply painful. There was also a strange allure to it, as if it were peeling back every restraint inside her, layer by layer, and freeing desires she hadn't even known she'd been suppressing.

She tried to push him away, but her body felt as if it had been immobilized by a spell. She was limp and powerless.

She even felt a tiny flame flicker in her Dantian, spreading along her meridians and stirring a nameless restlessness and emptiness.

Was this the "heart-fire" Lin Xuan had mentioned? It was so uncomfortable, so torturous, yet carried a strange hint of relief.

Her breathing grew ragged. Her cheeks burned, and her gaze began to blur.

The heart-fire blazed like a prairie fire, instantly igniting feelings she had suppressed deep within for so long.

Her graceful figure began to soften. A wordless emptiness and longing rose from deep inside her, urging her instinctively to seek fulfillment, to seek an even closer touch.

Lin Xuan's face was close to hers. His deep eyes held a hint of understanding, a trace of patience, and an inscrutable allure.

His breath brushed gently over her ear, sending wave after wave of tingling through her.

Luo Bing's thoughts blurred. An unprecedented heat rose from her Dantian—not a sickly fever, but a long-suppressed longing suddenly bursting its banks.

Her red lips parted, trembling slightly.

At that moment, as if possessed, she leaned toward the lips so close to hers.

Their lips met, soft and warm.

Lin Xuan's kiss was forceful and possessive, yet he explored her carefully, teasing her.

He gently licked her lips, traced their shape, then slipped inside.

Luo Bing's mind roared. Every last trace of resistance and shame crumbled away.

Her graceful body went limp, and she responded almost hungrily. Her hands wound around his neck of their own accord, her fingertips tangling in his hair with a touch of urgency and surrender.

Their lips and teeth entwined, their breaths mingled.

She had never experienced a kiss so passionate, so unfamiliar.

His kiss carried the sweet scent of osmanthus, along with a wildness and passion unlike anything she'd ever felt.

The heart-fire passed between their lips, soothed and guided as they kissed.

The heat coursing through her gradually ebbed away with each passing moment, drawn out and dissolved by the kiss.

Just as Luo Bing was about to lose herself completely, Lin Xuan abruptly stopped circulating his internal energy and gently broke their kiss.

Luo Bing's body stiffened, then went limp against Lin Xuan as she panted for breath.

Her lovely face was red as if it might bleed. Her watery eyes were unfocused, filled with shock and embarrassment, but also with a relief and satisfaction she couldn't deny.

Lin Xuan's gaze remained as calm as before, though his smile deepened.

He asked softly, "Do you believe me now, Heroine Luo?"

Luo Bing stood rooted to the spot, unable to speak for a long time.

The heart-fire inside her had completely vanished, replaced by a clarity and lightness she had never felt before.

It was as though every meridian in her body had been washed anew. She felt so comfortable she nearly moaned aloud.

Could everything he'd said be true?

She lowered her eyes shyly, unable to meet Lin Xuan's gaze.

That kiss had been unlike anything she'd ever experienced. Its wildness and abandon had left her feeling both unfamiliar and afraid.

But the comfort and satisfaction in her body made it impossible to deny that Lin Xuan's explanation might be true.

"I..." she stammered, managing at last to squeeze out a few words.

"I do feel much better."

At her words, Lin Xuan's smile deepened.

He reached out and gently smoothed back the loose strands of hair against her cheek, his touch tender and unsettling.

"If that's the case, then for my master's sake, please keep this a secret, Heroine Luo."

"I don't want to ruin my master's reputation."

His tone was earnest, with a hint of pleading.

Luo Bing shuddered and looked up at him.

His gaze was deep, and he didn't seem to be pretending.

Shock, shame, and confusion mingled inside her, along with worry for Huang Rong's safety.

"I...I understand," she said softly, her voice hoarse and carrying a weariness she had never felt before.

Lin Xuan gave a slight nod, satisfied.

He released Luo Bing. Before she could reply, his figure flickered and melted into the shadows beneath the corridor, vanishing soundlessly beyond the door.

He left Luo Bing behind in the room, still in a daze.

Luo Bing stood rooted to the spot, unable to speak for a long time.

She touched her burning cheeks, then her lips, which still tingled faintly.

The intense, electric tingling seemed to linger in her body, reminding her that what had just happened was no illusion.

She had never imagined that one day a man so much younger than her would take such liberties with her.

Even less had she imagined that she wouldn't resist at all, and might even respond willingly.

The discovery filled her with shame, but also with a strange excitement and curiosity. These conflicting emotions tormented her soul.

The scales of her moral compass crashed down. The perfect world she had believed in suddenly shattered into pieces.

Chapter 52: No War in Xiangyang, Lin Xuan Roams the Martial World (Extra Chapter, First Volume Complete)

After that day, Luo Bing found it increasingly awkward to stay in Xiangyang.

Whenever she saw Huang Rong or Lin Xuan, she felt something strange.

After forcing herself to endure it for three days, Luo Bing could bear it no longer.

One morning, she formally told Guo Jing and Huang Rong that she was leaving.

"Great Hero Guo, Sect Leader Huang," she said, managing to force a smile. "Word has come from the Red Flower Society headquarters that there are a few important matters I must return to handle. I'm grateful for your hospitality these past few days. I'll take my leave now."

It was a perfectly reasonable excuse. Everyone knew the Red Flower Society was busy with affairs.