Question:
Would Xu Yuan stop the bewitchingly beautiful courtesan before him from killing herself?
Three,
Two,
One.
The answer was no.
As a man with all his senses intact, Xu Yuan would probably regret seeing such a peerlessly beautiful woman die before his eyes, but he certainly wouldn't stop her.
Before entering Bamboo Garden, he had already learned Su Jinxuan's identity, and naturally had prepared himself for what might happen.
If this courtesan who had come specifically for him wanted to kill herself, he would most likely watch the show with a smile.
He would watch her ham it up, watch her look pitiful and helpless, watch her stubbornly play the victim until she embarrassed herself.
As someone who had come close to death countless times, Xu Yuan didn't believe that Su Jinxuan would decisively end her own life while she still had a choice.
But the reality was that all his careful expectations had become a joke.
The moment he saw the woman, he was unable to look away.
If he hadn't already set a clear course of action for himself before entering Bamboo Garden, he might have simply gone along with her the moment she brought up "music."
But even with a clear idea of what he intended to do, Xu Yuan was still influenced by the emotions welling up inside him as he acted.
Concern, fear of losing her, and finally, he stepped in to stop her.
It wasn't normal, but at the time, Xu Yuan himself couldn't see it.
Only when the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art began to circulate did Xu Yuan suddenly realize something was wrong with him.
That woman was toying with his emotions.
On closer examination, Xu Yuan's heart gave a sudden jolt.
His Will Soul was covered in tiny, drifting particles.
Their appearance had caused no discomfort. They weren't especially dense, scattered sparsely across the surface of his Will Soul as if they had become one with it.
By consciously focusing his awareness on them, Xu Yuan realized that the drifting particles were moving.
They were desperately burrowing into his Will Soul.
Yet their movement caused him no discomfort at all.
On the contrary, the aura they gave off even made Xu Yuan feel a little comfortable.
Unfortunately, even with Xu Yuan completely off guard, his Innate Soul Body was so refined that those intangible particles couldn't burrow inside him anytime soon.
Su Jinxuan clearly had no cultivation, just as in the original story. Otherwise, Zhou Chen wouldn't have wished him success in his martial path before leaving.
And yet this had still happened.
Besides Source Qi cultivation, did this world actually have such a bizarre method of attack?
Realizing this, Xu Yuan opened his mouth to call for help.
A one-on-one fight?
Not a chance.
He had bodyguards.
But the instant he opened his mouth, Xu Yuan discovered he couldn't speak.
"..." Xu Yuan.
He sensed the particles clinging to the surface of his Will Soul suddenly begin to pulse in a certain rhythm.
As they pulsed, Xu Yuan felt himself gradually losing control of his body.
He could see and hear; all five senses worked normally. But he couldn't speak or move. He could only stand still where he was.
Su Jinxuan lowered her eyes and lightly pressed her lips together. A bewitching glow shimmered faintly in her peach-blossom eyes as she gently rubbed her swollen wrist and spoke with a hint of grievance:
"Third Young Master, what are you..."
The moment she spoke, the particles began to pulse more violently.
In the next instant, Xu Yuan's body moved against his will. He smiled faintly and raised a hand to interrupt her.
"Hey, Jinxuan."
As he spoke, Xu Yuan's body walked toward Jinxuan.
"Actually, I didn't want to treat you the way I did just now. I was afraid you might really lose hope and take your own life. I hope you won't hold it against me."
"..."
Su Jinxuan fell silent for a moment, then slowly lifted her eyes to look at Xu Yuan.
Sunlight streamed through the window lattice and fell across Su Jinxuan's bewitchingly beautiful face, leaving one half in shadow and the other in light.
As their gazes met, Xu Yuan thought he saw waves of peach blossom blooming in the woman's eyes.
As his mind grew hazy, even more drifting particles settled onto the surface of Xu Yuan's Will Soul.
Her voice held a hint of humble pleading.
"Third Young Master, you're a person of noble status. How could Jinxuan dare hold anything against you? I only ask that you not force me to do something I don't want to do."
"Force you?"
As they spoke, Xu Yuan's body sat back down on the cushion. He chuckled.
"That depends on how you behave. If you can keep me interested, I might be willing to play with you for a while longer.
"Heh, this tea's too weak. Someone, bring me wine."
"..."
"..."
Their conversation gradually shifted from Xu Yuan's blunt demands to the ordinary flirtation between a young master and a courtesan.
They drank together, listened to music, and talked about melodies and various bits of local gossip.
The bizarre sight of his body speaking and acting on its own made Xu Yuan feel a flicker of panic.
But that flicker was quickly replaced by the calm he had cultivated out of habit whenever trouble arose.
The situation before him couldn't have been clearer.
Su Jinxuan was stalling for time.
She needed enough time for those strange drifting particles to burrow into his Will Soul.
As for what would happen if they got inside...
Xu Yuan thought of the original body's near-mad behavior in the story.
Tsk. A Kotoamatsukami, was it?
This kind of attack that targeted the mind was far too bizarre. With no experience dealing with it, Xu Yuan couldn't find any way to counter it.
As time passed, Xu Yuan could feel his Will Soul's surface becoming densely covered with those strange drifting particles.
But because of the Innate Soul Body's resilience, they still couldn't burrow inside.
A sense of helplessness gradually welled up in his heart.
The lack of any clue, along with his awareness of those drifting particles, made his thoughts grow increasingly chaotic.
Since crossing into this world, Xu Yuan had thought he was cautious enough. Reality had now delivered a resounding slap to his face.
He wasn't cautious at all. He was arrogant.
Even knowing that something was wrong with Su Jinxuan, he had still come alone.
He had done so partly because Ying'er was nearby to protect him, but more than that, it was because the god's-eye view he'd once possessed had made him think he could keep this peerlessly beautiful woman under control on his own.
How stupid.
Unfathomable arrogance.
Regret was useless. Forcing his thoughts back into order, Xu Yuan began searching his memories from beginning to end, piece by piece, for anything that might help.
Ying'er still hadn't intervened. Clearly, she hadn't sensed the danger he was in.
He had to save himself.
As his thoughts stretched on, Xu Yuan remembered the Blood Origin Heart-Fall Technique.
The Blood Origin Heart-Fall Technique was complicated and profound, but it only recorded methods for using Source Qi. As for the Will Soul, it contained only the basics: sensing it and using it to gather Source Qi.
Even though these methods of sensing and gathering Source Qi were far more efficient than those of ordinary techniques, they were of no help to his current predicament.
He felt a little helpless, but more than that, he was despairing.
The Blood Origin Heart-Fall Technique could create both an Innate Body and an Innate Soul Body, yet the latter only existed to support the former's cultivation speed?
Back when he was cultivating, he'd thought that made perfect sense. After all, he'd believed that Source Qi cultivation decided everything.
But it seemed this world had other systems of power besides Source Qi cultivation.
Seen that way, this blood-grade cultivation manual was far too one-sided...
Wait.
Manual?
Xu Yuan's thoughts paused.
He suddenly remembered the Nameless secret art that went with the Blood Origin Heart-Fall Technique.
During those days when he'd first arrived at the cave abode and was studying, he'd read the two manuals together countless times.
But human energy was limited. Xu Yuan had devoted all his effort to cultivating Source Qi, and so he'd set the other one aside.
It was like a person drowning in darkness catching sight of a glimmer of light.
Xu Yuan's mind jolted, and he began recalling what was recorded in that Nameless manual.
As his memories surfaced bit by bit, Xu Yuan realized that it really was a secret art for cultivating the Will Soul.
And it was an offensive one.
Its method of attack was simple enough to sum up in two words: devouring.
Besides tempering the Will Soul in the usual way, it allowed the cultivator to grow stronger by directly devouring other people's Will Souls.
Ordinary cultivators wouldn't dare do that. They would most likely go mad from the repulsion between their Will Souls, but an Innate Soul Body had nothing to fear.
It was perfectly suited to the Innate Soul Body's ability to refine the Will Soul.
At the thought, Xu Yuan's mind eased a little.
Without a moment's pause, he immediately immersed himself in studying the manual's principles and methods of cultivation.
Cultivation knew no passage of time.
After who knew how long, Xu Yuan withdrew his mind from his sea of consciousness and turned his attention back to the outside world.
The heavens had turned, the sun was gone, and a full moon hung high in the sky. Its clear light spilled through the bamboo grove into the room, while his body continued talking with Su Jinxuan.
The tension of the daytime was gone. As they chatted and laughed, even their eyes seemed to speak of affection.
The incense drifted hazily through the air. At last, the topic Su Jinxuan had been spinning on her own reached its end.
A faint flush from the wine made her look even more bewitching. Smiling, she glanced sideways at the moonlight outside and said tactfully:
"Third Young Master, it's getting late."
Xu Yuan's body chuckled and reached for her slender wrist.
"Indeed. Jinxuan, a moment of spring night is worth a thousand gold."
Su Jinxuan's face stiffened just the right amount. She let him take her hand and spoke softly.
"Third Young Master, didn't you say earlier that you wouldn't force me?"
"..."
The body fell silent for a moment, then sighed faintly.
"All right, as you wish. I won't touch you tonight, but you have to let me stay here."
"But..." Su Jinxuan tried to say something more.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan's body frowned at once.
Su Jinxuan seemed helpless as she gently nodded.
"Mm... Then I'll trust your character, Third Young Master. But we'll have to sleep fully clothed."
"...Fine~ I'll do as you say, Jinxuan."
"..."
Listening to their conversation, Xu Yuan was barely able to keep it together.
She was acting out both sides. It was a real shame she hadn't become a screenwriter and written storybooks.
But the exchange told Xu Yuan that his current state wouldn't withstand close scrutiny, and that he probably couldn't get too far away from Su Jinxuan.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have let him stay the night.
After that, Su Jinxuan called a maid to bring a copper basin for the two of them to wash up.
A glimmer of lamplight in the bamboo grove went out. Only moonlight slipped gently through the window lattice into the room.
They drew the bed curtains and lay down fully clothed. Feeling the softness of the bedding and smelling the faint fragrance on the woman beside him, Xu Yuan's vision sank into darkness.
But a few breaths later, his body suddenly moved. He turned onto his side and gently wrapped an arm around the woman's boneless, delicate body.
After two seconds of silence,
her voice trembled a little.
"Th-Third Young Master..."
Xu Yuan's body replied softly:
"Sleep."
"..."
Xu Yuan's thoughts flashed by as he gathered his mind.
The Nameless secret art began to circulate in the still darkness.
I went out to have fun, so this was a little late. 3.5k
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