Chapter 199: Lust Clouds Wisdom

A Zi had been accompanied by poisonous creatures since childhood; as soon as the ice silkworm jumped out, her eyes darted around nonstop, and she didn't even notice the foot pain.

Hearing Feng Yi's voice, A Zi finally felt the pain, ah ya sat again on the stone and laughed, "Big brother, this thing is really good." She thought, "I will use it to train my skills; I will surely surpass my master."

Feng Yi laughed and said, "Do you want it or not?"

A Zi stared at Feng Yi for a moment, then her eye sockets reddened and she choked, "I definitely want it, but you went to great trouble to get this ice silkworm, so I naturally wouldn't want it. You asking like this suggests you doubt me..." She couldn't go on.

Feng Yi knew she could cry at the drop of a hat; seeing her tearful face, he lowered himself and said, "This ice silkworm is indeed a good thing, but without deep inner strength as a foundation, it's harmful and useless!" As he spoke, he lifted her foot out of the water.

Her little foot was snow-white and sparkling, truly like mutton-fat jade; the flesh on the top of her foot was almost translucent, and beneath the lotus-root-like surface faintly showed a few small blue veins; the toenails of her ten toes were light red, like ten small petals.

This made Feng Yi think, "No wonder You Tanzi, upon seeing her, would hug and kiss her; her appearance is indeed excellent!" He reached out and touched her foot.

Seeing Feng Yi lecherously eyeballing her little foot, A Zi didn't know whether she felt shy or happy, her heart pounding; who would have thought he would actually grab her foot with his hand—this felt like an electric shock, and she instantly couldn't contain her shame, pushing his shoulder with a palm and crying, "What are you doing?"

Feng Yi had just grabbed her beautiful little foot in his hand, not expecting her to strike back at him, and she was quite swift—with a slap, she hit him squarely.

But Feng Yi's divine power protected his body, and A Zi's body immediately collapsed.

Feng Yi reached out and embraced her; seeing her eyes like water, her black hair like a waterfall, her pretty face flushed and even more charming, his heart felt like a stone dropped in water, sending ripples, and he softly said, "I'm looking at your injured foot; I want to treat your injury, not to take advantage of you on purpose!"

Speaking, his palm held true qi as he began to knead her; the feel was indeed good—like jade's smoothness and silk's softness—and that was no mistake.

A Zi felt a warm moist qi spreading from her foot through her whole body; instantly her body went limp, and she suddenly burst into laughter, scratching his face and saying, "You have a thief's heart but no thief's guts!"

Feng Yi lifted his head and saw her clear, water-like eyes holding a half-smile; he smelled the fragrance of sandalwood and orchid musk, his mind slightly intoxicated, and he said, "How am I a thief?"

A Zi leaned to his ear and said, "What, are you angry? I'm just playing with you."

Feng Yi felt her breath blowing on his neck, making it itchy; her soft voice was even more captivating, and he said, "You really make it hard to guess your thoughts; I am indeed a little afraid you'll suddenly turn against me."

A Zi stared blankly, then softly said, "Actually, you wanting to touch my foot, I not only don't blame you, I even like it!"

"If you dislike that I hit you, you can hit me back!"

Saying that, she stretched her face toward him.

Feng Yi saw her face approaching; in the moonlight she looked even more pretty like snow; the maiden's body fragrance made his heart sway and his blood surge, and he immediately kissed her face.

This kiss landed, and A Zi's whole body went soft.

Feng Yi was originally using true qi to massage her foot.

The so-called women's feet and men's waists must not be touched.

Of course, as soon as you touch, something will definitely happen.

Feng Yi was a veteran of the pleasure quarters; A Zi, inexperienced in worldly affairs, being stirred by Feng Yi into a state of bewildered passion, extended her cherry lips.

Their four lips met; Feng Yi's dantian heated up, and he immediately scooped A Zi up and ran out.

Their bodies were pressed close; A Zi felt a gentle, pure internal force from Feng Yi's hand, feeling both novel and a little afraid; gradually her mind wandered, and she didn't know where she was.

Feng Yi's true qi circulated back and forth through A Zi's meridians; she had previously followed Feng Yi nonstop for over a hundred li, and indeed she was tired.

Feng Yi carried her, weaving through trees and stones, winding along, and after a while stopped.

A Zi suddenly heard a faint sound; then flames rose, igniting a bonfire that lit the surroundings—it was a cave, with a felt blanket beneath her, but looking around she didn't see Feng Yi; it felt as if her heart and liver had been dug out, and she cried out, "Hey, where are you? Big brother, where are you?"

Even she herself could hear her voice trembling, the tail end still carrying a sobbing tone.

Feng Yi flashed in from the cave mouth, saying, "I'm here!" and was seen carrying a water bag as he entered.

A Zi whispered, "I... I thought... you didn't want me anymore..." and tears had already flowed in her eyes.

Feng Yi laughed and said, "You, such a beauty, how could I not want you?"

Regarding A Zi, his habit of oily talk and slick speech flared up again; A Zi, however, didn't take offense, and said coquettishly, "Big brother, I didn't expect you to be such a rascal!"

In the firelight she already had a lovely face like a flower; this slight coquettish anger made Feng Yi not just moved, he laughed, "Good, living up to the name must do the deed; I must show you what a rascal is!" and he reached out to embrace her.

A Zi shouted, "You already took advantage of me just now; no more, let's attend to proper business first!"

But she had already been embraced by Feng Yi, and she heard him say, "No matter how great the matter, it's not as big as the path I climb to reach you!"

A Zi was embraced by him, feeling both shy and delighted; smelling his strong masculine aura, she involuntarily felt intoxicated, her body instantly went limp, and joy was indescribable.

The two clung to each other, embraced and kissed; Feng Yi reached out to strip off her clothing; A Zi immediately understood what was about to happen, she cried out in surprise, curled up her body like a startled small beast, and stared wide-eyed at Feng Yi.

Feng Yi's eyes already shot out pure flames of passion, and he said, "I said you follow me and you're playing with fire, burning yourself—have you forgotten?"

A Zi recalled when they first met, he had said those words; but A Zi dares to love and hate, not bound by propriety; after all, her mother followed her father without name or share, so this matter depends only on whether she is willing; therefore she does not resist, but instead crosses her legs.

Suddenly she felt a stabbing pain in her body; she wanted to push away, but she had no strength; gradually she felt extremely comfortable, as if she wanted to melt into Feng Yi.

After a long while, A Zi felt her body disappear, she had no strength left, and her heart felt no fear; she not only felt the fullness of life,

she also felt as if she had gained a sheltered harbor; it seemed from this moment on she truly understood what life is.

Moreover, she didn't know that from this moment on, her life would be rewritten.

A Zi slept satisfied and quietly; Feng Yi remained awake, listening to her breath, embracing her body, and silently cursing himself, "You're still so unpromising; now it's fine, you've found yourself another burden!"

Feng Yi had abstained from desire for three years, feeling quite empty; once he abandoned his bottom line, it was unimaginable.

But he is also a free-spirited person; since he did it, he has no regret, and holding A Zi he fell asleep.

The next morning, Feng Yi exclaimed as he woke up; it turned out A Zi had bitten him on the shoulder, causing him great pain and he shouted.

Feng Yi saw A Zi's mouth full of fresh blood, his own shoulder bore two rows of bloody tooth marks, and he said, "Is your tooth hurting?"

A Zi wailed and burst into tears.

She woke up in the morning, saw herself naked, thinking of last night's shameful act, and bit Feng Yi; who knew his body emitted an internal shock that made her teeth ache.

Feng Yi hurried to soothe A Zi, saying, "It's my fault; if you want to bite me, you should do it when I'm awake, control your internal force, and absolutely not rebound."

A Zi was both angry and amused, lightly slapped him and said, "Is high martial arts that impressive? Nobody wants to bite you; I'll deal with you, I'll use poison needles!"

Feng Yi felt a chill in his heart, but on his lips he smirked, "To die beneath a peony flower, even as a ghost one would be flirtatious; what's wrong with adding poison to poison?" and immediately got up and dressed.

A Zi saw his weapon, her cheeks flushed red, she gritted her teeth and said, "Surely he's a lewd bastard!"

Feng Yi lowered his head and lightly kissed her battered cheek, saying, "If I weren't lewd, could you become my woman? Hurry up! We need to attend to proper business!"

Only then did they put on their clothes, and A Zi said, "How do you use that ice silkworm?"

Feng Yi said, "I plan to absorb it to increase my power."

A Zi thought for a moment and said, "Don't rush; let us raise this silkworm for a while, its poison will become stronger."

Feng Yi thought: "Indeed, You Tanzhi absorbed the ice silkworm that had been fed by A Zi." Then he said: "What do you want to do?"

A Zi pulled him and said, "Come with me!" Then she cried out in pain—her virginity broken just now.

Feng Yi said, "I'm truly sorry."

A Zi snorted, "If you treat me well, that will be enough to make up for it."

Feng Yi smiled, placed her on his back, left the cave, and saw in the distance layered peaks of green, solitary peaks rising emerald, the forests deep and vast, as if joining the sky.

Suddenly A Zi pointed with her hand: "Go that way."

Feng Yi's movement was swift; the further he went, the more desolate it became, entering a gloomy valley where the ground was nothing but soft mud from years of rotting grass and leaves, and all around was dark and cold, with a chill wind blowing in from a narrow mountain pass.

A Zi said, "All right, here!" Feng Yi set her down; A Zi took a small dark-yellow wooden cauldron from her pack, placed it on the ground, and said, "My Divine Wood King Cauldron can attract strange insects; it will surely increase the ice silkworm's poison!"

Feng Yi nodded.

A Zi again took a small cloth bundle from her bosom, opened it, and inside were several pieces of yellow, black, purple, and red spices.

She pinched a little from each spice, put them into the cauldron, struck a fire with flint and steel, lit it, then covered the cauldron and said, "Let's wait under that tree."

Feng Yi and she arrived under the tree; A Zi smiled sweetly and said, "Big brother, tell me a story to relieve my boredom."

Feng Yi laughed, "I'm good at telling stories; what kind do you want to hear?"

A Zi said, "I want to hear your story."

Feng Yi said, "What's interesting about my own story?"

A Zi said, "In the jianghu, rumors about Feng Yi abound—some say you are on par with Bei Qiao Feng and Nan Murong, others claim you are inferior to them, relying entirely on Qiao Feng's support; I want to know the truth!"

Feng Yi thought, then said, "Such talk arises only because Qiao Feng is too formidable, his fame too great, causing others to mistakenly think that anyone whose name is mentioned alongside his, like Murong Fu, must be equally strong."

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A Zi wondered, "How so?"

Suddenly a rustling sound came from the grass; then they saw a red object wriggling in the green grass—a huge centipede, its body shining, with a small bump on its head, quite unlike an ordinary centipede.

The centipede smelled the incense from the wooden cauldron, marched straight toward it, crawled in through the hole beneath, and did not emerge again.

A Zi took a thick cloth from her bosom, tiptoed to the cauldron, covered it with a silk cloth, wrapping it tightly, fearing the centipede would escape, and laughed, "Let's find a pottery jar; you put the ice silkworm in, I'll put this centipede in, and see which is stronger!"

Feng Yi laughed, "Naturally it's the ice silkworm—it's the king of poisons." He thought, "I don't know how it compares to the toad that Duan Yu ate; which is more badass!"

After traveling several li, they reached a town, found a pottery jar, went to a secluded spot, and poured both the ice silkworm and the centipede in; they saw the centipede curl up into a ball, clearly terrified.

The silkworm swiftly circled the centipede, which then froze stiff; the ice silkworm crawled from tail to head like a blazing coal, burning a scorched line along the centipede's spine, and when it reached the head, the centipede's body split apart down the middle.

Both were astonished at how powerful the ice silkworm was.

The silkworm sucked the centipede's venom dry; in moments its body swelled considerably, looking from afar like a crystal bottle filled with bluish-purple liquid.

A Zi laughed, "This stuff will definitely be good for cultivation!"

Feng Yi said, "I will personally teach you authentic martial arts; don't practice this poison technique anymore, lest you suffer backlash."

A Zi stuck out her tongue and said, "I'll listen to you."

She knew her master's profound skill, yet feared backlash, so she needed to constantly use the Divine Wood King Cauldron to capture poisonous creatures for training, otherwise she would relentlessly push herself. She admired Feng Yi's martial arts with her whole body; having him teach her, it must be divine skill, so it's fine not to practice this poison technique.

In the following days, they did not linger much, heading toward Zhongzhou in Henan.

Along the way, A Zi was playful and cute, lovely and delicate; Feng Yi was knowledgeable and full of witty remarks, and he taught her the Muscle‑Tendon Strengthening exercise; though A Zi made little progress, she felt lighter and healthier than before, and they got along very well.

Wherever they went, they captured poisonous insects to feed the ice silkworm; each time they let it circle the insect once, the insect would instantly freeze and die, allowing the silkworm to suck out its fluids.

After seven or eight days like that, they arrived that day at a secluded valley in Henan; A Zi continued using the Divine Wood King Cauldron to attract poison, and soon a rustling came from the grass, the sound growing loud, quite unusual.

They did not know what snake or insect was coming; the strange noise was mixed with a foul stench that made one want to vomit.

Soon the tall grass parted and a huge snake came slithering, its body over two zhang long, approaching the cauldron and coiling around it.

The python was thicker than an arm, certainly unable to enter the cauldron, but smelling the spices and the cauldron's scent, its huge head kept ramming against it.

A Zi never expected to attract such a huge beast; she felt afraid and whispered, "What should we do? If the python smashes the cauldron, that would be terrible!"

Feng Yi thought, then stood and said, "Then let's kill it! Anyway, the gathering of Su Xinghe is imminent; today we will refine this ice silkworm with it."

With a clang, his long sword left its sheath,

A Zi saw Feng Yi's long sword seeming to ripple like water, undoubtedly containing tremendous power.

Feng Yi's eyes narrowed; he swung his sword horizontally, and the blade's flash, under the sunlight, was dazzling to the extreme, impossible to stare at.

An invisible yet extremely sharp force burst forth like thunder and lightning, even the air was torn apart, emitting a hissing sound.

The python also sensed a terrifying aura approaching; it tried to flee, but as a beast it was clumsy, and with a hiss its head was sliced off by the sword qi, blood gushing from its body like a spring.

A Zi's eyes widened, filled with fear, shock, and a strange expression.

She had seen many cruel killings, but such a bloody scene was her first.

Moreover, Feng Yi's empty-handed slash possessed such power, truly beyond imagination.

Suddenly Feng Yi shouted sternly, "Who goes there!"

No sooner had his words fallen than three light palm strikes sounded from the forest, and a clear voice said, "Excellent swordsmanship! Not in vain for this monk's karmic affinity!"

These words were spoken unhurriedly; then a yellow flash appeared, and a monk stepped leisurely from the trees.

He wore a yellow monk's robe, looked under fifty, in cloth shoes and straw sandals, his face radiant, as if a faint glow of treasure flowed within him, like a lustrous pearl that naturally shines.

A Zi saw the monk's dignified and solemn appearance, his eyes like lightning, her heart slightly startled, and she asked, "Who are you?"

The monk pressed his palms together and said, "I am the Tibetan mountain monk Jiumozhi; I have met Sir Feng."

Feng Yi had just swung his sword; if he hadn't heard the sound of a branch being stepped on, he wouldn't have noticed anyone. Seeing the monk's attire, he immediately understood, smiled, and said, "So it's the Tibetan National Teacher Buddha himself who has arrived—what an honor! May I ask what brings you here?"

Jiumozhi bowed with palms together and said respectfully, "Great Hero Feng, your fame has long been admired by this humble monk; I did not expect you to be so forthright. However, with this young lady present, I find it somewhat awkward to speak."

As he spoke, his eyes had already fixed on A Zi's face; he smiled, "This lady is of peerless beauty, round and lustrous like pearls and jade—truly a perfect match for Sir Feng; I congratulate you here!"

His tone was both kind and warm, truly like an elder affectionately addressing juniors, yet A Zi couldn't help but shiver.

Feng Yi, however, was bewildered; although he admired the martial prowess of this Great Wheel Bright King, he felt an inexplicable aversion toward him.

Because he felt that in some ways he resembled Kumarajiva's forcible seizure and plunder, perhaps that's why people of his own kind, upon seeing him, just couldn't take a liking to him.

The two of them basically had no acquaintance, yet he tried to get overly familiar, which he truly couldn't figure out.

But offering help for no reason—either a spy or a thief—filled his heart with vigilance.

Feng Yi said slowly, "National Master, what do you intend? Please speak plainly."

The National Master pondered a moment, then gave a bitter smile and said, "This… rather than stand on ceremony, I'll just speak frankly."

I once captured an ice silkworm on Kunlun Mountain, but it was stolen by the Shaolin monk Hui Jing; hearing it had fallen into your hands, I have come specially to retrieve it.

Feng Yi's eyes shot out sharp glints like needles, and he gave a slight smile as he said, "What did you say?"

A flash of cold light flickered in his gaze, making A Zi's heart jump.

Yet the National Master's expression remained unchanged as he smiled and said, "By rights, treasures belong to the capable, but I went through great trouble to lure out that ice silkworm, only for Hui Jing to steal it, and now you have taken it from me; seeking its return seems reasonable, does it not?"

"Bullshit!" A Zi snapped, "That ice silkworm belongs to the monk Hui Jing—what does it have to do with you?"

The National Master faced her rebuke without taking offense, smiling as he said, "Miss, don't you know that all of Buddhism is one family?"

Feng Yi snorted coldly, "A Zi, this is just desire clouding judgment, seeing treasure and coveting it—the ice silkworm is right here; National Master, if you have the ability, come and take it!"

Kumarajiva chuckled, "That's not too difficult!"

In a flash he shifted his body, extending his claws to grab at Feng Yi's bosom.

(End of chapter)