Chapter 285

This silhouette was also a woman, with long hair tied in a cloud-like bun, wearing a white long robe, tall and slender, especially her pair of long legs, which appeared exceptionally slim and straight.

Although her face was unclear, her outline was faintly visible; she was an extremely beautiful woman.

Heng Xian stared, glanced at the dazed, flattened Bai Lianhua on the ground, then looked at the woman before him, opening his mouth to speak.

The woman had already reached him, grabbed his wrist, and without a word headed straight for the door.

Heng Xian couldn't resist, so he had to follow her running.

They leapt across more than ten streets before stopping on the roof of a ruined high-rise.

The woman released him, stepped back a few paces, turned her head, and lo and behold, it was Ji Yaoyue.

After not seeing each other for years, the girl's biggest impression on Heng Xian was her long legs, picturesque brows and eyes, and an even more noble bearing, a nobility that seemed to come from her bones, impossible to feign.

Especially bathed in moonlight, in an instant it evoked the sigh, 'Such a lady belongs only in heaven!'

Ji Yaoyue looked at him with a half-smile at the cat-face mask on his face: 'I don't know, Cat-Face Brother, could you reveal your identity to this humble girl?'

Heng Xian said solemnly: 'Cough, cough, miss, you must not do that!'

Ji Yaoyue tapped her chin: 'Oh? Shall I, as your elder sister, personally undo your mask? That would hardly be any fun.'

Her tone was exactly the same as Bai Lianhua's.

Heng Xian sighed, too lazy to reply.

Ji Yaoyue insisted: 'Why aren't you speaking? You can play around with that big-breasted Bai Lianhua, yet seeing me you dare not speak—what's the logic? Hmm?'

Heng Xian simply removed his mask: 'Did you already recognize me?'

Ji Yaoyue looked at him, the teasing vanished from her face, she pressed her lips, and a mist slowly gathered in her eyes: 'Your acting is terrible; when you leapt from the rooftop to ambush that silver-clad one, I recognized you right away!'

Heng Xian exclaimed: 'Impossible? Although I only wear a mask, in public I deliberately alter my aura, distort my features, shrink my neck, etc.; even my personal maid didn't recognize me at first glance!'

Ji Yaoyue lightly laughed: 'You think everyone would observe so minutely? Those who don't truly care about you or study you won't notice your details, yet I recognized you at a glance—impressive, huh?'

Heng Xian exclaimed: 'You've studied me?'

Ji Yaoyue said: 'Since we have a lifetime promise, of course I must study you from scalp to toe; I'm a bit of a neat freak, you know!'

Heng Xian sighed: 'That's the corniest love talk I've heard all year!'

'Pah!' Ji Yaoyue rolled her eyes, yet had a different charm.

Heng Xian rubbed his nose: 'Um, how did you come with Bai Lianhua? She… was she injured?'

'Do you care about her? Are you fond of her… figure?' Ji Yaoyue widened her eyes.

Heng Xian shook his head: 'Overthinking, I'm just curious; I just fought He Bijie, and I don't quite grasp your Primordial Dan Realm.'

Ji Yaoyue laughed: 'This Bai Lianhua is proud and arrogant, unwilling to miss any clue in the ruins; hearing that you could solve various trials along the way, she took an interest.'

'After you left, she followed; I wasn't at ease with you, so I secretly tailed her, and then we saw you and He Bijie's duel!'

Heng Xian's eyes widened: 'You all saw my duel with He Bijie?'

Ji Yaoyue covered her mouth and laughed lightly, her eyes crinkling: 'Yes, Bai Lianhua was ahead, I behind, my whip already in hand; if that idiot He Bijie hurt you, I would surely kill him—thank goodness your clone is quite formidable!'

Heng Xian shook his head: 'Just average!'

What a classic mantis stalks cicada, oriole waits behind—so embarrassing!

Ji Yaoyue continued: 'Afterward Bai Lianhua found you, but although she's the top of the Tianyuan Sect's earth ranking, she's not good at defense; I struck her spirit platform, enough to make her faint for half an hour.'

Actually, even if she faced me head-on, she wouldn't be my match!

Heng Xian clasped his fists and joked: 'Your Highness, your cultivation is impressive, admirable!'

Ji Yaoyue lightly laughed: 'Princess? If you really want to discuss a title, why not call me elder sister?'

Heng Xian waved his hand: 'No way, I seem older than you!'

Ji Yaoyue said solemnly: 'I'm twenty! Ninth day of the ninth month, Mang Rain, Autumn Sowing, auspicious.'

Heng Xian said seriously: 'Sorry, I'm also twenty, fourth day of the seventh month, two months older than you, I yield.'

After saying that, feeling the age comparison a bit childish, he rubbed his nose, picked up some wooden sticks from the corner, broke them, lit a bundle of torches, and gestured for Ji Yaoyue to sit.

Ji Yaoyue, however, walked to his side and softly said: 'Your clothes are all blood; take them off and let me apply medicine.'

As she spoke, her face flushed red.

Heng Xian nodded, sat by the fire, took off his outer robe and upper garment, revealing a sturdy torso, yet seeing no movement behind him, he involuntarily turned his head.

He saw Ji Yaoyue holding a bottle of ointment, her face reddened to her neck, her hand slightly trembling.

'What's wrong?' Heng Xian asked.

'Oh? Oh!' Ji Yaoyue finally reacted, pouring the ointment onto her slender fingers, then dabbing it gently onto Heng Xian's left shoulder wound.

Even through the wound, one could clearly feel her hand trembling badly, her voice also a little shaky: 'Does it hurt, does it hurt?'

Heng Xian lightly laughed: 'No pain; is this the first time you've seen a man's back?'

Ji Yaoyue said: 'When I was little I saw my mother consort wipe Father Emperor's wounds, and at eleven I saw the crown prince brother bathing in the fire spring, for which I was scolded by my mother consort for a long time; I've never seen any other man like that.'

Heng Xian generously said: 'Feel free to look at me as you like, no need to be polite!'

Ji Yaoyue lightly spat: 'Thick-skinned!'

Heng Xian lost his composure in laughter.

After a few words, Ji Yaoyue felt it was natural to wipe Heng Xian's back, her mood calmed considerably, and she said: 'We haven't seen each other for four years; after the incident in Sang Guo's capital, I actually dispatched the Black Cavalry, the elite of the Great Zhou royal clan, to find you, but Dongyu is too vast, and we've had no news.'

Heng Xian laughed: 'I naturally have my own whereabouts; if you lot could easily find me, the Fourteen Sects would naturally find me too—wouldn't that be disastrous?'

Ji Yaoyue nodded: 'Indeed… but these four years have been hard on you.'

'Actually it's not too bad.' Heng Xian chuckled.

By then the ointment had been applied, Heng Xian changed into fresh clothes, his hair loose and unbound, gazing at the moonlight outside: 'When the clouds part, the moon shines; once my cultivation is accomplished, I can naturally roam free; I increasingly feel that the founding ancestor's saying of the Tianyuan Sect is profoundly meaningful.'

'When the clouds part, the moon shines?' Ji Yaoyue sat beside him, laughing: 'What a fine verse!'

Heng Xian said: 'Of course; over two lifetimes one only remembers so little.'

Ji Yaoyue gave a light laugh, not delving deeper into the meaning of his words.

The two stopped talking, sat together, and watched the moonlight outside.

The moonlight was like water, quiet and still.

After a while, Ji Yaoyue asked, "There are so many sect elders waiting above; how will you leave when the time comes?"

Heng Xian thought for a moment: "I should have a way!"

Ji Yaoyue said, "If you can leave safely, go to the Great Zhou Dynasty, go to my princess's manor; I'll write to my father emperor, and have you appointed Prince Consort and Houjou in advance—even the Fourteen Sects wouldn't dare act recklessly in the imperial city!"

"Even the Fourteen Sects wouldn't dare?" Heng Xian exclaimed in surprise.

Ji Yaoyue said, "The Fourteen Sects are merely cultivator sects hidden in the deep mountains; the supreme dynasty at the mountain's foot is the true ruler of the world—even the leaders of the various sects must give some face to the empire, let alone that the empire itself is full of experts!"

Heng Xian felt a sense of being kept, and said, "That's a novel idea; I'll consider it!"

Ji Yaoyue gave a slight nod.

A wind blew past, sweeping through Ku Cheng, bringing a slight chill.

Heng Xian glanced at Ji Yaoyue, grabbed her right hand, and placed it in his embrace.

Ji Yaoyue trembled slightly, instinctively wanting to struggle, but then gave up, letting him hold her; her face flushed red, feeling the pose awkward, she simply leaned against Heng Xian's shoulder.

The moonlight gradually slanted.

Heng Xian inhaled the fresh scent of her long hair on his shoulder and laughed, "Last time you gave me artificial respiration, I still think about it from time to time!"

Ji Yaoyue lifted her head, eyes wide: "The more I think about it afterward, the more I feel you were flirting with Lin Shuyu—you clearly just wanted to kiss her!"

Heng Xian was instantly exposed, feeling a bit embarrassed, but immediately replied solemnly, "You're overthinking; am I really that kind of person? In that situation, why would I?"

The resentment in Ji Yaoyue's eyes faded: "I doubt you'd dare!"

Heng Xian glanced around, coughed once, and said, "How about trying again?"

"Try what?" Ji Yaoyue asked in surprise, then realized, her face flushing red again.

For a moment, neither refusing nor agreeing was possible.

Heng Xian had no choice but to reach out and touch her smooth cheek.

Ji Yaoyue's breathing grew heavy, and she slightly closed her eyes.

Heng Xian startled, having originally just wanted to test the waters, yet she didn't resist?

In an instant, his heart was all aflutter; he could only gaze at Ji Yaoyue's red lips and slowly draw near,

Getting closer and closer, he could already smell her breath.

Just then, an angry roar came from below: "Who just ambushed me? Who's up there?"

(End of chapter)