The next morning, the sunlight streamed through the lattice windows, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air.
Shen Yu sat at the rosewood desk, completely naked. The muscles of his back, once withered and frail, now rippled with healthy definition as he leaned forward, his brush moving smoothly across a piece of parchment.
Rustle.
The soft sound of silk sliding against skin broke the silence.
He turned his head. Lixue was sitting up in bed, the crimson sheet pooling loosely at her waist, leaving her upper body exposed. She looked messy, ravished, and glowing with the unique radiance of a woman who had been thoroughly loved.
She smiled at him sleepily, but her eyes quickly dropped. Her gaze locked onto his "dragon," which was resting heavy and dormant against his thigh. A deep blush rose on her cheeks as flashes of the previous night, her screams, her begging, her wild abandon, flooded her memory.
Shen Yu finished the letter with a final, decisive stroke. He placed the brush on the inkstone and walked toward the bed, unashamed of his nudity.
He sat beside her, the mattress dipping under his weight, and leaned in to give her a soft peck on the lips.
"How was your sleep?" he asked gently, tucking a stray strand of messy black hair behind her ear.
"It was the best sleep I've had in years," she whispered, leaning into his touch like a cat.
Her eyes drifted past him to the desk. "What were you writing?"
"A letter to Matriarch Meng," Shen Yu replied calmly. "You recall the inheritance I found? It contained not just cultivation arts, but profound medical knowledge. During my carriage ride with her, I diagnosed her condition."
He paused, his voice turning clinical.
"She suffers from Lunar Fire Stagnation. Her cultivation method is flawed; the Yin-Fire has accumulated in her meridians without release. She is currently in the second stage, teetering on the third. If she is not treated, the fire will consume her foundation. She will either be crippled or burn to death from the inside out."
Lixue's eyes widened. "That sounds... horrific."
"It is," Shen Yu nodded. "I made a deal with her. I will cure her condition, and in exchange, she will give me the Astral Mending Herb."
He looked at her seriously.
"I do not need the herb to heal anymore, thanks to our dual cultivation. But the world cannot know that. I need the herb to create a false narrative. When I suddenly reveal my repaired meridians to the public, I will claim it was the power of the herb. It is the perfect alibi."
Lixue processed this information. Then, her expression darkened.
"Wait... she will give it to you?" Lixue's voice turned sharp. "That means... she had the herb? All this time?"
She clenched her small fists, her knuckles turning white.
"Mom went to the Jin Estate personally! She begged them! And they lied to her face?"
"Those bastards!" she hissed, her Qi flaring slightly with indignation.
Shen Yu placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "It is the way of the world, Lixue. I understand why she did it. She needed it for her Nascent Soul Realm breakthrough for the future. To a cultivator, the path to immortality is worth more than honesty."
Lixue bit her lip, her anger simmering down but not vanishing. She understood the logic, but she hated the deception.
"So," she asked grumpily, crossing her arms under her bare breasts. "How are you going to cure her?"
"I have a recipe for an elixir that can resolve the root cause," Shen Yu explained. "But brewing it will take time and resources I do not yet possess. Until then, to prevent the fire from killing her... I must perform a manual dredging technique. A massage."
He didn't elaborate on where or how that massage would be performed.
Lixue narrowed her eyes. Her intuition flared.
"A massage..." she murmured. Her hand moved, snaking down to grip his resting manhood. She squeezed it, possessive and firm. "That is a very... intimate cure. And Matriarch Meng is a very beautiful woman."
Shen Yu felt a prickle of danger run down his spine. "Lixue, it is purely medi—"
He was cut off by a deep, aggressive kiss.
Lixue pulled him in, her tongue dominating his, tasting him, claiming him. It wasn't the kiss of a shy girl; it was the kiss of a woman marking her territory.
She pulled back, breathless, her blue eyes piercing into his.
"I have known you since childhood, Shen Yu. Do not play dumb with me."
She tightened her grip on him, her nails digging slightly into his thigh.
"I know exactly what goes on inside that head of yours. You want to claim her, don't you?"
Shen Yu blinked, genuinely stunned. For a split second, a cold sweat pricked his back.
He was Grandmaster Xu, a four-hundred-year-old demon of the Unorthodox Path who had transmigrated across worlds. His mind was a labyrinth of schemes and ancient knowledge. How could this nineteen-year-old girl possibly see through him? Had he slipped up? Had the mask fallen?
He opened his mouth to deny it, to spin a web of lies, but she silenced him with a look of fierce, teary-eyed understanding.
"You want to grow stronger," she continued, her voice trembling with conviction. "You want to use her power, her resources, and yes, even her body, to rebuild our clan. You are planning to take revenge on the Liu Clan and everyone who dared to look down on us."
Shen Yu paused. The tension in his shoulders evaporated instantly.
'Oh,' he thought, his inner voice dripping with dark amusement. 'So that is how she sees it.'
She didn't see the monster who wanted to conquer the heavens for his own vanity. She saw a tragic avenger. She saw a young man willing to sacrifice his own morals and body to protect his family.
In reality, Shen Yu couldn't care less about the Shen Clan's honor or petty revenge against the Liu family. He just wanted to stand above the heavens and collect the world's beauties like trophies.
But if she wanted to paint him as a dark, burdened hero... who was he to correct her? It was the perfect alibi.
"I..." Shen Yu lowered his gaze, his expression twisting into a mask of pained reluctance. "I cannot deny it. The world is cruel, Lixue. To protect you, to protect Aunt Mei... I must be ruthless. I must use every tool available to me."
Lixue softened instantly. Her heart broke for him, seeing the "burden" he was carrying.
"I don't care," she whispered fiercely, cupping his face. "I don't care how many women you take to achieve your goals. I don't care if you seduce the Matriarch, or the Princess, or the Saints of the Nine Heavens."
She moved, swinging her legs over his lap. She straddled him, the heat of her core hovering directly over his hardening length.
"But you need to understand this—"
She grabbed his shoulders for leverage and pushed her hips down.
Slide.
She took him in one smooth, decisive motion.
"Hah...!"
She gasped, her head falling back as she impaled herself on him. She was still recovering from the night before, and her tightness was absolute, hugging him like a second skin. She gritted her teeth, enduring the stretch, and looked down at him with burning, possessive eyes.
"Argh... I am your First Wife. And I always will be."
She began to move, riding him with a clumsy but desperate rhythm, forcing him to look at her.
"And whoever you take... you should show her love. You must be a good husband. But never, ever forget who was here first."