Chapter 71

Tan Ye’s breath trembled and his hand on Su Heng’s tailbone wandered restlessly, not behaving at all.

“What are you doing?” His body stiffened like iron from the stimulation, the corners of his eyes a messy, dripping crimson red. His lips parted slightly as he breathed in and out.

“Tail, dragon tail.” Su Heng looked at him full of anticipation, proudly shaking the knee he was holding. “Show me!”

“Why?”

“Why do you need a reason for me wanting to see your tail?” She wrapped her arms around his neck, swinging her legs a couple more times. As if that wasn’t enough, her mischievous hand went from his tailbone to stir up trouble elsewhere. The tailbone is close to the coccyx, both sensitive areas. With her artful teasing, a flash of silver light appeared in the room. Under the hem of his robe, a shimmering silver-white dragon tail emerged, coiling around in several loops.

She let out a “wow” in a low voice, then excitedly said to him, “The tail is already this big, if your whole self were to come out, how big would that be? This room probably couldn’t even contain it, right?”

If his dragon form were to be fully revealed, it would almost fill the entire room. If his true body completely manifested, the roof would likely be blown open.

As soon as she finished speaking, the dragon tail that had been lying not far away moved, wrapping around her twice.

The dragon emitted the same fragrance as his body. Because it had transformed into its true form, that fragrance was actually even richer, immersing her entire being.

The dragon tail coiled around her layer by layer, like a long-lurking predator finally capturing its prey, locking her in circle after circle.

Su Heng felt the force exerted by the dragon tail. Tan Ye tried his hardest to control his urge to use more strength, tightly encircling her within his dominion. She rested her hand on the dragon tail, lightly brushing her fingertips over the scales.

The dragon scales were as lustrous as jade, reflecting a faint shimmering glow under the candlelight.

Her fingers wandered back and forth along the dragon scales. In his true form, his senses were even keener than in his human body – even the slightest movement could be clearly detected. Tan Ye felt her fingers playfully roaming over the scales, her fingertips tracing a circle, then plucking out a tantalizing wave pattern.

Her hands were misbehaving, but her eyes still looked at him with utmost innocence. Leaning on her shoulder, he panted from her actions.

His originally clear and moist voice was saturated with moisture, soul-stealing and enchanting between breaths.

Fingertips slid over the edge of the scales. She suddenly felt a cool sensation on her fingertips, followed by a slight pain.

She involuntarily hissed and raised her hand to see a trail of blood had appeared on her originally snow-white, delicate fingertips.

Su Heng had not been injured or seen blood for many years. Seeing that drop of blood, she was momentarily at a loss.

Tan Ye grasped her hand. Seeing the blood on it, his flushed face instantly turned ashen white, only that crimson red at the corners of his eyes becoming even more vivid against the pallor.

“Was it me?” Tan Ye looked at her finger, somewhat flustered, but even more so full of self-blame.

His brow furrowed slightly. The next moment he was about to retract his dragon tail. But Su Heng stopped him immediately, “No, I still want to see it.”

“What’s so good to look at?” Tan Ye asked in confusion, “You’re already injured.”

He himself didn’t even like seeing this damaged body of his, wishing he could hide it deep, deep away so that no one would ever lay eyes on it for all eternity.

“It’s very beautiful. Don’t you think your dragon tail is like moonlit flowing water?” She paid no heed at all to her cut finger. She had not been wounded for so many years that being slightly sliced by the dragon scale gave her a rather novel feeling. So it turned out that this body of hers would still feel pain when injured – it gave a sense of genuine, tangible existence.

Tan Ye’s eyes were hazy. At this moment, the moonlight outside had truly risen. The magic weapon flew in the sky, closer to the moon than on the ground. The frosty moonbeams shone through the window lattice, directly into the room, illuminating his face with a watery sheen.

“I don’t think so.” Tan Ye lowered his head to reply to her. He never felt there was anything good-looking about himself, especially damaged things. No matter how perfect everywhere else was, what was missing was still there, appearing particularly ugly and unbearable. Tan Ye wanted to lower his head to tend to her injury, but Su Heng beat him to it, sucking the blood oozing from the wound dry herself. Immediately after, she raised her head and pressed her lips to his.

Her lips and teeth still carried a faint coppery scent. It was precisely this extremely faint bloody smell that stirred up the deeply hidden possessiveness in the depths of his heart. He grabbed the back of her head, entangling with her, seizing all the flavor between her lips and teeth.

He released her, then went to lick her wound. She used to be interested in his injuries – he initially thought it was because of his blood. But now that he personally did the same thing she did, scraping over the wound, he seemed to savor a strange taste.

Su Heng smiled at him, “Does it taste good?”

Tan Ye didn’t say anything. He only gazed deeply at her, his crimson eyes also tinting his gaze entirely red.

The dragon tail flipped twice. She only had time for a short cry before lying down, with a soft cushion behind her. She couldn’t bear to go straight to business with Tan Ye so early. She got up and reached out to touch that gleaming silver tail. The tail was cool all over, a good item for beating the summer heat. She pressed both her palms on it, slowly rubbing back and forth.

The dragon scales were tightly closed to avoid accidentally injuring her like just now.

She stroked along the length of the dragon tail. Tan Ye lay there, allowing her to do as she pleased. His slender fingers gripped the cushion beneath him, his lips parted, breathing deeply and shallowly, occasionally emitting a few faint sounds from his throat.

Su Heng was never the considerate type. Her temperament was wicked, loving to see people in awkward predicaments. Before, she had seen Tan Ye scold Mei Shuangshuang like a dog covered in blood*. Here it was even more so.

Her palms pressed against the tail, slowly advancing, grasping the amount of force with extreme precision. She was born of vegetation, but also understood that as the tail was close to the coccyx, it was very sensitive. Aside from oneself, people generally did not like others touching it.

Dragons could ascend to the highest heavens and dive into the deepest abysses. They were extremely majestic divine beasts. Even the legendary phoenix had to admit inferiority when encountering a true dragon.

But now the dragon tail was in her hands. She committed arson and murder**, pressing and kneading the dragon tail with force alternating between light and heavy. That place was originally sensitive, and with her ministrations it burned more and more fiercely. The cool dragon tail gradually became scorching hot, as if on fire.

The dragon tail lifted up with difficulty. At this moment it also forgot about that broken half, as if indicating to her that it was best to stop while ahead. But fat chance she would listen – her temperament had always been this way, following her own mood.

She gestured for that damaged section of tail to come over.

Tan Ye acquiesced to nearly her every request. Besides, this wasn’t the first time she had done this. The dragon tail rose up and spun once in midair, delivering itself before her. She pounced onto that section of dragon tail, lying directly on top. The scorching hot tail made even the dragon scales embedded in it hot to the touch.

Her fingers wandered back and forth over that grievous scar. Tan Ye felt her fingers moving there. He simply endured, biting his lip, turbulent currents surging through his body.

When the sensation of lips pressing on that scar spread open, Tan Ye’s eyes abruptly opened. She bent over and kissed that scar. The dragon tail rolled her up, directly pressing her under his hand.

He turned over on top of her, staring at her. “What are you doing?”

“Didn’t you see?” Su Heng wasn’t flustered at being trapped by the dragon tail. She was still all smiles. “I like what I see, so I couldn’t help kissing it.”

Saying this, she looked at him again. “I also like what I see when I look at you, and want to kiss you.”

The next instant, Tan Ye pressed down heavily. The dragon tail heavily wrapped around her body, tightening coil after coil, scales tightly adhering to her skin.

Her laughter was suddenly cut off by a startled cry.

She grasped his arms. His eyes were filled with endless ripples, smoldering possessiveness under the spring waters. In this moment, he completely possessed her. His enchanting crimson eyes reflected in the spring waters – one had to look carefully to discern the madness beneath the layers of ripples.

The dragon tail bound her tightly in a frenzy of shaking and tossing that could destroy everything cleanly.

She curled her toes with difficulty, happening to directly step on the broken half of his tail. A few muffled groans escaped Tan Ye’s throat.

In an instant, he became unfathomable again.

Tan Ye’s highs and lows held an ineffable allure. His long hair was completely loose at this moment, strands falling by his face, lightly and heavily tapping his cheeks.

The storm finally broke. Especially since the dragon tail and human body were truly different.

Su Heng’s mind turned to mush. In this moment, all that remained was sinking together. Maintaining clarity was too difficult and she didn’t want to. She embraced his shoulders.

She felt her soul being pulled out from her body bit by bit. Caught up and enveloped by the torrent, gradually surging up to the heavens.

Su Heng didn’t know when she had regained consciousness, as if she had never truly woken up. The dragon tail still hadn’t retracted even now. She blinked, wanting to see everything in front of her clearly, but no matter how hard she tried to open her eyes wide, she felt like there was a thin mist obscuring her vision that she couldn’t dispel.

A hand covered her eyes, blocking out all the light, with only the warmth of the palm pressed against her eyelids.

“Sleep,” Tan Ye said by her ear.

His voice held a magical soothing power. Her exhausted spirit completely relaxed, falling asleep without a care.

She didn’t wake up until late in the night. Tan Ye lay on his side next to her, eyes closed. Some people were born with exceptional looks, pleasing to the eye no matter what they did. Just like now, even though he was merely sleeping, he slept beautifully.

She glanced at the door and saw the glimmering light of the barrier still present.

Su Heng let out a sigh of relief. With the commotion they had made, it was impossible to be quiet. If not for the barrier, it likely would have alerted the entire ship.

She had seen plenty of beasts and couples wildly going at it outdoors. She wasn’t picky about location either, but didn’t like being seen.

Su Heng’s eyes moved. Tan Ye seemed to sense something in his sleep. He turned over and firmly wrapped an arm around her.

She looked down and saw that the dragon tail had already reverted back.

Su Heng felt quite a bit of regret. She really liked his tail. Though it was damaged, in her eyes that flaw was negligible, no big deal.

She pinched his face. Perhaps it was from going too crazy earlier or some other reason, but Tan Ye didn’t wake from her pinch.

Seeing Tan Ye still asleep, she simply nestled into his embrace and slept as well.

Lying in his arms, she heard his breathing suddenly quicken. This rapid breathing persisted for a long while. Startled awake by his stirring, Su Heng opened her eyes just as Tan Ye woke up, their gazes meeting.

Su Heng blinked, her mind turning. “Did you dream of something again?”

“He came again.”

“Your dad?”

Tan Ye nodded. The back of his hand pressed against his forehead. Recently he had been frequently dreaming of that voice. He couldn’t see the other person’s figure or appearance, only hearing him continuously calling out in endless darkness.

“Su Heng, after the sect matters are concluded, come with me to see him.”

It would be good to get to the bottom of this. Regardless, to see what he wanted to do.

Su Heng made an “oh” sound. “Sure.”

She readily agreed. Tan Ye’s heart, unsettled from the earlier dream, settled back down.

“Luckily I have you,” he turned over and hugged her, murmuring by her ear. “If not for you, what would I do, what would become of me?”

Good question. She was quite curious about that herself.

Su Heng patted his back. “Don’t overthink it. I’m right here.”

Tan Ye softly uttered an “mm”, closing his eyes again.

Mei Shuangshuang and Zhu Chi, due to their faces swelling up like pig heads, had to recuperate for a period of time. When an orthodox immortal struck, it was ruthless yet still merciful. Something that could cost a life if inflicted on someone with a slightly narrow heart, for them only resulted in swollen heads.

However, that immortal didn’t let them off that easily either. The swollen faces couldn’t be restored with spiritual energy or elixirs, only gradually going down on their own. Every morning looking in the mirror, they would see their pig-like swollen faces, eyes puffy into slits. It really wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Mei Shuangshuang had it even worse than Zhu Chi. Her nose was truly swollen, especially the two nostrils, puffed up beyond recognition.

For a time, the ship was missing two people wandering about, quieter for quite a while, until both of their heads had mostly recovered before heading to Dan Xun Valley.

Perhaps cowed by Tan Ye’s scolding or scared by her own swollen head, Mei Shuangshuang had been quite well-behaved during this time, not making a fuss about leaving.

Like this, they smoothly arrived at Dan Xun Valley.

Tan Ye had notified Dan Xun Valley in advance. Before even reaching the valley entrance, Mei Luo had already hurried over. Mei Shuangshuang stood there, bearing Mei Luo’s fury.

Su Heng watched from the side. She wanted to yawn a little. She had thought Mei Luo would kill his disobedient daughter, but after all that, all Mei Shuangshuang had to endure was a scolding from her father.

She observed Mei Luo only reprimanding her, neither hitting her nor doing anything else. What did this even count as?

Su Heng watched as Mei Luo fiercely berated Mei Shuangshuang in front of everyone, then told her to properly return and reflect.

Mei Shuangshuang lowered her head and went inside. Elder Yao Guang watched from the side, smilingly inviting Tan Ye and the others in to rest.

“It has been a bother for you young heroes on this journey. I have already ordered people to prepare everything. Please come inside and have a good rest.”

Tan Ye said there was no need. He didn’t want to be involved with Mei Shuangshuang. Now that she had been delivered back, this matter could be considered successfully concluded. He was in a hurry to return to Chao Yun Sect to take care of his withdrawal from the sect.

Zhu Chi, seeing his intentions, also wanted to take his leave.

Walking in front, Mei Shuangshuang heard Zhu Chi’s words and immediately became anxious. She looked at Zhu Chi, “Why are you leaving?”

Seeing Zhu Chi’s brows furrow, she anxiously looked at Tan Ye, “Can’t you stay a few days?”

Yao Guang said that wouldn’t do. “You’ve delivered Shuangshuang back. I’m sure you’ve suffered many hardships along the way. We elders can only invite you to stay a few days to rest as an expression of our gratitude.”

That gratitude sure wasn’t worth much.

Su Heng rolled her eyes to the sky. This couldn’t even compare to that young couple in Liaodong. The young parents, along with their whole family, truly knew how to repay kindness. What did this even count as?

Yao Guang’s gaze swept over Su Heng. She smiled at Su Heng, “There is a girl here. Perhaps you two men aren’t particular, but a girl should have a proper rest.”

Saying this, Yao Guang took a few steps forward, wanting to take Su Heng’s hand. Tan Ye was quicker, standing in front of Su Heng. “Then we will trouble the elder.”

Yao Guang immediately had the disciples lead them to rest.

“I specifically prepared the best place, facing the hot springs. The girl can soak for a bit. I will also have the disciples send over some snacks,” Yao Guang softly said to Su Heng.

Su Heng listened, raising an eyebrow. Though it still seemed to lack sincerity, at least there was a bit of thoughtfulness.

Yao Guang had already made up her mind to have them stay. She looked at Tan Ye. Tan Ye, seeing Su Heng’s interest, nodded.

After the disciples sent Tan Ye and the others off, Yao Guang turned back to Mei Luo, “Valley Master, now that she has returned, you can set your mind at ease.”

Mei Luo nodded. “It has been hard on you these days.”

During the time Mei Shuangshuang was missing, Mei Luo had been restless day and night. Yao Guang alone handled all the valley affairs.

“We’ve been old friends for many years, no need to mention it.”

Yao Guang spoke as she walked inside with Mei Luo. “From what I see of Shuang’er’s temperament, she’s quite playful. How about this – find her a suitable husband who can take care of her. Regardless, it will lighten Valley Master’s load quite a bit.”

“Find a husband?” Mei Luo involuntarily raised his voice.

“Shuang’er is still young.”

Mei Luo firmly refused.

Yao Guang still smiled breezily. “We can keep an eye out. I think that one from Chao Yun Sect isn’t bad. He’s also very respectful to you. I noticed Shuang’er got a bit plumper after returning, showing he took decent care of her.”

Mei Luo listened, his brows furrowing. He knew Tan Ye’s background, and precisely because he knew, it was even more impossible. Tan Ye was a dragon. Though dragons were divine beasts, they were still a different race, not human at all. The reason he had sent Tan Ye to Chao Yun Sect back then instead of keeping him in Dan Xun Valley was because he didn’t want such an oddity in his own sect.

Otherwise, with such excellent aptitude, why would he not keep him and let Chao Yun Sect benefit?

Back then he didn’t even want Tan Ye as a Dan Xun Valley disciple. Now that Tan Ye had grown up, he definitely wouldn’t consider him worthy of being his son-in-law.

“No, he’s not a match for Shuang’er.”

Yao Guang was shocked. Mei Luo saw her look of complete surprise and realized she didn’t know the details of Tan Ye’s background.

He covered his mouth with a fist and coughed. “Shuang’er is still young. It’s not too late to see later.”

Yao Guang nodded. She recognized Tan Ye. This youth could be considered a young hero, not old but extremely outstanding in talent. “I saw how attentive he was towards Shuang’er, so I just mentioned it.”

“Speaking of which, that other young man also seems quite attentive to Shuang’er.”

Yao Guang’s tone held a hint of playfulness. “It will be a tough choice now.”

Now Mei Luo thought of the other young man. He knew this youth’s origins. A hint of complacency appeared on his face. “My daughter, naturally she can make a crowd of outstanding youths bend their knees.”