"Not in red?" Su Jing’s dark eyes narrowed deeply, but the aura around her relaxed a little.

She lowered her gaze again. "In that case, it must be a misunderstanding."

Hearing how certain she sounded, Aunt Wu let out two dry little chuckles.

She’d thought this girl in white had met Young Master Baili’s wife before; hearing the two of them were married, having some bias would be perfectly normal.

Look at this whole group, white robes and red dresses, all with that Immortal air—each one of them looks like some ascetic, plain as boiled water, one glance and you can tell they’re all from upright, proper clans.

That Shu girl, with all her mortal dust and kitchen-smoke about her, probably can’t make it into their eyes. In the past, with that foxy, seductive face of hers, she probably wore red all over and flaunted herself everywhere.

Aunt Wu’s heart was ultimately on Shu Ci’s side, so she hurried to explain for her:

"Yes, yes, this lady Immortal must have misunderstood my Shu girl. Though she’s a bit bewitching and gorgeous in looks, at first glance vulgar and gaudy like some hard-to-get-along-with viper of a woman...

But her nature’s a good one. She looks after the young master day and night, never taking her clothes off to rest, and ever since she got married, she hasn’t dressed herself up all flashy and gaudy again.

These days she only wears coarse linen, and she washes the young master’s clothes for him every single day."

"But just now when lady Immortal asked where she was beautiful and where she was charming, you really did ask the right person.

My Shu girl’s figure is truly all curves front and back, brimming with allure. For the young master to dote on and cherish her this much is really nothing strange at all."

Aunt Wu thought to herself that she’d said everything that needed saying, and she’d blown up all of Shu Ci’s good points as large as she could, hoping these otherworldly Cultivation folks wouldn’t look down on her.

Since so much had been said, this should be the end of it, right?

Who would have thought that the white-robed lady Immortal, who had spoken so little, would now suddenly look like she was going to her death. Aunt Wu could clearly see the roots of her teeth clenching tight beneath those snow-pale cheeks.

"Curves front and back? How exactly is she curved front and back?"

Aunt Wu wondered how she was supposed to describe that in words, so she could only exaggerate a bit and sketch out in the air Shu Ci’s proud lines in front and behind.

Though she didn’t speak, her gaze rather guiltily fell to Su Jing’s chest, the look in her eyes practically couldn’t be more blatant.

It could almost be confirmed that the woman at Baili An’s side right now was absolutely none of the ones she had seen before.

Su Jing’s face was icy, the rise and fall of her chest visibly quickening.

She asked again, "From which direction did he leave?"

"Senior Sister Su Jing?" The female Disciple beside her hurriedly spoke up:

"Now that we’ve confirmed that that Senior Brother’s life is not in danger, shouldn’t we hurry to Shifang City first?"

Su Jing said coldly, "For the Nine Classics to take a Direct Disciple as a spouse—what a great matter. How could it be treated so casually, like a joke."

When she finished, she directly drew the Emotion Slayer Sword, turned into a streak of white rainbow, and tore through the sky.

The female Disciple’s expression went dark with exasperation, and she muttered under her breath:

"Just now I don’t know who it was saying that matters of the Scripture Master of the Nine Classics mustn’t be commented on lightly... How come now she’s acting like her husband’s about to be snatched away and her backside’s on fire."

The Disciple traveling alongside them hurriedly scolded, "Are you mad? You dare to gossip about Senior Sister Su Jing—must be you’re tired of living."

The female Disciple fell sullenly silent and could only take Sword Control and reluctantly chase after.

...

...

On a narrow forest path, the sun was climbing higher.

Baili An settled Shu Ci down to sit in a patch of shade. Shu Ci looked at the dampened handkerchief in his hand, her eyes widening in surprise. "Moonlight Wine?"

Baili An gently pressed the wine-soaked handkerchief to the half of her face that had been frighteningly scalded red.

The coolness of the wine seeped in, threading down to the bone. Shu Ci hissed softly and shrank back a little.

But Baili An clamped his palm around the back of her neck, not allowing her to squirm around.

He lifted his eyes and gave her a glance. "Little demon, your skills aren’t much, but your eye’s not bad. You can tell this wine is brewed with moonlight as its spirit and wish-power as its source."

Shu Ci extremely disliked that form of address, "little demon." She frowned and said, "I am no little anything. You’re the junior—mind your manners!"

"Don’t move." Baili An’s face suddenly drew closer, his cold breath falling over Shu Ci’s brows and eyes, his magnetic voice so low it was almost nothing.

It was clearly just an ordinary, plain command, but at such close distance, Shu Ci only felt that deep voice of his drilling right into her chest, itching as it crawled along.

She tried to dodge, but the back of her neck was tightly clamped by that cold, slender hand.

Shu Ci normally hated being ordered around, yet today, for some reason, she didn’t feel much disgust or resistance toward Baili An.

Her body even actually relaxed bit by bit in line with Baili An’s words.

Though Moonlight Wine was a clear liquor, when it seeped into a wound, it didn’t bring an intense kind of pain.

Fine threads like ice needles twining lightly instead gave the wounds on her face a kind of jolting sting.

Maybe she felt she was being far too useless, for Shu Ci’s chest surged and heaved in a magnificent rise and fall, and beneath that dramatic movement—

She forced her voice to harden as she said hoarsely, "It hurts a little..."

Baili An’s hand paused, his movements gentling. He softly rubbed for a moment and asked, "How is it like this?"

Shu Ci met his clear, moist gaze that carried no sense of distance; her pupils suddenly quivered lightly, lifting upward. "It still hurts a little..."

Baili An’s brows knit lightly. "You’re that afraid of pain?"

Shu Ci was born with the advantage of not dying, but since it was a curse, how could it possibly allow her to have it both ways in peace.

Under the premise of not aging, not dying, and not being destroyed, Shu Ci’s perception of pain was already several times that of an ordinary person.

This was also why, back at the River Cleaning Banquet, when he pulled down her pants and spanked her like disciplining a child, she had actually cried her heart out.

Shu Ci was muddled for a moment and said twice in a row that it hurt a lot. When she came back to her senses, she already regretted it deeply in her heart; she really shouldn’t have shown weakness in front of him like this.

She was just about to speak up to salvage her pride.

The bloodstained handkerchief covering her face, however, had already been moved aside. Baili An bent down, and lightly, coolly blew a breath against her cheek.

"Is it any better like this?"

The cool breeze washed over her face, neither painful nor itchy, yet it gave Shu Ci an inexplicably different kind of warmth.

The place he had blown on instantly felt as if it had been licked by flames, burning hot.

With a soft shlip, whether because his blowing was too comfortable or because Baili An’s gaze at this moment was a bit too gentle—who knew which was the cause.

Shu Ci sank slightly into this strange, unprecedented feeling.

Another soft shlip, and two big, white, fluffy tails suddenly darted out from under her skirt, beyond her control, flaring behind her like a peacock spreading its tail.

Baili An was amused by those two chubby tails.

Riled into embarrassed anger by that smile, Shu Ci hurriedly turned around and hugged her two big tails tightly into her arms like body pillows, not letting them flail about.

She snapped, "Better my ass, they hurt so much my tails ran out on their own!"

Baili An said in surprise, "When a fox feels pain, its tails come out on their own?"

Even Shu Ci herself had no idea why her tails had come out. "Exactly, I’m in so much pain I could just die right now."

Baili An asked doubtfully, "Then when that old Taoist burned you with fire before, why didn’t your tails come out?"

Shu Ci had no idea how to explain that. Feeling guilty, she scooped up one of her tails and started whacking Baili An’s head with it.

"Where do you get so many questions from? Look at the state I’m in already."

Perhaps because she was injured and in pain, Baili An could clearly feel that Shu Ci’s temper was extremely unstable. He said helplessly, "Then what do you want? This Moonlight Wine has already worked wonders on the wounds on your face; it’s a fine medicine. If you still feel pain, I truly don’t know what else I can do."

Shu Ci’s eyes suddenly lit up; her usually dull gaze, for once, turned quick and nimble. Hooking up the corner of her lips, she said softly, "If you’d be willing to let me have a sip..."

Before she could finish, the compassion and gentleness in Baili An’s eyes scattered like an illusion, gone in an instant.

He stiffened his face and was about to stand up.

Shu Ci, quick as lightning, looped her hugged fox tails around the back of his neck.

Taking advantage of the momentum, her body went boneless-soft and leaned in against him, full and close.

She displayed Lord Mohe’s talent for overstepping every boundary to the fullest.

"You heartless bastard, the moment you see me looking ugly you don’t want to bother with me anymore. If I’d known, I shouldn’t have agreed to all your conditions in the first place.

If you won’t let me drink one mouthful, I’ll just die of pain right here today～"