170: Chapter 170 Debauched Mountain Spirit, Human Skin

Queen Mother of the West sat on the main seat at the front. After the Mountain Spirits and ghosts had finished serving the fine wine and rare delicacies, some Rising Beingss walked out from the side halls to take their seats.

These Rising Beingss were quite polite; each came before Li Xiuyuan to bow before taking their seats.

However, because they maintained their original Yao Race forms, their movements appeared somewhat strange and comical when performing these courtesies.

"A toast to our guest."

When all the Rising Beingss were seated, Queen Mother of the West raised the wine cup in front of her, and all the Rising Beingss raised theirs as well.

Seeing this, Li Xiuyuan unhurriedly raised his cup. Immediately, the crowd of Yao and Queen Mother of the West drank together. Li Xiuyuan also brought the cup to his lips, took a sip, and then spat it back into the cup.

A sip down, and the wine in the cup hadn't decreased at all.

This little trick couldn't possibly deceive Queen Mother of the West, but Li Xiuyuan didn't care. Instead, he set down the cup naturally and looked at her.

The latter's expression paused slightly upon seeing this, but she didn't call him out. She just tapped the table, and a dozen graceful women twisted their waists as they walked onto the stage. A leisurely and comfortable tune sounded, and the women danced to the music.

The banquet seemed to officially begin here. Those Rising Beingss, who had been somewhat restrained and uncomfortable, began to toast each other, play drinking games, and make a ruckus. However, they knew their limits and didn't dare to come over to disturb Li Xiuyuan.

Whether it was because they knew etiquette and didn't dare to run over to act wild, or for some other reason, it was hard to say.

"If it were in the past, for you to repeatedly disregard my hospitality like this, I certainly wouldn't have let it slide so lightly. But considering you opened that door and did me a favor, I won't haggle over these trifles with you."

"It is right for you to be cautious. The world is harsh, full of deceit, and everywhere there are unseen blades and schemes. But I wouldn't go so far as to plot against you in these matters."

Queen Mother of the West's voice suddenly rang in Li Xiuyuan's ear.

He turned his head to look at Queen Mother of the West on the main seat, and she was also staring at him.

Li Xiuyuan said calmly, "Being extra careful is only right."

Then, he picked up the wine cup on the table and actually took a sip this time.

Seeing this, a look of satisfaction finally appeared on Queen Mother of the West's face, and she nodded slightly.

After drinking that sip of wine, Li Xiuyuan quietly took the opportunity of admiring the dance to expel it.

The banquet was gradually reaching its climax.

The fine wine brought by those Mountain Spirits and ghosts seemed to have some mystery to it. After drinking a few cups, the Rising Beingss at the banquet all became flushed and their eyes brightened.

Queen Mother of the West, sitting on the main seat, picked up a cup of wine, slowly drank half of it, then set it down and looked at Li Xiuyuan, her gaze carrying a hint of just the right amount of intoxication.

"You really still won't touch my wine."

She chuckled, her voice neither high nor low, yet it clearly entered Li Xiuyuan's ears amidst the noisy banquet.

"Very well, since you are unwilling to drink the wine at the banquet, then come with me."

She stood up, brushed her sleeves, turned, and walked towards the inconspicuous secret door behind the main seat.

Li Xiuyuan did not hesitate and followed.

Passing through that secret door, there was a quieter short corridor. There were no murals on the walls on either side, only a few lonely bronze lamp stands. The flames flickered slightly in the still air, casting gentle shadows.

At the end of the short corridor was a half-hidden stone door.

Queen Mother of the West pushed the door open, stepped aside, and gestured for Li Xiuyuan to look inside.

Inside was an empty pool.

The pool was not large, about three or four zhang square, its edges built with cyan-white jade, polished extremely smooth. The bottom of the pool was also paved with the same jade, glowing with a gentle luster under the lamplight.

The pool was empty, without a single drop of water.

But the tip of Li Xiuyuan's nose twitched slightly.

He smelled an extremely mellow and deep wine aroma. That fragrance permeated the air, as if it were the essence of countless years, so rich it was almost tangible.

Even though there was no liquid in the pool, that fragrance still lingered, adhering to the stone walls and the surface of the jade, like the lingering rhyme of time.

"This is Yaochi."

Queen Mother of the West's voice came from behind, carrying a hint of faint melancholy.

"The legendary nectar was served from this pool. The immortality medicine that emperors of the mortal world dreamt of also once soaked in this pool water."

She walked forward, stood by the pool, looked down at the empty bottom, and was silent for a moment before continuing, "But now, it has been empty for a long time."

Li Xiuyuan walked to her side and also looked down at the bottom of the pool.

The cyan-white jade reflected their blurry figures; other than that, there was only emptiness.

"After the Spiritual Qi withered, the water in this pool decreased day by day, until it finally dried up completely."

Queen Mother of the West's voice was as light as if she were talking to herself, "Kunlun Mountain is connected to the Heavenly Dao. When the Heavenly Dao declines, Kunlun Mountain also declines. Yaochi has been empty for as many years as the Spiritual Qi has been withered."

Li Xiuyuan's gaze moved from the bottom of the pool to Queen Mother of the West's profile.

Under the pale golden lamplight, an indescribable look appeared on her delicate and gentle face.

Li Xiuyuan suddenly felt a strange sensation ripple through his heart.

It was as if...

His heart twitched violently, and a strong desire to protect surged up, making him want to protect this woman uncontrollably.

But,

This shouldn't be!

Alarm bells rang in Li Xiuyuan's heart.

That surge of protective desire came too abruptly, without any warning.

He had lived two lifetimes, experienced countless life-and-death battles, and his state of mind had long been tempered like a rock. He was not someone who would be shaken by a chance encounter or a few soft words.

This was not normal, and it shouldn't be!

Li Xiuyuan's reason was like a cold blade that instantly cleaved through that untimely emotion.

He realized that the reason he was having such strange feelings was not from his own heart, but was being led by some kind of power.

Just as he mobilized his Spiritual Sense, preparing to completely sever that strange connection, Queen Mother of the West suddenly laughed softly.

The laughter was like a spring breeze brushing over water, or night dew dripping onto flower petals.

She slowly turned her head. Her delicate and gentle face glowed slightly under the lamplight, a faint smile on her lips, and her eyes looked straight at Li Xiuyuan.

"Do you love me?"

This sentence was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples in the lake of Li Xiuyuan's heart.

The voice was not loud, but it seemed to carry a strange magic, penetrating directly through the defense of his Spiritual Sense, echoing repeatedly in the depths of his heart.

Li Xiuyuan's eyes wavered for an instant. Vague images began to appear in his mind: a quiet courtyard, warm tea, and a blurry figure sitting opposite him, smiling.

These were scenes he had never experienced, or even imagined.

Yet those images were incredibly real, as if they were the softest dreams buried deep in his memory.

Li Xiuyuan's heartbeat began to accelerate uncontrollably.

"You love me."

Queen Mother of the West's voice sounded again.

In Li Xiuyuan's Spiritual Sense, that strange emotion was growing crazily.

His body began to lean forward uncontrollably, his arm raised slightly, as if he were really going to make a hugging gesture.

Just as his fingers were about to touch Queen Mother of the West's sleeve, a cold and angry voice exploded in the depths of his Spiritual Sense without warning.

"Bitch!"

The voice was extremely cold, like ice shards bursting from a thousand-year cold pool, carrying undisguised anger and disdain.

The strange emotions that were growing crazily in his Spiritual Sense were instantly torn to shreds the moment that "Bitch" exploded.

The vague images, the warm tea, the smiling figure—everything turned into fragments in that instant and dissipated without a trace.

Li Xiuyuan's eyes suddenly regained clarity.

The familiar calmness and indifference reappeared in his golden vertical pupils, only now, that calmness was mixed with an extremely suppressed anger.

His body reacted in an instant.

The forward-leaning posture stopped abruptly. The slightly raised arm did not go to hug, but instead, in the blink of an eye, he turned his wrist, his five fingers reaching out like iron pincers, accurately gripping Queen Mother of the West's neck.

Queen Mother of the West's pupils contracted slightly, and the smile on her face immediately froze.

Meanwhile,

Thousands of mountains and rivers away.

Phoenix Mountain, in that deep cave.

The golden light of the sacred tree was flickering violently, like a candle flame stirred by a strong wind.

Above the canopy, Qing'er sat on a thick branch, her plain white dress fluttering slightly in the halo. On that beautiful and peerless face, there was only bone-chilling coldness and undisguised anger at this moment.

Her eyes glowed with a pale golden light, her gaze crossing the obstacles of thousands of mountains and rivers, piercing through the layers of palaces behind that golden door, and landing precisely on Queen Mother of the West by the side of Yaochi.

"Shameless old thing."

Her voice rang in Li Xiuyuan's Spiritual Sense again, just as cold as the "Bitch" from before, but carrying even more lingering anger and disdain.

"You've been locked up for so many years and still haven't learned your lesson! Look at the age difference between you and him; you've lived long enough to have given birth to countless descendants, yet you dare to bewitch him here!"

Those words were transmitted to Queen Mother of the West's perception through the Spiritual Sense.

Queen Mother of the West's expression changed extremely obviously in that instant.

The calm and gentle smile on her face disappeared completely, replaced by an undisguised embarrassment and anger, and even those deep eyes narrowed slightly.

"It's you..."

Her voice turned cold, carrying a sense of shame and annoyance after having her past exposed.

"You're actually still alive?!"

Before the words fell, Li Xiuyuan's fingers tightened.

He did not hesitate, nor did he give Queen Mother of the West another chance to speak.

The force in his palm was pushed to the limit in an instant, and his knuckles made a faint crisp sound.

Queen Mother of the West's pupils reflected those golden vertical pupils. Her lips moved slightly, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, she couldn't make a sound.

Then, her body went limp.

As if the skeleton supporting it had been pulled out, that gentle and delicate body collapsed rapidly in Li Xiuyuan's hands, the robes and skin sticking together, shriveling into a piece of soft skin.

In the position where she had originally stood, only a complete human skin remained, hanging quietly between Li Xiuyuan's fingers.

Li Xiuyuan let go.

The human skin fell lightly to the ground, wrinkled slightly by the empty pool, and then there was no more sound.

At the same time, the scenery around began to dissipate rapidly.

Those warm lights, the magnificent palaces, and the stone pillars carved with complex patterns—everything was fading and collapsing at an extremely fast speed.

Li Xiuyuan stood still. He felt the ground under his feet changing, from warm and smooth jade, gradually turning into rough and solid rock.

The mellow wine aroma in the air also dissipated rapidly, replaced by a mountain breeze carrying the scent of soil and stone chips.

A darkness enveloped Li Xiuyuan tightly, and this darkness only lasted for an instant, followed by the sound of faint water droplets.

Li Xiuyuan raised his head, his eyes adapting to the new light environment.

He was standing in a narrow cave, with rough rock walls overhead. A few stalactites hung down from high above, water droplets hanging from their tips, falling one by one into the shallow puddle below, making a crisp echo.

The cave was not large, about two or three zhang, with gray-brown rock walls covered with a thin layer of moss.

There were no magnificent palaces, no empty Yaochi, no Mountain Spirits and ghosts, and no Rising Beingss drinking and making merry.

In his hand, only a piece of human skin remained.

"Qing'er."

Li Xiuyuan tried to call out to Qing'er in his heart.

A response soon came from that direction, the voice still lingering with the coldness from just now, but the tone had calmed down a lot: "I'm here."

"What was that just now?" Li Xiuyuan asked.

"That wasn't the Queen Mother of the West, but the Mountain Spirit of this Kunlun Mountain. It seems it hasn't disappeared either," Qing'er said.

The Mountain Spirit of Kunlun?

Li Xiuyuan was very surprised. This Mountain Spirit seemed quite capable, able to create such a realistic illusion, and even able to bewitch him.

"You seem very familiar with her?" Li Xiuyuan asked.

Qing'er said calmly, "Not very familiar, just acquainted. And this isn't the only Mountain Spirit in Kunlun. The Mountain Spirit of Kunlun Mountain has a volatile temperament, with six types of temperaments in total. The one you encountered is exactly the most promiscuous one."

"Back when the Ancient Heavenly Court hadn't collapsed, this Mountain Spirit often transformed into a beautiful woman or a handsome man, going out to hook up with human Cultivators or the Yao Race, giving birth to many disasters and causing chaos in the human world."

Li Xiuyuan was stunned upon hearing this.

What?

A Mountain Spirit and a living being combining, and they can have children?

Where does the child come from?

Do they pop out of a stone like Sun Wukong?

"They can have children?" Li Xiuyuan was somewhat incredulous.

Qing'er replied, "Yes, they can. It's just that the offspring born are not good things, and they are born vicious, only doing evil and never doing good. Back then, this promiscuous Mountain Spirit gave birth to over twenty descendants, stirring the human world into a mess. In the end, it was a Green Lotus Sword Immortal who wiped them all out, restoring peace to the human world."

After hearing this, Li Xiuyuan couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.

Fortunately, Qing'er woke him up; otherwise, there really would have been a "life" created.

Qing'er comforted him in his heart,

"You don't need to have too many emotions. This promiscuous Mountain Spirit's bewitching methods are very powerful. Even the gods of the Ancient Heavenly Court and the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas who cultivated in the Western Heaven have all fallen victim to its tricks."