29: Chapter 29 I can't sleep, I really can't sleep.

The Side Hall was just as Xiao Nianyin had described, fully equipped with everything one might need, and it could even be called exquisite and comfortable.

The floor was covered with a soft rug, and the furnishings were simple and elegant. There was a large, comfortable bed with silk quilts and gauze curtains, and the air was scented with the same light, soothing incense used in the Main Hall.

Opening the window, one could see a quiet bamboo forest and the hazy shadows of distant mountains.

This should have been a perfect place for a peaceful night's sleep.

But Xu Ruyu lay on the soft bed, his eyes wide open as he stared at the flowing cloud patterns embroidered on the canopy, his body as stiff as a stone.

He couldn't sleep.

He absolutely could not sleep.

It wasn't that the bed was uncomfortable, nor was it the unfamiliar environment—after experiencing something as magical as Transmigration, what was a change of sleeping quarters?

It was that familiar, damned, scorching wicked fire in his body, and it was burning again, damn it!

Xu Ruyu wanted to cry but had no tears.

This was practically a biological clock carved into the depths of his Soul, or perhaps a "curse" brought about by Transmigration.

In his original world, he was a corporate slave with so much excess energy that he needed to manually vent it every night.

Having Transmigrated and gone through a thrilling day, his mind was highly tense and his body exhausted. He thought he would be able to fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, but in the dead of night, as soon as his body relaxed, that "old habit" that had been dormant for less than a day woke up with a vengeance, like a shark smelling blood!

It felt as if a red-hot charcoal stove was tucked into his lower abdomen, and waves of dry, hot Qi were racing uncontrollably through his limbs and bones, making his muscles tense, his heart race, and his mouth go dry.

A certain place was even more spirited and full of fighting intent, propping up his thin pajamas into a conspicuous tent, its presence so strong it made him want to die.

To make matters worse, his brain uncontrollably began to auto-play a "highlight reel"—that hot, soft, delicate body on the large bed in Ningyin Hall last night, those blurred eyes, those melodious moans... and Su Mei's Soul-hooking gaze from today, her sweet scent, and the flickering glimpses of her beauty...

"Stop! Stop it right now!"

Xu Ruyu screamed inwardly, using all his willpower to try and banish those erotic images.

But the more he suppressed them, the clearer those images became, and the more intense his body's reaction grew. He felt like he was about to explode!

He irritably rolled over on the bed, burying his face in the pillow that carried a crisp, cold fragrance, trying to use his Revered Master's scent to calm himself down.

But this scent only triggered more specific memories of last night, making his throat go dry and his breathing heavier.

No! Absolutely not!

Xu Ruyu sat up abruptly, a layer of fine sweat already covering his forehead.

He looked despairingly at his spirited "little brother," then glanced in terror at the carved wooden door separating the Side Hall from the Main Hall.

Revered Master is right next door!

Even though there was a door between them, and even though Revered Master might already be in meditation or asleep, she was a Saint Realm Expert!

Don't all novels say that high-level Cultivators have powerful Divine Sense and know every little movement for miles around? If any "unusual activity" happened on his side, and Revered Master swept her thoughts over, wouldn't she see everything clearly and plainly?

The thought that his secretive actions might be a "live broadcast" for his cold, ethereal, and infinitely majestic Revered Master next door filled Xu Ruyu with a suffocating sense of shame and fear, causing the wicked fire to retreat slightly.

Furthermore... they now had the status of Revered Master and Disciple!

Although they had shared skin-to-skin intimacy, that was an accident, a mistake!

Now she was the Revered Master, and he was the Disciple!

How could he do such filthy and low things in his Revered Master's palace, just a wall away from her?!

This was practically betraying one's Revered Master and ancestors, a truly rebellious act!

Xu Ruyu clutched his head in agony and threw himself back onto the bed, tossing and turning among the silk quilts like a fish out of water.

The wicked fire inside him burned hotter and hotter, but the string of his reason grew tighter and tighter. He didn't dare move, didn't even dare breathe deeply, and could only lie there stiffly, silently enduring this sweet yet agonizing torment.

"God... just kill me..."

He wailed in his heart.

Inside the Main Hall, upon the Cloud Bed.

Xiao Nianyin was also not asleep.

She maintained a meditative posture with her eyes slightly closed, but she was not actually Cultivating—having lost her entire cultivation, she could hardly even maintain the most basic Qi circulation.

She was simply closing her eyes, trying to clear her thoughts and let the fatigue and emotional fluctuations of this chaotic day settle down.

However, it was difficult.

Ever since last night, she found that her state of mind seemed to have quietly developed a small crack.

Her heart, which for hundreds of years had been as still as an ancient well, focused only on Cultivation and Sect affairs, had been disturbed by a pebble named "Xu Ruyu," and the ripples had yet to subside.

At this moment, that pebble was in the Side Hall, just a wall away.

Ningyin Hall was her private Domain where she had lived alone for hundreds of years. Aside from her maid, Qingzhu, no outsider—especially no man—had ever set foot here.

Every brick, tile, and object here was saturated with her aura; it was her safest and most secret fortress.

But tonight, she had personally allowed a man to stay.

In name, he was her Personal Disciple, and staying in the Side Hall for ease of instruction was perfectly reasonable.

But Xiao Nianyin couldn't lie to herself.

This man was Xu Ruyu. He was the man who had shared skin-to-skin intimacy with her in an accident, and who might have even... taken away her cultivation.

Those images of burning entanglement, those moments of losing control, and those strange, trembling, and shameful sensations of pleasure were like stubborn phantoms that quietly surfaced whenever she tried to quiet her mind, so clear they made her heart quiver.

She could almost still feel his strong arms, his burning body temperature...

"Whew..."

Xiao Nianyin let out a long breath, but her breathing was not steady.

She opened her eyes. Her beautiful eyes appeared exceptionally bright in the dim hall, but they also held a rare hint of irritation.

She stood up and, with bare feet on the cold floor, walked to the window.

The night breeze was slightly cool, blowing against her thin pajamas, but it couldn't blow away the strange restlessness and... sense of emptiness in her heart.

She looked at the heavy darkness outside the window, but her mind involuntarily drifted toward the Side Hall.

What was he doing? Was he asleep? Did Su Mei's charm techniques have any effect on him? That power inside him...

Thinking of that Saint Realm Power that likely belonged to her, Xiao Nianyin's gaze became profound.

The loss of her cultivation was her greatest crisis and shame at the moment.

And the only clue and hope for recovering her cultivation seemed to lie with Xu Ruyu.

That strange energy transfer last night showed that an unspeakable connection had already been established between them.

If she wanted to get her power back, or even find a way to control and transform that power, she was afraid she... couldn't avoid further... contact with Xu Ruyu?

This thought made Xiao Nianyin's ears turn slightly hot, but it was more of a calculated weighing of options.

She was Xiao Nianyin, the Sect Master of Hehuan Sect. The Hehuan Sect was famous throughout the world for its Dual Cultivation secret methods. As the Sect Master, seeking a Dao Companion or a Cauldron to aid her Cultivation was perfectly natural, and no one could criticize her for it.

Previously, she had been too proud and disdained such things.

Now, forced by circumstances, in order to recover her cultivation and stabilize the Sect, she had to use certain means.

As for Xu Ruyu... he was her Disciple and currently the only person who could carry her power.

With him... she could try to recover her cultivation, bind him more firmly to her, and also... block the covetous eyes of those with ulterior motives like Su Mei.

It would achieve multiple goals at once.

Xiao Nianyin slowly turned and walked back to the inner chamber.

She stopped for a moment in front of a magnificent carved cabinet and reached out to open an inconspicuous hidden compartment at the bottom.

Inside, there were no Secret Manuals or Magic Treasures; there was only a palm-sized white jade bottle lying quietly, its surface smooth and without any markings.

This was left to her many years ago by her Master, who was equally brilliant but had fallen early.

Her Master had once said that this was a "mood-enhancing" item left by a certain Senior of the Hehuan Sect. Its medicinal properties were mild yet extremely effective, and it might be useful at a critical moment.

She hadn't thought much of it at the time, feeling she would never use such a thing in her life, so she had put it away and almost forgotten it.

She hadn't expected...

Xiao Nianyin picked up the jade bottle; it felt slightly cool to the touch.

She pulled out the stopper. Inside were a few crystal-clear pink pills that emitted a faint, sweet fragrance.

She poured one into her palm and stared at the small Medicinal Pill. Her beautiful face showed shifting emotions—struggle, shame, and finally, a cold determination.

"I... I only want to take back the cultivation that belongs to me and stabilize the Sect."

She whispered to herself, as if trying to convince herself. "As for everything else... it is merely an expedient measure, a necessary means."

She gripped the pill tightly, feeling the cool sensation in her palm, and the corners of her lips curled into a very faint, self-mocking, and helpless arc.

"Hundreds of years of being pure as ice and clean as jade... Hmph, I suppose I'm letting you off cheap, kid."

Her gaze turned slightly cold as she added another sentence, as if making a vow to herself, or perhaps warning the person who wasn't there:

"Once I get my cultivation back, hmph..."

She didn't finish the sentence, but a complex cold light flashed in her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Nianyin carefully put the jade bottle away, leaving only that one pink pill in her palm.

She didn't swallow it immediately. Instead, she went to the dressing table, picked up a thin, plain white gauze robe, and draped it over her already thin pajamas.

The gauze was hazy and failed to hide anything; instead, under the glow of the Night-Luminescent Pearls, it further accentuated her graceful figure and flickering curves, adding an infinite amount of seductive charm.

This was a common style of sleepwear in the Hehuan Sect, but she had never worn it before.

Having done all this, she looked at the version of herself in the mirror who was completely different from usual—her brows and the corners of her eyes seemed touched by a faint, vibrant color. She was stunned for a moment, then quickly looked away, not daring to look further.

She gripped the pill in her palm, turned, and with bare feet on the cool floor, walked silently toward the Side Hall.

In the silent palace, her heartbeat seemed to have lost its usual steady rhythm.

The night was still long.

The door to the Side Hall was right before her eyes.