145: Chapter 145 Detoxification

The next day.

The sunlight, like a thief, stealthily slipped through the cracks in the wooden walls of the dilapidated house.

It fell squarely on Chen Zilong's face, carrying a bit of warmth, but more of a stubborn persistence that disturbed his peaceful dreams.

His eyelids flickered, and he subconsciously tried to dodge the brightness, opening his eyes in a daze.

His vision was blurry at first, then slowly came into focus.

Above him were dark, cobwebbed beams, with a few strands of straw hanging precariously, swaying gently in a breeze from somewhere unknown.

The scent of old wood and faint dust entered his nostrils.

But beneath that, there was a clearer, more enticing fragrance—gardenia, its sweet freshness tinged with a hint of creamy richness, lingering faintly at the tip of his nose.

He moved slightly and immediately felt something was wrong.

His arms felt heavy and soft, pressed against a body that felt like warm, fragrant jade.

The skin was as exquisite as the finest mutton-fat jade, smooth and cool to the touch.

And what about himself?

He was stark naked, with only a thin, semi-old white quilt haphazardly draped over his waist, covering the crucial areas while suggestively outlining the curves pressed beneath it.

Chen Zilong's heart skipped a beat, and he whipped his head around.

A beautiful face, capable of eclipsing the moon and shaming the flowers, was inches away. It was Jin Mei.

She was sound asleep, her breathing steady and long. Her cheeks still bore a flush that hadn't fully faded after intense exertion, like white jade dyed by the sunset, exuding a breathtaking charm.

A few strands of sweat-dampened hair clung to her smooth forehead and cheeks, adding a touch of languor and fragility.

Chen Zilong's brow instinctively knitted into a knot.

Fragments of chaotic memories began to assault his mind—

The heart-wrenching pain when the soul-eroding powder flared up, the coldness and despair as his internal organs felt seized and corroded by invisible hands...

Wait!

The soul-eroding powder?!

Startled, he immediately turned his awareness inward to his dantian.

What he saw shook his heart even more.

The soul-eroding curse that had been perched upon his Nascent Soul like a maggot on a bone, constantly devouring his life and spiritual power, was now...

Completely gone!

His spiritual power flowed abundantly within his dantian.

Though it was still a bit unstable due to previous depletion,

the fatal shadow had truly vanished without a trace!

How was this possible?

He checked again in disbelief, but the result remained the same.

His wild joy lasted only a moment before his gaze fell back upon Jin Mei's face in his arms.

Looking closely, he realized something.

Beneath her flushed complexion, there was a faint, abnormal pallor.

It was a sign of severe depletion of her vital essence. Even her lips, usually as lush as dripping nectar, had lost their color and were slightly chapped.

Jin Mei...

A female disciple of the Hehuan Sect...

A thought exploded in his mind like a clap of thunder.

During his earlier travels, he had heard that the Hehuan Sect possessed extremely profound and mysterious Dual Cultivation techniques.

One of them was said to be able to bring the dying back to life, but it could only be performed once in a lifetime for a single person.

It was said to require a virgin's Primordial Yin as a catalyst, following the path of Yin-Yang harmony to repair injuries.

But...

This didn't make sense.

Chen Zilong calculated rapidly. He was at the Nascent Soul Stage, and he had been afflicted by a poison as rare and potent as the soul-eroding powder.

Jin Mei was only at the Early Golden Core Stage. Even if she used such a secret technique, she likely wouldn't have been able to completely clear the toxicity of the soul-eroding powder; at most, she could have barely suppressed it.

This...

The math didn't add up.

Just as his mind was in a mess and he was utterly perplexed, a cold female voice with a hint of inexplicable raspiness drifted over from the doorway of the broken house.

“Junior Brother Zilong, you're awake.”

Chen Zilong looked up at the sound, and his heart constricted violently again.

The newcomer was Lu Bingyun, dressed in plain white robes.

She still stood straight, like a proud winter plum blossom in the wind and snow, but...

But the Senior Sister Lu before him had a subtle yet massive difference from the image in his memory of someone forever cold, self-contained, and stern.

Her cheeks actually bore the same post-coital flush as Jin Mei's.

That blush spread from her cheeks all the way to her ears, making her usually pale skin exude a vivid, alluring radiance.

What was even more glaring was that her collar, which she always kept meticulously tidy, was now somewhat disheveled. It was slightly open, revealing a section of her elegant, snow-white neck.

And on that neck, ambiguous rose-red marks, like plum blossom petals fallen on snow, were clearly imprinted on her skin, making Chen Zilong's eyes sting.

In an instant, all the clues—Jin Mei's abnormality, Senior Sister Lu's current state, and the disappearance of the lethal poison in his body—were linked together.

An absurd yet only logical possibility, one he hadn't dared to even imagine before, instantly submerged him like a cold tide.

Could it be...

Last night, it wasn't just Jin Mei alone...

Senior Sister Lu also...

The massive shock made his throat tighten, and he opened his mouth.

A thousand words were blocked in his chest, but he couldn't utter a single one. Ultimately, it only turned into a dry and raspy:

“Senior Sister Lu, I...”

Lu Bingyun did not let him continue.

She slowly stepped forward and knelt down in front of him.

This movement brought that scent—a mixture of a woman's body fragrance and the unique aura after passion—even more clearly to him.

She extended a slender jade finger and gently pressed it against Chen Zilong's lips.

Her fingertip held a hint of coolness, yet the touch was exceptionally soft.

Her gaze was complex and hard to read, containing resolve and a trace of imperceptible bashfulness.

But more than that, it was a calm, unquestionable frankness.

She interrupted him, her voice very soft but every word clear, striking Chen Zilong's heart:

“You need not mind, much less feel indebted. Everything... was of my own free will.”

She paused, her gaze drifting slightly away to a spiderweb in the corner, her voice even lower. “To me, you being alive is more important than anything.”

Chen Zilong felt a sting in his nose, his chest filled with a burning and sour emotion.

He looked at Lu Bingyun.

This Senior Sister whom he had once looked up to, revered, and even held a bit of youthful admiration for.

To save him, she had actually made such a...

Such a sacrifice.

A thousand words finally turned into two incredibly heavy words, squeezed with difficulty from between his teeth:

“Thank... thank you.”

His voice was terribly dry and hoarse.

Lu Bingyun said no more, simply withdrawing her finger and looking at him quietly.

The broken house fell into a strange silence, broken only by the occasional bird chirping outside and the pillars of light where dust danced silently in the sun.

The two of them just looked at each other like that. The air was thick with awkwardness, gratitude, a certain indefinable sentiment, and the daze of having survived a disaster.

This silence lasted for a long time, until Jin Mei in Chen Zilong's arms let out a soft moan. Her long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and she also slowly opened her eyes.

The initial confusion of waking up lasted only a brief moment.

When she realized that both she and Chen Zilong were completely naked, snuggled together skin-to-skin, her beautiful face turned red in an instant, even her small earlobes turning pink.

She gave a low cry of alarm and scrambled to pull the quilt around herself.

Her eyes darted away, not daring to look at Chen Zilong at all.

That shy and timid demeanor of a young girl was completely different from the flirtatious impression Hehuan Sect disciples usually gave.

Chen Zilong took a deep breath. The scent in the air, a mix of gardenia and the special aura of passion, made his heart even more flustered.

He sat up somewhat stiffly and began to silently pick up his clothes scattered on the floor, putting them on one by one.

The fabric rubbed against his skin, making rustling sounds that were exceptionally clear in the quiet room.

He tied his belt and turned toward Jin Mei, who was still huddled under the quilt, his tone solemn and filled with heartfelt gratitude:

“Junior Sister Jin Mei, thank you for saving my life.”

These words were meant for her, but also for Lu Bingyun beside them.

Hearing him speak, Jin Mei's body trembled slightly. She quickly stole a glance at him, then lowered her head again, giving a soft "mm" in response, her voice as quiet as a mosquito.

Then, with a red face, she turned her back and began to dress herself with rustling movements.

Once the three of them had straightened their clothes, although the atmosphere was still awkward, they could at least manage a normal conversation.

They sat around a dusty wooden table in the center of the broken house and began to exchange the information they had.

Ye Xishui had died after being possessed by Su Yan.

Su Hao had actually been an undercover agent in the Xuantian Sect all along; he was the true Sect Master of the Tianji Sect.

Wei Guodong was killed by a backstab from the possessed Ye Xishui the moment the Three Talents Demon Suppression Array was set up.

Chen Zilong remained expressionless, merely closing his eyes in silence.

Lu Bingyun's hands on her knees suddenly clenched tight, her lips pursed firmly.

Jin Mei even covered her mouth, her eyes instantly filling with tears.

And Jin Mei and Lu Bingyun also brought even more alarming news:

Tu Shan Xiaoxiao had been abducted by a suddenly appearing masked man.

That person's cultivation was extremely high, and his movement techniques were eerie; they hadn't even been able to put up an effective resistance.

“It's Su Hao.”

Chen Zilong said the name through gritted teeth. “That masked man is undoubtedly Su Hao.”

“He lurked in the Xuantian Sect for years, and we were all fooled by him... He is the true Sect Master of the Tianji Sect!”

All the clues finally fit together, revealing the hideous truth behind it all.

Su Hao, the usually gentle and approachable personal disciple of the Sect Leader, was actually the mastermind behind all these calamities!

He had played all the various sects like puppets, completed the Yin-Yang Reversal Five Elements Formation, and now he had abducted Tu Shan Xiaoxiao...

The atmosphere in the broken house instantly dropped to freezing point, the previous awkwardness and intimacy replaced by a pressure as heavy as a mountain.

The air seemed filled with invisible gunpowder smoke, and the sunlight streaming through the window seemed to lose its warmth, turning cold and sharp.

The three of them looked at each other, each seeing solemnity, anger, and a trace of resolve in the others' eyes.

They knew clearly that what they were about to face would be a severe challenge.

The road ahead was strewn with thorns, and the enemy was powerful and cunning.

They had lost important companions, and their own vital essence had not yet recovered.

But some things had to be done.

Chen Zilong slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping across Lu Bingyun's resolute profile and Jin Mei's eyes, which still bore tear tracks but also burned with fire. He said in a deep voice:

“We have no time for sorrow or hesitation. We must formulate a plan as quickly as possible to rescue Tu Shan Xiaoxiao, and then... find Su Hao, find the Tianji Sect, and settle all of this!”

His voice echoed in the dilapidated little house, carrying a determination that spoke of burning one's bridges...

...