493: Chapter 493 Night Visit to Yingxian

The backyard featured an open-air hot spring, separated into left and right pools, enclosed by a bamboo fence. A cobblestone path lay between the two pools.

Wisps of steam rose, curling like gauze in the moonlight. Several blue stones were scattered artfully along the edge, polished smooth and warm by the spring water. Petals floated on the surface, and the moonlight, filtering through the gaps in the bamboo fence, shattered into shimmering silver light.

Sect Master An Suxin undressed and entered the water first. Her deep-green gown slid off her full shoulders and back. As she leaned forward slightly, the moonlight flowed along her voluptuous curves.

With a full chest, a slender waist, and hips that appeared and disappeared beneath the water, she resembled a ripe fruit, exuding a warm and languid aura. She slid slowly into the left hot spring, causing ripples to spread across the surface, while petals brushed against her collarbone.

An Ruosu was much more reserved. She untied the sash of her pale green gradient dress and removed the thin green gauze, revealing her slender, fair body.

Her collarbone was deeply defined, her chest small and perky, her waist slender enough to be encircled by one's hands, and her legs straight and long, possessing a delicate beauty like a willow in the wind.

She slid slowly into the right pool, the steam blurring her silhouette. The mother and daughter sat facing each other across the cobblestone path.

The heat wrapped the Five Spirits Divine Water into her Meridians. An Ruosu frowned slightly:

"Mother, the effect of this Five Spirits Divine Water... doesn't seem as obvious as before."

Sect Master An Suxin sighed softly: "With your Physique, external forces are ultimately limited. Helping you reach the Earth-grade Spiritual Root is already the limit of this divine water."

An Ruosu suddenly remembered something and took a cup-shaped Magic Treasure from her Storage Pouch; it was the water from the Chaos Azure Lotus Pool that Ling Hao had given her during the day.

"Mother, this is what Senior gave me. He said it can improve the quality of one's Spiritual Root."

Sect Master An Suxin took the cup and removed the lid. The moment the steam surged out, her expression changed slightly.

She was both familiar and unfamiliar with the pure, spiritual aura of this pool water.

An Ruosu poured the pool water into the hot spring. The pale green medicinal liquid was instantly covered by an extremely pure and spiritual aura, the water surface shimmering with a Chaos luster, and faint phantoms of green lotuses blooming within the mist.

An Ruosu closed her eyes and circulated her Spiritual Qi. An unprecedented power surged into her Spiritual Root.

It carried vitality within its dominance, as if reshaping her Foundation. Her circulation of Spiritual Qi noticeably accelerated, and her long-obstructed Meridians loosened slightly. She opened her eyes in surprise: "Mother, this is much stronger than the Five Spirits Divine Water!"

Under the moonlight, the steam was thick.

Seeing her daughter's surprised expression, a rare, gentle smile appeared on Sect Master An Suxin's face. She stood up, walked onto the cobblestone path, and sat down beside her daughter. Her voluptuous figure was half-hidden in the steam, and water droplets rolled down her full chest, glistening with faint light under the moonlight.

She reached out with long, slender fingers, gently lifting her daughter's wet hair. A jade comb, dipped in the pool water, carefully combed the ends of her hair.

An Ruosu lay on the blue stone by the pool, her mother's warm fingertips sliding from her nape to her shoulder blades, bringing a tingling warmth—this action reminded her of her childhood. Her cheeks were flushed, whether from the steam or shyness.

She asked softly: "Mother, would you like to come down too?"

Sect Master An Suxin shook her head with a smile: "I will leave it for you; Mother has no use for it."

An Ruosu felt a pang in her heart, knowing what her mother meant. If one's cultivation is crippled, even the best Heaven And Earth Treasure is useless.

Sect Master An Suxin's hand pressed gently on her shoulder, her gentle face moving under the moonlight. She said in a low voice:

"Ruosu, the thing I regret most in this life is you."

An Ruosu shook her head, burying her face in her arms to hide her reddened eyes from her mother.

After bathing, the mother and daughter returned to the stone table in the courtyard. The moonlight was cold, the bamboo shadows swayed, and a few new leaves had fallen onto the guqin.

Sect Master An Suxin sat on the stone stool, her expression much more relaxed than before. She began:

"Ruosu, you asked me about that portrait earlier... The person in the painting is indeed the Moon Shadow Sect Master."

She raised her hand and wiped her Storage Ring. A painting scroll over a zhang high unfolded, spreading out on the bamboo rack beside the stone table.

The man in the painting was dressed in green, standing on a cliff with his hands behind his back. His brows were clear, the corners of his lips slightly raised, appearing even more transcendent than the real person.

The brushstrokes were extremely fine and realistic, the folds of his clothes lifelike, his brows and eyes vivid, as if he were about to step out of the painting at any moment.

The style was completely different from the freehand ink wash painting customary in Fusang Province; it used extremely fine lines to outline the layers of light and shadow, nearly approaching "reflecting shadows with a brush."

An Ruosu stared blankly at the scroll, whispering:

"It's really like him... Senior looks as if he is standing right in front of me. Mother, is this a new painting style you created?"

She had known since childhood that her mother was a skilled painter, but she had never seen such a technique.

Sect Master An Suxin shook her head:

"This is a realistic painting technique passed down from Cangwu, and it was only after receiving guidance from a good friend that I was able to create this painting. I was also quite surprised when I first saw this style."

"Oh, right,"

An Ruosu suddenly came to her senses, her face full of curiosity,

"Mother, why do you have a portrait of Senior? Could it be that you and Senior have met... No, Mother, are you secretly in love..."

Sect Master An Suxin flicked her forehead:

"Don't overthink it, it's not what you think."

"Oh."

An Ruosu touched her forehead, but inexplicably let out a sigh of relief.

Sect Master An Suxin looked at the bright moon in the sky and slowly spoke of another matter:

"A year ago, Mother went to the Southern Fire Sea to look for a Heaven And Earth Treasure to improve your Spiritual Root..."

The moonlight flowed, and the past unfolded slowly in her gentle narration.

Under the same moon, in the bamboo courtyard of Suxin Peak, Ling Hao stood on the edge of the cliff with his hands behind his back, looking at the brightly lit Yingxian Peak in the distance. The spirit boat of the Golden Crow Saintess was docked on the platform at the peak, its crimson gold radiance exceptionally striking in the night.

Yu Lingshuang walked to his side carrying a pot of spiritual tea: "Sect Master doesn't sleep in the middle of the night—are you looking at the scenery, or at a person?"

Ling Hao didn't turn his head. Looking at the bright moon in the sky, he suddenly whispered:

"The moon is the moon in the sky, and the person is the person before me. No matter how beautiful the moonlight is, it cannot compare to the one beside me."

Yu Lingshuang was slightly startled, then chided:

"Smooth talker!"

But the smile that rippled across her pretty face could not be hidden.

Ling Hao coughed lightly, his expression returning to seriousness:

"The Golden Crow Holy Land is our mortal enemy; the Golden Crow Saintess cannot have appeared here for no reason. Tonight, I intend to visit the enemy camp at night, take a trip to Yingxian Peak, and see what conspiracy that Saintess has come here for."

Yu Lingshuang rolled her eyes and drew out her tone: "Yes, yes, yes—"

Finding such a high-sounding excuse. She tilted her head and shouted into the bamboo house:

"Yue Xinlan, are you coming?"

Yue Xinlan's voice drifted out from the bamboo house,

"Not going!"

Ling Hao shrugged: "If you're not going, then you're not going."

In the moonlight, his figure disappeared silently from the cliff edge.

After Ling Hao's figure disappeared, Yue Xinlan pushed the door and walked out, her snow-white bare feet hanging lightly on the cool bamboo steps. She looked in the direction of Yingxian Peak and said faintly:

"Are you going?"

Yu Lingshuang smiled slightly, a hint of interest flashing in the depths of her eyes:

"Going, why not? I have seen that Golden Crow Saintess, she is indeed not bad. I just want to see if Sect Master will take action immediately this time."

The two figures, one big and one small, then merged into the moonlight and quietly headed towards Yingxian Peak.