Chapter Fifty-Five: Retreating into One’s Shell

If he didn’t let his eyes feast upon this sight, Gao Yao thought, he would hardly be true to his beastly nature. He’d wrestled with the thought for a long time in his heart. Since the delicate lady was about to be claimed by Jiang Pingchuan, he reasoned, what harm could there be in simply opening his eyes and taking a look?

Gao Yao slowly loosened his eyelids. At that moment, the lady atop him had already produced his upright little brother, grasping it firmly in her small hand. Gao Yao shuddered, squinting open his eyes, seeing through the myriad things in a single glance. Yet with just one look at his proud pillar, he instantly wilted, collapsing limp upon his belly.

As he drifted into unconsciousness, he heard the lady’s angry voice. Gao Yao fainted on the bed, and the lady atop him pressed her snarling face tightly against his, sniffing him deeply.

The creature straddling Gao Yao was no peerless beauty—it was a black woman, her face pitted and scarred, barely recognizable as human. It looked as though it had been scorched by fire; her lips were burnt away, exposing two rows of sharp, white teeth.

Her head was bald, blood-red eyes rolled outward, and her burned skin hung in patches, crumbling away whenever she moved. The lady glared angrily at the unconscious Gao Yao, her eyes full of grievance as she stared at his limp little member, her fury mounting.

Her smooth fingertips squeezed out long nails, aiming to claw at Gao Yao’s throat. Her proud chest, lowered by her posture, had even lost a chunk.

“Pfft…”

Just as her hand was about to seize Gao Yao, laughter echoed from the dim room—Jiang Pingchuan could no longer hold it in. At first, he’d felt embarrassed watching, but seeing Gao Yao’s reaction and the lady’s half-missing bosom, he simply couldn’t contain himself.

With a burst of laughter, which only served to infuriate the lady further, Jiang Pingchuan stepped out of the shadows, looking at the furious lady astride Gao Yao. He awkwardly cupped his hands in greeting. The lady was angry, but upon seeing Jiang Pingchuan’s face, her eyes shifted from rage to boundless desire. She licked her tongue and cast him a flirtatious glance.

“Ahem, Auntie, please, don’t do this—Pingchuan is still a child.”

Jiang Pingchuan made a vomiting gesture and waved his hand, indicating he could barely stand it. The lady’s eyes changed again, and she lunged at Jiang Pingchuan.

Jiang Pingchuan’s brows furrowed, and he strode forward, delivering a palm strike to the lady’s chest. He thought he’d feel embarrassed, but upon touching her wounded bosom, he felt nothing at all; the fire had long since left it half-cooked, crumbling beneath his touch.

“Boom... sputter...”

The lady was sent flying by Jiang Pingchuan’s blow, crashing hard against the wall. Leaning against it, she spat blood—or so Jiang Pingchuan thought, until he saw that what she expelled was a thick, white, foul-smelling liquid. He instinctively stepped back.

He found the lady stroking the charred remains of her chest, sticking out her tongue to lick her toothless gums, a wave of seductive energy radiating from her. Jiang Pingchuan shut his eyes and struck again, but this time the lady did not dodge, and his palm landed squarely on her heart.

“Hehehehe, comfortable, comfortable... It’s been so long since I met such a violent young man. Now I can die happily.”

The lady gently caressed Jiang Pingchuan’s face. He gazed into her eyes, unable to reject her touch, standing still as she placed her hand upon him.

The moment Jiang Pingchuan’s blow landed, the charred creature vanished, replaced by a woman in a dress of red gauze. Her crimson lips parted and closed alluringly, her eyes beneath willow brows full of enchantment. Everything beneath that gauze was tantalizingly veiled.

The scorched odor was gone, replaced by a fragrance that intoxicated the soul. Her smile left its imprint not in Jiang Pingchuan’s eyes, but in his mind.

Jiang Pingchuan shook his head, looking at the lady leaning against the wall. He tried to speak, but she raised her hand before his mouth and shook her head.

“You cannot kill me. Those with desire will always summon me. But seeing you, I feel that if in this life I could be summoned by you just once, I would gladly die. Hehehe…”

She looked at Jiang Pingchuan with both charm and sorrow, her voice mournful. As she spoke, points of light began to appear where Jiang Pingchuan had struck her, soon covering her entire body.

Scarlet specks of light danced away, disappearing before Jiang Pingchuan’s eyes. He drew back his hand, staring at his palm, where faint red light flickered. He did not understand what had just happened, for the scriptures that spoke of the Lady of Desire never mentioned such phenomena.

There had been many such ladies throughout history, but the woman had just told Jiang Pingchuan she could not be killed. He felt that the ghosts and spirits appearing around him were gradually surpassing what the scriptures described, as if some mysterious force was hinting at something.

“Mr. Pingchuan, is the lady dead?”

Horseface, hearing the silence inside, pushed open the door and entered. Seeing Jiang Pingchuan standing dazedly, he walked over and asked softly. Jiang Pingchuan nodded, then shook his head.

“She’s gone. She won’t return.”

Jiang Pingchuan went to the bed, gently opened the window, and looked out at the starry night sky. Perhaps some of those stars were people he knew, just as the ancestor Hongwu once told Jiang Pingchuan.

The dead, depending on their cultivation in life, could be invited to the divine realm and transformed into stars that adorned the endless night. Surely, among them were people he knew.

Jiang Pingchuan turned and looked at Horseface, whose eyes flickered with complexity. Jiang Pingchuan knew he could fool others, but not Horseface.

Those eyes could see departed souls; he saw no sign of the lady’s death, proving she was not truly gone. Jiang Pingchuan ignored Horseface, went to the bed, and patted Gao Yao’s face.

Horseface turned to look at Jiang Pingchuan’s back. He could not fathom Jiang Pingchuan, but he trusted the man’s word: if Jiang Pingchuan said the lady would not return, then she would not. He had no idea what transpired between Jiang Pingchuan and the lady, but none of it concerned him. He cared only for the outcome, and this result was one he could accept, so he would not pursue the matter further.

Gao Yao, eyes closed, moaned and slowly opened them. Seeing Jiang Pingchuan smiling at him, he sat up, carefully scanning the room. Finding nothing of what he feared, he finally relaxed, leaning back and letting out a long sigh.

“How are you? Are you alright?” Jiang Pingchuan asked, his gaze uneasy, feeling guilty for not warning Gao Yao about tonight’s encounter. Seeing Gao Yao’s pale face, he was suddenly remorseful.

“Alright? Alright my foot, Pingchuan! Not to blame you, but you really screwed me. This wasn’t pleasure—it was risking my life against a ghost!”

Gao Yao shot Jiang Pingchuan a glare, grumbling. Jiang Pingchuan coughed dryly, patting Gao Yao’s shoulder. Horseface chuckled quietly.

Gao Yao looked at Horseface, swallowing nervously, eyes full of fear. His gaze made Horseface’s skin crawl, his face stiffening as chills ran down his back.

“Hahaha, coward! More cowardly than me!”

Gao Yao laughed at Horseface’s tense expression. Jiang Pingchuan glanced at Horseface, whose face flushed slightly. Despite years dealing with such things, Horseface still hadn’t adapted—he’d been fooled by Gao Yao’s look. Had he considered Gao Yao’s cowardice, he’d have realized that if Gao Yao had really seen something, he’d have fled and left them behind long ago.

“You dare call me cowardly? Who was it that turned limp at a single glance from her? I thought she’d bitten it off, but turns out you just shrank away.”

Horseface glanced at Gao Yao’s exposed little fellow and curled his lip. Gao Yao hurriedly covered himself, his face full of sorrow.

There was nothing left of his resolve now.

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