Xu Ziqing was startled and immediately activated the Wood-Escape Aura-Concealment Art, pulling Yun Lie with him as they vanished into the spacious stone chamber.
Yun Lie reacted even faster. Although he had been filled with killing intent toward the Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox a moment earlier, he immediately suppressed it until it was easy for his junior brother to conceal him.
The two martial brothers then became aware that someone really was entering.
A rapid series of footsteps sounded outside. Someone was approaching at a brisk pace. His steps were remarkably even, yet carried an undertone of eagerness and excitement. His aura was powerful, certainly above the seventh rank.
This discovery made Xu Ziqing all the more cautious.
Before long, the newcomer appeared.
A figure swept inside like the wind and rushed straight to the bedside, throwing himself onto the Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox. He exclaimed repeatedly, “My darling, I’ve missed you to death!”
Before the words had faded, he slipped his hands beneath the Fox King’s clothes and began touching him eagerly.
The Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox seemed accustomed to such treatment. He turned slightly and hooked a pale leg around the newcomer’s waist.
The newcomer grew more impatient still. He tugged down his trousers, lifted the hem of his robe, and, unable even to wait to undress fully, pressed the fox forcefully into his arms and began taking him. A satisfied breath escaped him as he moved.
Their bodies met with repeated smack, smack, smack sounds as they tangled together on the bed. A faint flush spread across the Fox King’s skin, and the room quickly filled with the scent of their intimacy.
From King Panshan’s arrival to their ending up in bed, barely an instant had passed. The spectacle left Xu Ziqing utterly dumbfounded, staring without knowing how to react.
Their movements remained intense. The Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox’s voice had grown husky with passion, yet his cries were extraordinarily seductive. His face was flushed and his eyes languorous, giving him an allure that seemed capable of captivating anyone who heard him.
Their passion filled the entire chamber with an intimate atmosphere. A fragrance like orchids and musk seemed to flow through the air, making the room feel unbearably charged.
Xu Ziqing had failed to avert his eyes in time and saw everything.
He had witnessed a scene like this once before in the Kingdom of Chenghuang, but then a wall had separated him from the participants. Here everything was laid bare before his eyes, leaving him startled and embarrassed.
Besides… back then, “Brother Yun” had been a close friend, with only a fragment of his heavenly soul hidden in a storage ring.
Now his senior brother was the man he secretly loved. Not only were their hands clasped, but Yun Lie stood right beside him, impossibly close. Xu Ziqing was a young man, after all, not a piece of grass or wood devoid of desire. How could he witness such an intimate scene without being affected?
His own body began to react awkwardly before he realized it.
The hand he held was firm and finely boned, Yun Lie’s palm as dry as ever, but now Xu Ziqing was more keenly conscious of its touch. His senior brother’s aura was equally familiar. At this moment Xu Ziqing had wrapped him in true essence, blending their auras together, which made the sensation even harder to describe.
Even more embarrassing, though he turned his gaze aside and refused to watch the two on the bed, the Fox King’s alluring cries still entered his ears and circled endlessly through his mind.
An increasingly unbearable sensation arose where his palm met his senior brother’s and gradually turned into a current of heat that traveled toward a place he could hardly name…
Unconsciously, a fine sweat formed upon his back and his heart grew hot.
Though thoroughly ashamed, all he could do was blush and stand there, not knowing what to do.
This was… so difficult to suppress.
Just as his thoughts grew muddled, a cold voice suddenly sounded within his sea of consciousness.
“Ziqing.”
Like cold water pouring over his head, it cleared Xu Ziqing’s mind in an instant, and the heat filling his body melted away like ice and snow.
That was Senior Brother’s voice!
Cold sweat ran down Xu Ziqing’s skin. Only now did he realize how damp his palms had become, leaving their clasped hands moist and slightly sticky.
For an instant he panicked again.
Had Senior Brother… had Senior Brother discovered his secret feelings?
Then Xu Ziqing quickly drew a deep breath and forced himself to face the situation openly.
The abnormal reaction in his body had already passed. As for his senior brother… If Yun Lie had noticed, he would simply admit it.
Only after deciding this did he summon the courage to raise his eyes to Yun Lie.
“Senior Brother?”
Yun Lie looked down at him. “Steady your mind and calm your qi.” Nothing in his expression was unusual. “You’ve fallen under a seduction art.”
Xu Ziqing did not know whether to laugh or cry.
His senior brother had evidently noticed his earlier disgrace, but assumed it had arisen from the seductive aura released by the Fox King during his intimacy. He had not realized Xu Ziqing’s desire was directed at him. For the moment, Xu Ziqing could not decide whether to feel relieved or disappointed.
Xu Ziqing had encountered many female cultivators who practiced seduction arts, and had once nearly suffered terribly because of them. After refining the Bitter Bamboo Flute, he had therefore worked especially hard to strengthen his resistance.
If the Fox King had targeted him deliberately at full power, he could not have resisted. But the faint allure that escaped while the fox was otherwise occupied would not, by itself, have overwhelmed him so easily.
If… if his beloved senior brother’s aura had not been so close, he probably would not have been aroused at all.
But Xu Ziqing could not help sighing to himself.
Only moments ago he had been grateful that his senior brother had not noticed his improper desire, yet the man was almost too oblivious. Then again, Yun Lie’s complete lack of reaction seemed to show he had no such feelings for Xu Ziqing. That realization left him somewhat disheartened.
While he was thinking such confused thoughts, King Panshan and the Fox King had still not finished their intimacy.
When Xu Ziqing looked over again, the atmosphere no longer affected him, however provocative it remained.
After a long while, he gave a self-mocking smile and set the matter aside.
He had already made his plans. He need not confess to his senior brother now. He would simply remain by Yun Lie’s side, and as time passed, act according to how circumstances developed. His sudden desire had probably arisen because he had only just reached physical maturity and was easily stirred.
His senior brother followed a Dao that froze the seven emotions. Waiting for him to develop romantic feelings would be extraordinarily difficult.
It would be better for Xu Ziqing to advance in cultivation until he could finally walk beside his senior brother as an equal. If Yun Lie had not fallen for anyone else by then, Xu Ziqing could confess his feelings.
For now… it was much too early.
Thinking back on his earlier embarrassment, Xu Ziqing no longer took it so seriously.
Desire arose naturally from deep affection. There was nothing unusual about that. Since their feelings were not mutual yet, all he had to do was restrain it. They had a long future ahead. If such thoughts arose again, he need not be embarrassed every time, but could face them calmly.
At once, he felt a little more at ease about his love for Yun Lie.
The two on the bed continued their lovemaking, without stopping for a full two or three shichen.
Standing to one side, Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie became thoroughly bored.
At last, another shichen passed, and the Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox raised one long leg and kicked the man above him away. Cloudy fluid spilled beneath him, soaking the bedding.
King Panshan landed sitting on the floor, then scrambled up and edged toward the Fox King with an ingratiating smile. “My darling, won’t you let me have another shichen?”
The Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox still bore traces of passion on his face, but he sneered. “You snakes are insatiable by nature. You can carry on for days and nights without end. If my inner core weren’t sealed, I could certainly keep you satisfied. But my body is scarcely stronger than an ordinary mortal’s now. If you really want to enjoy yourself, why not lift my seal?”
King Panshan fell silent at once.
Only then did Xu Ziqing get a proper look at the Panshan Demon King, and he was rather surprised.
Panshan was slim, with a youthful-looking face. Though handsome enough, he possessed little obvious majesty. His most unusual features were his narrow eyes, which held golden, vertical pupils like a snake’s.
King Panshan smiled sheepishly, climbed back onto the bed, and took the Fox King into his arms. He intermittently kissed his cheeks and slipped both hands beneath his clothes again, apparently amusing himself in some way.
The Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox ignored him, leaning lazily back. He occasionally let out a soft sound, intensifying the desire in King Panshan’s eyes. Panshan panted and grew rougher in his caresses, but did not force matters any further.
Xu Ziqing watched in astonishment. The Fox King was clearly restrained, yet Panshan indulged him to this extent? Xu Ziqing had suspected something strange between them. Now it seemed the demon king might genuinely be in love, making him reluctant to coerce the fox.
With this thought, Xu Ziqing focused upon their conversation.
King Panshan said, “I’ve been sending my subordinates to search for that green fox these past days, but they still haven’t found her. If we caught the Heavenly Fox, I could use her to nourish you.”
Xu Ziqing’s heart tightened immediately.
Why bring this up now? What if the Fox King…
He had thought that since the fox had told them so much and warned them to hide, he probably would not betray them. Yet foxes were cunning and fickle, and he could not be entirely certain.
The Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox snorted. “Even if you found her, would you really let me eat her immediately?”
King Panshan kissed him on the lips and smiled. “If you give me that thing, I’ll free you at once. Then we can be like we were at Mount Lingtu long ago. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
The Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox gave him a sidelong glance. “Had I known one moment of pity back then would bring me this disaster, I would have cut that lazy snake into pieces and dug out his inner core to nourish my cultivation.”
King Panshan chuckled. “So you do remember our past. Then it wasn’t for nothing that I came looking for you the moment my cultivation succeeded.”
The Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox scoffed. “You found me only to lock me away. How wonderfully you’ve treated me!”
King Panshan sighed. “I told you already. When I first went to find you, I truly wanted nothing more than to catch up, and even hoped we could cultivate the demon Dao together as dual-cultivation partners. I never imagined you had something the Sovereign King wanted. He begged me to use our old friendship to coax the information from you. That’s how you came to be imprisoned here… I’ve gone to endless trouble to make your stay comfortable. Why do you still misunderstand me so?”