Since that day when he accidentally stumbled upon the clandestine rendezvous of the couple in the fields, Li Xuan had been secretly observing the men and women around him, uncovering numerous little secrets among them.
Old Zhu, who lived in the western part of the city, made a weekly trip to the east every Friday. While he told his wife it was to restock his shop, in reality, he was sneaking off to meet his mistress. To everyone's astonishment, the mistress was also a married woman, but with her husband away year-round, the lonely and desperate woman had no choice but to seek solace in Old Zhu's arms. The two, like thunder igniting a wildfire, had arranged to vent their frustrations every Friday at her home.
Moreover, the rough men Li Xuan worked alongside in the fields were not as upright as they appeared. They often exchanged flirtatious glances and subtle signals with several young wives, and it wouldn't be surprising if their conversations eventually led them straight into the bedroom.
However, among these people, the couple Li Xuan had seen that day was nowhere to be found. The moonlight had been dim that night, and he could only barely make out their silhouettes. Their faces had been hazy, as if veiled, impossible to discern clearly. Besides, Li Xuan had been guilt-ridden like a thief that night, too afraid to dare getting closer to see their faces clearly.
Yet, the woman's figure had been truly enchanting—her full, voluptuous bosom, a waist so slender it seemed one could encircle it with a single hand, plump and pale buttocks, and long, soft thighs...
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Recalling the scene, Li Xuan couldn't help but inwardly marvel.
Several days had passed since he had spied on that intimate encounter, but whenever he thought back to that night, he still found it hard to control his emotions. For some reason, as he grew older, his desires had become increasingly intense. Even the thing between his legs had grown larger, and his energy seemed more abundant than ever.
Heh, heh, heh.
Li Xuan chuckled to himself quietly. As his fantasies ran wild, the thing below began to stir again, tenting his coarse cloth trousers with a bulge the size of a fist.
He quickly suppressed this inexplicable lust, bending his standing posture slightly to conceal the embarrassing predicament. If anyone passing by were to see him in broad daylight, who knows how the gossip-loving women would chatter behind his back!
Finally managing to quell the inner turmoil, Li Xuan dared to straighten his back and continue on his way to the fields.
Day after day, year after year, through the heat of summer and the chill of winter, from spring planting to autumn harvest—ever since his adoptive father, Li Ye, had left to cultivate immortality, Li Xuan had been tending to his small plot of land. Life had always been this way: orderly yet monotonously dull.
When Li Ye departed, he had not been without offers to take Li Xuan along to the Celestial Master's Manor. But what right did an ordinary mortal like Li Xuan have to step into a place teeming with powerful cultivators? It would have been a joke, and Li Ye would likely have faced ridicule and exclusion from others.
Considering all these factors, Li Xuan had no choice but to decline Li Ye's kind offer, remaining in Jinling City to guard the old house and the fields.
Thinking of his adoptive father, Li Ye, a rare smile touched Li Xuan's face. Still, he wondered how Li Ye was faring out in the world.
Boom!
Just as he was worrying about his father's journey, a deafening crash erupted about a dozen meters ahead, as if something had fallen from the sky. A massive cloud of dust billowed up, reaching even Li Xuan in the distance. The choking dust invaded his nostrils before he could cover his mouth, and he sneezed uncontrollably several times.
"What the hell was that?!"
He cursed loudly, spat a thick glob of phlegm mixed with dust onto the ground, and grumbled as he walked toward the source of the noise.
It was one thing not to look, but what he saw startled him!
A massive depression, at least two meters deep, suddenly appeared before his eyes!
The closer he got, the more the ground seemed to ripple with waves of heat, and the cracks in the soil became increasingly pronounced, spreading densely toward the center of the pit.
Li Xuan, already dressed in coarse linen clothes, was now covered in dust, making him look even more disheveled.
He cautiously approached the depression, hunched over, resembling a clumsy wild monkey with stiff limbs.
The swirling dust completely blocked his view into the pit. Rubbing his eyes, he strained to see and vaguely made out two white shapes in the center.
Fortunately, before long, a westerly wind blew, dispersing the dust and allowing him to see the full scene clearly.
The two white shapes were clearly two people!
In the center of the depression lay two motionless figures, splayed out in a star shape and embedded in the soil, their backs facing upward so their faces were hidden. Their white robes were disheveled and covered in dust, with terrifying bloodstains streaking across the fabric. Fresh blood gushed from their wounds, soaking the ground beneath them in a gruesome crimson.
Li Xuan, a mere mortal, had never witnessed such a horrifying scene. He immediately stumbled backward three steps, only to trip over his own feet and land squarely on his rear.
Pressing down on his trembling legs, he felt a mix of fear, confusion, and curiosity surge within him. Swallowing hard a few times, he forced down the unease churning in his chest.
This... this was clearly the kind of commotion only immortals could cause!
Even if he hadn't seen it himself, Li Xuan had heard enough stories—ordinary people like him couldn't possibly fall from the sky or create such a massive crater! And judging by their condition, they must have been through a fierce battle, left severely wounded and in this pitiable state.
Immortals... immortals?!
These were beings he couldn't afford to mess with!
Thinking to take advantage of their unconscious state, Li Xuan considered making a quick escape. But just as he was about to bolt, he paused, his eyes darting around as a sly idea crossed his mind.
If they were immortals, then whatever they carried with them must be incredibly valuable, right?
Greed overpowering his fear, he turned back and crept stealthily toward the two immortals.
As he drew closer, a faint, elusive fragrance mixed with the scent of blood wafted into his nostrils. Though not strong, it was enough to send a shiver down his spine.
Instinctively, he fixed his gaze on the immortal closest to him.
The loose robe draped over the figure hinted at a graceful form beneath.
It was actually a female immortal!
In the Xuanji Continent, male cultivators dominated the path of immortality, while female cultivators were exceedingly rare. The reasons were complex, but simply put, the threshold for female cultivation was much higher than for males, and most cultivation methods favored men.
In short, the path of cultivation was far more arduous for women. Not only did they have to exert several times more effort, but if they failed to find a suitable cultivation method, all their hard work could end in vain.
Taking a deep breath, Li Xuan mustered his courage and turned the female immortal's body over.
The moment he saw her face, his breath caught, and all the scenery of the world vanished, leaving only the woman before him.
Beautiful!
A breathtaking beauty!
Her cheeks flushed like a blooming lotus, her skin as smooth and fair as congealed fat. Though her breathing was weak and erratic, she exuded an aura of cool elegance, like a sacred and aloof ice phoenix, untouchable and distant, or a celestial maiden from the highest heavens, untainted by mortal dust. A single glance was enough to make one feel unworthy and humbled, daring not to defile her with any impure thoughts.
Her captivating face was smudged with a bit of dust, but it couldn't conceal her flawless, porcelain-like complexion. Her delicate eyebrows arched gracefully, blending feminine softness with a hint of heroic spirit. Her beautiful eyes were closed, their long, thick lashes curled like tiny inverted fans resting above them. Her nose was elegantly straight, the curve of its tip perfectly balanced—any more would seem rigid, any less would lack grace. Her lips, naturally red without a trace of rouge, looked tender and dewy.
Words like "sinking fish and falling geese" could not capture her peerless grace; "hiding the moon and shaming flowers" fell short of describing her unparalleled beauty. It was as if she embodied all the wisdom and elegance of heaven and earth, a sight rarely seen in this world.
Even in her unconscious state, she was stunningly beautiful. It was hard to imagine how dazzling she would be when her eyes opened, surely as radiant as a galaxy of stars or the gentle ripples of a clear lake.
The only flaw was the faint furrow between her brows, unadorned yet striking, as if inviting someone to gently smooth it away.
"A single smile from her could outshine a hundred charms, rendering all the beauties in the palace pale in comparison!"
Li Xuan, who had little literary refinement, could find no words to describe the shock of her beauty. This line of poetry suddenly surfaced in his mind—something he had overheard in passing outside a private school.
What nearly made his nose bleed, however, was the state of her clothing. The fabric over her chest was torn, barely covering her body. A glimpse of her fair, tender skin flashed before his eyes, and the hint of her full, rounded curves seemed ready to burst forth. The enticing cleavage between them swayed subtly with her faint breaths, each movement tempting him to draw closer for a better look.
Li Xuan stared fixedly at her bosom, his face flushed crimson, breathing heavily. His manhood stirred beneath his clothes, its size astonishing.
Still lost in the overwhelming impact of her beauty, he failed to notice that the other unconscious immortal nearby seemed to be stirring. A faint, almost imperceptible movement twitched in the figure's fingers, and clumps of dirt on their clothes rustled as they fell away.
"Xiao Xuan... is... is that you... Xiao Xuan..."
A weak voice sounded beside him, jolting Li Xuan as if struck by lightning.
That voice...
Five years. For five years, he had thought of his adoptive father, Li Ye, every single moment—the youthful, slightly immature face, the forced maturity and resilience, every shared memory deeply etched into his heart. Not a single detail had he been willing to forget.
He had longed for the day when that familiar voice would ring out again outside his door, when the person he cherished would return to his side. But such hopes only materialized in his dreams. Upon waking, he was alone again, facing the empty, silent house.
Countless days and nights, he had woken from dreams with a smile, only to cry himself back to sleep.
Even crueler, as the years passed without a reunion, even the outline of his adoptive father Li Ye's face in his dreams grew blurry, his figure drifting further away. Li Xuan would stumble and struggle to chase after him, but he could never reach him, not even by a hair's breadth.
Now, the voice he had only ever heard in his dreams suddenly echoed beside him. Tears streamed down Li Xuan's face, but he dared not turn to look.
He was afraid, afraid that the voice was just an illusion, that everything would vanish like a mirage. Yet he also clung to hope, hoping that the voice truly belonged to the foster father he had yearned for over the past five years.
"Xiao Xuan... it's me..."
The voice rang out again, clear and real. Li Xuan turned his head mechanically to look.
Messy black hair cascaded over his shoulders, and a face as finely carved as jade was smeared with dirt. Only a pair of glistening eyes, brimming with tears, met Li Xuan's gaze.
In a daze, the image of his foster father from his dreams surfaced before Li Xuan's eyes. The mist shrouding that face suddenly dissipated, merging gradually with the face of the man before him.
"Foster Father... Foster Father, is it really you?"
Staring at the face that bore some resemblance to the Li Ye he remembered, Li Xuan choked back sobs, tears and snot streaming down his face as he wailed and rushed toward Li Ye.
"Xiao Xuan... it's me... I'm sorry, Xiao Xuan... for only coming back to see you now..."
Moved by Li Xuan's emotions, Li Ye wept openly, his throat tightening as he struggled to form a complete sentence.
"Wah—!"
Li Xuan could no longer hold back his emotions. He threw himself onto Li Ye, crying uncontrollably, completely unaware that his sticky snot and copious tears were smearing all over his foster father's clothes.
"Hiss..."
Badly injured, Li Ye couldn't withstand Li Xuan's full-force embrace. A tearing pain shot through his wounds, making him suck in a sharp breath, his brows furrowing tightly together.
"Foster Father, are you alright?"
Seeing the pained expression on Li Ye's face, Li Xuan sprang back like a released spring, not daring to even touch the hem of his clothes. He could only watch Li Ye with a concerned gaze.
It was all his fault—he had been so overwhelmed by the joy of their reunion that he forgot his foster father was gravely injured and couldn't endure such rough handling.
Li Ye pressed his lips together, circulating his spiritual energy to suppress the pain from his wounds. He forced a strained smile and shook his head to indicate he was fine.
"Foster Father, hold on a little longer. I'll take you to see a doctor. Once you take some medicine, you'll be alright."
Even someone as foolish as Li Xuan could tell that his foster father was putting on a brave face. He grew as frantic as an ant on a hot pan.
No sooner had he spoken than he cursed himself inwardly for being an idiot. Li Ye was no longer an ordinary man—a common doctor wouldn't be able to treat him.