Just as they finished speaking, the two girls felt their bodies gently wrapped in a soft Dou Qi. They were lifted off the ground and floated toward the bed in the cabin. Then the Dou Qi turned into palms and smacked their bottoms twice, as if to punish them.
"Ugh, I knew it. What's meant to come never fails to come. Daddy is so hateful. It's just like throwing away the millstone once the donkey has ground the grain." The two little girls rubbed their bottoms. In situations like this they had always simply been thrown out. The only difference this time was that, because they had been peeking, they had earned two slaps.
After a long while, the two of them, breathing heavily, held each other. Xuan Yi's lips were a tempting crimson from the kisses, and she was dizzy from them, yet the corners of her mouth were curved wildly upward. At that moment she was not the calm, confident Xuan Yi of usual. She was a tender, delicate woman.
She felt his burning gaze and leaned against his body. "It isn't suitable here right now. Wait a little longer. I'm not mentally prepared yet."
She thought of the touches from before, and a little fear still stirred in her heart. Could she really bear it? She looked up at him. "By the way, is it really all right? Will there be no problems? It seems very frightening..."
Xiao Tian was slightly stunned by her words and completely bewildered. "What are you talking about?"
Xuan Yi suppressed her shyness, rose on tiptoe, and whispered a few words into his ear. When Xiao Tian understood, a strange, mischievous smile spread across his face. He held her full figure tightly. "There won't be any problem at all. It's very accommodating. You can rest easy about that. Once you adapt, there won't be any trouble."
"You aren't lying to me?" Xuan Yi looked at him suspiciously.
Xiao Tian nodded seriously. "When have I ever lied to you about a serious matter?"
Hearing that, Xuan Yi agreed wholeheartedly. He was unserious only when he teased her. In every other matter, he was entirely reliable, and he gave her a complete sense of security. She poked his chest gently with a finger and could not help asking, "Why is yours different from what others say? I heard what they said, and it was nothing like this."
As she spoke, she even imitated the gestures she had unwittingly seen others make when chatting about such things. "And compared with you, theirs aren't just a little inferior."
Having spoken, Xuan Yi could not help shivering. She found it hard to imagine how it could be accommodated. Then she thought of Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng's mothers. There was precedent, so there should be no problem. And with that thought, she felt a little unconvinced. If she can do it, will I be weaker than her? Inferior? Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Whether the other women at his side would accept her was something Xuan Yi did not want to think about and was unwilling to think about. In any case, she had thrown caution to the wind and decided to go all the way. Her intuition told her that Xiao Tian was not a man who would abandon her after a brief affair. Moreover, in the Dou Qi Continent, the strong had always been the first to enjoy the world. It was only a matter of whether one was willing to. And she had been the one to drive him away at first, so she had a legitimate reason.
Little did she know that when she later understood the matter clearly, she would find that things were nothing like she had imagined, and she would be left completely dumbfounded.
Xiao Tian looked at the woman before him and roughly guessed her thoughts. "Don't worry. You are the person I have chosen. You will be mine for life, and I, Xiao Tian, will never abandon you. Besides..." He felt her soft body and drew out his tone. "Besides, you are so charming that I can't bear to abandon you. On the contrary, I want you to cling to me for life and never think of going anywhere else."
Xuan Yi was stunned for a moment by his roguish air. Then her cheeks flushed slightly, and she spat lightly. "Pah! Who wants to cling to you? Stop being so conceited! Shameless."
But though she said it, she did not break free of his arms. Instead she leaned a little closer. Seeing that, Xiao Tian chuckled inwardly, and his hands quietly tightened their embrace. "Yes, yes, yes. You don't want to cling to me, but I want to cling to you."
Xuan Yi hummed and did not retort. She only looked up into the distance, her eyes slightly unfocused. "You say there's such a big age difference between us. Will it really be all right?"
Xiao Tian looked at the spatial tunnel ahead, his eyes deep. "What problem is there? You and I are both cultivators. Once one reaches a certain realm, age is simply no barrier. Even ten thousand years from now, or a hundred thousand, you will only be a few decades older than me. This world, in the end, respects the strong. What you and I lack least is power. Once we reach a certain realm, every dissenting voice will turn into praise. You only need to follow your heart. I will handle the rest."
In the past, Xiao Tian's favorite maxim had been: When in doubt, ask the spring breeze. If the spring breeze is silent, follow your heart.
Xuan Yi's heart trembled at his words. Her eyes reddened slightly, and she pressed her face to his chest and listened to his strong, steady heartbeat. "Smooth talker, always saying such nice things. Your words can only fool little girls..." Her voice was soft, with a hint of playful blame, but it could not hide the emotion in her eyes and voice.
He laid his warm palm gently on her back, as if giving her endless warmth. Feeling it, she was filled with peace. It was precisely his thoughtfulness, care, and the security he gave her that had let him reach her heart in so short a time.
Xiao Tian chuckled, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, "Say whatever you like, I accept it. Anyway... you can never escape in this life. You will always belong to me."
Xuan Yi's heart raced at his domineering yet gentle words. She opened her mouth to protest, but her heart was so full of joy and sweetness that she could not bring herself to say anything.
"So..." He lowered his head and placed a feather-light kiss on her forehead. "Do you understand your true heart now?"
Xuan Yi took a deep breath, looked up at him, and suddenly smiled brightly. That smile seemed to dim the whole world. She reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered in his ear, softly but firmly.
"My true heart has only ever had one answer: you."
Their eyes met, and both showed genuine smiles. At that moment their hearts were wholly joined, impossible to divide.
In the Southwest Region of the Central Plains stood a mountain range that was entirely fiery red, and on a certain crimson peak within that range...