My Gentle and Pure Sect Leader Husband - Chapter 65

When the two of them descended once again into the dark passage beneath Loulan City’s sacrificial hall, Yan Hongyin realized that this place was actually quite vast. Tunnels extended in all directions into the darkness, with winds from the outside world brushing past the two as they walked.

The room where Yan Hongyin currently stayed was indeed formerly the residence of Yu Luocha, the Loulan high priest, though now it had become their shared room. Within it, Yu Luocha had left a secret door.

“This place is actually the former site of Loulan City, but my parents never told me about Loulan’s past. I only discovered the hidden mechanisms beneath when I ordered the restoration of the Loulan ruins,” he explained.

“That hot spring connects to the Kunlun snow mountain, though its true source remains unknown. The other ends of these tunnels lead in various directions—they were Loulan’s contingency plan for evacuating their people when faced with tribal extinction. Unfortunately, when the Yuan soldiers came too suddenly, the tribal leader chose to defend Loulan City to the death. Barely one in ten of the tribe members actually escaped through here.”

Of those who survived to return to Loulan now, only Yu Luocha remained.

“Later, when I renovated the place, I sealed all those exits, leaving only some undetectable ventilation shafts and waterways to maintain the flow of the living spring.”

This massive underground structure had likely begun as a simple cave, but was gradually expanded by the Loulan people, with the ceiling dug higher and higher, forming what Yan Hongyin now saw—a space that, despite being underground, had no stagnant or obstructed air.

But…

Yan Hongyin turned to look at Yu Luocha and asked directly, “Are you nervous?”

Yu Luocha, who hadn’t stopped talking since entering the secret passage, suddenly fell silent as if someone had sealed his mouth.

Though it was unclear how Wang Lianhua had modified and compiled that dual cultivation technique, to practice it required finding a spacious, secluded place where both practitioners would disrobe, cultivate together with one person controlling the flow of internal energy through both their meridians while the other provided assistance and protection as they proceeded side by side.

This not only meant that the assisting person had to completely trust the other, allowing them to control the flow of internal energy through critical areas like meridians and the dantian, but also required both to be without clothing, exposed to each other.

Yu Luocha remained silent.

In truth, they were already married—a lawfully wedded couple—so such activity wouldn’t damage Yan Hongyin’s reputation. The problem was that they weren’t truly a deeply bonded husband and wife; even their emotional closeness had only developed over the past few days.

Yu Luocha lacked confidence in himself.

Completely, lacked, confidence.

To practice cultivation in this manner with his beloved woman—his wife with whom he had exchanged marriage vows—exposing themselves to each other, even if he kept his eyes closed the entire time, he certainly couldn’t remain unaffected—especially since this cultivation method involved the merging of yin and yang energies, which would bring sensations neither could predict.

Yan Hongyin, perceiving Yu Luocha’s dilemma, remarked casually, “You’re in your prime and in good health—having a reaction would be perfectly natural… If you’re concerned, I won’t look at you.”

Yu Luocha hesitated, his expression quite difficult to describe.

After circling around, they selected an open space beside the hot spring. This spring, seemingly flowing down from the snow capped mountain, wasn’t too hot—only some wisps of mist floated on the water’s surface. The ventilation opening was also close to the spring, allowing the heat generated during their cultivation to dissipate promptly.

But it was always better to be cautious. Once the dual cultivation technique began, it couldn’t be stopped until a phase was completed. The person controlling the flow of internal energy through both their meridians needed to maintain absolute concentration without the slightest lapse—if one person stopped, the other would suffer meridian disruption and energy backlash.

Choosing this location by the pool meant that if something unexpected happened, both skilled swimmers could retreat into the spring to hide and observe.

Shortly after, the two sat cross-legged.

Yu Luocha’s hand rested on his belt, neither undoing it nor leaving it alone.

Across from him sat Yan Hongyin, fully clothed, staring at him.

Yu Luocha: “…Ah Yin, close your eyes.”

Yan Hongyin: “Am I not allowed to look?”

Her tone was assertive with an air of inevitability.

“You can… you can,” Yu Luocha struggled to say. “But, not while practicing cultivation.”

He paused, raising his eyes to meet Yan Hongyin’s gaze, emphasizing, “It’s not good that way.”

Yan Hongyin bit back a smile and closed her eyes.

The surroundings were utterly silent—so quiet that even the slightest friction of clothing would be amplified to their ears.

The mist from the pool’s edge and the cold underground wind brushed around them. Yu Luocha hesitated momentarily before removing his clothes, keeping only his undergarment.

“About the undergarment…” Yan Hongyin said with closed eyes, but before she could finish, Yu Luocha raised his voice to interrupt—

“The undergarment stays on!”

“Pfft.” Yan Hongyin couldn’t help but laugh. “I was going to say we should keep them on.”

Yu Luocha: “…”

Not wanting to engage with Yan Hongyin who was deliberately teasing him, Yu Luocha held his breath, closed his eyes, and cleared his mind of distracting thoughts, desperately avoiding focusing on her, almost wishing he could plug his ears.

The sound of clothing falling was extremely faint. When Yu Luocha sensed the shift in the air before him, his mind stirred. He raised his arm, and his palm precisely met Yan Hongyin’s.

They had held hands many times before, but never with such undeniable intimacy.

They had previously agreed that Yan Hongyin would first guide the flow of internal energy between them. Before today, Yu Luocha and Yan Hongyin had already practiced the sequence and direction of internal energy circulation through their meridians many times.

With Yu Luocha, who was now stronger in martial arts, providing assistance and protection, he could respond promptly if anything went wrong.

Yan Hongyin mobilized the cold yin energy from her dantian up through her meridians, flowing out from her right palm, entering Yu Luocha’s body through their joined hands. Meanwhile, through her left hand, a fierce, scorching yang energy invaded her palm, like a fierce beast eager to patrol its territory—urgent and untamed.

Ah Yu is so gentle, how is his internal energy so unruly?

Yan Hongyin inwardly snorted, concentrating to guide Yu Luocha’s internal energy slowly into her meridians, where it merged with her own energy. Gradually, as yin and yang converged, that reckless force became docile, as if it had been soothed. At the same time, their bodies began to grow warm.

In this private world of just the two of them, Yan Hongyin could no longer feel the wind, the water, or the mist. In her ears, her mind, her body, she seemed to sense only the person whose palm pressed against hers.

Yu Luocha also cast aside his distracting thoughts. For the first time since cultivating martial arts, he experienced internal energy so docile and gentle—like someone who had lived amidst raging flames suddenly surrounded by gentle, soothing waters. He had never imagined that when his energy merged with Ah Yin’s, it would feel like this.

Every meridian through which the energy flowed, every passage through the dantian, brought small tremors to the meridians. This sensation was more intimate than their most passionate kisses, yet also more tender, lingering and reluctant to depart.

He unconsciously recalled the contents of the Great Heaven and Earth Shift technique, while the dual cultivation manual simultaneously appeared in his mind.

As the docile energy continued to circulate through their bodies, Yu Luocha began instinctively combining the Great Heaven and Earth Shift with the dual cultivation technique…

****

Pursued by enemies into the desert, this was already his third day in this desolate land of death.

The young man once again slashed his arm with his blade, the gush of fresh blood momentarily clearing his fading consciousness. He raised his arm to his lips and sucked greedily, his eyes resembling a lone wolf’s—fierce and resolute.

—He wanted to live!

No matter the cost, he wanted to survive.

He knew the sect leader who had valued and promoted him now harbored suspicions, but he hadn’t expected this killing intent to come so swiftly, giving him almost no time to prepare.

As dusk fell, the vast whiteness before him finally receded, but the young man, lost in the desert for three days, knew that another trial of death approached.

The night wind cut like a knife. He couldn’t see the path ahead—and even if he could, it would be difficult to distinguish. Each step was a life-or-death gamble.

After walking an unknown distance, the young man, his strength and endurance at their limit, collapsed with a thud, still clutching his sword’s hilt.

His heavy body rolled slowly down the slope toward the quicksand, quickly becoming engulfed by the omnipresent sand flowing to unknown destinations.

****

In the silent underground chamber, even the slightest sound wouldn’t escape Yan Hongyin and Yu Luocha’s ears.

The sound of something heavy falling, accompanied by fabric rustling, instantly awakened Yu Luocha from his enlightened state. His eyes shot open!

—Someone had intruded.

Yu Luocha’s expression turned cold, his eyes filled with surprise and suspicion, eventually settling into calmness.

Their internal energies were now merged, with three more full cycles needed before they could conclude.

But in the next moment, a patch of snow-white skin entered his vision, flushed pink from the cultivation technique—Yu Luocha quickly closed his eyes, his mind unable to regain peace.

Yan Hongyin had not retained her undergarments as he had thought, but Yu Luocha dared not look further. Just glimpsing her shoulder was enough to ignite a burning restlessness throughout his body.

He understood clearly that this had nothing to do with the cultivation technique—it was simply a man’s most primal desire for his beloved.

Yu Luocha kept his eyes tightly shut, lips pressed together, trying to clear his mind of improper thoughts. Yet the more he tried, the more clearly that fleeting glimpse of white jade took shape in his mind.

…He even noticed the glistening moisture on that blushing white jade.

Yan Hongyin also heard the sound of something heavy falling. Though the sound traveled to them due to the emptiness and silence of the hidden chamber, it seemed not close to them.

For now, they could only focus on the immediate task. She again concentrated on controlling the flow of energy, leaving everything else to Yu Luocha.

But just then, a stumbling footstep echoed through the spacious chamber—

Getting closer, heading directly toward them.

Yu Luocha turned toward the sound, his eyes flashing with dangerous, piercing killing intent.

Their energy circulation still needed two more full cycles—fifteen minutes was not short, certainly not short enough to prevent the intruder from approaching and discovering them.

While Yu Luocha could kill the intruder the moment they approached, he might not care about himself, but he absolutely refused to risk Yan Hongyin’s safety.

In a split second, Yu Luocha’s right hand, pressed against Yan Hongyin’s, twisted slightly to intertwine their fingers, pulling her sweat-dampened palm to his dantian.

The man’s strong, powerful body approached the cross-legged woman, his burning palm pressed firmly against Yan Hongyin’s lower back. He embraced her waist as she concentrated on circulating their energy, maintaining their connected left hands and her right hand against his dantian. As their energies merged and flowed, they slipped silently into the pool like two silver fish dependent on each other.

Yu Luocha reacted extremely quickly—their dual cultivation was hardly affected. Just before submerging, Yu Luocha took a breath and kissed Yan Hongyin in his arms, passing his breath to her.

Their lips and teeth entangled as they shared breath, internal energy circulating through their veins, a burning palm pressed against her lower back—Yan Hongyin felt all her senses consumed by the man before her. All she saw, all she thought of—was him.

Her heart suddenly filled with embarrassment and unease.

Their left chests rose and fell violently. Yan Hongyin could feel Yu Luocha’s increasingly hot and chaotic breath, deep and restrained.