Tao Ran floated on the sea and played the guqin, the wild sea waves unable to move him.
Qiang Wei said in a depressed and sad manner, "Why does Sword Sovereign not believe me? I can swear to the demon that as long as you let me go, I will release your disciple."
Tao Ran stopped moving his hands and just lightly pressed his hands on the guqin. His voice was full of compassion as he said, "You won't be in danger if you stay in Penglai, so why do you want to go back?"
Qiang Wei smiled bitterly and said, "I won’t hide this from the Sword Sovereign but, if you continue to keep me in Penglai, your apprentice will not come back. The Demon Emperor is very pleased with your apprentice. Why would he give up the one he loves for me?"
Tao Ran replied, "You are the Left Guardian of the Demon Palace and have followed him for many years. If he abandons you, how would he explain it to the Southern Wilderness’ Clan of Demons?"
"Who knows?" Qiang Wei said with a dazed expression. "He didn't even want the Demon Palace anymore just because of a woman whom he had only met for a few days."
Tao Ran looked at her and couldn't help but sigh. Qiang Wei was a smart woman, and she knew the Demon Emperor's mind very clearly, but she just couldn't look away. She always felt that the Demon Emperor shouldn't consider a righteous woman to be more important than her. After all, she had been following the Demon Emperor for many years. If this continues, her heart demon will become more and more serious, and in the end, it would be as black as in the novel.
The Headmaster and the others discovered that the elder guarding Qiang Wei was trapped in an illusion, and when they found him, they discovered that it was once again Qiang Wei’s doing who Xuan Qing had stopped. The headmaster’s old face became a bit awkward. The magnificent Penglai Mountain actually let a demon woman, whose cultivation base was sealed, to escape twice in a row, it would be absolutely shameful if told.
It was a bit difficult to find someone to guard the formation later because the Headmaster wasn’t sure who would be able to resist Qiang Wei’s temptation.
At this time, Tao Ran stood up and said with a look of ‘not wanting to embarrass the headmaster’, "Speaking of this, for the sake of the Daoist disciples, why not let this Daoist guard the Left Guardian personally? So it won't bother anyone, the senior brothers and disciples."
Xuan Qing was willing to take the initiative to shoulder this task, and naturally, everyone was happy. How could the Headmaster disagree? Was there a better candidate to watch over the demon woman other than Xuan Qing? No one believed that Sword Sovereign Xuan Qing would be tempted by a demon woman.
Tao Ran took Qiang Wei back to his bamboo forest and set up a formation for her on the place where he usually played the guqin. Qiang Wei had no choice but to stay in the formation and listen to Tao Ran playing the guqin every day.
This was truly the boss’ torture. Originally, the sound of the guqin was a nightmare for Qiang Wei, and it still remained true for this time. She started listening to the guqin twelve hours a day. After a few days, Qiang Wei's face was pale, and her whole body was teetering.
Until one day, when she couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted Tao Ran's narcissism. She said, "Sword Sovereign, can we discuss something?"
Tao Ran answered with a straight face, in a good mood, "What's the matter?"
Qiang Wei said, "Sword Sovereign, can you stop playing the guqin?"
"..." Tao Ran was silent for a while and asked, "Is it not pleasant to the ears?"
Qiang Wei didn't dare say that a psychological shadow had already been casted on her due to the sound of the guqin. She could only say euphemistically, "I have listened to it for so many days and I haven't enjoyed the quiet yet, so I want to have the calm for a bit."
Tao Ran thought that what she was saying was reasonable. After all, he always thought that playing the guqin was the best in the world and no one would dislike it. So, he put the guqin aside and planned to play it again later.
There finally was no urging music in her ears. Qiang Wei breathed a sigh of relief as she was moved to tears.
The two of them stayed just like that; one meditating outside the formation and the other inside the formation. After being silent for a while, Tao Ran couldn't bear the boredom. He remembered that he had bought novels in the mortal world before. Thinking that it was just right to pass the time at this time, he stretched out his sleeves and took out a book called "Elysium".
He opened the book solemnly, only to turn one page and be overwhelmed by the contents of the book.
Qiang Wei in the formation saw Sword Sovereign Xuan Qing open a book and her face instantly became serious. One is because she hates Xuan Qing, and another is that at this time, she was amazed by Xuan Qing's Daoism. He should be reading some Taoist scriptures, such a boring book can be read so seriously by him. He is truly a rare genius.
Being by Xuan Qing’s side those past few days made Qiang Wei witness Xuan Qing's desirelessness. He just plays the guqin and meditates every day. If she doesn't take the initiative to speak, the other person might not even speak a word at all for the whole day.
An excellent person might make people jealous, but to an excellent person who’s built by working harder than others, there would only be respect, envy, and admiration felt.
In all fairness, Xuan Qing was a very excellent person and Qiang Wei admires people like him. She also thought: if she was as ascetic as Xuan Qing, would it not be as painful as now?
Tao Ran flipped two pages and was shocked by the content of the book. Only then did he understand what the book seller’s smile was about. It was because he misunderstood what he meant. The interesting books he wanted to buy were fiction novels, but the bookseller took the ‘interesting’ to another meaning and stuffed him with a pack of restricted-level picture books.
The content and boldness of the pictures in this "Elysium" made him, a modern person, feel a little restless. It was too much. Selling this kind of book to him was simply intolerable.
Tao Ran planned to finish reading the content and gather the book hawker’s real criminal evidence first before going to the mortal world to punish him immediately. He turned a few pages sternly. Soon after, he frowned, and all kinds of waves surged in his heart.
Mayeh, there is such a position?
Is this also okay? Won't the egg tear? So shameful...
Qiang Wei saw Xuan Qing's eyebrows wrinkle slightly and thought that he had encountered some difficulties in cultivation.
It was not her style to sit and wait, she has to give it a try no matter what. Besides, for his apprentice, Xuan Qing wouldn't do anything to herself even if he wanted to. Even if she fails, she would just be a bit embarrassed at best. Shame in front of Sword Master Xuan Qing wasn’t a privilege that anyone can have.
Qiang Wei stared at Tao Ran with her beautiful and charming eyes, and suddenly said softly, "Sword Sovereign, Sword Sovereign?"
Tao Ran suppressed the mess in his heart and raised his head slightly to say, "What's the matter?"
"My feet hurt." Qiang Wei, who was sitting on the ground, slightly pulled up her skirt, revealing a piece of snow-white crystal calf, and said with a pitiful face, "Maybe it was cut by a rock while I was going down the mountain."
Tao Ran watched this scene calmly, thinking in his heart: why is this scene a bit familiar?
With a light kick of Qiang Wei's left foot, the shoe on her right foot fell off, exposing a delicate and lovely foot. She leaned halfway on the ground, winking like silk as she said, "Will you come and help this poor one treat it? It's okay to just blow it out."
A sudden realization flashed through Tao Ran and he lowered his head to read. There was a picture of a disheveled woman in the book. The woman was lying halfway on the bed and was raising one foot, causing her to reveal a calf and foot.
Mayeh, why are their appearances so similar?
Seeing that Xuan Qing was unresponsive, Qiang Wei praised Sword Sovereign Xuan Qing in her heart as it ought to be this way. But this matter isn’t yet over. She rolled over, slightly squatted down, and turned her back to Tao Ran, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes. "It really hurts, can't you help me?"
Tao Ran turned a page of the book in his hand and saw the woman in the painting had turned over and laid on the bed. Her upper body was slightly lifted and the cloth on her left shoulder had slipped naturally, revealing a fascinating shoulder.
Qiang Wei then lifted her body slightly only for the cloth on her right shoulder to slip off. The exposed fragrant shoulder was tattooed with a fiery red vermillion bird pattern. Snow-white skin, a bright red tattoo, and jet black hair; coupled with her pitiful expression and her big eyes that seemed to be weeping. It really makes a man willing to die for her.
Meanwhile, Tao Ran became even more curious. Why are Qiang Wei's movements exactly the same as those in the book? Has she also read these kinds of books before?
Flipping to another page again, the woman in the book had turned around and was lying down while facing his direction with her disordered clothes revealing a large piece of snow-white bosom. Her hair lay scattered on her chest, hiding the beautiful scenery and making it just faintly discernible which causes men unable to resist probing further.
Seeing that Xuan Qing still didn't respond, Qiang Wei felt that it was inevitable and to be expected as a matter of course, but was a little unconvinced at the same time. Was she so unattractive? She lay on the ground and kept turning her head to look at Xuan Qing’s posture. Then, her upper body remained motionless while her lower body twisted and shifted her position. She was now facing Xuan Qing while lying on the ground, the clothes on her chest half-falling off and her fine, black hair scattered on her chest. She looked both pitiful and erotic.
She looked at Tao Ran, her voice crying and complaining, accusing as she said, "Are you righteous Daoist priests this cruel?"
Tao Ran observed her silently for a long while, saying in his heart that his anticipations were indeed wicked. Immediately after this, Qiang Wei will turn over, her chest and abdomen will be upright, and her hands will be stretched back out, propped on the ground, while her head will be thrown down, face-up, to reveal her slender neck and chest as she looked at him backwards.
What a man without interest. If she was like this to other men, even if the man wouldn’t be tempted, he would be blushing, hot, and fidgeting at the least. He wouldn’t be like anything this block of wood in front of her is, completely motionless.
Qiang Wei silently criticized while stretching back her hands to prop them on the ground. Then, her chest protruded outwards, her head slowly lowered, face-up, and her fine black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, revealing a beautiful face and a slender, snow-white neck.
"Cruel Daoist, you are really insensitive. Don't you want to come and touch me?"
Tao Ran lowered his head silently and flipped to the last page of the book. There, he saw five dazzling words written on the back: Published by the Acacia Sect.
"..."
Nanoni Note:
Elysium - synonym to paradise, also meaning “any place or state of bliss or delight.”