Han Jie sat on the stool, hair half-damp, towel clinging to her shoulders as she leaned over the parchment he laid before her. Her eyes darted down the rows of names, lips curling faintly at the stranger ones.
"Moonlit Orchid Petals… Ashen Bone Fragments… Celestial Salt Crystals…" she murmured, tapping her finger against the parchment in thought. "These aren't ingredients one can simply pluck from a market stall. Some lie in ruins or graveyards, some in sect treasuries. But—" Her eyes flicked up to him, sharp with calculation. "If we prioritize the rarer ones first, we can trade them later for several of the lesser items. Half the list can be dealt with this way."
Shi Yang watched her, struck again by how quickly her playful demeanor could turn to steel. Han Jie gave the parchment another long look before setting it aside.
"Even if we gather every rare flower and bone on this list," she said slowly, voice soft but edged with conviction, "we'll still need the strength to claw our way to the top. This tournament will draw not only opportunists but ex-sect-trained wolves."
Then her tone shifted—lightened like silk sliding over skin. She rose, the towel slipping from her shoulders, revealing the faint sheen of steam clinging to her body. With unhurried grace, she walked to the bed, hips swaying ever so slightly, the curve of her waist illuminated by lamplight. She turned and sat upon the edge, lifting her legs onto the sheets with feline ease.
Her gaze locked with his, playful heat simmering as she raised her arms above her head, stretching languidly, her form outlined like a painting come to life.
"Well then, Brother Shi," she teased, her voice dripping with honeyed challenge, "shall we… cultivate?"
Her smile curved into something wickedly inviting as she reclined back against the pillows, the invitation unmistakable.
Shi Yang clapped his hands together. Thank you, heavens. I'll truly never speak ill of your name again in this lifetime. He vowed silently, his virgin status truly about to be gone.
"What are you doing?" she teased, raising the hem of her towel—baring the flesh of her rear peaks. "Have you converted into a monk~?"
"Why would I, if enlightenment rests on my sheets~" he cooed, unravelling his sash and stripping off his hanfu, pants the only piece left as he walked up behind her.
His left palm grasped her side, his right tugged at his waistband, releasing his roaring dragon from its restraint.
"Then go right ahead," she winked at him, her fingers guiding him toward her backside—then shifting at the last moment, pressing him against her rosy slit just as he thought he'd reached her forbidden hole.
It was an act meant to reinforce the illusion that she only had a way to make him feel she was a woman, and wasn't a woman herself. Most men would believe it—why suspect a switch, rather than assume an illusion technique?
But Shi Yang was no simple man.
"Then don't complain if I'm too rough," he grunted, pushing in with one thrust. His veins steamed with life, qi flowing as her grip strangled his little brother.
He pulled back, only to slam his hips forward again.
Han Jie's back arched. "At least ease into it."
"Would you like me to grab the oils?" he asked, but the resistance of her walls told him otherwise. He smirked, spanking her soft mountains.
Her gasp rang through the chamber, muffled by the pillows as her body shuddered beneath his thrust. The sharp sting of his palm against her flesh only seemed to ignite her further—her walls quivered around him, clamping greedily as if eager to devour every drop of his yang essence.
Shi Yang's smirk deepened. He let his hand linger on her pale peak, kneading roughly before delivering another strike. Each spank sent ripples through her body, and each ripple seemed to echo in her dantian, stirring the golden pool within.
"If you do a good job getting me started…" Han Jie breathed between moans, her voice breaking into a laugh that melted into a cry, "…then what need is there for oils?"
With a chuckle, Shi Yang's hand left her peak to wrap around the base of his throbbing member. He gave it a few slow strokes, savoring the sensation before pressing the head against Han Jie's entrance once more.
"Then we'll just have to be both rough and slow," he whispered, voice husky with desire. "We have all night to pick up the pace." With that, he pushed forward, sinking into her warmth inch by delicious inch.
Han Jie's back arched as he filled her completely. She let out a low moan, her walls clenching in welcome. "Mmm… Brother Shi," she purred, rolling her hips to meet his gentle thrusts.
Shi Yang grinned at the praise, his hips beginning to move with more purpose. He set a steady rhythm, each stroke drawing a gasp or whimper from Han Jie's lips. Her hands clutched the pillows as she met him thrust for thrust.
The bed creaked and groaned beneath their movements, the sound blending with panting breaths and moans of pleasure. Shi Yang could feel her body responding to his touch—every squeeze and shiver told him he was doing something right.
As their passion grew, he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You feel incredible," he breathed, kissing her neck and shoulder. "So tight and hot around me… I could stay like this forever."
Han Jie's response was a throaty laugh mixed with a cry of pleasure as he hit a particularly sensitive spot. "Then do stay," she urged between gasps. "Make love to me all night long."
He kissed her hard. "I want you to moan my name," his voice commanding, his whole body pressing into hers. His shaft buried deeper. "I want the city to hear it~" His fingers reached low, grabbing the underside of her knee, pressing it up on the mattress.
His throbbing member pistoned through her legs as he brought her other leg into the same "M" shape, pinning her like a frog on her stomach, forcing her hand to clutch the towel's hem—
"Ah—!" Her back arched sharply, a ragged gasp tearing from her lips. This brute actually knows how to angle me just right…
"Shi Yang—!" she cried when he drove deeper, fingers twisting in the sheets and towel as it slipped further down, baring her skin to the lamplight. "You want them to hear? Then earn those screams properly—hnngh!"
Her breath hitched as he adjusted, each thrust now hitting that sweet spot with punishing precision. "Don't stop there—" Han Jie's nails raked down his forearm where he pinned her knee higher. "Call yourself a cultivator and yet you're sloppy with your—ah!—your rhythm…"
Her taunt dissolved into a moan when his free hand found her nipple, rubbing rough circles just shy of cruel.
"Mmf! Now who's begging?" Shi Yang growled into her ear.
She only laughed breathlessly between gasps. "Begging? I'll show you begging when I ride you senseless at dawn. But first—nn! First prove you can make good on your boasting~"
Her face twisted with pained pleasure as his relentless thrusts struck her sweet spot again and again. The bed creaked beneath them, flesh slapping against flesh in a steady rhythm.
"You think a few tricks make up for lackluster skill?" Han Jie retorted breathlessly between moans. "If this is all you can muster, then I'll have to take over—"
Her words broke into a strangled cry as he slammed into that bundle of nerves once more. She trembled beneath him.
"Perhaps," she panted, "you're not as green as I thought after all."
Her eyes snapped open when he suddenly pulled out—then slammed back in with a grunt. Her body jolted at the intensity.
"Careful," she warned between clenched teeth as he picked up speed, "or you'll end up painting my walls with your essence before we're done."
"What if that's my very intention?" he whispered. His balls slapped against her with shallow, firm thrusts. "Sometimes it's the destination, not the journey, that matters."
"And wouldn't you like it any other way?"
Shi Yang's shaft twitched, his release close. "To know you're so irresistible that I couldn't wait to claim you~"
Han Jie's breath caught, the promise of his climax thrilling her. A smirk tugged at her lips. "Oh? And what makes you think I'm so irresistible?" Her challenge only stoked the heat between them.
She released the pillows, turning onto her back while keeping him buried inside. Her legs wrapped tight around his waist, pulling him deeper. The towel fell open, barely covering her, urging him on.
The heat between them was suffocating now, every thrust a spark in the blaze.
"Perhaps," Han Jie purred huskily, "it's because I'm the only one who can make you feel this good." Her nails dug into his back as she met him thrust for thrust. "So go ahead and claim me—make it count."
She parted her lips in invitation, and he took them in a messy, hungry kiss.
Their tongues tangled as he pumped his final, feverish shots into her garden. Her moans trembled down his throat as his essence spilled in long, hot ribbons.
Her back lifted, toes curling as she shuddered violently. "Haa… ha… nhm…"