Chapter 5: The Blood & The Bath**
The Golden Dragon Pavilion. The Inner Bathhouse.
Steam hung thick and heavy in the air, fragrant with the scent of crushed rose petals and warm, spiritual milk.
Su Ruoyan sat submerged in the massive iron-wood tub, the hot water lapping against her collarbones.
Her long black hair floated around her like dark silk in the milky water.
She was trying to scrub away the lingering tension of the day, but her mind was trapped in a loop, replaying the carnage in the Main Hall.
Jiang Yi... crushing Liu Cheng's hand like a dry twig.
Jiang Yi... claiming her body as his exclusive territory in front of the world.
Her heart hammered against her ribs.
As the City Lord, she should be calculating the fallout. She should be berating him for his recklessness.
But deep in the pit of her stomach, a hollow, aching heat was spreading.
The memory of his blood-stained boots and those cold, golden eyes made her legs tremble even beneath the surface of the water.
Click.
The heavy door groaned open. Ruoyan froze, her hands flying up to cover her chest.
"Husband?"
Jiang Yi walked in, radiating a predatory heat that seemed to burn through the steam.
He had discarded his blood-soaked robes, leaving only his loose trousers hanging low on his hips.
His torso was a masterpiece of corded, marble-hard muscle, glistening with sweat and humidity.
Small, dried flecks of the bodyguards' blood still clung to his skin—a grim reminder of the hunt.
He didn't look like a man; he looked like a war-god returning from a slaughter.
"The water looks inviting," Jiang Yi said, his voice a low, raspy vibration that made the water in the tub ripple.
He didn't wait for an invitation. He stepped into the tub, his weight causing the water to surge over the rim.
"Jiang Yi! Wait, I haven't—" Ruoyan tried to retreat, but the tub felt suddenly, claustrophobically small.
Jiang Yi sat opposite her, his long, muscular legs brushing against her soft thighs underwater.
The contact sent a jolt of electricity straight to her pu*sy. He leaned back, watching her with hungry, golden eyes.
Her wet hair clung to her neck; her skin was flushed a deep, delicious pink from the heat.
Her breasts floated in the milky water, the dark, sensitive tips barely concealed, hardened by the sudden, suffocating tension.
"Come here," Jiang Yi commanded.
Ruoyan bit her lip, her pride fighting a losing battle against the demand of her blood.
"We... we have to talk about the Liu Clan. They'll retaliate. The city needs funds for the defense—"
"I said, come here."
Jiang Yi's hand shot out underwater, gripping her ankle. With one effortless tug, he pulled her toward him.
"Ah!"
Ruoyan slid through the water, a cry of surprise escaping her lips.
Jiang Yi caught her by the waist and hoisted her upward, settling her firmly onto his lap.
Now, she was straddling him, her soft, dripping breasts pressed flush against the iron-hard heat of his chest.
"You like it, don't you?" Jiang Yi whispered, his fingers tangling in her wet hair to tilt her head back.
"When I broke that cur... when I stood over him... you weren't terrified. You were dripping wet for me."
Ruoyan's face burned a deep crimson.
"I... I wasn't..."
"Liar."
Jiang Yi crushed his mouth against hers. It was a kiss that tasted of iron, dominance, and raw possession. He didn't ask; he took, his tongue invading her mouth and demanding total surrender.
Ruoyan tried to keep her hands against his chest to push him away, but within seconds, her fingers were clawing at his shoulders, pulling him closer.
His hand moved underwater, sliding between her thighs to find the drenched, swollen pu*sy with overflowing liquid.
"See?" Jiang Yi smirked against her lips, his fingers tracing her slick folds.
"You're f*cking overflowing. And we both know it's not the bathwater."
"Husband..." Ruoyan panted, her head falling back as his thumb found the sensitive pearl of her desire.
"You... you are a tyrant."
"And you are my queen,"
Jiang Yi growled, his voice dropping to a lethal, carnal tone.
"Which means you belong on your knees—or on my dick."
He lifted her hips. Beneath the water, his weapon was a pillar of fire, thick and pulsating with golden Yang energy.
"Sink down. Take it all."
Ruoyan took a jagged breath, looking into his glowing golden eyes before slowly lowering herself.
Squelch.
"Oh god!" Ruoyan gasped, her eyes rolling back as he breached her entrance.
The water acted as a lubricant, but the sheer, agonizing girth of him felt like it was splitting her in two.
She sank down inch by agonizing inch until she was fully seated, his massive length buried deep within her.
"Perfect fit," Jiang Yi groaned, his hands molding her heavy, floating breasts.
He began to move.
Splash. Slap. Splash.
The water churned violently, spilling over the sides of the tub as he thrust upward.
"Harder..." Ruoyan moaned, all her "City Lord" dignity dissolving into the steam.
The friction of the water and his skin was driving her into a frenzy. "Make me forget... make me forget the clans...
just f*ck me!"
"As you command."
Jiang Yi accelerated, his powerful glutes driving him into her with the relentless force of a cultivator.
The sound of their bodies colliding—wet, heavy, and primal—echoed off the tiled walls. Ruoyan's nails dug into his back, leaving red, desperate crescents on his marble skin.
"Jiang Yi... I'm breaking... it's too much!" she screamed, her body tightening into a knot of pure pleasure.
"Don't you dare hold back," Jiang Yi commanded, his hands squeezing her breasts until they bruised. "Give me everything!"
He slammed into her one final, devastating time, his tip striking the very back of her womb.
"YES!" Ruoyan shrieked, her back arching like a bow as a violent, soul-shattering orgasm tore through her.
Jiang Yi held her hips in a vice-like grip, riding the wave of her tremors before his own release erupted.
He groaned, burying his face in her neck as he poured his filthy load of cum into her, filling her to the point of overflowing.
One Hour Later.
The water had cooled, but the two bodies remained entangled, radiating a lingering heat. Ruoyan lay limp against Jiang Yi's chest, completely boneless.
The anxiety of the day had vanished, replaced by a deep, animalistic sense of security.
"Husband," she murmured lazily, tracing the lines of his muscles. "We still need the Spirit Stones. The defensive formation requires 10,000... we don't have that kind of capital."
Jiang Yi stroked her hair, his eyes sharp once more. The post-cultivation clarity had set in.
"Money..." Jiang Yi smirked.
"Don't worry about the gold."
He stood up, water cascading off his defined frame. He stepped out and wrapped a towel around his waist, looking every bit the sovereign.
"I have a plan."
"What plan?" Ruoyan asked, her eyes lingering on his muscular back.
Jiang Yi walked to a dusty chest in the corner and retrieved a yellowed, ancient manual.
[Divine Sense Scripture]
"I'm going to become a Runemaster," Jiang Yi stated.
"A Runemaster?!" Ruoyan sat up, splashing the cooling water. "But you have no talent for Mental Energy!
Grandmaster Gu said your Spirit Sea was a desert!"
"Grandmaster Gu is a fool," Jiang Yi said, turning around. His eyes suddenly flickered with a mysterious, piercing silver light.
Buzz.
An invisible ripple of energy vibrated through the room. It picked up Ruoyan's silk robe from the floor and floated it through the air, draping it gently over her shoulders.
Ruoyan's jaw dropped. "Telekinesis? You... you opened your Spirit Sea?"
"Just now," Jiang Yi lied effortlessly. "While we were 'refining' your physique."
He walked to the window, looking out toward the distant peaks.
"Get dressed, wife.
I'm heading to the Bamboo Grove. I need to borrow a cauldron... and pay a visit to a certain 'Iceberg Goddess' I've heard so much about."
Ruoyan's eyes narrowed instantly.
"Zi Ling? You're going to see the Alchemist Zi Ling?"
Jiang Yi grinned, a flash of mischief in his golden eyes. "Business, my dear. Purely business."
He leaped out the window and vanished into the night before she could throw a bar of soap at his head.
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