Chapter 116: Old Wounds and Lingering Affections

The woman was completely naked, her entire body covered in dark, inky blood, obscuring her original appearance. Yet her fiery figure, with its alluring curves and perfect silhouette, was unmistakable. The faint outline of a hidden valley beneath her form almost made Qin Feng choke on his own breath. Such exquisite beauty—it was truly a temptation to sin!

Unfortunately, the woman was a bit older than his preference.

After emerging from the blood pool, the woman quickly stepped onto the cold, hard ground at the pool’s edge. She seemed wary of the blood pool, eager to leave it behind.

Once she used a cleansing talisman to wash herself clean, Qin Feng focused his gaze on her and was utterly astonished.

He recognized her!

She was Qin Xinyue, wife of Li Xingjian and mother of Li Haoran!

How had she come here? And why was she soaking in a yin pool?

“Tian Yao, does soaking in a yin pool still have an effect if it’s been used before?” Qin Feng asked.

“Hmph, you’re giving Qin Xinyue too much credit, kid. She’s only at the seventh stage of the Earth Gang realm; the amount of energy she can absorb is quite limited. Did you notice the anxious look on her face when she came out of the yin pool? Clearly, she couldn’t handle the pool’s immense energy influx. However, she still gained a lot from this soak—not only advancing to the eighth stage, but the blood energy from the yin pool will linger within her body for some time, smoothing her cultivation path ahead and even lowering the bottleneck to the Heavenly Gang realm.”

Tian Yao’s tone was filled with reverence, and Qin Feng’s eyes sparkled as he stared intently at the yin-yang blood pool before him, growing more eager than ever.

“This really is a treasure!”

“All right, kid, hold your excitement. The mysterious entity within the pool has been disturbed, and if nothing unexpected happens, a good show is about to begin.”

“Oh?”

Startled, Qin Feng glanced at Qin Xinyue.

She had already pulled a set of pink clothes from her storage ring and dressed herself, covering her enticing figure.

Qin Feng felt a twinge of disappointment.

Though Li Xingjian was his enemy, he was still willing to indulge his eyes on his wife just this once.

After dressing, Qin Xinyue suddenly furrowed her brows and frowned sharply. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

At that moment, Qin Feng’s heart skipped a beat.

“Have we been discovered?”

All along, Qin Feng had been confident in his large black cloak; unless he moved quickly right under someone’s gaze, it was difficult to detect him when he remained still and hidden.

His calm temperament, developed over time, now served him well.

Qin Feng stayed motionless, silently waiting.

Sure enough, after a short while, a middle-aged man in black emerged with a cold sneer from behind a huge stone on the other side of the pit.

Squinting, Qin Feng examined him.

The man was clad in black, of average build, carrying a large black coffin floating behind him. His facial features were striking because only half his face remained—horribly disfigured as if gnawed by some wild beast, with exposed white bones that were terrifying. His right hand was without flesh, a skeletal claw instead.

His gaze at Qin Xinyue was fanatical, his blood-red tongue licking as if he intended to devour her alive.

What a sinister person, Qin Feng thought.

His outfit marked him as a member of the Earth Corpse Sect, and his cultivation level was just a hair below Qin Xinyue’s. This was likely thanks to her recent soak in the blood pool; otherwise, their powers would have been equal.

Surprisingly, Qin Xinyue did not attack immediately.

Not only did she refrain from striking, but she also stopped readying the Tianbo Yin Phoenix Qin she held in her hands.

“Qu She, it’s you… you’re still alive?”

Recognizing the man, Qin Xinyue first exhaled in relief, then looked at him in shock, as if his presence defied all expectation.

“Hmph, Heaven has finally opened its eyes to let me live so I could see this day come!”

The man named Qu She wore a triumphant expression. His one eye locked onto Qin Xinyue with wild passion. He had clearly been hiding behind the stone for some time, probably like Qin Feng, having witnessed her naked form.

A flicker of anger crossed Qin Xinyue’s face, her gaze seemingly burning with wrath.

“What’s there to be angry about? It’s not the first time you’ve seen me! And your body now makes me even more tempted, tsk tsk.”

“Shut up!”

Qin Xinyue was finally provoked to fury. She struck the Tianbo Yin Phoenix Qin, and the space around Qu She rippled like water.

Immediately, a faint melody arose, and the ripples spread out, forming countless strange waves of sound blades swirling around Qu She.

An auditory killing formation, a revolving strangulation!

As the music played, the sound wave blades danced fiercely, twisting him several times in the blink of an eye.

Qu She stood unmoving from start to finish.

Though the blades shredded his clothing to tatters, not one blade cut through his flesh.

“Haha, you’re still the same as before. Those who know you best are none other than me!”

Qin Xinyue ceased playing the qin. When her eyes fell on Qu She’s tattered clothes, the half-destroyed body beneath, and his grotesque face, memories seemed to stir within her. She hesitated briefly, then softened.

“Qu She, I don’t know how you survived, but in this state, you should cherish yourself more and stop interfering with my life. I have a husband and son now. With your strength and your position in the Earth Corpse Sect, any woman you want would come easily. Why cling so desperately to me?”

A mixture of hatred and bitterness flickered across Qin Xinyue’s face.

The man in black suddenly twisted his face into a grimace.

“Hmph, this is what you owe me! You promised that after I helped you, you would find a way to be with me. How did you repay me? Ridiculous! I did so much for you, even sacrificing my face and half my body to create misunderstandings between Li Xingjian, Luo Yuchan, and that old bastard from the Qin family. But what did I get? A dagger in the back!”

“I was too naive! Foolishly naive!”

His inner torment distorted his already hideous face further.

“Do you know how I survived? Do you know the pain of watching half your body being gnawed away by a living corpse, bit by bit?”

“All because of you! Because of you!”

The black-clad Qu She suddenly roared, almost raising his hand to strike Qin Xinyue, but as his hand neared her face, he stopped.

His eyes brimmed with intense love and seething hatred.

Qin Xinyue merely stood there, a trace of guilt on her face, allowing Qu She to make the move.

She knew he would never truly hit her.

Because the one who understood Qu She best was none other than herself.

They had grown up as childhood sweethearts, both apprenticed at Mount Shu Sword... yet her heart had changed. Qu She’s love for her remained steadfast as a rock.

But now Qu She was paying a terrible price for his devotion.

A broken body and the infamous reputation of an Earth Corpse Sect demon!