The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

Shen Yifei set up a simple barrier at the entrance of the cave and had the little monster squat at the entrance to guard it.

The little monster lay on the ground, its chin resting on its front paws, its eyes half-open and half-closed, its tail occasionally brushing the ground.

Bai Lu sat down against the stone wall, clutching her shoulder, her face flickering in the firelight. She had taken the healing pills Shen Yifei had given her, and the crack in her shoulder blade was healing, but very slowly.

Shen Yifei took out some dry food from his ring and gave it to her. Bai Lu took it and nibbled on it in small bites, then put it down after a couple of bites.

"Don't you like the food?"

"No," Bai Lu shook her head, "I'm just not hungry."

Shen Yifei didn't say anything more. He finished his dry rations and leaned against the stone wall to rest. The campfire crackled and popped, and sparks occasionally bounced onto the cave wall, scattering a few points of light.

"Young Master," Bai Lu suddenly spoke.

"Um?"

"May I ask you a question?"

"ask."

"Is the medicinal scent on you, young master, natural?"

"No." Shen Yifei closed his eyes again. "It was made from alchemy."

"It smells so good." Bai Lu's voice was very soft. "I have never smelled such a good scent before."

Shen Yifei remained silent, thinking to himself, "It seems this woman can't resist the scent of the medicine either. Women, if they can't resist throwing themselves at me, I'll accept it. Anyway, I didn't force her, and besides, this woman is beautiful and innocent."

After about half an hour, Shen Yifei's breathing became long and even.

He fell asleep.

Bai Lu sat across the campfire, staring at Shen Yifei's face for a while. Then her gaze shifted to his chest, to the spot where the medicinal fragrance was strongest. She licked her lips.

"Young master?" she called softly.

Shen Yifei did not react.

Bai Lu stood up without making a sound. She walked around the campfire, went to Shen Yifei, and squatted down.

Her face was very close to Shen Yifei's, close enough that she could see the fine hairs on the tip of his nose. The scent of medicine seeped from his skin and entered her nostrils. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

It's the taste.

She inhaled the scent for three days in the Ten Thousand Mountains. From the first day Shen Yifei stepped into the Ten Thousand Mountains, this medicinal fragrance was like an invisible thread, leading her all the way to him.

She deliberately lured the black bear demon there. She deliberately suffered the injuries. The fractured scapula and damaged meridians were real, but these injuries meant nothing to her. She simply wanted to see if this man would save her.

A strange light flashed in her pupils in the firelight, but it disappeared in an instant.

The little monster lay at the cave entrance, its eyes darting this way, and a low whimper escaped its throat. Bai Lu turned her head and glanced at it.

Just one glance.

The little monster's whimpering sound was stuck in its throat, and it buried its head in its paws, remaining motionless.

Bai Lu turned back and continued to stare at Shen Yifei.

She reached out, her fingers hovering an inch above Shen Yifei's chest, and slowly moved down. From his chest to his dantian, and from his dantian to his lower abdomen.

"The golden core is cracked," she muttered to herself. "Three seams. Stitched with threads of love, quite ingenious."

She withdrew her hand, rested her chin on her hand, and tilted her head to look at Shen Yifei's face.

"Young master is not bad-looking either."

She stuck out the tip of her tongue and licked her lips. "Taste it first, don't suck it all up at once. If you suck it all up, it'll be gone."

Her finger touched Shen Yifei's brow.

A wisp of extremely thin white light emerged from her fingertip, like a small snake, and slithered into Shen Yifei's brow.

Shen Yifei frowned slightly in his dream.

He dreamt that he was standing in a thick, white fog. The fog was so thick that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. As he walked forward, the fog receded, always keeping a distance of about three feet from him.

Then a woman emerged from the fog.

It is White Dew.

She was wearing a light blue long dress, exactly the same as the one she wore during the day, but her demeanor was completely different.

During the day, Bailu is timid, blushing when she speaks and walking with her head down, like a frightened fawn. In her dreams, Bailu is alluring, with upturned lips and eyes brimming with spring water.

"Young master." She walked over and hooked her arm around his neck. "I've been waiting for you for so long."

Shen Yifei tried to back away, but his feet were rooted to the ground and he couldn't move.

"What...what are you?"

"I am Bailu." Her lips brushed against his earlobe. "You saved me during the day, and I have come to repay your kindness."

Her hand slid down his neck, down his chest. Where her fingers touched, his clothes tore open, revealing the skin beneath.

Shen Yifei felt his body heating up. The heat surged from his dantian, as if someone had lit a fire in his stomach.

He tried to push Bai Lu away, but instead of putting his hand up, he wrapped it around her waist.

"Young master, don't be afraid." Bai Lu's lips moved from his earlobe to the corner of his mouth. "I don't want your life. I only want one thing from you."

"What is it?"

"Young Master's yang energy." She held his lower lip and gently bit it. "Not much, just a little bit. Young Master's yang energy is abundant, giving me a little bit won't hurt."

Shen Yifei's mind was blank; he couldn't push her hand away, and he couldn't open his mouth to say "no."

Bai Lu's fingers roamed over his body, and every place she touched felt as if the skin there was on fire.

Shen Yifei struggled with his last shred of consciousness. He felt something was wrong; this woman was wrong, this dream was wrong, nothing was right.

But the heat was too intense, like a flood that overwhelmed all his defenses.

Bai Lu pushed him down into the white mist.

The mist cradled their bodies like a soft, comfortable bed. She straddled him, her pale blue dress spreading out like flower petals.

"My lord, I am about to begin." She leaned down, her lips pressed against his throat. "It will hurt a little, my lord, please bear with it."

She took a bite.

Shen Yifei felt as if two thin needles had pricked his throat. Then a huge suction force came from her mouth, and the yang energy in his dantian surged out like water from a burst dam.

That suction force was too strong.

Shen Yifei felt like a teapot with its spout pinched shut, the water inside being sucked out bit by bit.

The yang energy surged upwards along the meridians, passing through her chest and throat, and then flowed out through the two small holes she had bitten.

He tried to struggle, but his body was as limp as a puddle of mud. His limbs wouldn't obey him, and he couldn't even lift his eyelids.

I could only feel my yang energy flowing out in streams, and my body becoming colder and colder, and emptier.

Bai Lu lay on top of him, making gurgling sounds in her throat, like a wild beast that hadn't eaten for three days finally getting some meat.

Her body swayed slightly with the sucking motion, her dress slipping off her shoulders to reveal her snow-white back. Faint silver lines appeared on her back.

The pattern resembled a tattoo, or perhaps some kind of innate mark.

As she absorbed more and more yang energy, the lines on her face became brighter and brighter, spreading from her back to her shoulders, and then from her shoulders to her arms.

Just then, a surge of heat suddenly welled up in his chest.

Several extremely fine red threads emerged from under the skin of his chest, piercing Bai Lu's chest like needles.

Bai Lu paused for a moment.

She opened her mouth and looked down at the few red threads on her chest. Where the threads had pierced, several small red dots appeared on her skin, like mosquito bites.

"A demon of love?" She tilted her head, her tone tinged with surprise. "Young master, you have a demon of love residing in your heart? I've misjudged you."

She reached out and pinched a strand of red silk, then gently tugged at it.

The red thread broke.

The demon of passion let out a muffled groan from his chest.

Bai Lu pinched the second strand, then the third strand, and...

The Demon of Passion's voice grew weaker and weaker, "Young Master... I've tried my best... This woman isn't human... She is..."

Before he could finish speaking, his voice trailed off.