The man is a monk in the inside, and he starts by giving his wife a crown.

They grew up here together and are as close as sisters.

Akiyama Rinko showed a helpless yet doting smile on her face, and reached out to ruffle Xuefeng's hair:

"How could I forget? Isn't this here?"

When Xuefeng saw Xiuyuan standing beside him, his body shuddered subconsciously.

She still has some psychological trauma from the last time she became incontinent due to electric shock.

After greeting Xiuyuan, Xuefeng immediately entangled with Rinko again:

"Sister Rinko, I want to tell you that the power of my lightning gun has increased again recently! Come on, I'll take you to the training ground. And by the way, tell me what "947" is saying about what's going on outside!"

Without saying anything, she pulled Rinko deeper into the house, not giving Rinko any chance to refuse.

Mizuki Shiranui looked at her daughter's hurried back, a smile flashed in her eyes, and then quickly disappeared.

She secretly rejoiced. Although Xuefeng was a bit impulsive, she had been a great help this time. Finally...she could be alone with Master Xiuyuan.

An indescribable warmth rose from her lower abdomen. She subconsciously brought her feet together in their tabi, tightening her knees slightly to suppress the throbbing sensation. She turned to Xiu Yuan, a look of just the right amount of apology on her face, and bowed slightly.

"My little girl is naughty and makes you laugh."

"It's okay. Xuefeng is straightforward, lively and lovely." Xiuyuan said in a calm tone, looking at her with clear eyes.

Shiranui's heart skipped a beat when he looked at her, and she quickly turned sideways and made a "please" gesture:

"Master, please follow me to the living room and sit for a while."

She led Xiuyuan through the wooden corridor and came to an elegant Japanese-style room.

The room was spotlessly clean, the tatami exuded the fragrance of rush, and a set of exquisite tea sets was placed in the middle.

Shiranui gestured for Xiuyuan to sit in the main seat, while she knelt opposite him and began to prepare the tea ceremony with graceful and skillful movements.

Her fingers are slender and white, and every movement is rhythmic. She warms the cup, places the tea, pours water, and whisks... Her movements are smooth and pleasing to the eye.

However, only she herself knew how fast her heartbeat was beneath her seemingly calm appearance, and how every breath carried an imperceptible heat.

She didn't even dare to look directly at the monk's face opposite her for too long. His calm eyes always made her feel inexplicably flustered and... a deeper desire.

Shiranui presented a bowl of emerald green matcha with both hands. Her fingertips turned slightly white due to nervousness, but she tried hard to maintain steady movements.

The temperature of the tea bowl passed through her fingertips, bringing a hint of warmth, but it could not dispel the heat rising in her heart.

Xiuyuan took the tea bowl, which was warm.

He lowered his head, gently blew away the foam, then brought it to his lips and took a slow sip.

"Yes, Not Bad."

He put down the tea bowl and his eyes fell on Shiranui's slightly tense face.

"Ms. Shiranui's tea ceremony skills are quite high."

This plain compliment was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples in Shiranui's heart.

She quickly lowered her eyes to hide the panic in them, but her cheeks involuntarily turned red.

"Master, your praise is too great... These are just some crude techniques, not worthy of being considered a masterpiece."

The voice was a little softer than usual, with a barely perceptible tremor.

Next, the two chatted casually.

Xiuyuan asked about the customs and habits of Gokuma Town, as well as the details of the daily training of Taimanin.

Shiranui tried to concentrate on answering, but her eyes kept drifting to the overly handsome face opposite her.

He spoke in a calm and steady tone, with clear eyes, as if he could see through everything, yet with a detached indifference.

This contradictory temperament made her heart beat faster and her breathing became a little rapid.

The only sounds in the Japanese-style room were the two people whispering and the occasional clinking of tea sets.

The silence amplified the clamor within Shiranui. She could clearly hear the rush of her blood and feel the familiar heat begin to spread again.

She forced herself to look away and stare at the tea tray in front of her, but the scene of that night emerged uncontrollably in her mind: the image of him helping her dispel the silver poison, the refreshing and pleasant scent on his body, and her own loss of composure in front of him.

Those were things she had never shown to her husband who died young.

These images kept interweaving, making her feel uneasy.

The movement of his hands preparing to add water again paused, and the kettle shook slightly.

No, this couldn't go on! This blasphemous, almost morbid thought was driving her crazy!

Finally, as if she had made up her mind, she put the kettle down abruptly, not caring about the few drops of tea that spilled out.

She took a deep breath, lowered her body, supported her hands on the tatami, pressed her forehead tightly against the ground, and performed a standard tatami bow.

"Master Xiuyuan, please, please forgive Shiranui's sins!"

Her voice was tearful and her body was shaking slightly.

Xiu Yuan looked at the woman lying on the ground. His hand holding the tea bowl paused for a moment, his face still expressionless.

"Donor Shiranui, why do you say that? What crime have you committed that I need to forgive?"

Shiranui closed her eyes tightly, as if she had exhausted all her strength before she spoke her heart out in a broken voice:

"Ever since Master exorcised the succubus's silver poison from me that day, Shiranui, Shiranui has been dreaming of that scene every night... every night these past few days, and has done... done many things that blasphemed Master..."

Her voice became lower and lower, almost inaudible at the end, and her cheeks were so red that they seemed to bleed.

"And the monk's robe given by the master is..." She couldn't go on any further when she recalled the scene of herself falling asleep with the robe under her arms every night and washing it every morning.

"Shiranui's sins are grave! Master, please punish me!"

This shocking confession exploded like thunder in the silent Japanese-style room.

This heavy secret weighed on her heart for too long, causing her great distress. She dared not mention it to anyone, not even to face her own daughter.

Now that she had finally poured it out in front of him, the huge sense of shame almost overwhelmed her, but at the same time, she also felt a sense of exhaustion as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

She waited, waiting for the other party's scolding, contempt, or any form of punishment.

Would the master rebuke her, despise her, fly into a rage?

Thoughts kept popping up in Shiranui's mind, and together with the burning feeling, they made her subconsciously clamp her legs together.

However, the expected wrath of thunder did not come.

The room was still quiet, with only the occasional gurgling of boiling tea and her own rapid heartbeat.

A calm voice came from above, breaking the suffocating silence:

"Donor Shiranui, raise your head."

Shiranui hesitated for a moment and slowly raised her head.

She saw Xiu Yuan holding a tea bowl, looking at her calmly, his eyes still clear, as if the shocking confession just now was just like a breeze blowing across the water, without leaving a ripple.

There seemed to be a subtle curve at the corner of his mouth, but it didn't look like a smile, more like a kind of detached calmness.

"These are all human emotions, or perhaps they are the remnants of the succubus's silver poison that eroded the mind."

Xiuyuan's voice was gentle, without any trace of blame.

"Lust and desire are illusions that must be dispelled on the path of cultivation. The fact that you are troubled by them simply proves that you have reverence in your heart and are not beyond redemption."

He paused, put down the tea bowl, and looked at Shiranui's face, which was flushed with shame and excitement.

"The practice of Buddhism is all about subduing the mind. Only by subduing false thoughts and instincts can one see the true nature. What you have experienced is merely a demonic obstacle on the path of practice. What sin is there in it?"

These words were like a shower of rain from heaven, extinguishing the burning guilt in Shiranui's heart.

Residual silver poison? A spiritual obstacle? She felt like a drowning person grasping at a straw, her chaotic thoughts instantly finding a logical outlet.

Yes, it must be that damned silver poison! Master, your Buddhist teachings are profound, and you will definitely be able to see through the essence!

The feeling of shame was quickly replaced by a sense of relief at having survived and an inexplicable sense of dependence.

She looked at Xiuyuan's handsome face, which was not that of an ordinary person. His calm eyes seemed to be full of compassion and wisdom to her.

She subconsciously reached out her hand and gently stroked her burning cheek, her voice filled with a hint of urgent pleading:

"Master... since it's a demonic obstacle, then... what should Shiranui do? Master, please have mercy and help Shiranui... help me subdue this... this disturbing instinct!"

She leaned forward slightly, took half a step on her knees, and almost crawled in front of Xiu Yuan, her eyes full of hope and dependence, as if he was her only hope to escape from this abyss of pain.

??A moment later, a burst of hurried and energetic footsteps approached from afar, interrupting the silence in the room.

"mom!"

The sound of Mizuki Yukikaze's roaring voice came in first, and then her healthy tanned figure rushed to the door of the Japanese-style room like a gust of wind.

???Her gaze swept over Xiu Yuan, who was sitting in front of the kotatsu, sipping tea calmly. Her body stiffened slightly, the shadow of the last time she was electrocuted and became incontinent had not yet completely dissipated.

She restrained herself slightly and bowed slightly in the direction of Xiu Yuan:

"Master Xiuyuan."

Then she looked at the empty room in confusion:

"Huh? Where's mom?"

Xiuyuan put down the tea bowl, his expression normal:

"Donor Shiranui has some matters that he is dealing with."

"Oh……"

Xuefeng blinked and didn't think much about it. Sometimes her mother would suddenly become busy.

She was now completely focused on dragging Rinko out to play, so she turned to Xiu Yuan and bowed again:

"Master, I will take Sister Rinko to the academy first, so I won't disturb you anymore."

"It doesn't matter, go ahead."

Xiuyuan nodded.

"Thank you, Master!"

Xuefeng responded happily and pulled Rinko to leave.

When she turned around, she almost tripped over the kotatsu on the ground. She couldn't help but look down and muttered softly:

"Really? Mom is so afraid of the cold that she's already brought out the kotatsu...it's scorching hot."

She didn't look at it any further and just skipped away with Rinko in her arms.

The footsteps completely disappeared deep into the courtyard.

The room returned to silence again, with only the faint sound of boiling tea remaining.

After a while, the quilt covering the kotatsu moved, and then Mizuki Shiranui crawled out from under the kotatsu in a somewhat embarrassed manner.

Her hair was a little messy, with a few strands of hair on her red cheeks. The collar of her kimono was a little loose, revealing a small piece of white neck skin.

She knelt on the tatami, gasping for breath, and it took her a long time to recover.

She didn't dare to look up at Xiuyuan, but lowered her head. Her voice was thin and trembling, filled with the exhaustion of surviving a disaster and inexpressible gratitude:

"Thank you, Master. Just now, just now, Xuefeng..." If the master had not reacted quickly and covered it up in time with words, she really didn't know how to face Xuefeng.

Mizuki Shiranui knelt on the tatami with her head lowered.

Just now, in the dark and narrow space under the kotatsu, the voice of Xuefeng talking outside and Master Xiuyuan's calm response seemed to come through a layer of water film, blurry yet 4.6 extremely clear.

Every second seemed as long as a century. She could even hear her own heart beating like a drum. She was afraid that even the slightest sound or breath would leak out and be noticed by Xuefeng.

Now that Xuefeng is gone, the crisis is temporarily resolved.

But the feeling of exhaustion from having her secret discovered and then having escaped by chance just now, intertwined with her, made her feel as if a string in her body had completely broken.

She recalled herself lying on the ground, crying to the young monk about her unspeakable dreams and desires, recalled his calm eyes, as if he had already seen through everything, recalled herself almost instinctively crawling before him, begging him to help her subdue the instinct that should not exist.

What on earth are you doing?

The mistress of the Mizuki family, the respected Taimanin, Yukikaze's mother...all these identities have become vague and distant at this moment.

She felt like a broken piece of porcelain. The outside might still be pieced together, but the inside was full of cracks and could never be restored to its original integrity.

The feeling of being out of control, the unfamiliarity and disgust with herself, made her feel a chill in her heart, which was then followed by an even more intense heat.

"It's a demonic barrier! Yes, it must be that damn silver poison that hasn't been completely eliminated!"