Chapter 57 Mutual Understanding: She and He Tolerated Each Other

How can we describe Jiang Geyun's feelings at this moment?

Like a roller coaster climbing to its peak and about to plunge, like standing in the safety zone of a high-altitude glass walkway, about to take that step forward... She believed she wasn't actually in danger, but her body was prepared for a life-or-death crisis. Before her heartbeat could even quicken, tension, excitement, anticipation, and pleasure were already surging together.

What was it again?

Adrenaline, dopamine, endorphins?

Or perhaps both?

Jiang Geyun's throat became dry, and she unconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

After pausing for a moment, she continued to examine the consciousness of the person in front of her.

The sea of ​​consciousness before him was perfectly calm, and Cheng Xi's soul was whole and at peace.

—At least that's how it appears on the surface.

After officially becoming a Night Watcher, Jiang Geyun finally underwent the necessary training. If she were facing Su Heng's questioning now, she certainly wouldn't be nervous.

Taoist practitioners are accustomed to using the term "sea" to refer to things that are condensed and gathered together and cannot be named. This applies to the Sea of ​​Karma and the Sea of ​​Consciousness.

The former is the final resting place for billions of dead souls since the birth of the world, a graveyard for all living beings, a place where disordered souls settle, like a hell without any management, where dead souls stagnate in one place, and even an occasional overflow is a disaster worthy of extinction.

The latter is an abstract world that contains the individual's soul. For those who have attained enlightenment, it can be opened up as a new universe, free and vast. For ordinary people, the sea of ​​consciousness is almost equivalent to the soul.

The narrow, secluded space, barely big enough to hold one's own soul, was now open to her. He showed no resistance to her touch, giving her complete freedom in this most private place.

Jiang Geyun tried to act within his sea of ​​consciousness.

At the same time, he was staring intently at her.

At such close proximity, where they could almost hear each other's breath, he sketched and outlined her existence, thus maintaining his rationality and allowing him to continue creating a sufficiently tranquil sea of ​​consciousness to isolate all curses and insults from her, so that she would not notice.

This is not in line with his plan.

He could have let her get hurt; she was capable of protecting herself. At most, it would be like being "burned," and after quickly pulling away, she wouldn't suffer much. Then, he could have casually explained that he had been assassinated, and she would have believed him.

Or rather—don't give her a chance to escape.

He pulled her protruding soul out, encircled it in her sea of ​​consciousness, washed away all her thoughts of escape, and reshaped her with his desires, making her have pure trust in every version of him, so that she would only look at him from then on.

Why wasn't that done?

Why did the "perfect" version of her that he had imagined become so boring, while the woman in front of him was radiating warmth, giving him immense satisfaction even as he felt torn apart?

He probably needed her very, very much.

...

Jiang Geyun's eyelashes trembled incessantly.

She was supposed to finish her check, circle around, and head back, but instead, she seemed locked in place by the tides, circling, being pulled, and then touching—

Upon contact, both of them shuddered.

The extreme exposure brought waves of exhilarating tremors, a mixture of fear and ecstasy, blurring the boundaries between self and other, as she and he embraced and permeated each other.

Instinctively, she felt that continuing might lead her into some terrifying abyss, so she struggled to abruptly pull herself out of the uncontrollable descent—

For a moment, Jiang Geyun couldn't help but breathe rapidly.

After an unknown amount of time, the mysterious dizziness and disorientation subsided like the receding tide, leaving behind a faint lingering aftertaste.

Although some unexpected things happened, at least it was confirmed that the people in front of him were safe.

Her condition gradually returned to normal.

Only then did she realize that their hands were still clasped together.

...Compared to the contact just now, holding hands is indeed an action that can be easily overlooked.

Jiang Geyun leaned back, and their foreheads, which had been touching, separated.

She opened her eyes, about to say something, but was startled by the appearance of the person in front of her.

Cheng Xi's face was pale, and sweat dripped down his throat as his Adam's apple bobbed.

As gentle as he was, he had always given her a warm and comforting feeling. However, at this moment, his demeanor became cold and sickly. His weakness did not make him appear more vulnerable; instead, it revealed a kind of gloomy and terrifying aggression.

The hand that wasn't holding hers sank deeply into the cushion. His fingers were long and slender with distinct knuckles. He should have been casually twirling chess pieces or turning the pages of a book, but now he was gripping it so tightly it was almost discolored, his grip tightening with extreme restraint.

Jiang Geyun gasped for breath.

She never imagined that her investigation would cause him such immense pain.

Is it fair to say that not saying this... is it a case of failing to achieve one's goal before it even begins?

She previously only knew how to do it in principle and what to be careful about, but had never tried it in this way before.

After this experience, she will be extremely cautious about exploring the sea of ​​consciousness in the future... no, it would be best if she never did it again!

Jiang Geyun opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

After a moment of hesitation, she coughed lightly to break the silence and forced herself to say, "...My lord."

Just as she was surprised by her own dry voice, Cheng Xi suddenly raised his head and stared at her intently.

Their eyes met.

The next instant, she was pressed against the sedan wall, and her eyes were completely covered.

Jiang Geyun called out again, slightly bewildered, "My lord?"

Familiar lips pressed against hers, forcing her to swallow the words she hadn't finished.

Perhaps because of his previous experience, he didn't hesitate at all this time. After the first touch, he immediately pried open her lips and tongue, hooked her tongue tip, and swallowed her breath.

Jiang Geyun was being suppressed. He covered her eyes with one hand and placed the other hand on her waist, his expression a mixture of coldness and fervor.

At first, she could blink blankly, her eyelashes fluttering in his palm, a small commotion that even made him pause for a moment.

Gradually, she found it difficult to breathe under his onslaught and had to close her eyes tightly again.

Unlike his usual gentleness, his actions this time were almost aggressive, as if he was showing extreme unease and anxiety, needing to completely devour her to calm down.

For a moment, she had the illusion that he wasn't kissing her, but rather trying to devour her.

Jiang Geyun grabbed the clothes of the person in front of her and shook them.

After a long while, he changed from a deep kiss to a light peck.

Their foreheads had barely parted when they were once again breathing each other's breath at such close proximity.

He said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry."

Cheng Xi's hand was still firmly on hers, so Jiang Geyun couldn't see his expression or know how much remorse he felt.

She shook her head.

She didn't reject the sudden kiss; in fact, she even wondered if her intrusion had caused him to briefly lose control of his emotions.

So, the root of the problem is still her.

Otherwise, if it were someone else, in a different situation, she would have plenty of ways to refuse.

"It was my fault first," she said, raising her hand to press down on the hand covering her eyes, before asking, "Is my lord feeling any discomfort?"

The person in front of him remained silent for a while.

She felt him bury his head in the side of her neck.

A slightly muffled voice sounded in her ear.

"I'm fine."

Jiang Geyun's vision returned, and the familiar interior of the sedan came into view again.

She thought for a moment, then hugged the person in front of her and said, "I can explain what happened just now to you, my lord. There was no danger."

Cheng Xi didn't move, still buried in her body, and said, "My wife doesn't need to explain."

It doesn't matter if there's danger.

Jiang Geyun said, "As for what I just mentioned about staying at Bailong Temple..."

“I won’t ask again, but,” Cheng Xi said, “the Qixi Festival is just a few days away.”

He raised his head from beside Jiang Geyun's neck, slowly got up, and sat back in his original position.

Jiang Geyun counted the days.

She did notice that the temperature was rising and summer was approaching. As for Qixi Festival, she hadn't paid special attention to it before, but she didn't expect that there was such a festival in this book world.

Why did Cheng Xi bring this up?

Jiang Geyun looked up at him with a slightly bewildered expression.

Cheng Xi said, "My lady, could you set this as a deadline for my early return?"

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The author's note: First of all, it won't really go offline; it's just that it will go from being in front of you to being behind you.

Secondly, people who have never given love before often can't understand themselves when they fall in love with someone else. They feel strange, like, "Oh, what's wrong with me? This is such a weird feeling. Maybe I really need her."

Finally, if I had written faster, I could have achieved a timeline close to the actual seasons. Alas!

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Also, there are quite a few dangerous words, but this chapter is extremely green (green) and there's absolutely no censorship below the neck! If there are any parts that are explicitly mentioned, please let me know and I'll revise them~

Also, adults can leave comments in the comment section of the previous chapter, and a red envelope will drop as an apology for posting last night.