Torture me and I'll die instantly.

Yan Huanyue didn't give Pei Xuanzhi's suggestion much thought. In her view, there wasn't much difference between helping him draw talismans and asking him to help apply medicine last night.

Moreover, this also freed her from certain constraints, so she wouldn't have to worry too much about this matter if she were to travel far away in the future.

But there was something she didn't quite understand, so she asked, "It's not that I can't draw a talisman for you, but why does it have to be tonight? Can't it be done now?"

Pei Xuanzhi sat up slightly and explained with a smile, "We still need to prepare special cinnabar, which will take some time."

Yan Huanyue nodded and asked, "Do you need me to help you find the materials you need?"

Pei Xuanzhi shook his head. "You've already given it to me."

Yan Huanyue's chopsticks, which she had just picked up, stopped in mid-air. She asked in confusion, "What did I give you?"

Pei Xuanzhi got up, straightened his clothes, walked to the table by the window, and opened the window to let in the summer breeze carrying the fresh scent of the mountain foliage.

He then began to lay out the various materials from the treasure pouch on the table, casually examining the cinnabar and the other materials as he said in a low voice, "Originally, hair would have been fine, but after being injured last night, I used your blood."

Yan Huanyue choked on the food she had just put in her mouth. She looked at him in surprise and asked, "Is this talisman some kind of orthodox item? How come you have such materials?"

Pei Xuanzhi, who had been examining the object in his hands with his eyes lowered, couldn't help but look at her upon hearing this and asked, "Using blood to amplify the damage—is this kind of magic considered righteous?"

Yan Huanyue was somewhat speechless. Using blood to enhance the lethality of weapons was quite common, but using it on people...

Pei Xuanzhi, holding an old purple brush that had just been soaked in the brush washer, strolled leisurely to her, leaned down, and looked directly into her clear and bright eyes.

He raised his hand and gently touched the tiny red dot, no bigger than a pinhead, between her eyebrows with the damp, clean purple hair brush. A smile played on his lips as he softly said:

"Then isn't the Spirit Protection Technique that you outer disciples use to enhance and protect yourselves made by the sect elders dripping their fingertips' blood into cinnabar?"

Yan Huanyue felt a chill between her brows and turned her head away from the purple brush in his hand. "But my cultivation is not yet sufficient to use the Spirit Protection Technique..."

Pei Xuan rested one hand on the armrest of her chair, not looking directly into her eyes, but lingering on the swaying jade pendant by her ear, and explained in a serious tone:

"Sister, your aura is on me, and my soul mist can be calmed. I am your sword. To seal me, you must do it yourself. How can an ordinary suppression talisman compare to you?"

His tone was very restrained, but Yan Huanyue still suspected that he was saying something with hidden meaning.

But after he finished speaking, he straightened up and stood in the warm breeze that passed through the door.

Holding a purple-tipped brush in one hand and letting the other hang by her side, letting the wind ruffle her robes, her slender and upright figure and aloof and detached temperament revealed no trace of romance or tenderness.

Yan Huanyue said, "Then please make the necessary arrangements as soon as possible. If you are short of any materials, I can help you find them."

Pei Xuanzhi said, "Okay."

After saying that, he went to the table to continue mixing cinnabar.

After finishing her meal, Yan Huanyue went to the Heavenly Stele under the scorching sun.

It was lunchtime within the sect, and to avoid encountering too many people and having to stop and greet them, she deliberately chose a relatively secluded path.

The road is nestled in the mountains and forests, with lush and verdant canopies on both sides stretching like clouds, allowing only slivers of golden light to filter through the gaps in the sparse leaves.

She looked up at the dappled sunlight rippling across the water and caught a glimpse of a little golden raccoon perched on the treetop above her, blinking its clear, glassy eyes at her with curiosity.

She waved at it and laughed, "Why haven't you grown up yet? Do you still remember me?"

The little golden raccoon flicked its tail, meowed a few times, and leaped down.

Yan Huanyue quickly reached out and caught it. As soon as it was in her arms, it purred and rubbed against her cheek.

Yan Huanyue stroked it a few times and laughed, "You heartless thing! I told you to stay in my yard before, but you ran away. Now you remember me?"

The little golden raccoon tilted its head back and licked her chin, then nuzzled her chin a few times with its fluffy head, softly meowing to comfort and appease her. Yan Huanyue felt her heart melt.

She rubbed her cheek against the cat, and as they walked, she asked, "So, are you coming back with me this time?"

The little golden raccoon struggled to leap onto her shoulder, then darted to a nearby branch, its fluffy tail trailing behind it as it moved with ease through the canopy, following her footsteps.

What a heartless kitten! It's had its fill of cuddling, and then it just abandons us.

When it reached the vicinity of the Heavenly Stele, it stopped, tucked its limbs into the branches, lazily swished its tail, meowed a few times, then rested its chin on its paws and squinted its eyes.

Yan Huanyue left some food for it under the tree, then went into the Heavenly Stele. When she came out, it was already dusk.

She thought it must have left long ago, but when she got to the crossroads, she saw it squatting on a tree stump by the roadside.

As soon as she came over, it hooked its arm around her sleeve and stood up, stretching out its two fluffy front paws, wanting her to hold it.

Yan Huanyue found it hard to refuse such an advance. She pretended to be deep in thought for a moment, then asked softly, "Little cat, were you waiting for me?"

The little golden raccoon stretched out its paws, looking at her with longing eyes, its meows awakening her humanity.

As she carried it and was about to leave the path, it resolutely refused to be carried any longer, broke free from her embrace, and ran deep into the mountains.

Yan Huanyue sighed helplessly. What a free and unrestrained little fellow. If she were to forcibly lock it up, it would certainly not be as free and joyful as playing in the Tianyan Mountains.

She ate something at the dining hall and brought some food for Pei Xuanzhi.

When I returned to the courtyard, it was just getting dark, and a crescent moon was faintly visible in the gray-blue night sky.

Pei Xuanzhi changed into a black robe embroidered with dark patterns and sat at the table, even his belt had been transformed into a black jade belt.

Yan Huanyue remembered that he had also worn black clothes during the reign of Emperor Mingdezong. When he wore black, it made him look even more stunningly bright and clear than when he wore snow-white clothes.

His skin was very thin, and against the backdrop of his black clothes, the blue veins on his neck were particularly conspicuous. Even his face seemed to be imbued with a strange eeriness reminiscent of a silent snowy sea, making him even more captivating than before.

Yan Huanyue was stunned for a moment when she first saw him, but quickly came to her senses, put the food she had brought back on the table, and said, "Have something to eat."

Pei Xuanzhi shook his head. "Thank you, but I've already eaten. We'll save these for tomorrow morning."

Yan Huanyue nodded, "That's fine."

After saying that, he went to take a bath to wash away the dust. After coming out of the west room, he looked around as usual and said casually, "Wasn't I going to draw a talisman for you? Is the cinnabar ready?"

Pei Xuanzhi suddenly looked up at her, his deep eyes gleaming like a galaxy. "Alright, please help me, sister."

After saying that, she got up and closed the doors and windows. As she walked to the bed, she asked, "Sister, do you want me to lie down, or do you want me to sit on the edge of the bed?"

Yan Huanyue followed behind him, took the yellow talisman he handed her, and asked as she looked at it, "Where should I draw it?"

Pei Xuanzhi stood by the bed, his back to her, and said in a very soft, indistinct voice, "Lower abdomen."

Yan Huanyue's hand holding the talisman stiffened for a moment. After he lost his memory, he rarely got close to her. He had been so unwilling to sleep in the same bed with her all this time. Now that he was making such a request, she wondered how much determination he had put in.

She coughed lightly and said, "How about I invite them for you..."

Pei Xuanzhi said calmly, "If I need help from others, I can die immediately."

After saying that, he asked, "Do you want me to lie down or sit up?"

Yan Huanyue thought about the scene if he were sitting on the edge of the bed, and said softly, "Lie down, so you can start writing."

Pei Xuanzhi readily complied, giving her a small box of prepared cinnabar and purple cinnabar. He then untied the jade belt from his waist and hung it at the foot of the bed before lying down and closing his eyes.

Time slowly rolled over him, and after a long while, he felt her gently leaning in and slowly loosening his belt.

After a chill, a faint touch landed on his skin, and instantly, it felt as if his whole body had been thrown into an endless wildfire, burning his soul and drying up his heart.

Yan Huanyue peeled off his clothes, revealing a jade-white, translucent body against a black garment. A faint pinkish hue emanated from below his waist, seeping up to the corners of his gently closed eyes.

She used the other end of her pen to gently pull down the hem of his undergarment, slowly and carefully, trying not to expose any parts that shouldn't be there.

Perhaps the purple sage was too cold, for he trembled slightly, and his breathing became erratic and he could no longer control it.

Yan Huanyue dipped her brush in the red cinnabar, concentrated her spiritual power at the tip of her brush, silently recited the incantation, and then placed the brush on his lower abdomen.

She watched as his fair skin instantly became covered with a fine layer of sweat, and a fragrance wafted through the air.

She focused intently and continued writing.

Pei Xuanzhi suddenly opened his misty eyes, his ten fingers gripping the bedsheets beneath him tightly, two streams of hot tears slowly flowing down, wetting his temples.

He was in unbearable agony and unconsciously bumped into the pen in her hand. Yan Huanyue didn't give him a chance to bump into it, quickly picked up the pen, pressed down on his waist, and continued drawing.

"Huanyue... Sister... draw it a little darker..."

His brow furrowed, and he strained to tilt his neck back, his Adam's apple bobbing back and forth on his sweat-drenched neck.

He only wanted to have a chance to get close to her before going into seclusion, and was even willing to reveal himself to her, but he never thought it would be so torturous and hopeless.

His reaction was so strong that even if Yan Huanyue didn't pay special attention, it would be hard for her to ignore it.

Fortunately, she didn't ask anyone else.

The cool, soft tip of the pen gently made the final stroke, Pei Xuanzhi only asking for her pity, downwards, and further downwards...

But her pen stopped just a hair's breadth from the last vestige of innocence, and then, mercilessly, it left.

Yan Huanyue reached out and stroked the blood-red talisman on his jade-white lower abdomen, sealing it with her spiritual power to prevent it from staining his clothes.

She put down the talisman-drawing brush in her hand, her eyebrows were clear and her expression was calm and serene, like someone from another world.

Pei Xuanzhi's forehead was covered with a thin layer of sweat, and tears slowly trickled into his hair. He lay quietly on the bed, looking thin and fragile.

Yan Huanyue raised her sleeve to wipe away his tears, and pinched the waist of his undergarment to help him straighten his clothes.

He suddenly sat up and grabbed her hand.

Yan Huanyue struggled for a moment, but he pulled her into his arms with his other hand and held her tightly.

A deluge of kisses rained down on her lips, urgent and greedy.

Pei Xuanzhi grasped her hand, couldn't help but bite her cheek, deeply inhaling her scent, and said in a hoarse voice, "Sister... help me..."

The fragrance lingered, and Yan Huanyue was so captivated by his presence that she lost herself in thought, as if the wildfire had spread to the hem of her dress.

She leaned forward, resting her head on his shoulder, staring blankly at the moonlight streaming in through the window, letting him hold her hand...

The moonlight outside the window was very cold and clear. Pei Xuanzhi lowered his head and kissed her soft nape.

Looking at the moonlight and listening to his disordered breathing, she whispered, "We have to get up early tomorrow. Get some rest as soon as you're done. Don't fool around anymore, okay?"