Chapter 38 The Cave
The boy was grabbed by the back of the neck and lifted up by Xiao Sui when he was three steps away from Ning Qi.
He struggled with his limbs, raising both hands to grab Xiao Sui's arms, his long black nails digging into his flesh through the fabric, a triumphant smile on his face.
The man who was holding him seemed oblivious, and even though he was being held so tightly, the woman managed to drag him away and bring him to that damned woman.
"Princess, you should deal with him."
The boy's vision turned blood red; the woman's flesh was the most delicious delicacy in his eyes, especially after he had endured a whole day and was at his hungriest.
"I want to eat you... I'm hungry... hungry... hungry..."
He kept repeating the word, but his body couldn't break free. He looked up, unable to understand why the man he had captured hadn't turned into a corpse demon yet.
Two crisp "slap" sounds came from his face, and the enticing aroma of food made his mouth water.
“Princess, he seems to have no sense of pain; he didn’t react when you slapped his face,” Qianyu said.
Ning Qi observed for a moment, then nodded. "Indeed, let's just kill them."
Xiao Sui raised his sword, aimed it at his neck, and swiftly and cleanly ended his life, then tossed his body aside.
"Princess, let's hurry into the city," Qianyu said.
The city gate was very close to them, but it began to slowly close. Several cultivators blocking the gate seemed to be in a bloodthirsty frenzy. Regardless of whether they were corpse demons or not, as long as they got close to the city gate, they were all killed by having their throats slit. The city gate was covered with splattered brown blood, which was truly shocking.
They were also turned away at the door.
Qianyu said anxiously, "You even dare to stop the princess? This is a capital offense!"
The cultivators looked troubled. "We have no choice. We've received a strict order to close the city gates and not let anyone in. If we disobey, we'll die right now."
"From above? Who gave the order? Can it be more powerful than the emperor?" Qianyu questioned them.
Those people didn't dare to speak, they just kept blocking the doorway.
Several corpse demons pounced on them, trying to bite them, but Xiao Sui quickly dispatched them with his blade.
Ning Xi didn't intend to get entangled with them. This place was far from the emperor's reach, and she didn't have many attendants with her. Her status as a princess was no longer of much use.
She said to Qianyu, "Let's leave here first and find a quiet place to spend the night."
Qianyu nodded, and the three of them surrounded her, protecting her as she left.
During the retreat, Ning Qi saw that Yan Chongyan was also desperately killing the corpse demons and was completely unable to break away, let alone enter the city.
Who exactly ordered the lockdown of the county town?
A cowardly magistrate? Master Jingyan? Or some other local official?
Having no clue what to do, Ning Qi simply stopped thinking about it.
The group walked into the woods for a long time until the sun completely disappeared behind the mountains and the sky grew completely dark. They finally found a cave with a large space, divided into inner and outer parts. The air inside was dry, making it a place where they could stay temporarily.
After checking inside and out to make sure there were no other animals or monsters, Aying allowed Ningxi to enter and lit a campfire in the two stone chambers.
Qianyu glanced at Xiao Sui and said to Ning Qi, "You rest for a while, Aying and I will go find some food and water."
Ning Qi nodded, listened intently, and when she heard no more of those deep, eerie sounds, it meant there were no corpse demons nearby, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Only when you relax can you focus on other things. Ningqi leaned against the rock, and her stomach growled loudly twice, which was particularly clear in the empty cave.
Her face flushed slightly, and she said awkwardly, "I'm a little hungry."
Xiao Sui paused for a moment, then walked over, getting very close to her. The fragrance of grass and trees wafted into her nose. "Do you... still want to eat my flesh?"
"Ah, how could he be so foul!" Ning Qi screamed inwardly.
She had recovered and of course didn't want to eat human flesh, but she licked her dry lips and thought of eating Xiao Sui's flesh.
I've always wanted to eat this.
Her rosy lips were slightly parted, and her warm breath gently caressed her cheek. Ning Qi was a little distracted and couldn't control her racing heartbeat as she slowly moved closer to Xiao Sui.
I don't know if it was the campfire or something else, but my cheeks felt very hot.
“Princess, I caught a few fish. You must be hungry!” Ah Xiang’s loud voice boomed in the cave, startling Ning Qi so much that she pushed Xiao Sui away.
Xiao Sui groaned as his head hit the rock.
Ning Qi quickly touched the back of his head, "Are you alright?"
Xiao Sui shook his head.
Seeing the distance between the two, Aying realized she had made a mistake, so she put down the still thrashing fish and said, "Um, I'll go stand guard outside. Call me if the princess needs anything."
After saying that, he quickly ran out.
The stone chamber returned to silence. Ning Qi squatted down and touched the back of Xiao Sui's head. There was no lump, so he should be fine. "Sorry, I was just suddenly startled."
"It's alright, you don't need to explain to me."
This attitude made her feel even more guilty.
"Let me grill the fish for you." Xiao Sui calmly and skillfully prepared the fish, as if the little incident just now had no effect on him.
Ning Qi gradually relaxed and sat down to wait for him to finish grilling the fish.
Because there were no seasonings, the fish meat didn't have much flavor, but it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, which made it taste good. Ningqi was so hungry that she ate two of them.
"Would you like to eat more?" Xiao Sui handed her another grilled fish.
Ning Qi shook her head. "I'm full. You can eat."
Xiao Sui then began to eat dinner.
He ate very quickly, and soon only the skeleton of the grilled fish remained.
He cleaned up the fish bones and got up to go to the stone cave outside.
When he returned, he had a jug of water and some red wild berries in his hands.
"Miss Qianyu said these are for you to rinse your mouth."
Ning Qi took it, rinsed her mouth, and began to eat the red berries.
The fruit was on the sour side, but very juicy; it burst in your mouth with every bite. She didn't like sour things, so she ate one and put it down.
Xiao Sui noticed her movements and asked, "Is it not tasty?"
He tried one and frowned slightly at the sourness.
Ning Qi looked at his lips, which were stained even redder with juice, and swallowed.
It's said that when you're well-fed and clothed, you start to think about sex, and that's absolutely true. The romantic thoughts that Ah Ying had interrupted earlier have resurfaced.
She leaned closer, smelled the fragrance of grass and trees, and squatted down to grab Xiao Sui's clothes.
The sound of fabric rubbing against each other stimulated her eardrums, indicating how close they were.
Xiao Sui's breathing became very soft.
Ning Qi's heartbeat quickened.
She stared at his lips, which were even more tempting than red berries, and leaned down to kiss them.
Xiao Sui's hand gripped her waist, and a continuous stream of heat flowed into her body, making her limbs weak.
He supported her with his crossed legs, and reverently raised his head to respond to her enthusiasm.
All that remained when their lips and teeth touched was a sticky, gooey sound.
Ning Qi was vaguely thinking, why did such a sour fruit taste sweet in Xiao Sui's mouth?
She closed her eyes, sucking on the sweet juice. The soft touch made her unable to resist using her teeth to gently bite his tongue, feeling the wonderful sensation.
I felt like I was walking on cotton, light and airy.
Footsteps suddenly came from the stone chamber outside, startling her. She lifted her eyelids and saw a tall, black shadow sway into their cave out of the corner of her eye.
"You really are here."
It was Yan Chongyan's voice!
Ning Qi suddenly opened her eyes wide and stared at the shadow.
Xiao Sui gently bit her lip.
"Young Master Yan? How did you find me here?" Qianyu's voice was also quite surprised.
"I followed the direction you left in and saw a light here, so I came in to check," Yan Chongyan said. "Where is the princess?"
Oh no, is he going to come in?
Ning Qi instinctively nudged Xiao Sui. No matter how unrestrained she was, she couldn't kiss Xiao Sui in front of the male lead.
Xiao Sui stiffened, but did not linger and quickly released her.
Ning Xi didn't stand up. She looked at the top of Xiao Sui's head and could clearly feel that his mood had dropped.
She also felt a little uncomfortable, and a thought popped into her mind: could she just not do this task?
Yan Chongyan's footsteps grew closer, and Qianyu seemed to stop him, saying, "The princess has already gone to sleep, you'd better not disturb her."
"Do we need to light a campfire to sleep?" Yan Chongyan asked.
"Of course," Qianyu blurted out, "The princess is most afraid of the dark, don't you even know that?"
The footsteps changed direction, and the shadow shifted accordingly. Yan Chongyan lowered his voice, "I understand, I won't go in and disturb her."
Ning Qi visibly breathed a sigh of relief and sat back on Xiao Sui's lap.
"What about Xiao Sui?" Yan Chongyan suddenly asked again.
“He’s inside too,” Qianyu added. “With him there, the princess can feel more at ease.”
Yan Chongyan remained silent.
There were no more new sounds outside. Ning Qi poked her head out. They were sitting not far from the cave entrance. From this angle, they could see Yan Chongyan meditating with his back to the inner room.
He probably won't be coming in.
Ning Qi let out a breath and came back to see Xiao Sui still hanging her head.
Even if you take the initiative, you keep pushing people away. Even the most good-tempered person would be unhappy.
She carefully lifted his chin, making him raise his head.
Xiao Sui's chest heaved a few times as he bit his lower lip tightly, as if trying to suppress some emotion.
Ning Qi pressed her thumb against his lips, gently kneading them to free his lower lip. She then wiped his lips and leaned down to kiss him again.
She had only intended to offer him a brief, superficial comfort.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Sui, like a hungry dog that had caught its prey, became even more aggressive this time, unlike his previous gentleness.
He tilted his head back and kissed her, as if he wanted to swallow her whole.
Ning Qi's fingers gripped his shoulders tightly, leaving him almost no time to breathe.
Her body was hot and her head was spinning; she collapsed completely into Xiao Sui's arms.
The slurping sound of water seemed particularly loud in the empty cave.
She unconsciously let out a melodious sound from her throat.
It wasn't large, but it was enough to wake Ning Qi.
Yan Chongyan is still outside!
Her tense body tightened, and she grabbed Xiao Sui's hair, finally creating distance between them.
Connected by silver threads, she looked at the meditating shadow, her heart pounding, afraid it might make a sound.
After a few seconds, the shadow remained motionless.
Finally, panting, she whispered in Xiao Sui's ear, "They'll hear us."
"Then let's keep our voices down," he replied in a similarly soft voice, and continued kissing her lips.
The intense movements did not slow down at all; instead, Xiao Sui changed positions while holding her.
Ning Qi held him tightly, trying her best to keep quiet.
When the rustling sound of fabric stopped, she realized that Xiao Sui's broad shoulders completely blocked the angle from which she could see his shadow.
He still cared a lot, as expected.
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