Chapter 21
Why don't you do what husband and wife do?
Aunt Wang was already beaming with joy as she held the money, and upon hearing this, her smile widened even more: "You must come, you absolutely must come."
Before leaving, Pei Xueyan specially picked out some soft-cooked beans, peanuts, and sweet potatoes from the wooden frame, carefully wrapped them in oil paper, and stuffed them into Aunt Wang's hand.
Aunt Wang pretended to decline a few times, but eventually accepted it happily and left the yard with a smile.
As Jiang Qiye ate his meal, watching the worldly-wise "A Bao," he wondered whether to sigh or be amazed.
It seems that none of these are necessary.
However, after spending only a few days together, he discovered that the information about "A Bao" that the illusion had initially given him was quite different from the Pei Xueyan in front of him.
She was somewhat bold and unrestrained, and seemed to resemble the original human body more.
The months spent together across three lifetimes gradually merged with the brief, less than an hour-long image of the female demon I first met. In a daze, it felt as if I had accompanied this woman through several completely different lives.
They became very, very familiar people.
Thinking about the third life that was about to end, he wanted to use magic to erase her memories, and a sense of conflict and suffocation welled up in his heart.
He seemed to enjoy his married life with her, liking this rural life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset.
I began to crave the simple, everyday joys of life.
However, Jiang Qiye will soon be punished for this kind of thinking.
Originally, this method of traveling through dreams to retrieve the Heart Pill was considered a heretical practice, because the Qingzong Sect was a prestigious and righteous sect, and its founder was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of all living beings.
Master is heartless and emotionless, with extremely high cultivation. He remains calm even when traversing through dreams and his soul is never stolen.
This time, Jiang Qiye not only used the illusionary realm without permission, but also lost his composure in order to save Pei Xueyan's life. Now, due to his unstable willpower, he has developed a sense of compassion.
The torment he suffered when Pei Xueyan was assassinated will surely backfire many times over if he feels any pity for her.
In his previous life as "Xue Lian," things were alright. But during his time as "Chen Wei'an," the physical torment he endured was far less than one ten-thousandth of the psychological pain he suffered.
He had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue, even though he was beginning to doubt the legitimacy of this cultivation method.
It is a cruel thing to destroy someone's spirit.
It's human nature to be moved.
These two things are inherently contradictory.
For several days in a row, the two of them were busy all day long, with Pei Xueyan helping out whenever she could.
But as soon as night fell, Jiang Qiye seemed to have all his strength drained away. He would lie down early with his eyes closed, and no matter how hard she tried to figure him out, she couldn't understand his thoughts.
"Ah Bao" was left wondering why.
When she went back to her parents' home, Aunt Wang asked with a smile when she would hold her big, chubby son.
Pei Xueyan had no idea how men and women conceived after lying together, but she had seen erotic pictures and knew that the two of them did not do it like in the pictures.
She had no idea how to answer, so she could only give a vague reply and quickly changed the subject.
Although Pei Xueyan possessed memories of her past life and was quite familiar with him, she almost blurted out several times why he wouldn't touch her.
The thought of bringing up that kind of thing is really hard to say.
Besides, she doesn't have that need.
Yes, Xue Lian wouldn't say it, and Chen Wei'an, being a naive young girl, wouldn't understand these things either.
"A Bao" was even more confused.
It was already dark when I returned from my parents' home.
The two ate a quick meal, the husband prepared the farm tools, filled Pei Xueyan's cupboard with hot water, and then took a quick bath with a gourd ladle before going straight to sleep.
Before Pei Xueyan went to take a shower, he didn't forget to remind her, "Don't worry about the water after you're done. I'll empty it when I get up tomorrow morning."
Pei Xueyan felt uneasy; Jiang Qiye's kindness was too deliberate, so deliberate that it made her uneasy.
What on earth is he up to? Is he still afraid of her, or does he have other plans?
If you won't touch her, why did you agree to marry her?
My neighbor used to say that every man in the world would drool over her beauty.
Is he a man?
Jiang Qiye couldn't sleep peacefully every night.
This is her illusion. She is a mortal, so naturally she can live and rest like an ordinary person.
But he was an intruder, and every night he had to circulate his cultivation, suppressing the magic stirring within him and restraining his already erratic emotions, unable to find even a moment of peace.
Pei Xueyan would call him "husband" and "madam" even more frequently, and her soft voice made his whole body go weak.
Fearing that someone might be tempted by worldly desires while retrieving the elixir in the illusion, the Grandmaster specially devised a whipping method. If anyone showed even the slightest sign of something amiss, their heart would feel as if it were being lashed by a whip.
He could only get up before dawn every day and use all his ruthless cultivation to forcefully suppress those surging emotions.
Fortunately, the Ruthless Way worked well during the few days of the wedding, preventing him from making any major mistakes.
When Pei Xueyan returned after taking a shower, she saw that he had fallen asleep again.
I feel so choked up.
She definitely likes him.
How should I put this?
She dried her half-dry hair, stood at the door facing the evening breeze for a while, and waited until her hair was almost dry before quietly closing the door and returning to the bedside.
The bamboo mat he had just changed that evening was laid on the bed, and it felt very cool to the touch.
She lay down on the edge of the bed, her gaze falling on his broad back. Her fingertips unconsciously twirled a strand of hair that fell across his neck, and she murmured to herself, "My good husband, my good husband, why are you asleep again?"
"..." Jiang Qiye wasn't asleep at all; he was just pretending.
It's true what they say: you can never wake someone who's pretending to be asleep.
Having spent the last few days with him, I've found him to be diligent and efficient, gentle and easygoing, always going along with her wishes. Even the resentment she used to feel has almost been smoothed out by his considerate nature.
But at night, those suppressed doubts would resurface, troubling her and making her restless.
Pei Xueyan deliberately moved her body closer to him, her warm breath and soft, sweet voice gently blowing on the back of his neck.
Her fingers weren't idle either, gently stroking his arm, her voice so soft it could melt water, as she softly asked, "Husband, are you asleep?"
"Are you really asleep?"
"Sigh... Husband, why don't you kiss me? Am I still your wife?"
"Are you pretending to be asleep, my husband~~~"
She talked on and on for a while, but her husband next to her didn't react at all.
The last "husband" was uttered in a convoluted and roundabout way, but "good husband" seemed to close his eyes even tighter.
Pei Xueyan felt that her shameless method was completely useless.
As she spoke, she pressed her body against his, her forehead gently resting on his shoulder, and began to speak softly again: "Husband, can you touch my heart? It's beating so fast..."
Jiang Qiye: "..."
She's getting more and more outrageous, so eager...
That elixir should have already solidified, but when he secretly probed it this morning, it was clearly not even halfway there.
Thinking of this, he became even more determined that no matter how sweetly she coaxed and rubbed against him, he would just lie motionless on the bed like a zombie.
In fact, in both of Pei Xueyan's memories, she always maintained a certain distance from Jiang Qiye. He was always aloof and distant, someone she used to think was unapproachable and someone she didn't even dare to flirt with.
Seeing that he didn't react no matter how she teased him, she felt a bit reckless and decided to put her arms around his waist and go to sleep.
Just as I stretched out my arm, I heard a cold voice beside me: "Go to sleep."
I was rejected.
The sound exploded in her ears like thunder. Pei Xueyan's cheeks turned red instantly. She turned around abruptly, hugged the thin blanket tightly, shrank her head, closed her eyes, and pretended to be dead.
I felt utterly ashamed of my earlier sweet talk and coquettish advances.
However, this feeling of utter embarrassment lasted less than fifteen minutes before she realized: "Wait a minute, why should I feel ashamed?"
Pei Xueyan turned around abruptly to look at him, her tone accusing: "Husband, are you lying to me?"
He remained silent.
He didn't even open his eyes.
Pei Xueyan snorted, her voice suddenly rising several decibels: "You're speechless now, aren't you? I knew it, you're hiding something. I'm so unlucky... to have a husband like you who deceives and cheats me, and might even kill me to silence me in the end."
Jiang Qiye remained outwardly calm, but his heart leaped into his throat.
He didn't know what went wrong, why this simple rural girl had become so different from what he had expected.
I have no idea where she heard such hurtful words.
This directly exposed his hidden schemes, tearing away his facade of calm. His schemes were revealed so easily.
"Just pretend to be asleep, you two-faced beast." Pei Xueyan muttered again when he didn't answer.
"What nonsense are you spouting, my wife?" Jiang Qiye opened his eyes, turned around, and looked at her with a deep gaze. "I fell in love with you at first sight, my wife. How could I do anything else?"
He had already secretly prepared an excuse in his mind: to condense the heart elixir, he had no choice but to do it. This was something he had to do for the sake of his goal, so no matter what sweet words he said, it was just a temporary measure and did not violate the rules set by the founder.
Pei Xueyan was unaware of his other thoughts; upon hearing the word "wife," her eyes instantly lit up.
This was the first time he had ever called her that.
She immediately forgot her earlier question and giggled as she reached out to hug his arm: "Husband, are you telling the truth? You fell in love with me at first sight?"
“Hmm…of course it’s true.” Jiang Qiye paused, then replied softly.
Pei Xueyan immediately pressed her advantage, shaking his arm and asking, "Then swear an oath."
"Send what?"
"Protect me forever, never hurt me, and call me 'wife' every day."
“Childish,” he replied softly.
Pei Xueyan refused to listen and simply grabbed his arm and put it under her head, complaining in a coquettish tone: "My husband doesn't make any vows, and he doesn't do anything with me as husband and wife, so I don't believe anything you say."
When Jiang Qiye heard her bring this up again, his heart pounded like a drum, but he still maintained his composure: "You are young, I'm afraid... I'm afraid of hurting you."
"Husband, don't try to fool me! The Bai family girl in the village is a year younger than me when she got married, and she already has a child. How could she be hurt..."
Unable to explain, he could only gently comfort her, "Let's talk about it next year, okay?"
If we can delay it for as long as possible, we will.
The main focus now is to condense the elixir first. Once the illusion ends, there will be no more psychological torment.
Even in the illusion, he couldn't do anything out of line with her.
Pei Xueyan persisted, pouting and threatening, "If my husband doesn't do it, it means he has other motives. I will be heartbroken and unable to eat."
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