Kiss Good Morning

Qin Ran slept soundly on the bed his foolish disciple had prepared.

The next morning, while still in his dream, he vaguely heard someone calling near his ear, "Master Lazybones, time to wake up!"

He looked down at his foolish disciple in his arms, who suddenly gave him a mischievous grin. With a "whoosh," she transformed into a demoness with horns and fangs on her head, then opened her bloody maw and bit his nose.

"Ah!" He was startled awake from his dream.

He opened his eyes to find his foolish disciple leaning over his bed, also grinning mischievously, with one hand propping up her chin and the other reaching out to pinch his nose.

...Ah! No wonder he had such a nightmare. His foolish disciple really was a horned demoness!

Seeing him awake, the foolish disciple casually withdrew her hand. She propped up her chin with both hands, just looking at him and giggling.

"Master, are you awake?" she asked with a smile.

Qin Ran took a moment to collect himself, looking up at his foolish disciple who was right before his eyes. He frowned and asked, "Why are you here?"

"I knocked, but you didn't answer..." the little demoness replied innocently. "So I just came in."

"But... Master, you were sleeping like the dead! You used to teach me how to be cautious in unfamiliar environments..."

"Sleeping like the dead?" Qin Ran's expression turned serious at her words. "How is that possible?! As cultivators, we always sleep with one eye open. Not even the slightest change in our surroundings can escape our perception."

"Yes, yes, yes, Master, you're absolutely right." Li Shiyin stood up and turned to pour some hot water into the washbasin. She dampened a towel, wrung it out, then turned back, smiling playfully as she said to Qin Ran, "Just now when I pushed the door open and came in, you didn't react at all; when I played with your face, you still didn't react; then I pinched your nose for quite a while before you finally woke up."

She walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, holding the towel to wipe Qin Ran's face. She lowered her voice, "Master, were you just dreaming about me?"

Qin Ran took the towel and wiped his own face, denying as he did so, "Of course not! Why would I dream about you? Haha..."

"Really?" Li Shiyin asked doubtfully. "Then why did you murmur 'Shiyin' several times just now? Do you know another Shiyin?!"

Her eyes narrowed.

Qin Ran handed the towel back to Li Shiyin, his face full of righteousness, and said, "You must have misheard!"

"Oh... alright then!" Li Shiyin nodded and got up to wash the towel. As she washed, she asked again, "Then what are stockings, Master?"

"What?!" Qin Ran was shocked. Did he not only dream but also have the bad habit of sleep-talking?

"You told me not to take them off... said they looked better on. Are stockings some kind of socks? What do they look like?" Li Shiyin said, turning her head to look at Qin Ran. Seeing sweat pouring down his face, she exclaimed, "Wow! Master, what's wrong? Why are you sweating so much?"

She quickly wrung out the towel and came over. Taking advantage of Qin Ran's shocked state before he could react, she extended the towel to his face, gently wiping.

...She had said last night that she would personally attend to her master, so naturally, she couldn't go back on her word.

Qin Ran came to his senses, feeling uncomfortable being waited on at first. He reached out to take the towel, but as he turned his gaze, he suddenly saw his foolish disciple so close to him.

His foolish disciple's beautiful face was so near, her expression so serious and her eyes so gentle, truly captivating; her breath, carrying the warmth from the towel, entered his nostrils.

"So fragrant..."

Early in the morning, he felt his heart pounding and his throat going dry.

"Gulp!"

He swallowed, trying to moisten his throat, but in this extremely quiet environment, the sound was incredibly loud.

"Shiyin..." he called out, his voice still hoarse even after moistening it with saliva.

Li Shiyin's eyes turned slightly downward, her eyelids lowering. She saw her master's face flushed red from the warm towel in her hand, she saw the hot flames leaping in her master's eyes. She pursed her lips and squeezed out a sound from her nose: "Mm?"

This trembling sound was like the spark that fell onto gasoline. Qin Ran's heart suddenly throbbed, and he raised his upper body, his mouth seeking his foolish disciple's lips.

Li Shiyin slowly closed her eyes, waiting for her master's kiss.

Qin Ran tilted his head and kissed his foolish disciple's lips, his nose pressed against hers, inhaling her warm fragrance.

Li Shiyin's hand on Qin Ran's face unconsciously moved down, holding the warm, damp towel around his neck.

Qin Ran straightened up, half-suspended in the air, and reached out to embrace Li Shiyin's waist.

As if a snake had been grabbed by its vital spot, Li Shiyin's body instantly went soft, her world-shaking battle prowess vanishing without a trace. She sat on the bed, falling into her master's arms.

Qin Ran's hand on his foolish disciple's waist gently caressed, his fingertips feeling the silky texture of her clothes.

At this crucial moment...

"Ahem!!" Suddenly, someone coughed at the doorway.

The two powerful cultivators, engrossed in their kiss, hadn't noticed the person at the door at all. So the person at the door coughed loudly several more times: "Cough cough cough, hem hem!!"

Qin Ran's "keen" senses finally perceived the danger. He quickly stopped, his eyes darting from his foolish disciple's fair cheeks to see Li Shiwen standing at the door with his arms crossed, looking serious.

"Have we been caught in the act?!" His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly pulled his foolish disciple away.

"Master?" Li Shiyin still didn't know what was happening, her face wearing a dazed expression, her eyes misty... looking utterly alluring.

"Ahem!" Qin Ran coughed dryly, smacking his lips. He glanced at Li Shiwen but felt too guilty to look directly at him. Looking elsewhere, he said, "We were cultivating, yes, cultivating. I was teaching Shiyin about the circulation and use of qi."

Li Shiyin only then realized something was amiss. She turned her head to look outside and saw Li Shiwen with his serious face.

"Ah?!" She let out a shriek, feeling somewhat embarrassed, and quickly buried her face in Qin Ran's neck.

"Qi, cultivation?" Li Shiwen sneered. Did they think he was an idiot? He glared at Qin Ran and said, "In broad daylight, and not even considering the impact!"

As he spoke, he walked out, saying, "Get up and have breakfast... Now that you're in Danyang City, you're not planning to stay in your room all day, are you? Hurry up, this young master will show you the splendors of Danyang."

The villainous Li Shiwen came quietly and left quietly, not taking a single cloud with him.

Qin Ran sat up on the bed, still holding Li Shiyin. Li Shiyin's face was buried in his neck, and he buried his face too, his chin resting lightly on Li Shiyin's shoulder, his nose in her hair, inhaling its fragrance.

"Shiyin..." he called softly.

"Mm?" Li Shiyin responded.

"When you form your Golden Core, shall we get married?" he asked.

Li Shiyin struggled a bit in his arms. He let her go, and she sat sideways on the edge of the bed, reaching out to cup his face, looking into his eyes as she said, "Master, I can form my Golden Core right now."

His foolish disciple's face was flushed, and stars twinkled in her misty eyes. Qin Ran smiled, reaching out to pinch the nose of this mischievous little demoness, saying, "You know what I mean."

He had calculated that there were limits to cultivation realms, with each realm having its own limit. He had once wanted to explore the limits of Foundation Establishment, but Li Shiyin's arrival had caused him to form his Golden Core early.

Now Li Shiyin was very, very close to the limit of Foundation Establishment. He really wanted to know what it would be like to reach the extreme limit of a realm.

Hearing this, Li Shiyin, still cupping Qin Ran's face, gently squeezed, making Qin Ran's mouth pucker. She shook her head, freeing herself from Qin Ran's hand on her nose, then leaned in and planted a quick "mwah" on Qin Ran's lips.

She got up, bouncing off the bed, and laughed, "Alright! Master!!"

But she hadn't accounted for her still-weakened body that hadn't recovered its strength. Unable to support herself, she let out an "Ah!" and fell back down, tumbling into Qin Ran's arms.

Qin Ran laughed and held her close, preventing this always absent-minded foolish disciple from falling... and getting hurt.

After cuddling for quite a while, Qin Ran finally got out of bed.

After breakfast, Li Shiwen suddenly came over and snatched him away from Li Shiyin, saying, "Hang out with your big brother for these few days. Don't spend all your time indulging in puppy love, it's unbecoming..."