The City of Night Breaks Through Defenses

The night was as black as ink. Inside the Listening Rain Pavilion, the candlelight flickered, casting the dim yellow halo of two overlapping silhouettes onto the paper window, trembling with the rise and fall of their breaths.

Ye Xuan half-leaned against the headboard, his eyes slightly closed, his chest gently heaving.

In his arms, Ying'er was like a lazy kitten. A lingering flush still remained on her cheeks, and her messy hair clung to her sweat-dampened forehead.

She lay obediently on Ye Xuan's chest, her fingers absentmindedly tracing circles on his skin, her eyes hazy and satisfied.

After a moment of tranquility, Ying'er seemed to suddenly remember something, and her body stiffened slightly.

She raised her head. A trace of timidity and flattery flashed in her large, watery eyes. Her voice was so soft and sweet it could melt hearts: "Master... you always sleep with me, you must be getting tired of it by now, right?"

Ye Xuan slowly opened his eyes and looked down at her. The depths of his eyes were like a bottomless, dark pool.

Ying'er bit her lip and continued, "There are so many beauties in the Hehuan Sect. Women with great figures and high cultivation are everywhere. That Junior Sister Ye... I can tell she is interested in you, Master."

"Why doesn't Ying'er help you scout out a few?"

Before she could finish speaking, Ye Xuan suddenly raised his hand and gently pinched her cute, upturned nose. His action was doting, but his tone carried an unquestionable dominance: "What nonsense are you thinking about? Is it not enough that I only dote on you?"

Ying'er's heart trembled violently, and a sour feeling at the tip of her nose instantly surged into her eyes.

She lowered her head, avoiding Ye Xuan's burning gaze. Her voice was so low it was almost inaudible, carrying a heavy sense of inferiority: "But... I am already a ruined woman. I am not worthy of Master's favoritism. Those fairies in the sect are the ones who truly match Master..."

Ye Xuan's finger slid down the bridge of her nose and gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.

There was not the slightest bit of disgust on his face; instead, he wore a careless smile.

"Ying'er, look at me."

His voice was gentle but every word carried weight. "What you did before was for survival. In this man-eating world, it was just to stay alive. Besides, that was before you met me. Since I didn't know the you from back then, why would I mind?"

Ying'er's eyes turned red, tears welling up within them. She was so moved that she could hardly speak.

However, in the next second, Ye Xuan's gaze suddenly turned cold.

It was an extreme, bone-deep disgust and contempt, as if he had thought of something that made him sick to his stomach.

A cold curve formed at the corner of his mouth. He raised his voice a few notches, allowing it to clearly pierce through the paper window and echo in the silent night:

"That is nothing at all. In my eyes, the cheapest, dirtiest women in this world are not your kind."

Ying'er froze for a moment: "Then what kind?"

Ye Xuan sneered, a cruel light flashing in his eyes, and said word by word:

"It is the kind of slut who clearly has a Dao companion, has a husband, yet still goes out to fool around, doing such filthy things for the sake of the so-called Great Dao."

He spoke extremely slowly, every word like a poisoned knife.

"This kind of woman appears pure and noble on the surface, unattainable, but in reality, she is rotten to the core. This kind of woman wants to erect a monument to her chastity while still acting like a whore. It is simply nauseating."

Ying'er nodded, half-understanding. Although she didn't know who her Master was scolding, as long as it was someone her Master hated, she would hate them too.

She obediently chimed in, "Master is right, that kind of woman is the cheapest and deserves to die."

Hearing this, the gloom on Ye Xuan's face instantly dissipated. He revealed a gentle smile once more, his fingers slowly sliding down Ying'er's back, lingering on her smooth skin.

"Let's not think about those dirty things anymore."

He rolled over and pinned Ying'er beneath him, looking at her with burning eyes: "Let's do it again."

Ying'er nodded shyly, her arms wrapping around his neck like vines.

The night was so thick it could not be dissolved.

A slender figure was pressed tightly against the shadows at the base of the wall, like a vengeful spirit nailed to a pillar of shame.

Ye Qingcheng was trembling violently all over.

She curled up in the corner in an extremely twisted posture, her hands covering her mouth tightly for fear of leaking even the slightest sound.

She had been here from the moment Ye Xuan started favoring Ying'er.

She listened to every sound coming from inside.

These sounds were like red-hot iron pokers, viciously stabbing into her eardrums and churning her brains to mush.

Jealousy.

A mad jealousy that threatened to burn her internal organs to ashes.

"Kill her... kill her... chop her to pieces and feed her to the dogs! Peel off her skin to make a lantern!!"

She roared madly in her heart. Her nails dug deeply into the cracks of the brick wall. Her ten fingers were dripping with blood, her nails flipping back. The pain was piercing, yet this pain was not even a ten-thousandth of the pain in her heart.

That cheap bitch!

That lowly servant girl!

How dare she? How is she worthy?

That is my Senior Brother!

That is my lover!

The god that belongs to me alone!

Every inch of that cheap bitch's body that her Senior Brother had touched, Ye Qingcheng wanted to carve out piece by piece with a knife.

However, when Ye Xuan's words "the cheapest woman in this world" came out, the roaring in Ye Qingcheng's mind came to an abrupt halt.

"Clearly having a Dao companion, yet still doing such filthy things."

"Appearing pure and noble on the surface, but rotten to the core in reality."

"Wanting to erect a monument to her chastity while acting like a whore."

Every single word felt as if Ye Xuan was standing right in front of her, pointing at her nose, and viciously slapping her countless times.

"No... it's not like that... I'm not dirty... Senior Brother... I'm not..."

Ye Qingcheng trembled all over. Her tears instantly burst their banks, silently sliding down her cheeks, mixing with the blood at the corner of her mouth, leaving her in a miserable state.

An unprecedented sense of shame completely submerged her.

In Senior Brother's eyes... am I that kind of woman?

Even lower than Ying'er, that ruined woman?

"That kind of woman is the cheapest." Ying'er's echoing words became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

"Ah..."

A broken whimper, like that of a wounded beast, escaped from Ye Qingcheng's throat.

She bit down hard on her own wrist. Her teeth pierced her flesh, and blood flooded her mouth. The metallic, sweet taste made her want to vomit.

She felt a strong wave of nausea. Her stomach churned wildly, as if all her internal organs were spasming.

Pain, shame, despair, and an unventable love frantically collided within her body.

She wanted to rush in and kill Ying'er to prove that she was the one who loved her Senior Brother the most.

But... she didn't dare.

She was afraid of seeing Ye Xuan looking at her as if she were trash.

She was even more afraid that he would actually use the Love of Qingcheng technique.

She could only listen.

Listening as the noises inside the room started up again.

"Mmn... Master... gentler..."

This voice was like a demonic curse.

Ye Qingcheng closed her eyes in despair. Her body slowly slid down the wall, collapsing into the cold dirt. She hugged her head with both hands, her nails scratching her scalp, and buried that pure face into her knees, weeping silently.

She had broken down.

The once lofty and insufferably arrogant female demon had now shattered into dust in the darkness.

...

Inside the room, the storm of passion had just subsided.

Ye Xuan hugged Ying'er contentedly, his fingers absentmindedly twirling a strand of her beautiful hair.

He certainly knew there was someone outside.

He also knew who it was.

Every word he had just spoken was an instrument of torture, meticulously tailor-made for Ye Qingcheng.

For a twistedly obsessive woman with intense possessiveness and immense pride, physical pain meant nothing.

Only this kind of mental death by a thousand cuts—comparing her to the person she looked down upon the most and trampling her underfoot—could make her feel true agony.

Ying'er lay in Ye Xuan's embrace, her face filled with languor and contentment.

As if remembering something important, she propped herself up slightly, leaned close to Ye Xuan's ear, and said like a child presenting a treasure,

Master, that Love of Qingcheng you told me about before... I, I have already learned it.

Ye Xuan raised an eyebrow. A flash of surprise passed through his eyes, which then melted into admiration.

This girl's talent was quite good. Or rather, it was her extreme loyalty and love for him that allowed her to so quickly comprehend this spell, which required offering one's life as a sacrifice.

Mhm, Ye Xuan looked at her, reaching out to gently stroke her smooth cheek. He smiled, yet his tone carried a chillingly heart-palpitating calmness. Well done.

Ying'er happily rubbed against his palm.

Ye Xuan withdrew his smile. His eyes grew profound and icy as he whispered his instructions,

Ying'er, remember this. This spell is the final protective talisman I am leaving you, and it is also my highest demand of you.

If, in the future, you encounter a situation you cannot resist—for instance, if someone tries to capture you to threaten me, or...

He paused, his gaze turning incomparably grim. ...if a man tries to force himself on you, to sleep with you.

Ying'er's eyes instantly became resolute, without a shred of hesitation.

She nodded forcefully. On that originally frail little face, a decisive and heroic spirit now emerged,

Okay. I understand.

She tightly hugged Ye Xuan's waist, pressing her face against his chest. Listening to his powerful heartbeat, she made what seemed like a sacred vow,

Whether it is Ying'er's body or her life, they both belong to Master. Other than Master, no one can touch me.

If that day truly comes... I will absolutely not bring shame to Master. I will immediately activate the Love of Qingcheng. Even if my soul is shattered and scattered, I will never let another man soil a single fraction of me!

Ye Xuan smiled faintly, lowering his head to plant a cold kiss on her forehead.

Such a good girl.

His gaze passed over the top of Ying'er's head, looking out the window into the impenetrable darkness. The smile at the corners of his lips gradually turned ferocious and icy.

Outside, the wind whimpered.

Ye Qingcheng huddled in the corner of the wall, hearing the conversation inside the room with absolute clarity.

Rather die than let another man touch her...

At this moment, she felt that she had lost.

Lost to a lowly servant girl.

That love, pure to the extreme, willing to go as far as having her soul shattered—it was like a sharp knife, once again piercing through her already riddled heart.

Trembling, she raised her head and looked at that window. Her eyes were heavily bloodshot, her expression dazed and frantic.

I can do it too...

Her lips moved, letting out a silent scream.

Senior Brother... for you, I could die too... why do you not believe me... why...

In the darkness, she was like a lonely, wandering ghost abandoned by the entire world. In this freezing night, all she could do was hug her own shattered soul and shiver.