Chapter 37: Kissing Is Healthy

Outside our second-floor window, a faint scrape of cloth brushed against the wooden sill. A razor-thin steel wire slid beneath the latch, slowly inching the wooden frame open half an inch, carrying the faint, metallic scent of cold blood.

A shadowy figure clad in tight black cloth crouched on the wet eaves, holding a poisoned crossbow aimed directly toward the bed.

How boring.

With a single, silent thought, my divine sense connected to the emerald flying sword resting against the bedside wall.

SHING-

The blade didn’t emit a blinding glare, nor did it unleash a thunderous roar. Suppressing its light to a razor-thin sliver of green shadow, the flying sword liquefied into a streak of wind, slipping through the crack in the window with absolute, ghostly silence.

Squelch. A muffled grunt of sheer agony broke through the drizzle outside.

I didn’t bother severing his neck, leaving a headless corpse on the roof would only draw annoying local constables to the inn at dawn. Instead, the flat edge of my sword whipped forward, shattering his right collarbone and cleanly slicing through his shoulder tendon, instantly rendering his weapon arm useless.

The assassin lost his footing on the slick wooden shingles, slipping down the roof and crashing into the muddy alleyway below with a heavy, wet thud.

A brief pulse of golden qi rippled along the flying sword, vaporizing the tiny speck of blood from the blade in mid-air.

With a soft, metallic whisper, the sword slipped back through the window, settled neatly against the wooden wall, and fell completely still.

Throughout the entire process, Shen Qingxue hadn’t even stirred. Wrapped in the soft cocoon of the quilt, she merely let out a soft, sleepy murmur, snuggling her forehead deeper into my collarbone.

I smiled faintly, tucked the blanket over her shoulder once more, and closed my eyes, slipping right back to sleep.

The morning sun filtered through the paper windowpanes, casting warm, golden squares of light across the wooden floorboards.

I slowly blinked my eyes open, feeling the refreshing, invigorating vitality of a Late-Stage Golden Core cultivator surging through my veins.

Waking up with an absolute jade beauty curled up in your arms was, without question, the greatest feeling in the realm. Qingxue was still asleep, her breathing deep and even. Her messy raven hair was fanned out across my white chest robes, her pale, porcelain face completely relaxed, without a trace of the fierce, guarded hatred she usually carried. Her pink, full lips were parted slightly, looking irresistibly soft under the morning light.

I smiled, leaned down, and pressed a gentle, lingering kiss onto her smooth forehead.

Her dark eyelashes fluttered at the touch. A soft groan slipped past her lips as her obsidian eyes slowly blinked open, looking slightly disoriented.

When her gaze focused on my face hovering inches above hers, a radiant, sleepy smile curved her lips.

"Husband..." she murmured softly.

Then, before I could greet her, she lifted her chin, closed her eyes, and pressed her soft, warm lips directly against mine.

I froze for a split second, thoroughly surprised by her sudden boldness.

The kiss was sweet, warm, and laden with pure, unreserved devotion. Whatever self-restraint I had maintained through the cold midnight instantly shattered into dust.

A low growl vibrated in my throat. I flipped my body over, pinning her beneath me against the plush mattress, deepening the kiss with hungry, passionate intensity.

My tongue parted her soft lips, claiming her mouth completely, while my hands roamed downward, sliding beneath the silk hem of her robe to trace the breathtaking, fiery curve of her bare hips.

Qingxue gasped into my mouth, her small hands frantically clutching at the back of my tunic as her slender body arched helplessly against mine, completely breathless under my touch.

I pressed my lips against hers, deepening the kiss until the cool morning air between us burned away entirely.

Shen Qingxue’s response was surprisingly eager. Despite her timid hesitation and nervous blushes the previous night, she didn’t shrink away in the slightest. Her hands tangled into the loose fabric of my clothes, pulling me closer, her soft lips parting to welcome mine with an intoxicating warmth.

It was sweet, messy, and filled with the unreserved devotion of a woman who had completely given her soul away.

For a good ten minutes, we played around beneath the thick silk quilt. My hands wandered over the smooth curve of her waist, tracing the firm, delicate contours of her back and the supple fullness of her hips, while her breathless gasps tickled my throat.

Still, despite the fire burning low in my gut, I didn’t take things all the way. A promise was a promise. I wasn’t going to rush her across the final threshold in a roadside inn while her mind was still weighed down by mortal blood.

Eventually, I pulled back, pressing a lingering kiss to the corner of her swollen, reddened lips.

"Good morning, my sweet wife," I said with a soft chuckle, brushing a messy strand of dark hair away from her glowing cheek.

Qingxue buried her face into the crook of my neck, letting out a muffled squeak of absolute mortification, her entire body radiating heat.

After laughing at her embarrassment, we both got out of bed. We took turns freshening up in the private bathing room, rinsing away the lingering sleep with warm water. Once we were dressed, myself in clean traveling scholar robes and Qingxue in her dark-green traveling tunic with her sheer veil secured, we headed downstairs to the main hall.

The moment we stepped off the wooden staircase, a loud, agitated buzz of mortal voices reached our ears.

A crowd of inn patrons, merchants, and local townspeople were gathered by the front entrance, craning their necks to peer into the narrow alleyway alongside the building.

"What happened out there?"

"The stable boy found a man lying face-down in the mud at dawn! His shoulder was completely shattered, sliced to the bone like someone took a cleaver to him!"

"Is he dead?"

"No, breathing faintly, but coughing up blood! The town constables are hauling him to the magistrate’s clinic right now."