Yang Kai stirred awake as the first light of dawn crept through the cracks in his wooden hut. His body felt oddly warm, as if he had been soaking in the rich Yang Qi all night. But something else felt… off. There was a distinct wetness beneath his robes, a strange sensation of release, and a sticky warmth that made his half-conscious mind jolt awake.
His eyes snapped open.
No. No way.
Slowly, cautiously, he shifted under the blanket and felt the unmistakable evidence of his betrayal—his lower body was damp, and not with sweat. A wave of horror washed over him as he processed what had just happened.
"Did I just…?"
His face turned redder than the setting sun. The realization hit him like a sledgehammer—he had a release in his sleep. But why? He hadn't even been dreaming about anything indecent—had he?
Then it clicked.
Xia Ning Chang. The memory of her lying on his bed last night came rushing back in vivid detail—her slender figure wrapped in moonlight, the soft rise and fall of her chest, her delicate earlobes that made her even more alluring than they had any right to be. Her scent, like a faint lotus fragrance, had lingered in his hut long after she left.
Yang Kai groaned and buried his face in his hands.
"Oh, come on, I'm supposed to be a damn cultivator, not a lust-driven teenager!"
His modern mind rebelled against the sheer cliché of his predicament. Was this a side effect of cultivating Yang Qi? Or was he just that starved for female companionship in this lonely martial world? He was supposed to be a badass, an unshakable martial artist, but here he was, waking up like some frustrated high schooler.
"If I ever see her again, will she somehow sense what happened?"
The thought made him want to crawl into a hole and die.
Taking a deep breath, he quickly got up, changed his robes, and made sure to erase all evidence before heading out. He would never let anyone know about this—not even under torture.
And yet, as he stepped outside, feeling the cool morning breeze against his burning face, one lingering thought refused to leave him.
"Damn it… she really is too beautiful."
The knock on the door snapped him out of his horror.
"Crap!" Yang Kai scrambled out of bed, heart racing. Who the hell would come this early? He barely had time to grab his robe and compose himself before cracking the door open.
But there was no one there. Only a letter on the doorstep.
His embarrassment was momentarily pushed aside as he spotted a familiar figure retreating into the distance—Li Yun Tian.
"What's that idiot up to now?"
Bending down, he picked up the letter, his brows furrowing at the crimson words scrawled across the parchment.
"Dear senior brother, long time no see. I hope that senior brother would be generous enough to comply with this junior brother's wishes and come to Black Wind Forest."
Yang Kai's eyes narrowed. The words were written in blood. Whether it was from a chicken or something else, he couldn't say—but he knew it wasn't Su Mu's.
Flipping the letter, he found an even cruder message on the back.
"If you have the guts, then come!"
Yang Kai exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. Su Mu still hadn't let go of their past conflict. He was clearly trying to provoke him, to draw him into a fight outside the sect's rules.
A lesser man might have ignored it.
But Yang Kai wasn't a lesser man.
Grabbing his robe properly, he stretched, forcing himself to shake off the remnants of the embarrassing morning.
"Fine. I needed a proper fight anyway."
With that, he set off toward Black Wind Forest.
..................
"Did you deliver it?" Su Mu asked, a fierce light in his eyes.
"En."
"Good, then let's wait for that bastard to come."
There he waited, but no matter how long he waited, Yang Kai did not appear. Su Mu's face showed his impatience as he paced about before finally asking, "Could it be that bastard didn't have the courage to come here?"
Just as he swore, Li Yun Tian abruptly cried out. "Young master Su, someone is walking over here."
"Eh?" Su Mu's mind shook, thinking that Yang Kai had finally arrived to face him. But as he turned to look, his expression darkened—it wasn't Yang Kai .
"Young master Su, it's people from the Storm House." Li Yun Tian reported while squinting. "And the lead person seems to be Cheng Shao Feng!"
Su Mu's face turned cold as his eyes locked onto the approaching group. Cheng Shao Feng—a name he had crossed paths with too many times before. Their rivalry wasn't just about skill or strength. It was about pride.
"Young master Su, do you want to take a walk and avoid them?" Li Yun Tian hesitated, knowing that the tension between Su Mu and Cheng Shao Feng was far from ordinary.
"Avoid what?" Su Mu scoffed, his voice laced with disdain. "Does he have the qualifications to make this lord move for him?"
Li Yun Tian stayed silent. He knew that once Su Mu's pride was on the line, there was no convincing him otherwise.
As the Storm House disciples approached, Cheng Shao Feng's arrogant smirk was the first thing to be seen. He exchanged a few words with his group before increasing his pace, striding toward Su Mu as if he owned the place.
When they were finally within earshot, Cheng Shao Feng sneered, "I didn't know who it was blocking my path, but it turns out it was Su Mu." His voice was full of mockery as he looked Su Mu up and down.
Su Mu rolled his eyes, not even bothering to respond. His back remained straight like a javelin, his expression indifferent.
That blatant disregard made Cheng Shao Feng's smile falter for a moment. Just a moment.
"Ge, ge, ge." A soft chuckle echoed beside him. "Younger brother Cheng, they're ignoring you."
The voice was sweet, seductive, yet carried an air of mischief.
Su Mu's gaze shifted, and his eyes landed on a young woman standing behind Cheng Shao Feng.
She was beautiful—there was no denying that. Her loose jacket barely covered her delicate shoulders, revealing glimpses of smooth, pink skin. Her skirt was so short it seemed almost deliberate, teasingly revealing just enough to tempt curiosity. Her long, white legs were exposed, and her tiny feet rested in delicate wooden shoes.
But it was her eyes—those playful, cunning eyes—that Su Mu found the most dangerous.