Chapter 142: A Moment of Warmth and a Memory of Snow

With a subtle shift in her center of gravity, her body gently rubbed against his.

“Mmm~”

A very soft, nasal, almost contented sigh escaped her.

Meng Yinlu didn’t know why she couldn’t stop herself from making such a sound, but she felt warm all over.

It really was just like it was written in those storybooks.

“Hey? Wait, Yinlu, what are you doing?”

This unbearable movement jolted Chu Huaizhou fully awake. He asked before they both made a grave mistake.

Meng Yinlu didn’t reply. She only slightly adjusted her posture.

She tried to find a more comfortable angle to nestle against him, to experience more warmth.

But this tiny movement caused her proud, full bosom to brush against him repeatedly.

Her perfect curves and astonishing elasticity transmitted through the fabric. Chu Huaizhou’s reason screamed, ‘Do not look upon impropriety!’

Yet his gaze was magnetically drawn, glued to the neckline of her robe, which had spread wider due to the pressure.

From the gap forced open, a glimpse of creamy skin and a breathtaking, deep valley was revealed.

Fortunately, after a moment, she seemed to have found the right spot and stopped moving. She cautiously used the tip of her nose to nuzzle his jawline.

Like a kitten, docile and clingy.

The impact of this contrast was immense. Chu Huaizhou hastily closed his eyes, afraid of making a mistake.

But as soon as his eyes shut, the tactile sensations on his body became extremely pronounced.

His attention involuntarily focused, and he could even clearly trace the shape of the lace trim in his mind.

At the same time, where their legs were pressed together.

The smooth, elastic feel of the expensive thick black pantyhose transmitted through his nerves.

No, no. He forcibly imagined some cringe-worthy videos of muscular men he’d seen in his past life, trying to offset the influence of the touch.

But aside from touch, there was smell.

Chu Huaizhou didn’t even need to try to smell it; the air was full of Yinglu’s pleasant fragrance.

That reassuring scent of osmanthus blossoms.

It felt as if smelling this fragrance could soothe all worries.

Their heartbeats were nearly in sync at this moment.

Chu Huaizhou was almost in despair. He couldn’t bear to hit this third disciple, nor could he bear to scold her.

He was afraid that one wrong move could hurt the child’s fragile heart.

But he really couldn’t let this continue.

So he could only inwardly fume.

‘Chu Huaizhou! What have you done!’

‘You turned my pure, ice-cold, obedient, and adorable third disciple, Meng Yinlu, into this!’

‘And she even calls me “Master”!’

‘Is this humane?!’

But amidst the churning guilt and surging palpitations, a thought struck his mind like lightning.

Could it be… that this third disciple, Meng Yinlu, who seemed to have been “corrupted” by him, was actually his true Dao partner?

Then maybe he could just go along with it.

After all…

He swallowed with difficulty, his Adam’s apple bobbing violently. He couldn’t help lowering his head.

His gaze fell into Meng Yinlu’s raised eyes.

Those eyes, usually cold and clear as a winter pool, now seemed to be veiled with a misty rain of the Jiangnan region.

As her gaze moved, threads of silk spun, lingering and affectionate, as if they were silently pulling at each other.

Too moving; it seemed they would entangle his very soul.

That exquisitely beautiful face, usually so cold and detached, now shed all its frost. It was tinged with a mesmerizing, bewildering flush.

Like a fairy from the highest heavens, unable to resist the temptation of mortal desires, willingly falling into this small, gentle trap.

Truly unbearable.

Suddenly, he glimpsed a golden leaf necklace lying quietly on Meng Yinlu’s chest.

Chu Huaizhou’s heart fell into struggle. His memory involuntarily drifted back several hundred years, to that cold, snowy night.

The icy wind, carrying shards of snow, beat against the window lattice, making a sobbing sound.

Chu Huaizhou stood under a dilapidated eaves. His black Daoist robe fluttered in the wind.

He shouldn’t have stopped here, because there were several evil cultivators ahead waiting for him to kill.

But as his divine sense swept over this abandoned side courtyard, he caught a faint trace of life in the three-foot-deep snow.

It was a figure so thin it looked about to be swallowed by the wind and snow.

A young girl stood barefoot in the snow. Her faded peach-colored padded jacket was torn, revealing the cotton wadding inside, like a crushed camellia flower.

She stood on tiptoe, reaching for the last withered leaf on the branch. Her frostbitten, purple-blue fingers suddenly paused just as they were about to touch the leaf vein.

Chu Huaizhou saw a dazed expression flash across her upturned face, as if she had suddenly realized she was no different from that withered leaf.

“Be careful not to frostbite.”

He spoke without knowing why. His voice was even softer than the snow falling on the girl’s hair.

When the little girl stumbled back in shock, her ragged sleeve slipped down.

Revealing crisscrossing burn scars on her arm.

Chu Huaizhou’s heart immediately jolted with alarm.

When he asked, she was silent for a long time before answering.

She said she had originally been looking at the peach tree at home.

Then suddenly, a group of people broke into her house, looted wildly, and kidnapped her. They locked her in a cage and chained her up.

She had expended great effort to escape just a while ago.

But she didn’t know where this was and couldn’t find her way home.

So she was resting here.

After hearing this, Chu Huaizhou felt a pang of sadness. He thought that if he hadn’t encountered her, she would surely have frozen to death in this heavy snow.

He built a fire for her with effort, then went and bought several padded jackets for her.

He told Meng Yin to wait here for a while.

Then Chu Huaizhou quickly finished his journey, liquidated the several evil cultivators in one fell swoop.

Afterward, he took her to the Absolute Forbidden Zone and plucked the Immortal Petal Lotus.

Then, following her intuition and guesses, they spent half a day.

Gradually found her home.

At this point, it should have been a happy ending.

But… when he brought the overjoyed Meng Yinlu and pushed open the door.

What they found was not the ravaged, desolate Meng family that needed rebuilding.

But rather a family celebrating, hosting a grand banquet, people saying things like “The jinx has finally been sent away.”

Inside, the people were dressed in finery, and big red lanterns hung high.

Completely different from the two dusty travelers outside.

He still remembered the expressions on Meng Yinlu’s family’s faces at that time.

Mixed with shock, indignation, and confusion.

The joyful sound of silk and bamboo instruments came through the wind and snow.

When the gatekeeper saw them, he knocked over the lantern in his hand.

The flames licked the snow, reflecting Meng Yinlu’s suddenly pale face.

“Miss?!”

This cry was like a stone thrown into still water.

The music abruptly stopped, replaced by gasps from all around.

Chu Huaizhou looked at the red silk banners twisting in the wind like rivers of blood.

He looked at the frozen smiles of the richly dressed guests at the feast.

Finally, his gaze settled on the faces of the couple at the head table.

Madam Meng’s gold-step hairpin shook violently.

“How did you…?”

Her nails, painted with red lacquer, deeply dug into her husband’s arm. She wanted to rage, but when she saw Chu Huaizhou’s robe of the Heavenly Yuan Sword Sect, she dared not raise her voice.

She said softly: “Yinlu, didn’t your mother send you to your aunt’s house to recover from illness?”

Chu Huaizhou felt the small hand in his palm suddenly turn ice-cold.

Much later, when she recalled this scene, she told him that she had never heard the mistress speak to her so gently. Usually, it was either beating her or harshly scolding her.

“Madam!”

Just then, the butler stumbled in from the back courtyard.

“Miss… the seller said Miss ran away herself!”

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