Li Ru stood there completely bare, her face tinged with shyness, perfectly blending the charm of a mature woman with the bashfulness of a young girl, making it impossible to look away.
Her skin was as fair as snow, fragrant as jade.
A rare beauty!
Elder Longbrow swallowed hard.
Li Ru’s eyes locked onto Elder Longbrow, her voice tender as water, “In this life, I seek nothing else but one night of passion with you. If you agree to this request, I’ll tell you where the Heavenly Master’s Sword is.”
Elder Longbrow took a deep breath and said, “Xiao Ru, you should know I’m a man of the cloth. If I did that with you, it’d break my vows. Ask for something else instead!”
“I knew you’d say that.”
Li Ru shot Elder Longbrow a sidelong glance before continuing, “That Taoist left a pill and told me to give it to you.”
“Where’s the pill?” Elder Longbrow asked eagerly.
Li Ru turned around, bending down to rummage under the pillow.
Seizing the moment, Elder Longbrow stole a few glances at her body, swallowing hard again.
Li Ru retrieved a small, square wooden box from under the pillow, walked over, and handed it to Elder Longbrow.
Elder Longbrow opened the box, revealing a round, glistening pill inside, clearly something extraordinary.
“What kind of pill is this?” Elder Longbrow asked.
“The Bliss Pill,” Li Ru replied. “That Taoist said this pill can heal the backlash injury in your body.”
“Really?”
Elder Longbrow picked up the pill and sniffed it deeply.
Instantly, a rich fragrance flooded his senses, making him feel as if he were floating among the clouds, light and eup Gifted.
At the same time, the unclothed Li Ru danced gracefully before him, her smile enchanting, causing his heartbeat to quicken uncontrollably.
Gradually, Elder Longbrow’s eyes turned bloodshot, a primal urge boiling within him like water on the stove.
He swiftly shed his Taoist robe.
…
Ye Qiu and Shuisheng stood in place, watching Elder Longbrow’s every move.
After entering the array, Elder Longbrow took just two steps forward and then froze, standing still like a statue.
Twenty minutes passed.
Elder Longbrow still hadn’t moved.
Shuisheng grew worried, “Uncle Master won’t be in trouble, will he?”
“No need to worry. If he said he could break the array, he must have a way,” Ye Qiu replied, but just as he finished speaking, Elder Longbrow stirred.
What neither Ye Qiu nor Shuisheng expected was how bizarre his actions were. In a few quick motions, he stripped off his Taoist robe, leaving only a bright red pair of undergarments, then hugged one of the stone figures and began kissing it frantically.
Shuisheng’s face filled with horror, “Dr. Ye, Uncle Master—he’s gone mad!”
What’s happening?
Ye Qiu quietly pulled out his phone from his pocket and recorded Elder Longbrow’s antics.
…
“Come on, let’s have some fun~” Li Ru slithered toward Elder Longbrow like a water snake, wrapping herself around him.
Though Elder Longbrow was a Taoist, he was still a man.
What man could resist such temptation?
Elder Longbrow embraced Li Ru, kissing her while waging a fierce internal battle in his mind.
“No, I can’t do this, or I’ll break my vows.”
“But Xiao Ru’s being so forward. If I do nothing, am I even a man?”
“Besides, it seems the Patriarch foresaw this day. From what he told Xiao Ru, he shouldn’t blame me.”
“Just this once. After this, I’ll cut all ties with Xiao Ru for good.”
“No, wait—if the Patriarch foresaw this, he surely wouldn’t tolerate me breaking my vows. I am, after all, the leader of Dragon Tiger Mountain.”
Realising something, Elder Longbrow shoved Li Ru away, bit his tongue, and instantly regained his clarity.
“Longbrow, why are you doing this? Don’t you like me?”
Li Ru looked at him, pitiful and heart-wrenching, stirring sympathy in anyone who saw her.
Elder Longbrow sneered, “This is the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. Xiao Ru couldn’t possibly be here. You’re nothing but an illusion conjured by the Patriarch.”
“Longbrow, what are you saying? Open your eyes and look—I’m your Xiao Ru,” Li Ru said, her body swaying, waves of allure rippling forth, utterly captivating.
“A mere illusion won’t trap me.”
Elder Longbrow leapt into the air, bit the index and middle fingers of his right hand, and with them as a sword, began slashing wildly at the sky.
“Heaven is divine, Earth is divine, South Dipper on my left, Seven Stars on my right, defy me and perish, obey me and live, Nine Heavens’ Mysterious Thunder, hasten as decreed!”
As his words fell, two streaks of blood shot from his fingers, swirling in the air before forming a massive “Thunder” character.
“Five Thunder Orthodox Method!”
Li Ru’s face twisted in shock, pointing at Elder Longbrow and cursing, “Longbrow, you’re heartless! To think you’d use the Five Thunder Orthodox Method to kill me—I’ll haunt you even as a ghost!”
“You’re not Xiao Ru. The real Xiao Ru never saw the Five Thunder Orthodox Method.”
Boom!
Five thunderbolts, each as thick as a water barrel, crashed down from the five directions—east, south, west, north, and centre—striking Li Ru.
In an instant, Li Ru vanished without a trace.
Immediately after, the scene before Elder Longbrow shifted, and he found himself surrounded by the eighteen stone figures again.
Pale-faced, Elder Longbrow wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, shaken as he said, “Good thing my resolve held firm, or I’d have fallen to the Patriarch’s trick.”
“Uncle Master, Uncle Master…” Shuisheng’s voice called out.
Elder Longbrow turned to see Ye Qiu and Shuisheng standing where they’d been.
“Uncle Master, your clothes…”
Damn it, how’d I forget that?
Elder Longbrow’s face burned as he quickly picked up his robe and put it on, then strode out of the Stone Array in a few steps, shouting back to Ye Qiu and Shuisheng, “Be careful, this isn’t just a simple Stone Array. The Patriarch laced it with illusions.”
“To break it, remember four words.”
“Hold fast to your heart!”
Ye Qiu finally understood why Elder Longbrow had acted so strangely earlier—he’d been caught in an illusion.
“Dr. Ye, I’ll go break the array first,” Shuisheng said, then marched toward the eighteen stone figures, stepping into the array.
Instantly, his head spun.
Shuisheng felt a pang of fear and stopped, waiting a moment before taking another step forward.
The scene before him changed.
Snowflakes drifted from the sky, and by the riverbank, an infant sat in a washtub, smiling at him.
“Is this baby me?”
“Have I gone back twenty years?”
“No, Uncle Master said this is an illusion. I need to hold fast to my heart.” Shuisheng quickly shut his eyes and silently recited a calming mantra.
Ten minutes later.
Shuisheng opened his eyes to find himself standing among the eighteen stone figures. The earlier vision of the Wei River bank had vanished.
He hurriedly walked out of the array.
“Huh, how’d you get out so fast?” Elder Longbrow asked, astonished. “Didn’t you encounter an illusion?”
“I did, but I followed your advice, held fast to my heart, recited the calming mantra seven times, and walked out,” Shuisheng replied.
That works too?
Elder Longbrow cursed inwardly, Patriarch, you could’ve tricked anyone, why me? Making me strip like that!
“Uncle Master, Dr. Ye’s entered the array,” Shuisheng’s voice suddenly rang out.
Elder Longbrow looked up and sure enough, Ye Qiu had stepped into the Stone Array.
“Uncle Master, how long do you think it’ll take Dr. Ye to get out?” Shuisheng asked curiously.
“That little brat’s got too much baggage on his shoulders. It’ll probably take him an hour or two.”
Elder Longbrow shouted a reminder, “Little brat, you must hold fast to your heart! Don’t let your mind wander, or you’ll get trapped in the illusion and never escape.”
“The Patriarch’s illusions are formidable—I nearly fell for it. Be careful…”
Before he could finish, Elder Longbrow’s eyes widened in shock.
Ye Qiu had already emerged from the array.
Looking at the stunned Elder Longbrow, Ye Qiu smirked disdainfully, “The Heavenly Master’s illusion? That’s it?”
