Chapter 25

Chapter 25

In the Mind-Trapping Array, another calm day passed.

The next evening at dusk, Shen Xiyin returned from the dense forest carrying a bamboo basket. The sky was dark and gloomy, and soon a light rain began to fall.

Walking along the village path, Shen Xiyin couldn't get back to her cottage in time, so she took shelter from the rain under a dilapidated thatched pavilion at the crossroads.

Raindrops pattered heavily against the thatched roof, making a muffled rustling sound. Outside the pavilion, the rain formed a curtain of beads, a white haze.

Through the rain curtain, a tall, slender figure in a black garment approached from the direction of the distant mountains. His figure grew clearer as he stepped into the pavilion.

The pavilion, which had felt spacious enough before, now felt cramped with another person in it.

His black robe was soaked through with rain, clinging to his lean, sturdy body. Water droplets rolled from his drooping sleeves and hem, splashing into tiny blooms at his feet, quickly dampening a small patch of ground. The water slowly crept from his feet past an invisible boundary, touching the edge of her embroidered shoes.

Shen Xiyin's hands, hidden in her sleeves, curled up uncomfortably.

Pei Su gave her a flat glance. "Hiding from the rain?"

Shen Xiyin replied, "Mm."

What else?

The rain wasn't letting up anytime soon.

Shen Xiyin stood in a corner, quietly pressing her legs together, as if trying to hide something.

On the other side, Pei Su lowered his head slightly, watching the movement of the Lust Control Thread on his chest.

The rain's dampness, mixed with the salty smell of mud, filled the pavilion. The air was so humid and stuffy it felt sticky. The chaotic, disorderly sound of the rain stirred the heart.

Shen Xiyin broke the silence. "You went to the distant mountains again today?"

Pei Su gazed at the blurry mountain shadows through the vast rain curtain. "Mm."

The multiple barriers in the Mind-Trapping Array were connected to the local veins of this place. To fully unravel them, you first needed to figure out where this place was.

Earlier, this Mrs. Xu had found some fragments of Crimson Jade ore in the dense forest. In the past few days, he had also found a lot of this ore in the distant mountains, which was only produced in the Xunyang region.

From this, he deduced they were trapped somewhere in Xunyang, but the exact location was still unclear.

He tried to figure out their specific location from the mountain ranges and topography of this place, but it was difficult.

He prided himself on having memorized the terrain of many places, yet he couldn't find a match for this place in his mind.

Of course, compared to this complex and roundabout method of comparing terrain, there was a more direct way to figure out where they were.

But this method required a large amount of spiritual power, and the little he had left was far from enough.

Pei Su had tried several herbs to boost spiritual power, but they were completely useless.

The Mind-Trapping Array had blocked almost all exits, leaving only the Trial of Passion path.

The rain was fine and persistent, refusing to let up for a long time. Like pillars of rain, it trapped the people in the pavilion, unable to move forward or back.

Seeing Pei Su was deep in thought, Shen Xiyin didn't disturb him. She stood quietly, lowering her head to stare at her worn-out embroidered shoes.

Pei Su's mind was busy figuring out various ways to break the barriers, but for some reason, he couldn't focus.

He raised a hand to his chest, and sure enough, the Lust Control Thread was faintly starting to grow. But luckily, it was still within the range he could suppress.

He closed his eyes and sighed, hoping the rain would let up soon.

Shen Xiyin secretly glanced at him, seeing the worry deepen on his face. She bit her lip gently.

The next day, Pei Su locked himself in his room to meditate in seclusion.

That evening, a knock on the door interrupted his meditation.

He pulled open the wooden door and saw the figure in the stiff, washed-out old skirt standing quietly under the eaves. The candlelight spilling from inside the room clearly lit up her clear, moist face.

She seemed not to have expected the door to open so quickly, a hint of unprepared panic lingering in her eyes.

Pei Su asked her, "What's up?"

She took the bamboo basket full of herbs off her shoulder and handed it to him.

"These..." Her voice still carried the slight breathlessness of work, her breathing a bit unsteady. "You looking for these?"

The basket was full of herbs that could boost spiritual power. They were clearly freshly picked, still covered in mountain dew and soil.

Pei Su's gaze shifted from the basket full of herbs to her fingertips stained with mud and her temples dampened by sweat, finally landing on her eyes, which held a hint of uncertainty and timidity.

It suddenly occurred to him that she had seen him testing the spiritual herbs before.

Shen Xiyin said, "I thought you might need them."

Pei Su looked down at her, his Adam's apple rolling unconsciously. The cold, harsh "no" that was about to slip out was swallowed back, replaced by a more tactful phrasing.

"I do need herbs to boost spiritual power, but the ones you've brought are of no use."

Hearing his words, she took back the bamboo basket and replied, "Alright."

Pei Su thought he had made himself clear enough, but who would have guessed that the next day, she came over again with another basket of herbs.

This time, the herbs she brought were rarer and harder to find than the previous ones. He had no idea where she had gathered them.

"See if these are usable?"

Pei Su raised his hand to sense them for a moment, then shook his head.

Since the Mind-Trapping Array intended to cut off their path, these things couldn't possibly have any effect.

Pei Su looked at the herbs she had gathered and asked, "You recognize these?"

Shen Xiyin's face flushed when he asked about something she knew. She nodded. "I do."

She said that before she got married, she made a living by gathering spiritual herbs. She wasn't slow at learning things, knew many craft skills, and could even help with manual labor.

But as she spoke, seeing that he didn't respond, she stopped.

What she was saying seemed, to him, to be trivial matters.

On the third day, she brought another batch of obscure spiritual herbs.

Those herbs were naturally useless as well.

Pei Su felt that this woman was really quite stubborn.

She kept making futile efforts at something with almost no chance of success.

But perhaps this was the only way she, as a mortal, could come up with.

By the fifth time she came to him with herbs, she'd nearly exhausted every medicinal plant that could be found in the dense mountain forest.

Pei Su figured she'd give up, that there wouldn't be a sixth time.

But that night, she still came.

When he saw her running to him again, Pei Su was a little taken aback.

This time, she brought a dark green herb shaped a lot like mugwort.

"Elder, try this one."

The herb in her hand was called evening primrose, a common herb mostly used to boost blood flow and clear stasis. It did help boost spiritual power a bit, but not particularly well.

Pei Su didn't have high hopes, but unexpectedly, when his hand approached the evening primrose she held, he actually felt a long-lost pulse of spiritual energy.

"It works."

Hearing him say it worked, a visible flush of joy spread across her pale cheeks.

"Then I'll go pick more tomorrow."

Pei Su figured the evening primrose she'd found wasn't easy to come by, or she wouldn't have waited till the sixth time to bring it.

He'd initially wanted to ask her where exactly it grew, so he could go on his own, but seeing the joyful red on her face, the words that came out were just a simple, "Alright."

The Lust Control Thread on his chest stirred faintly again after that one word.

Luckily, she didn't stick around long and was about to leave.

If everything went smoothly, they'd soon escape the Mind-Trapping Array, and after that, they'd have no more ties.

Pei Su watched her retreating figure and, for some reason he couldn't explain, asked, "If you get out of this array, where will you go?"

Shen Xiyin stopped in her tracks, turned to glance at him, and after a long silence, answered, "To see the people I've been missing."

It'd been a long time since she'd visited her parents' graves. Once she got out, she wanted to go, clear the weeds off the tombstones, and bring some offerings to pay her respects.

Pei Su figured the person she missed was probably her beloved husband.

It was only natural she'd want to go back to him.

But the Lust Control Thread on his chest, at her answer, started spreading uncontrollably.

An even more absurd command rose in his heart—

Leave a mark on her that doesn't belong to her husband, but only to you.

But such a shameful, despicable act was something he'd never do, nor had he ever stooped to.

By the next morning, the Lust Control Thread on Pei Su's chest had finally settled down, but even though it stopped acting up, it wouldn't retreat to where it was before.

All night, he was practically drenched in sweat.

In the early morning village, faint light was breaking through, and birds were chirping busily.

Pei Su sat by the window, slowly opening his eyes, just in time to see her get up early, carrying her bamboo basket as she headed for the mountains.

He thought she'd be back by noon at the latest, but she still hadn't come back by dusk.

Sensing something was off, Pei Su didn't wait any longer and followed the path she'd taken into the mountains.

As night fell, a light rain started drizzling.

The mountains were pitch black, and the path was completely invisible. He raised his hand to light a Mystic Flame and followed the barrier's trail.

Half an hour later, he found the bamboo basket she'd taken that morning near a steep slope, filled with evening primrose.

She had to be nearby.

"Mrs. Xu."

Pei Su called out a couple of times.

Soon, her soft voice came from down the slope.

"I'm here."

Evening primrose grew on cliffs and was hard to pick. Shen Xiyin had finished gathering it near dusk, and in the dim light, she'd accidentally slipped and fallen to the bottom of the slope.

Then the rain started. Surrounded by darkness and with the rain making the ground slippery, she didn't dare move carelessly, planning to wait till dawn to find a way up.

Pei Su used his Mystic Flame to check the terrain and said to her, "Take five steps to your right. The ground is gentler there; you can climb up from there."

"Alright," Shen Xiyin replied, following his instructions, and indeed found a gentle slope.

She slowly crawled up along it, following the light toward the figure in the Black Garment lit by the flame in his hand.

Pei Su saw the rain-slicked mountain path beneath her feet. "Go slowly."

Shen Xiyin moved forward cautiously, her embroidered shoes worn and frayed, a persistent discomfort washing over her in waves. She stumbled onward.

She tried her best to endure, but when she reached Pei Su, the unpleasant sensation surged up, rushing deep into her lower abdomen.

She let out a pained "Mm," her legs giving way as she pitched forward, unexpectedly falling into the damp, firm chest of the man before him.

He didn't speak, his heavy breath falling steadily onto the top of her head, one breath after another, calm yet brimming with strength.

"S-sorry."

Startled, Shen Xiyin lifted her head from his chest, trying to pull away, but a large hand gripped her waist, holding her completely still.

The scorching heat from his hand seeped through her soaked clothes into her skin.

A long-unheard rustling sound reached her ears. Shen Xiyin recognized it—the sound of the Mind-Trapping Array's prompt.

If not for this familiar yet strange noise, she would have almost forgotten the long-unexecuted third Trial of Passion—

Bare bodies, knowing each other intimately, until marks are left.

But…

He had clearly said this trial would not be carried out.