Beyond the bamboo hut, the silhouette—that eerie reflection of Jiang Li—skimmed across the Spirit Spring, leaving ripples that had yet to settle. Inside, the air had already congealed into a suffocating tension.
Jiang Li's knuckles turned white as she gripped the hem of her sleeve, her fingers trembling from the sheer force of her hold.
"Do not be afraid, Li'er."
A voice, low, rasping, and laced with an irresistible allure, suddenly erupted from behind her.
Jiang Li's spine stiffened. A chill, like a venomous serpent slithering over her skin, surged through her. She whirled around as the Turbid Qi within her exploded, a Rank 3 pressure manifesting as a black gale that sent the bamboo curtains into a frantic dance.
Cang Yaochen had changed. Those eyes, once overflowing with hollow, Buddha-like compassion, were now stained with the hue of crushed peach blossoms, their corners glowing with a haunting, demonic crimson. His moon-white outer robe lay discarded carelessly on the bed; his inner tunic hung loosely off his shoulders, exposing a broad chest bound in white gauze. Due to his sudden, violent movements, the wound had torn open once more. Dark, visceral blood seeped through the bandages, trailing a startling, morbid path down his deathly pale skin.
He was no longer the unreachable "True Buddha." He looked like a god-touched calamity crawling out from the deepest abyss.
"Li'er… it has been several days. You've grown even more enticing. Since our parting at the Holy Temple, I have missed you dearly."
Cang Yaochen leaned down, his nose nearly brushing against the side of Jiang Li's face. He ignored the murderous intent flickering at her fingertips, instead inhaling deeply, appearing intoxicated by her scent—a primal mixture of sweat and the crisp fragrance of forest herbs.
"Still that familiar scent. What a captivating little thing you are."
"What is wrong with you?!" Jiang Li felt a sudden, inexplicable surge of panic. It wasn't the fear of facing a powerful enemy, but the primal tremor of being locked in the sights of a predator. She swung a palm strike toward the man's chest—the very spot where his injury was most severe.
But in the next heartbeat, her wrist was clamped by a hand as unyielding as an iron shackle.
"Sss…" Cang Yaochen let out a faint, pained grunt. The strike had indeed hit the wound, but instead of retreating, he leaned forward, using his sheer physical presence to slam Jiang Li back against the wooden door.
Thud.
A jolt of pain shot through Jiang Li's back. Immediately after, that unnaturally feverish body pressed flush against her.
"You're not the Monk Cang… you're that monster!" Jiang Li hissed through gritted teeth. To her, Cang Yaochen felt utterly sinister now, exactly like their first encounter at the ancient temple—that familiar dread and pain crashing over her once again.
"I am who I am, still your 'big brother.' Weren't your hands trembling just now when you helped 'me' change clothes?" Cang Yaochen chuckled, the sound vibrating in the narrow space behind the door and making Jiang Li's ears tingle. His burning gaze locked onto her face as he playfully twirled a stray lock of her hair. "Why? That monk is so wooden and dull, yet he makes you feel joy? But a man like me… a man who will cherish you, make you bleed, and leave you wanting more… he doesn't move your heart?"
[System Prompt: Eros-God Persona loading: 100%. Current Task: Induce physiological dependency in the target.]
As the cold, electronic voice of the System echoed in Cang Yaochen's mind, the "Enticing Illusion" unique to the Eros-God persona quietly unfurled.
Jiang Li felt her vision begin to sway. The once-cool bamboo hut seemed to layer into a kaleidoscope of shadows. Countless dark purple flower buds materialized around them, each whispering incessantly in her ear.
"Get away!" Jiang Li's Turbid Qi churned violently, attempting to shatter this cloying hallucination.
But at that moment, Cang Yaochen did something that utterly broke her composure.
He suddenly leaned down and bit down hard near the fiery-red "Red Sand Mark" on her skin.
"Ah!"
A violent shudder wracked Jiang Li's body. It wasn't pain; it was an electric jolt that shot up her spine and straight to her brain. The Red Sand Mark was her core essence, a place she allowed no one to touch. To be so violated by this man caused an instinctive throb that left her half-paralyzed with weakness. She felt a toxic mix of terror and shame—the memory of his breath against her ear that day became vividly, terrifyingly real.
"Li'er, your essence is telling me what you want. You want me closer. Closer still." Cang Yaochen's voice grew frenzied and obsessive. He ignored the agony of his tearing wound, greedily siphoning the Turbid Qi from Jiang Li's body.
"Don't resist me. Relax. I can help you strengthen your Qi." Even as he enticed her, he guided her hand, pressing it against his own thudding heart.
The moment Jiang Li's fingertips touched the rhythm of his chest, a strange, agonizing resonance erupted.
She felt a tearing pain in her own chest. Flashing through her mind was an image from the depths of Cang Yaochen's consciousness: a young boy bound in chains—the Monk Cang!
"This pain… it feels good, doesn't it?" Cang Yaochen pressed against her neck, his eyes shimmering with a near-insane lust. "That monk is just using you. He doesn't understand you at all. Only I do. I want to tear you apart, then stitch you back together as a part of my own body…"
Jiang Li's rationality was on the verge of being swallowed whole. She had never witnessed a desire so direct, so twisted.
Just as their breaths mingled and their clothes threatened to slip away in the friction of the struggle, a sharp crack echoed from outside!
A heavy bolt fired from a crossbow on the opposite bank of the Spirit Spring pierced through the island's barrier with murderous intent, flying straight for the back of Cang Yaochen's head.
"Watch out!"
Jiang Li instinctively grabbed Cang Yaochen's shoulder and pulled him into a frantic roll.
Thwack!
The bolt whistled past them, embedding itself deep into the wooden door.
Cang Yaochen stared at the arrow, the peach-blossom red in his eyes fading slightly, replaced by a surge of absolute ferocity. He glanced back toward the spring, his lips curling into a cruel arc. "Seeking death."
He turned back to the trembling Jiang Li in his arms, his finger lightly tracing the red mark he had bitten into her neck. His voice returned to that thick, syrupy lure:
"Li'er, do you want to kill them? Follow me. I will teach you how to give form to your Turbid Qi."
Jiang Li panted heavily, her eyes fixed on the man before her. He knows I have Turbid Qi. Better to play along and feign submission for now. I need to find a way to wake the Monk up.