Land of the Tender; Body of Gold Hard-Pressed Against Desire

That boy was taken aback. "Why?"

Xie Lian thought back to that boy's strikes and moves when he killed those binu, and casually showed off a few maneuvers.

"You've never used a sabre, right? You use a sword, but the sword is tricky. Although it's extremely fast and aggressive, it's still rather restrictive, difficult to extend out. If you've never used a sabre before, try it next time. I think you might be even stronger with it."

If ever Xie Lian saw someone with a notable skill in martial arts, he couldn't help but want to approach and talk. It wasn't criticism of any sort, he really was just very interested and wanted to exchange ideas. Because he possessed a wealth of experience in martial arts, oftentimes he didn't even need to think; just one glance and he could pick up on the particulars. Even if he couldn't explain why what was, still he would feel it must be so. Usually, out of respect for his status, people would listen, but there were very few who'd actually pay attention. However, that boy listened intently, gobbled up his suggestions, and would look down at the sword in his hand from time to time.

Xie Lian rambled on for a while, before suddenly, there were more rustling noises from within the woods, like something was crawling around rapidly. Xie Lian immediately remembered that they were still in danger, and it really wasn't the time and place to get excited. Right away, he became serious again.

"Who knows if there might be more evil on this mountain? This place needs a thorough cleansing."

That boy nodded vigorously, and presented that steel sword to Xie Lian with both hands. Xie Lian shook his head.

"Just defend yourself. You didn't leave earlier, and now there's no way for you to go. I'll do my best to protect you, but stay alert."

Just then, the bushes rustled and something briskly jumped up. Xie Lian flicked his wrist to shoot out a blast from his palm, and it hit dead-on. A terrible yelp, and that thing stopped moving. There was a strong stench of blood, and Xie Lian was puzzled: if it was a binu, then after having been blown up they would leak sticky bodily fluids; the viscosity was such that the smell of blood usually wouldn't emit. So, he approached to check.

Pushing the bushes aside, there was indeed a large binu on the ground, blown into several pieces from the blast. But that stench of blood didn't come from it; rather, from something in its mouth—it was a scrap of skin off a human head, with long hairs still attached!

Binu's were scavengers that foraged for scraps, and by the looks of it, a human had been killed. It left small drops of blood in its trail in the bushes, and Xie Lian immediately followed it, that young soldier tagging along right behind. The further they walked, the thicker the spots of blood became, and the stronger that stench. Soon, they heard cries that sounded weak and powerless.

That little soldier raised his sword and ran in front of Xie Lian to shield him, but Xie Lian pulled him back behind. Winding past a field of blooming shrubs, a semi-large cave appeared before them.

That cave was probably the resting place of some passersby, but now, corpses carpeted the ground; twenty to thirty binu were clambering over those dead bodies, munching to their hearts' content. There were also several of them surrounding a young woman. That young woman looked to be in pain; her guts split open, her innards spilling all over, but she herself was still alive. It appeared she might have been dressing herself; a bright red flower worn on her hair. The fresh blood complimented that crimson blossom, and the picture looked particularly cruel.

Those binu were licking at her fresh, steaming organs, ready to chomp, but hearing the sounds of someone approaching, they all turned to look, and charged in their direction. Xie Lian blew out a blast from his palm without blinking and slayed all of them before checking the dead bodies immediately after. Among the corpses were men and women, old and young, their faces ashen, their attire simple. They were no doubt Yong'an civilians, and Xie Lian couldn't help but be shocked.

He had thought the sudden appearance of monsters and demons were called forth by that strange white-clothed being. That white- clothed being saved Lang Ying, so they must be allies, but then how come the binu would feast on these Yong'an civilians? Non- human creatures would never form a pact with humans for no reason, so did this mean this was the condition Lang Ying agreed to for the alliance? Were the lives of his followers his bargaining chips?!

That young woman was full of pain and terror, blood spitting from her lips, and she sobbed, "Don't kill me, I didn't do anything bad, don't kill me!"

In spite of himself, Xie Lian recalled that family of three who died below the city walls; and what sins had they committed? He knelt and bent down, leaned over and spoke in a gentle, soothing voice.

"Don't be scared. There's nothing to be scared of, we're here to save you."

Yet that little soldier pointed his sword at the young woman. "Your Highness, be careful. She might be an evil spirit from the deep mountains."

Of course Xie Lian knew that was a big possibility, but after much consideration, he still felt he couldn't leave her alone; as long as he was prudent, it should be fine. He felt the pulse of that

young woman, checked her palm and fingers for prints, and instantly confirmed that she was indeed a human, and one that had never practiced any martial arts, her arms limp and powerless. He immediately began treating her. He took out a bottle of medicine from his sleeve, twisted the cork open, and a faint, white smoke permeated slowly, its scent fragrant.

That medicine could temporarily slow down any poison, and was amazingly effective against wounds. Xie Lian didn't go stingy on the holy cure, and used up the entire bottle on her.

"Do you feel better?"

That young woman's wounds were heavy, terrible to look at, but after sniffing in that smoke, some blood returned to her face, and she weakly nodded her head.

"Are you from Yong'an? How did this happen?" Xie Lian asked.

Tears rolled down that young woman's face. "...I, I am. I don't know how this came to be either. Every, sss, everything used to be just fine, but suddenly, my dad died, my brother died too..."

Xie Lian gently patted her shoulders. "Who's the murderer who killed them? Or, what killed them?"

That young woman sobbed. "The murderer who killed them was...was...was YOU!"

At the last word, her face suddenly turned fierce, her two eyes flashed and bulged. She opened her arms and pounced, clutching Xie Lian in her embrace!

That young soldier had always been standing by, high on alert, and reacted extremely fast; immediately piercing her heart with his sword. That young woman was already severely wounded, and after being stabbed, her death should've been a sure thing. Yet, she started laughing uproariously in delight, clutching onto Xie Lian firmly, refusing to let go, and stayed in that position until she at last stopped breathing. She clung on so tightly that the young soldier strained to pull her dead body off.

He asked anxiously, "Your Highness! Are you ok?"

Xie Lian had thought that the young woman was going to ambush him as a last-ditch effort. Yet, she had no weapons on her; she didn't even bite or scratch, and only clung on to him tightly as if that was enough, unrelenting even after death.

Confounded, he replied, "I'm alright, I..."

He trailed off as a sudden dizziness mockingly assaulted him.

That little soldier widened his one bright eye. "Your Highness?!"

It was like Xie Lian's innards were on fire; he couldn't speak, didn't want to speak, and didn't want to hear anyone speak either. He shook his head and raised his hand, unspeaking. All around them came the sound of a woman giggling.

"Heeheeheeheehee..."

"Heeheeheeheehee..."

The two of them startlingly realized there wasn't a third person around. That giggling came from that bright red flower!

Xie Lian instantly understood he'd fallen into a trap—

Land of the Tender!

This "Land of the Tender" wasn't that Land of the Tender¹. The Land of the Tender was a flower demon that loved to gather and suck to feast on the essence of men; living off of their blood. Their fragrance wasn't anything good, and Xie Lian immediately cautioned, "Cover your mouth and your nose tight, don't breathe in that flower's fragrance!"

That young soldier already had bandages wrapped securely around his face and had a layer of filter, so he didn't breathe in any scent. Hearing Xie Lian, he tightened his bandages, but then realized Xie Lian had nothing to cover with, so he ripped a piece off of the cleanest part of his sleeve, rubbed it hard, patted it down until it was cleaner, and passed it in both hands.

Yet Xie Lian said, "No need. It's too late."

When he went to treat that young woman, he may have been guarded, but he didn't guard against scent and was pressed closely; not knowing the flower pinned on her hair was a blossom of Land of the Tender. Before she died, she clung on firmly to Xie Lian, ensuring she wouldn't fail. This meant Xie Lian had already unknowingly inhaled many mouthfuls of that Tender Fragrance, truly "refreshing the spirit".

Once that Tender Fragrance entered the body, men would become impetuous. Numbness to start, then mania. Right then, Xie Lian's whole body was already listless, like all of his nerves were removed. Once the numbness passed, he'd become a cask of explosives. If that strange white-clothed being was to appear once more, Xie Lian really didn't know how certain he'd be able to face it, and he couldn't be sure of its might either. His first reaction was to reach for his bottle of medicine, but then he realized that bottle was emptied to help treat that young woman. Yet, in the end, the person still didn't survive.

He glanced at the dead body next to him. That young woman wore a happy smile as if she was sincerely glad to sink the enemy into a trap before death and could finally pass in peace to see her family. Xie Lian could only blame the bloody scene that softened that flower's dangerous shade, and the stench of blood that lightened the strange fragrance of blossoms. He had never imagined that the face of a young girl only in her teens could bear such resentment, that she could commit such an extreme act.

Around him, the flower demons were exploding with excitement, muttering:

"He took the bait!"

"Caught him!"

"It's really His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"It's him!"

"He's so handsome...my root, my root can't hold back any longer, it's going to thrust out of the ground!"

That young soldier swung his sword to slash, cleaving a field of flower shrubs. Yet those stems were nimble, and that sword was worn; after one slash, it became dull. Those flower demons rocked back and forth, squealing.

"My gosh! This little gēgē, your bush hasn't even grown in yet, but you're so ferocious! I'm on the verge of blooming, how will you repay me!"

That young soldier's eye was flashing with rage. "You're dead! I'm gonna burn you all to death!"

The green leaves of those flower demons perched on the stems, yelling, "My, so scary! We didn't provoke you, why are you so mad!"

Xie Lian spoke up too, "Don't burn them! They're demons, if you set them on fire...they will emit poisonous gas. You can't pull them out either!" That boy immediately dropped the hands that were ready to pluck, and Xie Lian explained weakly, "There are poisonous thorns all over the stems..."

The flower demons flirtatiously gibed, "My gosh, Your Highness is so sweet, thank you for protecting us. Just wait, we're going to bear fruits soon! We'll definitely take good care of you, hee hee hee hee..."

"Men who cultivated abstinence from birth are so hard to come by; even if your power will drop a level if we deflower you, there's no other way, sorry! Hee hee hee hee..."

The flower petals of the Land of the Tender rubbed against each other, giggling, their ambrosial perverse intentions more than obvious. That young soldier was bewildered, not quite understanding the meaning of "abstinence", "deflower", or "level", but he could still tell they didn't mean anything good, so he continued to swing his sword madly, cutting down the flowers, roaring in rage, trying desperately to cover up the sound of that teasing laughter, not wanting Xie Lian to hear. Xie Lian on the other hand, was cracking his knuckles.

So, that was it!

So everything that transpired tonight was truly designed especially for dealing with him.

Kidnapping Qi Rong was them counting on the pride and consideration he possessed as the martial god of Xianle, that he would for sure choose to come after them alone, minimizing the situation. And that heavily-wounded young woman was meant to use up his medicine, leaving him powerless to relieve himself. The cooperation between humans and demons was meant to lead him to this point.

Xie Lian's method of cultivation really did require a body of purity. The followers who worshipped the ascended cultivators who practiced this stream were firmly convinced in the transcendence of their gods who were untouched by earthly desires. Thus, if they couldn't protect their purity, their following would no doubt collapse, devastating their powers. Although it wouldn't be serious to the point of falling back into mortality from godhood, and there was still the possibility of redemption after many more years of cultivation, but at that very moment, there was no way, no time for him to sit behind closed doors to cultivate for years!

The statute of purity was strict at the Royal Holy Pavilion, and Xie Lian excelled as the number one in upholding those rules; never having broken or breached any of them, and thought himself as steady as a rock of steel, not even gales could ripple the water in his heart. He also went through many trials, completing them perfectly each time. Yet, even if his heart was as still as water, he was still young and easily unnerved. With a little young soldier right beside him, listening to those flower demons blatantly splashing words of depravity onto him, plus that lingering fragrance making his blood boil, his mind tempestuous, Xie Lian couldn't help but become embarrassed, his face reddening. But no matter what, he just couldn't stand.

He could still somehow hang on for the moment, but if those Land of the Tenders really bore fruit, then it'd be very troublesome. The best course of action was of course to return to the royal capital immediately and have Feng Xin and Mu Qing shield him, but Xie Lian's legs were limp; he could barely stand.

Without any other way, he called to the little soldier with a strained voice, "You...come over here."

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Translator Notes:

¹"Land of the Tender" has historically referred to a brothel or aphrodisiac. MXTX is creating her own version of Land of the Tender here. For those who aren't familiar, Land of the Tender is a common concept in Chinese fantasy, and readers expect seductresses and/or love poison when they see it in the text.

MXTX Author Notes:

Losing virginity will only damage spiritual power, not martial might. Although martial might and spiritual power can be combined and amplified, their nature is different. Besides, only Xie Lian's chosen stream is this troublesome, that an X life would damage his cultivation. Some heavenly officials are much smarter and would choose a stream where the more they X the stronger they become; but in most streams an X life and cultivation are completely unrelated.