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“So, where's the sect?” Ye Xiaoqi asked. “I bet the great demonic sect of Shuzhou has a magnificent palace for its martial arts practice!”
Xiao Rufeng felt a smile threaten to play at her lips. Ye Xiaoqi was simply too adorable. Perhaps she should found a sect of her own, if her talents could make even the cold-faced leader of the demonic sect smile despite herself.
Except that Xiao Rufeng intended to keep her all to herself. “It's some hours away from the town.”
Ye Xiaoqi nodded to herself, then looked bashful. “We could ride my sword?”
“...okay,” Xiao Rufeng said. She hadn't known Ye Xiaoqi had enough inner force make her sword fly.
She watched as Ye Xiaoqi drew her sword and stepped onto it. She made it rise and almost fell off. “There!” she proudly declared once she'd stopped wobbling.
Well, the sword might fall from the skies, but Xiao Rufeng's lightness skill would let them descend with grace. She stepped onto the sword behind Ye Xiaoqi.
They rose above the roofs of the city. Shuzhou's verdant forests and tall mountains encircled them.
“That way,” Xiao Rufeng said.
Ye Xiaoqi slowly accelerated the sword. The treetops were far from a blur, but considering Ye Xiaoqi's skill, it was perhaps better they keep a stately pace.
A sword wasn't that long. Xiao Rufeng was pressed up against Ye Xiaoqi's back, feeling the warmth and vigor that was Ye Xiaoqi. Cautiously, she put her arms on Ye Xiaoqi's waist; it wouldn't do for her to fall off her sword in the strong winds that buffeted them this far up. The touch burned.
“It's on the slopes of that mountain,” Xiao Rufeng said.
The demonic sect of Shuzhou was vastly influential, which extended to a nice mountainside main complex. They had other complexes elsewhere in Shuzhou and neighboring regions, of course, but this one was the heart of everything.
“No, the other mountain,” Xiao Rufeng said, lifting a hand to point.
Ye Xiaoqi immediately corrected course, but at a much faster rate than she could control the sword at, sending them both tumbling off. Xiao Rufeng tried to grasp at Ye Xiaoqi, but she was too far away.
“No!” Xiao Rufeng shouted. She immediately engaged her inner force and came to a halt midair.
Ye Xiaoqi, on the other hand, had no such skill. She called for her sword, but it settled in its sheath rather than beneath her feet. Xiao Rufeng extended her inner force to stop a plummeting Ye Xiaoqi, grasping her and slowing her-
She plunged into a mountain lake with a splash. Xiao Rufeng hurriedly pulled her out.
“Xiaoqi?” she asked with concern as she descended onto the lakeshore.
“I'm cold!” Ye Xiaoqi wailed, sopping wet and shivering, arms wrapped around herself. She still held the sword in one hand.
Xiao Rufeng couldn't help but be relieved. “It's only a short distance from here to the sect,” she said. “Come.”
Ye Xiaoqi shivered after her. Every now and then, Xiao Rufeng discreetly turned to check, but she was still plodding on, even if her normal skipping had quieted to a stiffly swaying walk.
Thus Xiao Rufeng returned from her jaunt in Jiangnan by foot with a sopping wet girl tailing her. It was far from the oddest return of hers, even if it was the first time she'd brought anyone back, so the gate-guards didn't boggle too much as they opened the gates for them.
“My courtyard is over here,” Xiao Rufeng told Ye Xiaoqi.
As she opened the dark wooden doors, she found herself suddenly apprehensive of the whole thing. Here she was, inviting some random righteous sect member who'd quite literally bumped into her to her rooms. But that bridge had already been crossed.
She closed the door behind them. The windows were closed as well, the rice paper panes cutting the daylight to a warm gloom.
“Let me help you with those,” she said. “It is not good to walk around in wet clothes.”
“Y-yes,” Ye Xiaoqi said with chattering teeth. She dropped her sword and obediently skittered over to Xiao Rufeng's waiting hands.
Xiao Rufeng tugged open the knot holding Ye Xiaoqi's watery blue jacket closed and peeled it off her. She set it down on a low chair; a servant would come take care of it soon enough. Next-
Next was the belt of the main robe. Xiao Rufeng realized she might've underestimated the impact of the task on herself. Here was Ye Xiaoqi, with her face that would make the Moon ashamed, her sopping wet clothes clinging to every swell and hollow of her body-
Focus, Xiao Rufeng chided herself as she deftly opened the belt holding it all together. Then she could peel off the arrow-sleeved robe Ye Xiaoqi was wearing, leaving her only in her under-robes.
With surprisingly steady fingers, Xiao Rufeng tugged open the knot holding Ye Xiaoqi's under-robe together. The turmoil in her mind did not show on her face as she parted the robe – though her hands slowed and her gaze was drawn to every inch of skin newly exposed.
Ye Xiaoqi squirmed out of the under-robe and tossed off her trousers and shoes. That left her in just her underwear.
“Help me with the straps?” Ye Xiaoqi said and turned.
Xiao Rufeng swallowed. Her hands reached out as if with a will of their own to untie the knots at Ye Xiaoqi's waist and behind her neck. Ye Xiaoqi's skin, though wet and clammy from the lake, still managed to burn.
Then Ye Xiaoqi was finally naked. All that soft, tender skin made Xiao Rufeng want to bite, claim, possess.
“There should be some spare clothes in the next room,” Xiao Rufeng said, not quite sure how she wanted this encounter to go, yet.
Ye Xiaoqi flashed a dazzling smile. “Great!” She bounded to the next room over, her buttocks wobbling appealingly.
It was Xiao Rufeng's bedroom. Ye Xiaoqi didn't go in search of any oversized robes, however, but flopped on the bed; Xiao Rufeng couldn't have torn her eyes from Ye Xiaoqi's breasts even if a horde of horses had stampeded over the sect compound.
“Immortal-shifu's bed is so comfortable, wow!” Ye Xiaoqi exclaimed, stretching out shamelessly.
Xiao Rufeng snorted. “That wonderful? I better come test it with you.”
The next step of getting Ye Xiaoqi dry clothes ended up being Xiao Rufeng removing hers. Neither of them minded; in fact, Ye Xiaoqi was glad to be clad in bitemarks.