Chapter 94 | A Knife Between Ledgers

Feng Lianzhu came back after dark with dust on her boots and no name to give him.

She shut the upper-room door behind her, listened to the corridor for a breath, then slid the bolt home. Her hood fell back as she crossed to the west table. Burgundy hair, tied badly after a long day under the cloak, had worked loose around her face.

Below them, the branch had gone quiet; the public shutters were closed and the night guards had settled into the yard. Xu Tianlong closed the account ledger he’d been reading.

Feng drew the short knife from her belt without unsheathing it and laid the weapon between the ledgers.

"The silver never touched Pan’s yard."

Her voice was low and rough from the road.

Xu watched her instead of the knife. "How far did you follow it?"

"Far enough to get annoyed." She pulled off her gloves and dropped them beside the sheath. There was grime along her fingers and a faint red line where a cord had rubbed the base of her thumb. "It went through freight hands. Payments folded into ordinary loads, changed carriers, changed carts. Whoever arranged it wasn’t stupid enough to leave a neat little trail for me."

"What did you see?"

Feng’s mouth twitched.

"There he is."

Xu raised an eyebrow.

"The man who asks the useful question before I waste the night telling him how clever I was." She rolled her shoulder, tired rather than wounded. "I saw the second payment leave a counting stall near the river lane. It moved with freight slips, not Pan’s commission books. I followed the carrier until the money merged with a Cangyun-bound handoff."

"The carrier?"

"A hired runner. Ordinary face. Ordinary clothes. He handed over the packet and left. I could’ve taken him." Feng leaned a hip against the table. "Would’ve taught us that poor bastards carry things for silver. Stunning revelation."

Xu almost smiled. "You left him."

"I did."

"What survived the handoff?"

Feng reached into the inner fold of her robe and pulled out a square of cheap paper. She set it beside the knife.

A mark had been copied in charcoal: a narrow hooked line crossing a 3-stroke freight seal.

"That," she said. "Pressed into wax on the Cangyun-bound packet. I saw the same hook on the freight slate hanging from the receiving cart. Not a house crest I know. Could be a courier sign, a yard sign, a route mark. I’m not going to dress a guess up and sell it to you as truth."

Xu looked at the charcoal copy.

Pan had been a man in the middle. Feng had found another current around him, but a current wasn’t a hand.

"Did anyone from Pan’s yard touch the silver?"

"No."

"Did you see who ordered the payment?"

"No."

"Can you prove it came from Black Moon?"

Feng’s tired amusement vanished. "Not even close."

"Good."

Her eyes narrowed.

Xu tapped the paper once. "That’s enough."

For a moment she didn’t move.

Then she gave a quiet laugh through her nose. "You know, most men hate hearing that after they send someone into the streets all day."

"Most men can hire flatterers."

"Mm. And here I was worried you’d prefer a prettier lie."

He looked up.

Feng met his gaze, but the dry edge in her expression had thinned. The joke had carried something else under it.

Xu rose.

"If you ever bring me a name because you think I need it," he said, "I’ll be disappointed."

Her jaw shifted.

"If you bring me the end of what you can prove," he continued, "I know where the truth ends. That’s more useful."

Feng looked away first, toward the shuttered window.

"Dangerous habit," she muttered.

"What is?"

"Making a woman feel valued for telling you she doesn’t know something."

Xu stepped around the table.

"Come here."

She looked back at him.

The corner of her mouth rose. "There he is again."

But she came.

He caught the back of her neck and kissed her.

Feng’s breath broke against his mouth. The long day was still on her: road dust in the cloth of her robe, cold air caught in her hair, the faint salt of sweat at her temple. Her arms came around him hard enough to make the kiss a collision rather than a reward.

Xu let her have that much.

Then his grip tightened, and he turned her until her back faced the center of the room.

"Stay."

Feng’s eyes flashed.

Xu unfastened his sword belt, crossed to the north chest, and laid the sheathed blade flat on the wood. When he returned, the west table still held the ledgers, her knife, and the charcoal mark exactly where she’d left them.

Better than turning Su’s ledgers into bedding.

Feng glanced at the mat and cushions in the center of the room. "You’ve become considerate."

"For the ledgers."

She laughed, low and tired. "Cold."

The ache in her legs showed when he caught her waist again.

Xu kissed her before the laugh finished.

This time he took his time.

He pushed the cloak fully from her shoulders and let it fall near the south wall. His mouth moved from hers to the corner of her jaw, then under her ear. Feng inhaled sharply when his teeth grazed the sensitive skin there.

"Ngh..."

His hand spread over her hip through the narrow combat robe. The cloth was warm from her body and stiff with dust near the hem. He squeezed her ass, slow at first, then harder.

"Hah... Tianlong."

"Tired?"

"Ask me in an hour."

Xu’s thumb pressed into the curve of her ass.

SLAP!

Feng jolted against him. "Ah!"

Her eyes sharpened instead of softening.

"That woke you up."

"Do it again and I’ll tell you if the effect lasts."

He did.

SLAP!

"Nnh... fuck..."

Xu caught her mouth again. Her tongue met his with more hunger now. He untied the fastening at her waist while she worked his outer robe loose, but when her hands started to race, he caught her wrists.

Feng looked down at his grip, then up at him.

"Slow."

Her breathing deepened.

"You’re enjoying this."

"Yes."

The blunt answer made her smile disappear into another kiss.

He undressed her without hurry. Narrow sleeves slid from her arms. The inner layer followed, pushed toward the cloak by the south wall and away from the ink table. He opened the cloth over her chest and bared full breasts still marked faintly where straps had pressed during the day’s movement.

Xu cupped her breast and lifted its weight in his palm.

Feng exhaled. "Mm..."

His thumb rolled over her nipple until it tightened.

"Pretty."

"My breasts? Or the marks your precious freight mystery left on them?"

"Your breasts."

"Good answer."

He bent and took a nipple into his mouth.

Feng’s next laugh broke into a moan. "Ahh..."

SLURP.

He sucked slowly, tongue circling the hard peak before his teeth closed with just enough pressure to make her hand land on his shoulder.

"Ngh... Tianlong..."

His other hand kneaded the opposite breast. Soft flesh yielded between his fingers. He switched sides, mouth wet and warm, and slapped the breast he’d just left.

SLAP!

"Ah! Shit..."

The large curve bounced under the strike.

"Again?" he asked.

Feng’s emerald eyes stayed on his. "You already know."

He slapped the other breast.

SLAP!

"Ahn...!"

Xu kissed the reddening skin, then licked over the nipple. Feng’s fingers slid into his hair.

SLURP.

"Nnh... hah..."

He drew the moment out until her knees shifted restlessly under her. Only then did his hand move down her stomach.

The last layer of cloth loosened under his fingers.

Feng stepped out of it and stood naked before him, pale skin warm under the lamp, burgundy hair loose from its tie, breasts rising with each deeper breath. Her body had changed since the woman he’d first bent over a desk. More strength sat beneath the softness now. Her stance settled more naturally. Her balance recovered faster even when desire made her thighs tense.

Xu ran his palm over the curve of her hip.

"On the mat."

Feng lowered herself onto the center cushion, then reclined as he followed. She spread her thighs when his hand reached them.

Her pussy was already wet.

He touched her with his fingertips, spreading the pink folds under the lamplight.

"Look at you."

Feng’s mouth curved faintly. "You’ve seen it before."

"Still beautiful. Pink, soft... and already soaked for me."

Her lashes lowered. That praise reached her differently than the rough commands did.

"Hah... don’t start sounding sweet now."

Xu stroked over her clit.

Her hips jumped.

"Ah!"

"You don’t like sweet?"

He slid a finger into her wet pussy.

SQUELCH.

Feng’s answer broke. "I... ngh... didn’t say that."

A second finger joined the first, but he didn’t rush. He worked her slowly, feeling her walls soften and then tighten around him with each curl.

SQUELCH. SQUELCH.

"Hnn... ah..."

Her hand caught the cushion under her head.

Xu bent between her thighs.

The first lick made her whole body tense.

"Tianlong..."

He flattened his tongue over her clit.

SLURP.

"Ahh...!"

He licked again, slower, then sucked.

SLURP. SLURP.

Feng’s thighs closed against the sides of his head before he pushed them wider with his hands.

"Ngh... fuck... ah..."

His fingers kept moving inside her while his mouth stayed on her clit. Wetness ran over his knuckles.

SQUELCH.

"Hah... Tianlong... there..."

He pressed deeper with his fingers and changed the angle.

Feng’s back lifted from the mat.

"Ah! Ahh...!"

Xu held her hips down.

Her pussy clenched hard around his fingers.

"Nnh... don’t stop..."

He didn’t.

His tongue moved faster.

SLURP. SLURP. SQUELCH.

"Ah... ah... hah...!"

The rough voice she used in alleys and interrogation rooms was breaking into shorter sounds now. Feng bit the inside of her cheek, tried to hold on to a scrap of control, lost it when his fingers curled again.

"Tianlong... I’m... ngh..."

Xu sucked harder.

Her hips bucked against his grip.

SQUIRT!

"AHH!"

Feng came against his mouth. Her pussy spasmed around his fingers as a hot gush spilled over his hand and wet the mat beneath her hips.

"Hah... hah... fuck..."

Xu stayed between her thighs until the worst of the trembling passed, then kissed the inside of her thigh.

Feng stared down at him, breathing hard.

"You look pleased with yourself."

"I’m."

"Of course you’re."

Xu rose onto his knees and loosened the rest of his clothes.

Feng’s gaze dropped to his cock.

The hunger in her face returned without any of the earlier uncertainty.

She pushed herself upright and reached for him.

Xu let her take his cock in her hand.

"Still hard," she murmured.

"You expected otherwise?"

"No. I was hoping not."

She shifted to his side instead of kneeling in front of him, her right knee folded under her on the mat. Her hand stroked him from base to head, thumb spreading the pre-cum over the broad tip.

Xu’s breath deepened.

Feng watched his face as she leaned in.

Her tongue traced the underside first.

SLURP.

"Mm."

Then her lips closed around the head.

Xu’s hand settled in her burgundy hair.

"Ngh..."

Feng took more of him, slowly at first.

GULK.

Her throat tightened. She swallowed around the pressure.

GULP.

"Ghk..."

She drew back with a wet breath, licked along his shaft, then took him again from the side angle.

SLURP. GULK.

"Mmm..."

Xu’s fingers tightened in her hair when she pushed deeper.

GGK. GHK.

Feng’s eyes watered slightly. She pulled back just enough to breathe.

"Hah... you like that."

"Keep going."

Her smile was small and filthy.

"Yes, Tianlong."

She obeyed.

GULK. SLURP.

His cock slid between her lips, wet and hot. Her hand worked the base while her mouth handled the rest.

"Ngh... that’s good."

Feng hummed around him.

"Mmmh..."

The vibration pulled a rough breath from Xu’s chest, but he didn’t let the pressure build to release. He pulled her back by the hair before her rhythm could take him over the edge.

Feng licked her lips.

"Cruel."

"You haven’t taken me yet."

Her eyes darkened.

Xu caught her waist and turned her onto her hands and knees near the center of the mat.

The woven reeds pressed beneath her knees. A cushion supported her chest while his hand settled on her hip.

Feng looked back over her shoulder.

"Now?"

Xu slapped her ass.

SLAP!

"Ah!"

"Now."

He spread her wet pussy with his thumb. It glistened between pale thighs, pink and swollen from his mouth.

"So wet," he said. "Soft enough to swallow me already."

Feng pushed her hips back an inch. "Then stop admiring it."

Xu guided the head of his cock against her entrance.

SQUELCH.

Her body opened around the first thick stretch.

"Ngh..."

He pushed deeper.

"Ahh... Tianlong..."

Feng’s pussy gripped him hard as he filled her. The wet softness tightened around every inch, squeezing as if her body remembered him and still wanted to fight the size.

Xu stopped only when his hips met her ass.

Feng’s breath left her in a shudder.

"Hah... fuck... you’re deep."

He bent over her back, mouth near her ear.

"And you’re squeezing me hard enough to make that difficult."

Her laugh came out broken. "Perfect."

Xu pulled back until only the head remained, then drove in again.

CLAP!

"Ah!"

Her breasts swung beneath her with the impact.

He set a steady rhythm.

CLAP! CLAP!

"Ngh... ah... ahh..."

The mat rasped softly under their knees. His hand locked around her waist, controlling how far she could move away from each thrust.

"That’s it," Xu said. "Take it."

CLAP!

"Hah... yes..."

He slapped her ass again.

SLAP!

"Ahhn!"

The pale flesh rippled under his palm. Feng’s pussy clenched around his cock at the same instant.

Xu groaned. "There. Do that again."

"You... ngh... make it easy."

He drove deeper.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

"Ah! Ah... Tianlong...!"

Her wetness made every stroke louder. The head of his cock pressed deep, brushing the place that made her breath seize.

"Nnh... there..."

Xu kept the angle.

"Your pussy is fucking perfect," he said, voice rougher now. "Wet, soft, tight... and prettier every time I spread you open."

Feng’s arms trembled.

"Hah... don’t... say things like that when you’re... ah..."

He buried himself to the hilt.

CLAP!

"AHH!"

Her words vanished.

The next deep stroke struck the same place, his cock reaching so far inside her it felt to Feng as if the head were kissing the entrance to her womb.

Her entire body snapped tight.

SQUIRT!

"Tianlong! Ahh...!"

A clear gush splashed onto the reeds below her.

Xu held her hips and kept that depth.

CLAP! CLAP!

"Ngh... ah... ah...!"

Her pussy squeezed him harder with every deep contact.

"Again," he ordered.

"I... hah..."

He drove in.

SQUIRT!

"AH!"

Feng came hard in a violent series of clenches. Her ass pushed back against him despite the shaking in her legs, body demanding the pressure even as pleasure weakened her arms.

"Hah... hah... Tianlong..."

Xu’s own control frayed under the vise around his cock.

He caught her breast from behind, squeezed the heavy flesh, and slapped it once.

SLAP!

"Ahhn!"

Her pussy clamped again.

Xu drove deep and held her there.

"Take it."

His cock throbbed.

SPRUTT! SPURT! SPURT!

Xu came, hot semen pumping deep inside her and flooding the tight pussy around his cock.

"Ngh... fuck..."

Feng moaned into the cushion, hips trembling as each pulse filled her.

"Ah... hot... Tianlong..."

Xu stayed buried until the strongest pulses eased.

Then he withdrew slowly.

Feng’s wet pussy tightened around him all the way out, reluctant even while semen began to seep between her swollen folds.

She looked back at him, cheeks flushed, hair stuck to the side of her face.

"You said... hah... we were cultivating tonight."

"We are."

"That felt suspiciously like you enjoying yourself."

Xu caught her chin and kissed her over her shoulder.

"Pleasure doesn’t cancel cultivation."

Feng’s dry laugh turned into a sigh as he pulled her upright.

They shifted onto the center cushions. Xu sat behind her for a moment, chest against her back, palms resting low over her abdomen until her breathing steadied. Then he turned her to face him and drew her onto his lap.

Feng straddled him, thighs around his waist. Xu kept her torso against his from the start, his arm firm around her back.

His cock, still hard, slid against her soaked pussy.

Feng shivered. "You’re ridiculous."

"Come closer."

"I’m sitting on you."

Xu pulled her tighter.

"Closer."

Her mouth curved. "Greedy."

She obeyed.

He kissed her slowly while his breathing settled into the pattern they’d learned together. He guided ordinary qi through the established Genesis Bond between them.

Feng felt the change first in the way her teasing stopped.

Her spine straightened.

"Ngh... there it is."

Xu’s hand pressed between her shoulder blades. "Return it."

She inhaled through her nose.

The current came back.

Cooler.

Sharper.

The return carried the familiar cold bite of Shadow Venom Essence, Feng’s resonance riding inside it. It brushed his meridians like cold silk drawn over a blade.

Xu’s eyes narrowed.

Feng saw it. "Too much?"

"No. Hold it steady."

"Mm."

She did.

He lifted her hips and guided his cock back to her pussy.

Feng lowered herself slowly.

SQUELCH.

"Ahh..."

Her body was even wetter now. His semen from the first release mixed with her juices and made the descent slick, but the stretch still pulled a shiver through her.

She sank until he was deep inside again.

"Hah..."

Xu didn’t let her bounce at once.

He held her still, forehead against hers, and kept the qi circuit moving.

Feng’s pussy pulsed around him.

"That’s unfair," she whispered.

"What is?"

"Making me sit still with this inside me."

Xu rolled his hips once.

SQUELCH.

"Ah...!"

"Then learn patience."

"I spent all day following money through freight yards. I’ve had enough patience."

Xu kissed her.

He began to move.

Not fast. Deep, controlled lifts that pressed his cock through her wet pussy while the qi moved with their breath.

SQUELCH. SQUELCH.

"Nnh... ah..."

Feng’s arms looped around his neck. Her breasts compressed against his chest and shifted with every slow lift.

Cold qi came back through the Bond and tightened under Xu’s ribs. Feng caught the next pulse without prompting, held it through the pleasure, and sent it back with the dark-cool edge of her Trait still clinging to it.

Her hips started to follow his rhythm.

CLAP.

"Hah... Tianlong..."

"Keep the flow."

"I’m... ngh... trying."

He gripped her ass and lifted her harder.

CLAP!

"Ah!"

Feng’s returning qi wavered.

Xu stopped her hips.

"Again."

She sucked in a breath, irritated at herself now.

The cool current steadied.

"There."

Xu resumed.

CLAP! SQUELCH.

"Ngh... ah... yes..."

This time the cool thread didn’t break when pleasure hit. Feng found his breathing and kept it with him.

Xu kissed the side of her neck.

Her moan dropped lower.

"Mmm..."

He sucked at the skin below her ear while his fingers kneaded her ass.

SLURP.

"Hah..."

His other hand closed over her breast, thumb circling the nipple as her hips rolled.

"Tianlong... deeper."

Xu changed the angle and drove upward.

CLAP!

"Ahh!"

His cock pressed into the deepest point again.

Feng’s pussy tightened like a fist.

"Fuck... there..."

Xu did it again.

SQUIRT!

"AH...!"

She came again in long, shaking waves, clinging to him while fluid splashed over his lap.

She clung to him, forehead on his shoulder.

"Ngh... hah... hah..."

Xu kept moving just enough to carry her through it. The cool thread between them held.

Her pussy squeezed in hot pulses around him. His breath roughened. Pleasure climbed through his abdomen while something deeper drew tighter with every breath.

Feng noticed the change too.

She lifted her head.

"It’s... building."

"I know."

Her pupils had widened. A faint chill traced over Xu’s arms despite the heat between their bodies.

The lamp flame leaned toward Feng.

Then straightened.

Not yet.

Xu held her hips and kept the pace controlled.

CLAP. CLAP.

"Ah... ngh..."

Feng’s nails pressed into his shoulders.

The pressure inside Xu built with ordinary physical pleasure first. He knew the difference. The pressure beneath the Bond ran deeper, but his cock was still buried in a woman he wanted, her wet pussy gripping him harder every time she caught his qi and sent it back.

His jaw tightened.

Feng felt the change in him and gave a breathless smile.

"That’s the face I wanted."

Xu grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her hard.

Her next sound vanished into his mouth.

"Mmh!"

He drove upward.

CLAP!

"Ah!"

Again.

CLAP!

"Ngh... Tianlong..."

His control snapped at the physical edge.

He buried himself deep.

SPURT! SPURT!

Xu came inside her again.

Feng’s eyes squeezed shut as the hot pulses filled her already soaked pussy.

"Ahh... yes..."

His semen spread deep inside. Beneath the physical release, that colder pressure didn’t break.

No chime came. It kept building.

Xu held Feng against him until his breathing slowed.

Her body trembled, but the cool thread between them remained.

"Still with me?" he asked.

Feng opened her eyes. "Try getting rid of me."

He laughed once.

"Hold it."

Her expression sharpened.

"I can."

They stayed joined.

The sexual rhythm resumed slowly, then deepened again as Feng found more of her breath. Sweat cooled along Xu’s shoulders. Her hair stuck to his chest. The room smelled of lamp oil, sex, and the faint metallic-dark sweetness that always seemed to cling to Shadow Venom Essence when it stirred strongly.

The pressure between them changed. Feng’s return came cleaner, steadier. All afternoon she had controlled breath and balance while tailing carts; now that discipline kept the qi from slipping when her body shook.

A hard threshold rose inside the flow.

Feng did too.

Her breath caught.

"Tianlong..."

The lamp flame flickered.

Shadows beneath the west table drew tight toward Feng’s side of the room for a heartbeat, thin dark lines pulling across the floorboards before easing back.

Feng went still except for the involuntary clench of her pussy around him.

"Ngh... it’s stronger."

Xu’s hand spread across her lower back.

"Don’t chase it."

"I wasn’t."

"Good."

He rolled his hips, deep and slow.

SQUELCH.

"Ah..."

"Return what you can hold."

Feng breathed in.

The cold thread tightened.

Xu lifted her, drove up, and held.

CLAP!

"AH!"

Her pussy clenched violently.

The shadows moved again, no farther than the room, no shape of their own. The lamp flame dipped toward Feng and snapped upright.

The pressure through the Bond surged.

[Ding!]

[Dual Cultivation Burst — Feng Lianzhu]

[Burst Amplification x7 Applied]

[Burst Generation Complete]

[Feng Lianzhu — Burst Saturation Active]

The cold thread snapped taut. Feng’s next return struck through the Bond with enough force to make Xu’s meridians ring.

Feng gasped.

"Ah...! Tianlong, I..."

Xu locked his arm around her back.

"Hold me."

She did.

Her thighs tightened around his waist as the Burst pressure crashed against the limit her body could hold.

Her body didn’t simply swallow it.

It fought to shape it.

Feng’s face twisted with pleasure and strain mixed together.

"Ngh... hah... too..."

"Not too much. Don’t force it higher. Keep it moving."

She nodded against his shoulder.

Xu slowed without stopping, keeping the strokes deep and controlled while Feng fought to hold her qi in line.

SQUELCH.

"Ah..."

Xu kissed her hard.

Feng kissed him back with a desperate bite of pressure, then broke away on a gasp.

"Deeper."

He drove up until his cock pressed at the deepest point.

CLAP!

"AHH!"

Her pussy seized around him.

Xu felt the head of his cock strike that womb-adjacent depth again, the same place that had already made her squirt, and Feng’s control shattered for a heartbeat.

SQUIRT!

"Tianlong! Ahh... ah...!"

Feng came again while the Burst still hammered through their joined qi. Wet heat spilled over his lap. Her breasts shook against his chest, ass tightening under his hands, pussy gripping his cock in hard waves.

"Ngh... fuck... so deep..."

Xu’s own pleasure surged with it.

His grip bruised into her soft ass as he kept her exactly where he wanted her.

"Take it, Lianzhu."

"Yes... Tianlong... ah..."

He thrust deep once more.

CLAP!

His cock pulsed.

SPURT! SPURT! SPURT!

Xu came hard inside her, thick semen pumping into her already flooded pussy as she shook in his arms, heat spreading so deep it seemed to reach her womb.

"Ngh...!"

Feng made a broken sound against his neck.

"Ahh... so much..."

The physical climax hit hard enough to blur the edge of Xu’s vision for a breath. His jaw clenched. His chest heaved against hers. He kept his hold on her even when his hips wanted another uncontrolled thrust.

The surge passed. Feng’s qi still trembled at the edge of something unfinished.

Xu stopped moving.

Feng stayed wrapped around him, breathing in short, ragged pulls.

"Don’t... hah... move yet."

"I’m not."

Her pussy still clenched around his cock in fading pulses. Semen and her own fluid had soaked the mat beneath them. The room was hot now despite the closed shutter.

Feng’s eyes stayed shut.

Xu felt the cultivation pressure inside her hesitate at the edge of a breakthrough.

Not complete.

He didn’t push qi into the gap.

"Lianzhu."

"I feel it."

Her voice was barely rough enough to recognize.

"Sit. Breathe. Finish it yourself."

Feng opened her eyes.

There was exhaustion in them. Pleasure. And the old stubbornness that had survived a dead clan, an assassin’s life, and Xu himself.

"Always ordering me around," she whispered, with the faintest smile.

Xu kissed her once.

"Do it."

She inhaled.

He withdrew slowly.

Her pussy tightened around his cock on the way out, slick and soft, then released him with a wet sound.

SQUELCH.

A thick mixture of semen and her own wetness followed, spilling from her swollen pink pussy onto the mat and down the inside of her thigh.

Feng shivered.

"Hah... that’s... a lot."

Xu’s mouth curved. "You took it."

"I noticed."

He shifted behind her as she turned on the cushion.

Feng sat upright in front of him, legs folded loosely because her thighs were still shaking. Xu braced her back against his chest without taking over her breathing.

She closed her eyes.

The room went quiet except for their breath and the small hiss of the lamp.

Feng gathered her qi.

The violent surge was behind them now. Feng’s breathing slowed, and a tremor passed through her abdomen. Her qi caught on a strained channel, slipped, then pulled back into line under her own control.

Xu’s hand rested at her waist, warm and steady. He didn’t correct it for her.

"Again," he murmured.

Feng exhaled. On the next breath, the flow held. The pressure compressed deeper and settled into a new rhythm.

Her shoulders dropped.

A final shiver moved through her body.

[Ding!]

[Genesis Harem 3 Breakthrough Detected]

[Feng Lianzhu — Body Tempering Layer 9 Achieved]

Feng opened her eyes.

For several breaths she said nothing.

Then she leaned her head back against Xu’s shoulder.

"Layer 9."

"Stable?"

She tested the circulation herself before answering.

"Yeah." A tired smile pulled at her mouth. "My legs are still useless, but that’s your fault."

Xu slid his palm along her thigh. "They work."

"Cruel definition of work."

He kissed her temple.

Feng let her eyes close again.

Across the room, the charcoal courier mark still sat beside the ledgers and her sheathed knife.

Xu looked at it over her shoulder.

The mark still gave him no name.

Next time he saw that hooked seal, he wouldn’t have to start from Pan.