Chapter 41: Flower Moon Talisman

Huo Zhi tried desperately to break through the barrier, but her entire body was weak. She couldn’t even stand steadily and collapsed onto the icy ground. She couldn’t even mobilize her Spiritual Qi. Despite the obvious cold, her face grew hotter and hotter, a dry heat rising from within her body.

“Enough! I’ll give it to you! Any more wasting time, and the Little Lady won’t be able to wait!” The few cultivators exchanged a few moves, then one of them spoke, tossing Spirit Stones to the others.

“Should’ve done that earlier! Did you use the Flower Moon Talisman on her again? You’re truly disgusting!” Another cultivator said, checking the stones and nodding in satisfaction.

“Hehe, you wouldn’t understand. We who cultivate the Dao of Wind and Moon rely entirely on Dual Cultivation for our progress. Please, everyone, step aside and wait for me a moment.” That cultivator said, cupping his hands.

“Be quick about it. We still have to head to the Immortal Talisman Sect’s area to see exactly what it is. With so many people rushing over, it must be a valuable treasure.” Another cultivator said impatiently.

The few cultivators prepared to move farther away to allow the Wind and Moon Dao cultivator to do his business, but then they noticed that the restrained Huo Zhi had sprouted a tail and ears.

Huo Zhi simply couldn’t maintain her cultivation technique any longer.

“It’s a Heavenly Fox Physique!” One of them exclaimed in recognition.

An ordinary cultivator, without a corresponding Dual Cultivation technique, could not gain much cultivation from such a union. But a Heavenly Fox Physique was different—it was a top-tier Cauldron / Furnace Vessel constitution that could directly allow one to break through realms.

Without any further words, the Wind and Moon Dao cultivator who had spoken earlier dashed toward Huo Zhi, wanting to spirit her away. Another cultivator used a Spiritual Qi Rope to bind Huo Zhi and tried to pull her in his direction. Someone else attacked him, making him unable to move Huo Zhi. The remaining two cultivators attacked the others, all wanting to snatch Huo Zhi for themselves. In an instant, the cultivators were locked in a frenzied fight.

Bound and jerked left and right, Huo Zhi felt her consciousness growing fainter. A shameful restlessness rose within her body. When she heard them shout “Heavenly Fox Physique,” she knew she was done for.

Huo Zhi would rather die than let these scoundrels touch her.

“Golden Core. Right, I’m also a person with a Golden Core. I can detonate my Golden Core. It’s just a pity… I still haven’t maxed out Daughter’s Happiness Value… still haven’t helped her finish all her tasks… I wonder how Sister Moyi is doing…” Huo Zhi thought hazily, feeling some sadness and also missing Linlang and the other friends she’d made in this world.

“Sister Moyi was able to detonate her Golden Core. I shouldn’t die from it, right? Just total loss of cultivation?” Huo Zhi hesitated for a moment, but seeing the lecherous faces of those men, she resolutely began circulating the power to trigger her Golden Core in her dantian, attempting the method to detonate it.

Just then, the force pulling on Huo Zhi suddenly intensified tremendously. She flew in one direction, while a pulling force came from another.

Just as Huo Zhi felt she was about to be torn in two, suddenly, with several “thwip, thwip, thwip” sounds, arrows came from out of nowhere, accurately striking the two cultivators pulling her. Huo Zhi fell from the air.

“…No need to detonate the Golden Core, I’m going to fall to my death!” Huo Zhi thought and closed her eyes, but her body was caught by someone.

She could tell the person who caught her was a woman. Her body was very warm; it felt extremely familiar.

“Linlang?” Huo Zhi asked. An inexplicable feeling of safety washed over her.

No, this person’s body felt much like Daughter’s—both were very warm, with a supple, resilient feel. But their aura was not the same.

Opening her eyes, Huo Zhi saw an ordinary yet resolute face.

The coolness and determination in those black eyes closely resembled Daughter, yet it was not her.

It was 5672.

“5672… So, it’s you! It’s… it’s good that it’s not Linlang!” Huo Zhi inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.

Her current state was truly too wretched. She wasn’t fit to be a teacher. She absolutely couldn’t let Linlang see her like this.

She had exposed her Heavenly Fox Physique form. She had no idea if the person before her, 5672, was like the others.

Moyi Guihua had said that a woman could engage in Dual Cultivation with another woman.

Thinking of this, Huo Zhi felt her body grow increasingly hot. Gazing at the person before her, she wrapped her arms around her neck and pressed her cheek against her face.

The body of the person holding Huo Zhi stiffened, but her hands didn’t slacken in dealing with the remaining enemies.

The newcomer was precisely Linlang, now still using her Bounty Hunter identity.

Hearing Huo Zhi’s slightly hoarse voice, Linlang was puzzled.

She didn’t know why Huo Zhi had said “it’s good that it’s not Linlang,” but clearly, Huo Zhi didn’t want to see “Linlang” right now.

She hadn’t recognized her.

Linlang didn’t have time to think deeply about this. Huo Zhi clinging to her so tightly felt off, but she didn’t have the chance to examine her closely.

Huo Zhi’s Heavenly Fox Physique had been exposed. Everyone around who had seen Huo Zhi’s true form had to die!

The Talisman Artifacts and Talismans Wenren Sumian had prepared were of very high grade. The cultivation levels of these men weren’t low. Linlang directly used a large-scale attack Talisman: the Ten Thousand Arrows Talisman.

Dense volleys of arrows shot out in all directions, centered on herself and Huo Zhi. The cultivators, who moments ago had been fighting madly, were instantly riddled with holes. Never in their dreams did they imagine that the heaven-sent, immense opportunity within their grasp would become their death warrant.

“5672… thank you… I’m s-sorry… I, I’ve been hit by a Flower Moon Talisman. Th-this isn’t my true intention…” Huo Zhi clung tightly to Linlang, rubbing her face in the crook of her neck, barely able to speak through the discomfort.

Her voice was soft, seductive, and infatuated, faintly tinged with sobs.

Linlang’s heart trembled along with it.

She never imagined that Huo Zhi’s greatest crisis in this place would be this!

“Hold on a moment. Let me see if there’s anything to dispel the Flower Moon Talisman.” Linlang spoke with restraint. She adjusted her hold on Huo Zhi and quickly went over to strip the Storage Bags, hand talismans, and Huo Zhi’s Identity Token from the remaining corpses.

Linlang had killed all of them. She couldn’t interrogate them on how to dispel the Flower Moon Talisman. She could only take all their Storage Bags and search through them later.

After retrieving the items, Linlang used a Blazing Fire Talisman, burning the few men to ashes until no trace remained on the scene. Immediately after, she activated the Teleportation Talisman to leave the area. When they reappeared, they were in an ice cave. Linlang activated a Protective Barrier to conceal her own and Huo Zhi’s auras. Nothing inside could be seen from the outside.

Linlang did not knock Huo Zhi unconscious. She let Huo Zhi hold her while she first used the Talisman from Wenren Sumian to extract the Black Tortoise Ren Water, making Huo Zhi’s body feel somewhat more comfortable. Then she began inspecting the Storage Bags of those cultivators.

Huo Zhi had completely sunk into the various sensations brought on by the Flower Moon Talisman.

A dark tide surged within her body.

“Found anything? I-I’m sorry, it’s not my intention… Knock me out… I’m dying, it’s so unbearable!” Huo Zhi spoke in a low, tearful tone, but her lips were kissing and nibbling along the curve of Linlang’s neck, all the way to the shell of her ear…

If those previous cultivators had tried to get close to Huo Zhi, she would have already detonated her Golden Core by now.

But the person before her now was this “Bounty Hunter,” for whom she felt some goodwill. She was still hoping this person could dispel this damned Flower Moon Talisman for her.

Linlang drew in a sharp breath. Being treated this way by the person she loved, she felt her own restraint crumbling.

She had searched through all the Storage Bags but found nothing to counteract the Flower Moon Talisman. What she did find were plenty of other Flower Moon Talismans, several Dual Cultivation secret manuals, spring palace picture books, and so on. The drawings were incredibly detailed, with every posture explained. They were all the private collection of that Wind and Moon Dao cultivator.

Just one glance made Linlang’s face flush bright red.

At the same time, hot breath sprayed against her neck, moving steadily up to her face.

The corners of Huo Zhi’s eyes were red, her face like a peach blossom, her lips as if painted with cinnabar. Her originally transcendent and otherworldly face, meant to be cool and desireless, was now completely filled with seductive allure. The look in her eyes as she gazed at Linlang was full of an unbearable longing. She slowly drew closer to Linlang, and her red lips pressed against Linlang’s mouth.

It all happened as though in slow motion.

Linlang was taken off guard by the kiss. The pressure was very faint, lips brushing and rubbing like a tickle, making Linlang unable to resist deepening the force of the kiss.

The lips she had always, always wanted to kiss… she was kissing them just like this.

Soft lips, a delicate, sweet taste.

A flavor even more wonderful than she had imagined. Combined with Huo Zhi’s initiative, everything became incredibly beautiful, causing Linlang to drown in it, unable to pull herself free.

Flower and moon met. The flower was beneath the moon, the moon above the flower. Moon shadows intertwined, inseparable—was the moon chasing the flower, or the flower receiving the moon?

The blood-colored Talisman Seal flickering on her Origin Soul suddenly flared, giving Linlang a shred of clarity.

She remembered the Blood Oath she and Huo Zhi had sworn together.

The two of them could not have a physical relationship. If they did, they would suffer a Heart Devil, and their cultivation would never improve again!

Although Linlang had left Huo Zhi and proposed dissolving their master-disciple relationship, it was obvious that Huo Zhi didn’t acknowledge it at all. In her heart, she was still her disciple. Therefore, the Blood Oath they had made back then was still in effect.

Linlang desperately tried to control herself. However, the scene before her was utterly, utterly out of control.

Huo Zhi was completely bare, her skin flushed pink. Every time Linlang stroked her tail, she would tremble uncontrollably. Her melodious, pleasant moans tugged at the heartstrings like no other.

Like a wondrous switch.

“I can’t dispel it… I beg you, knock me out! Aah~” Huo Zhi’s voice rang out, both pained and insufferable.

In this moment, this situation, even if it meant dying right then, Linlang couldn’t hold back anymore.

Her eyes red, Linlang suddenly slapped herself hard across the face.

Never mind the Blood Oath and Heart Devil. If she took Huo Zhi like this, what difference was there between her and Mo Zhenfeng?

Huo Zhi was currently completely controlled by the Flower Moon Talisman. What good would it do to possess her?

The Flower Moon Talisman shouldn’t be impossible to dispel. Nether Soul Threads could destroy those kinds of talismans. If the Flower Moon Talisman had left a mark on Huo Zhi’s body, it could certainly be dispelled.

Linlang released Huo Zhi’s tail, applied a Spirit Locking Talisman to her to prevent any Spiritual Qi in her body from moving, and then carefully probed with the Nether Soul Thread to find the Flower Moon Talisman’s mark.

With her Spiritual Qi locked, her physical state remained unchanged. Huo Zhi’s eyes held a layer of mist as she looked at Linlang, filled with pleading, conflict, and contradiction.

Linlang used Yin Baleful Qi and Devil Qi to cool her own Origin Soul somewhat, focused her attention, and located the Flower Moon Talisman within Huo Zhi’s body. Bit by bit, she dismantled it until it finally dispersed and vanished.

“Alright, the Flower Moon Talisman should be gone.” Linlang said in a low voice. Unbeknownst to her, a fine layer of sweat had formed on her forehead.

Hearing Linlang’s words, Huo Zhi’s expression didn’t show much happiness. Instead, tears streamed down her face.

Without the Flower Moon Talisman, her body was no longer being controlled by it, pushing things forward. But the residual sensations from before still lingered, and she was still very uncomfortable.

Huo Zhi still felt the uncontrollable urge to touch Linlang.

“Are you sure it’s gone? It still feels the same. What do I do? I feel like I’m dying. Just let me die, this is too humiliating!” Huo Zhi spoke with a sobbing tone.

“…” Linlang didn’t know what to do either. She recalled those chaotic picture books she’d only glanced at, and flipped through them again. There was indeed a method to help without taking the other person’s Primordial Yin. It was just somewhat shameless…

If it was for Huo Zhi, Linlang was willing.

“I must be impudent…” Linlang whispered. She stroked Huo Zhi’s tail gently, and Huo Zhi quivered.

Linlang lifted up the blooming flower and lowered her head to kiss it. The flower, carrying morning dew, was full of a sweet fragrance, clear and fresh. Every petal was lustrous and glossy, their color exquisitely vibrant.

In her hazy state, Huo Zhi’s mind went utterly blank as she fell from the clouds and fainted.

Linlang licked her lips, watching Huo Zhi, who had sunk into deep slumber. For a moment, she stared blankly, then quickly snapped out of it and reluctantly released Huo Zhi’s tail, covering her with clothing.

Linlang couldn’t dare to believe she had just done something so intimate with Huo Zhi.

What was she supposed to do when Huo Zhi woke up?!

Linlang pressed her hand to her forehead. Huo Zhi’s earlier words had indicated she didn’t want to run into her as her disciple, Linlang.

Huo Zhi had also said before that she didn’t like her as Linlang. Could it be that her feelings toward this Bounty Hunter identity were different?

Thinking of this, Linlang felt a sense of loss.

Soon, Linlang shook her head fiercely, pushing the thoughts aside. She just looked at the Talisman Brush in her hand and paused. After feeding a Spirit Stone to the brush, she probed it with her Spiritual Sense and erased Huo Zhi’s previous mark.

Otherwise, if Huo Zhi woke up clear-headed and sensed the brush on her, how could she explain?

She did want to return to Huo Zhi’s side, not be hated by her and driven away.

If Huo Zhi knew it was her, she would probably be furious.

Linlang tidied up the surroundings, checked to make sure there were no tracking marks or similar things, and organized the contents of the various Storage Bags. She put useless things into one Storage Bag and sorted useful items into others, trying to distract herself.

Just as Linlang finished packing up, the surroundings suddenly began to shake violently. Linlang immediately used Sound Transmission to wake Huo Zhi.

“Something’s happening. I need to take you away. You need to retract your tail,” Linlang said to Huo Zhi, doing her best to maintain a surface appearance of restraint and calm, as if nothing had happened.

Huo Zhi’s mind went blank for a second upon waking, then her face flushed completely red. What had she just done?!