The two of them faced each other closely. She sat astride his lap, her arms looped around his neck and her legs wrapped firmly around his waist in a tight embrace.
The Myriad Snake Queen knew full well that this was one of Yan Zhen’s favorite positions. Every time she assumed it with him, it left him utterly satisfied, which meant she and Zi Xunyi could enjoy a bit of respite and avoid being confined to bed for days on end.
With no clothes between them, she could clearly sense his growing excitement, setting her own heart ablaze.
“Let go. This Monarch is getting up.”
The Myriad Snake Queen pushed lightly against Yan Zhen’s chest before springing backward. She burst through a cluster of bubbles encasing Water Element Hearts and plunged once more into the crystal-clear depths of the Holy Spring Pool.
Yan Zhen scrambled to his feet and hurried to the pool’s edge. He saw She Ji standing in the water, her back turned to him, and scratched his head in frustration.
“If you don’t come up, how am I supposed to draw out the Extreme Flame inside you?”
Silence.
It was quite a while before the Myriad Snake Queen spoke, her voice soft and lingering.
“Come down here.”
—Me? Go down there?
Yan Zhen froze. This was the Holy Spring Pool of the City of Water, a sacred place accessible only to the Female Monarch and her chosen successors. And yet, she was inviting him in?
If she was feeling shy, she could simply put some clothes on. There was no need for nudity.
In theory, all he needed to do was place his hand on her body and circulate the Emperor Flame Technique.
Yet in his previous life, the Myriad Snake Queen had received his treatment in the nude. The Scarlet Flame had rampaged wildly inside her, intimidated by the Mystic Power of the Emperor Flame Technique, forcing Yan Zhen to touch her all over while insisting, “This is a necessary part of the treatment—don’t mind it.” By the time he had drawn out every last bit of Scarlet Flame, he had explored her body from head to toe.
As a result, she had come to believe that his treatments required full-body contact. If that were the case now, she was certain she would grow embarrassingly aroused, which would mortify her if he noticed.
Submerging herself in the pool like this would hide any such evidence.
Seeing Yan Zhen standing dumbly on the shore, rooted to the spot, the Myriad Snake Queen grew annoyed.
“Hurry up.”
Hearing her urging him on, Yan Zhen temporarily set aside his questions and did as she asked.
“Do I need to take my clothes off?”
The thought occurred to him suddenly, and the words tumbled out.
The Myriad Snake Queen shot him a sidelong glare and replied coolly,
“What do you think?”
Ah… She was completely bare, so he supposed he should be too.
Still, something about it felt off.
Was she planning to kill him once the treatment was done? Was that why she didn’t mind him entering the Holy Spring Pool or facing her naked?
Yan Zhen startled himself with the grim speculation and swallowed hard.
—Damn it! Fortune favors the bold! He’d just have to take it one step at a time!
He stripped off his clothes in short order, leaving only his boxer shorts embroidered with a pattern of long-trunked little elephants. Then he gingerly stepped into the Holy Spring Pool, wading through the water until he reached her back.
Her smooth jade back gleamed flawlessly, almost mirror-like enough to reflect his own image. Beneath the rippling water, the full curves of her buttocks were plainly visible.
Yan Zhen didn’t dare look for long.
“Ahem. I need to press my hand against your dantian. Should I do it from behind, or would you rather I come around to the front?”
It took the Myriad Snake Queen a long moment to squeeze out a terse reply.
“Whatever you want.”
“Then… I’m starting?”
“…”
Her silence was as good as consent.
Yan Zhen steadied his breathing. With one hand on her supple water-snake waist, he reached around with the other and gently pressed near her lower abdomen.
The Myriad Snake Queen’s lithe body trembled faintly. A soft, muffled hum escaped her throat. She closed her eyes, regulating her breath to keep her voice steady.
“The dantian is a little higher up!”
His hand brushed against a patch of fine down, and Yan Zhen immediately realized his mistake. He shifted it upward.
“S-Sorry. I couldn’t see, so I guessed wrong.”
“Be serious about this.”
“Got it~”
Outmatched for the moment, Yan Zhen could only yield. He reminded himself of how he would later go berserk and claim the Myriad Snake Queen in every hole, deciding that suffering a minor setback now was a fair trade—evening the score.
As expected, once Yan Zhen circulated the Emperor Flame Technique, his Mystic Power flowed into her body like the loyal retainers of a flame emperor. It swiftly pursued the fleeing Extreme Flame insurgents, subduing them one by one!
Stripped of their connection to the Great Crimson Heaven Flame’s core, these wisps of Scarlet Flame lacked any consciousness—they were mere pure energy. The Emperor Flame Technique assimilated them with ease.
If Yan Zhen’s cultivation had been higher, he could have drawn them all out in one go. But he was only a Mystic Scholar, while these Scarlet Flames carried the might of the Mystic Ancestor stage. He was managing only through the Emperor Flame Technique’s suppressive power.
That wasn’t enough on its own. He needed the Myriad Snake Queen’s cooperation.
“Pretty sister, try circulating your energy to gather the Mystic Power at your dantian.”
She opened her eyes, puzzled.
“Why?”
In his previous life, she had been too weak to move, so he had handled the entire treatment while she simply lay there.
Yan Zhen explained, “The Scarlet Flame follows your Mystic Power. If you concentrate it all in your dantian, most of the Scarlet Flame will follow suit. Then I can draw it all out at once.”
The Myriad Snake Queen paused in surprise before doing as he instructed. Gritting her teeth against the searing pain, she drew her Mystic Power to her dantian.
Sure enough, the Scarlet Flame surged toward it as well. Yan Zhen sucked it all out in a rush, merging it into the Technique Fire Seed within his own dantian and claiming it as his strength.
A wave of relief washed over the Myriad Snake Queen as the burning agony inside her eased dramatically.
She couldn’t help but wonder: Was it really that simple? In his previous life, he had groped her everywhere, claiming he needed to drive the scattered Scarlet Flame toward her dantian—oh.
Understanding dawned on her. In her weakened state back then, she hadn’t been able to cooperate, so he had expended far more effort corralling the flames from every corner. With her help now, there was no need for all that trouble.
—This scoundrel! Why hadn’t he just explained it clearly?
Then what was the point of staying naked?
Why had she bothered returning to the Holy Spring Pool and calling him down?
She had completely overthought it.
A surge of shame flooded her heart, though it was tempered by a slight sense of relief.
It was good that he wouldn’t be touching her. At least she wouldn’t betray any indecorous reactions.
Unbeknownst to her, Yan Zhen was a faithful adherent to the script. In a low voice, he said, “There’s still a small portion of Scarlet Flame hiding deep inside. I’ll need to use my other hand to flush it out. There might be quite a bit of skin contact, so please bear with it for now, sister.”
Her beautiful eyes flew wide. All her earlier relief had been for nothing—it was still coming!
Even as the thought crossed her mind, Yan Zhen’s other hand glided onto her jade back. It traced upward along her spine to the nape of her neck before curving around to the front, slipping straight down through the valley of her breasts.
“One strand.”
He counted softly.
The Myriad Snake Queen closed her eyes once more. Her shell-like teeth grazed her lower lip as she fought to endure the exquisite pleasure of her husband’s tender caresses, both physical and emotional.
