Chapter 59: Chapter 58
One month had passed since the sky over the Heavenly Furnace Mountains turned black.
Outside the towering, cloud-piercing gates of the Azure Sword Sect, the mortal realm was tearing itself apart. Without the Faceless Scholar to hold the Righteous Alliance’s leash, ancient grudges had violently resurfaced. Rival sects were burning each other’s mountain pavilions, rogue cultivators were pillaging merchant routes, and the surviving demonic factions were aggressively reclaiming their lost territories.
It was an era of absolute, bloody chaos.
Inside the master courtyard of the Azure Sword Sect, however, the greatest crisis of the day was a slightly cool breeze.
"Husband, put this on. The wind is shifting to the north. Your meridians might catch a chill."
Yan Shuo sat perfectly still under the massive, blooming peach blossom tree. He didn’t even have time to blink before a thick, outrageously soft cloak made from the fur of a supreme-tier Cloud-Fox was draped over his shoulders and tied securely at his neck.
He was already wearing three layers of premium silk robes. He was also sitting on a cushion embedded with warming array runes. Furthermore, the entire courtyard was enclosed in a climate-controlled dome that kept the temperature at a perfect, balmy spring level.
Yan Shuo let out a slow, deeply amused sigh.
"Zhi’er," Yan Shuo said, looking up at his beautiful wife, who was currently fussing over the knot of his furry cloak. "I am a Nascent Soul Grandmaster. Even with the curse sealed, I could sleep naked on a glacier and not feel a draft. I am going to start sweating."
Tantai Zhi’s golden eyes narrowed slightly, her hands resting firmly on her hips. She looked like a strict, albeit devastatingly gorgeous, mortal wife scolding her stubborn husband.
"Grandmaster or not, your foundation is currently in a delicate state of stasis!" she insisted, her tone leaving absolutely no room for argument. "The fox found another medical text. It clearly states that sealed Heavenly Dao curses can be aggravated by sudden shifts in ambient Yin and Yang Qi. Therefore, you must be kept at a perfectly stable temperature at all times."
Yan Shuo mentally added ’burn Su Mei’s entire library’ to his to-do list.
"I feel perfectly fine, Wife," Yan Shuo smiled warmly, reaching out to gently catch her hand. "The seal you placed on me is flawless. I haven’t felt a single ache in a month. You are protecting me perfectly."
Tantai Zhi’s strict demeanor melted instantly. The fierce, protective scowl vanished, replaced by a brilliant, blushing smile. She happily leaned into his touch, turning her hand to intertwine her fingers with his.
"I am just doing my duty, Husband," she murmured sweetly, her eyes curving into happy crescents. "I promised I wouldn’t let you feel a single drop of pain for five years. That includes the pain of catching a cold."
Yan Shuo chuckled, using his free hand to snap his paper fan open. He gave it a lazy wave, trying to circulate some cool air into his outrageously thick fur cloak.
Truthfully, he was incredibly bored.
For the past thirty days, he had been subjected to the most intense, smothering pampering known to the cultivation world. Tantai Zhi refused to let him cultivate. She refused to let him practice his sword forms. Two days ago, he had tried to carry a wooden chair across the courtyard, and she had practically teleported across the garden to snatch it out of his hands, terrified he would strain his back.
He was the ancient Demon Lord. He had forged an empire out of blood and ash. Now, he wasn’t even allowed to pour his own tea.
"Since I am not allowed to stand up," Yan Shuo drawled lazily, leaning back against the trunk of the peach tree, "why don’t you play the guqin for me, Zhi’er? The courtyard is a bit too quiet today."
Tantai Zhi’s eyes lit up with pure joy. Her husband wanted to hear her play music! It was basically a romantic serenade in the garden!
"Right away, Husband!" she beamed. With a flick of her wrist, a beautiful, ancient zither carved from profound jade materialized on the stone table nearby.
She sat gracefully on a wooden stool, her majestic crimson robes spilling over the grass. She took a breath, calming her Qi, and placed her pale, slender fingers on the spiritual strings.
A gentle, incredibly soothing melody floated through the courtyard. The music carried a microscopic trace of her pure Yin Qi, designed specifically to calm the mind and nourish the soul. The peach blossoms above them seemed to sway in perfect rhythm with the beautiful tune.
Yan Shuo closed his eyes, a genuine smile touching his lips.
Boredom isn’t so bad, he admitted to himself. The soft-rice lifestyle was truly a profound trap.
Just as the song reached a beautiful, lingering crescendo, the heavy wooden doors of the courtyard creaked open.
Su Mei slipped inside, her fox ears twitching nervously. She carried a thick stack of glowing jade slips—intelligence reports from her shadow network across the continent.
She took one look at the scene: the terrifying Saintess playing a beautiful love song on the zither, and the apocalyptic Demon Lord lounging under a peach tree wrapped in a fluffy fox-fur cloak like a pampered house cat.
Su Mei felt a familiar, exhausting ache form right behind her eyes.
"Forgive this servant for interrupting, Lord Yan, Saintess," Su Mei bowed deeply, keeping her voice low so as not to ruin the romantic atmosphere.
Tantai Zhi’s fingers stopped on the strings. The sweet, loving melody abruptly cut off. She turned her head to look at the fox maid, her golden eyes instantly dropping twenty degrees in temperature.
"Fox," Tantai Zhi said coldly. "If the sky is not currently falling on this courtyard, you have exactly three seconds to give me a very good reason for ruining my song."
Su Mei gulped, clutching the jade slips to her chest. "T-The intelligence reports from the Central Continent, Saintess! Lord Yan asked for weekly updates on the collapse of the Righteous Alliance!"
Yan Shuo opened his eyes, waving his fan lazily. "Let her speak, Zhi’er. It’s basically free entertainment."
Tantai Zhi huffed softly, but she immediately obeyed, turning her attention back to her zither to gently tune the strings while Su Mei spoke.
"The situation is escalating, My Lord," Su Mei reported quickly, stepping closer. "The Blood-Iron Sect has completely annihilated the Water Lotus Pavilion in the southern valleys. They fought for three days and three nights. The river is reportedly running red with blood. Tens of thousands of orthodox disciples have been slaughtered."
Yan Shuo nodded slowly, looking entirely unbothered. "Expected. The Blood-Iron Sect has been eyeing those spirit-mines for a decade. With Bai Chen gone, there was no one to stop them."
"Furthermore," Su Mei continued, pulling out another glowing slip, "three ancient demonic overlords have awakened from their slumber in the western deserts. They are currently marching their armies toward the Golden Dragon City, intending to loot the ruins of the Righteous Alliance’s capital. The entire region is a warzone."
"A warzone," Yan Shuo repeated thoughtfully. He reached out from beneath his massive fur cloak to pick up a small, delicate teacup from the table beside him.
But his sleeve caught on the edge of the table.
The teacup tipped over.
A few drops of warm, green spirit-tea splashed onto the back of Yan Shuo’s hand.
It wasn’t boiling. It wasn’t dangerous. It was literally just warm leaf water.
GASP.
Tantai Zhi dropped her hands from the zither as if it had caught fire.
"Husband!"
She crossed the distance between the table and the tree in a fraction of a microsecond. She dropped to her knees beside him, snatching his hand with wide, completely panicked eyes.
"You burned yourself!" Tantai Zhi cried out, her voice filled with absolute horror. She desperately pulled a pristine white silk handkerchief from her sleeve and began frantically dabbing the three drops of tea off his skin. "I am so sorry! I should have poured it for you! I was distracted by the stupid fox! Does it hurt? Should I apply the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus paste?!"
Su Mei stopped reading the war report. She stared blankly at the Saintess.
Tens of thousands of people are being butchered in the south, Su Mei thought, her fox brain completely short-circuiting. Ancient demons are burning down cities. And she is having a mental breakdown over lukewarm tea.
"Zhi’er, I am fine," Yan Shuo laughed, thoroughly enjoying the ridiculous level of panic. "It wasn’t even hot. My skin is perfectly intact."
"Your skin is slightly pink!" Tantai Zhi argued fiercely, carefully inspecting his knuckles as if searching for a fatal wound. "The Heavenly Dao curse makes your meridians sensitive! Even a minor burn could send a shockwave of pain to your core! That’s it! You are no longer allowed to touch teacups. I will personally feed you every drop of water from now on!"
"That seems a bit extreme, Wife," Yan Shuo chuckled, though he didn’t pull his hand away. He actually quite liked her holding it.
"It is necessary for your survival!" she declared, her golden eyes blazing with unyielding determination. She turned her terrifying glare onto the frozen fox maid. "You! Go to the treasury! Bring me a jade cup with a specialized cooling array! And throw away all the ceramic cups! If my husband scratches his lip on a chipped rim, I will bury you alive!"
"Y-Yes, Saintess! Right away!" Su Mei squeaked, instantly dropping the stack of intelligence reports regarding the bloody, continent-spanning war.
She scrambled out of the courtyard as fast as her legs could carry her, perfectly prioritizing her own survival over the fate of the mortal realm.
When the heavy wooden doors clicked shut, leaving them alone again, Yan Shuo let out a soft sigh. He leaned back against the peach tree, looking at the woman who was still gently blowing cool air onto his perfectly healthy hand.
The outside world was burning. Empires were falling, and blood was soaking the earth.
But inside these walls, Yan Shuo had found something completely absurd, utterly suffocating, and strangely wonderful. He didn’t have to scheme. He didn’t have to fight. He just had to sit there and let his wife aggressively love him.
"You really don’t need to throw away the cups, Zhi’er," Yan Shuo murmured, a fond, genuine smile touching his eyes.
Tantai Zhi finally looked up from his hand. Her cheeks were dusted with a soft pink blush, but her gaze was fierce and entirely serious.
"I will throw away the whole sect if it poses a threat to you, Husband," she answered honestly, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to the back of his hand. "Now, stay still. I am going to peel some grapes for you. And don’t you dare try to lift the plate yourself."
Yan Shuo closed his eyes and adjusted his fluffy fur cloak, accepting his fate entirely.
"Yes, Wife," the terrifying Demon Lord replied obediently.
