Today was their wedding feast. Yao Ying had been dressed in magnificent splendor. After washing away her makeup before bed, she still wore her banquet attire—a cyan gauze robe that outshone flowering branches, a seven-colored silk dress with gold thread, and a white silk shawl with gold motifs draped over her shoulders. As she undid the ties, beneath was a thin inner robe embroidered with lotus flowers, now soaked through by the spring water and clinging to her body.

The lotus was pure and noble, with buds rising proudly at the stamen, their petals revealing flushed skin beneath. The sacred white lotus took on an alluring quality, its petals trembling seductively.

“My dusty eyes are humbled to behold this jade beauty.”

The lotus unfurled in his palm.

Tanmoluojia’s cool gaze lingered for a moment on the exquisite lotus bud, his eyes darkening. Unable to wait to fully undress Yao Ying, he bent down.

This time he switched to the other side.

He tasted her gently, lingeringly, yet forcefully—like savoring fine tea, like sipping sweet honey.

The wet spring water made the sensations more intense. Yao Ying let out a soft moan, trembling harder. Looking down she could see his head pressed against her chest, feeling somewhat embarrassed yet unable to resist the waves of pleasure flooding through her body.

She had been too careless. With his personality, when he wanted to do something, he would certainly prepare thoroughly. Even for such matters, he would study seriously with an expressionless face… The first time she helped him, his whole body was soaked, brows tightly furrowed, biting her hair—sacred, restrained, vulnerable, contradictory, desiring yet helpless—letting her tease him as he softly murmured her name, not even daring to kiss her. Now she felt like she was melting against him… What exactly had he studied…

“You deceived me…”

She endured the biting tingles and numbness, her waist twisting in his grasp, eyes reddened at the corners.

Tanmoluojia released her and raised his eyes, jade-green orbs suffused with desire that should not appear in his gaze.

“I didn’t deceive you… I went to the hot springs earlier to regulate my breathing, only then was I better…”

He had to regulate his breathing in the hot springs to fully suppress his martial arts, which was why he dared not touch her much on the way back.

Yao Ying took the chance to cup his face, using force to press him against the pool edge, sealing his lips with hers. She kissed him hard, teasing his tongue, and when he responded, her teeth gently bit his tongue tip. Her hands moved downward, tearing at the sash at his waist, reaching inside. Before she could pull open his silk pants, the springing heat scalded her hand.

More ferocious than any time before.

Her face flushed crimson as she lost focus for a moment.

Water splashed as he suddenly lifted her entire body. Clear spring water rolled off their embracing bodies with soft plinks. Her soaked clothes clung tightly, wet strands of long hair tangling around both their bodies.

His strong arms held her as he stood in the pool, deepening her kiss, their lips and tongues tightly entwined.

The gurgling water could not mask the sounds of their intimate caresses.

Yao Ying could not bear his intensity hidden beneath gentleness. Her mind was in chaos, unable to swallow properly, her body going soft, afraid of falling, she tried to break free while simultaneously clutching his neck tightly.

As she twisted, her soft breasts pressed against his dripping chest, her whole body trembling lightly.

Tanmoluojia held and kissed her like this as he waded through the water to the sloped jade steps by the pool. He suddenly bent forward, pressing her against the cool, smooth jade, using one hand to remove her remaining crumpled gauze robe and silk dress. His burning palm covered her, sliding down inch by inch from her neck to her snow-white shoulders and back.

Like patiently plucking a lotus, gently parting its petals.

Her delicate body trembled in his palm, hair scattered, face dewy with sweat, completely unclothed, smooth, and lustrous—wearing only the prayer beads he had given her on her arm.

His Buddha, his moon.

A faint blue light flashed through Tanmoluojia’s eyes.

Away from the spring water, the heat became increasingly unbearable. Yao Ying’s eyes were misted, her body soft and powerless, unable to rise. Her hands were still hooked around his shoulders, unconsciously acting coy, showing complete trust.

Tanmoluojia’s lips curved slightly as he removed her hands, kissing from her fingertips to her hand, arm, and snow-white shoulder. His body braced above her as he kissed her neck, slowly moving downward.

Water droplets rolled across her snow-white skin, tinged with the color of peach blossoms.

His kisses traveled down, lingering long at the rising places as if unable to get enough.

Yao Ying was startled by her own sobbing moans and bit her lip hard.

He did not stop.

Soon, strange electricity suddenly coursed through her entire body. Yao Ying shook uncontrollably, straightening up to push against Tanmoluojia’s broad shoulders.

He held her legs and waist firmly, brooking no resistance.

He had seen a pool of white lotuses in Chang’an, graceful and elegant, standing like jade, unlike worldly things.

He cradled the blooming lotus, peeling back pink, tightly clustered petals one by one until he glimpsed the pearl-like bud hidden within. A sweet fragrance wafted out, rich and full, enveloping him.

Tanmoluojia’s back arched as he lowered his head, devoutly pleasuring her.

The most intimate, direct, primitive invasion and coaxing, from inside to out.

The cool prayer beads reminded her that the man between her legs was Tanmoluojia.

Waves of uncontrollable pleasure crashed over her one after another, finally climbing to a peak. Too intense for her first time, her chest heaved, breathing chaotic, the lotus shaking violently, about to fall.

With one uncontrolled moan, the lotus fully bloomed.

Waves of fragrance filled the air.

Tanmoluojia straightened up, placing wet kisses on her sweat-dampened temples as he held her melting form in his arms, asking breathlessly, “Did you like it?”

That cool voice that chanted scriptures in her ear each night speaking these words.

Yao Ying trembled uncontrollably again, burying her face in his chest, and opening her mouth to bite him. Though she had little strength, she still stubbornly gnawed a few times.

He seemed to laugh lightly, his chest gently shaking as he bent down to press his forehead to hers.

Sweat fell from his brow onto Yao Ying, burning her. She felt his arousal gently grinding, the muscles in his arms supporting him bulging.

She reached up to grasp his taut back, wanting to rise and press him down, one hand searching downward—she liked watching him.

Tanmoluojia trembled, holding her tight as he spoke hoarsely: “Don’t get up, it will be uncomfortable that way…”

He used force to press her back down as she tried to struggle up, testing his way inside.

Yao Ying shuddered slightly, relaxing her body.

He still could not enter completely, his waist gently swaying as he penetrated bit by bit. The sensation was too torturous, too tantalizing, too impossible to control, but he dared not rush, enduring as he waited for her to adjust little by little.

This was not enough.

Not enough to smooth his suppression, and compensate for his torment.

Everything around them disappeared. In his eyes there was only her—her autumn-pool eyes brimming with tears, her sweat-dampened flushed face, her sweet soft lips.

Having read so many books, only upon truly tasting did he discover the recorded knowledge had crumbled to useless fragments.

He wanted to enter her, to become one with her, to sink into the pleasure she gave him, to make her fully bloom beneath him.

Since he had already entered the mortal realm, he would experience its ultimate bliss.

She had already lost control, her face covered in tears.

Yao Ying wept wordlessly.

In the dim candlelight, the dense hanging felt curtains swayed slightly in the night breeze that blew through the gaps. The spring water in the pool rippled with scattered candlelight.

Steam rose and dispersed as sounds of passion filled the chamber.

The jade ceiling vaguely reflected the scene by the pool—the man’s bare back and thighs formed clean lines, dripping with sweat that gleamed enticingly. His tall, lean yet powerful body completely covered the person beneath. A pair of dazzlingly white arms clung tightly to his shoulders, a string of moonlight-like prayer beads on one wrist clicking softly against his taut shoulder with each movement.

Ultimate torment, yet also ultimate pleasure.

After who knows how long, Yao Ying’s consciousness grew hazy again, utterly exhausted, her long hair completely disheveled and clinging wetly to her face. Yet he still vigorously plundered her, taking her into the waves again and again, sending her to the peak.

The hands gripping her waist were shockingly hot.

Tears glittered at the corners of Yao Ying’s eyes as she felt his muscles tensing and bulging. Her arms and legs wrapped around him, holding him tight as her red lips parted. Crying at his ear, she said: “Master… I want you…”

Tanmoluojia’s entire body uncontrollably went rigid as overwhelming pleasure soared to the heavens again. Buried inside her, he let out a muffled groan.

Body and soul, love and desire—he gave her everything.