"What? Have you thought of a solution?" Fang Fang asked from the side, "Hurry up and tell me, why are you speaking so cryptically!"
Ye Huohuo reached out, pinched the tip of A Cheng's dagger, and took it.
"Miss Ye, be careful, this blade is sharp and very fast," A Cheng quickly let go, afraid of hurting Ye Huohuo.
Ye Huohuo waved her hand, indicating she was fine, and lowered her eyes to look at the blade, her fingertip lightly scraping along the edge. "This knife isn't just sharp; it's an excellent military knife, crafted from premium steel. What's most special is that it has killed people. This blade has seen more than one life, hasn't it!"
A Cheng's expression changed. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Li Mohan coldly interrupted her, "That's A Cheng's own business, what does it have to do with you."
Ye Huohuo glanced at Li Mohan, did not respond to him, and instead smiled at A Cheng.
"A Cheng, don't misunderstand, I don't mean anything else. I'm just saying that for us in the Xuanmen sect, your dagger is a very good spiritual artifact. Most evil spirits would flee from it. Can you lend it to me for a moment?"
"Of course, Miss Ye, if you like it, I'll give it to you!" A Cheng was somewhat humbled by Ye Huohuo's words.
Li Mohan, on the side, felt snubbed by Ye Huohuo's indifferent attitude, his expression growing increasingly somber. For a moment, he felt like the odd one out among them.
From childhood to adulthood, no one had ever dared to treat him this way.
A chill emanated from him. Fang Fang and A Cheng flinched and instinctively moved aside. Only Ye Huohuo remained as usual, her expression undisturbed, her movements unhurried.
She still didn't look at Li Mohan, supporting her injured waist, and slowly straightened up. Due to the wound on her posterior, her gait was somewhat awkward, and her face showed suppressed pain.
"There's no need to give it to me. It's your possession, and naturally, you have a connection with it. Taking it would be ineffective. You'll need to help me with something later, too," Ye Huohuo said, taking out a stack of yellow paper from her backpack.
If there was one thing Ye Huohuo excelled at in the Xuanmen arts, it was drawing talismans. Her fellow disciples each had their own strengths.
Her eldest disciple brother, Nie Ming, was most proficient in formations. Thus, even though he currently had only one soul and one spirit residing in Brother Eight's body, he recognized the pattern Ye Huohuo drew on the ground as the Big Dipper seven-star formation. In his prime, his mastery of formations within the Xuanmen was widely acknowledged.
Her second disciple brother, Qin Chu, was most skilled in destiny deduction. When it came to fortune-telling for others, he was no less than the Master Diviner. It was this Master Diviner who had entrusted him with the arduous task of constantly monitoring Ye Huohuo's movements. With her fate being one of five malevolent stars, Ye Huohuo was perpetually on the brink of death; arriving even a moment late could mean separation by the abyss of heaven and earth.
Her third disciple sister, Yan Rong, was different from them. Her specialty was less about sorcery and more about combat techniques. Despite being a great beauty, she was best at fighting, whether it was fighting ghosts or people. In short, she never shied away from a fight. She once defeated eight Xuanmen experts single-handedly, becoming famous overnight. Within the Xuanmen, merely mentioning Yan Rong's name was enough to make people keep their distance.
Ye Huohuo's fourth disciple brother, Gu Zhao, was only two years older than Ye Huohuo. He was currently the only disciple guarding the Wuji Temple, and his specialty was... not having any specialties. Ye Huohuo had never seen him make a move; he always appeared to be a good-natured person with an excellent temper. Once, over a minor issue, a visitor had attacked him violently, drawing blood from his nose, yet he hadn't retaliated, simply allowing himself to be hit.
It was Ye Huohuo who couldn't stand it and dealt with the aggressor, only to be punished by their master with no dinner. That night, hungry and whimpering, she was surprised when Gu Zhao, having also foregone dinner himself, brought her the steamed buns he had saved.
In Ye Huohuo's memory, Gu Zhao had never lost his temper. She had once given this fourth disciple brother a nickname, "Gu Doughball," because she felt he was like a ball of dough, easily kneaded.
As for Ye Huohuo, she was highly talented and naturally knew some of the Xuanmen arts, learning each one with considerable skill. However, because half of her spiritual power was sealed, she often found herself willing but unable to act. Only talismans required relatively less spiritual power, so she focused more of her energy on them.
Therefore, among them, her talismanic power was the highest.
Ye Huohuo took out the blank talismans she always carried in her backpack. As soon as she looked at them, she almost choked with anger. The entire stack of yellow paper had been pierced by that arrow, hitting the bullseye precisely, with a round hole in each sheet. Using such talismans would reduce their efficacy by at least half.
She looked at these talismans, her brows furrowed so deeply a mosquito could have been crushed between them.
Fang Fang peered over, "Oh, just be grateful. If these papers hadn't blocked that arrow, the one that hit your waist would have taken half your life. If it had injured your internal organs and made you infertile, wouldn't your Mr. Li divorce you?"
Ye Huohuo blushed fiercely and glared at her, "Are you really that desperate to use me as a shield?"
Fang Fang shrugged nonchalantly, making Ye Huohuo even more annoyed. She decided to turn her eyes away and ignore her.
With no blank talismans left, she had to find another way to draw talismans. Helplessly, she sighed and began to unbutton her clothes.
Because of her injuries, she struggled to take off her outer jacket, revealing a camisole underneath. Her actions suggested she intended to take off the camisole as well.
"Alright, don't take off anymore!" Li Mohan, who had been silent all along, grabbed Ye Huohuo's hand. His voice seemed to be trying hard to restrain something.
Ye Huohuo tried to pull her hand away, but after struggling for a while, she couldn't. "What are you doing? I still have a bra underneath, and besides, if I don't use this camisole, what will I use to draw talismans? The talismans are unusable now."
Li Mohan pondered for a moment, "Can't you use my clothes?"
Ye Huohuo was startled, her brows knitting and loosening a couple of times. "It's possible, but... are you willing?"
Although she hadn't known Li Mohan for long, she had investigated him before. She knew he was somewhat of a germaphobe and particularly disliked others touching his belongings. Even his three brothers dared not easily touch his items.
Li Mohan glanced at her, said nothing, released her hand, took off his outer sports jacket, revealing a white t-shirt. Without another word, he took off the white t-shirt.
There was nothing else underneath. When he first took it off, his muscular physique was revealed, especially his eight-pack abs, which made Fang Fang's mouth water. She was just about to reach out and touch them.
Although Ye Huohuo had slept with Li Mohan twice, it had always been at night with the lights off, and she had been in a state of extreme tension and excitement, leaving her no energy to observe Li Mohan's body.
This was the first time she had seen Li Mohan's body so directly. She felt too embarrassed to stare as openly as Fang Fang, only daring to steal furtive glances as if by chance. Yet, even those fleeting glimpses made her mouth feel dry.
Thinking back to their passionate encounters in bed, her face flushed even more, and her mouth felt even drier.
"Have you seen enough? Is this shirt okay?" Li Mohan looked down at Ye Huohuo's hesitant-yet-curious gaze. The previously chilling aura he exuded had significantly subsided.
Ye Huohuo finally came back to her senses and cleared her throat. "It's... it's not stained with anything impure, and you..." She couldn't quite say it directly, but with his ice-cold spirit and overwhelming good fortune, the clothes he wore carried a certain spiritual power, making them even more effective than Ye Huohuo's own clothes.
Ye Huohuo took the shirt, and as Li Mohan zipped up his outer jacket, she took one last glance at his abs, licked her dry lips, and took a deep breath, finally steadying her composure.
"Hey, little girl, is sleeping with that guy surnamed Li quite an experience? Once this matter is resolved, can you lend him to your sister for a couple of days?!"
Fang Fang had somehow sidled up to her ear and whispered this into it, adding at the end, "Don't worry, I won't break him!"
Ye Huohuo's eyes widened instantly upon hearing this. She opened her mouth, feeling an urge to curse, but catching Li Mohan glancing in her direction, she swallowed the words back down.
She reached out, grabbed Fang Fang by the scruff of her neck, pulled her down, and whispered into her ear, "Listen, don't you dare lay a hand on him!"
Fang Fang was not to be outdone. "Girl, this will be a matter of who has the better skills!" she said, raising an eyebrow, her eyes shimmering with allure, radiating charm.
Ye Huohuo's pupils contracted as she looked at Fang Fang's demeanor...