Chapter 90, the Remarkable Woman
Once she felt her body relax, Eight Lady promptly settled cross-legged, hands and breath aligned, and began to regulate her inhalation and exhalation at once.
Strange to say, the moment her body eased, a scorching current seemed to surge into her from every direction.
In just a short while, her blood and vital force were roiling, and her whole body felt charged with inexhaustible strength.
“Why is this happening? How can this be?” she pressed him.
“This is fortune,” Shen Shi said. “The Great Way numbers fifty, but one slips away. Deep fortune brings an unbroken succession of blessings.”
This bestowal of fortune came from the spoils taken from the bandits. Bao Zheng had only reported the Shen father and son; the others were mentioned in passing. After all, rewards for retainers were within a lord’s own authority. Shen Shi, for example, had transformed fortune into an official seal.
Gold and silver were useless to the second fox sister, but blessings were of use to her.
Fourteen Lady was all right; by nature she was kind and had never done evil. But Eight Lady was different. The karmic burden upon her was plain to Shen Shi’s eyes.
Still, Shen Shi also knew that more than half of the karma on Eight Lady came from the incarnation of the Dragon King.
To impersonate the Dragon King and receive worship from the people was no game. Much less could she summon clouds and rain, or stir up mischief and frighten people without consequence.
Just now, when Shen Shi sent fortune into her, he saw that fortune enter her body and lift a portion of her karmic burden.
“Blessings? Blessings are good! How do I get more?” With some of the karma gone and her body feeling lighter, Eight Lady wanted more. Fourteen Lady liked it as well.
“If you want blessings, that’s easy!” Shen Shi sat down, took a sip of tea, and said no more.
“Ah! Young Master, you’re a good person—just tell me, won’t you?”
The fox race was skilled in transformations; her figure was exactly right, her waist too slender to grasp, her proud breasts seeming ready to tear free of her garments, and her long, straight legs. Every part of her body was full of temptation.
She could clearly have made herself exquisitely beautiful, yet when she was with Shen Shi, she either took on a fox’s form or laughed until her cheeks split wide.
If Shen Shi had not grown accustomed to the special effects in later horror films, she would have scared him into nervous collapse. He had told her so before, and she had replied that her vital essence had been wounded, making her transformations unstable. If the blood oath binding their essence were lifted, she would return to normal.
Now it could be proven: she was doing it on purpose.
She pressed her lovely body against Shen Shi, rubbing her proud curves against him.
Bah! What was this... well, all right, it was very soft. It was not for nothing that I gathered fortune and shared it with them.
Shen Shi forced himself to steady his mind and said, “You have the Dragon King’s incarnation. So long as you summon clouds and bring rain, and keep the winds smooth and the weather favorable, blessings will naturally come.”
“Young Master...”
“Shi’er, Shi’er...”
“Father, I’m here.”
Hearing his father call him, Shen Shi answered at once and stepped out of the room.
Shen Shi had to admit that when it came to beautiful women, his self-restraint was still wanting.
“Young Master...”
“Eighth Sister.” Eight Lady wanted to seize Shen Shi and get a clear explanation, but Fourteen Lady caught her sister’s arm. “The Young Master has already explained everything very clearly.”
“Explained what clearly?” Eight Lady was frantic. “We’re demons. How are we supposed to summon clouds and bring rain? The first strike from heaven’s thunder would be for us.”
“Oh, right, of course.” Fourteen Lady suddenly understood.
“You little wretch, you’ve ruined my great matter!”
She had used her proud curves to tease Shen Shi, and Shen Shi had responded. But now the man had run off, and all her efforts were wasted.
As if she had not labored at all to rub against him! With the blood oath in place, even the smallest improper thought would make her vital flow obstructed. She had been enduring it with great difficulty.
While the sisters were speaking, they heard Xi Hou wake.
Hearing Xi Hou crying in the room, Fourteen Lady pulled Eight Lady along to see what was going on.
“But...” Eight Lady only wanted to find Shen Shi and get things straight.
“Eighth Sister, the Young Master told us to look after her. Let’s do that first. If not, and the Young Master gets angry, he won’t say anything at all.” Fourteen Lady tried to persuade her.
“Honestly, what a bother!”
Eight Lady was somewhat regretful. If only she had known earlier that Shen Shi knew so much and could even grant them such advantages, why had she bothered trying to frighten him? She had only made life difficult for herself.
With no choice, she returned to the room. Once inside, the sisters saw Xi Hou, sobbing as she somehow found a strip of cloth, tied it into a noose, and hung it from the beam.
She was going to kill herself again.
Eight Lady and Fourteen Lady were startled. Power welled beneath their feet, and in a flash they appeared before Xi Hou from the doorway.
“Xi Hou, what are you doing?” Eight Lady said with a touch of anger.
This woman had been entrusted to them by Shen Shi. If she died under their watch, Eight Lady truly feared Shen Shi would be displeased.
The sudden rebuke made Xi Hou, who had just been about to step onto the stool and hang herself, tremble. She froze in place, head bowed, and no longer dared to seek death.
“Why are you trying to kill yourself? Do you have any idea how much trouble it took to save you?” Eight Lady said. “Never do such foolish things again.”
“But... but I have no face left to show anyone,” Xi Hou said through tears, too ashamed to look up.
Eight Lady said, “What do you mean, no face left? Isn’t it just that you were beguiled by that zombie and wanted to use your own blood to save him? The Young Master didn’t blame you. And that zombie is dead too. What is there to die for?”
“No, no, it isn’t that. It’s... it’s something else,” Xi Hou said, tears falling.
“If it isn’t that, then what is it? Tell me, and I’ll help you sort it out.” Eight Lady said.
Xi Hou shook her head in tears. It was too hard to speak of, and she refused to say what had happened before.
Eight Lady said, “If you don’t tell me, how am I supposed to know what happened? We’re all women here; what is there to fear?”
Xi Hou had wanted to say it: her mind had been clouded, and she had somehow ended up becoming intimate with another man. She no longer had the face to meet anyone, and might as well die.
She had kept the matter buried in her heart, and not speaking of it had only made her feel more stifled.
Hearing this, Eight Lady found it somewhat amusing. “So that’s all it was. I thought it was something serious. What happened to you before was merely an illusion. There was never any man with you at all, and you were never whispering sweet nothings to anyone. You were blinded by the corpse’s sinister aura. From beginning to end, it was only you, alone, running into the blade and coughing up blood.”
Xi Hou heard that it was an illusion, and her heart stirred with excitement. She hurriedly asked, “But if it was false, why are there handprints on my proud curves? They’re all red.”
“What? Let me see.” Upon hearing this, Eight Lady was about to take a look.
“My lady.” Xi Hou blushed and glanced toward the book boy, who was still there.
“No need to worry; she’s a girl, my little sister. If you don’t believe me, look.”
Eight Lady was decisive. She simply stripped Fourteen Lady’s clothes away, revealing her own proud curves, to prove she was a woman.
“Eighth Sister!” Fourteen Lady was both angry and embarrassed.
Xi Hou stared blankly in astonishment—what manner of education could produce such an extraordinary woman?
Yes—an extraordinary woman!
Then, while still dazed, she was stripped by this extraordinary Eight Lady, who inspected the handprints on her body. And the result of the examination was...