Many children, many blessings: Stealing the offspring of powerful figures to cultivate immortality.

The lights in the side courtyard were dim.

Gu Qinghan settled Jiang Yining on the couch, and his pure Yang true energy circulated through her meridians to ensure that her heart meridian was protected before reluctantly stopping.

Looking at her pale and tired face, he knew he couldn't stay any longer, otherwise it would not only affect Wu Bao's subsequent recovery, but also bring more unnecessary trouble.

"I'm setting off immediately to the far north to retrieve the Heavenly Fragrance Life-Sustaining Grass. You stay here in this dilapidated temple with the child."

Gu Qinghan's fingers slid down her cheek to her delicate neck, his fingertips dangerously caressing her throbbing pulse, while dark currents surged in his frosty white eyes.

"No matter what danger you encounter, don't be reckless. Let that bald monk take the brunt."

Jiang Yining let him touch her, not even bothering to lift her eyelids, her voice weak and perfunctory.

"Okay, go and come back quickly."

"Are you so eager for me to leave so you can have more time to continue your meditation and enlightenment with that monk?"

Gu Qinghan was stung by her nonchalant attitude, and his anger flared up again. He unconsciously tightened his grip on her chin.

"Can you please stop being so jealous?"

Jiang Yining felt a little pain from his pinch and couldn't help but frown and push his hand away.

"I don't even have the strength to get out of bed, so where would I get the energy to provoke others? Besides, he's a monk. Do you think everyone is like you, with only that kind of mind?"

"You'd better not have it, that monk's eyes weren't clean when he looked at you."

Gu Qinghan suddenly leaned down and bit down hard on the most conspicuous spot on the side of her neck. The sharp pain made Jiang Yining gasp.

"Gu Qinghan, are you a dog?"

Jiang Yining tried to push him away, but he held her wrist firmly, pinning her to the bed and making her unable to move.

He didn't give in until a red mark from the Pure Yang Sword appeared on that fair skin, resembling an extremely ambiguous kiss mark, before he straightened up, satisfied.

"This is for those who don't know their own limits, to let them know what they shouldn't touch."

Gu Qinghan gently swept his fingertips across the fresh mark, leaving a trace of cool sword intent to prevent it from dissipating too soon.

"I'm leaving. If you dare let him touch you, you'll regret it when I get back."

Gu Qinghan left behind this warning, then turned into a streak of sword light and disappeared into the night in the side courtyard.

Jiang Yining raised her hand and touched the burning mark on the side of her neck, letting out a mocking sneer, without using her spiritual power to remove it.

A man's possessiveness can sometimes be a useful weapon, and she doesn't mind keeping it to test another's heart.

The night grew deeper.

Wu Bao, who was sleeping soundly beside him, suddenly started to roll around restlessly, his little brows furrowed tightly, and he uttered intermittent sleepwalking murmurs.

"I want flowers in April, I want the spirit flowers of Qingqiu in April, Mother, pick flowers for me."

The little girl's nine illusory fox tails swept around unconsciously in mid-air, threatening to disturb the lingering divine poison within her body that had just subsided.

Jiang Yining, exhausted, forced herself to sit up and gently comforted her crying daughter in her arms.

"Good girl, April, Mommy will make you some flowers right now."

Ignoring the throbbing pain in her meridians, she forcefully mobilized the little bit of purple-gold wood energy that had just recovered in her body, and slowly traced lines in the air with her fingertips.

Lifelike garlands of spiritual energy bloomed in the night, emitting a soft glow, surrounding the Five Treasures like fireflies.

Wu Bao caught those points of light in her dream, her little hands grabbing at them haphazardly, until finally she calmed down and her breathing became even again.

Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on Jiang Yining's forehead, and the light at her fingertips trembled and was about to dissipate.

A hand with distinct knuckles silently pressed down on her wrist, and a gentle Buddhist light flowed through that hand, stabilizing the spiritual energy wreaths that were about to dissipate.

Fan Chenxin appeared by the bedside at some point, her moon-white monk's robe still stained with blood from the secret room. He looked at her reckless behavior with disapproval in his eyes.

"Your meridians are already riddled with holes, why do you continue to abuse yourself like this? If the remaining poison from the divine realm takes the opportunity to counterattack, even this humble monk cannot save you."

"She wants it, I can't let her cry."

Jiang Yining raised her head, a weak smile appearing on her pale face, her voice so soft it seemed about to break.

"The master doesn't understand the hearts of parents. As long as she can get a good night's sleep, it's just a matter of sacrificing some of her life force."

Fan Chenxin sighed and didn't try to persuade her anymore. He simply stepped forward silently, placed his palm on her back, and infused her body with pure Buddhist light to dispel the raging will power that had resurfaced due to the use of spiritual energy.

The two were very close, and he could even smell the cool medicinal scent on her that belonged to another man.

Fan Chenxin's gaze was uncontrollably drawn to the glaring red mark on the side of her neck.

The pure yang sword imprint stood out starkly against the fair skin, arrogantly proclaiming its owner's possessiveness.

Fan Chenxin tightened his fingers as he transmitted the Buddha's light.

He forced himself not to ask, but the hidden jealousy in his heart grew wildly like weeds, impossible to suppress.

Jiang Yining sensed the fluctuations in his spiritual power and deliberately turned her head to expose the mark to him more completely.

"Master, what's wrong with you? The Buddha's light is so chaotic that it's about to break through my meridians."

"Is it that you can't calm your mind, or do you find this mark an eyesore?"

Fan Chenxin hastily withdrew her hand, took half a step back, clasped her hands together, and chanted a Buddhist mantra, trying to suppress the trembling in her heart.

"This humble monk lost his composure. The violent will within you has been suppressed. Please rest now."

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked out of the room, his steps appearing somewhat unsteady.

As Jiang Yining watched his retreating figure, the mocking smile on her lips deepened.

What are you pretending to be so high and mighty for? Sooner or later, we'll peel off your mask of a virtuous monk.

The courtyard was quiet.

Fan Chenxin did not leave. He walked to the thousand-year-old Bodhi tree in the courtyard and looked up at the Bodhi flowers that were full of golden light radiating Buddha-nature.

Monks and nuns do not kill living beings or break branches; these are the rules and precepts inscribed on the stone tablet of Da Lei Yin Temple.

But what lingered in his mind was the image of her exhausting herself trying to coax her daughter, and the glaring red mark on the side of her neck.

Fan Chenxin stretched out her hand, her fingertips lingering on a Bodhi flower in full bloom for a long time before finally making her decision.

The crisp sound of breaking branches seemed particularly abrupt in the quiet night.

He plucked a Bodhi flower with a golden light emanating from it, and turned to walk back to the door.

Jiang Yining was leaning against the bed railing with her eyes closed, resting when she heard footsteps and lazily opened her eyes.

Fan Chenxin walked up to her and handed her the Bodhi flower. The golden petals shimmered with a sacred luster under the glow of the luminous pearl.

"This Bodhi flower has a calming effect; if you place it beside the Five Treasures Pillow, she will no longer have nightmares."

Jiang Yining raised her eyes, her gaze shifting from the flower to his handsome and refined face, a hint of amusement flashing in her eyes.

"Master has even abandoned the rules and regulations for the sake of my daughter and me. If the abbot finds out, he will probably punish you by making you kneel in the Buddha Heart Formation again."

"That is the karma of this humble monk, and has nothing to do with you, benefactor."

Fan Chenxin stubbornly held up the flower, showing no intention of retracting her hand.

"Can the master really sever all ties with me regarding karma so completely?"

Jiang Yining chuckled softly. With a flick of her wrist, she didn't rush to take the flower. Instead, she placed her fingertips on the pulse point of the wrist where he was holding the flower.

"If the master is truly detached from worldly desires, why is his heart beating so erratically?"

Fan Chenxin's wrist froze in mid-air, and the outer shell that had been wrapped in Buddhist principles for 120 years cracked crisply at her touch.

"Please show some respect, benefactor. This humble monk was only disturbed by the sight of the Five Treasures, which is why I offered these flowers. I had no other intentions."

"Yeah?"

Jiang Yining's fingertips slowly climbed up his wrist, her purple-gold eyes filled with undisguised aggression as she stared intently into his flustered and evasive eyes.

"Why doesn't the master dare to look at me? Why can't the Buddha's light be stabilized when he sees the mark left by Gu Qinghan?"

"That's because my cultivation is insufficient; I was overwhelmed by the sword energy."

Fan Chen stubbornly argued, but his trembling voice had already betrayed him.

You're still lying to yourself.

Jiang Yining finally raised her hand and accepted the Bodhi flower.

Their fingers met unexpectedly on the delicate petals; the cool fingertips touched his warm palm, sending a shiver down one's spine.

Jiang Yining didn't rush to withdraw her hand, but instead gently ran her fingertips across the back of his hand, her purple-gold eyes gleaming with a cunning, fox-like light.

"Master, these flowers are truly beautiful."

Fan Chenxin was stunned by her words and froze on the spot. The last bit of defense in her heart completely collapsed under the provocation of her words.

The petals were crushed between his fingertips, releasing a drop of juice. Fan Chenxin lowered his eyelashes, and for the first time did not back down, but let her body heat flow along the Bodhi tree and burn into his veins.