Chapter 136

In early summer, West Lake always attracts countless tourists. The lake is filled with pleasure boats and painted barges, but they all consciously avoid the exquisite large boat in the middle of the lake.

A tourist from out of town asked curiously, “Boatman, whose boat is that? Why is it alone in the middle of the lake and no one is coming near it?”

Upon hearing this, the boatman smiled and said, “That’s the boat of Mr. Nie, the owner of Meizhuang Manor, a famous philanthropist in our Hangzhou city. In recent years, he has repaired bridges and roads, helped those in distress, and even held free clinics every month to treat people who couldn’t afford medical care. Everyone within a hundred miles speaks highly of Mr. Nie and is extremely grateful.”

As he spoke, he looked toward the small boat with a hint of reverence on his face. The tourist followed his gaze and saw only a blue figure in the distance, half-lying and half-sitting at the bow of the boat.

“Oh? If he’s such a kind and generous person, why does he monopolize the center of the lake and not allow anyone to get close?” The tourist was somewhat skeptical.

The boatman, upon hearing this, looked slightly embarrassed and said, “That young master Nie always takes his family with him when he goes on trips. His wives are all stunningly beautiful, like celestial beings. Every time the boatmen get close, they are dazzled by their beauty and their hands and feet become uncontrollable. As a result, they either fall into the lake or collide with other boats. Although young master Nie has never blamed them, after several such incidents, no one dares to get close anymore.”

The tourist became even more curious upon hearing this and was about to ask how beautiful Young Master Nie’s wife was when he suddenly heard a soft cough from the side.

He was startled and quickly turned around, saying to his wife who was looking displeased, “Wife, do you feel the wind is too strong? Shall I pour you a cup of hot tea?”

On the deck at the bow of the ship, Nie Yun, dressed in a royal blue robe, held a fishing rod in his hand, his eyes half-open and half-closed.

A beautiful woman whose age was hard to guess was peeling grapes with a smile next to him, and she fed him a grape as soon as she finished peeling it.

The reason why it’s hard to tell her age is because this woman has bright eyes and white teeth, fair skin, and an innocent and carefree look in her eyes. She looks no more than twenty years old, but her hair bun and charming mature body reveal that she is already married.

Gradually, Nie Yun closed his eyes, seemingly falling asleep, and quietly leaned against the pillar behind him.

Seeing this, the woman rolled her eyes, picked up a grape, and gently rubbed it against his lips. Nie Yun habitually opened his mouth, but the woman pulled her hand away and put the grape into her own mouth.

“Feifei, you’re being naughty again!” Nie Yun opened his eyes and smiled indulgently at the woman.

Qu Feiyan picked up another grape, waved it triumphantly in front of her, and said, “This is the last one, want some?”

Nie Yun smiled slightly, pulled her close to him, and said, “If you don’t give them to me, I’ll eat those two grapes on your body!” As he spoke, he started tickling her.

“Oh… Brother Nie, haha… no… it tickles…” Qu Feiyan leaned against him, giggling incessantly.

The two of them scratched and dodged, writhing together until they fell into the cabin. Nie Yun scratched under her armpits for a while, then touched her already quite well-developed breasts, rubbing them against her through her clothes.

“Mmm… Brother Nie, you’re so naughty!” Qu Feiyan said coquettishly, pressing down on his hand, but without using any force. Instead, she pressed her buttocks against Nie Yun’s crotch and gently twisted.

“Little vixen!” Nie Yun cursed inwardly, then kissed her small lips. Her soft, cherry-like lips, carrying a sweet scent, captivated Nie Yun, making him unable to extricate himself.

“Mmm…uh…uh…” Two red clouds rose on Qu Feiyan’s face, her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her small hands gently wrapped around Nie Yun’s neck.

Nie Yun held that soft, warm body in his arms, the faint fragrance filling his nostrils, and his lower body throbbed with discomfort.

Qu Feiyan felt the hard object between her legs, blushed and whispered, “Brother Nie, you’re not behaving yourself down there!”

At this moment, the two whispered sweet nothings, their necks intertwined and faces pressed together. When Qu Feiyan opened her mouth, her rosy lips parted slightly, trembling and gleaming with a healthy sheen.

Nie Yun could no longer resist. He lowered his head, took two petals into his mouth, and reached out to untie her belt.

Qu Feiyan pulled her head away, panting, and said, “Brother Nie, let’s go back… let’s go back, okay?”

“Don’t worry, don’t you know what I’m capable of?” Nie Yun waved his hand, and the curtain at the door fell down with a thud. “Last time in the carriage, even with such a commotion, nothing happened!”

“That time it was all because you insisted on coming, otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed!”

Qu Feiyan recalled the scene of Nie Yun pressing her down and thrusting into her wantonly in the carriage last time, and suddenly felt a heat in her lower abdomen.

Her eyes welled up with tears, her struggling body went limp, and her legs began to rub together tightly.

“Hehe… Shijian, Dingdang, keep an eye on things outside!” Nie Yun loudly instructed his two maids to keep watch, then made a few strange hand gestures and lightly patted the floor.

The entire ship flashed by in a flash of light, and the surrounding lake water churned in the process.

If someone were to look closely, they would notice a ripple in the space around the ship, which would then return to normal.

This is a concealment technique recorded in the Mysterious Jade Disc, called Moon Concealment and Star Sinking.

Once activated, this spell releases a sphere resembling a barrier centered on the caster.

It can not only block external sight and divine sense, but also prevent outsiders from hearing the sounds inside the sphere.

Such magical techniques are naturally beyond Nie Yun’s complete mastery; for now, he can only silence his voice.

Previously, he pretended to be injured at Xuan Su Manor, and Min Rou and he made love to each other several times without being discovered by the maid on night watch, which was all thanks to Yue Yin Xing Chen.

“Ugh! Hmm… No… Brother Nie… Ah…” Qu Feiyan’s coquettish tone quickly turned into a moan, while Shi Jian and Ding Dang outside the cabin exchanged a smile.

Time flies, leaving us behind; the cherries have ripened, and the plantains have turned green.

After Shi Qing passed away, Nie Yun and Shi Zhongjian discussed it and found a propitious burial site on Mount Hua to bury him.

After everything was settled, Nie Yun returned to Plum Manor, accompanied by Ning Zhongze and Min Rou on their journey south.

From then on, Nie Yun lived a life by West Lake where he envied only the lovebirds and not the immortals.

Now, three years have passed, and Qu Feiyan, the youngest of the women, is already twenty-six years old.

However, under the influence of the Yin-Yang Transformation Technique, apart from their increasingly mature demeanor, Nie Yun and his many beautiful wives showed no signs of aging.

Min Rou and Ning Zhong, on the other hand, were like snakes shedding their skin; they not only did not age, but instead appeared even younger.

Now, the two of them sit together with the other women, looking just like sisters.

The women were all very surprised by the changes in him and asked him many times, but Nie Yun always smiled and remained silent, making his image in their hearts even more mysterious.

However, this way, the relationship between Nie Yun and the two women, Ning and Min, would no longer be a secret.

When they heard Nie Yun admit it himself, apart from Lan Fenghuang who had already guessed, the other girls could hardly believe their ears. Yilin and Bai Axiu were so shocked that they almost fell off their chairs.

Although Nie Yun took all the blame upon himself, Ning Zhongze and Min Rou still felt extremely ashamed.

For a moment, no one spoke, and the atmosphere became quite awkward. Nie Yun sighed, told them to go back to their rooms to rest, and then went to his study alone.

The girls exchanged glances, and finally Lan Fenghuang spoke up, saying, “Everyone, go back and rest. Let’s talk about it tomorrow. No matter what happens, Brother Yun’s feelings for us are genuine.”

The others nodded and returned to their rooms, deep in thought.

When the night was deep and quiet, Nie Yun walked out of the study and once again used the dream technique he had once used to win over Min Rou.

However, Nie Yun was not in the girls’ dreams this time, or rather, they experienced a life without Nie Yun’s participation in their dreams.

In Ning Zhongze and Yue Lingshan’s dream, the eldest disciple of Mount Hua is Linghu Chong—a guy who loves to drink and is carefree and undisciplined, but otherwise he remains unchanged.

Without Nie Yun’s strange and wonderful ideas, the Huashan Sect lost a lot of income, and from the sect leader to the disciples, everyone was struggling to make ends meet, unlike their comfortable lives in this life.

Yue Buqun still followed the same old path of stealing the sword manual, castrating himself, and becoming a demon of fire. However, this time, Nie Yun was not there to turn the tide, Linghu Chong was not up to the task, and although Lao Denuo was mature, he had ulterior motives. All the affairs of the sect were placed on Ning Zhongze’s shoulders.

Beset by internal and external troubles, Ning Zhongze struggled to keep going, becoming utterly exhausted.

At this moment, the Songshan Sect colluded with the Sword Sect to force the emperor to abdicate, and Lao Denuo betrayed his sect on the spot.

Although Linghu Chong and his disciples were determined to fight to the death, they were no match for them.

Ning Zhongze was wounded in several places and exhausted. In order to avoid being captured and humiliated, he committed suicide by cutting his own throat with his sword.

Overwhelmed with grief, Yue Lingshan took advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness and also committed suicide by running into a pillar.

Yilin and Qu Feiyan dreamed that Qu Yang replaced Nie Yun and rescued Yilin from Tian Boguang.

Before the two could even feel relieved, they saw the Songshan Sect take Liu Zhengfeng’s entire family hostage and suddenly launch an attack at the Golden Basin Washing Hands Ceremony.

Out of loyalty to his friends, Liu Zhengfeng resolutely refused to yield, and everyone in the Liu family was slaughtered.

Qu Yang rescued Liu Zhengfeng and took Qu Feiyan on a journey to escape, but they were caught up by Fei Bin outside the city.

After a fierce battle, all three men died by Fei Bin’s sword.

Yilin’s master, Abbess Dingyi, was injured by Ding Mian’s palm strike while protecting the Liu family and returned defeated.

Later, because Abbess Dingxian disagreed with the merger of the Five Mountains Sword Sects, the Hengshan Sect fell into the trap of the Songshan Sect.

First, Abbess Dingjing was ambushed at Xianxia Ridge. Outnumbered, she died tragically in a foreign land.

Dingxian and Abbess Dingyi went to the rescue, but fell into a trap and were trapped. They were eventually burned to death in the Sword Casting Valley.

Countless disciples of the Hengshan Sect died or were injured, and Yilin also perished.

In Lan Fenghuang and Ren Yingying’s dreams, the two were constantly running around trying to rescue Ren Woxing.

The two joined forces with Xiang Wentian and stormed into Plum Manor, but their strong attack caused the Four Friends of Jiangnan to activate a mechanism, instantly flooding the dungeon and leaving Ren Woxing a lonely soul at the bottom of the water.

The grief-stricken Ren Yingying wanted revenge, but the pursuit from Black Cliff followed one after another.

The three men fled from place to place, sustaining numerous injuries, and were eventually forced to seek refuge in the Miao region.

After arriving in Miao territory, Lan Fenghuang and Xiang Wentian soon suffered a relapse of their injuries and died one after the other. Ren Yingying, filled with remorse, also died of depression not long after.

Ling Shuanghua’s dream experience was not much different from her life. She guessed that the murderer was Ding Dian from the sachet that Ling Tuisi held in his hand before he died. Grief and regret made her fall ill and she eventually passed away amidst the tears of Zhang Ma, Uncle Liu, Juyou, and Lanrui.

In her dream, Shui Sheng saw her father die tragically in Tianning Temple for the sake of that so-called treasure.

Without her father’s protection, the Shui family’s assets were quickly swallowed up by Wang Xiaofeng. By the time she recovered from her grief, she had no property left in her name.

She went to confront Wang Xiaofeng, only to witness the madness that her cousin had suppressed for so many years.

It turns out that he had long been fed up with Shui Sheng’s spoiled princess temper, and even more so with the humiliation of Shui Dai making him a live-in son-in-law. Now was the time for him to take revenge.

If her father’s death plunged Shui Sheng from heaven to hell in an instant, then her cousin’s greed plunged her into an abyss from which there is no escape. In despair, she chose to follow her father in death.

Before she died, Shui Sheng saw a hint of regret in Wang Xiaofeng’s eyes—because his plan to gain both money and people had failed.

In her dream, Bai Axiu experienced something similar to Shui Sheng’s: her grandfather went to Xia Ke Island but never returned, her grandmother committed suicide by jumping into the sea in grief, the Snow Mountain Sect split into several factions without a leader, and her father, as the only son of the former sect leader, became the target of everyone’s hatred.

Under siege, the family of three was imprisoned in a cage, and the father’s martial arts skills were also disabled.

She went from being a pampered princess to a prisoner, and all the kind uncles and elders who were once friendly turned on her, just like she saw before she was to marry Nie Yun.

This time, however, they didn’t just mock them verbally; they chose to eliminate them completely.

Min Rou experiences the pain of losing her child again in her dream, and Shi Zhongjian does not return to her side.

The devastating loss of two children proved too much for her, and she became bedridden, never to recover.

Before she died, Mei Fanggu secretly came to Min Rou’s door and whispered a secret in her ear: she had arranged for Shi Zhongyu to be killed, and she had also stolen Shi Zhongjian, who was now a little beggar, but he was very filial to her.

In her dream, Min Rou died with her eyes open, her husband and son not by her side before she breathed her last.

“ah!”

“No!”

“Brother Nie, save me!”

With a series of screams, all the lights in the women’s rooms came on. In the next moment, they all rushed out of their rooms and ran quickly towards the study.

Nie Yun walked out of the study, still half asleep, looking bewildered at the group of women rushing towards him.

“What happened to you all?” Nie Yu asked with concern, looking at the pretty faces covered in tears.

“Brother Nie!” Shui Sheng cried and threw herself into Nie Yun’s arms. The other girls also rushed forward, some burying their faces in his arms, others clinging to his back, all crying so hard they couldn’t speak.

“Okay, I’m here, don’t be afraid!” Nie Yun patted them on the back a few times, then turned his gaze to Ning Zhongze and Min Rou, who were standing to the side crying.

The two women looked at Nie Yun, the painful images from their dreams flashing through their minds. Without thinking, they took Nie Yun’s hand, pressed it to their faces, closed their eyes, and savored the familiar warmth.

“What’s wrong with you all? Speak up, I’m so worried!” Nie Yun was surrounded by so many soft and smooth bodies, and dared not move an inch.

“Yun’er, I had a nightmare!” Min Rou said first, her voice still choked with sobs.

She had barely finished speaking when several voices rang out simultaneously:

“I had a nightmare too!”

“Me too!”

“Me too!”

The crowd looked at each other, their faces full of surprise.

Nie Yun frowned and said, “You all had nightmares?”

The women nodded, and Qu Feiyan cried, “Brother Nie, I…I dreamt that I died, and Grandpa died too, sob sob sob…”

Her crying caused the tears that the women had almost stopped to burst forth again.

“Alright, quiet down!” Nie Yun raised his voice and called out, “Let’s all go to the courtyard, sit down and talk slowly. Shi Jian, go to Madam’s room and get a few cloaks. Ding Dang, go get a basin of water and towels.”

After everyone tidied up, they sat in a circle in the courtyard.

Seeing that everyone’s emotions had calmed down, Nie Yun said to Ning Zhongze:

“Master’s wife, you go first.”

Ning Zhongze nodded and recounted his dream experience.

As she spoke, Yue Lingshan’s mouth opened wider and wider, and finally she looked at her mother as if she had seen a ghost.

Nie Yun chuckled inwardly and asked, “Shan’er, what’s wrong?”

Yue Lingshan composed herself and began to tell her story. Everyone was stunned after hearing it.

Nie Yun thought for a moment, then asked about Qu Feiyan again, and this time it was Yi Lin’s turn to be greatly surprised.

After the first round of questions, everyone fell silent.

Ding Dang and Shi Jian exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in each other’s eyes.

Ding Dang said, “Not long after I started following you, I also had a dream. In the dream, I didn’t meet you. I was traveling the world with my grandfather. He was assassinated by his enemies when he was seventy years old, and I… I went with him.”

She turned to look at Shijian and said, “In my dream, I also saw my sister Shijian. She was beaten to death with a leather whip by human traffickers in a dilapidated temple outside Qiantang City because she tried to escape several times.”

Shi Jian nodded and said, “That’s right, I also had a similar dream. I didn’t meet the young master and was taken to Qiantang by human traffickers. I was unwilling to accept this and tried to run away, but he discovered me. That man beat me severely, and in the end… in the end… when I died, I kept staring at the Buddha statue in the temple.”

Ren Yingying was the most intelligent among the girls. Recalling what everyone had said, she seemed to have guessed something and said, “Although our dreams are different, they all seem to be things that could happen, and the endings are all tragic. Most importantly—none of our dreams include Brother Yun.”

The women were stunned by what they heard. Qu Feiyan, quick-witted, immediately said, “Could it be that what we were supposed to experience in the dream was the fate that was originally destined for us, and that tragic ending was also our fate? It’s just that because of Brother Nie, we not only didn’t die, but we are living this blissful life.”

Yilin thought for a moment and then said, “Then isn’t Senior Brother Nie a sage sent by heaven to save us?”

The women’s eyes lit up, and Lan Fenghuang clapped her hands and laughed, “That’s right, Brother Yun must be an immortal. Otherwise, how could he learn all martial arts so quickly and master them so easily? Moreover, he is unparalleled in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, medicine, and cooking. Not to mention those of us who have been intimate with him, we are all eternally youthful and ageless. This is something that mortals cannot achieve.”

Yue Lingshan put her arm around Nie Yun’s and said with a smile, “Senior brother, so you’re an immortal after all!”

Nie Yun smiled wryly, “I’m no immortal, but that dual cultivation technique that can keep one young did appear out of thin air in my mind, as did that soundproofing technique. Perhaps it really is fate’s arrangement!”

God willing…

Each of the girls silently repeated the two words to themselves several times, a sweet smile appearing on their faces.

Ling Shuanghua said, “Perhaps it is truly a blessing from heaven, which could not bear to see our sisters suffer such a tragic fate, and that is why Brother Yun came to save us.”

Ning Zhongze and Min Rou exchanged a glance, and the last trace of unease in their hearts disappeared, leaving only gratitude to Heaven and love for Nie Yun.

Just like what Supreme Treasure said in “A Chinese Odyssey”: Why do you care so much? What God arranges is the most important!

Ren Yingying’s gaze swept across Ning Zhongze and Min Rou’s faces, and she said with a wry smile, “God really knows how to arrange things, letting one person save so many people!”

Nie Yun blushed and said, “If it really is an arrangement of fate, then…”

Shui Sheng sighed, reached out and grasped Ning Zhongze and Min Rou’s soft hands, and said, “Sister Ning… Sister Min…”

Upon hearing this address, both of them blushed slightly, while Yue Lingshan glared fiercely at Nie Yun.

Nie Yun touched his nose and silently gave himself a thumbs up in his heart.