Chapter 28: The Demonic Enchantress and the Aloof Buddhist Devotee (14)

"My father wants the sect members to attack the righteous path, but I don't really want that."

Fan Sijin sat on the swing, her snow-white feet swaying as the crisp sound of bells drifted through the air.

"It wouldn't be hard for Father to attack the righteous path, but I dislike such behavior. It is bloody and cruel, and besides... even if all our enemies were dead, Mother wouldn't come back to life, and Father wouldn't be happy either."

Kong Xuan listened quietly. From the moment he first saw Fan Sijin, he knew this girl was not the child she appeared to be; she possessed a sensitive, intelligent, and insightful mind.

"Is there something you need my help with?"

"Monk." Fan Sijin hopped off the swing, threw herself into Kong Xuan's arms, and tilted her small face up to look at him. "Let's make a deal, shall we?"

"If you can help me resolve this, I will marry you and be your wife. If you cannot... I will let you go, and we shall never see each other again for the rest of our lives. You can be your monk, and I will be my enchantress, with no further ties. How about it?"

Kong Xuan did not even hesitate. "Very well."

Then he added, "But I will certainly succeed."

"Why?" This astonishing confidence... Fan Sijin did not believe for a moment that Kong Xuan could stop her father, the Sect Leader, without her help.

"Because my desire to have you as my wife far outweighs the thought of leaving this place and never seeing you again." For the first time in his life, he reached out to touch a woman. His fingers were long and calloused, yet surprisingly warm and gentle.

Beneath his touch, her pink cheeks were smooth and fair; he wanted this girl.

"If we succeed, I will bid farewell to my monastery, renounce my vows, and marry you."

His straightforward attitude made Fan Sijin feel as though she had overthought things. It was the first time she had ever encountered a monk like Kong Xuan—no pretense, no hesitation. As soon as he found someone he loved, he was ready to cast off his robes and return to secular life. His decisiveness genuinely startled her, yet he was supposed to be a disciple of the Buddha!

The mountain of words she had prepared to say now caught in her throat.

After a long while, she punched him in the chest in annoyance and turned away.

After dinner, she felt she shouldn't let him off so easily. She was the enchantress and he the monk; she should be the one bullying him.

Yet, why did it feel like the roles were completely reversed?

Could there really be such an unconstrained monk!

As she thought this, she deliberately called out to Kong Xuan in a playful, strained voice, asking him to fetch her clothes.

It was not the first time, so Kong Xuan followed her request naturally. He picked up her clothes, folded them neatly, and placed them on a rock by the shore, then sat down with his back to her to chant scriptures.

He performed his duties as a monk with unwavering devotion every single day.

Fan Sijin lay by the shore, feeling quite displeased by his calm detachment.

It had been less than two hours since he said he wanted to marry her, yet he remained perfectly composed, lacking any persuasive fervor. Could he at least show some signs of being madly in love? This was such poor performance!

She cupped water and splashed it at him. He flinched, and finding it amusing, she splashed him even more intently.

Kong Xuan dodged a few times, then simply let her be.

Finally, Fan Sijin used a silk thread to coil around his wrist, pulling him inch by inch toward the shore until they were so close their breaths mingled. She asked coyly, "What is it? Why won't you look at me? Am I not beautiful?"

Kong Xuan closed his eyes, centering his focus and silently reciting Buddhist sutras.

Fan Sijin was in full enchantress mode now. She had wanted to do this for so long! Finally, she had the chance!

Moreover, this high monk was clearly reacting to her; his handsome face was flushed and his eyelashes fluttered—he was obviously moved but desperately trying to suppress it.

It was... just too cute.

The system covered its face, not daring to watch, and could only silently grumble: *The host is truly insane.*

"Tell me, why are you ignoring me? Is it because I'm not beautiful?"

After living together for so long, Kong Xuan understood Fan Sijin’s nature. This girl loved to tease and bully him with her antics. If he didn't respond, she would surely think of seventeen or eighteen more ways to pester him.

He paused, then lowered his voice to reply, "You are beautiful."

"Then why did you ignore me just now?" She blew a breath into his ear. "Look at how long this night is, and it's quite warm today. Don't you want to come down and cool off? Come in with me, won't you?"

Kong Xuan gasped and shook his head like a rattle. "No, no."

"Are you saying your love for me was a lie?" Fan Sijin was irritated.

"Naturally not. But we have no formal status, and I remain a man of the cloth; I must still strictly uphold the boundaries between men and women."

"Hmph, pedantic." Fan Sijin flicked him on the forehead, let him go, and submerged herself completely into the cool lake water.

"We people of the Miao frontier are not like you people of the Central Plains. When we like someone, we like them, and we can be together immediately. You have far too many tedious rituals here; it's not fun at all."

With that, she dived into the bottom of the lake like a fish, playing to her heart's content.

At Fan Sijin’s rebuke, Kong Xuan offered only an indulgent smile, returned to the rock reserved for his meditation, and closed his eyes to resume chanting.

In truth, how could he be unmoved? The splashing water, her melodious laughter—he even found himself imagining her playing in the water in his mind...

*Amitabha, merciful Buddha, I hope you do not hear my inner thoughts.*

The people down the mountain who had been poisoned by her insects soon came to settle scores. Naturally, they dared not come alone; they sent out hero invitations, summoning various sects from the martial arts world to storm the Batian Sect together, vowing to eradicate the demonic cult.

The Batian Sect’s intelligence network was quite formidable. Over the past month, not a single sect in the martial arts world had reported losing any treasures, because they dared not speak out. An innocent man is innocent, but possession of a treasure is a crime—especially since their own means of acquiring those treasures were not exactly legitimate.

Though they claimed to be exterminating the demonic cult, they were really just desperate for an antidote to the poison.

There were countless strange poisons in the Miao region, and they could no longer bear the torment. If this continued, they feared their lives would be forfeit.

There was no time to lose; the sooner it was resolved, the better!

The righteous forces marched grandly toward Batian Mountain, and the Batian Sect Leader finally lifted the restrictions on Kong Xuan.

He had no other request for Kong Xuan than to protect his daughter, Fan Sijin.

Other than that, he needed to do nothing and was not to intervene.

The mountain's formations, the miasma, the sect members... they could not hold the intruders back for long; they would eventually fight their way to the summit.

The Batian Sect Leader had no intention of stopping them at the foot of the mountain. He wanted them all at the peak, so that once they were killed and thrown off the cliffs, it would be a clean, once-and-for-all solution.

So, when the righteous forces finally fought their way to the summit, believing they had already destroyed the bulk of the demon cult's strength, they realized: *Oh no, the main force has been waiting for them here all along.*

They had originally hoped to gang up on the demonic cult, only to realize that, by god, they were the ones being ganged up on!