These three characters—Bai Sheng, Zhu Hongqin, and Lord of Jar—hovered in Ning Tao's head, entangled. Shortly after Bai Jing drove away, he returned to his rented room.

Qing Zhui had prepared the bath water and was standing in front of the only bathroom, wrapped in a towel. The smile on her face was more beautiful than flowers and sweeter than honey. The white bath towel covered her chest, but her cleavage was exposed to the air. The towel barely reached her thighs, making her body mysterious and inviting. Her body exuded a fragrance that was more mysterious and provocative than any perfume or flower in the world.

Ning Tao's senses were far superior after he became a cultivating doctor, so you could imagine how intense the stimulation he was subjected to. In a few seconds, a flame burst out in his lower abdomen, leaving him thirsty, short of breath and suffering.

“Brother Ning, I will wait on you to take a bath,” Qing Zhui suggested, sounding very obedient and gentle.

Ning Tao fluttered his hand and refused, “No, no, no, I've washed in the river, so I don't have to wash any more. Go and take a bath.”

However, Qing Zhui was not as obedient as she used to be. She leaned toward him and reached out to help him undress.

Ning Tao grabbed her hand. He took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. “Qing Zhui, we can't do this.”

Qing Zhui's eyes were full of disappointment and grievance, and her voice was a little hoa.r.s.e. “Why can't we?”

“I'm a human being while you're a demon. We're different species,” Ning Tao explained. “We're not going anywhere together.”

Qing Zhui's eyes were suddenly filled with a light mist. “That's the line from the New Legend of the White Snake. I don't read much, but I watch a lot of TV series. I've also seen Empresses in the Palace and Princess of Pearl. Don't lie to me.”

Ning Tao found nothing to say in answer.

Qing Zhui's voice sounded sad. “My sister has been very clear today. I am your demon slave, your concubine, your intimate maid. Do you despise me because I'm a snake demon? Is that why you don't want me?”

Ning Tao gave a wry smile and bravely said, “Well, even if I didn't know we had this relations.h.i.+p and it was real, and even if you are my concubine or intimate maid, I have not married. How can I and you, a concubine or a maid, sleep together?”

Qing Zhui blinked her eyes, as if thinking about the question.

Ning Tao stroke while the iron was hot, and continued, “So, calm down. We can't do that.”

“You mean you have to marry a wife before I can be a real concubine or a real maid?” she asked.

Ning Tao nodded his head seriously and replied, “Yes, that's right.”

Although he said this in a righteous manner, as if very correct, some part of his body had deeply betrayed him, fully revealed Qing Zhui's attraction to him.

Qing Zhui said quietly, “Then you'd better get a wife quickly. If you marry a wife, I can be your concubine or maid.”

Ning Tao was really speechless.

Normal people certainly could not understand her thinking, and would find her ideas very absurd, but in the world of demons it was normal. Qing Zhui was his demon slave, and “slave” had explained everything. She was not qualified to be his wife, and could only be a concubine or an intimate maid. He saved her, and she made him her master, which meant that she gave him all she had. His refusal of her was tantamount to a denial.

These rules and rituals seemed to be ignorant and backward, but they had not completely disappeared in the secular world. Polygamy still existed in some areas. In the world of cultivation, pract.i.tioners and demons extremely valued some ancient rules and etiquette. Therefore, it was very understandable that Qing Zhui did not ask him to marry her as his wife, but insisted on being his concubine or intimate maid.

“Jiang Hao, Lin Qingyu, Zhao Wushuang, and Su Ya, which one do you want to marry?” Qing Zhui was more worried than Ning Tao.

Ning Tao had a headache about it. “Su Ya is so small, and I've been taking her as a younger sister.”

“Yeah, she's too young for you,” agreed Qing Zhui. “Jiang Hao, Lin Qingyu and Zhao Wushuang are all good for you. Which one are you going to marry? If you're too shy to ask them to marry you, I'll tell them for you. They dare not refuse.”

Ning Tao had a dull headache. He unfastened Qing Zhui's beautiful wrists, with a serious expression on his face. “Qing Zhui, this is a major decision. I can't take it lightly. Let me think it over before I make a decision. You go and have a bath, and I'll go into my room and think about it.”

Qing Zhui nodded her head. Unwilling and disappointed as she was, she got out of the way.

Ning Tao secretly breathed a sigh of relief and walked carefully past Qing Zhui. He said to himself, “I can put it off for three years. After that, she won't be my demon slave. I don't have to marry her as a concubine or an inmate maid.”

Just as he was planning this, Qing Zhui suddenly jumped and stood in front of him again. “You lied to me!”

“What did I lie to you about?” Ning Tao asked guiltily.

Qing Zhui said, “You want to put it off for three years. Then you'll get rid of me when I'm free again, won't you?”

Ning Tao was unable to retort.

Qing Zhui snorted, “I don't care. You must have a wife in three years!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the white towel fell off, without warning or sound. Her body was completely exposed, like the golden sun dispelling the mist to reveal the magnificent snow mountain and mysterious gra.s.sland.

The little flame Ning Tao was trying to hold down went crazy and nearly exploded. What was worse, Qing Zhui had no intention of picking up the towel. She stood naked in front of him…

Why was it so hard to live together?

“Qing Zhui, stop it.” Ning Tao tried to look away, but his eyes felt like they were in a swamp—the more he struggled, the deeper they sank.

Qing Zhui turned her mouth up. “I don't care. I'll let you go as long as you promise me. Or you're lying to me.”

“Er… All right, I promise. You, you get out of the way. I have to go into my room to think.” Ning Tao felt like he couldn't take it anymore. He was really going to lose control.

However, Qing Zhui suddenly took a step forward and almost ran into his arms.

Ning Tao suddenly got nervous. “What, what are you doing?”

“Let's make a tongue swear. Then I can believe that you didn't mean to abandon me or try to lie to me for three years.” Qing Zhui moved very fast. She had hardly finished when she put out her tongue. Her tongue was almost twice as long as a normal person's, and it reached out in front of Ning Tao and almost touched his lips.

Ning Tao was so upset about this, and he had really torn up. The tongue swear to the snake demon was a human oath to heaven. So it could not be done at will.

When he hesitated and struggled, tears welled up in Qing Zhui's eyes.

Ning Tao felt a sharp pain in his heart. Qing Zhui was the one who cared about him the most besides his parents, and also the one who loved him the most. In his heart, Qing Zhui was equal to the existence of relatives. How could he hurt her or make her cry?

Ning Tao sighed in his heart, and he was too soft hearted. He stuck his tongue out.

As soon as his tongue stuck out, Qing Zhui's tongue rolled over. In the blink of an eye, the two tongues were entwined. For a split second, Ning Tao felt as if he had been struck by an electric shock and was stiff.

“It's a tongue swear.” Qing Zhui made a m.u.f.fled sound.

Ning Tao, dumbstruck, also said, “It's a tongue swear.”

With his tongue tied, he said the words were very vague.

Qing Zhui, worried that he was cheating, still stuck to his tongue. “What did you say? Say it again.”

“How can I say it clearly when my tongue is stuck in yours?”

“You'll have to say it again, anyway.” Qing Zhui was very tricky.

This was obviously people with long tongues bullying people with short tongues.

Ning Tao took a deep breath, then labored out, “It's a tongue swear.”

This time it was clear.

With that, Ning Tao took a step back and started running for the door.

“Where are you going?” Qing Zhui asked.

Ning Tao answered, “I'm going to the clinic.”

He dared not stay in the house for a second longer.

“I make way for you. Please don't go, okay?” she shouted.

Ning Tao threw open the door and ran out.

The night sky was as clean as if it had been washed. The stars flickered, appearing distant and mysterious. The cool night wind blew Ning Tao's face. Without his naked body, seductive smell and sultry voice, he was less stressed, but still in an uncomfortable condition. He was sure that if he stayed in the room for a few seconds, he would explode.

He walked to the Sky Clinic, feeling as if he had three legs. He gave a wry smile and muttered, “Qing Zhui, Qing Zhui, you really listen to your sister. She asked you to try, and you tried.”

It was not that he didn't see or feel how good Qing Zhui was to him. His parents were killed in a car accident four years ago. What he lacked most was love. If someone was nice to him, he often returned double. Qing Zhui liked him, but also his demon slave, concubine or maid. His heart was not made of stone, but when he thought that Qing Zhui was a snake demon, he couldn't take that last step.

“For the time being, leave the headache to time,” he concluded in his heart.

Ning Tao opened the door and entered the Sky Clinic.

In the good-evil tripod, the black air and white air was curling up. The black evil energy was roughly balanced with the white good energy. There was more black air, but not as unbalanced as a few days ago. Such a situation was suitable for the cultivating spiritual energy. It was his reward for saving Barnes' life.

Ning Tao didn't rush to practice. Instead, he performed the Cat Claw Punch once and the Ladder under Feet about 10 times. At last he practiced the Powerful Tolerance to Beating, and struck his head, his pectorals, his abdominals, and the hard part of his body with a stone cup used for smas.h.i.+ng herbs. It was not until he was exhausted that he sat cross-legged beside the good-evil tripod and ran the grade-two elementary cultivation method to practice his spiritual power.

He had decided that even if he was sick because of cultivation, he wouldn't go back to the house he rented with Qing Zhui. It was already the most dangerous place in the world for him.