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Chapter 5: Directional Casting of the Second Soul Ring
The nights in the Soul Hunting Forest were much colder than in Notting City.
The campfire crackled, its orange-red light reflecting on Xiao Wu's face. She sat by the fire, hugging her knees, her body trembling slightly—not from the cold. Three hours had passed since she acquired her second soul ring, yet the warm current surging from her lower abdomen, rather than subsiding, was becoming increasingly intense.
Mo Bai sat on a tree stump opposite her, leisurely roasting a wild rabbit. Fat dripped into the fire with a sizzling sound. His gaze occasionally swept over Xiao Wu, as calm as if he were observing an experiment in the middle of fermentation.
"Teacher..." Xiao Wu finally couldn't help but speak, her voice trembling.
"Hmm?" Mo Bai tore off a piece of roasted rabbit meat and handed it over.
Xiao Wu took it but didn't eat. She squeezed her legs together, her knees rubbing against each other. "I... I feel strange. The soul ring is absorbed, but inside my body... it feels like something is burning."
"That's a normal reaction." Mo Bai tore off another piece of meat for himself, chewing slowly. "Your second soul skill is deeply bound to your internal bodily functions. When it first forms, soul power prioritizes nourishing the relevant parts. It's a good thing to feel warmth."
He spoke so naturally, so matter-of-factly.
Xiao Wu looked down at the rabbit meat in her hand. Firelight danced on her eyelashes. She remembered the voice that had echoed in her mind during the absorption of the soul ring—it felt as if it came from the depths of her own soul, yet also sounded like Teacher Mo Bai whispering in her ear.
"Your body needs to know better how to receive... prepare the most comfortable and warm nest for my arrival..."
"Let your soul power learn to nourish and welcome..."
"Cast the soul ring into a sweet spring that serves my desires..."
At that time, her consciousness had been floating in a state of chaos; those words fell like seeds and then took root and sprouted during the process of her condensing the soul ring. By the time she came to her senses, the soul ring had already formed—a yellow ring tinged with a strange, pale pink, much like the first one but with a deeper color and a more suggestive halo.
"Teacher," Xiao Wu looked up, a longing in her eyes that she herself hadn't noticed, "This soul skill... what exactly is it for? I tried to circulate my soul power, but it seems... it's not meant for combat."
Mo Bai finally finished the meat. He wiped his hands with a cloth, stood up, walked over to Xiao Wu, and knelt down.
The firelight was behind him, leaving his face hidden in the shadows, except for his eyes which shone with startling brightness.
"Give me your hand," he said.
Xiao Wu obediently extended her right hand. Mo Bai grasped her wrist, pressing his fingers against her pulse. His fingertips were icy, yet Xiao Wu felt as if the place he touched had been seared by a branding iron.
"Close your eyes and feel the flow of soul power," Mo Bai's voice was low. "Focus your attention on your lower abdomen—three inches below the dantian."
Xiao Wu complied. She closed her eyes and struggled to mobilize her soul power. Then she "saw" it—no, not truly saw it, but perceived it through the internal vision brought by soul power. Deep inside her body, in that most private place, pale pink soul power was bubbling up like spring water—warm, moist, and carrying a viscosity that made her blush.
"Do you feel it?" Mo Bai asked.
"...Yes."
"That is 'Spring Stream' (Chun Jian)." Mo Bai's fingers slid up her wrist to the inside of her elbow, one of the most sensitive parts of the human body. "It is not a combat soul skill. Its purpose for existing is to make your body... more perfect."
Xiao Wu's breathing quickened. Mo Bai's fingers continued upward, sliding past her upper arm and stopping at her shoulder. Through the thin fabric, she could clearly feel the temperature of his palm.
"A perfect tool requires perfect maintenance," Mo Bai's voice slithered into her ear like a venomous snake. "Your first soul ring, 'Charm Bone,' enhanced your surface sensitivity and flexibility. But that isn't enough. True reception must begin from within."
His other hand rose and pressed against her lower abdomen.
Xiao Wu shuddered violently.
"The soul power here is calling out." Mo Bai's palm exerted slight pressure, pressing against her abdomen through her clothes. "It's telling you that your body is ready. Ready to become a vessel, a nest... a spring specifically for me."
Xiao Wu's legs turned to jelly. If she weren't already sitting on the ground, she surely would have collapsed. The warm current turned scalding due to Mo Bai's touch, as if something were about to surge out of her body. She squeezed her legs together, but the dampness still seeped through her underwear, clinging to her inner thighs.
"Te-teacher..." her voice carried a sob, "I feel uncomfortable..."
"I know." Mo Bai moved his hand away from her abdomen and instead tilted her chin up, forcing her to open her eyes and look at him. "This is the price. It is also the reward. Your soul ring was tailor-made for you by me, Xiao Wu. From now on, every time you circulate your soul power, every time you use a soul skill, it will remind you—what your body exists for."
His thumb brushed across her lower lip.
"Open your mouth."
Xiao Wu obeyed instinctively. Mo Bai stuffed the cloth he had just used to wipe his hands into her mouth.
"Bite down," he said. "The next part will be more uncomfortable. But I don't like hearing noises that are too loud."
Mo Bai stood up and walked to the other side of the campfire. He took several items out of a bag he carried—a small silver box, a long slender glass tube, and several sheets of highly absorbent cotton paper. He arranged these items neatly on a flat stone, his movements as composed as if he were conducting a rigorous experiment.
Xiao Wu watched him do this, biting the cloth, saliva secreting uncontrollably. She didn't know what the teacher was going to do, but the burning deep inside her body told her that what was about to happen would change something—or rather, confirm something.
Mo Bai walked back to her side; this time he didn't kneel, but stood looking down at her.
"Stand up," he commanded.
Xiao Wu struggled to climb up. Her legs were still weak; she swayed, and Mo Bai did not support her. She stood there unsteadily, the campfire stretching her shadow long against the tree trunk behind her.
"Lift your skirt," Mo Bai said.
Xiao Wu froze.
"Lift it," Mo Bai repeated, his voice devoid of impatience, just a calm statement. "Or do you need me to help you?"
Xiao Wu's hands were shaking. She slowly grabbed the hem of her skirt and lifted it bit by bit. First her calves were revealed, then her thighs. The cool night wind brushed against her skin, giving her goosebumps. But the inside of her body was burning.
When the hem reached the top of her thighs, she stopped. Her underwear was light-colored, and in the firelight, a small, dark wet patch could be dimly seen.
"Continue," Mo Bai said.
Xiao Wu closed her eyes and lifted the skirt completely, bunching it at her waist. Her underwear was fully exposed—white cotton, with that wet patch in the center already spread to the size of a palm, its dark color starkly visible.
Mo Bai leaned in to look. He even bent down, his face only inches away from the root of her thighs.
"As expected," he whispered, as if talking to himself. "The effect of 'Spring Stream' is even better than anticipated. Simply being stimulated by soul power, without even being officially used, it has already secreted to this extent."